Apparatus and method for improving handover performance in a wireless communication system

Abstract

A baseband circuit that receives signals including multiple synchronization signal blocks generated in neighboring cells and signals including radio resource control parameters generated in the serving cell from an RFIC and is configured to process the signals including multiple synchronization signal blocks generated in neighboring cells and signals including radio resource control parameters generated in the serving cell includes: a memory; a controller configured to write data to the memory / read data from the memory; and a signal processor controlled by the controller, wherein the controller sets the number of target SSBs to be measured based on RRC parameters, wherein the signal processor checks the validity of the set number of SSBs, and the controller stores valid SSB information in the memory based on the check result, verifies the number of valid SSBs based on the stored valid SSB information, and controls the signal processor or invalidates the neighboring cells based on the verification result, causing the signal processor to measure the reference signal received power of the neighboring cells.

Description

[0001] This application is based on and claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0084939, filed on July 9, 2020, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to wireless communication, and more specifically, to improving handover performance in wireless communication systems. Background Technology

[0003] In order to meet the growing demand for wireless data traffic since the commercialization of fourth-generation (4G) communication systems, efforts have been made to develop and commercialize improved fifth-generation (5G) communication systems (also known as new radio (NR) systems).

[0004] To achieve high data rates, 5G communication systems can be implemented using millimeter (mm) wave frequency bands (e.g., approximately 28 GHz or 60 GHz). To reduce path loss and increase propagation distance of radio waves in the millimeter wave band, beamforming, massive MIMO, full-dimensional (FD) MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive MIMO technologies have been or will be applied in 5G communication systems.

[0005] In addition, to improve wireless communication system networks, technologies such as evolved small cells, advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, cooperative communication, cooperative multipoint (CoMP), and interference cancellation have been applied or will be applied in 5G communication systems.

[0006] In addition, advanced coding and modulation (ACM) methods such as hybrid frequency shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) have been applied or will be applied for 5G, as well as advanced access technologies such as filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) and sparse code multiple access (SCMA).

[0007] In advanced wireless communication systems, a terminal can measure the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of neighboring cells, where the neighboring cells are located near the serving cell to which the terminal is communicatively connected. The RSRP measurement results can be used to determine whether a handover to a neighboring cell is appropriate. The terminal can send the measurement results as a measurement report to the serving cell. The serving cell can then send the measurement report to the core network, and the core network can determine whether a handover should occur based on the measurement report sent from the serving cell and similar measurement reports from neighboring cells. The core network can then send the handover determination result to the serving cell and the relevant neighboring cells. Each of these cells can then participate in coordinating the handover.

[0008] However, depending on the situation, when measuring the RSRP of neighboring cells, there is a problem that certain signals transmitted by the serving cell may cause significant interference. In this scenario, the accuracy of RSRP measurement may be reduced, which may lead to unnecessary handovers by the terminal. Such unnecessary handovers may degrade the terminal's modulation and demodulation performance and excessively consume network resources. Summary of the Invention

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus and method for improving switching performance and stability by reducing unnecessary switching.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, a baseband circuit is provided, wherein the baseband circuit receives signals from a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) including signals of a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) generated in neighboring cells of a plurality of cells and signals of radio resource control (RRC) parameters generated in a serving cell of a plurality of cells, and is configured to process the signals of the plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) generated in neighboring cells of a plurality of cells and signals of radio resource control (RRC) parameters generated in a serving cell of a plurality of cells, wherein the baseband circuit includes: a memory; a controller configured to write data to or read data from the memory; and a signal processor controlled by the controller, wherein the controller sets the number of target SSBs among the plurality of SSBs based on the RRC parameters, the signal processor checks the validity of the set number of SSBs, and the controller stores valid SSB information in the memory based on the check result, checks the number of valid SSBs based on the stored valid SSB information, and controls the signal processor based on the check result to measure the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the neighboring cell or disable the neighboring cell.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, a terminal is provided for receiving multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) from neighboring cells in a plurality of cells, wherein the terminal comprises: a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) for receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal including RRC parameters by using radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a serving cell in the plurality of cells, wherein the RFIC is configured to generate a baseband signal by performing a down-conversion operation on the RF signal; and a baseband circuit for receiving the baseband signal from the RFIC, wherein the baseband circuit is configured to process the received baseband signal, wherein the baseband circuit sets a number of target SSBs among the plurality of SSBs provided from the neighboring cells based on the RRC parameters, checks the validity of the set number of SSBs, stores valid SSB information based on the check result, verifies the number of valid SSBs based on the stored SSB information, and measures the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the neighboring cell or invalidates the neighboring cell based on the verification result.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, an operating method for a terminal communicating with at least one of a plurality of cells is provided, the method comprising: receiving RRC parameters from a serving cell among the plurality of cells using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; receiving a plurality of Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) from neighboring cells among the plurality of cells; setting a number of target SSBs among the plurality of SSBs based on the RRC parameters; checking the validity of the set number of SSBs and storing valid SSB information based on the check result; verifying the number of valid SSBs based on the stored valid SSB information, and measuring the Reference Received Power (RSRP) of the neighboring cell or invalidating the neighboring cell based on the verification result. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Embodiments of the inventive concept will become clearer from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters in the drawings refer to like elements or features, wherein:

[0014] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the concept of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 2 This is a diagram used to explain the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) that will be used for cell search;

[0016] Figure 3 It is a table used to interpret the reference signals that are set differently for each index of the SSB;

[0017] Figure 4This is a diagram illustrating what might happen when measuring the reference signal received power (RSRP) of a neighboring cell;

[0018] Figure 5 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of an example radio frequency (RF) transceiver component included in a terminal or cell;

[0019] Figure 6 yes Figure 1 The flowchart shows the operation method of the terminal shown;

[0020] Figure 7 yes Figure 6 A flowchart of the first example of operation S300 in the process;

[0021] Figure 8 yes Figure 6 A flowchart of the second example of operation S300 in the diagram;

[0022] Figure 9 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the third example of operation S300 in the process;

[0023] Figure 10 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the fourth example of operation S300;

[0024] Figure 11 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the fifth example of operation S300 in the process;

[0025] Figure 12 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the operation of S400; and

[0026] Figure 13 This is a block diagram of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0027] In the following, embodiments of the inventive concept will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] The terminology used in this specification is for describing exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the inventive concept. In this specification, the singular form also includes the plural form unless specifically stated in the phrase. Components, steps, operations, and / or elements referred to by the terms "comprising" and / or "including..." as used in the inventive concept do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other components, steps, operations, and / or elements.

[0029] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used in this specification (including technical and scientific terms) are to be used in the sense that would be commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Furthermore, unless explicitly and specifically defined, terms as defined in common dictionaries are not to be interpreted ideally or excessively.

[0030] Furthermore, in describing embodiments of the inventive concept in detail, primary focus will be placed on New Radio (NR) / 5G systems and Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems. However, the inventive concept can be applied to other communication systems with similar technical features as well as other communication systems using licensed and unlicensed frequency bands.

[0031] Here, the term "connection (coupling / access)" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more components, regardless of whether they are physically in contact with each other. The terms "transmit," "receive," and "communicate," and their derivatives include both direct and indirect communication. The term "include," and its derivatives mean including but not limited to. The word "or" is an inclusive word meaning "and / or." "Related to" and its derivatives mean including, contained in, interconnected with, contained in, connected to, combined with, communicates with, cooperates with, inserts, placed side-by-side, proximates, defined by, has, possesses characteristics of, and is related to. The term "controller" means any device, system, or part thereof that controls at least one operation. Such a controller can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware. The functionality associated with any particular controller can be centralized or distributed, either locally or remotely.

