Method for user equipment and user equipment

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) supports independent measurement gap configuration. The UE transmits an indication to a currently camped cell indicating that the UE supports independent measurement gap configuration for New Radio Interface (NR-U) in unlicensed spectrum, receives measurement gap configuration information from the currently camped cell, configures a measurement gap pattern based on the measurement gap configuration information, and receives signals from the cell during measurement gaps of the measurement gap pattern.

Description

Background Art

[0001] A user equipment (UE) can camp on a cell of a corresponding network to establish a network connection. When camped, the UE can be configured with a measurement gap pattern that includes measurement gaps and a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP). A measurement gap may represent a time window during which the UE can collect measurement data for a cell other than the currently configured serving cell. The MGRP may represent the duration between two consecutive measurement gaps.

[0002] Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) coverage can be extended to unlicensed spectrum (5G NR-U). A UE with 5G NR-U capability can be configured with one or more measurement gap patterns. In some scenarios, measurement gaps can be configured for multiple different types of measurements, such as inter-frequency, inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT), licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, etc. For example, a UE can be configured with measurement gaps for both 5G NR cells and 5G NR-U cells. In other scenarios, measurement gaps can be configured for specific types of measurements. For example, a UE can be configured with independent measurement gaps for 5G NR-U cells. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Some example aspects relate to a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting an indication to a currently camped cell indicating that the UE supports independent measurement gap configuration for New Radio Interface (NR-U) in unlicensed spectrum; receiving measurement gap configuration information from the currently camped cell; configuring a measurement gap pattern based on the measurement gap configuration information; and receiving a signal from the cell during a measurement gap of the measurement gap pattern.

[0004] Other exemplary aspects relate to a user equipment (UE) having a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver is configured to communicate with a network. The processor is configured to: transmit an indication to a currently camped cell indicating that the UE supports independent measurement gap configuration for New Radio Interface (NR-U) in unlicensed spectrum; receive measurement gap configuration information from the currently camped cell; configure a measurement gap pattern based on the measurement gap configuration information; and receive a signal from the cell during a measurement gap of the measurement gap pattern.

[0005] Further example aspects relate to a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: transmitting an indication to a currently camped cell indicating that the UE does not support independent measurement gap configuration for New Radio Interface (NR-U) in unlicensed spectrum; receiving measurement gap configuration information from the currently camped cell; configuring a measurement gap pattern based on the measurement gap configuration information; and receiving a signal from the cell during a measurement gap of the measurement gap pattern. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0007] Figure 2 A table describing various exemplary scenarios for deploying a system including 5G New Radio (5G NR-U) in unlicensed spectrum is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 An exemplary user equipment (UE) is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0009] Figure 4 A signaling diagram illustrating a standalone measurement gap configuration for 5G NR-U according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and associated drawings, wherein similar elements are numbered the same. The exemplary embodiments relate to implementing independent measurement gap configuration for fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) in user equipment (UE) with unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) capabilities. The exemplary embodiments provide mechanisms for the network and UE to handle situations related to measurement gaps for 5G NR-U.

[0011] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a UE. However, reference to a UE is provided for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be used with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, UE as described herein is used to represent any electronic component.

[0012] When camping on a cell of a network, the UE may be configured with a measurement gap pattern including a measurement gap and a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the term "measurement gap" generally refers to a time period during which the UE may collect measurement data corresponding to cells other than the currently configured serving cell. For example, when camping on a first cell of a first network, the UE may be configured with a measurement gap during which the UE may scan various frequencies for signals broadcast by other cells (e.g., a second cell of the first network, a first cell of the second network, etc.). The UE may collect measurement data based on signals received during the measurement gap. The measurement data collected by the UE may then be used by the UE and / or the network for a variety of different purposes, including but not limited to cell selection, cell reselection, handover, carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, radio resource management, etc.

