Methods, apparatuses, memory media, and program products for measurement gap cancellation

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to measurement gap cancellation. The present disclosure also relates to a method for a user equipment (UE), which can include receiving, from a network (NW) device, measurement gap (MG) cancellation information associated with a particular MG of one or more MG patterns to be used by the UE; and determining, based on the MG cancellation information, whether the particular MG should be cancelled.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates in general to wireless communication systems, including wireless devices and network devices for measurement gap (MG) cancellation. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless communication devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols can include, for example, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) (such as 4G), 3GPP New Radio (NR) (such as 5G), and the IEEE 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) (often referred to as Wi-Fi within industry organizations). ® ).

[0003] As envisioned by 3GPP, different wireless communication system standards and protocols can use various radio access networks (RANs) to enable RAN (which may sometimes be called RAN nodes, network nodes, or simply nodes) base stations to communicate with wireless communication equipment called user equipment (UEs). 3GPP RANs may include, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and / or Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN).

[0004] Each RAN can use one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for communication between the base station and the UE. For example, GERAN implements the GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements the LTE RAT (sometimes simply referred to as LTE), and NG-RAN implements the NR RAT (sometimes also referred to herein as the 5G RAT, 5G NR RAT, or simply NR). In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement the NR RAT. In some deployments, NG-RAN may also implement the LTE RAT.

[0005] The base stations used by a RAN can correspond to that RAN. An example of an E-UTRAN base station is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as Evolved Node B, Enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB). An example of an NG-RAN base station is a Next Generation Node B (sometimes also called gNodeB or gNB).

[0006] The RAN provides communication services to external entities through its connection with the core network (CN). For example, E-UTRAN can utilize the evolved packet core network (EPC), while NG-RAN can utilize the 5G core network (5GC). Summary of the Invention

[0007] To facilitate a smooth network transition with high Quality of Experience (QoE) (e.g., cell handover, redirection, reselection, etc.), user equipment (UE) must have the ability to measure surrounding cells and provide relevant data to the network (NW). When the UE cannot measure the target frequency while transmitting / receiving on the serving cell, the UE may need a measurement gap (MG) to perform the measurement.

[0008] Generally, a UE can be configured by the NW to use one or more MG modes. However, it is desirable for the NW and / or the UE to have the flexibility to determine whether some MGs should be cancelled. For example, the NW may need to determine the priority of data scheduling and UE measurements, and thus cancel one or more MGs.

[0009] The embodiments disclosed herein relate to devices and methods for MG cancellation.

[0010] A method for a user equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of this disclosure may include receiving measurement gap (MG) cancellation information from a network (NW) device associated with a specific MG of one or more MG modes to be used by the UE; and determining, based on the MG cancellation information, whether the specific MG should be cancelled.

[0011] According to some embodiments of this disclosure, a user equipment (UE) may include processor circuitry configured to cause the UE to perform the methods for the UE as described above.

[0012] A method for a network (NW) device according to some embodiments of this disclosure may include transmitting measurement gap (MG) cancellation information to a user equipment (UE) associated with a specific MG of one or more MG modes to be used by the UE, the MG cancellation information including one or more network scheduling configuration (NSC) signals preceding the specific MG; and determining whether the specific MG should be cancelled based on the MG cancellation information by determining whether there is any conflict between the specific MG and a transmission to / from a wireless device scheduled by any of the one or more NSC signals.

[0013] A method for a network (NW) device according to some embodiments of this disclosure may include determining whether a specific measurement gap (MG) of one or more MG modes to be used by a user equipment (UE) should be cancelled; and transmitting to the UE an MG cancellation message associated with the specific MG, the MG cancellation message including an indicator in a downlink control command to explicitly indicate whether the specific MG of one or more MG modes should be cancelled.

[0014] A network (NW) device according to some embodiments of this disclosure may include processor circuitry configured to cause the NW device to perform the methods for NW as described above. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To facilitate identification of any particular element or action being discussed, one or more of the most significant digits in the reference numerals refer to the drawing number in which the element was first introduced.

[0016] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown.

[0017] Figure 2 A system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown.

[0018] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for a UE according to some implementation schemes.

[0019] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for an NW device according to some implementation schemes.

[0020] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for an NW device according to some implementation schemes.

[0021] Figures 6A to 6D This is a diagram showing the MG modes supported by the UE for each frequency range (FR).

[0022] Figure 7A and Figure 7B The implicit instruction-based MG cancellation is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0023] Figure 8 The MG cancellation based on explicit instructions is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0024] Figure 9 Two non-overlapping MGs from a concurrent MG pattern are shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0025] Figure 10The diagram illustrates MG cancellation based on implicit instructions for two non-overlapping MGs, according to some implementation schemes.

[0026] Figure 11 The diagram illustrates MG cancellation based on explicit indication of MGs for two non-overlapping MGs, according to some implementation schemes.

[0027] Figure 12 Two partially overlapping MGs from a concurrent MG pattern are shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0028] Figure 13 Two partially overlapping MGs from a concurrent MG pattern are shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0029] Figure 14 The MG cancellation is shown in a cyclic manner according to some implementation schemes. Detailed Implementation

[0030] Exemplary terms

[0031] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply to the examples and implementations discussed herein, but are not intended to be restrictive.

[0032] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes the following: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) and / or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable SoCs), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the said functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0033] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" means, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures). The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuit" and may be referred to as "processor circuit".

[0034] As used herein, the term "User Equipment" (UE) (or "UE device") means, is a part of, or includes any of the following: mobile or portable computer systems or devices that perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhones). ™ Based on Android ™ Telephones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS) ™ PlayStation Portable ™ Gameboy Advance ™ iPhone ™ ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), personal digital assistants, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined as any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is portable to the user and capable of wireless communication.

[0035] The term "base station" has the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0036] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as network equipment, networked computers, network hardware, network gear, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, radio network controllers, RAN equipment, RAN nodes, gateways, servers, virtualized VNFs, NFVIs, etc. The term "base station" may be considered synonymous with "network element" and may be referred to as such.

[0037] As used herein, the term "computer system" means any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Additionally, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to the various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0038] The term “band” has the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a segment of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which a channel is used or reserved for the same purpose.

[0039] Various components can be described as being "configured" to perform one or more tasks. In such contexts, "configured" is a broad expression generally meaning "having" a "structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently performing one (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect one module to another, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured" can also be a broad expression generally meaning a structure that "has" a "circuit" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Thus, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently switched on. Typically, the circuit forming the structure corresponding to "configured" can include hardware circuitry.

[0040] The phrases “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” etc., may refer to the same or different embodiments. Unless the context otherwise specifies, the terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous. The phrase “A and / or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). The phrases “A / B” and “A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B), similar to the phrase “A and / or B.” For the purposes of this disclosure, the phrase “at least one of A and B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). The description may use the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and / or “in various embodiments,” all of which may refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” etc., used with respect to embodiments of this disclosure are synonymous.

[0041] In the following detailed description, several specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the described exemplary embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments can be implemented without some or all of these specific details. In other exemplary embodiments, well-known structural or process steps have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the concepts of this disclosure.

