Method and apparatus for radio resource management in power saving mode

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) connects to a 5G New Radio (NR) network via a serving cell. The UE performs radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell; determines whether the UE meets power-saving criteria for a first mobility scenario, a second mobility scenario, or a third mobility scenario when it is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state, wherein when the UE is in the first mobility scenario or the second mobility scenario, the UE performs RRM measurements at longer intervals relative to RRM measurements performed in a non-power-saving mode, and wherein when the UE is in the third scenario, the UE performs RRM measurements of neighboring cells at longer intervals relative to RRM measurements performed in a non-power-saving mode; and determines the UE RRM configuration when the UE transitions from either a power-saving scenario or the non-power-saving mode to any other power-saving scenario or the non-power-saving mode.

Description

Background Technology

[0001] Mobility management (MM) is a function used to track and locate user equipment (UE). Mobility-related measurements can be used in various operations, such as handover. UEs can perform mobility-related measurements, and in certain scenarios, radio resource management (RRM) requirements can be relaxed based on mobility-related considerations. For example, when a UE is in a low-mobility state or far from the edge of the serving cell, certain RRM measurements can be modified or suspended, allowing the UE to save power without significantly impacting its mobility performance. Summary of the Invention

[0002] Some exemplary implementations relate to a method performed by a user equipment (UE) connected to a serving cell of a 5G New Radio (NR) network. The method includes performing radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell; determining whether the UE meets power saving criteria for a first mobility scenario, a second mobility scenario, or a third mobility scenario when it is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state, wherein the first mobility scenario is a low mobility state of a power saving mode, the second mobility scenario is a location state at the edge of a serving cell far from the power saving mode, and the third mobility scenario is both a low mobility state and a location state at the edge of a serving cell far from the power saving mode, wherein when the UE is in the first mobility scenario or the second mobility scenario, the UE performs RRM measurements at longer intervals relative to RRM measurements performed in a non-power saving mode, and wherein when the UE is in the third scenario, the UE performs RRM measurements of neighboring cells at longer intervals relative to RRM measurements performed in a non-power saving mode; and determining the UE RRM configuration when the UE transitions from any of the first scenario, the second scenario, or the third scenario, or the non-power saving mode to any other of the first scenario, the second scenario, or the third scenario, or the non-power saving mode.

[0003] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) having a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to connect to a serving cell of a 5G New Radio (NR) network. The processor is configured to perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell; determine whether the UE meets the power saving criteria for a first mobility scenario, a second mobility scenario, or a third mobility scenario when it is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or an RRC inactive state, wherein the first mobility scenario is a low mobility state of a power saving mode, the second mobility scenario is a location state at the edge of a serving cell far from the power saving mode, and the third mobility scenario is both a low mobility state and a location state at the edge of a serving cell far from the power saving mode, wherein when the UE is in the first mobility scenario or the second mobility scenario, the UE performs RRM measurements at longer intervals relative to RRM measurements performed in a non-power saving mode, and wherein when the UE is in the third scenario, the UE performs RRM measurements of neighboring cells at longer intervals relative to RRM measurements performed in a non-power saving mode; and determine the UE RRM configuration when the UE transitions from any of the first scenario, the second scenario, or the third scenario, or the non-power saving mode to any other of the first scenario, the second scenario, or the third scenario, or the non-power saving mode. The third scenario is a relaxed configuration, the first and second scenarios are moderate configurations, and the non-power-saving mode is a strict configuration.

[0004] Another exemplary embodiment relates to a method performed by a user equipment (UE) connected to a serving cell of a 5G New Radio (NR) network. The method includes performing radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell, the RRM measurements including signal strength and quality for connectivity; determining a correlation between a first signal strength and quality threshold for determining cell center conditions of the UE and a second signal strength and quality threshold for determining cell edge conditions of the UE; and determining, based on the correlation between the first and second thresholds, whether to enter a power-saving mode that relaxes RRM measurements. Attached Figure Description

[0005] Figure 1 Network arrangements according to various exemplary implementations are shown.

[0006] Figure 2 Exemplary UEs according to various exemplary implementations are shown.

[0007] Figure 3 Exemplary network cells according to various exemplary implementations are shown.