[0013] Those skilled in the art will also understand that the term "MGRP" may generally refer to the duration between two consecutive measurement gaps. For example, consider a scenario where a measurement gap pattern is configured with a measurement gap length of (Y) seconds and an MGRP of (X) seconds. First, a first measurement gap is triggered. The UE may then tune its transceiver to one or more frequencies to scan for signals broadcast by one or more different types of target cells for (Y) seconds. After the measurement gap expires, the UE may return the tuning to its serving cell. After the first measurement gap (X) seconds, a second measurement gap may be triggered. The UE may again tune its transceiver to one or more frequencies to scan for signals broadcast by one or more different types of target cells for (Y) seconds. The above examples are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments in any way. Rather, the above examples are provided merely as general examples of the relationship between measurement gaps and MGRP.

[0014] The UE is capable of supporting multiple concurrent independent measurement gap modes. In some scenarios, measurement gaps can be configured for multiple different types of measurements, such as inter-frequency, inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT), licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, etc. For example, the UE can be configured with measurement gaps for both 5G NR cells and 5G NR-U cells. In other scenarios, measurement gaps can be configured for specific types of measurements. For example, the UE can be configured with independent measurement gaps for 5G NR-U cells. The exemplary embodiment provides a mechanism for the network and the UE to handle situations related to measurement gaps configured for 5G NR-U.

[0015] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the UE 110 can be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, tablet computer, desktop computer, smartphone, phablet, embedded device, wearable device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be understood that an actual 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.

[0016] UE 110 can be configured to communicate 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 (RAN) 120, long term evolution (LTE) RAN 122, and WLAN 124. However, it should be understood that UE 110 can also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., 5G cloud RAN, traditional cellular network, etc.), and UE 110 can also communicate with the network through a wired connection. With respect to the exemplary embodiment, UE 110 can establish a connection with 5G NR RAN 120, LTE RAN 122, and / or WLAN 124. Thus, UE 110 can have a 5G NR chipset for communicating with NR RAN 120, an LTE chipset for communicating with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset for communicating with WLAN 124.

[0017] The 5G NR RAN 120 and the LTE-RAN 122 may be part of a cellular network that may be deployed by a network operator (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). The RANs 120 and 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (Node B, 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. The WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0018] In the network arrangement 100, the 5G NR RAN 120 includes a first 5G NR cell 120A, a second 5G NR cell 120B, a first 5G NR-U cell 120C, and a second 5G NR-U cell 120D. Furthermore, the LTE-RAN 120 includes a first LTE cell 122A and a second LTE cell 122B. However, a practical network arrangement may include any number of cells deployed by any number of RANs. Therefore, the example of two 5G NR cells 120A and 120B, two 5G NR-U cells 120C and 120D, and two LTE cells 122A and 122B is provided for illustrative purposes only.

[0019] The cell (e.g., 120A-120D, 122A, 122B) may include one or more communication interfaces to exchange data and / or information with a UE, a corresponding RAN, a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, etc. In addition, the cell may include a processor configured to perform various operations. For example, the cell's processor may be configured to perform operations related to configuring measurement gaps for a currently camped UE and transmitting signals during the configured measurement gaps that the UE can use to derive measurement data. However, reference to a processor is for illustrative purposes only. The operations of the cell may also be represented as independently incorporated components of the base station, or may be modular components coupled to the base station, 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. In addition, in some base stations, the functionality of the processor is shared between two or more processors, such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in accordance with any of these or other configurations of the base station.

[0020] As follows about Figure 2Describing in more detail, exemplary embodiments relate to scenarios that may include carrier aggregation (CA) and / or dual connectivity (DC). Thus, in some embodiments, UE 110 may be connected to both 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122. However, reference to separate 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 is provided for illustrative purposes only. An actual network arrangement may include a radio access network that includes an architecture capable of providing both 5G NR RAT and LTE RAT services. For example, a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN) (not shown) may include a next-generation Node B (gNB) providing 5G NR services and a next-generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB) providing LTE services. The NG-RAN may be connected to at least one of an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC). Thus, in one exemplary configuration, UE 110 may achieve DC by establishing a connection to at least one cell corresponding to the 5G NR-RAN 120 and at least one cell corresponding to the LTE-RAN 122. In another exemplary configuration, UE 110 can achieve DC by establishing connections to at least two cells corresponding to the same NG-RAN or other similar RAN types. Furthermore, 5G NR-RAN 120 is shown as supporting 5G NR cells and 5G NR-U cells. Although these cells are shown as being connected to the same RAN, this is for illustrative purposes only. In an actual network deployment, 5G NR cells and 5G NR-U cells may each correspond to a different RAN. Therefore, the examples of 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 are provided for illustrative purposes only.