[0042] Communication system

[0043] Various embodiments are described with respect to the UE. However, references to the UE are provided for illustrative purposes only. Exemplary embodiments may be used with any electronic component capable of establishing a connection to a network and configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE described herein is used to represent any suitable electronic component.

[0044] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture of a wireless communication system 100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein is shown. The description provided below is for an exemplary wireless communication system 100 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and / or 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications.

[0045] like Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication system 100 includes UE 102 and UE 104 (however, any number of UEs may be used). In this example, UE 102 and UE 104 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device configured for wireless communication.

[0046] UE 102 and UE 104 can be configured to be communicatively coupled to RAN 106. In an implementation, RAN 106 may be NG-RAN, E-UTRAN, etc. UE 102 and UE 104 utilize connections (or channels) with RAN 106 (shown as connection 108 and connection 110, respectively), where each connection (or channel) includes a physical communication interface. RAN 106 may include one or more base stations, such as base station 112 and base station 114, that implement connection 108 and connection 110.

[0047] In this example, Connection 108 and Connection 110 are air interfaces that enable this type of communication coupling and can conform to the RAT used by RAN106, such as, for example, LTE and / or NR.

[0048] In some implementations, UE 102 and UE 104 may also exchange communication data directly via sidelink interface 116. UE 104 is shown configured to access an access point (shown as AP 118) via connection 120. For example, connection 120 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 118 may include Wi-Fi. ® Router. In this example, AP 118 may connect to another network (e.g., the Internet) without using CN 124.

[0049] In the implementation, UE 102 and UE 104 may be configured to communicate with each other or with base station 112 and / or base station 114 on a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals, based on various communication technologies, such as, but not limited to, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the implementation is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0050] In some implementations, all or part of base station 112 or base station 114 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network. Furthermore, or in other implementations, base station 112 or base station 114 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 122. In implementations where wireless communication system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 124 is an EPC), interface 122 may be an X2 interface. This X2 interface may be defined between two or more base stations connected to the EPC (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In implementations where wireless communication system 100 is an NR system (e.g., when CN 124 is a 5GC), interface 122 may be an Xn interface. This Xn interface may be defined between two or more base stations connected to the 5GC (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.), between base station 112 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the 5GC and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC (e.g., CN 124).

[0051] RAN 106 is shown communicatively coupled to CN 124. CN 124 may include one or more network elements 126 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 102 and UE 104) connected to CN 124 via RAN 106. Components of CN 124 may be implemented in a single physical device or in separate physical devices, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media).

[0052] In this implementation, CN 124 may be an EPC, and RAN 106 may be connected to CN 124 via S1 interface 128. In this implementation, S1 interface 128 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface, which carries traffic data between base station 112 or 114 and the serving gateway (S-GW); and an S1-MME interface, which is the signaling interface between base station 112 or 114 and the mobility management entity (MME).

[0053] In this implementation, CN 124 may be a 5GC, and RAN 106 may be connected to CN 124 via NG interface 128. In this implementation, NG interface 128 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between base station 112 or base station 114 and the User Plane Function (UPF); and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface, which is the signaling interface between base station 112 or base station 114 and the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0054] Generally, application server 130 may be an element that provides applications that use Internet Protocol (IP) carried resources with CN 124 (e.g., packet-switched data services). Application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, group communication sessions, etc.) for UE 102 and UE 104 via CN 124. Application server 130 may communicate with CN 124 via IP communication interface 132.

[0055] Figure 2 A system 200 for performing signaling 234 between a wireless device 202 and a network device 218, according to an embodiment disclosed herein, is illustrated. System 200 may be part of a wireless communication system as described herein. Wireless device 202 may be, for example, a UE (User Equipment) of a wireless communication system. Network device 218 may be, for example, a base station (e.g., an eNB or gNB) of a wireless communication system.

[0056] Wireless device 202 may include one or more processors 204. Processor 204 is executable instructions that cause various operations of wireless device 202 to be performed as described herein. Processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors, which are implemented using, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), controller, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0057] Wireless device 202 may include memory 206. Memory 206 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 208, which may include, for example, instructions executed by processor 204. Instructions 208 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. Memory 206 may also store data used by processor 204 and results calculated by the processor.

[0058] Wireless device 202 may include one or more transceivers 210, which may include radio frequency (RF) transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses antenna 212 of wireless device 202 to facilitate signaling to and / or from wireless device 202 (e.g., signaling 234) with other devices (e.g., network device 218) in accordance with the corresponding RAT.

[0059] Wireless device 202 may include one or more antennas 212 (e.g., one, two, four, or more). In embodiments with multiple antennas 212, wireless device 202 may utilize spatial diversity of such multiple antennas 212 to transmit and / or receive multiple different data streams on the same time-frequency resource. This practice may be referred to, for example, as a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) approach (referring to multiple antennas used separately on the transmitting and receiving sides to implement this aspect). MIMO transmissions performed by wireless device 202 may be achieved according to precoding (or digital beamforming) applied at wireless device 202, which multiplexes data streams among antennas 212 based on known or assumed channel characteristics, such that each data stream is received with an appropriate signal strength relative to the other streams and at a desired location in the spatial domain (e.g., the location of the receiver associated with that data stream). Some implementations may use a single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) approach (where the entire data stream is directed to a single receiver) and / or a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) approach (where individual data streams may be directed to individual (different) receivers at different locations in the airspace).

[0060] In some implementations with multiple antennas, the wireless device 202 may implement analog beamforming techniques, whereby the phase of the signal transmitted by antenna 212 is relatively adjusted so that the (joint) transmission of antenna 212 can be directional (this is sometimes referred to as beam control).

[0061] Wireless device 202 may include one or more interfaces 214. Interfaces 214 can be used to provide input to or output from the wireless device 202. For example, wireless device 202 as a UE may include interfaces 214, such as microphones, speakers, touchscreens, buttons, etc., to allow users of the UE to input to and / or output to the UE. Other interfaces of such UEs may consist of transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 210 / antenna 212 already described), allowing the UE to communicate with other devices and according to known protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi). ® Bluetooth ® (etc.) to perform the operation.

[0062] Network device 218 may include one or more processors 220. Processor 220 is executable instructions that cause various operations of network device 218 to be performed, as described herein. Processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors, which are implemented using, for example, a CPU, DSP, ASIC, controller, FPGA device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0063] Network device 218 may include memory 222. Memory 222 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 224, which may include, for example, instructions executed by processor 220. Instructions 224 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. Memory 222 may also store data used by processor 220 and results calculated by the processor.

[0064] Network device 218 may include one or more transceivers 226, which may include RF transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses antenna 228 of network device 218 to facilitate signaling to and / or from network device 218 (e.g., signaling 234) in accordance with the corresponding RAT to other devices (e.g., wireless device 202).

[0065] Network device 218 may include one or more antennas 228 (e.g., one, two, four or more). In embodiments with multiple antennas 228, network device 218 may perform MIMO, digital beamforming, analog beamforming, beam control, etc., as described above.

