Configuring layer 1 and layer 2 mobility based on measurement reports while in connected state

Abstract

There is provided a method (1300) performed by a User Equipment, UE, (402, 502, 602, 800) in a connected state for configuring Layer 1 / Layer 2 (L1 / L2) based inter-cell mobility. The method comprises sending (1302) a measurement report comprising one or more measurements associated with the one or more cells. The UE receives (1304) a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration message comprising at least one configuration of an inter-cell mobility candidate cell based on L1 / L2. The UE sends (1306) an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems and methods for configuring layer 1 (L1) / layer 2 (L2) mobility based on measurement reports while in a connected state. Background Art

[0002] According to 3GPP TS 38.473 (§8.3.4), a gNodeB-Central Unit (gNB-CU) may initiate a User Equipment (UE) Context Modification procedure to modify an established UE context, e.g., establish, modify, and release radio resources. Figure 1 The successful operation of the UE context modification procedure is illustrated.

[0003] like Figure 1 As depicted in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message is initiated by the gNB-CU. Upon receiving the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message, the gNodeB-Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) shall perform the modification and, if successful, report the update in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message.

[0004] In Release 18, 3GPP has agreed on a work item (WI) on further enhancing New Radio (NR) mobility, particularly in the technical area entitled L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. See WI Description (WID) in RP-213565 (https: / / www.3gpp.org / ftp / TSG_RAN / TSG_RAN / TSGR_94e / -Docs / / RP-213565.zip, last accessed on June 15, 2022).

[0005] According to the WID, when the UE moves from the coverage area of ​​one cell to another, at a certain point in time, a serving cell change needs to be performed. Currently, the serving cell change is triggered by Layer 3 (L3) measurements and is completed by reconfiguration and synchronization for changing the primary cell (PCell) and primary secondary cell (PSCell), and release and addition of the secondary cell (SCell) when applicable, triggered by radio resource control (RRC) signaling. All cases involve a complete L2 and L1 reset, resulting in longer delays, greater overhead, and longer interruption time than beam switching mobility. The goal of L1 / L2 mobility enhancement is to enable the serving cell to be changed via L1 / L2 signaling in order to reduce delays, overhead, and interruption time.

[0006] The goal is to specify the mechanisms and procedures for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to reduce mobility delays:

[0007] ○ Configuration and maintenance of multiple candidate cells to allow rapid application of configurations for candidate cells [RAN2, RAN3]

[0008] ○ Dynamic switching mechanism between candidate serving cells (including special cells (SpCell) and SCell) for potential applicable scenarios based on L1 / L2 signaling [RAN2, RAN1]

[0009] ○ L1 enhancements for inter-cell beam management, including L1 measurements and reporting and beam indication [RAN1, RAN2]

[0010] - Note 1: Early RAN2 involvement is necessary, including the possibility of further clarification of interactions between this circle and the previous circle

[0011] ○Timing advance management [RAN1, RAN2]

[0012] ○ CU-DU interface signalling to support L1 / L2 mobility if required [RAN3]

[0013] NOTE 2: Frequency Range 2 (FR2) specific enhancements, if any, are not excluded.

[0014] NOTE 3: The L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility procedure is applicable to the following scenarios:

[0015] ■ Standalone, Carrier Aggregation (CA) and New Radio - Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) cases with serving cell change within one Configuration Grant (CG)

[0016] ■ Intra-DU case and intra-CU inter-DU case (applicable to both standalone and CA: no new RAN interface is expected)

[0017] ■Both intra-frequency and inter-frequency

[0018] ■Both frequency range 1 (FR1) and FR2

[0019] ■The source cell and the target cell can be synchronized or not

[0020] There are some challenges or challenges. For example, as discussed above, among the goals of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to reduce mobility delays, there is CU-DU interface signaling to support L1 / L2 mobility (if needed). The following scenarios are also mentioned: intra-DU case and intra-CU inter-DU case (applicable to both standalone and CA).

[0021] For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED, it is unclear which criteria will be used by the network to determine when (one or more) L1 / L2 mobility candidates should be configured to the UE. It is also unclear how the CU and DU interact in a radio access network (RAN) split architecture to configure (one or more) L1 / L2 mobility candidates and other necessary configurations for supporting L1 / L2 mobility, such as the configuration of channel state information (CSI) measurements (e.g., CSI-MeasConfig), to the UE. Another problem arises when the UE has a limitation on the maximum number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (e.g., K1) that it can be configured with, and the DU (serving DU) to which the UE is connected may have more than K1 candidates configured. In this case, it is unclear how to determine which L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells to configure the UE with. Summary of the invention

[0022] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, methods and systems are used to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility for a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state. According to certain embodiments, a decision to configure one or more L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidates is based on (one or more) measurement reports reported by the UE and received at the CU via the DU.

[0023] According to certain embodiments, a method for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility performed by a UE in a connected state includes sending a measurement report including one or more measurements associated with one or more cells. The UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message including at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells. The UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0024] According to certain embodiments, a UE in a connected state for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility is adapted to send a measurement report comprising one or more measurements associated with one or more cells. The UE is adapted to receive an RRC reconfiguration message comprising at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells. The UE is adapted to send an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0025] According to certain embodiments, a method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a UE in a connected state, performed by a CU, includes: sending at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE. The at least one request indicates at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The CU receives at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell from the candidate DU. The CU sends an RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE to the candidate DU, and the RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The CU receives an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE from the candidate DU.

[0026] According to certain embodiments, a CU for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a UE in a connected state is adapted to send to a candidate DU at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE. The at least one request indicates at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The CU is adapted to receive at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell from the candidate DU. The CU is adapted to send to the candidate DU an RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE, and the RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The CU is adapted to receive an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE from the candidate DU.

[0027] According to certain embodiments, a method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a UE in a connected state, performed by a candidate DU, includes: receiving from a CU at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE. The at least one request indicates at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The candidate DU sends at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the CU. The candidate DU receives an RRC reconfiguration from the CU. The RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The candidate DU receives an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE and sends an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE to the CU.

[0028] According to certain embodiments, a target DU for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a UE in a connected state is adapted to receive from a CU at least one request for a candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE. The at least one request indicates at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The candidate DU is adapted to send at least one configuration of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the CU. The candidate DU is adapted to receive an RRC reconfiguration from the CU. The RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The candidate DU is adapted to receive an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE and send an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE to the CU.

[0029] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following (one or more) technical advantages. For example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of defining CU-DU interface signaling for configuration to support L1 / L2 mobility, which CU-DU interface signaling is more informed because it is based on measurement reports when the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED. One clear benefit is that when the UE has a limitation on the maximum number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (e.g., K1), and the DU to which the UE is connected may be configured with more than K1 candidates, the result is that the content of the (one or more) measurement reports will indicate which are the best candidates. For example, the measurement report may indicate the cell with the strongest / highest reference signal received power (RSRP) and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) and / or signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR). Thus, according to certain embodiments, a technical advantage may be that the configuration of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates will not exceed the UE capabilities.

[0030] As another example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of enabling a UE connected to a CU and a DU to receive in RRC_CONNECTED an RRC reconfiguration prepared by both the CU and the DU in a RAN (e.g., NG-RAN), the RRC reconfiguration including the necessary configuration for performing L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. For example, according to certain embodiments, the configuration(s) of the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates are generated by the DU, which is the same DU to which the UE is connected and is the same DU that will be reconfigured with the necessary CSI measurement configuration to support L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility (such as for reconfiguring the UE to perform CSI measurements on one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates and report these measurements so that the network (e.g., DU) can make an informed mobility decision for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility). Therefore, in a RAN split architecture, a technical advantage may be that certain embodiments clarify how the CU and DU interact in order to configure the UE with (one or more) L1 / L2 mobility candidates and other necessary configurations to support L1 / L2 mobility, such as the configuration of CSI measurements (e.g., CSI-MeasConfig).

[0031] Other advantages may be apparent to those skilled in the art.Some embodiments may have none, some, or all of the stated advantages. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0033] Figure 1 illustrates the successful operation of the UE context modification procedure;

[0034] Figure 2 illustrates an example split architecture with both NG-Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) and Fifth Generation Core (5GC) in accordance with certain embodiments;

[0035] Figure 3 illustrates possible deployment scenarios of logical gNB / en-gNB according to certain embodiments;

[0036] Figure 4 illustrates an example architecture for separating gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP according to certain embodiments;

[0037] Figure 5 illustrates an example signaling flow diagram for configuring a UE 402 in RRC_CONNECTED for L1 / L2 mobility in accordance with certain embodiments;

[0038] Figure 6 illustrates an example signaling flow for a UE, a CU, and a DU according to certain embodiments;

[0039] Figure 7 illustrates another example signaling between a UE, a DU, and a CU, where a single process may be triggered to configure multiple L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates, according to certain embodiments;

[0040] Figure 8 illustrates an example communication system according to certain embodiments;

[0041] Fig. 9 illustrates an example UE according to certain embodiments;

[0042] Fig.10 illustrates an example network node according to certain embodiments;

[0043] Fig.11 illustrates a block diagram of a host according to some embodiments;

[0044] Fig.12 illustrates a virtualized environment in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized according to certain embodiments;

[0045] Fig.13 illustrates a host communicating with a UE via a network node over a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments;

[0046] Fig.14 illustrates a method for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility performed by a UE in a connected state according to certain embodiments;

[0047] Fig.15 A method performed by a CU for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility for a UE in a connected state according to certain embodiments is illustrated; and

[0048] Fig.16 A method performed by a candidate DU for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility for a UE in a connected state according to certain embodiments is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.The embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0050] As used herein, a "node" may be a network node or a UE. Examples of network nodes are NodeB (Node B), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node (such as an MSR BS), eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), master eNB (MeNB), secondary eNB (SeNB), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node control relay, base transceiver station (BTS), central unit (e.g., in gNB), distributed unit (e.g., in gNB), baseband unit, centralized baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), transmission point, transmission node, remote radio unit (RRU), remote radio head (RRH), node in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g., mobile switching center (MSC), mobility management entity (MME), etc.), operation and maintenance (O&M), operation support system (OSS), self-organizing network (SON), positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC), etc.