[0021] Returning to the exemplary network arrangement 100, the UE 110 may connect to the 5G NR-RAN 120 via at least one of the cells 120A-120D. The UE 110 may connect to the LTE-RAN 122 via at least one of the cells 122A-122B. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any relevant procedures may be performed to connect the UE 110 to the 5G NR-RAN 120 or the LTE-RAN 122. For example, as described above, the 5G NR-RAN 120 may be associated with a particular cellular provider, where the UE 110 and / or its user has a protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 120, the UE 110 may transmit the corresponding credential information in order to associate with the 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, the UE 110 may be associated with a particular cell (e.g., cells 120A-120D). Similarly, to access LTE services, UE 110 may associate with cell 122 A. However, as noted above, reference to 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 is for illustration purposes only, and any suitable type of RAN may be used.

[0022] In addition to networks 120-124, network arrangement 100 includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network services backbone 160. Cellular core network 130 can be considered an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of a cellular network. Cellular core network 130 also manages traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to UE 110 using IP protocols. IMS 150 can communicate with cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to UE 110. Network services backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and cellular core network 130. Network services backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0023] As described above, the exemplary embodiments provide a mechanism for the network and UE to handle situations related to measurement gaps for 5G NR-U. Figure 2 Table 200 is shown describing various exemplary scenarios for deploying a system including 5G NR-U. Figure 1 Table 200 is described with reference to the network arrangement 100. Throughout the specification, some exemplary embodiments may refer to exemplary scenarios of Table 200.

[0024] Scenario A of Table 200 involves carrier aggregation (CA) with one or more 5G NR cells and one or more 5G NR-U cells. CA may include a primary component carrier (PCC) and at least one secondary component carrier (SCC), the PCC and the at least one SCC being used to facilitate communications with the network. The PCC may be used, in part, for control information such as scheduling requests, uplink grants, downlink grants, and the like. CA functionality enables the network to combine bandwidth using the PCC and at least one SCC to exchange data with UE 110. Thus, with CA, the PCC may provide a first portion of the total bandwidth for the data to be exchanged, while the SCC may provide a second portion of the total bandwidth. The combination of the PCC and a single SCC may be characterized as a CC combination comprising two carriers. To further increase the total available bandwidth for data to be exchanged with UE 110, additional SCCs may be incorporated. For example, CC combinations may include, but are not limited to, two carriers, five carriers, ten carriers, twelve carriers, sixteen carriers, twenty carriers, twenty-five carriers, thirty-two carriers, sixty-four carriers, and the like.

[0025] To provide an example of scenario A in the context of network arrangement 100, UE 110 may be configured with a PCC and an SCC to communicate with a primary cell (PCell) operating in a licensed spectrum (e.g., 5G NR cell 120A or 5G NR cell 120B) and a secondary cell (SCell) operating in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5G NR-U cell 122A or 5G NR-U cell 122B), respectively. In this example, the 5G NR-U cell operating as the SCell may be used for both uplink and downlink communications or only for downlink communications. This example is not intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments, but rather to illustrate a general example of how 5G NR-U and 5G NR may be used to provide carrier aggregation.

[0026] Scenario B of Table 200 involves DC with one or more LTE cells and one or more 5G NR-U cells. Throughout this specification, DC may generally refer to a UE 110 configured to transmit and receive on multiple CCs corresponding to cells associated with different RATs (e.g., 5G NR, 5G NR-U, LTE, etc.). The UE may implement DC via one or more cells of a primary cell group (MCG) and one or more cells of a secondary cell group (SCG). Similar to CA, DC may include various different types of CC combinations.

[0027] To provide an example of scenario B in the context of the network arrangement 100, the UE 110 may be configured with an MCG including one or more LTE cells (e.g., LTE cells 122A, 122B) and an SCG including one or more 5G NR-U cells (e.g., 5G NR-U cells 120C, 120D). From a protocol stack perspective, in some embodiments, the UE 110 may have a control plane and a user plane with the LTE-RAN 122 via the MCG, and a control plane and a user plane with the 5G NR-RAN 120 via the SCG. In other embodiments, the UE 110 has a control plane with the LTE-RAN 122 via the MCG and a user plane with the 5G NR-RAN 120 via the SCG (or vice versa). This example is not intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments, but rather to illustrate a general example in which LTE and 5G NR-U can be used to provide DC.