[0032] Furthermore, the various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which includes computer-readable program code and is executed on a computer-readable recording medium. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, associated data, or portions thereof suitable for implementing appropriate computer-readable program code. The term "computer-readable program code" includes all types of computer code, including source code, object code, and executable code. The term "computer-readable recording medium" includes all types of media accessible by a computer, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), hard disk drives, optical discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), or some other types of memory. The term "non-transitory" computer-readable media does not include wired, wireless, optical, or other communication links that transmit transient electrical signals or other signals. The term "non-transitory computer-readable medium" includes media that permanently store data and media that can store and later rewrite data, such as rewritable optical discs or erasable memory devices.

[0033] Figure 1 This is a diagram of a wireless communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 This is a diagram used to explain the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) used for cell search. Figure 3 It is a table used to explain the reference signals that are set differently for each index of the SSB. Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating what might happen when measuring the reference signal received power (RSRP) of a neighboring cell.

[0034] First, refer to Figure 1 The wireless communication system 1 may include multiple cells such as a first cell 10, a second cell 20, and a third cell 30, as well as a terminal 100. In the examples below, "serving cell" refers to a cell that is actively communicating with the terminal 100, and "neighboring cell" refers to a cell that is a candidate to become the next serving cell by switching communication from the current serving cell. The terms "base station" and "cell" may be used interchangeably.

[0035] Terminal 100 can be connected to the network of wireless communication system 1 by "sending" and "receiving" signals to and from the serving cell. Wireless communication system 1 may be referred to as a system using radio access technology (RAT) and may be, for example, a wireless communication system using a cellular network, such as a fifth-generation (5G) communication system, an LTE communication system, an LTE-A communication system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) communication system, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) communication system, a wireless local area network (LAN) (WLAN) communication system, or other suitable wireless communication systems. In the following description, embodiments will be illustrated using a 5G communication system as an example; however, the inventive concept is not limited to any particular wireless communication standard.

[0036] The wireless communication network used in wireless communication system 1 can support communication of multiple wireless communication devices, including terminal 100, by sharing available network resources.

[0037] For example, in wireless communication networks, information can be transmitted using various multi-connection methods such as CDMA, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), OFDM-FDMA, OFDM-TDMA, and OFDM-CDMA.

[0038] Cell 10 to Cell 30 can generally be referred to as fixed stations that communicate with Terminal 100 and / or other cells, and can exchange data and control information by communicating with Terminal 100 and other cells.

[0039] For example, Cell 10 to Cell 30 can be interpreted as a comprehensive meaning indicating the area or function covered by base stations, NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs), sectors, sites and base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver systems (BTSs), access points (APs), relay nodes, remote radio heads (RRHs), radio units (RUs), etc.

[0040] Furthermore, in embodiments of the present invention, a cell may include all kinds of coverage areas, such as macrocells, microcells, picocells, femtocells, and small cells.

[0041] Terminal 100, as a user device, can be stationary or mobile, and can be referred to as any device capable of communicating with the first cell 10 to the third cell 30 to send and receive data and control information to and from the first cell 10, the second cell 20 and the third cell 30.

[0042] For example, terminal 100 may be referred to as a wireless device (STA), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), user terminal (UT), user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), wireless device, handheld device, etc.

[0043] Cells 10 through 30 can be connected to terminal 100 via a wireless channel, and various communication services can be provided to terminal 100 via the connected wireless channel. Furthermore, all user traffic from cells 10 through 30 can be served via a shared channel. Additionally, cells 10 through 30 can collect status information such as the buffer status, available transmit power status, and channel status of terminal 100, and can perform scheduling.

[0044] Furthermore, the wireless communication system 1 can support beamforming technology by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Additionally, the wireless communication system 1 can support adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) methods for determining the modulation scheme and channel coding rate based on the channel state of the terminal 100.

[0045] Wireless communication system 1 can “transmit and receive” signals in one or more frequency bands, such as the general broadband “sub-6 GHz” band (~1-6 GHz), the 6 GHz band (using a narrow band with a frequency of approximately 6 GHz), and millimeter wave bands (e.g., the “28 GHz band” and / or the “60 GHz band” (bands with a spectrum including or close to 28 GHz and 60 GHz, respectively)). Data transmission rates are typically higher at millimeter wave frequencies if a line-of-sight link is available.

[0046] In the millimeter-wave band, signal attenuation over distance can be relatively large. Therefore, the wireless communication system 1 can support transmission and reception based on narrow directional beams to ensure coverage. Furthermore, the wireless communication system 1 can perform beam scanning operations for directional beam-based transmission and reception. Note that directional beams can be generated by using multiple antenna elements.

[0047] Beam scanning can be a process by which the terminal 100 and the serving / neighboring cells sequentially or randomly scan directional beams with a specific pattern to determine transmit and receive beams with directional (beam pointing) directions aligned with each other. In other words, the patterns of transmit and receive beams with directional directions aligned with each other can be determined as a pair of transmit / receive beam patterns. Here, "beam pattern" refers to the shape of the beam determined based on its width and directional direction.

[0048] In the following example, for ease of understanding of the inventive concept, it is assumed that the first cell 10 is the serving cell, and that the second cell 20 and the third cell 30 are neighboring cells to which communication between the terminal 100 and the first cell 10 can be handed over. The first cell 10 to the third cell 30 may transmit synchronization signals, all including the SSB to be used for cell search, to the terminal 100 via multiple transmit beams having different beam patterns. As an example, the first cell 10 may transmit synchronization signals, all including the SSB to be used for cell search, to the terminal 100 via the first transmit beam TX_B1 to the eighth transmit beam TX_B8.

[0049] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The first cell 10 can send a synchronization signal, including any one of the first SSBs SSB1 to the eighth SSB SSB8, to the terminal 100 via the first transmit beam TX_B1 to the eighth transmit beam TX_B8 respectively.

[0050] For example, the first cell 10 may transmit a signal including a first SSB SSB1 to the terminal 100 via a first transmit beam TX_B1, and a signal including a second SSB SSB2 to the terminal 100 via a second transmit beam TX_B2. In this way, the first cell 10 may transmit the first SSB SSB1 to the eighth SSB SSB8 to the terminal 100 respectively via the first transmit beam TX_B1 to the eighth transmit beam TX_B8. Furthermore, the terminal 100 may search for the first cell 10 using at least one of the received first SSB SSB1 to the eighth SSB SSB8.

[0051] The SSB may include the primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0052] The SSB may include four symbols, and each of the PSS, SSS, and PBCH may be located at a position corresponding to a specific resource block (RB) in the frequency axis direction. Furthermore, an RB may include twelve consecutive subcarriers. Additionally, the PSS corresponding to the first symbol may be transmitted to terminal 100 via, for example, 127 subcarriers.

[0053] Two SSBs can be transmitted consecutively within a single "time slot". Furthermore, the first cell 10 can send an SSB burst set to the terminal 100 within a specific SSB period. In this case, the period used to send the SSB burst set can be referred to as the SSB Burst Set Period (TSSB).

[0054] For example, assuming the wireless communication system 1 is an NR system using a subcarrier spacing of approximately 15 kHz, the first cell 10 can transmit an SSB burst set comprising eight SSBs (first SSB SSB1 to eighth SSB SSB8) to the terminal 100 during the SSB period. In this case, the length of a time slot can be approximately 1 ms, and the SSB period can be approximately 20 ms.

[0055] Therefore, the number of SSBs included in the SSB burst set, the SSB period, and the length of a time slot can vary depending on the subcarrier spacing, the synchronization signal period set in the cell, the time interval allocated for cell search, etc. Furthermore, the subcarrier spacing can vary depending on the frequency band used and the operator.

[0056] In the same manner as the first cell 10, the second cell 20 and the third cell 30 can transmit synchronization signals, including SSBs (i.e., SSBs that can be used by the terminal 100 to search for the SSBs of the second cell 20 and the third cell 30), to the terminal 100 via multiple transmit beams.

[0057] The SSBs (first SSB SSB1 to eighth SSB SSB8) may each have an index indicating the first transmit beam TX_B1 to the eighth transmit beam TX_B8.