[0051] Another example of a node is a user equipment (UE), which is a non-limiting term and refers to any type of wireless device that communicates with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UEs are target devices, device-to-device (D2D) UEs, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), machine-type UEs, MTC UEs, or UEs capable of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, mobile terminals, smart phones, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), unified serial bus (USB) dongles, etc.

[0052] In some embodiments, the general term "radio network node" or simply "network node (NW node)" is used. It can be any kind of network node, which may include a base station, a radio base station, a base transceiver station, a base station controller, a network controller, an evolved Node B (eNB), a Node B, a gNodeB (gNB), a relay node, an access point, a radio access point, a remote radio unit (RRU), a remote radio head (RRH), a central unit (e.g. in a gNB), a distributed unit (e.g. in a gNB), a baseband unit, a centralized baseband, a C-RAN, an access point (AP), etc.

[0053] The term radio access technology (RAT) may refer to any RAT, such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRA), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, Next Generation RAT, NR, 4G, 5G, etc. Any device denoted by the term node, network node or radio network node is capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0054] Figure 2 An example split architecture 100 with both a NG-Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) and a fifth generation core (5GC) is illustrated in accordance with certain embodiments. As depicted, the NG-RAN is split into a CU 202 and a DU 204 via an F1 interface. In this particular example, the RAN is a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN), which may be referred to as a 5G RAN, however, the approach is applicable to any RAN such as a 6G RAN architecture.

[0055] As depicted, a RAN (e.g., NG-RAN) consists of a set of RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) connected to a core network (e.g., 5GC) via a RAN / CN interface (e.g., NG interface). In the case of a NG-RAN that may include one or more next-generation-eNBs (ng-eNBs), the ng-eNB may consist of a ng-eNB-CU and one or more ng-eNB-DUs. A gNB may consist of a gNB-CU and one or more gNB-DUs. The gNB-CU and the gNB-DU are connected via an F1 interface. The gNB-DU may be connected to multiple gNB-CUs via appropriate implementations. As an example, the methods and systems presented herein are applicable to NG-RAN; however, the methods are also applicable to any RAN architecture, such as a 6G RAN.

[0056] NG, Xn, and F1 are logical interfaces. And, in case of NG-RAN, NG and Xn-C interfaces for gNBs consisting of gNB-CU and gNB-DU terminate at gNB-CU. For E-Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), S1-U and X2-C interfaces for gNBs consisting of gNB-CU and gNB-DU terminate at gNB-CU. gNB-CU and connected gNB-DU are visible only to other gNBs and 5GC as gNBs. Figure 3 A possible deployment scenario 200 of a logical gNB / en-gNB according to certain embodiments is illustrated. The protocol terminations of the NG and Xn interfaces are depicted as ovals, and the terms "central entity" and "distributed entity" shown below refer to physical network nodes.

[0057] Figure 4An example architecture 300 for separating gNB-CU-CP 302 and gNB-CU-UP 304 in gNB 306 according to certain embodiments is illustrated. According to various embodiments, it may be appreciated that one or more of the following may apply:

[0058] -The gNB may consist of a gNB-CU-CP 302, multiple gNB-CU-UPs 304, and multiple gNB-DUs 308;

[0059] -gNB-CU-CP 302 may be connected to gNB-DU 308 via F1-C interface;

[0060] -gNB-CU-UP 304 may be connected to gNB-DU 308 via F1-U interface;

[0061] -gNB-CU-UP 304 may be connected to gNB-CU-CP 302 via an E1 interface;

[0062] - One gNB-DU 308 can be connected to only one gNB-CU-CP 302;

[0063] - One gNB-CU-UP 304 can be connected to only one gNB-CU-CP 302;

[0064] -One gNB-DU 308 can be connected to multiple gNB-CU-UPs 304 under the control of the same gNB-CU-CP 302;

[0065] -One gNB-CU-UP 304 can be connected to multiple gNB-DUs 308 under the control of the same gNB-CU-CP 302;

[0066] Thus, when the method refers to a CU, the method includes action(s) performed by any entity contained within the CU (e.g., CU-CP, gNB-CU-CP).

[0067] The text herein refers to the term "L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility" as used in the work item description in 3GPP; however, it will be appreciated that the text herein may also use the terms L1 / L2 mobility, L1 mobility, L1-based mobility, L1 / L2-centric inter-cell mobility, or L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility interchangeably. The basic principle is that the UE receives lower layer signaling from the network indicating to the UE a change of its serving cell (e.g., a change of PCell, a change from a source PCell to a target PCell), wherein the lower layer signaling is a message / signaling of a lower layer protocol. The lower layer protocol refers to a lower layer protocol (e.g., medium access control (MAC)) in the air interface protocol stack compared to the RRC protocol, which is considered a lower layer protocol because it is "below" the RRC in the air interface protocol stack, and in this case, the lower layer signaling / message may correspond to a MAC control element (MAC CE). Another example of a lower layer protocol is layer 1 (or physical layer L1), and in this case, the lower layer signaling / message may correspond to downlink control information (DCI). Signaling information in a protocol layer lower than RRC reduces processing time and, therefore, interruption time during mobility; additionally, it may also improve mobility robustness, as the network can respond to faster changes in channel conditions. Another relevant aspect in L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is that in a multi-beam scenario, a cell may be associated with multiple SSBs, and during a half-frame, different SSBs may be transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e., using different beams across the coverage area of ​​the cell). Similar reasoning may apply to channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, which may also be transmitted in different spatial directions. Therefore, in L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, reception of lower layer signaling instructs the UE to change from one beam in the serving cell to another beam in a neighbor cell (which is a configured candidate cell), and, thereby, change serving cell.

[0068] The text herein refers to the term "L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell" to refer to the cell to which the UE is configured when L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is configured. This is the cell to which the UE can move after receiving lower layer signaling during the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility procedure. These cells may also be referred to as candidate cells, candidates, mobility candidates, non-serving cells, additional cells, etc.

[0069] The text herein refers to configuration(s) generated by the DU, which are encapsulated in the RRC reconfiguration message received by the UE when it is configured with L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility while in RRC_CONNECTED after having sent a measurement report. The configuration(s) include one or more of the following:

[0070] ■At least one CSI measurement configuration;

[0071] ● A CSI measurement configuration includes configuration / reconfiguration of CSI reports and / or measurement resources and / or triggers associated with one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. It reconfigures / configures the UE to measure (one or more) signals, such as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) and / or CSI-RS resources for candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. In an example scenario (i.e., a UE already operating in RRC_CONNECTED receives at least one CSI measurement configuration), the UE may already have a stored CSI measurement configuration, such that the received at least one CSI measurement configuration includes a reconfiguration, which is encoded as incremental signaling in RRC: the parameters, fields, information elements (IEs), and (one or more) configurations provided are only the new parameters, fields, IEs, and configurations to be applied, such as parameters, fields, IEs, and configurations related to measurements of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (e.g., synchronization signaling block (SSB) index for the candidates), while the stored parameters, fields, IEs, and configurations (e.g., which define needcode M) remain stored and the UE continues to operate according to them.

[0072] ●The measurement resource(s) that are configured / reconfigured (e.g., added by the network and to be measured by the UE) include one or more of the following: i) an indication of at least one frequency (e.g., an absolute or relative frequency offset indication obtained by, for example, ARFCN) of a signal of a L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS, TRS) so that the UE can search for and find the signal, and / or ii) a cell identifier or identification (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI)), and / or iii) one or more signal indices (e.g., (one or more) SSB indices and / or (one or more) CSI-RS resource indices), and / or iv) a cell index encoded with fewer bits than the cell identifier and mapped to it.

[0073] ● At least one CSI measurement configuration is used to reconfigure / configure the CSI-RS belonging to the candidate cell (which may be, for example, the serving cell) in which the CSI-MeasConfig is contained. For CSI measurements on L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells, CSI reports to be sent on uplink control channel(s) (such as Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) on the serving cell in which the CSI-MeasConfig is contained, and CSI reports to be sent on Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) triggered by DCI received on the serving cell in which the CSI-MeasConfig is contained, but for measurements on L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates.

[0074] ■ a first cell group configuration associated with the current PCell in which the UE is operating in RRC_CONNECTED;

[0075] • The first cell group configuration includes reconfiguration of the current PCell (which is the cell in which the UE has been configured to operate in RRC_CONNECTED), and configuration of one or more SCells associated with the first cell group.

[0076] • The first cell group configuration corresponds to the Master Cell Group (MCG) and is provided to the UE in IECellGroupConfig as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0077] ●The configuration of the current PCell within the first cell group configuration is provided to the UE in the parameter spCellConfig of the IE SpCellConfig.

[0078] ●If at least one CSI measurement configuration for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is not within the CellGroupConfig, the UE may receive at least one CSI measurement configuration in a message not included in the first cell group configuration for operation with the current PCell / SpCell.

[0079] ■ At least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells;

[0080] ●At least one of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells includes such a configuration: after receiving lower layer signaling indicating L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell (which becomes the target cell and the current (new) PCell or SCell in the serving frequency), when the UE performs (conducts) L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility to the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, the UE needs this configuration to operate accordingly.