[0028] Scenario C of Table 200 involves standalone 5G NR-U. In this scenario, UE 110 can access network services from a 5G NR-U cell (e.g., 5G NR-U cells 120C, 120D) without using any licensed carrier. UE 110 can communicate with the 5G NR-U cell in both uplink and downlink. Standalone 5G NR-U can also include a carrier aggregation scenario involving multiple 5G NR-U cells.

[0029] Scenario D of Table 200 involves standalone 5G NR-U with an uplink in licensed spectrum. In this scenario, UE 110 can access network services from a 5G NR-U cell (e.g., 5G NR-U cells 120C, 120D). UE 110 can also be configured to transmit information and / or data to the network using an uplink to a cell operating in licensed spectrum (e.g., 5G NR cell 120A, 5G NR cell 120B, LTE cell 122A, LTE cell 122B). The scope of exemplary scenario D may overlap with the scope of exemplary scenarios A and B.

[0030] Scenario E of Table 200 involves DC with one or more 5G NR cells and one or more 5G NR-U cells. For example, UE 110 can be configured with an MCG including one or more 5G NR cells (e.g., 5G NR cells 120A, 120B) and an SCG including one or more 5G NR-U cells (e.g., 5G NR-U cells 120C, 120d). From a protocol stack perspective, in some embodiments, UE 110 can have a control plane and a user plane via the MCG and a control plane and a user plane via the SCG. In other embodiments, UE 110 has a control plane via the MCG and a user plane via the SCG (or vice versa). This example is not intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments, but rather to illustrate a general example in which 5G NR and 5G NR-U can be used to provide DC.

[0031] Figure 3 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, a display device 315, an input / output (I / O) device 320, a transceiver 325, and other components 330. The other components 330 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, and the like.

[0032] The processor 305 may be configured to execute multiple engines of the UE 110. For example, the engines may include a measurement gap configuration engine 335. The measurement gap configuration engine 335 may perform operations associated with configuring measurement gaps and collecting measurement data according to a corresponding measurement gap pattern.

[0033] The engine described above as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 305 is merely exemplary. The functionality associated with the engine may also be represented as a standalone integrated component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, such as an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an 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 one application or as separate applications. Furthermore, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 305 is shared between two or more processors, such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0034] The memory 310 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 315 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 320 may be a hardware component that enables user input. The display device 315 and the I / O device 320 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 325 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120, the LTE-RAN 122, the WLAN 124, etc. Thus, the transceiver 325 may operate on multiple different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous set of frequencies).

[0035] UE 110 may be equipped with multiple radio frequency (RF) chains. For example, transceiver 325 may include one or more RF chains that may be used to receive and / or transmit over-the-air (OTA) signals. In some embodiments, to facilitate concurrent independent measurement gap patterns, a first RF chain may be used for operation corresponding to a first measurement gap pattern, while a second RF chain may be used for operation corresponding to a second measurement gap pattern. Those skilled in the art will understand the types of hardware, software, and / or firmware components that may be used to operate the RF chains. The exemplary embodiments may be applied to RF chains implemented using any suitable set of components. Furthermore, the use of one or two RF chains is merely exemplary, and UE 110 may have any number of RF chains.

[0036] Figure 4 A signaling diagram 400 is shown for independent measurement gap configuration for 5G NR-U according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 The network arrangement 100 and Figure 2 The signaling diagram 400 is described with reference to the UE 110 of FIG.

[0037] Signaling diagram 400 includes UE 110, a first cell 402, and a second cell 404. In this example, first cell 402 represents the currently camped cell, while second cell 404 represents any type of neighboring cell, such as inter-frequency, inter-RAT, licensed access, unlicensed access, etc. Signaling diagram 400 provides a general overview of the types of signaling that may occur before and after configuring a measurement gap. However, throughout the description of signaling diagram 400, specific examples may refer to the scenarios of Table 200. Therefore, in some examples, first cell 402 and / or second cell 404 may be characterized by specific attributes.