[0058] In other words, the first SSB SSB1 to the eighth SSB SSB8 may have different corresponding indices, and therefore, the first SSB SSB1 to the eighth SSB SSB8 may include different corresponding reference signals.

[0059] For example, the index may include specific data, and index-related information may be included in the PBCH of the SSB. The reference signal may also be included in the PBCH of the SSB, and may be, for example, a demodulated reference signal (DMRS).

[0060] Reference Figure 3 The first SSB SSB1 can be transmitted via the first transmit beam TX_B1 and can have an index "000", and the reference signal RS included in the PBCH of the first SSB SSB1 can be the first reference signal RS_1. The second SSB SSB2 can be transmitted via the second transmit beam TX_B2 and can have an index "001", and the reference signal included in the PBCH of the second SSB SSB2 can be the second reference signal RS_2. Furthermore, as... Figure 3As shown, the third SSB SSB3 to the eighth SSB SSB8 can be transmitted via the third transmit beam TX_B3 to the eighth transmit beam TX_B8, and can each have an index "010" to "111". The reference signal RS included in the PBCH of the third SSB SSB3 to the eighth SSB SSB8 can each be the third reference signal RS_3 to the eighth reference signal RS_8.

[0061] Refer again Figure 1 and Figure 2 Terminal 100 can receive a signal including a first SSB SSB1 via a first transmit beam TX_B1 selected through beam scanning operation, and can perform cell search by using the first SSB SSB1.

[0062] Terminal 100 can detect the PSS of the first SSB SSB1 in the time domain. In addition, terminal 100 can identify the specific timing information of the first cell 10 (e.g., timing of approximately 20ms), the location of the SSS of the first SSB SSB1, and the cell identifier (ID) in the cell ID group of the first cell 10 from the detected PSS.

[0063] Terminal 100 can detect SSS in the frequency domain. Terminal 100 can identify the frame timing of the first cell 10 and the ID of the cell group to which the first cell 10 belongs from the detected SSS.

[0064] In this manner, terminal 100 can detect cell IDs using the received SSB and measure the RSRP of the corresponding cell for each detected cell ID (e.g., the RSRP of the DMRS of the SSB or the RSRP of the DMRS of the PBCH). Furthermore, terminal 100 can send information about the measured RSRP of the cell to the serving cell via a measurement report. The serving cell can send the sent measurement report to the core network (not shown), and the core network can determine the handover based on the measurement report sent from the serving cell for each cell in the cell group (including the serving cell and neighboring cells). Additionally, the core network can send the determination result to each cell in the cell group (including the serving cell and neighboring cells), and each cell in the cell can determine whether to participate in the handover for the terminal (as determined by the core network) based on the received handover result. (If the handover is mandatory according to the core network, the designated cell may only follow the handover protocol.)

[0065] For example, in an NR (5G) communication system, multiple SSBs can be used for beamforming, and the RSRP based on the SSBs can be used as a cell handover determination factor. Therefore, based on the settings of the RRC parameters provided via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling from the serving cell to the terminal 100, the average RSRP for each SSB (e.g., the average of RSRPs equal to or greater than a specific value) or the maximum RSRP among the RSRPs of each SSB can be used as the RSRP of the corresponding cell.

[0066] In this case, the RRC parameters may include “ssb-ToMeasure” from section 6.3.2 of the 3GPP standard TS38.331, as disclosed in Table 1 below. Terminal 100 can measure the RSRP for each SSB of the cell by referring to the configuration of “ssb-ToMeasure”. When “ssb-ToMeasure” is not set, terminal 100 can measure the RSRP of all SSBs.

[0067]

[0068]

[0069] Next, according to section 5.5.3.3 of 3GPP standard TS 38.331 as described in Table 2 below, the RRC parameter can indicate the RSRP measurement method based on SSB. Therefore, terminal 100 can use the average or maximum RSRP of RSRPs that are equal to or greater than a specific value among the RSRPs measured according to the RRC parameter settings as the RSRP of the corresponding cell.

[0070]

[0071]

[0072] Furthermore, the RRC parameters provided to terminal 100 by the serving cell may include “ssb-PositionsInBurst” from section 6.3.2 of 3GPP standard TS 38.331, summarized in Table 3 below. Additionally, “ssb-PositionsInBurst” may include the serving cell’s valid SSB bitmap information. Therefore, when the valid SSB bitmap information in “ssb-PositionsInBurst” differs from that in “ssb-ToMeasure”, terminal 100 can measure the serving cell’s RSRP by referring to the valid SSB bitmap information in “ssb-PositionsInBurst”.

[0073]

[0074]

[0075]

[0076] In this way, valid SSB bitmap information sent from a cell can be identified by using "ssb-PositionsInBurst". This information can only be confirmed if the cell is the serving cell; it cannot be confirmed if the cell is a neighboring cell.

[0077] Therefore, when measuring the RSRP of a neighboring cell, terminal 100 may need to check which SSB among the SSBs of the neighboring cell is a valid SSB.

[0078] Specifically, such as Figure 4 As shown, when both the serving cell and neighboring cells send only the first SSBSSB1 to terminal 100, and only the serving cell sends data to terminal 100 in the SSB2-SSB8 portion (the portion used to send the SSB2-SSB8 block), the accuracy of the neighboring cell's RSRP measurement may be reduced. As an example, a scenario assuming the frequency domains of the serving cell and neighboring cells overlap (intra-frequency handover) will be described. Figure 4 The situation shown in the figure.

[0079] When "serving data" (data from the serving cell other than the SSB signal in the SSB2-SSB8 section) is transmitted from the serving cell to terminal 100 at a power greater than that of the SSB, it may act as high interference when measuring the RSRP of neighboring cells. In other words, because it is assumed that all SSBs (i.e., the first SSB SSB1 to the eighth SSB SSB8) exist in the neighboring cells to measure the RSRP, the RSRP in the SSB2-SSB8 section may be measured as high due to interference caused by the serving cell with relatively high power (i.e., interference caused by the serving data) even if there are no actual SSBs in the SSB2-SSB8 section.

[0080] In this situation, the accuracy of RSRP measurement for neighboring cells may decrease, and terminal 100 may perform unnecessary handovers to neighboring cells because terminal 100 assumes that the SSB blocks of neighboring cells transmitted during the SSB2-SSB8 section have already been received with high signal strength. Furthermore, the modem performance of terminal 100 may be impaired due to the unnecessary handover.

[0081] However, in embodiments of the present invention, to address the aforementioned problems, when measuring the RSRP of a cell, the validity of the SSB provided from the corresponding cell can be checked first. In other words, the SSB validity check operation can be performed before the RSRP measurement of the cell, thereby improving the accuracy of the cell's RSRP measurement. Furthermore, improving the accuracy of the cell's RSRP measurement can improve handover stability, and due to the improved handover stability, the modem performance of terminal 100 can be improved.

[0082] As described above, in embodiments of the present invention, the accuracy of RSRP measurements in a cell is improved by utilizing the aforementioned characteristics. Hereinafter, reference will be made to... Figure 5 Describe the configuration of the RF transceiver in the terminal or cell of the wireless communication system 1.

[0083] Figure 5 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of an example RF transceiver component included in terminal 100 or a cell. Figure 5 The components of the RF transceiver can be included in Figure 1 In terminal 100 or in cells 10 through 30 of the first cell. Furthermore, Figure 5 The components of an RF transceiver may include both components in the transmit path and components in the receive path.

[0084] Figure 1 The terminal 100 includes the following: Figure 5 The following description of the RF transceiver components shown can be applied by analogy to embodiments of cells having similar RF transceiver components. Furthermore, the description will primarily focus on components in the receive path. Figure 5 The baseband circuit 120 in the middle.

[0085] Reference Figure 5 Terminal 100 may include antenna 90, front-end module (FEM) 105, radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 110 and baseband circuit 120.