[0008] Figure 4 Methods for determining the RRM configuration of a UE during transitions between RRM power-saving scenarios are illustrated according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0009] Figure 5 The diagram illustrates how to determine UE frequency measurement behavior under misaligned conditions at the cell center and not at the cell edge, according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0010] Figure 6 Methods for determining whether to enter a power-saving configuration based on the correlation between a cell center threshold and a threshold not in the cell edge, according to various exemplary embodiments, are shown. Detailed Implementation

[0011] The exemplary embodiments can be further understood with reference to the following description and related figures, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe the radio resource management (RRM) configuration of a user equipment (UE) in a 5G New Radio (NR) network. Specifically, the exemplary embodiments describe RRM configurations for managing transitions between various mobility-related UE states, and associated power-saving configurations for the UE that can be implemented based on mobility states. For example, a UE can transition from a relaxed RRM configuration to an active state, in which certain RRM measurement requirements are reduced or suspended, while in the active state, full RRM measurements are used. The exemplary embodiments balance power savings and mobility considerations during transitions between UE RRM states.

[0012] Network / Device

[0013] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is illustrated. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a user equipment (UE) 110. Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE can be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, tablet, smartphone, phablet, embedded device, wearable device, Cat-M device, Cat-M1 device, MTC device, eMTC device, other types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc. It should also be understood that a practical network arrangement can include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0014] UE 110 can communicate directly with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which UE 110 can wirelessly communicate are 5G NR radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. Therefore, UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset communicating with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset communicating with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset communicating with WLAN 124. However, UE 110 can also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., legacy cellular networks), and UE 110 can also communicate with networks via wired connections. Regarding an exemplary implementation, UE 110 can establish a connection with 5G NR RAN 122.

[0015] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 can be parts of cellular networks that can be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 can include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 can include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0016] UE 110 can connect to the 5G NR-RAN via at least one of next-generation nodeB (gNB) 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNBs 120A and 120B can be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna arrays), software, and / or firmware to perform massive MIMO functionality. Massive MIMO can refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. Reference to the two gNBs 120A and 120B is for illustrative purposes only. Exemplary implementations can be applied to any suitable number of gNBs. Specifically, UE 110 may have an initial connection to gNB 120A and perform cell reselection to transition to a connection on gNB 120B and terminate the connection with gNB 120A. While camped on either gNB 120A or 120B, UE 110 can enter mobility-related scenarios, including low mobility states and / or locations far from the edge of the serving cell. This article describes various configurations for a UE to perform RRC measurements when the UE transitions between mobility-related states.

[0017] In addition to networks 120, 122, and 124, network deployment 100 also includes a cellular core network 130, an Internet 140, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network services backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be viewed as an interconnected set of components that manage the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using IP protocols. The IMS 150 can communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network services backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network services backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage deployments, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0018] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Reference will be made to... Figure 1 The network layout 100 is used to describe UE 110. UE 110 can represent any electronic device and may include processor 205, memory layout 210, display device 215, input / output (I / O) device 220, transceiver 225, and other components 230. Other components 230 may include, for example, audio input devices, audio output devices, batteries providing a limited power source, data acquisition devices, ports for electrically connecting UE 110 to other electronic devices, sensors for detecting the status of UE 110, etc.

[0019] Processor 205 can be configured to execute multiple engines of UE 110. For example, an engine may include Radio Resource Management (RRM) engine 235. RRM engine 235 can perform the following operations. Specific implementations for various scenarios will be described in further detail below.

[0020] The engine described above, as an application (e.g., a program) executed by processor 205, is merely exemplary. The functionality associated with the engine may also be represented as a separate integrated component of UE 110, or as a modular component coupled to UE 110, such as an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. The engine may also be embodied as a single application or multiple separate applications. Furthermore, in some UEs, the functionality described for processor 205 is distributed among two or more processors, such as a baseband processor and an application processor. Exemplary implementations may be implemented according to any of these or other configurations of the UE. Memory 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by UE 110.

[0021] Display device 215 can be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, while I / O device 220 can be a hardware component enabling user input. Display device 215 and I / O device 220 can be separate components or integrated together (such as a touchscreen). Transceiver 225 can be a hardware component configured to establish connections with 5G-NR RAN 120, LTE RAN 122, etc. Therefore, transceiver 225 can operate on various frequencies or channels (e.g., consecutive frequency groups).

[0022] Figure 3 An exemplary network cell according to various exemplary embodiments is shown, in this example being gNB 120A. As described above regarding UE 110, gNB 120A may represent the serving cell of UE 110, wherein UE 110 may enter different mobility states relative to network connection with gNB 120A. gNB 120A may represent any access node of the 5G NR network through which UE 110 establishes connections and manages network operations. Figure 3 The gNB 120A shown can also represent gNB 120B.