[0081] ● In the case where the UE is configured with multiple candidates, the DU generates and sends multiple configurations to the CU (e.g., one configuration for each L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell).

[0082] The configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes parameters of the serving cell (or serving cells), which include one or more of the parameter groups within the IE SpCellConfig (or IESCellConfig in case of a secondary cell), such as:

[0083] o Cell index (e.g., encoded in fewer bits than the cell identifier of the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell). This can be the field "servCellIndex" or "candidateCellIndex" of the IE ServCellIndex or IE andidateCellIndex. After being configured, this index can be referred to later, for example, in: i) lower layer signaling to indicate to the UE that this is the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell that the UE needs to move to during the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility procedure; and / or ii) an RRC message indicating a certain operation in this particular candidate cell.

[0084] o The cell configuration for the UE corresponding to the configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is referred to as a dedicated configuration, as the parameters are likely to be adjusted for that specific UE depending on the UE capabilities / radio capabilities. The configuration may include parameters defined in IEServingCellConfig, such as frequency configuration (including bandwidth parts) for downlink and uplink, L1 control channels (such as PDCCH, (one or more) CORESET and PUCCH) and L1 data channels (such as PDSCH and PUSCH), as well as additional parameters defined in IEServingCellConfig as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331.

[0085] o The cell configuration referred to as the common cell configuration (also referred to as the cell-specific configuration) corresponds to the configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells in IEServingCellConfigCommon. This can be provided within IEReconfigurationWithSync or provided separately. The configuration contains, for example, random access configuration for the UE to access the target candidate (when necessary).

[0086] o Radio link failure configuration(s), such as values ​​for timer T310, counter N310, counter N311 and / or timer N311.

[0087] o At least one UE identifier for identifying the UE in an L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, such as a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI).

[0088] ● In the case where the UE is configured with multiple L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells, the DU generates and sends multiple parameter sets of the serving cell to the CU, including one or more of the parameter groups in multiple IE SpCellConfig(s). For example, the UE may receive a list of IE SpCellConfig(s), one IE SpCellConfig for each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate.

[0089] ●The configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells can be a SpCell configuration (e.g., PCell configuration) provided as part of the cell group configuration, which can also include one or more SCell configurations and additional cell group-specific configurations (cell group identifier, physical layer configuration for the cell group, MAC layer configuration for the cell group, simultaneous TCI state configuration for the cell group, etc.).

[0090] ○ In this case, the cell group configuration is configured to the UE for each candidate. Therefore, an alternative is that for each cell group candidate, the UE receives a configuration where the configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is the SpCell candidate configuration within the group. Then, lower layer signaling instructs the UE to change to the configured cell group candidate (e.g., apply the cell group configuration to this candidate (e.g., from MCG configuration A to MCG configuration B)).

[0091] ● In case the UE is configured with multiple candidates, the DU generates and sends multiple cell group configurations to the CU, each cell group configuration being associated with each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate (e.g., a list of CellGroupConfig IEs).

[0092] ● The L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates can be in the same frequency as the current PCell, or in a different frequency.

[0093] ●L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates may be SCell candidates.

[0094] According to certain embodiments disclosed herein, methods and systems for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility for a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state, performed by a DU (e.g., gNB-DU 308) of a RAN node in a RAN (e.g., NG-RAN), and a CU (e.g., gNB-CU 302-304) of a RAN node are provided. According to certain embodiments, a decision to configure one or more L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidates is based on measurement report(s) reported by the UE and received at the CU via the DU.

[0095] According to certain embodiments, an example is one in which the UE is connected to a source DU (serving DU) and a CU. After receiving (one or more) measurement reports via, for example, RRC, the source CU configures one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates to the UE. Then, the source CU requests the source DU to configure one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates, i.e., the source DU is requested to also operate as a DU with an L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0096] In certain embodiments, the source CU determines which cells to request the DU for, and the DU generates configuration(s) for the accepted cells to be provided to the CU and UE.

[0097] In another specific embodiment, the source DU determines which cells to be configured as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates after receiving a message including one or more measurements or the entire measurement report from the CU, and the DU generates (one or more) configurations for the accepted cells to be provided to the CU and the UE.

[0098] In a particular embodiment, the UE may be configured with a maximum number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (eg, K1) that is lower than the number of cells used for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility in the DU to which the UE is connected.

[0099] Some examples of how signaling may be implemented in RRC for configuring L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells according to various embodiments are provided below.These models are described as RRC models for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility.

[0100] For example, an RRC model including example signaling of RRCReconfiguration for each additional cell may be as follows:

[0101]

[0102] In this scenario, the UE receives multiple (a list of) RRC messages (i.e., RRCReconfiguration messages) within a single RRCReconfiguration message. Each RRCReconfiguration message identifies the configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells stored by the UE and applied / used / activated upon receipt of lower layer signaling for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. This model enables full flexibility as in L3 reconfiguration for the target node to modify / release / retain any parameters / fields in the RRCReconfiguration message, such as measurement configuration, bearers, etc.

[0103] As another example, an RRC model including example signaling of CellGroupConfig for each additional cell (PCell frequency) may be as follows:

[0104]

[0105] With this model, the UE receives a list of CellGroupConfig IEs within the RRCReconfiguration message, and each of them identifies the configuration of candidate cells for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. Each CellGroupConfig IE is stored at the UE and is applied / used / activated when lower layer signaling for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is received. This model allows the target node to modify / release / retain any parameters / fields that are part of the CellGroupConfig IE, while the rest of the RRCReconfiguration message (which is where the UE receives the CellGroupConfig IE) remains unchanged. This means, for example, that measurement configuration, bearers and security remain unchanged and are not changed by the target node.

[0106] As another example, an RRC model including example signaling of K SpCellConfig(s) for each cell (PCell frequency) may be as follows:

[0107]

[0108] With this model, the UE receives "K" SpCellConfigs per cell as configurations of candidate cells for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. This solution provides only minimal flexibility to the target node, as only cell-specific parameters (e.g. bandwidth fraction, downlink and uplink configurations) can be modified / released / retained.

[0109] As another example, an RRC model including example signaling for K PCIs in the same PCell (eg, SpCellConfig) may be as follows:

[0110]

[0111]

[0112] With this model, the UE receives "K" ServingCellConfigCommon per cell (option d) as the configuration of candidate cells for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. This solution provides only minimal flexibility to the target node, as only cell-specific parameters (e.g. bandwidth fraction, downlink and uplink configuration) can be modified / released / retained.

[0113] As another example, an RRC model including example signaling for K SpCellConfig / ServingCellConfigCommon per cell may be as follows:

[0114]

[0115] With this model, the UE receives "K" ServingCellConfigCommon per cell as the configuration of candidate cells for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. This solution provides only minimal flexibility to the target node as only cell specific parameters (e.g. bandwidth fraction, downlink and uplink configuration) can be modified / released / retained.

[0116] As another example, an RRC model including example signaling for K ServingCellConfigCommons (one ServingCellConfigCommon for each cell) may be as follows:

[0117]

[0118]

[0119] With this model, multiple PCIs are configured for the same TCI state configuration, where each PCI identifies the configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells. This is an approach that does not provide flexibility at all, because all parameters / fields used to configure the configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells are fixed, and only the target node is allowed to change PCI, scrambling Id and C-RNTI.

[0120] Figure 5An example signaling flow diagram 400 for configuring a UE 402 in RRC_CONNECTED for L1 / L2 mobility according to some embodiments is illustrated. Specifically, Figure 6 The signaling flow of UE 402, CU 404 and DU 406 is illustrated and includes the following steps used as a reference for various different embodiments:

[0121] 1. A UE 402 capable of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility sends or transmits a measurement report including one or more measurements of one or more cells that may become L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells in a first frequency.

[0122] ■ In certain embodiments, the measurement report is sent after access stratum (AS) security has been activated.

[0123] ■ According to certain embodiments, the measurement report is an RRC measurement report message (MeasurementReport), wherein the one or more measurements are included in an IE MeasResults defined in, for example, 3GPP TS 38.331. The one or more measurements of the one or more cells in the first frequency may be measurements of cells in the same frequency (or a different frequency) as: a special cell (SpCell) / primary cell (PCell) of a primary cell group, or an intra-frequency neighbor of a PCell, or a neighbor of a configured (one or more) SCell of an MCG or / and SCG. In a specific embodiment, the one or more measurements are one or more of the following:

[0124] ● Reference signal (e.g. CSI-RS) based and / or synchronization signal (e.g. SSB) based cell measurement(s) or measurement results, such as per-cell RSRP and / or per-cell RSRQ and / or per-cell SINR.

[0125] ● Reference signal (e.g. CSI-RS)-based and / or synchronization signal (e.g. SSB)-based beam measurement(s) or measurement results, such as per-cell RSRP and / or per-cell RSRQ and / or per-cell SINR. The beam measurement may be associated with a signal index / identifier or a reference signal index / identifier, such as an SSB index or a CSI-RS resource index / indicator.

[0126] ■ According to certain embodiments, the measurement report is a CSI report sent on an uplink channel (such as PUSCH or PUCCH) of one of the PCell or (one or more) configured SCells in UL channel format on the physical layer (also referred to as L1), which includes one or more measurements of one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells or information derived from the one or more measurements. The one or more measurements of one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells in the first frequency may be measurements of cells in the same frequency (or a different frequency) as the following: a special cell (SpCell) / primary cell (PCell) of the primary cell group, or an intra-frequency neighbor of the PCell. In one embodiment, the one or more measurements are one or more of the following:

[0127] ● Reference signal (e.g. CSI-RS) based and / or synchronization signal (e.g. SSB) based cell measurement(s) or measurement results, such as per-cell RSRP and / or per-cell RSRQ and / or per-cell SINR.