[0066] Network device 218 may include one or more interfaces 230. Interfaces 230 may be used to provide input to or output from network device 218. For example, network device 218 as a base station may include interface 230 consisting of transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 226 / antenna 228 described), enabling the base station to communicate with other equipment in the core network and / or enabling the base station to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., for the purpose of performing operations, management, and maintenance of the base station or other equipment operablely connected to it.

[0067] In other respects, the embodiments described herein relate to measurement gaps for New Radio (NR) systems. The embodiments of this disclosure can be used in conjunction with measurements performed by the UE, including intra-frequency and inter-frequency Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In the MG, the UE can perform measurement operations against specific signals / parameters / indicators that are typically performance-related, such as reference signals (RS), including but not limited to synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB), positioning reference signal (PRS), or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (SSS).

[0068] The UE can be configured by the network (NW) device to have one or more measurement gap (MG) modes. As used herein, "MG mode" can refer to a set of MGs having the same measurement gap length (MGL), measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), measurement gap timing lead (MGTA), measurement gap offset, etc., for the same measurement target (MO). It should be noted that unless otherwise specified, "MG mode" in this document actually covers any kind of MG mode / configuration, any kind of specification / rule used to guide / set up MG operation or similar measurement operation, or any other kind of measurement operation mode / method.

[0069] The MG mode for a specific UE can be configured based on the frequency range (FR) in which the UE operates. The NR band can be divided into two or more distinct frequency ranges. As described in Clause 5.1 of TS 38.104, the following table (Table 1) identifies two frequency ranges (FR1 and FR2) in which the NR can operate according to the current version of the specification. For example, FR1 may include bands operating at frequencies below 6 GHz, some of which are bands that were available in previous standards. The bands in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) range of FR2 may have a smaller range than the bands in FR1 but potentially higher available bandwidth. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these frequency ranges, provided by way of example, may vary over time or in different regions.

[0070] Table 1: Definition of Frequency Range

[0071]

[0072] According to 3GPP specification version 15 or 16, the independentGapConfig information element (IE) indicates whether the UE supports two independent MG configurations for FR1 and FR2, i.e., whether the UE supports per-FR gaps. For UEs that do not support per-FR gaps, only one MG mode can be configured, such as... Figure 6B As shown. Even for UEs that support every FR interval, only one MG mode can be configured for each FR, such as... Figure 6A As shown, different MG modes can be configured for different FRs.

[0073] According to 3GPP specification version 17, the UE may support concurrent MG modes. Concurrent MG modes can be configured by the NW for the UE in response to its support for concurrent MG modes. As used herein, the term "concurrent MG mode" refers to multiple MG modes configured for a UE to perform one or more measurements within the same time period. The UE may have multiple concurrent MG modes configured within the same time period, and these MG modes are independent of each other. Any two of the multiple concurrent MG modes may have different mode configurations or have the same mode configuration, including MGL, MGRP, MGTA, etc. The UE may use one of the concurrent MG modes to perform one measurement and another of the concurrent MG modes to perform another measurement, or it may use one or more of the concurrent MG modes to perform a single measurement, or it may use one of the concurrent MG modes to perform one or more measurements.

[0074] For a UE to support per-FR interval and concurrent MG mode, the UE can be configured with multiple concurrent MG modes for each FR, such as Figure 6C As shown. For UEs that do not support per FR interval but support concurrent MG mode, the UE can be configured with multiple concurrent MG modes, and these modes apply to both FR1 and FR2, such as... Figure 6D As shown. It should be noted that, in Figures 6A to 6D In the diagram, MG1, MG2, MG3 and MG4 represent four different MG modes.

[0075] However, this does not mean that the UE can arbitrarily use the MG to perform measurement operations without any restrictions. Sometimes, due to network scheduling configuration or other considerations, the NW device and UE may need to deconfigure the MG. The circumstances under which the MG should be deconfigured are discussed in detail below.

[0076] Case 1: Consider a single MG

[0077] Considering a specific MG configured for one or more MG modes for a UE, it may be necessary to cancel that MG, for example, due to network scheduling conflicts or other reasons. The NW device may indicate to the UE whether the specific MG should be canceled implicitly or explicitly. Regardless of whether the indication is implemented implicitly or explicitly, the indication sent from the NW device to the UE to enable the UE to determine whether the specific MG should be canceled is referred to herein as "MG cancellation information". The MG cancellation information may be associated with a specific MG of one or more MG modes in a manner intended to indicate whether the specific MG should be canceled. Upon receiving the MG cancellation information, the UE may determine whether the specific MG should be canceled based on the MG cancellation information.

[0078] Option 1: Implicit Indication

[0079] According to some implementations, MG cancellation information may include one or more Network Scheduling Configuration (NSC) signals preceding a specific MG. An NSC signal can be any signal sent from the NW to the UE prior to the specific MG to schedule transmissions to or from the UE. When an NSC signal indicates that some transmissions to / from the UE may occur, these transmissions may at least partially overlap with a specific MG that has already been configured after the NSC signal. Therefore, the UE can determine whether a specific MG should be cancelled by determining whether there is any conflict between the specific MG and the transmissions to / from the UE scheduled by any of the NSC signals.

[0080] To determine the conflict, the UE may need to know the time-domain configuration of a specific MG and the allocated time resources for transmissions to / from the UE scheduled by any NSC signal. The time-domain configuration of a specific MG determines where the specific MG is located in the time domain, including, for example, the MG's offset and length. In some embodiments, one or more MG modes to be used by the UE may be determined in advance by the NW, and therefore, configuration information for the MG modes, including the time-domain configuration of the specific MG, may be sent from the NW to the UE in advance. In some embodiments, one or more MG modes to be used by the UE may be set by a specification jointly followed by both the UE and the NW, and this specification also defines the configuration for the MG modes, including the time-domain configuration of the specific MG. In some embodiments, the UE may send a message to the NW indicating one or more MG modes it supports and the configuration for the MG modes, including the time-domain configuration of the specific MG. The allocated time resources for transmissions to / from the UE determine where the transmissions to / from the UE are located in the time domain, including, for example, the start time of these transmissions and optionally the duration of these transmissions. In some embodiments, the NSC signal may explicitly indicate the allocated time resources for transmissions to / from the UE. For example, the NSC signal can explicitly specify the start time of the transmission and optionally specify the duration of the transmission. In some implementations, the NSC signal can implicitly indicate the allocated time resources for transmissions to / from the UE. For example, the time offset between the occurrence of the NSC signal and the transmission scheduled by the NSC signal can be predefined and known in advance to the UE. Upon receiving the NSC signal, the UE can calculate the time for the transmission scheduled by the NSC signal based on the time the NSC signal was received and the predefined time offset.

[0081] Knowing the time-domain configuration of a specific MG and the allocated time resources for transmissions to / from the UE scheduled by any NSC signal, the UE can determine whether any conflicts exist. If the specific MG overlaps with any portion of a transmission to / from the UE, the UE determines that a conflict exists. The UE can then determine that the specific MG should be cancelled. In response, the UE should cancel the specific MG to skip the measurement. In some embodiments, the UE should further continue monitoring transmissions to / from the UE during the specific MG. If the specific MG does not overlap with any portion of a transmission to / from the UE, the UE determines that no conflict exists. The UE can then determine that the specific MG should not be cancelled. In response, the UE should perform the measurement in the specific MG. In some embodiments, the UE should further stop monitoring transmissions to / from the UE during the specific MG.