[0038] In 410, UE 110 camps on a first cell 402. To provide some examples, in the context of scenarios A and E of table 200, first cell 402 may be a 5G NR cell (e.g., 5G NR cells 120A, 120B). In the context of scenario B of table 200, first cell 402 may be an LTE cell (e.g., LTE cells 122A, 122B). In the context of scenarios A and E of table 200, first cell 402 may be a 5G NR-U cell (e.g., 5G NR-U cells 120C, 120D). Thus, first cell 402 may be a 5G NR-U cell or a cell of a different RAT. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to first cell 402 being any particular type of cell and may be applicable to UE 110 camping on any appropriate type of cell in 410.

[0039] In 415, UE 110 may transmit an indication of one or more capabilities related to independent measurement gaps for 5G NR-U. For example, the capability information may be transmitted to first cell 402 in response to a capability query during radio resource control (RRC) signaling. However, this example is provided for illustration purposes only, and exemplary embodiments may transmit the indication at any suitable time using any suitable mechanism. Furthermore, as will be described in more detail below, the network may configure UE 110 to have one or more measurement gaps based on the indication transmitted in 415.

[0040] In some embodiments, the capability information may include an information element (IE) that can be used to indicate one or more UE 110 capabilities related to independent measurement gaps for 5G NR-U. In this example, the IE (or field) may be referred to as "independentGapConfigCCA," where CCA stands for Clear Channel Assessment. The independentGapConfigCCA IE may indicate whether the UE 110 supports two independent measurement gaps, one for licensed band cell measurements and the other for NR-U cell measurements. When the UE 110 is configured with only a 5G NR-U serving cell, the independentGapConfigCCA IE may also indicate whether the UE 110 supports gapless licensed band cell measurements. When the UE 10 is configured with only a licensed band serving cell, the independentGapConfigCCA IE may also indicate whether the UE 110 supports gapless 5G NR-U cell measurements. Thus, using one or more bits, the UE 110 may implicitly indicate to the network one or more capabilities related to independent measurement gaps for 5G NR-U.

[0041] As described above, the UE 110 may be equipped with multiple RF chains. The RF chains may enable the UE 110 to support two or more independent measurement gaps and gapless measurements. For example, a first RF chain may be used to collect measurement data according to one of the independent measurement gap configurations, while a second RF chain may be used to collect measurement data according to another independent measurement gap configuration. In addition, since one RF chain may be used for licensed band cells and one RF chain may be used for 5G NR-U cells, the UE 110 may support gapless measurements. For example, when the UE 110 is configured with only a 5G NR-U serving cell, the UE 110 may implement measurement gaps to measure other 5G NR-U cells. However, since the UE 110 is not configured with any licensed band serving cell, no licensed band serving cell is tuned away during the measurement gap. Therefore, when only a 5G NR-U serving cell is configured, the UE 110 may support gapless measurements for licensed band cells, and vice versa.

[0042] For CA and DC, UE 110 may be configured to advertise supported band combinations. In some embodiments, UE 110 may include an indication dedicated to one or more specific band combinations. Thus, the indication in 415 may represent one or more indications, each indication dedicated to one or more specific band combinations.

[0043] At 420, the network configures one or more measurement gaps for the UE 110. Although the operations are shown in the signaling diagram 400 as being specific to the first cell 402, the operations may be performed by any suitable set of one or more network components (e.g., the first cell 402, a corresponding RAN, the core network 130, a network function, a primary node, a secondary node, an SCell, a PSCell, etc.).

[0044] If UE 110 indicates in 415 that UE 110 does not support standalone measurement gaps for 5G NR-U, the network may configure legacy measurement gaps that may be used for both licensed band cell measurement and 5G NR-U cell measurement. Alternatively, if UE 110 indicates in 415 that UE 110 is capable of supporting standalone measurement gaps for 5G NR-U, the network may configure i) legacy measurement gaps that may be used for both licensed band cell measurement and 5G NR-U cell measurement, or ii) legacy measurement gaps that may be used for licensed band cell measurement and standalone measurement gaps for 5G NR-U cell measurement.