[0128] ● Reference signal (e.g. CSI-RS)-based and / or synchronization signal (e.g. SSB)-based beam measurement(s) or measurement results, such as per-cell RSRP and / or per-cell RSRQ and / or per-cell SINR. The beam measurement may be associated with a signal index / identifier or a reference signal index / identifier, such as an SSB index or a CSI-RS resource index / indicator.

[0129] ■According to certain embodiments, the measurement report (whether a CSI report or an RRC measurement report message) includes multiple measurements of one or more cells in a frequency, the number of which is equal to the number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells supported by the UE. This implies that the UE is able to, based on its own capabilities, only keep storing (or apply) a limited number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells. Alternatively, the measurement report (whether a CSI report or an RRC measurement report message) includes multiple measurements of one or more cells on all configured frequencies, the number of which is equal to the number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells supported by the UE. This implies that the UE is able to, based on its own capabilities, only keep storing (or apply) a limited number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0130] • In a specific embodiment, the UE may decide to only include in the measurement report a number of measurements equal to one of the number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells supported by the UE.

[0131] ● In another specific embodiment, the UE may decide to include multiple measurements in a separate structure (e.g., IE, SEQUENCE or field in ASN.1) within the measurement report to indicate that this number is also the number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells supported by the UE. The UE may also still include the remaining measurements in a separate structure (e.g., IE, SEQUENCE or field in ASN.1).

[0132] • In certain embodiments, the UE may decide to include one or more available measurements in the measurement report, but also include the number of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells supported by the UE in a separate structure (eg, a field in ASN.1 or an IE).

[0133] ■ According to certain embodiments, before sending the measurement report, the UE receives a first message including a measurement configuration, wherein the measurement configuration includes a report configuration associated with a trigger criterion for triggering the measurement report when the trigger criterion is met.

[0134] ●In a particular embodiment, the measurement report corresponds to an RRC measurement report, and the measurement configuration corresponds to an IEMeasConfig received in an RRC message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration), and the report configuration corresponds to an IEReportConfig, which can configure periodic measurement reports (so that the triggering criterion will be the expiration of a timer and / or the configured periodicity) and / or event-triggered measurement reports (reportType is set to "eventTriggered") for events such as A4 or A3, so that the triggering criterion will be the satisfaction of an event entry condition as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 (e.g., measurements of neighbor cells are better than measurements of the PCell by a certain offset for a period of time longer than the time configured toward the trigger parameters).

[0135] ○ In the case of A4, the trigger condition for sending the measurement report is that at least one neighbor cell (or possibly L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate) becomes better than a threshold (configured as part of the event configuration) for one or more measurement quantities such as RSRP, RSRQ or / and SINR. In other words, if the UE detects that the measurement of at least one cell meets the A4 condition (entry conditions for A4 defined in detail in 3GPP TS 38.331, §5.5.4), the UE sends an RRC measurement report and includes one or more measurements for at least one cell. The reasoning here is that the cell that may trigger the report is considered a neighbor because it is not a PCell, which is the cell in which the UE is configured in the PCell frequency. In the intra-frequency case, the measurement object for the neighbor is the same frequency as the PCell.

[0136] ○ In the case of A3, the trigger condition for sending the measurement report is that at least one neighbor cell (or possibly L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate) becomes better than the SpCell (which is the PCell in the case of single connectivity) by a certain offset for one or more measurement quantities such as RSRP, RSRQ or / and SINR, where the offset (or threshold, hysteresis) is configured as part of the event configuration. In other words, if the UE detects that the measurement of at least one cell meets the A3 condition (entry conditions for A3 defined in detail in 3GPPTS 38.331, §5.5.4) (i.e., the neighbor's measurement is better than the PCell's measurement), the UE sends an RRC measurement report and includes one or more measurements for at least one cell. The reasoning here is that the cell that may trigger the report is considered a neighbor because it is not the PCell, which is the cell that the UE is configured in the PCell frequency. In the intra-frequency case, the measurement object for the neighbor is the same frequency as the PCell.

[0137] ● In a particular embodiment, the measurement report corresponds to a CSI report, and the measurement configuration may correspond to an IECSI-MeasConfig received in an RRC message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration), which includes a report configuration corresponding to an IE CSI-ReportConfig that configures periodic, aperiodic, semi-persistent, and / or event-triggered CSI reporting. In the event-triggered case, the conditions may be similar to those defined for the RRC measurement report.

[0138] ●In a specific embodiment, the measurement report corresponds to an RRC measurement report or to a CSI report, and the measurement configuration may include a priority value for each cell based on which the UE should measure one or more cells in the first frequency. Alternatively, the measurement configuration may include a priority value for each frequency based on which the UE should measure the one or more cells for the frequencies that need to be prioritized. The highest priority value means that the cell or frequency should be measured by the UE first, or alternatively, the lowest priority value means that the cell or frequency should be measured by the UE first. In this case, the measurement report may include one or more measurements of one or more cells in the first frequency, which may be measurements of cells in the same frequency (or a different frequency) as the following: a special cell (SpCell) / primary cell (PCell) of a primary cell group, or an intra-frequency neighbor of a PCell, or a neighbor of a SCell configured by (one or more) of an MCG or / and SCG, which are sorted based on the priority configured by the measurement configuration.

[0139] 2. The DU that receives the measurement report (e.g., gNB-DU) includes the measurement report (e.g., RRC Measurement Report message) in the UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message to the CU (e.g., gNB-CU) and sends the received measurement report (e.g., Measurement Report message) to the CU. The CU receives the measurement report encapsulated in the UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message from the DU.

[0140] ■ In a particular embodiment, after receiving the measurement report, the CU determines one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells to configure for the UE. For a UE that has sent a measurement report, the CU can make this determination based on at least one UE capability related to L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0141] ■ In a particular embodiment, after receiving the measurement report, the CU determines one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells, where at least one of the candidate cells is one of the cells whose measurements are included in the measurement report.

[0142] ■ According to some embodiments, after receiving the measurement report, the CU determines one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells based on the measurement report.

[0143] ● In a particular embodiment, one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells determined by the CU are the cells in the measurement report with the strongest or highest measurement quantities (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR). For example, if the measurement report includes K cells, each with its associated measurement quantity (e.g., K RSRP values), and the UE can be configured with K1 < K L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates, the CU determines K1 cells as the cells with the K1 strongest / highest RSRP values. The CU may know that one of these cells is associated with the DU to which the UE is connected, and may also know that one of these cells can be configured as an L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate.

[0144] ● In a particular embodiment, one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells determined by the CU are the cells in the measurement report associated with the DU of the current PCell (i.e., the DU currently serving the UE, which can be regarded as the source DU).

[0145] 3. The CU (e.g., gNB-CU) sends a second message to the DU (e.g., gNodeB-DU) of the RAN, indicating a request for the DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE. The request may include at least one cell and / or cell group as (one or more) L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. The DU receives the second message including the request.

[0146] -In a specific embodiment, after receiving the measurement report, the CU determines how many L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells can be configured at the UE based on the number of measurements of one or more cells in a frequency contained in the measurement report and / or based on the UE capabilities regarding the maximum number of candidates that can be configured. Alternatively, after receiving the measurement report, the CU determines how many L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells can be configured at the UE based on the number of measurements of one or more cells on all frequencies contained in the measurement report and / or based on the UE capabilities regarding the maximum number of candidates that can be configured.

[0147] -One procedure per L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate, configure one candidate: According to certain embodiments, the CU sends a second message to a DU (e.g., gNodeB-DU) of the RAN, indicating a request for the DU to configure one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, the message is received by the DU, and the DU sends a response to the CU. In response to the second message, the CU receives a third message from the DU including one configuration of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0148] -One process per L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate, configuring multiple candidates: According to some other embodiments, the CU sends multiple second messages to the DU (e.g., gNodeB-DU) of the RAN. Each of the second messages indicates a request for the DU to configure an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE. The DU receives and responds. In response to each second message, the CU receives a third message from the DU including a configuration of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0149] -One process per L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate, configuring multiple candidates: According to certain embodiments, the CU sends a second message to a DU (e.g., a gNodeB-DU) of the RAN, indicating a request for the DU to configure multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE. The DU receives and responds. In response to the second message, the CU receives a third message from the DU including one configuration for each of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to be configured.

[0150] - According to certain embodiments, the second message is a message for modifying the UE context in the DU, such as a UE context modification request from the CU to the DU (UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUEST on the F1AP interface). Therefore, when the CU sends it, the CU is requesting the DU to modify the UE context by configuring L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility with one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates.

[0151] -In a specific embodiment, the request includes one or more suggested / recommended L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells. Based on one or more measurements or a subset of the one or more measurements, the CU may determine which cells to request the DU to configure to the UE (or to request the DU to configure to the UE) as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. After receiving the second message, the DU may determine which of the requested cells will be configured for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, whether a subset of them is configured, all of them are configured, or none of them are configured. The DU may have the option of configuring L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates that have not been suggested by the CU in the request, and in this case, the DU indicates the configuration(s) for the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates.

[0152] - In a specific embodiment, the request includes one or more measurements or a subset of the one or more measurements, or other content of a measurement report. Based on the one or more measurements or a subset of the one or more measurements, the DU can determine which cells to configure as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates to the UE. In one option, the request does not include recommended cells, but only includes one or more measurements, so that the DU selects which cells to configure as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. In another option, the request includes both one or more measurements and a recommended list of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells determined by the CU.