[0082] The NW can perform a similar procedure to determine whether there is a conflict between a specific MG and a transmission to / from a wireless device scheduled by any of one or more NSC signals. The time-domain configuration of the specific MG and the time resources allocated for the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any NSC signal are known to the NW because (1) the MG mode to be used by the UE is determined by the NW or notified to the NW, and the time resources allocated for the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any NSC signal are allocated by the NW, or (2) the time-domain configuration of the specific MG and the time resources allocated for the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any NSC signal are determined by a specification agreed upon between the UE and the NW. Knowing the time-domain configuration of the specific MG and the time resources allocated for the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any NSC signal, the NW is able to determine whether there is any conflict therebetween. If any part of the specific MG overlaps with the transmission to / from the UE, the NW determines that a conflict exists. The NW can then determine that the specific MG should be canceled. In response, the NW is allowed to continue scheduling the UE, for example, to implement the transmission to / from the UE during the specific MG. On the UE side, as discussed above, since the UE also determines to cancel a specific MG, it will not perform measurement operations, but will continue to monitor transmissions received / from the UE during the specific MG. Therefore, both the UE and the NW will be able to fulfill their respective transmissions. If the specific MG does not overlap with any portion of the transmissions to / from the UE, the NW determines that there is no conflict. The NW can then determine that the specific MG should not be canceled. In response, the NW should not schedule the UE during the specific MG; that is, it will not request the UE to fulfill any transmissions to / from the UE during the MG.

[0083] It is advantageous if the NW's determination of the conflict is the same as the UE's, because in this way they can take coordinated actions to avoid the conflict. For example, both the NW and the UE determine that a conflict exists, and both take actions to cancel a specific MG, so that the conflict will not actually occur. Otherwise, if the NW's determination of the conflict differs from the UE's, they can perform uncoordinated actions that still lead to the conflict.

[0084] In some implementations, the one or more NSC signals may include downlink control information (DCI) signals. DCI signals are control information carried in the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and are used to indicate uplink (UL) resource allocation and / or description regarding downlink (DL) data transmitted to the UE. For example, some DCI signals include a set of information required to schedule physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) signals or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signals. In response to receiving a PDSCH signal, the UE may typically need to send a response to the PDSCH signal in the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signal, such as an acknowledgment (ACK) / a negative acknowledgment (NACK). Therefore, a response to the PDSCH signal in the PUCCH signal can also be considered as scheduled by the DCI signal. Therefore, transmissions to / from the UE scheduled by the DCI signal may include at least one of the following: a PDSCH signal scheduled by the DCI signal; a response to the PDSCH signal carried in the PUCCH signal; or a PUSCH signal scheduled by the DCI signal.

[0085] Figure 7A and Figure 7B The implicit instruction-based MG cancellation is illustrated according to some implementation schemes. For example... Figure 7A and Figure 7B As shown in the example, the UE and NW use resource allocation and ACK / NACK response timing in the time domain to implicitly indicate the cancellation of a specific MG. Specifically, the UE and NW each determine whether there is a conflict between a specific MG (e.g., "MG1") and transmissions to / from the UE, including PDSCH signals, ACK / NACK responses for PDSCH signals, and PUSCH signals scheduled by DCI signals. The UE checks up to X time slots of DCI signals before MG1. For each of the X time slots, the UE determines whether the DCI signal is used to schedule any PDSCH or PUSCH signals. If any PDSCH or PUSCH signal is scheduled by the DCI signal, the UE then calculates the time slot allocated to the scheduled signal based on three corresponding time interval configurations, k0, k1, and k2. The definitions of these three time interval configurations are listed below.

[0086] Table 1: Definitions of k0, k1, and k2

[0087]

[0088] The values ​​configured for the three corresponding time intervals can be predefined by a specification jointly followed by the UE and NW, or they can be determined by the NW and notified to the UE.

[0089] like Figure 7AAs shown, for example, if the DCI signal in time slot n schedules the PDSCH signal (and therefore the ACK / NACK) and / or PUSCH signal, the UE can determine that the PDSCH signal is allocated in time slot n+k0, the ACK / NACK signal is allocated in time slot n+k0+k1, and the PUSCH signal is allocated in time slot n+k2. Here, time slot n can be the time slot used for the DCI signal that is closest to MG1 among all time slots used for the DCI signal preceding MG1. In other words, time slot n is the time slot used for DCI immediately preceding MG1. Similarly, the UE can determine the allocated time resources for any signal scheduled by the DCI signal in the X time slots used for DCI preceding MG1. The UE can then compare MG1 with all signals scheduled by the DCI signal in the X time slots to see if MG1 at least partially overlaps with any of the scheduled signals in the time domain.

[0090] If it is determined that any signal scheduled by any one of the DCI signals in the X time slots at least partially overlaps with MG1, the UE determines that a conflict exists for MG1 and further determines to cancel MG1. Figure 7B As shown, the PDSCH signal in time slot n+k0, which is scheduled by the DCI signal in time slot n, overlaps with a portion of MG1 in the time domain, and thus cancels MG1.

[0091] It should be recognized that, despite the fact that in terms of Figure 7A and Figure 7B In the description, the operations are described as being performed by the UE, but they can also be performed by the NW in the same way.

[0092] According to some implementations, the number of one or more NSC signals to be checked to determine MG cancellation can be determined based on the scheduling range of each NSC signal in the time domain. That is, how far in advance the NSC signal can be scheduled. If the scheduling range of the NSC signal is far, the number of NSC signals to be checked will be large. In some implementations, the scheduling range of the NSC signal can be determined based on three corresponding time intervals k0, k1, and k2 configured as discussed above.

[0093] Because a specific MG can be cancelled in the event of a known conflict, an additional delay can be expected in the RRM measurement delay for the measurement target (MO) configured to be measured in that specific MG. For example, for an MG mode for a specific MO, if the MGRP for the MG mode is not less than the SSB Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) period, then at T SSB_measurement_period_interDuring the measurement period (which can be calculated in Table 2 below using the measurement period in FR1 for the inter-frequency case as an example), the measurement delay should be extended by Y (which is the number of dropped MGs configured for MO). If MGRP is less than the SMTC period, the UE should try the remaining MGs following the same rule. Whether the additional delay is allowed depends on the availability of MGs for MO measurements during the SMTC period.

[0094] Table 2: Measurement period (frequency FR1) for frequency measurements with gaps

[0095]

[0096] It is understood that the measurement delay is calculated separately for each MO. Therefore, the delay extension for each MO should be based on the associated timing of dropped MGs. For example, if the UE is configured with three MG modes, namely MG mode #1, MG mode #2, and MG mode #3, and MG mode #1 is used to measure MO1, and assuming that two MGs in MG mode #1 and three MGs in MG mode #2 are dropped during the measurement period of MO1, then the number Y of dropped MGs to be used to calculate the delay of MO1 should be two, not three. In other words, in this case, Y is determined by the dropped MGs of MG mode #1, not the dropped MGs of MG mode #2.