[0023] The gNB 120A may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, input / output (I / O) devices 320, a transceiver 325, and other components 330. Other components 330 may include, for example, audio input devices, audio output devices, a battery, data acquisition devices, and ports for electrically connecting the gNB 120A to other electronic devices.

[0024] Processor 305 can be configured to execute multiple engines of gNB 120A. For example, an engine may include RRM engine 335. RRM engine 335 can perform operations including X. Specific implementations for various scenarios will be described in further detail below.

[0025] The engines described above, each acting as an application (e.g., a program) executed by processor 305, are merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engines may also be represented as independent integrated components of the gNB 120A, or as modular components coupled to the gNB 120A, such as integrated circuits with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. Furthermore, in some gNBs, the functions described for processor 305 are split among multiple processors (e.g., baseband processor, application processor, etc.). Exemplary implementations may be implemented according to any of these or other configurations of the gNB.

[0026] Memory 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by UEs 110 and 112. I / O device 320 may be a hardware component or port enabling a user to interact with gNB 120A. Transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to exchange data with UEs 110, 112, and any other UE in system 100, for example, when gNB 120A is used as a PCell or SCell for either or both of UEs 110 and 112. Transceiver 325 may operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of consecutive frequencies). Therefore, transceiver 325 may include one or more components (e.g., radio components) to enable data exchange with various networks and UEs.

[0027] RRM power savings

[0028] Mobility management (MM) is a function used for tracking and locating user equipment (UE). The UE can implement power-saving operations based on its mobility state. Three mobility-related scenarios are described in the following implementation. In the first scenario, the UE is in a low mobility state. The low mobility state is determined when a change in position relative to the UE meets certain criteria and is based on RRM measurements. The low mobility state can be defined in any number of ways. For example, the UE can determine that it has maintained the same relative position (e.g., within a threshold distance from its initial position) for a threshold time period. The relative position can be based on any known method by which the UE determines its position, such as GPS location, cell location determination, WiFi-assisted positioning, etc. The relative position threshold and threshold time period can be pre-configured in the UE or set by the network based on signaling. It should be understood that this is one exemplary way of determining a low mobility state, but the exemplary implementation is not limited to any particular way of determining a low mobility state.

[0029] In the second scenario, the UE is located far from the edge of the cell it is connected to, i.e., in an "outside the cell edge" state. The second scenario is entered when it is determined, based on RRM measurements (e.g., signal strength and quality measurements), that the UE is located far from the cell edge. Again, the measurements associated with this scenario can be pre-configured for the UE or can be signaled by the network. Alternatively, exemplary embodiments may use other criteria to determine whether the UE is in an "outside the cell edge" state.

[0030] In the third scenario, the UE is in a low mobility state and an "outside the cell edge" state. Although the UE can enter any of these three scenarios when it is in either the RRC_connected (active) state or the RRC_idle / inactive (inactive) state, power saving operations are not implemented in the active state. Therefore, the power saving techniques in each of the above scenarios only apply to UEs in the inactive state, while UEs in the active state do not perform any RRM-related power saving techniques.

[0031] When the UE is inactive and falls within one of the three mobility-related scenarios described above, Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements can be relaxed in one or both of the following ways for power-saving purposes. In the first operation, when the UE is in either the first scenario (low mobility) or the second scenario (not at the cell edge), the UE can perform RRM measurements at longer intervals between measurements relative to the RRM measurements performed when the UE is active. When the UE is in the third scenario (low mobility and not at the cell edge), the UE no longer needs to meet the intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurement requirements of adjacent cells that were required when the UE is active. In other words, in the third scenario, the UE can suspend a subset of RRM measurements. Therefore, the third scenario corresponds to a minimum-restriction (relaxed) configuration, where the maximum number of operations are suspended or relaxed. The first and second scenarios correspond to a moderate-restriction (moderate) configuration, where RRM measurements are relaxed but not suspended. The active state of the UE corresponds to a maximum-restriction (strict) configuration, where none of the RRM operations discussed above are relaxed / suspended.

[0032] During transitions between any of the three scenarios discussed above, various options are available for implementing power-saving operations. In the first option, when the UE transitions to or from a state requiring intra-frequency / inter-frequency measurements during a cell reselection or RRM measurement cycle (i.e., from a relaxed configuration to either a moderate or strict configuration, or from either a moderate or strict configuration to a relaxed configuration), the cell reselection or measurement requirement for a strict configuration can be implemented during the transition cycle.