[0153] - In a specific embodiment, the CU sends the second message when the CU determines one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells, wherein at least one candidate cell is one of the cells included in the measurement report.

[0154] - According to certain embodiments, the CU sends the request in the second message based on at least one indication indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. This may be an indication that the CU has already obtained.

[0155] o In a particular embodiment, the CU obtains the at least one indication from the core network node in a message after receiving a message such as an initial context setup request from an access and mobility function (AMF). The message is sent over the NG-1 interface between the RAN and the CN.

[0156] o In a particular embodiment, the at least one indication is obtained from a memory of the CU or another memory in the network (eg, in UE context information).

[0157] o In a specific embodiment, the at least one indication is obtained via an explicit or implicit indication directly from the UE. The explicit indication may be obtained via UE capabilities exchanged with the UE after establishing a first RRC connection with the UE, or via an explicit indication included in an RRC message (such as an RRC measurement report) sent by the UE (via the DU) to the CU.

[0158] The implicit indication may be obtained through the presence of certain fields, information elements or structures present in RRC ASN.1, MAC CE or SCI that are only used in case of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility.

[0159] The request in the message from the CU to the DU may include one or more of the following:

[0160] - a set of candidates that will be (one or more) SpCells; and / or

[0161] - a set of candidates that will be SCell(s); and / or

[0162] - A set of candidate cell groups, including a SpCell L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate and at least one SCell associated with the SpCell L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate.

[0163] One reason for including SCell candidates is that L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility should work with carrier aggregation, so that when performing L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility to a target cell (which may be a SpCell candidate), the UE needs to be able to perform carrier aggregation with the SpCell after the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is performed.

[0164] 4. Upon receiving the request (in the second message), if the DU accepts the request to configure L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for the UE, the DU generates (to be sent to the CU later) one or more of the following:

[0165] ○ At least one CSI measurement configuration;

[0166] o A first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell (PCell); and

[0167] ○ At least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0168] Then, the DU sends a third message to the CU.

[0169] In response to the request, the DU sends one or more of the following:

[0170] - configuration for each candidate to be a SpCell(s); and / or

[0171] - a configuration for each candidate to be a SCell(s); and / or

[0172] - Configuration for each candidate cell group, including configuration for a SpCell L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate and configuration for at least one SCell associated with the SpCell L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate.

[0173] In case the DU does not accept the request for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, different actions are possible:

[0174] - According to certain embodiments, the DU indicates to the CU in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message that configuring L1 / L2 mobility was unsuccessful, including an appropriate cause value (eg, failure due to cause X).

[0175] - According to certain embodiments, if the DU does not accept the request for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, the DU indicates in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION FAILURE message that configuring L1 / L2 mobility was unsuccessful with an appropriate cause value.

[0176] - According to certain embodiments, if the DU does not accept the request for configuring the (one or more) L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells requested by the CU, but may configure (one or more) other L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells, the DU indicates (one or more) such L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells that may be configured in a UECONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE or UECONTEXT MODIFICATION FAILURE message together with a cause value. In this latter case, upon receiving a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE or UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION FAILURE message with (one or more) L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells that the CU did not initially request, the CU may send a new message to the DU to trigger a new UE context modification request procedure (i.e., for configuring all or a subset of the (one or more) L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells suggested by the DU). In addition, if one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (possibly encoded in an IE (e.g., Candidate L1 / L2Cell List IE)) are included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message and the DU (e.g., gNB-DU) accepts a subset of these candidates, the DU (e.g., gNB-DU) should respond by including the accepted subset (e.g., a list of accepted cells, possibly encoded in an IE (e.g., L1 / L2Cell List IE) of the F1AP) in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message if it is able to support L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, and possibly including additional cells that the DU decided to add for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, the accepted subset including a subset of cells that can be accepted (e.g., in the Candidate L1 / L2Cell List IE), and the CU (e.g., gNB-CU) should take this into account. In one option, the gNB-DU shall include the cells in the L1 / L2CellList IE in priority order, where the first cell in the list is the most desired cell and the last cell is the least desired cell (e.g., based on measurements and / or load conditions).

[0177] Depending on the CU request for one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates, a summary of the actions at the DU is as follows:

[0178] -DU accepts all requested candidates and possibly adds at least one more candidate cell. The configuration of these cells is sent in response to the CU.

[0179] - The DU accepts a subset of the proposed candidate cells and may have identified some again on its own. All accepted cells are signaled in the response message. All failed cells are also signaled with appropriate cause values.

[0180] -DU cannot accept any of the cells from CU, but it has identified the cells on its own. A similar process as in alternative 2 then occurs.

[0181] -The DU cannot accept any of the cells in the CU and it has not identified any cell on its own.Then, if L1 / L2 mobility is the reason for the UE context modification procedure, the DU sends a UE context modification failure message.

[0182] In a particular embodiment, the third message is a UE Context Modification Response (F1AP message).

[0183] In a specific embodiment, the third message is a UE Context Modification Response (F1AP message) sent by the DU in response to the second message. The CU receives the third message.

[0184] 5. After receiving the third message (e.g., UE Context Modification Response), the CU sends a fourth message to the DU including an RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes one or more of the following:

[0185] ○ At least one CSI measurement configuration;

[0186] o A first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell (PCell) in which the UE has transitioned from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED;

[0187] ○ At least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells;

[0188] Then, the DU receives the fourth message.

[0189] - In a particular embodiment, the fourth message comprises a DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0190] - In a specific embodiment, the fourth message is another UE context modification request from the CU to the DU;

[0191] -In a specific embodiment, before sending the fourth message, the CU generates an RRC reconfiguration. This includes at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells for candidates that have been proposed by the CU and accepted by the DU and / or candidates configured by the DU but not proposed by the CU. For example, the CU (e.g., gNB-CU) generates an RRCReconfiguration message and encapsulates it in a DL RRC MESSAGETRANSFER message. The RRCReconfiguration message includes the necessary configuration for the UE to perform L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility and related procedures (such as CSI measurements and associated reports). The RRC reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) message includes information generated by the DU for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0192] 6. The DU sends an RRC reconfiguration message (encapsulated in the fourth message) to the UE to configure one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. In response to receiving the fourth message from the CU, the DU sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. The UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message and applies a message including one or more of the following:

[0193] ○ At least one CSI measurement configuration;

[0194] o A first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell (PCell) in which the UE has transitioned from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED;

[0195] ○ At least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells;

[0196] The UE applies the message after receiving the RRC reconfiguration and is configured with (one or more) L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates and CSI measurement configuration to support L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0197] 7. The UE sends an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the DU (e.g. gNB-DU). The DU receives the message.

[0198] 8. The DU (e.g. gNB-DU) encapsulates the RRC message in a UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message and sends it to the CU (e.g. gNB-CU). The CU receives the message and considers that the UE is configured with L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0199] From the UE's perspective, after step 7, the UE starts performing CSI measurements on one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates and reports to the DU. Upon reception, the DU may determine that L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is triggered by sending lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE or DCI) to the UE indicating that the UE changes its serving cell (e.g., change of PCell). Upon receiving the lower layer signaling, the UE changes its serving cell and operates according to the configuration of the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates indicated by the lower layer signaling. The configuration of the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates has been received in step 7.

[0200] The lower layer signaling from the network (e.g., from the DU) may be a MAC CE or a DCI, which includes an indication of at least one configured L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to which the UE needs to change in the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. After receiving the lower layer signaling, the UE starts operating in the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell according to the configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0201] Further details on signaling between CU and DU (F1AP procedure)

[0202] Some different aspects are further elaborated in this section:

[0203] -Configure multiple L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells using a single or multiple procedures.

[0204] - Configuration of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells that will become PCells and / or SCells, or configuration of a cell group for a given L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell (e.g. IE CellGroupConfig).

[0205] One process per L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate

[0206] According to certain embodiments, a candidate is configured. For example, according to certain embodiments, the CU sends a second message, such as a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST, to a DU (e.g., a gNodeB-DU) of the RAN, indicating a request for the DU to configure a L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, and receives a third message (such as a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE) from the DU in response to the second message, which includes a configuration of a L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The message may include an indication of a candidate cell (e.g., a candidate PCell), such as a cell identifier (e.g., an NR CGI as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331).

[0207] According to certain other embodiments, multiple candidates are configured. For example, according to certain embodiments, the CU sends multiple second messages to the DU (e.g., gNodeB-DU) of the RAN, each of the second messages indicating a request for the DU to configure an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, and receives a third message from the DU in response to each second message, the third message including a configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. In other words, the CU requests the DU to configure multiple candidates, and for each candidate, the CU triggers the modification process by sending a UECONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST including an indication of the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell being requested.

[0208] Figure 6 5 illustrates example signaling 500 between a UE 502, a DU 504, and a CU 506, wherein each process configures each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate according to certain embodiments. Figure 6 The CU 506 is illustrated receiving a measurement report with measurements for, for example, cell A and cell B.

[0209] The CU determines to request the DU to configure cell A and cell B as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0210] - The CU sends a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST to the DU, indicating the request for cell A, and receives a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE from the DU in response, which includes the configuration for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for cell A.

[0211] - The CU sends another UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST to the DU, indicating the request for cell B, and receives in response a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE from the DU, which includes the configuration for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for cell B.