[0097] Option 2: Explicit Instruction

[0098] According to some implementations, MG cancellation information may include indicators in downlink control commands to explicitly indicate whether a specific MG of one or more MG modes should be cancelled. Downlink control commands carrying such indicators may be in the form of physical layer control commands or media access control (MAC) layer control commands. For example, a physical layer control command may be a new DCI command, or it may be implemented by reusing some existing DCI commands such as those defined in TS 38.212. For example, a MAC layer control command may be MAC-CE.

[0099] According to some implementation schemes, downlink control commands can be placed in a time slot immediately preceding a specific MG, or in a time slot preceding and separated from the specific MG by several time slots, as long as the downlink control command can explicitly indicate which MG(s) to be cancelled. For example, the downlink control command and the specific MG may be interfered with by several other MGs.

[0100] According to some implementations, the indicator in the downlink control command may include a flag for a specific MG. For example, if the flag for a specific MG is set, the UE can interpret that the specific MG should not be canceled, and if the flag is cleared, the UE can interpret that the specific MG should be canceled.

[0101] According to some implementations, the indicator in the downlink control command may include a bitmap string, where each bit corresponds to an MG among a plurality of MGs including a specific MG following the time slot used for the downlink control command. For example, if the indicator is a bitmap string such as {1, 1, 0, 0, …, 0, 0}, the UE may interpret that the first and second MGs following the time slot used for the downlink control command should not be canceled, and the remaining N-2 MGs following the time slot used for the downlink control command should be canceled (where N is equal to the length of the bitmap string).

[0102] According to some implementations, before transmitting MG cancellation information including an indicator to the UE, the NW first determines whether a specific MG should be cancelled. The NW may determine whether a specific MG should be cancelled based on various considerations. In some implementations, the NW may perform the operation in Option 1 discussed above to determine whether there is a conflict between the specific MG and any scheduled transmissions to / from the UE. In response to determining that a conflict exists, the NW may configure the MG cancellation information such that it includes an indicator explicitly indicating that the specific MG should be cancelled. In response to determining that no conflict exists, the NW may configure the MG cancellation information such that it includes an indicator explicitly indicating that the specific MG should not be cancelled.

[0103] In some alternative implementations, the NW may prioritize data scheduling and UE measurements. For example, if UE measurements are prioritized, even if the NW determines a conflict exists (e.g., by using the methods discussed above), the NW may still determine that a specific MG should not be cancelled, and thus configure the MG cancellation information to include an indicator that explicitly indicates the specific MG should not be cancelled. As a contrasting example, if data scheduling is prioritized, even if the NW determines there is no conflict, the NW may still determine that a specific MG should be cancelled, and thus configure the MG cancellation information to include an indicator that explicitly indicates the specific MG should be cancelled.

[0104] In some alternative implementations, the NW can weigh the improved data scheduling efficiency against the measurement latency caused by canceling or skipping some MGs. Specifically, the NW can determine how many MGs to cancel or skip to improve data scheduling efficiency. However, if too many MGs are canceled, the measurement latency will be severe or intolerable. To address this, the NW can calculate the measurement latency based on the number of canceled MGs, for example, by using the expressions in Table 2, and determine that no more MGs should be canceled to limit the measurement latency to no more than a latency threshold. Therefore, the NW can include a bitmap string as MG cancellation information in the downlink control command to indicate to the UE the maximum number of MGs that should be canceled.

[0105] Compared to Option 1, the UE should determine whether to cancel a specific MG based on indicators in the downlink control command, regardless of whether there is a conflict between the specific MG and transmissions to / from radio devices scheduled by any NSC signal. For example, as Figure 8 As shown, even if there is no overlap between MG1 and the scheduling PDSCH signal in slot n+k0, the corresponding ACK / NACK in slot n+k0+k1, and the PUSCH signal in slot n+k2, if the marker in slot n indicates that MG1 should be canceled, the UE will determine to cancel or discard MG1.

[0106] In Option 2, in response to the UE and NW respectively determining whether to cancel a specific MG, the actions taken by the UE and NW are the same as those taken by the UE and NW in Option 1. For example, if the UE determines that a specific MG should be canceled, it should cancel the specific MG to skip the measurement and may further maintain monitoring of the PDCCH for data scheduling signals during the specific MG. If the NW determines that a specific MG should be canceled, it is allowed to maintain data scheduling with the UE during the specific MG. If the UE determines that a specific MG should not be canceled, it should perform the measurement in the specific MG. In this case, the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH for data scheduling signals during the specific MG. If the NW determines that a specific MG should not be canceled, it should suspend data scheduling with the UE during the specific MG.

[0107] Case 2: Consider two non-overlapping MGs

[0108] As discussed above, the UE can be configured with concurrent MG modes. Consider two consecutive MGs, where the first MG comes from the first MG mode in the concurrent MG mode, and the consecutive second MG comes from the second MG mode in the concurrent MG mode.

[0109] In some implementations, the first MG does not overlap with the second MG in the time domain. Figure 9 A typical use of concurrent MG mode, including two non-overlapping consecutive MGs, is illustrated. In the example shown, the UE operates on carrier f0, or more specifically, on the active bandwidth portion (BWP). The UE is configured to perform two measurement objectives, including SSB-based L3 measurements on carrier f1 and PRS measurements for positioning purposes on carrier f2.

[0110] Two concurrent and independent MG modes are configured for the UE. The MG from the two concurrent MG modes with a first gap mode is labeled MG1 in the figures. Since the MG labeled MG1 (hereinafter referred to as "MG1" for simplicity) is used for SSB-based measurements, as shown in the figures, the gap mode configuration of MG1 matches the SSB configuration. That is, the MGL of MG1 will cover the SSB duration (as used herein, "cover" includes the meaning that the RS duration falls entirely within the MG, and the length of the MG is greater than that duration to tune the RF for operation at the target frequency), and the MGRP will correspond to the SSB transmission periodicity (hereinafter referred to as "MGRP1"). The MG from the two concurrent MG modes, labeled MG2 (hereinafter referred to as "MG2" for simplicity), with a second gap mode, is used for PRS measurements, and subsequently, the MGL of MG2 will cover the PRS duration, and the MGRP of MG2 will correspond to the PRS transmission periodicity (hereinafter referred to as "MGRP2"). As shown in the attached figure, since the time offsets and periodicity of MG1 and MG2 are different, they cannot be covered by a single MG mode, and thus two concurrent MG modes are required.

[0111] Efforts can be made to configure concurrent MG patterns in a way that prevents MGs from overlapping. However, the possibility still exists that two consecutive MGs from different concurrent MG patterns are very close to each other. The time interval between two consecutive MGs from different concurrent MG patterns (for simplicity, denoted as "ΔT") is as follows: Figure 9 As shown in the figure, two aspects need to be considered.