[0045] In the context of scenarios B and E of Table 200, in some embodiments, the primary node may configure one or more measurement gaps for both licensed band cell measurements and 5G NR-U cell measurements. In other embodiments, the primary node may configure measurement gaps for licensed band cell measurements, and the secondary node may configure measurement gaps for 5G NR-U cell measurements.

[0046] At 425, first cell 402 may transmit measurement gap configuration information to UE 110. Similar to the indication transmitted at 415, the measurement gap configuration information may be transmitted during RRC signaling. However, this example is provided for illustration purposes only, and example embodiments may transmit the indication at any suitable time using any suitable mechanism.

[0047] The measurement gap configuration information may include information such as, but not limited to, measurement gap length, MGRP, timing offset, gap pattern ID, subframe information, related CCs, related target cells, and the like. If the measurement gap configuration information is used for both licensed band cell measurements and 5G NR-U cell measurements, the measurement gap configuration information will include an explicit or implicit indication. Similarly, if the measurement gap configuration information is used only for licensed band cell measurements or only for 5G NR-U cell measurements, the measurement gap configuration information will include an explicit or implicit indication. Based on the measurement gap configuration information, UE 110 is able to determine the timing of the assigned measurement gap pattern. At this point, both UE 110 and the network are synchronized with respect to the measurement gap pattern, e.g., UE 110 knows when to monitor signals that can be used to derive measurement data for cells other than cell 402.

[0048] At 430, a measurement gap is scheduled to occur. At 435, second cell 404 transmits a signal during the measurement gap in 430. For example, at 435, second cell 404 may transmit a reference signal or any other suitable signal. In response, UE 110 may derive measurement data such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and the like. As described above, the measurement data collected by UE 110 may then be used by the UE and / or the network for a variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, cell selection, cell reselection, handover, carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, radio resource management, and the like. Thus, the measurement data may trigger subsequent operations on the UE 110 side and / or may be transmitted to the network for subsequent processing. However, the types of measurement data collected and the types of actions that may be triggered by the measurement data are beyond the scope of the exemplary embodiments. Instead, the exemplary embodiments are directed to UE 110 and network behavior related to configuring and implementing measurement gaps that may be used for 5G NR-U. Specific examples of UE 110 and network behavior during measurement gaps are described in more detail below.

[0049] Initially, consider a scenario where UE 110 is currently configured with only one or more licensed band serving cells. For example, cell 402 may be one of 5G NR cells 120A, 120B or LTE cells 122A, 122B. If the measurement gap configuration information in network indication 425 applies to both licensed band cell measurements and unlicensed band cell measurements, the measurement gap of 430 may be used for both licensed band cell measurements and unlicensed band cell measurements. In another example, if the measurement gap configuration information in network indication 425 applies only to licensed band cell measurements, the measurement gap of 430 may be used for licensed band cell measurements. UE 110 may then perform 5G NR-U cell measurements based on the effective MGRP of (X). For example, X may be equal to 40 milliseconds (ms) or any other appropriate duration. Since there is no 5G NR-U serving cell, the corresponding RF chain does not need to tune away from the 5G NR-U serving cell. Therefore, UE 110 may attempt to collect measurement data from the 5G NR-U cell based on the effective MGRP of (X), however, since it is not tuned away from the serving cell, the measurement gaps may not be utilized.

[0050] Next, consider a scenario where UE 110 is currently configured with both one or more licensed band serving cells and one or more 5G NR-U serving cells. If the network indicates that the measurement gap configuration information in 425 applies to both licensed band cell measurements and unlicensed band cell measurements, then the measurement gap in 430 may be used for both licensed band cell measurements and unlicensed band cell measurements.

[0051] Furthermore, consider a scenario where UE 110 is currently configured with one or more 5G NR-U serving cells and has no currently configured licensed band serving cells. In some embodiments, regardless of whether explicit legacy measurement gaps are configured for the licensed band 5G NR cells, the pre-configured effective MGRP may be used to collect measurement data corresponding to the licensed band 5G NR cells.