[0212] When receiving both responses, the CU generates an RRC reconfiguration for the UE, encapsulates it in a DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER to the DU, and sends it to the DU. The DU sends it to the UE, so that the UE is configured with both cell A and cell B as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0213] One advantage of this approach is that fewer updates are required to the CU / DU messages, making the DU implementation simpler, since the DU is currently used to handle messages requesting a cell to be added for other legacy procedures. In addition, another advantage is that if the DU fails to configure one of the cells (e.g., cell A or cell B), L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility can still be configured at the UE using another cell for which the DU is able to generate the configuration.

[0214] A procedure for multiple L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates

[0215] According to certain embodiments, the CU sends a second message, such as a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST, to a DU (e.g., a gNodeB-DU) of the RAN, indicating a request for the DU to configure a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and receives a third message (such as a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE) including a plurality of configurations from the DU in response to the second message, wherein each configuration corresponds to one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell from the plurality of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0216] Figure 7 Another example signaling 600 between a UE 602, a DU 604, and a CU 606 is illustrated, where a single process may be triggered to configure multiple L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. Specifically, Figure 7 The CU is illustrated receiving a measurement report with measurements for cell A and cell B.

[0217] The CU determines to request the DU to configure cell A and cell B as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0218] - The CU sends a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST to the DU, indicating a request for both cell A and cell B, and receives a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE from the DU in response, which includes the configuration for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for cell A and the configuration for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for cell B.

[0219] When a single response is received, the CU generates an RRC reconfiguration message for the UE, encapsulates it in a DL RRCMESSAGE TRANSFER to the DU, and sends it to the DU. The DU sends it to the UE, so that the UE is configured with both cell A and cell B as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0220] One advantage of this approach is reduced signaling, since a single CU / DU message can configure multiple candidates.Another advantage is that the overall process for configuring L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for cell A and cell B is faster.

[0221] Configure L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells as (one or more) SpCells, (one or more) SCells and / or (one or more) cell groups

[0222] L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility may be configured for at least one SpCell that is a L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate. In this case, the UE is connected to a source cell (source SpCell), and reception of lower layer signaling after the UE has been configured with at least one L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate indicates a change of the source SpCell to a target SpCell, which is one of the (one or more) L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates configured by the UE.

[0223] L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility may be configured for at least one SCell that is a L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate. In this case, the UE has been configured and operates according to a SCell (e.g., a SCell of a primary cell group, which is an activated SCell), and reception of lower layer signaling after the UE has been configured with at least one L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate SCell indicates a change of the SCell to a different SCell that may be in the same frequency, where the different SCell is one of the configured L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (one or more) with which the UE is configured.

[0224] After receiving the cell group configuration (IE CellGroupConfig), L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility can be configured at least for the cell group, the cell group including one SpCell and one or more SCells as L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates. In this case, the UE is connected to the source cell (source SpCell) and one or more SCells of the MCG can be configured, and the reception of lower layer signaling after the UE has been configured with at least one L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate indicates a change of the source SpCell to a target SpCell, and a change of at least one of the (one or more) configured SCells (for example, a new SCell is added, one of the (one or more) configured SCcells is removed or modified), the target SpCell is one of the (one or more) configured L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates configured by the UE.

[0225] According to certain embodiments, the request (e.g., in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST from the CU to the DU) includes at least one set (e.g., in a list) of cells that are L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates (e.g., Candidate L1 / L2CellList IE, possibly including a list of cell identifiers for the requested cells). The set may be encoded as a list or any other data structure (e.g., defined in RRC signaling).

[0226] According to certain embodiments, at least one set of cells corresponds to a set of SpCell candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. These are candidate cells in the same or different frequency (SSB frequency and / or SSB subcarrier spacing) as the UE's current SpCell (e.g. PCell) with which the UE is configured.

[0227] ○ In a specific embodiment, the DU receives a set of these (one or more) SpCells and generates a configuration for each L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate SpCell and sends it to the CU (e.g., IESpCellConfig within a UECONTEXTMODIFICATION RESPONSE).

[0228] ○In a specific embodiment, the DU receives a set of these (one or more) SpCells and generates a cell group configuration (e.g., IE CellGroupConfig) for each L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate SpCell, and the cell group configuration also includes: for each L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate SpCell, one or more SCell configurations associated with the candidate SpCell.

[0229] ■In another specific embodiment, the one or more SCells of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate SpCell included by the DU in the cell group configuration of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate is one of the (one or more) SCells indicated by the CU in the UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUEST message.

[0230] ■In another specific embodiment, one or more SCells of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate included by the DU in the cell group configuration of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate is not one of the (one or more) SCells indicated by the CU in the UECONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUEST message.

[0231] According to certain embodiments, at least one set of cells corresponds to a (suggested, requested) set of secondary cell (SCell) candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility (e.g., for carrier aggregation). These are candidate cells in the same or different frequency (SSB frequency and / or SSB subcarrier spacing) as the UE's current SpCell (e.g., PCell).

[0232] - In a specific embodiment, the DU receives a recommended set of these (one or more) SCells and generates a configuration for each L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate SCell and sends it to the CU (e.g., IESCellConfig in a UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION RESPONSE).

[0233] According to certain embodiments, the DU receives from the CU a first set of cells corresponding to a set of SpCell candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility and a second set of cells corresponding to a set of SCell candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. Upon receiving, the DU generates at least one cell group configuration, which includes a SpCell configuration for at least one of the SpCell candidates and a SCell configuration for at least one of the SCell candidates.

[0234] -In a specific embodiment, the second cell set corresponding to the set of SCell candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is the same SCell set (one or more) SCells (for example, included in the IE SCell To Be Setup List) indicated as the cell group configuration of the current PCell in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message.

[0235] -In a specific embodiment, the second cell set corresponding to the set of SCell candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility is indicated in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message as a different SCell set from the (one or more) SCells of the cell group configuration of the current PCell (for example, included in the IE SCell To Be Setup List), although the CU can choose to include the same SCell in two lists, one list for the current PCell cell group configuration and the other list for the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate PCells.

[0236] -In a specific embodiment, the two sets are sent by the CU as separate sets (e.g., in two cell lists) and received by the DU. The DU determines how these SpCell candidates and SCell candidates are grouped or combined in (one or more) cell group configurations. For example, if the first cell set is SPCell Id=1, SPCellId=2, and the second set is ScellId=4, SCell Id=5, the DU can generate SpCellConfig(1) for SpCell Id=1, SCellConfig(4) for Scell ​​Id=4, SCellConfig(5) for Scell ​​Id=5, and cell groups CellGroupConfig(1)=SpCellConfig(1)+SCellConfig(4) and SCellConfig(5) for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, where CellGroupConfig(1) is provided to the CU in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0237] According to certain embodiments, the DU receives a set of (one or more) cell groups from the CU, which includes one SpCell candidate for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility and at least one SCell candidate for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility. Upon reception, the DU generates at least one cell group configuration, which includes an SpCell configuration for the SpCell candidate and an SCell configuration for the SCell candidate. In this option, it is the CU that requests a specific cell group as a candidate cell group including both a PCell and one or more SCells, and the DU determines whether to accept the cell group requested as a candidate for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0238] According to certain embodiments, an IE (e.g., Candidate L1 / L2Cell List IE) indicating one or more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells being requested (or suggested or recommended) by the CU to the DU is included in a UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUEST message, such as an IE name (e.g., Candidate L1 / L2Cell List IE), including one or more of the following:

[0239] o Cell identifier for each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0240] ■ In one embodiment, the cell identifier of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate is provided as one or more global cell identities (e.g., NR CGI, physical cell identity (and associated frequency), PLMN identity and associated NR cell identity).

[0241] ■In one embodiment, the cell identifier of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate is provided as an extended version of the IE Candidate SpCell List (defined in TS38.473), and in the case of L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, the requested (one or more) candidates can have more values ​​(e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3...K). When this is used, the CU includes in the first value in the list the cell that the CU wishes to be the current SpCell (i.e., the PCell to which the UE is connected), while the other included cells are desired to be (one or more) L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells. They can be regarded as SpCell candidates for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0242] o A cell index for each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell, which is encoded with fewer bits than the cell identifier.

[0243] ■ In one embodiment, the cell index of each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate is provided as an integer. This index will be used in communication between the UE and / or CU and / or DU to refer to the cell. This may be particularly important on the air interface in order to exchange a reduced number of bits when referring to the candidate cell. This makes sense because there may be more L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates overall than the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidates that a UE can be configured with.

[0244] o Frequency information for each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0245] ■ In one embodiment, the frequency information includes an indication of a serving measurement object or a serving frequency (eg, servingCellMO as defined in 3GPP TS38.331), and is associated with the measurement object of the serving frequency where the L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate is located.

[0246] ■ In one embodiment, the frequency information includes the SSB frequency, possibly encoded as absolute frequency information (eg, ARFCN as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331).

[0247] ■ In one embodiment, the frequency information includes the CSI-RS frequency, possibly encoded as absolute frequency information (eg, ARFCN as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331).

[0248] ■ In one embodiment, the frequency information includes the point A frequency, possibly encoded as absolute frequency information (eg, ARFCN as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331).

[0249] o A cell group index or identifier for each L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell group.

[0250] Signaling Example

[0251] Below is an example of a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message from CU to DU (e.g., from gNB-CU to gNB-DU through F1AP) when requesting to configure L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility for at least one SpCell that is a candidate for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility.

[0252] ************************

[0253] 8.3.4UE Context Modification (gNB-CU initiated)

[0254] […]

[0255] If the Candidate L1 / L2Cell List IE is included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message, the gNB-DU shall consider these cells as recommended for L1 / L2 mobility and shall take them into consideration.

[0256] If the L1 / L2Cell List IE is included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message, the gNB-DU shall understand that these cells are configured for L1 / L2 mobility.