[0112] Aspect 1): UE processing capability

[0113] When performing measurements on the target reference signal (RS), the duration of the MG (Motion Mode) typically only allows the UE to buffer the RS data; that is, the UE does not have sufficient time to process the data (including demodulation and computation) during the MG. Therefore, some additional time is required for data processing after RS ​​data reception is complete, for example, after the MG timing ends. Given this, if multiple concurrent MG modes are configured for the UE, the NW (Network Controller) should guarantee that the MG timing according to one MG mode is not too close to the MG timing according to another MG mode. In some implementations, the UE may introduce some new UE capability information to indicate the minimum interval it can support to the NW (for simplicity, referred to as "ΔT"). min In other words, this minimum interval is based on UE capabilities. The NW can configure the time interval (i.e., ΔT) between two consecutive MGs from different concurrent MG modes to be no less than the minimum interval ΔT. min .

[0114] Aspect 2): Network scheduling configuration

[0115] Sometimes, even if the time interval ΔT is not less than the minimum interval ΔT min Even if the UE can support short protection periods, the time interval ΔT may still be too small, so the NW may still fail to schedule the UE successfully. For example, in ΔT, network scheduling configurations such as time interval configurations k0, k1, and k2 need to be considered. Therefore, even if there is no overlap between two consecutive concurrent MGs, the NW may still need to consider whether the second MG of these two consecutive concurrent MGs should be canceled.

[0116] The following section discusses the rules by which the NW and UE determine whether the UE should perform a measurement within the second MG of two consecutive concurrent MGs or whether the UE should skip the second MG.

[0117] Options 1 (implicit indication) and 2 (explicit indication), as discussed above for the case of a single MG being considered (Case 1), also apply to the current case of two non-overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs (Case 2), but with some appropriate variations.

[0118] Figure 10 An implicit indication scheme for canceling a second MG of two overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs is illustrated according to some embodiments. MG1 and MG2 are two overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs. In these embodiments, the UE and NW determine whether the specific MG to be canceled is MG2, i.e., the second overlapping consecutive concurrent MG of the two overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs. The MG cancellation information received by the UE from the NW determining whether MG2 should be canceled precedes MG1 (i.e., the first MG of the two MGs). As an implicit indication scheme, see the reference above. Figures 7A to 7B Option 1 for Case 1, as discussed, implicitly indicates whether the MG cancellation information for MG2 should be cancelled. This includes one or more NSC signals, which are also DCI signals, but the difference is that the MG cancellation information considered precedes MG1 (i.e., the MG before which the UE and NW determine whether to cancel the specific MG). In this scheme, the UE and NW check one or more NSC signals before the first MG of the two MGs to determine if there is any conflict between the second MG of the two MGs and the transmissions to / from the radio device scheduled by any of the one or more NSC signals. Further details of this scheme can be found in the description of Option 1 for Case 1, and will not be repeated for brevity.

[0119] Figure 11An explicit indication scheme for canceling a second MG among two overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs is illustrated according to some embodiments. MG1 and MG2 are two overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs. In these embodiments, the UE and NW determine whether the specific MG to be canceled is MG2, i.e., the second overlapping consecutive concurrent MG among the two overlapping consecutive concurrent MGs. The MG cancellation information received by the UE from the NW determining whether MG2 should be canceled precedes that of MG1 (i.e., the first MG among the two MGs). As an explicit indication scheme, see the reference above. Figure 8 Option 2, discussed for scenario 1, explicitly indicates whether MG2 should be cancelled. This includes indicators in the downlink (DL) control command, such as a flag or bitmap string for MG2, where each bit corresponds to an MG among multiple MGs including MG2 following the time slot used for the downlink control command. The difference is that the MG cancellation information considered precedes MG1 (i.e., the MG before which the UE and NW determine whether to cancel the specific MG). In this scheme, the UE and NW check the indicators in the downlink control command before the first MG of the two MGs to determine whether the second MG of the two MGs should be cancelled. Further details of this scheme can be found in the description of Option 2 for scenario 1 and will not be repeated for brevity.

[0120] In this case, the measurement delay caused by the cancellation of MG can also be calculated based on the expressions in Table 2.

[0121] Case 3: Consider two partially or completely overlapping MGs

[0122] Still considering the concurrent MG mode scenario, since NW cannot guarantee the alignment of RS configuration (e.g., SMTC configuration or PRS configuration) between different layers, it is possible to have two consecutive MGs from different concurrent MG modes that actually overlap at least partially with each other.

[0123] In some implementations, the first MG from two consecutive MGs of concurrent different MG modes at least partially overlaps with the second MG of the two consecutive MGs in the time domain. Figure 12 Two partially overlapping MGs from a concurrent MG pattern are shown according to some implementation schemes. Figure 12 Similar to Figure 9 The difference is that MG1 and MG2 partially overlap, meaning that the time interval ΔT between MG1 and MG2 is less than zero.

[0124] For the current situation where two consecutive MGs from different concurrent MG modes at least partially overlap, see the reference above. Figures 10 to 11 The implicit and explicit indication schemes discussed for case 2 can also be applied, but with some additional limitations.

[0125] According to some implementations, as an additional constraint among these additional constraints, the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG does not overlap with the second measurement target to be measured in the second MG in the time domain. Although the first and second MGs overlap, the first measurement target does not necessarily overlap with the second measurement target because the duration for measuring the first measurement target may not occupy the entire length of the first MG, and similarly, the duration for measuring the second measurement target may not occupy the entire length of the second MG. For each MG (first or second), the start time for measuring the measurement target associated with that MG may not be aligned with the start time of that MG, and the duration for measuring that measurement target may not be equal to the length of the MG.

[0126] According to some implementation schemes, as another additional constraint among these additional constraints, the time interval between the end of the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG and the start of the second MG is not less than the minimum radio frequency (RF) handover time. This is to ensure that there is sufficient time for RF handover between the end of the RS to be measured in the first MG and the start of the second MG. According to the 3GPP specification, the RF handover time can be limited to 0.5ms in FR1 and 0.25ms in FR2.

[0127] With these two additional constraints, even if the scheme is based on implicit or explicit indications, and it is determined that the second MG should not be cancelled due to the absence of conflict or explicit indication to be cancelled, the measurement operation during the second MG can still be successfully performed.

[0128] Figure 13 This illustrates two partially overlapping MGs from a concurrent MG pattern that satisfy these two additional constraints, according to some implementation schemes. For example... Figure 13 As shown, although MG1 and MG2 overlap, the SSB corresponding to MG1 and the PRS corresponding to MG2 do not overlap. Furthermore, the time interval between the end of the SSB and the start of MG2 is not less than the minimum RF switching time. Therefore, as referenced above... Figures 10 to 11 The implicit or explicit indication schemes discussed for case 2 can be applied to determine whether MG2 should be cancelled.

[0129] In this case, the measurement delay caused by the cancellation of MG can also be calculated based on the expressions in Table 2.