[0086] Antenna 90 can be connected to FEM 105 and can transmit signals received from FEM 105 to another wireless communication device (terminal or cell), or provide signals received from another wireless communication device to FEM 105. FEM 105 can be connected to antenna 90 and separate the transmit frequency from the receive frequency. In other words, FEM 105 can separate the signals provided by RFIC 110 for each frequency band and provide the separated signals to antenna 90 (or optionally to different corresponding antennas or antenna elements). Furthermore, FEM 105 can provide signals received from antenna 90 to RFIC 110.

[0087] In this way, antenna 90 can transmit frequency-separated signals to free space via FEM 105, or provide signals received from free space to FEM 105.

[0088] Antenna 90 typically includes an array antenna that can be suitably driven for beam steering. In other cases, antenna 90 is a single antenna or multiple independent antennas (not part of an array). Therefore, in some embodiments, terminal 100 can support phased arrays, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), etc., by using multiple antennas. However, in Figure 5 For ease of description, only one antenna is shown in the image.

[0089] In addition, FEM 105 may include an antenna tuner (not shown). Such an antenna tuner may be connected to antenna 90 and adjust the impedance of the connected antenna 90.

[0090] RFIC 110 can generate an RF signal by performing up-conversion on the baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 120. Furthermore, RFIC 110 can generate a baseband signal by performing down-conversion on the RF signal provided by FEM 105.

[0091] RFIC 110 may include a transmitting circuit 112 for upconversion operation, a receiving circuit 114 for downconversion operation, and a local oscillator 116, etc.

[0092] Although not shown, the transmitting circuit 112 may include a first analog baseband filter, a first mixer, and a power amplifier. Furthermore, the receiving circuit 114 may include a second analog baseband filter, a second mixer, and a low-noise amplifier. The first analog baseband filter filters the baseband signal received from the baseband circuit 120 and provides the filtered baseband signal to the first mixer. The first mixer performs an up-conversion operation, converting the frequency of the baseband signal from baseband to a higher frequency band, using a frequency signal provided by the local oscillator 116. Through this up-conversion operation, the baseband signal can be provided as an RF signal to the power amplifier, which amplifies the RF signal and provides the amplified RF signal to the FEM 105.

[0093] A low-noise amplifier amplifies the RF signal provided from FEM 105 and provides the amplified RF signal to a second mixer. The second mixer performs a down-conversion operation, converting the frequency of the RF signal from a high-frequency band to baseband, using a frequency signal provided by a local oscillator 116. Through this down-conversion operation, the RF signal is provided as a baseband signal to a second analog baseband filter, which filters the baseband signal and provides the filtered baseband signal to baseband circuitry 120.

[0094] The baseband circuit 120 can receive and process baseband signals from the RFIC 110, or it can generate baseband signals and provide them to the RFIC 110. In other words, the baseband circuit 120 may include, for example, a modem.

[0095] In addition, the baseband circuit 120 may include a controller 122, a memory 124, a signal processing unit (“signal processor”) 125, and “other circuitry” 130.

[0096] The controller 122 controls the overall operation of both the baseband circuit 120 and the RFIC 110. Furthermore, the controller 122 can write data to or read data from the memory 124. For this purpose, the controller 122 may include at least one processor, a microprocessor, or a microcontroller, or may be part of a processor. The controller 122 may include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), etc.

[0097] Memory 124 may store data used for the operation of terminal 100, such as basic programs, application programs, setting information, etc. For example, memory 124 may store instructions and / or data related to controller 122, signal processing unit 125, or RFIC 110. Therefore, memory 124 may also store SSB information that has been determined to be valid.

[0098] Furthermore, memory 124 may include various storage media. In other words, memory 124 may include volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof, and may include, for example, RAM (such as dynamic (D) (DRAM), phase-change (P) RAM (PRAM), magnetic (M) (MRAM), and static (S) (SRAM)) and flash memory (such as NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, and OneNAND flash memory).

[0099] Furthermore, memory 124 can store various processor-executable instructions. Moreover, such processor-executable instructions can be executed by controller 122 to perform some or all of the functions described herein.

[0100] Signal processing unit 125 may be controlled by controller 122 and may process baseband signals provided by RFIC 110. Signal processing unit 125 may include demodulator 126, receive (Rx) filter and cell searcher 128, and "other circuitry" 130. Signal processing unit 125 (interchangeably, "signal processor" or "signal processing circuitry") may execute program instructions read from memory 124 to perform some or all of its functions described herein.

[0101] The demodulator 126 may include a channel estimator, a data descaling unit, an interference whitening unit, a symbol detector, a channel state information (CSI) generator, a mobility measurement unit, an automatic gain control unit, an automatic frequency control unit, a symbol timing recovery unit, a delay spread estimation unit, a time correlator, etc.

[0102] The mobility measurement unit may include units that measure the signal quality of the serving cell and / or neighboring cells to support mobility, and may measure Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), RSRP, Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and RS-INR (RS-INR), etc.

[0103] For example, in second-generation (2G) communication systems, third-generation (3G) communication systems, fourth-generation (4G) communication systems, and 5G communication systems, demodulator 126 may include multiple sub-demodulators that independently or jointly perform the above functions for each despread signal or each frequency band signal. Figure 5 (Not shown in the image).

[0104] The rx filter and cell searcher 128 may include an rx filter, a cell searcher, a fast Fourier transform (FFT) unit, a time division duplex (TD)-automatic gain control (AGC) unit, a TD-automatic frequency control (AFC) unit, etc.

[0105] In this configuration, the RX filter (also known as the RX front end) performs operations such as sampling, interference cancellation, and amplification on the baseband signal received from the RFIC 110. Furthermore, because the cell searcher includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) detector, a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) detector, etc., it can measure the magnitude and quality of neighboring cell signals.

[0106] Other circuitry 130 may include a symbol processor, a channel decoder, an uplink processor, etc. In this case, the symbol processor can perform channel deinterleaving, demultiplexing, rate matching, etc., enabling decoding of the demodulated signal for each channel. Furthermore, the channel decoder can decode the demodulated signal on a block-by-block basis.

[0107] For example, the symbol processor and channel decoder may include a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) processing unit, a turbo decoder, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) checker, a Viterbi decoder, a turbo encoder, etc.

[0108] The uplink processor may include a processor for generating the transmitted baseband signal, and may include a signal generator, a signal distributor, an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) unit, a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) unit, a transmit (tx) front-end, etc. In this case, the signal generator may generate the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), etc. Furthermore, the tx front-end may perform operations such as interference cancellation and digital mixing on the transmitted baseband signal.

[0109] As mentioned above, in Figure 5 In the diagram, baseband circuit 120 is shown as including controller 122, memory 124, and signal processing unit 125. However, in baseband circuit 120, two or more of controller 122, memory 124, and signal processing unit 125 may be integrated into a single chip. Furthermore, each of baseband circuit 120 and signal processing unit 125 may include additional components besides those described above, or may exclude some of the components described above.

[0110] In some embodiments, the controller 122, memory 124, and signal processing unit 125 may be included in a single device. In other embodiments, the controller 122, memory 124, and signal processing unit 125 may be included in different devices (e.g., a distributed architecture).

[0111] As described above, configured in this way Figure 5 The components of the RF transceiver can be included in Figure 1 Terminal 100 or the first cell 10 to the third cell 30.

[0112] RFIC 110 and baseband circuitry 120 may include components known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, the corresponding components may be implemented in a manner known to those skilled in the art and may be implemented using hardware, firmware, software logic, or a combination thereof.

[0113] As described above, in the embodiments of the present invention, terminal 100 or the first cell 10 to the third cell 10 have the aforementioned characteristics and configuration. Hereinafter, reference will be made to... Figures 6 to 10 Detailed description Figure 1 An example of the operation method of terminal 100 shown (i.e., the method for measuring the RSRP of a cell).