[0257] If the L1 / L2CellGroupConfig IE is included in the CU to DU RRC Information IE in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message, the DU will understand that it provides the configuration of cells for L1 / L2 mobility.

[0258] If the gNB-DU cannot accept any of the cells in the Candidate L1 / L2Cell List IE, the gNB-DU shall respond with an appropriate cause value in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message.

[0259] If the L1 / L2Cell List IE is included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message, the gNB-CU shall understand that these cells are configured for L1 / L2 mobility. The gNB-DU shall include the cells in the L1 / L2Cell List IE in priority order, where the first cell in the list is the most desired cell and the last cell is the least desired cell (e.g. based on measurements, load conditions).

[0260] If the L1 / L2CellGroupConfig IE is included in the DU to CU RRC Information IE in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message, the CU will understand that it provides the configuration of cells for L1 / L2 mobility.

[0261] If the Candidate L1 / L2 SCell To Be Setup List IE is included in the UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUEST message, the gNB-DU shall regard it as a list of candidate SCells recommended for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility and shall take them into consideration. The recommended cell may correspond to the requested cell or the suggested cell.

[0262] If the L1 / L2 SCell List IE is included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message, the gNB-CU shall understand that these SCells are configured for L1 / L2 mobility.

[0263] If the L1 / L2 SCell Failed To Setup List IE is included in the UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION RESPONSE message, the gNB-CU shall consider that the corresponding SCell(s) for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility have failed to be setup, using the appropriate cause value for each SCell that failed to be setup.

[0264] If the L1 / L2 Cell Failed To Setup List IE is included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE message, the gNB-CU shall consider that the corresponding cell(s) for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility have failed to be setup, using an appropriate cause value for each cell that failed to be setup.

[0265] 8.3.4.3 Unsuccessful Operations

[0266] […]

[0267] If the gNB-DU cannot accept any of the cells in the Candidate L1 / L2 SCell To Be Setup List IE in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message, it shall reply with a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION FAILURE message with an appropriate cause value.

[0268] 8.4.2 DL RRC message transmission

[0269] If the L1 / L2CellGroupConfig IE is included in the RRC-Container IE in the DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER message, the DU will understand that it provides the configuration of the cells for L1 / L2 mobility.

[0270] 9.2.2.7 UE context modification request

[0271] This message is sent by the gNB-CU to provide the gNB-DU with UE context information changes.

[0272] Direction: gNB-CU → gNB-DU

[0273]

[0274]

[0275] 9.2.2.8 UE context modification response

[0276] This message is sent by the gNB-DU to confirm the modification of the UE context.

[0277] Direction: gNB-DU→gNB-CU.

[0278]

[0279]

[0280] 9.3.1.25 CU to DU RRC information

[0281] This IE contains RRC information sent from the gNB-CU to the gNB-DU.

[0282]

[0283] Figure 8 An example of a communication system 700 is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0284] In this example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunications network 702 including an access network 704 such as a radio access network (RAN) and a core network 706 including one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 710a and 710b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar third generation partnership project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UE 712a, 712b, 712c, and 712d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UE 712) to the core network 706 via one or more wireless connections.

[0285] Example wireless communications over wireless connections include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transferring information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. In addition, in different embodiments, the communication system 700 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired connection or a wireless connection. The communication system 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar types of systems.

[0286] UE 712 may be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are arranged, configured and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 710 is arranged, capable, configured and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 712 and / or with other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network 702 to enable and / or provide network access (such as wireless network access) and / or perform other functions (such as management in telecommunication network 702).

[0287] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects the network node 710 to one or more hosts, such as the host 716. These connections may be direct or indirect connections via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node may be directly coupled to the host. The core network 706 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) constructed with hardware and software components. The features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UE, network nodes, and / or hosts, so that their descriptions are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 708. The example core network node includes a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a subscription identifier de-hiding function (SIDF), a unified data management (UDM), a security edge protection agent (SEPP), a network open function (NEF), and / or a user plane function (UPF) One or more functions.

[0288] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunications network 702, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (such as retrieving and compiling data about various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analysis functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions performed by a server.

[0289] As a whole, Figure 8 The communication system 700 implements the connection between UE, network node and host. In this sense, the communication system can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures such as specific standards, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standards (e.g., 6G); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, LiFi and / or any low power wide area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0290] In some examples, telecommunication network 702 is a cellular network implementing 3GPP standardized features. Thus, telecommunication network 702 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to telecommunication network 702. For example, telecommunication network 702 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or provide massive machine type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to additional UEs.

[0291] In some examples, UE 712 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from access network 704, the UE can be designed to send information to access network 704 according to a predetermined schedule. Additionally, the UE can be configured to operate in a single RAT or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, the UE can operate using any one or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0292] In this example, the hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d) and a network node (e.g., network node 710b). In some examples, the hub 714 can be a controller, a router, a content source and analysis, or any of the other communication devices described herein with respect to the UE. For example, the hub 714 can be a broadband router that enables the UE to access the core network 706. As another example, the hub 714 can be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. The commands or instructions can be received from the UE, the network node 710, or received through executable code, scripts, processes, or other instructions in the hub 714. As another example, the hub 714 can be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data, and in some embodiments, analysis or other processing of the data can be performed. As another example, the hub 714 can be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 714 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, and then the hub 714 provides it to the UE directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or coordinator for the UE, especially when one or more of the UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0293] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710b. The hub 714 may also allow different communication schemes and / or scheduling between the hub 714 and the UE (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d) and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. In addition, the hub 714 may be configured to be connected to an M2M service provider via the access network 704 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, the UE may establish a wireless connection with the network node 710 while still being connected via a wired or wireless connection via the hub 714. In some embodiments, the hub 714 may be a dedicated hub, that is, its main function is to route communications from the network node 710b to the UE / from the UE to the network node 710b. In other embodiments, hub 714 may be a non-dedicated hub, that is, a device operable to route communications between UEs and network node 710b, but also capable of operating as a communications origin and / or endpoint for certain data channels.

[0294] Fig. 9 UE 800 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, UE refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptops, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communications (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0295] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, for example by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communications, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user owning and / or operating the associated device. Instead, the UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user, but the device may not be associated with a particular human user, or may not initially be associated with that particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but the device may be associated with a user or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0296] UE 800 includes a processing circuit 802, which is operatively coupled to an input / output interface 806, a power supply 808, a memory 810, a communication interface 812, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof, via a bus 804. Some UEs may utilize Fig. 9 All or a subset of the components shown in . The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another UE. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0297] The processing circuit 802 is configured to process instructions and data, and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions stored in the memory 810 as a machine-readable computer program. The processing circuit 802 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs), and appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit 802 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0298] In this example, the input / output interface 806 can be configured to provide one or more interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device can allow a user to capture information into the UE 800. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, web cameras, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, directional pads, trackpads, rollers, smart cards, etc. A presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device can use an interface port of the same type as an input device. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) port can be used to provide input devices and output devices.

[0299] In some embodiments, the power supply 808 is configured as a battery or a battery pack. Other types of power supplies may be used, such as an external power supply (e.g., an electrical socket), a photovoltaic device, or a power battery. The power supply 808 may also include a power circuit for delivering power from the power supply 808 itself and / or an external power supply to various parts of the UE 800 via an input circuit or an interface such as a power cable. The delivered power may be used, for example, to charge the power supply 808. The power circuit may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification to the power from the power supply 808 so that the power is suitable for various components of the UE 800 to which the power is supplied.

[0300] The memory 810 may be or be configured to include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable tape cartridge, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory 810 includes one or more application programs 814, such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 816. The memory 810 may store any of a variety of operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 800.

[0301] The memory 810 may be configured to include a plurality of physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (such as a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), including one or more user identity modules (SIMs), such as USIM and / or ISIM), other memories, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a “SIM card”. The memory 810 may allow the UE 800 to access instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to offload data or upload data. An article of manufacture, such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 810, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0302] The processing circuit 802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using a communication interface 812. The communication interface 812 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include an antenna 822 or be communicatively coupled to the antenna 822. The communication interface 812 may include one or more transceivers for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 818 and / or a receiver 820 suitable for providing network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 818 and the receiver 820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 822) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or may be implemented separately alternatively.

[0303] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functionality of the communication interface 812 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near field communication, location-based communication such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication functionality, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, new radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), QUIC, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and the like.

[0304] Regardless of the type of sensor, the UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensor via a wireless connection to a network node through its communication interface 812. The data captured by the UE's sensor may be transmitted to the network node via another UE via a wireless connection. The output may be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports a sensed temperature), random (e.g., in order to load balance reports from multiple sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., sending an alarm when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0305] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change. For example, the UE can include a motor that adjusts a control surface or rotor of a drone in flight based on the received input, or adjusts a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0306] When in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a UE may be a device used in one or more application areas including, but not limited to, urban wearable technology, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are the following devices or devices embedded in the following devices: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, connected lighting, an electric meter, a robotic vacuum cleaner, a voice-activated smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / humidity sensor, an electric door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system (such as a heat pump), an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), a wearable device for tactile enhancement or sensory enhancement, a sprinkler, an animal or item tracking device, a sensor for monitoring plants or animals, an industrial robot, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device (such as a heart rate monitor or a remotely controlled surgical robot). In addition to the description of Fig. 9 In addition to other components described for UE 800 shown in FIG. 8 , a UE in the form of an IoT device includes circuitry and / or software depending on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0307] As another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE may be an M2M device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, and airplane, or other device that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or capable of performing other functions associated with its operation.