[0130] Option 3: Cancel Looping MG

[0131] Unlike the concept of implicit or explicit indication determining whether a specific MG should be cancelled, in some implementations, the UE and NW can be configured to cancel MGs in a cyclical manner. In response to an MG according to a first MG mode conflicting with an MG according to a second MG mode in a first time window, and an MG according to the first MG mode conflicting with an MG according to the second MG mode in a second time window, the UE can determine to cancel the MG from the first MG mode in the first time window and cancel the MG from the second MG mode in the second time window. When there are more than three pairs of conflicting MGs from two MG modes, the MGs from both MG modes can be cancelled selectively. Figure 14 The diagram illustrates MG cancellation performed in a cyclical manner according to some implementation schemes. For example... Figure 14 As shown, the MG (“MG1”) from the first MG mode and the MG (“MG2”) from the second MG mode overlap and are canceled in a binary-selectable manner.

[0132] The UE and NW can agree on the specific cyclical method for MG cancellation and take coordinated actions. For example, if the first MG from the first MG mode is cancelled at the first time window and the second MG from the second MG mode that conflicts with the first MG remains at the first time window, the UE can skip the first MG and continue monitoring the scheduling signal during the first MG, and further perform measurements during the second MG and stop monitoring the scheduling during the second MG. Therefore, the NW is allowed to schedule the UE during the first MG and should not schedule the UE during the second MG. During the overlap between the first MG and the second MG, the UE can be configured to perform measurements, and the NW can be configured not to schedule the UE.

[0133] In this option, the measurement delay caused by the cancellation of MG can also be calculated based on the expression in Table 2.

[0134] It should be understood that although different schemes are described for different situations, these schemes can be used in combination under the same circumstances. For example, for different MGs in one or more MG modes, the cancellation of some MGs can be based on an explicit indication method, while the cancellation of others can be based on an implicit indication method. Similarly, when determining whether a second MG from two consecutive MGs of different concurrent MG modes should be cancelled, the explicit or implicit indication method for case 1 can be combined with the explicit or implicit indication method for case 2. Specifically, the UE can receive MG cancellation information immediately preceding the second MG (i.e., there are no other MGs between the MG cancellation information and the second MG) and can determine whether the second MG should be cancelled based on the MG cancellation information immediately preceding the second MG. The UE can further receive MG cancellation information immediately preceding the first MG of the two consecutive MGs (i.e., there are no other MGs between the MG cancellation information and the first MG) and can determine whether the second MG should be cancelled based on the MG cancellation information immediately preceding the first MG. If the MG cancellation information immediately preceding the second MG or immediately preceding the first MG indicates that the second MG should be cancelled, then the UE determines that the second MG should be cancelled.

[0135] Exemplary operation of UE

[0136] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 300 for a UE according to some embodiments. Aspects of method 300 may be implemented by a wireless device (such as wireless device 202 shown in the various figures herein), and / or more generally, may be implemented as needed in combination with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the figures above. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements.

[0137] In various implementation schemes, some elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in a different order than shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be performed as needed. As shown in the figure, method 300 can operate as follows.

[0138] At box 302, the wireless device (hereinafter also referred to as "UE") may receive measurement gap (MG) cancellation information from the network (NW) device associated with a specific MG of one or more MG modes to be used by the UE. At box 304, the UE may determine whether the specific MG should be cancelled based on the MG cancellation information.

[0139] According to some implementation schemes, MG cancellation information includes one or more Network Scheduling Configuration (NSC) signals preceding a specific MG, and determining whether a specific MG should be cancelled includes: determining whether there is any conflict between the specific MG and a transmission to / from a wireless device scheduled by any of the one or more NSC signals.

[0140] According to some implementation schemes, determining whether a specific MG should be cancelled also includes determining that the specific MG should be cancelled in response to determining that there is a conflict between the specific MG and a transmission to / from a wireless device scheduled by any one of the one or more NSC signals.

[0141] According to some implementations, the one or more NSC signals include DCI signals, and the transmission to / from the wireless device includes at least one of the following: a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) signal scheduled by the DCI signal; a response to the PDSCH signal carried in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal; or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal scheduled by the DCI signal.

[0142] According to some implementation schemes, MG cancellation information includes indicators in downlink (DL) control commands to explicitly indicate whether a specific MG of one or more MG modes should be cancelled.

[0143] According to some implementations, the indicator is a tag or bitmap string for a specific MG, where each bit corresponds to an MG among multiple MGs that include the specific MG after the time slot used for downlink control commands.

[0144] According to some implementation schemes, the one or more MG modes include a first MG from a first MG mode and a successive second MG from a second MG mode concurrent with the first MG mode, wherein MG cancellation information is received before the first MG, and wherein a particular MG includes at least the second MG.

[0145] According to some implementation schemes, the first MG does not overlap with the second MG in the time domain, and the time interval between the first MG and the second MG is not less than the minimum interval.

[0146] According to some implementation schemes, the first MG at least partially overlaps with the second MG in the time domain, the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG does not overlap with the second measurement target to be measured in the second MG in the time domain, and the time interval between the end of the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG and the start of the second MG is not less than the minimum radio frequency (RF) switching time.

[0147] According to some implementation schemes, the method also includes: performing a measurement in the specific MG in response to determining that the specific MG should not be canceled; and not performing a measurement in the specific MG in response to determining that the specific MG should be canceled.

[0148] Exemplary operation of NW devices

[0149] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 400 for an NW device (also referred to herein as "NW" for simplicity) according to some embodiments. Aspects of method 400 may be implemented by a base station (such as network device 218 shown in the various figures herein), and / or more generally, may be implemented as needed in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the figures above. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements. As shown, method 400 may operate as follows.

[0150] At box 402, the radio device (hereinafter referred to as "NW") may transmit measurement gap (MG) cancellation information to the user equipment (UE) associated with a specific MG of one or more MG modes to be used by the UE. The MG cancellation information may include one or more network scheduling configuration (NSC) signals preceding the specific MG. At box 404, the NW may determine whether the specific MG should be cancelled based on the MG cancellation information by determining whether there is any conflict between the specific MG and a transmission to / from the radio device scheduled by any of the one or more NSC signals.

[0151] According to some implementation schemes, in order to determine whether a particular MG should be cancelled, the NW may further determine that the particular MG should be cancelled in response to determining that there is a conflict between the particular MG and a transmission to / from the wireless device scheduled by any one of the one or more NSC signals.

[0152] In some implementations, the one or more NSC signals may include DCI signals.

[0153] According to some implementations, transmissions to / from wireless devices may include at least one of the following: a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) signal scheduled by a DCI signal; a response to the PDSCH signal carried in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal; or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal scheduled by a DCI signal.

[0154] According to some implementation schemes, the one or more MG modes include a first MG from a first MG mode and a successive second MG from a second MG mode. MG cancellation information may be transmitted before the first MG. A particular MG may include at least a second MG.

[0155] According to some implementation schemes, the first MG may not overlap with the second MG in the time domain, and the time interval between the first MG and the second MG may not be less than the minimum interval.

[0156] According to some implementation schemes, the first MG may at least partially overlap with the second MG in the time domain, and the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG may not overlap with the second measurement target to be measured in the second MG in the time domain, and the time interval between the end of the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG and the start of the second MG may not be less than the minimum radio frequency (RF) switching time.