[0052] For example, UE 110 may implement an effective MGRP of 20 ms for frequency range 2 (FR2) 5G NR measurements, a 40 ms effective MGRP for frequency range 1 (FR1) 5G NR measurements, a 40 ms effective MGRP for LTE measurements, and / or a 40 ms effective MGRP for FR1 5G NR measurements and LTE measurements. As described above, since there is no licensed band serving cell, no actual measurement gap may be utilized since there is no serving cell to tune away from. Furthermore, the references to 20 ms and 40 ms are provided for illustrative purposes only, and exemplary embodiments are applicable to any suitable duration of the effective MGRP.

[0053] The following example describes the behavior of the UE 110 during the measurement gap 430 in the context of the exemplary scenario of Table 200 when the measurement gap 430 is dedicated to 5G NR-U cell measurements. In the context of scenario A of Table 200, during the measurement gap dedicated to 5G NR-U, the UE 110 may not need to perform reception from or transmission to the 5G NR-U serving SCell, except for receiving signals for radio resource management measurements and signals for random access procedures. In other words, the UE 110 may tune away from the 5G NR-U serving SCell to receive signals from the 5G NR-U neighboring cell during the measurement gap. However, during the measurement gap used for radio resource management or for the random access procedure corresponding to the 5G NR-U serving SCell, the UE 110 may omit tuning away from or tuning back to the 5G NR-U serving SCell.

[0054] In the context of scenarios B and E of Table 200, except for receiving signals for radio resource management measurements and signals for the random access procedure, during the measurement gaps dedicated to 5G NR-U, the UE 110 may not need to perform reception from or transmission to the 5G NR-U cell of the SCG (e.g., primary secondary cell (PSCell), one or more SCells, etc.). In other words, the UE 110 may tune away from the 5G NR-U cell of the SCG for receiving signals from the 5G NR-U neighboring cells during the measurement gaps. However, during the measurement gaps for radio resource management or for the random access procedure for the 5G NR-U cell corresponding to the SCG, the UE 110 may omit tuning away from or tuning back to the 5G NR-U cell of the SCG.

[0055] In the context of scenarios C and D of Table 200, UE 110 may not need to perform reception from or transmission to the 5G NR-U serving cell during measurement gaps dedicated to 5G NR-U, except for receiving signals for radio resource management measurements and signals for the random access procedure. In other words, UE 110 may tune away from the 5G NR-U serving cell to receive signals from the 5G NR-U neighboring cell during the measurement gaps. However, during measurement gaps for radio resource management or for the random access procedure corresponding to the 5G NR-U serving cell, UE 110 may omit tuning away from or tuning back to the 5G NR-U serving S cell.

[0056] The following examples describe situations related to 5G NR-U measurements during which an interruption to a licensed band cell or one of the 5G NR-U cells may occur. Generally, in this context, an interruption can refer to an interruption to a data or control channel connection or an interruption to reference signal transmission / reception.

[0057] In a first example, consider a scenario where UE 110 does not support independent measurement gap configuration for 5G NR-U. In this example, the interruption to the licensed band serving cell may be caused by activities of UE 110 on its 5G NR-U cell, such as, but not limited to, 5G NR-U SCell addition, 5G NR-U SCell release, 5G NR-U SCell activation, 5G NR-U Scell ​​deactivation, and 5G NR-U Bandwidth Part (BWP) switching.

[0058] In a second example, consider a scenario where UE 110 is not configured with a standalone measurement gap configuration for 5G NR-U. In this example, the interruption of the 5G NR-U serving cell may be caused by UE 110's activities on its licensed band cell, such as, but not limited to, 5G NR SCell addition, 5G NR SCell release, 5G NR SCell activation, 5G NR SCell deactivation, and 5G NR BWP handover.

[0059] In a third example, consider a scenario where UE 110 supports independent measurement gap configuration for 5G NR-U. In this example, the interruption to the licensed band serving cell may only be caused by UE 110's activities on its licensed band serving cell, such as, but not limited to, 5G NR SCell addition, 5G NR SCell release, 5G NR SCell activation, 5G NR SCell deactivation, and 5G NR BWP handover.

[0060] In a fourth example, consider a scenario where UE 110 supports independent measurement gap configuration for 5G NR-U. In this example, the interruption to the 5G NR-U serving cell may only be caused by activities of UE 110 on its 5G NR-U serving cell, such as, but not limited to, 5G NR-U SCell addition, 5G NR-U SCell release, 5G NR-U SCell activation, 5G NR-U SCell deactivation, and 5G NR-U BWP handover.