[0033] In the second option, when switching from a moderate configuration to a lenient configuration, the UE can meet the requirements of the moderate configuration corresponding to N DRX cycles, and then switch to the requirements corresponding to the lenient configuration. When switching from a lenient configuration to a moderate configuration, the UE can meet the requirements corresponding to the moderate configuration if the handover criteria are met. When switching from a strict configuration (active state) to either a moderate or lenient configuration, the UE can meet the requirements of the active state corresponding to N DRX cycles, and then switch to the requirements corresponding to either a moderate or lenient configuration. When switching from either a moderate or lenient configuration to a strict configuration, the UE can meet the requirements corresponding to the active state if the handover criteria are met. However, some trade-offs can be made between the two options discussed above to better balance power saving gains and mobility performance.

[0034] According to the first exemplary embodiment, when switching from a more stringent configuration to a more lenient configuration (e.g., switching from either a first or second scenario to a third scenario, or switching from an active state to either a first, second, or third scenario), the more lenient requirements of any scenario being entered can be used after the transition. Since the mobility measurement requirements in the lenient configuration are less urgent or important compared to the previous (more stringent) conditions, the more lenient configuration is used after the transition. Mobility performance in this embodiment is not significantly impacted compared to, for example, a configuration where the UE waits for N DRX cycles before entering a more lenient configuration. Furthermore, the currently described embodiment provides a simple operating scheme.

[0035] However, when switching from a more lenient configuration to a more stringent one (e.g., switching from a third scenario to either the first or second scenario, or switching from any of the first, second, or third scenarios to an active state), mobility measurements become more critical after the transition than in the opposite scenario discussed above. For example, if more lenient requirements are used throughout the measurement procedure during the transition, including both the duration before and after the transition, the mobility performance of the UE and the network will be affected after the transition. Therefore, in this case, more stringent requirements can be implemented immediately after the transition.

[0036] Therefore, according to the first exemplary embodiment described above, the UE behavior of the measurement cycle during the transition from power-saving configurations is defined as follows. In each transition case, the network has the same expectation for the measurement cycle or latency as that performed at the UE.

[0037] When switching from either the first or second scenario to the third scenario, the UE performs a measurement corresponding to the measurement period (or delay) of the third scenario.

[0038] When switching from a third scenario to either the first or second scenario, the UE performs measurements corresponding to the measurement cycle of the first or second scenario if the handover criteria are met (i.e., switching to the first or second scenario). The UE may discard previous measurements before the switch and only use measurements performed after the switch.

[0039] When switching from an active state to any of the first, second, or third scenarios, the UE performs measurements corresponding to the measurement cycle for any of the first, second, or third scenarios that the UE is entering.

[0040] When switching from the first scenario, the second scenario, or the third scenario to the active state, the UE performs measurements corresponding to the measurement cycle of the active state if the switching criteria are met (i.e., transitioning to the active state). The UE may discard previous measurements before the transition.

[0041] Figure 4 A method 400 for determining the RRM configuration of a user equipment (UE) during transitions between RRM power-saving scenarios is illustrated according to various exemplary embodiments. In 405, the UE performs radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell. As discussed above, RRM measurements can indicate whether a power-saving configuration can be entered or exited.

[0042] In step 410, the UE determines whether it meets the criteria for a first mobility-related scenario, a second mobility-related scenario, or a third mobility-related scenario. As discussed above, the first scenario is a low mobility state, the second scenario is an out-of-cell-edge state, and the third scenario is both a low mobility state and an out-of-cell-edge state. These scenarios can be entered when the UE is in an RRC active state, but power-saving configuration is only implemented when the UE is in an RRC inactive state.

[0043] In 415, the UE determines the RRM configuration when transitioning from any of the first, second, or third scenarios (in an RRC inactive state) or an RRC active state to any other of these three scenarios or an RRC active state. As discussed above, the RRM configuration can depend on whether the UE is transitioning from a more lenient configuration to a more stringent configuration, or vice versa.

[0044] According to the second exemplary embodiment, parameters for an evaluation period are defined, which is used to determine whether to enter or exit a power-saving configuration. The frequency at which RRM lenient configuration changes are triggered depends on the evaluation period of power-saving criteria, such as determining whether the UE is in a low-mobility state or not close to the cell edge.