[0114] Figure 6 yes Figure 1 The flowchart shows the operation method of terminal 100. Figure 7 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the first example of operation S300 in the process. Figure 8 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the second example of operation S300 in the process. Figure 9 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the third example of operation S300 in the process. Figure 10 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the fourth example of operation S300 in the process. Figure 11 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of the fifth example of operation S300 in the process. Figure 12 yes Figure 6 The flowchart of operation S400 in the process.

[0115] In the following discussion, when referring to Figures 6 to 12 When describing, we will refer to the common references Figures 1 to 5 .

[0116] Reference Figure 6 First, it can receive “RRC parameters” (S100) that may include multiple parameters as discussed below. (Since RRC parameters may include multiple parameters, they may be interchangeably referred to as “multiple RRC parameters” below.) RFIC 110 can receive RF signals including RRC parameters from the serving cell (e.g., first cell 10) using RRC signaling, and can generate baseband signals by performing downconversion operations on the received RF signals. Baseband circuit 120 can receive baseband signals from RFIC 110.

[0117] RFIC 110 can receive RF signals including RRC parameters via antenna 90 and FEM 105 using RRC signaling of the serving cell. RFIC 110 can generate baseband signals by performing downconversion on the corresponding RF signals, and the signal processing unit 125 of baseband circuit 120 can receive the baseband signals from RFIC 110. The signal processing unit 125 can process (demodulate, decode, etc.) the received baseband signals and obtain the RRC parameters included in the baseband signals.

[0118] RRC parameters may include various parameters for RSRP measurement of SSB. For example, RRC parameters may include “ssb-ToMeasure” and “ssb-PositionsInBurst” (as described above) in Section 6.3.2 of 3GPP standard TS 38.331, and may indicate the SSB-based RSRP measurement method according to Section 5.5.3.3 of 3GPP standard TS 38.331. Signal processing unit 125 may provide the obtained RRC parameters to controller 122.

[0119] When the RRC parameter is received (S100), multiple SSBs can be received (S150). In the various examples discussed below, the SSBs are from ( Figure 1 In the example, the serving cell, neighboring cell, or both the serving cell and neighboring cell are received by the first cell 10, the second cell 20, and the third cell 30. (As mentioned above regarding...) Figure 1 and Figure 2 The terminal 100 can receive synchronization signals including multiple SSBs (e.g., first SSB SSB1 to eighth SSB SSB8) from one or more neighboring cells via multiple transmit beams (e.g., first transmit beam TX_B1 to eighth transmit beam TX_B8).

[0120] Synchronization signals transmitted from neighboring cells can be received by RFIC 110 via antenna 90 and FEM 105. RFIC 110 can generate baseband signals by performing downconversion on the received synchronization signals, and the signal processing unit 125 of baseband circuit 120 can receive the baseband signals from RFIC 110. The signal processing unit 125 can process (demodulate, decode, etc.) the received baseband signals and obtain multiple SSBs included in the baseband signals.

[0121] Note that operation S150 can be executed simultaneously with operation S100, or it can be executed before operation S100. Below, as an example, operation S150 is described as being executed after operation S100.

[0122] When multiple SSBs are received (S150), the number of target SSBs for measurement can be set (S200). For this purpose, the controller 122 of the baseband circuit 120 can set the number of target SSBs for measurement among the SSBs of neighboring cells based on RRC parameters. For example, the controller 122 can set the number of target SSBs for measurement by referring to "ssb-ToMeasure" in the RRC parameters. One reason for setting the number of target SSBs for measurement could be to determine validity only for the number of SSBs predefined in "ssb-ToMeasure" among the SSBs of neighboring cells.

[0123] When the number of target SSBs for measurement is not defined in “ssb-ToMeasure”, the number of target SSBs for measurement can be set to the maximum number of SSBs that will be allocated for each band (each “SSB band”) used for SSBs.

[0124] For example, when the SSB band is less than approximately 6 GHz, the maximum number of SSBs to be allocated (i.e., the number of target SSBs for measurement) can be 4 or 8. When the SSB band is a millimeter-wave band (e.g., the 28 GHz band or the 60 GHz band), the maximum number of SSBs to be allocated (i.e., the number of target SSBs for measurement) can be 64.

[0125] When the number of target SSBs is set (S200), the validity of the set number of SSBs can be checked, and information about valid SSBs can be stored based on the check results (S300).

[0126] The signal processing unit 125 can check the validity of the set number of SSBs, and the controller 122 can store information about valid SSBs in the memory 124 based on the check results.

[0127] Reference Figure 7 Detailed Figure 6 The first example of operation S300 used to check the validity of SSB information and store SSB information.

[0128] Operation S300 may begin with operation S305, in which operation S305 initializes the SSB identifier variable “n” to an initial value, such as “1” or another initial value less than or equal to the set number N of SSBs in neighboring cells. As mentioned above, the set number N of SSBs can be the number of target SSBs for measurement indicated by the RRC parameters sent by the serving cell. In operation S310, the reference signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (RS-SINR) of the nth SSB can be measured.

[0129] The signal processing unit 125 can measure the RS-SINR of the nth SSB out of N set SSBs. The measurement operation of the signal processing unit 125 can be controlled by the controller 122, and the RS-SINR measurement operation can be performed by the demodulator 126 of the signal processing unit 125. In other words, the RS-SINR measurement operation of the demodulator 126 can be controlled by the controller 122. Furthermore, the RS-SINR value of the SSB measured by the demodulator 126 can be stored in the memory 124.

[0130] When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is measured (S310), the measured RS-SINR of the nth SSB can be compared with the preset reference value T stored in the memory 124 (S312).

[0131] The controller 122 can compare the RS-SINR of the nth SSB measured by the signal processing unit 125 with the preset reference value T. For this purpose, the controller 122 can compare the RS-SINR of the nth SSB directly provided by the signal processing unit 125 with the preset reference value T, or it can read the RS-SINR of the nth SSB stored in the memory 124 and compare the obtained RS-SINR of the nth SSB with the preset reference value T.

[0132] Note that the preset reference value T can be preset by the user / manufacturer based on the tolerance range of RSRP and can be stored in memory 124. Therefore, controller 122 can read and use the preset reference value T stored in memory 124 during comparison operation S312.

[0133] When the comparison operation is completed (S312), the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the comparison result (S314 or S318). Therefore, when the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is greater than the preset reference value T, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is valid (S314). On the other hand, when the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is less than or equal to the preset reference value T, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is invalid (S318).

[0134] Once the determination operation is completed (S314 or S318), a decision can be made based on the determination result to store or not store information about the nth SSB (S316 or S320).

[0135] When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller 122 may store information about the nth SSB in memory 124 (S316). Conversely, when the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller 122 may not store information about the nth SSB in memory 124 (S320). Next, operation S322 determines whether n = N. If so, the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell can be completed, and the process returns to operation S400. Otherwise, in operation S323, n is incremented by 1, and the process returns to operation S310 to repeat the operation just described for the next higher SSB of the neighboring cell. In this way, as... Figure 7 The execution shown Figure 6 The first example of operation S300 in the example.

[0136] Now, referring to Figure 8 Detailed Figure 6 The second example of operation S300 is shown below. Here, operation S300 may begin with operation S325, where, similar to operation S305 discussed above, operation S325 initializes "n" to "1" or some other initial quantity less than or equal to the set quantity N of the SSB. Next, operation S330, which decodes the PBCH of the nth SSB, may be performed.

[0137] The signal processing unit 125 can decode the PBCH of the nth SSB out of the N SSBs set. Here, the decoding operation of the signal processing unit 125 can be controlled by the controller 122 and executed by the channel decoder of the signal processing unit 125.

[0138] When the decoding of the PBCH of the nth SSB is completed (S330), the controller 122 can check whether the decoding of the PBCH of the nth SSB is successful by receiving and analyzing the decoding result from the signal processing unit 125 (S332).