[0061] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration 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, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. The exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0062] 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 one embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied, or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or described function of the device of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0063] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining 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 stated to users.

[0064] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE), comprising: transmitting an indication to a currently camped cell, indicating that the UE supports a standalone measurement gap configuration for fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR), wherein the indication is included in an information element (IE), the information element indicating whether the UE supports a standalone measurement gap configuration for licensed band cells, a standalone measurement gap configuration for unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) cells, licensed band cell measurement without gaps when the UE is configured with only one or more NR-U serving cells, and NR-U cell measurement without gaps when the UE is configured with only one or more licensed band serving cells; receiving measurement gap configuration information from the currently camped cell; configuring a measurement gap mode based on the measurement gap configuration information; as well as A signal is received from a cell during a measurement gap of the measurement gap pattern. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IE is associated with an advertised frequency band combination.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement gap configuration information indicates that the measurement gap is to be used for i) only NR-U cell measurement, ii) only licensed band cell measurement, or iii) both licensed band cell measurement and NR-U cell measurement.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A signal corresponding to a random access procedure is transmitted to the currently camped cell during the measurement gap, wherein the measurement gap is dedicated to NR-U cell measurement, and wherein the currently camped cell operates in a licensed frequency band.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A signal corresponding to radio resource management is received from the currently camped cell during the measurement gap, wherein the measurement gap is dedicated to NR-U cell measurement, and wherein the currently camped cell operates in a licensed frequency band.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a serving cell operates in a licensed frequency band, and wherein the UE is configured to cause an outage of the licensed frequency band only for UE activity on the licensed frequency band.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the serving cell operates in an unlicensed frequency band, and wherein the UE is configured to cause an outage on the unlicensed frequency band only for UE activity on the unlicensed frequency band.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one serving cell operates in a licensed frequency band, and The measurement gap configuration information indicates that the measurement gap will be used for licensed frequency band cell measurement and NR-U cell measurement.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determining that the measurement gap configuration information is used for licensed frequency band cell measurement; and Configure the effective measurement gap repetition period for NR-U cell measurement. 10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the effective measurement gap repetition period comprises one of the following: based on at least the measurement gap configuration information for the licensed band cell measurement, or 40 milliseconds.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: collecting measurement data of an NR-U cell according to the measurement gap pattern, wherein the UE is configured with only an NR-U serving cell; as well as The measurement data of the licensed frequency band cells are collected according to the effective measurement gap repetition period.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the effective measurement gap repetition period comprises one of: 20 milliseconds (ms) for frequency range 2 (FR2) NR measurements, 40 ms for frequency range 1 (FR1) NR measurements, 40 ms for long term evolution (LTE) measurements, or 40 ms for FR1 and LTE measurements.

13. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; as well as A processor configured to perform operations comprising: transmitting an indication to a currently camped cell, indicating that the UE supports a standalone measurement gap configuration for fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR), wherein the indication is included in an information element (IE), the information element indicating whether the UE supports a standalone measurement gap configuration for licensed band cells, a standalone measurement gap configuration for unlicensed band (NR-U) cells, licensed band cell measurement without gaps when the UE is configured with only one or more NR-U serving cells, and NR-U cell measurement without gaps when the UE is configured with only one or more licensed band serving cells; receiving measurement gap configuration information from the currently camped cell; configuring a measurement gap mode based on the measurement gap configuration information; as well as A signal is received from a cell during a measurement gap of the measurement gap pattern.

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the measurement gap configuration information indicates that the measurement gap is to be used for i) NR-U cell measurement, ii) licensed band cell measurement, or iii) both licensed band cell measurement and NR-U cell measurement.

15. The UE of claim 13, wherein a serving cell operates in an unlicensed frequency band, and wherein the UE is configured to cause an outage on the unlicensed frequency band only for UE activity on the unlicensed frequency band.

16. The UE of claim 13, wherein at least one serving cell operates in a licensed frequency band, and The measurement gap configuration information indicates that the measurement gap will be used for licensed frequency band cell measurement and NR-U cell measurement.

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