[0045] In this implementation, serving cell measurements are not relaxed in any way (only neighboring cell measurements can be relaxed in Scenario 3), therefore the UE performs serving cell measurements for a given interval, for example, once every M1*N1*DRX_ cycles. The serving cell measurement notification assessment evaluates whether to change to a power-saving configuration or from a power-saving configuration. A transition from power-saving mode to normal (active) mode means the UE has higher mobility or is approaching the edge of the serving cell, making mobility measurements more important than power saving, and the UE should respond to the state change as quickly as possible. A transition from normal (active) mode to power-saving mode means the UE has lower mobility or is leaving the edge of the serving cell, and the assessment can be performed as frequently as mobility measurements without any additional power consumption.

[0046] In short, since the state change assessment (i.e., the assessment of whether to relax or tighten RRM requirements) is based on the serving cell RRM measurement, and the serving cell RRM measurement is not relaxed in either of the UE configurations, the assessment speed can be matched with the serving cell measurement speed without affecting the UE from the perspective of power consumption or complexity.

[0047] The evaluation of the RRM leniency criterion can be as frequent and as long as each serving cell measurement cycle. The evaluation cycle for determining the power-saving mode's RRM leniency criterion can be equal to the serving cell measurement cycle at the UE, or the step size of the sliding window for evaluating the power-saving mode's RRM leniency criterion can be equal to the serving cell measurement cycle at the UE. For example, if the window size is 20 measurements and there is one measurement per C-DRX cycle, the step size of the sliding window can be set to one measurement cycle, which in this example corresponds to one C-DRX cycle.

[0048] The threshold used to determine the "not at the cell edge" condition can be similar to the threshold used to determine the cell center condition. The same RRM measurement parameters can be compared with various thresholds used to determine these conditions.

[0049] RRM measurement parameters include cell class selection and quality class. For example, S rxlev The parameter can represent the cell selection Rx power level (in dB) measured by the UE. qual The parameters can represent the quality level. As mentioned above, the "not at the cell edge" scenario is defined as S. rxlev Greater than threshold S SearchThresholdP And S qual Greater than threshold S SearchThresholdQWhen the criteria are met, the UE can determine that it is in the "not at the cell edge" scenario. However, the relevant scenario the UE can enter is the "cell center" scenario. The cell center scenario can be defined differently from the "not at the cell edge" scenario. For example, relative to the determined S... rxlev and S qual Different threshold values ​​can be used to determine whether a UE is in the cell center. In one example, a threshold used for inter-frequency measurement triggering, i.e., threshold S, can be used. nonIntraSearchP and S nonIntraSearchQ That is, when S is determined rxlev Value greater than threshold S nonIntraSearchP And determine S qual Value greater than threshold S nonIntraSearchQ At this point, the UE can be considered to meet the "cell center" standard. nonIntraSearchP and S nonIntraSearchQ The threshold can be higher than S. SearchThresholdP and S SearchThresholdQ Threshold. In another example, a threshold used for triggering measurements within the frequency range, i.e., threshold S, can be used. IntraSearchP and S IntraSearchQ 3GPP TS38.304, v.15.6.0, section 5.2.4.2 states that "if the serving cell satisfies S..." rxlv >S IntraSearchP And S qual >S IntraSearchQ If the frequency is not met, the UE can choose not to perform in-frequency measurements. Otherwise, the UE should perform in-frequency measurements. Therefore, the threshold S is satisfied. IntraSearchP and S IntraSearchQ It can also be considered to meet the "community center" standard.

[0050] According to a specific network implementation, the threshold used to determine cell center conditions can be configured to be greater than or less than a threshold for not being at the cell edge. According to a third exemplary implementation, the UE RRM power-saving behavior can depend on the relative difference between the thresholds.

[0051] Figure 5 Figure 500 illustrates determination of UE in-frequency measurement behavior under misaligned conditions in cell center and out-of-cell edge conditions, according to various exemplary embodiments. The left column shows the signal strength and quality thresholds (S) used to determine whether in-frequency measurements can be paused. IntraSearchP and S IntraSearchQ The UE behavior in the first embodiment is as follows when both the signal strength and quality thresholds used to determine whether the UE is far from the cell edge are greater than the corresponding signal strength and quality thresholds. The right column shows the signal strength and quality thresholds (S) used to determine whether in-frequency measurements can be paused. IntraSearchP and S IntraSearchQThe UE behavior of the second implementation scheme is when any of the following is less than or equal to the corresponding signal strength and quality threshold used to determine whether the UE is far from the cell edge.

[0052] Even without low mobility conditions, "S" IntraSearchP ≤S SearchThresholdP "or "S IntraSearchQ ≤S SearchThresholdQ The UE will not perform in-frequency measurements under lenient conditions. The network behavior of in-frequency measurements in power saving is defined as follows.