[0157] According to some implementation schemes, the NW may, in response to determining that a particular MG should not be cancelled, not schedule transmissions to / from the UE in that particular MG, or in response to determining that a particular MG should be cancelled, schedule transmissions to / from the UE in that particular MG.

[0158] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 500 for an NW device (also referred to herein as "NW" for simplicity) according to some embodiments. Similar to method 400, aspects of method 500 may be implemented by a base station (such as network device 218). As shown, method 500 may operate as follows.

[0159] At block 502, the NW can determine whether a specific measurement gap (MG) of one or more MG modes to be used by the user equipment (UE) should be cancelled. At block 504, the NW can transmit MG cancellation information associated with the specific MG to the UE. The MG cancellation information may include indicators in downlink control commands to explicitly indicate whether the specific MG of the one or more MG modes should be cancelled.

[0160] According to some implementation schemes, downlink control commands may take the form of physical layer control commands or media access control (MAC) layer control commands.

[0161] According to some implementations, the indicator may be a tag for a specific MG or a bitmap string for including multiple MGs for a specific MG after a time slot used for downlink control commands.

[0162] In various implementation schemes, some elements of the methods shown (including methods 300, 400, and 500) may be performed simultaneously in a different order than that shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be performed as needed.

[0163] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising components for performing one or more elements of method 300. This apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0164] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 300. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, a memory of the UE (such as memory 206 of a wireless device 202 serving as the UE, as described herein).

[0165] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of method 300. This apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0166] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 300. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 as a UE, as described herein).

[0167] The implementation schemes envisioned herein include signals as described in or related to one or more elements of method 300.

[0168] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processor will cause the processor to perform one or more elements of method 300. The processor may be a processor of the UE (such as processor 204 as a wireless device 202 of the UE, as described herein). These instructions may be located, for example, in the processor and / or in the memory of the UE (e.g., memory 206 as a wireless device 202 of the UE, as described herein).

[0169] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising components for performing one or more elements of method 400 / 500. This apparatus may be, for example, a base station apparatus (such as network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0170] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 400 / 500. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, the memory of a base station (such as memory 222 of a network device 218 serving as a base station, as described herein).

[0171] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of method 400 / 500. This apparatus may be, for example, a base station apparatus (such as network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0172] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 400 / 500. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus for a base station (such as network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0173] The implementation schemes envisioned herein include signals as described in or related to one or more elements of methods 400 / 500.

[0174] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform one or more elements of method 400 / 500. The processor may be a processor of a base station (such as processor 220 of network device 218 as a base station, as described herein). These instructions may, for example, reside in the processor and / or in the memory of the UE (e.g., memory 222 of network device 218 as a base station, as described herein).

[0175] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described herein. For example, the baseband processor described herein in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more examples of the examples described herein. Similarly, the circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more examples of the examples shown herein.

[0176] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments.

[0177] Implementations and specific embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components, including specific logical components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0178] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific implementations. These implementations may be combined into a single system, partially integrated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. Furthermore, it is conceivable to use parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of one implementation in another implementation. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., are described only in one or more implementations, and it should be recognized that unless specifically stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of another implementation.

[0179] 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.

[0180] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that many alternative ways exist to implement both the processes and apparatus described herein. Therefore, embodiments of the invention should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive, and this specification is not limited to the details given herein, but can be modified within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Receive MG cancellation information from the network NW device associated with a specific MG in one or more measurement gap MG modes to be used by the UE; The one or more MG modes include a first MG and a successive second MG, the first MG comes from the first MG mode, and the second MG comes from the second MG mode, wherein the MG cancellation information is received before the first MG, and wherein the specific MG includes at least the second MG; Wherein the first MG at least partially overlaps with the second MG in the time domain, wherein the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG does not overlap with the second measurement target to be measured in the second MG in the time domain, and wherein the time interval between the end of the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG and the start of the second MG is not less than the minimum RF switching time; and Based on the MG cancellation information, determine whether the specific MG should be cancelled.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the MG cancellation information includes one or more network scheduling configuration (NSC) signals prior to the specific MG, and wherein determining whether the specific MG should be cancelled includes: Determine whether there is any conflict between the specific MG and the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any one of the one or more NSC signals.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the specific MG should be cancelled further comprises: In response to determining that there is a conflict between the specific MG and the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any one of the one or more NSC signals, it is determined that the specific MG should be cancelled.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more NSC signals include DCI signals, and wherein the transmission to / from the UE includes at least one of the following: The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) signal is scheduled by the DCI signal; The response to the PDSCH signal carried in the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal; or The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal is scheduled by the DCI signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the MG cancellation information includes an indicator in a downlink DL control command to explicitly indicate whether the specific MG in the one or more MG modes should be cancelled.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the indicator is a tag or bitmap string for the specific MG, each bit in the bitmap string corresponding to an MG among a plurality of MGs including the specific MG after the time slot for the downlink control command.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: In response to determining that the specific MG should not be canceled, a measurement is performed in the specific MG; as well as In response to determining that the specific MG should be cancelled, no measurement is performed in the specific MG.

8. A method for a network NW device, the method comprising: Transmit MG cancellation information to the user equipment (UE) associated with a specific MG in one or more measurement gap MG modes to be used by the UE, the MG cancellation information including one or more network scheduling configuration (NSC) signals preceding the specific MG; The one or more MG modes include a first MG and a successive second MG, the first MG being derived from the first MG mode and the second MG being derived from the second MG mode, wherein the MG cancellation information is transmitted before the first MG, and wherein the specific MG includes at least the second MG; Wherein the first MG at least partially overlaps with the second MG in the time domain, wherein the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG does not overlap with the second measurement target to be measured in the second MG in the time domain, and wherein the time interval between the end of the first measurement target to be measured in the first MG and the start of the second MG is not less than the minimum RF switching time; as well as By determining whether there is any conflict between the specific MG and a transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any of the one or more NSC signals, it is determined whether the specific MG should be cancelled based on the MG cancellation information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the specific MG should be cancelled further comprises: In response to determining that there is a conflict between the specific MG and the transmission to / from the UE scheduled by any one of the one or more NSC signals, it is determined that the specific MG should be cancelled.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more NSC signals comprise DCI signals, and wherein the transmission to / from the UE comprises at least one of the following: The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) signal is scheduled by the DCI signal; The response to the PDSCH signal carried in the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) signal; or The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) signal is scheduled by the DCI signal.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: In response to determining that the specific MG should not be cancelled, no transmissions to / from the UE are scheduled in the specific MG; as well as In response to determining that the specific MG should be cancelled, a transmission to / from the UE is scheduled in the specific MG.

12. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A processor circuit configured to cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

13. An apparatus for operating user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: A processor circuit configured to cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

14. A network NW device, comprising: A processor circuit configured to cause the NW device to perform the method according to any one of claims 8 to 11.

15. An apparatus for operating a network NW device, the apparatus comprising: A processor circuit configured to cause the NW device to perform the method according to any one of claims 8 to 11.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

17. A computer program product comprising program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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