[0139] Once the validity check operation (S332) is completed, the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the check results (S334 or S338).

[0140] When the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB is successful, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is valid (S334). When the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB is unsuccessful, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is invalid (S338).

[0141] When the determination operation is completed (S334 or S338), a decision can be made on whether to store or not store information about the nth SSB based on the determination result (S336 or S340). When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller 122 may store the information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S336). When the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller 122 may not store the information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S340).

[0142] Next, operation S336 determines whether n = N. If so, the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell can be completed, and the process returns to operation S400. Otherwise, in operation S343, n can be incremented by 1, and the process returns to operation S330 to repeat the operation just described for the next SSB of the neighboring cell. In this way, it is possible to... Figure 8 The execution shown Figure 6 The second example of operation S300 in the example.

[0143] Now refer to Figure 9Detailed Figure 6 The third example of operation S300. For Figure 9 In this case, we can assume that Figure 6 In operation S150, terminal 100 is provided with multiple SSBs from the serving cell rather than neighboring cells, and... Figure 6 In operation S200, the number N of the target SSBs for measurement is set in the SSBs of the serving cell.

[0144] Figure 9 Operation S300 may begin with operation S345, in which operation S345 initializes the SSB identifier variable "n" to an initial value, such as "1" or another initial value less than or equal to the set number N of SSBs of the serving cell. Next, operation S350 may check whether the nth SSB of the serving cell is enabled based on the valid bitmap information of the serving cell. To this end, controller 122 may check whether the nth SSB among the set number N SSBs is enabled based on the valid SSB bitmap information of the serving cell.

[0145] Once the inspection operation (S350) is completed, the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the inspection results (S354 or S358).

[0146] When the nth SSB is determined to be on, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is valid (S354). On the other hand, when the nth SSB is determined to be off, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is invalid (S358).

[0147] Once the determination operation (S354 or S358) is completed, a decision on whether to store or not store information about the nth SSB can be determined based on the determination result (S356 or S360).

[0148] When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller 122 may store information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S356). On the other hand, when the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller 122 may not store information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S360).

[0149] Next, operation S362 determines whether n = N. If so, the validity check of the serving cell's SSB is completed, and the process returns to operation S400. Otherwise, in operation S363, n can be incremented by 1, and the process returns to operation S350 to repeat the operation just described for the next SSB of the serving cell. In this way, it is possible to... Figure 9 The execution shown Figure 6 The third example of operation S300 in the example.

[0150] Reference Figure 10 Detailed Figure 6 The fourth example of operation S300 in this example will be described under the following assumptions. Figure 10 Operation: Terminal 100 receives RRC parameters from the serving cell (e.g., the first cell 10) and multiple SSBs from neighboring cells (e.g., the second cell 20 or the third cell 30) via RRC signaling, and sets the number of measurement target SSBs in the SSBs of the neighboring cells based on the RRC parameters.

[0151] Figure 10 Operation S300 may begin with operation 365, in which operation 365 initializes each of variables “m” and “n” to the value “1” or another value less than or equal to the number N set by the SSBs of neighboring cells. This may be followed by operation S370, in which operation S370 checks whether the m-th SSB corresponding to the n-th SSB of the neighboring cell is enabled based on the valid SSB bitmap information of the serving cell.

[0152] The controller 122 can check whether the m-th SSB (m=n) of the serving cell corresponding to the n-th SSB among the set number of N SSBs is enabled.

[0153] For example, such as Figure 4 As shown, since the serving cell and neighboring cells correspond to the "same frequency handover situation" where the frequency domains overlap, the SSB of the neighboring cell can correspond to the SSB of the serving cell (for example, the first SSB SSB1 of the serving cell corresponds to the first SSB SSB1 of the neighboring cell).

[0154] When the inspection operation (S370) is completed, a decision can be made on whether to measure the RS-SINR of the nth SSB based on the inspection results, and the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the inspection results and operations S372 to S378.

[0155] When it is determined in operation S370 that the mth SSB (m=n) of the serving cell is enabled, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB of the neighboring cell is valid without measuring the RS-SINR of the nth SSB of the neighboring cell (S374).

[0156] On the other hand, when operation 370 determines that the m-th SSB (m=n) of the serving cell is off, the signal processing unit 125 can measure the RS-SINR of the n-th SSB of a neighboring cell (S372). The measurement operation of the signal processing unit 125 can be controlled by the controller 122, and the RS-SINR measurement operation can be performed by the demodulator 126 of the signal processing unit 125. The RS-SINR value of the SSB measured by the demodulator 126 can be stored in the memory 124.

[0157] When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is measured (S372), the measured RS-SINR of the nth SSB can be compared with a preset reference value T (S373).

[0158] The controller 122 can compare the RS-SINR of the nth SSB measured by the signal processing unit 125 with the preset reference value T. For example, the controller 122 can compare the RS-SINR of the nth SSB directly provided by the signal processing unit 125 with the preset reference value T, or it can read the RS-SINR of the nth SSB stored in the memory 124 and compare the obtained RS-SINR of the nth SSB with the preset reference value T.

[0159] The preset reference value T can be preset by the user / manufacturer based on the allowable tolerance range of RSRP and can be stored in memory 124. Therefore, controller 122 can read and use the preset reference value T stored in memory 124 during comparison operation S373.

[0160] Once the comparison operation (S373) is completed, the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the comparison result (S374 or S378).

[0161] When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is greater than the preset reference value T, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is valid (S374). On the other hand, when the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is less than or equal to the preset reference value T, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is invalid (S378).

[0162] Once the determination operation is completed (S374 or S378), a decision can be made on whether to store information about the nth SSB based on the determination result (S376 or S380).

[0163] When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller 122 may store information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S376). On the other hand, when the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller 122 may not store information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S380).

[0164] Next, operation S382 determines whether n = N. If so, the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell can be completed, and the process returns to operation S400. Otherwise, in operation S383, both m and n can be incremented by 1, and the process returns to operation S370 to repeat the operation just described for the (m+1)th SSB of the serving cell and the (n+1)th SSB of the neighboring cell. In this way, it is possible to... Figure 10 The execution shown Figure 6 The fourth example of operation S300 in the example.

[0165] Now refer to Figure 11 Detailed Figure 6 The fifth example of operation S300 in the example. Figure 11 Operation S300 can begin with variable initialization operation S384, wherein variable initialization operation S384 can be combined with... Figure 10 The operation is the same as in S365. Next, in operation S385, the controller 122 can check whether the m-th SSB of the serving cell corresponding to the n-th SSB of the neighboring cell is enabled based on the valid SSB bitmap information of the serving cell.

[0166] When the inspection operation S385 is completed, a decision can be made on whether to decode the PBCH of the nth SSB based on the inspection result, and the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the inspection result and operations S387 to S389.

[0167] When the m-th SSB (m=n) of the serving cell is verified to be enabled, the controller 122 can determine that the n-th SSB of the neighboring cell is valid without decoding the PBCH of the n-th SSB of the neighboring cell (S390).

[0168] On the other hand, when the m-th SSB (m=n) of the serving cell is verified to be off, the signal processing unit 125 can decode the PBCH of the n-th SSB of the neighboring cell (S387).

[0169] The signal processing unit 125 can decode the PBCH of the nth SSB out of the N SSBs set. The decoding operation of the signal processing unit 125 can be controlled by the controller 122, and the PBCH decoding operation can be performed by the channel decoder of the signal processing unit 125.

[0170] When the decoding of the PBCH of the nth SSB is completed (S387), the success or failure of the decoding of the PBCH of the nth SSB can be checked (S389).

[0171] The controller 122 can check whether the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB performed by the signal processing unit 125 was successful. In other words, the controller 122 can receive the decoding result of the PBCH of the nth SSB from the signal processing unit 125, and can check whether the decoding was successful based on the received decoding result of the PBCH of the nth SSB.