[0053] When the threshold configured for conditions not located at the cell edge is higher than that configured for "S" IntraSearchP "or "S IntraSearchQ When a threshold is configured for cell center conditions, the network can avoid configuring in-frequency requirements. If this is configured, the UE can disable power-saving mode regardless of whether the power-saving criteria are met. When the threshold configured for conditions not at the cell edge is higher than that configured for "S"... nonIntraSearchP "or "S nonIntraSearchQ When the threshold for the cell center condition is configured, the network can avoid configuring inter-frequency requirements. If this is configured, the UE can disable power-saving mode regardless of the power-saving standard.

[0054] In the left column (first embodiment), the UE does not perform in-frequency measurements when the signal strength and quality measurements are greater than the in-frequency threshold. The UE performs relaxed in-frequency measurements when the signal strength and quality measurements are between the in-frequency threshold and the power saving threshold (not at the cell edge). If the signal strength and quality measurements are lower than the power saving threshold (not at the cell edge), the UE performs conventional in-frequency measurements.

[0055] In the right column (second implementation), the UE does not perform in-frequency measurements when the signal strength and quality measurements are greater than the power saving threshold. The UE again does not perform in-frequency measurements when the signal strength and quality measurements are between the in-frequency threshold and the power saving threshold. If the signal strength and quality measurements are lower than the in-frequency threshold, the UE performs conventional in-frequency measurements.

[0056] Figure 6 A method 600 for determining whether to enter a power-saving configuration based on the correlation between a cell center threshold and a threshold not in the cell edge is shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0057] In 605, the UE performs radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell to which it is connected. As discussed above, RRM measurements may include signal strength and quality measurements that indicate whether power-saving configurations can be entered or exited.

[0058] In 610, the UE determines the correlation between a first signal strength and quality threshold used to determine the cell center conditions of the UE and a second signal strength and quality threshold used to determine the far-from-cell-edge conditions of the UE. As discussed above, when the first and second thresholds are misaligned, the UE can determine its configuration based on relative threshold levels and RRM measurements.

[0059] In 615, the UE determines whether to enter a power-saving configuration that relaxes RRM measurements based on the correlation between a first threshold and a second threshold. The specific implementation of this determination has been discussed in detail above.

[0060] Those skilled in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments described above can be implemented with any suitable software or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, and mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, exemplary embodiments of the methods described above may be embodied as programs comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, at compile time, can be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0061] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments, each with different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment can be combined with features of other embodiments or features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the disclosed embodiment of the invention in any manner not explicitly denied.

[0062] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0063] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to this disclosure without departing from its spirit or scope. Therefore, this disclosure is intended to cover all modifications and variations thereof, provided that such modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) connected to a serving cell of a 5G New Radio (NR) network, comprising: Perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the serving cell, the RRM measurements including signal strength and quality for the connection; Determine the relative difference between a first signal strength and quality threshold used to determine the cell center condition of the UE and a second signal strength and quality threshold used to determine the cell edge condition of the UE; Whether to enter a power-saving mode that relaxes RRM measurements is determined based on the relative difference between the first signal strength and quality threshold and the second signal strength and quality threshold. as well as The UE performs a relaxed in-frequency measurement when both the signal strength and quality measurements are: (i) less than or equal to the first signal strength and quality threshold, and (ii) greater than the second signal strength and quality threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first signal strength and quality threshold are both greater than the corresponding second signal strength and quality threshold.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: When both the signal strength and quality measurement values ​​are greater than the corresponding first signal strength and quality thresholds, the UE does not perform in-frequency measurement; When both the signal strength and quality measurements are between the corresponding first signal strength and quality thresholds and the corresponding second signal strength and quality thresholds, the UE performs a relaxed in-frequency measurement. as well as When both the signal strength and quality measurements are lower than the corresponding second signal strength and quality thresholds, the UE performs conventional in-frequency measurements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein either the first signal strength and the quality threshold is less than or equal to the corresponding second signal strength and quality threshold.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: When both the signal strength and quality measurement values ​​are greater than the corresponding second signal strength and quality thresholds, the UE does not perform in-frequency measurement; When both the signal strength and quality measurements are between the corresponding first signal strength and quality thresholds and the corresponding second signal strength and quality thresholds, the UE does not perform in-frequency measurements; as well as When both the signal strength and quality measurements are lower than the corresponding first signal strength and quality thresholds, the UE performs conventional in-frequency measurements.

6. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A transceiver configured to connect to a serving cell of a 5G New Radio (NR) network; as well as A processor configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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