[0172] When the inspection operation is completed (S389), the validity of the nth SSB can be determined based on the inspection results (S390 or S394).

[0173] When the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB is successful, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is valid (S390). On the other hand, when the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB is unsuccessful, the controller 122 can determine that the nth SSB is invalid (S394).

[0174] When the determination operation is completed (S390 or S394), a decision on whether to store information about the nth SSB can be determined based on the determination result (S392 or S396).

[0175] When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller 122 may store information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S392). On the other hand, when the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller 122 may not store information about the nth SSB in the memory 124 (S396).

[0176] Next, operation S398 determines whether n = N. If so, the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell can be completed, and the process returns to operation S400. Otherwise, in operation S399, both m and n can be incremented by 1, and the process returns to operation S385 to repeat the operation just described for the next higher SSB of the serving cell and the (n+1)th SSB of the neighboring cell. In this way, it is possible to... Figure 11 The execution shown Figure 6 The fifth example of operation S300 in the example.

[0177] Refer again Figure 6 When operation S300 is completed, the number of valid SSBs is checked and the RSRP of the cell can be measured, or the cell can be identified as invalid (S400).

[0178] The controller 122 can check the number of valid SSBs based on the information about SSBs stored in the memory 124, and can control the signal processing unit 125 to measure the RSRP of the cell or invalidate the cell based on the check result.

[0179] For example, such as Figure 9 As shown, when operations S150 to S300 target the SSB of the serving cell, the result can be obtained in operation S400 by measuring the RSRP of the serving cell. In other words, when processing from... Figure 12 Operation S412 (No) proceeds to Figure 12 During operation S420, the serving cell may not be invalidated. This is because at least one SSB in the serving cell is always enabled (i.e., at least one bit in the serving cell's valid SSB bitmap is always enabled), and the serving cell may not be invalidated. For this reason, when operations S150 to S300 are performed on the SSB of the target serving cell, operation S412 (i.e., the operation of verifying the number of valid SSBs) does not need to be performed in operation S400, and operation S420 (i.e., the operation of measuring the serving cell's RSRP based on the stored SSB information) can be performed instead.

[0180] On the other hand, such as Figure 7 , Figure 8 , Figure 10 and Figure 11 As shown, when operations S150 to S300 target the SSB of a neighboring cell, in operation 400, the RSRP of the neighboring cell can be measured or the neighboring cell can be disabled.

[0181] However, for the sake of brevity, the following description of the cell in operation S400 will not specify the serving cell or neighboring cells.

[0182] Reference Figure 12 Detailed Figure 6 Example of operation S400. Operation S400 may begin with operation S412, which checks the number of valid SSBs. When the number of valid SSBs is 0, a decision can be made to invalidate the cell (S414).

[0183] In this regard, when controller 122 determines to invalidate a cell, the cell can be determined as an invalid cell (S422). On the other hand, when controller 122 determines not to invalidate a cell, controller 122 can re-determine the valid SSB among the set number of SSBs with the largest RS-SINR (S416).

[0184] For example, controller 122 can be configured, by settings pre-set by the user or manufacturer, to invalidate the cell when the number of valid SSBs is 0.

[0185] When the RS-SINR of each SSB has been measured during operation of S300 ( Figure 7 and Figure 10In the case where the RS-SINR value of each SSB is stored in memory 124, the signal processing unit 125 does not need to remeasure the RS-SINR of the SSB during operation S416. However, when the RS-SINR of each SSB is not measured during operation S300 ( Figure 8 , Figure 9 and Figure 11 In cases where the RS-SINR value of each SSB may not be stored in the memory 124, the signal processing unit 125 may remeasure the RS-SINR of the SSB in operation S416.

[0186] When the SSB with the maximum RS-SINR is determined to be valid (S416), the information of the SSB that has been remeasured as valid can be stored (S418).

[0187] The controller 122 may store the SSB information that has been re-determined to be valid in the memory 124.

[0188] When SSB information is stored (S418), the RSRP of the cell can be measured based on the stored SSB information (S420).

[0189] The controller 122 can control the signal processing unit 125 to measure the RSRP of the cell based on the SSB information stored in the signal processing unit 125. To this end, the signal processing unit 125 can measure the RSRP of the cell in a manner defined in the RRC parameters. For example, the RSRP measurement operation of the cell can be performed by the mobility measurement unit of the signal processing unit 125, and the RSRP measurement operation of the mobility measurement unit can be controlled by the controller 122.

[0190] On the other hand, when the number of effective SSBs is 1 or more, the RSRP of the cell can be measured based on the effective SSBs (S420).

[0191] The controller 122 can control the signal processing unit 125 to measure the RSRP of the cell based on the effective SSB. In this respect, the signal processing unit 125 can measure the RSRP of the cell in a manner defined in the RRC parameters.

[0192] As described above, the terminal operation method (i.e., the method for measuring the RSRP of a cell) can be performed according to embodiments of the present invention. Referring below... Figure 13 A wireless communication device implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention is described.

[0193] Figure 13 This is a block diagram of a wireless communication device 201 implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0194] For example, Figure 13The wireless communication device 201 can be applied to a cell implemented according to embodiments of the present invention (e.g., Figure 1 (eNB, gNB, AP, etc.) or terminals (e.g., terminals (e.g., Figure 1 (e.g., 100, STA, MS, UE, etc.). Furthermore, in some embodiments of this disclosure, Figure 13 The wireless communication device 201 can operate in standalone (SA) mode or non-standalone (NSA) mode.

[0195] Reference Figure 13 This illustrates a wireless communication device 201 implemented in a network environment 200.

[0196] The wireless communication device 201 may include a bus 210, a processor 220, a memory 230, an input / output interface 250, a display module 260, and a communication interface 270. In other examples, the wireless communication device 201 may omit at least one of the above components, or may additionally include at least one other component.

[0197] Bus 210 can connect components 220 to 270 to each other. Therefore, the exchange and transmission of signals (e.g., control messages and / or data) between components 220 and 270 can be performed via bus 210.

[0198] Processor 220 may include one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP), and a communication processor (CP). Furthermore, processor 220 may, for example, perform control and / or computation or data processing related to communication with other components in wireless communication device 201. Figure 5 The components that control the controller 122 in the middle are functional components.

[0199] The memory 230 may include volatile memory and / or non-volatile memory. Furthermore, the memory 230 may, for example, store commands, instructions, or data related to other components in the wireless communication device 201.

[0200] In addition, memory 230 may store software and / or program 240. Program 240 may include, for example, kernel 241, middleware 243, application programming interface (API) 245, application program 247 (also referred to as application), and network connection information 249.

[0201] For example, at least some of kernel 241, middleware 243, and API 245 may be referred to as an operating system (OS). Furthermore, memory 230 may include [missing information - likely related to memory configuration]. Figure 5 The memory 124 is a functional component in the system.

[0202] The input / output interface 250 can, for example, transmit commands or data input from a user or other external device to other components of the wireless communication device 201. Furthermore, the input / output interface 250 can output commands or data received from other components of the wireless communication device 201 to the user or other external device.

[0203] Display module 260 may include, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) display, or an electronic paper display.

[0204] In addition, the display module 160 can display various content to the user (e.g., text, images, videos, icons, symbols, etc.). Furthermore, the display module 260 may include a touchscreen and can receive input such as touch, gestures, proximity, or hover by using an electronic pen or a part of the user's body.

[0205] Communication interface 270 enables communication between wireless communication device 201 and external devices (e.g., electronic devices 202 and 204 or server 206). For example, communication interface 270 can be connected to network 262 via wireless or wired communication to communicate with external devices (e.g., electronic device 204 or server 206). Furthermore, communication interface 270 can communicate with external devices (e.g., electronic device 202) via wireless communication 264. Additionally, communication interface 270 may include [features such as...]. Figure 5 The components that comprise the functions of FEM 105, RFIC 110, and signal processing unit 125.

[0206] Wireless communication 264 may have a cellular communication protocol and may use at least one of, for example, 5G, LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, WCDMA, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), WiBro, and GSM. Wired communication may include at least one of, for example, Universal Serial Bus (USB), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Recommended Standard 232 (RS-232), and Common Old-Style Telephone Service (POTS).

[0207] Furthermore, network 262 can be a telecommunications network and includes at least one of, for example, a computer network (e.g., a LAN or wide area network (WAN)), the Internet, and a telephone network.

[0208] On the other hand, each of the external electronic devices 202 and 204 may include a device of the same type or different type as the wireless communication device 201. Furthermore, server 206 may include a group of one or more servers.

[0209] Note that all or some of the operations performed in the wireless communication device 201 may be performed in other external devices (e.g., electronic devices 202 and 204 or server 206).

[0210] Furthermore, when the wireless communication device 201 is required to automatically or upon request perform a specific function or service, the wireless communication device 201 may perform the function or service independently, or it may request a function or service from other external devices (e.g., electronic devices 202 and 204 or server 206). Furthermore, the other external devices (e.g., electronic devices 202 and 204 or server 206) may perform the requested function or service and send the execution result to the wireless communication device 201. In this case, the wireless communication device 201 may perform the function or service by processing the received result as is or additionally.

[0211] Such mechanisms, such as cloud computing, distributed computing, or client-server computing, can be applied to wireless communication device 201.

[0212] As described above, in the embodiments of the present invention, since the RSRP of the cell is measured through the validity check operation of the SSB, the accuracy of the cell's RSRP measurement can be improved. Furthermore, improving the accuracy of the cell's RSRP measurement can improve handover performance / stability, and improving handover performance / stability can improve the modem performance of the terminal.

[0213] Although the inventive concept has been specifically shown and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made to the inventive concept without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A baseband circuit within a terminal in a wireless communication system, the baseband circuit comprising: Memory; The controller is configured to write data to / read data from memory; as well as The signal processor is controlled by the controller; in, The baseband circuit receives a first signal and a second signal from the terminal's radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC). The first signal includes multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) generated in neighboring cells among multiple cells in the wireless communication system, and the second signal includes radio resource control (RRC) parameters generated in the serving cell among the multiple cells. The controller sets the number of target SSBs among the plurality of SSBs based on the RRC parameters. The signal processor checks the validity of the set number of SSBs, and The controller stores valid SSB information in memory based on the validity check results, checks the number of valid SSBs based on the stored valid SSB information, and controls the signal processor to measure the Reference Received Power (RSRP) of the neighboring cells or invalidate the neighboring cells based on the result of the count of valid SSBs. When the number of valid SSBs is 0, the controller invalidates the neighboring cells, or The controller re-determines the valid SSB with the highest RS-SINR among the set number of SSBs, stores the information of the re-determined valid SSB in memory, and controls the signal processor to measure the RSRP of the neighboring cells based on the stored SSB information.

2. The baseband circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, The controller performs the following operation: The control signal processor measures the reference signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the nth SSB out of a set number of SSBs, where 1 ≤ n ≤ N, n is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and N is the set number. The measured RS-SINR of the nth SSB is compared with a preset reference value. The validity of the nth SSB is determined based on the comparison results. Based on the result of determining validity, it is determined whether to store the nth SSB information in memory, and When n=N, the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell is terminated.

3. The baseband circuit as described in claim 2, wherein, When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is greater than the preset reference value, the controller determines that the nth SSB is valid, and When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is less than or equal to the preset reference value, the controller determines that the nth SSB is invalid.

4. The baseband circuit as described in claim 2, wherein, When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller stores the nth SSB information in the memory, and When the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller does not store the nth SSB information in the memory.

5. The baseband circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, The controller performs the following operation: The control signal processor decodes the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of the nth SSB out of the set number of SSBs, where 1 ≤ n ≤ N, n is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and N is the set number. Verify whether the decoding of the PBCH of the nth SSB was successful. The validity of the nth SSB is determined based on the verification results of the decoding. The decision on whether to store the nth SSB information in memory is based on the result of the validity determination. Verify whether n is the same as N, and Based on the result of verifying whether n is the same as N, determine whether to terminate the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell.

6. The baseband circuit as described in claim 5, wherein, When the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB is successful, the controller determines that the nth SSB is valid, and When the decoding operation of the PBCH of the nth SSB fails, the controller determines that the nth SSB is invalid.

7. The baseband circuit as described in claim 5, wherein, When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller stores the nth SSB information in the memory, and When the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller does not store the nth SSB information in the memory.

8. The baseband circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, When the number of valid SSBs is 1 or more, the controller controls the signal processor to measure the RSRP of the neighboring cell based on the valid SSBs.

9. The baseband circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, The RRC parameters include the valid SSB bitmap information of the serving cell.

10. The baseband circuit as described in claim 9, wherein, The controller performs the following operation: based on the valid SSB bitmap information of the serving cell, it checks whether the m-th SSB of the serving cell corresponding to the n-th SSB among the set number of SSBs is enabled, where m=n, 1≤n≤N, n is a natural number 1 or a greater natural number, and N is the set number. Whether to measure the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is determined based on the result of checking whether the mth SSB is turned on. Based on the result of determining whether to measure the RS-SINR of the nth SSB, the control signal processor determines whether the nth SSB is valid. The determination of whether to store the nth SSB information in memory is based on the result of determining the validity of the nth SSB. Check if n=N, and When n=N, the validity check of the SSB of the neighboring cell is terminated.

11. The baseband circuit as claimed in claim 10, wherein, When the mth SSB of the serving cell is verified as enabled, the controller determines that the nth SSB is valid without measuring the RS-SINR of the nth SSB.

12. The baseband circuit as described in claim 10, wherein, When the mth SSB of the serving cell is verified to be off, the controller control signal processor measures the RS-SINR of the nth SSB, compares the measured RS-SINR of the nth SSB with a preset reference value, and determines the validity of the nth SSB based on the comparison result.

13. The baseband circuit as described in claim 12, wherein, When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is greater than the preset reference value, the controller determines that the nth SSB is valid, and When the RS-SINR of the nth SSB is less than or equal to the preset reference value, the controller determines that the nth SSB is invalid.

14. The baseband circuit as described in claim 10, wherein, When the nth SSB is determined to be valid, the controller stores the nth SSB information in the memory, and When the nth SSB is determined to be invalid, the controller does not store the nth SSB information in the memory.

15. The baseband circuit as described in claim 10, wherein, When n < N, the controller starts the validity check of the (n + 1)-th SSB among the set number of SSBs through the control signal processor.

16. The baseband circuit as described in claim 9, wherein, The controller performs the following operations: checks whether the m-th SSB of the serving cell corresponding to the n-th SSB among the set number of SSBs is enabled based on the valid SSB bitmap information of the serving cell, where m = n, 1 ≤ n ≤ N, n is a natural number greater than or equal to 1, and N is the set number. Determines whether to decode the PBCH of the n-th SSB based on the result of checking whether the m-th SSB is enabled. Determines that the n-th SSB is valid through the control signal processor based on the result of determining whether to decode the PBCH of the n-th SSB. Determines whether to store the n-th SSB information in the memory based on the result of determining that the n-th SSB is valid. Checks whether n = N, and When n = N, terminates the validity check of the SSBs of the neighboring cell.

17. The baseband circuit as described in claim 16, wherein, When the m-th SSB of the serving cell is verified as enabled, the controller determines that the n-th SSB is valid without decoding the PBCH of the n-th SSB.

18. The baseband circuit as described in claim 16, wherein, When the m-th SSB of the serving cell is determined to be disabled, the controller controls the signal processor to cause the signal processor to decode the PBCH of the n-th SSB, checks whether the decoding of the PBCH of the n-th SSB is successful, and determines the validity of the n-th SSB based on the check result for the decoding.

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