[0308] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE may be or be integrated into a drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller for operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the speed of the drone. The first and / or second UE may also include more than one of the above functions. For example, the UE may include a sensor and an actuator and handle the communication of data for the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0309] Fig.10A network node 900 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NR Node Bs (gNBs)).

[0310] Base stations may be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, based on their transmit power level), and thus may be referred to as a femto base station, a pico base station, a micro base station, or a macro base station, depending on the amount of coverage provided. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), which is sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Portions of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0311] Other examples of network nodes include a multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access node, a multi-standard radio (MSR) device such as an MSR BS, a network controller such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), an operation and maintenance (O&M) node, an operation support system (OSS) node, a self-organizing network (SON) node, a positioning node (e.g., an evolved serving mobile positioning center (E-SMLC)) and / or a minimization of drive tests (MDT).

[0312] The network node 900 includes a processing circuit 902, a memory 904, a communication interface 906, and a power supply 908. The network node 900 may be composed of multiple physically separated components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In certain scenarios where the network node 900 includes multiple separated components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separated components may be shared between several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered as a single separated network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node 900 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such an embodiment, some components may be repeated (e.g., separate memories 904 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 900 may also include multiple sets of various illustrated components for different wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, radio frequency identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies, integrated into the network node 900. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within the network node 900.

[0313] The processing circuit 902 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic that is operable to provide the functionality of the network node 900 alone or in conjunction with other network node 900 components (such as memory 904).

[0314] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 902 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 902 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0315] The memory 904 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit 902. The memory 904 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including computer programs, software, applications, including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 902 and utilized by the network node 900. The memory 904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuit 902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 906. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 902 and the memory 904 are integrated.

[0316] The communication interface 906 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks and / or UEs. As shown, the communication interface 906 includes one or more ports / terminals 916, for example, sending data to the network and receiving data from the network via a wired connection. The communication interface 906 also includes a radio front-end circuit 918, which can be coupled to the antenna 910, or is a part of the antenna 910 in some embodiments. The radio front-end circuit 918 includes a filter 920 and an amplifier 922. The radio front-end circuit 918 can be connected to the antenna 910 and the processing circuit 902. The radio front-end circuit can be configured to adjust the signal transmitted between the antenna 910 and the processing circuit 902. The radio front-end circuit 918 can receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 918 can use a combination of a filter 920 and / or an amplifier 922 to convert digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal can then be sent via the antenna 910. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 910 may collect radio signals, which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuit 918. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 902. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0317] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 900 does not include a separate radio front end circuit 918, but rather the processing circuit 902 includes the radio front end circuit and is connected to the antenna 910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 912 is part of the communication interface 906. In other embodiments, the communication interface 906 includes one or more ports or terminals 916, the radio front end circuit 918, and the RF transceiver circuit 912 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 906 communicates with the baseband processing circuit 914 as part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0318] Antenna 910 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 910 may be coupled to radio front end circuit 918 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 910 is separate from network node 900 and may be connected to network node 900 via an interface or port.

[0319] Antenna 910, communication interface 906 and / or processing circuit 902 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain acquisition operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 910, communication interface 906 and / or processing circuit 902 may be configured to perform any sending operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal may be sent to a UE, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0320] The power supply 908 provides power to the various components of the network node 900 in a form suitable for the various components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each corresponding component). The power supply 908 may further include or be coupled to a power management circuit to supply power to the components of the network node 900 for performing the functions described herein. For example, the network node 900 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power grid, an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as a cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to the power circuit of the power supply 908. As another example, the power supply 908 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack, which is connected to the power circuit or integrated in the power circuit. If the external power supply fails, the battery can provide backup power.

[0321] An embodiment of the network node 900 may include Fig.10Additional components beyond those shown are used to provide certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 900 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into the network node 900 and to allow information to be output from the network node 900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions of the network node 900.

[0322] Fig.11 is a block diagram of a host 1000 according to various aspects described herein, and the host 1000 may be Figure 8 1000 is an embodiment of a host 716. As used herein, the host 1000 can be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including processing resources in a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, a container, or a server farm. The host 1000 can provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0323] Host 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002, which is operably coupled to input / output interface 1006, network interface 1008, power supply 1010, and memory 1012 via bus 1004. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to previous figures (such as Figure 8 and Fig. 9 ) so that its description is generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 1000.

[0324] The memory 1012 may include one or more computer programs, including one or more host applications 1014 and data 1016, which may include user data (e.g., data generated by the UE for the host 1000 or data generated by the host 1000 for the UE). An embodiment of the host 1000 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application 1014 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., generic video coding (VVC), high efficiency video coding (HEVC), advanced video coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, advanced audio coding (AAC), MPEG, and G.711), including code conversion for multiple different categories, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., mobile phones, desktop computers, wearable display systems, head-up display systems). The host application 1014 may also provide user authentication and license checks, and may periodically report health status, routing, and content availability to a central node (such as a device in a core network or on the edge). Thus, the host 1000 can select and / or indicate different hosts for over-the-top services for the UE. The host application 1014 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0325] Fig.12 1100 is a block diagram showing a virtualized environment, in which the functions implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or equipment, which can include virtualizing a hardware platform, a storage device, and a network resource. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device or component thereof described herein, and relates to such an implementation, in which at least a portion of a function is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components performed by one or more virtual machines (VMs), which are implemented in one or more virtual environments 1100 hosted by one or more hardware nodes (such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts). In addition, in an embodiment where a virtual node does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node or a host), the node can be fully virtualized.

[0326] Application 1102 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, a virtual appliance, a network function, a virtual node, a virtual network function, etc.) runs in a virtualized environment Q400 to implement some features, functions and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0327] The hardware 1104 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc. The software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108a and 1108b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some of the embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears to be network hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0328] The VMs 1108 include virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of instances of virtual devices 1102 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 1108, and may be implemented in different ways. Virtualization of hardware is referred to in some contexts as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network device types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which may be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0329] In the context of NFV, VMs 1108 may be software implementations of physical machines that run programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of VMs 1108 and the portion of hardware 1104 on which the VM executes, whether hardware dedicated to the VM and / or hardware shared by the VM with other VMs in the VM, form a separate virtual network element. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling a specific network function running in one or more VMs 1108 on top of hardware 1104 and corresponds to an application 1102.

[0330] Hardware 1104 can be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 1104 can implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1104 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and coordination 1110, where management and coordination 1110 especially oversees the life cycle management of application 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 is coupled to one or more radio units, each of which includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio unit can communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and can be used in combination with virtual components to provide radio capabilities to virtual nodes such as radio access nodes or base stations. In some embodiments, a control system 1112 can be used to provide some signaling, which can be alternatively used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0331] Fig.13 A communication diagram showing a host 1202 communicating with a UE 1206 via a network node 1204 over a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments.

[0332] Now refer to Fig.13 Describes the UE (such as Figure 8 UE 712a and / or Fig. 9 UE 800), network nodes (such as Figure 8 The network node 710a and / or Fig.10 network nodes 900) and hosts (such as Figure 8 Host 716 and / or Fig.11 An example implementation of host 1000).

[0333] Similar to the host 1000, an embodiment of the host 1202 includes hardware, such as a communication interface, a processing circuit, and a memory. The host 1202 also includes software stored in or accessible by the host 1202 and executable by the processing circuit. The software includes a host application that is operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1206 connected via an over-the-top transfer (OTT) connection 1250 extending between the UE 1206 and the host 1202. In providing services to the remote user, the host application can provide user data sent using the OTT connection 1250.

[0334] The network node 1204 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 can be direct or through a core network (such as Figure 8The core network 706 of the present invention) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private or managed networks. For example, the intermediate network can be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0335] UE 1206 includes hardware and software that is stored in or accessible by UE 1206 and can be executed by the processing circuit of UE. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or an operator-specific "application", which is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via UE 1206 with the support of host 1202. In host 1202, the executing host application can communicate with the executing client application via an OTT connection 1250 that terminates at UE 1206 and host 1202. In the process of providing services to the user, the client application of the UE can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1250 can transmit the request data and the user data. The client application of the UE can interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application via the OTT connection 1250.

[0336] The OTT connection 1250 may extend via a connection 1260 between the host 1202 and the network node 1204 and via a wireless connection 1270 between the network node 1204 and the UE 1206 to provide connectivity between the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 and the wireless connection 1270 over which the OTT connection 1250 may be provided are drawn abstractly to illustrate communications between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 via the network node 1204 without explicit reference to any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages via those devices.

[0337] As an example of sending data via the OTT connection 1250, in step 1208, the host 1202 provides user data, which can be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with the UE 1206. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with the UE 1206, which shares data with the host 1202 without explicit human interaction. In step 1210, the host 1202 initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE 1206. The host 1202 may initiate the transmission in response to a request sent by the UE 1206. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1206 or by the operation of a client application executed on the UE 1206. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the transmission may be through the network node 1204. Therefore, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, in step 1212, the network node 1204 sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host 1202 to the UE 1206. In step 1214 , UE 1206 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executing on UE 1206 that is associated with a host application executed by host 1202 .

[0338] In some examples, UE 1206 executes a client application that provides user data to host 1202. The user data may be provided in reaction to or in response to data received from host 1202. Thus, in step 1216, UE 1206 may provide the user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from a user via an input / output interface of UE 1206. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data is provided, in step 1218, UE 1206 initiates transmission of the user data to host 1202 via network node 1204. In step 1220, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, network node 1204 receives user data from UE 1206 and initiates transmission of the received user data to host 1202. In step 1222, host 1202 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 1206.

[0339] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1206 using OTT connection 1250 in which wireless connection 1270 forms the last leg. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve one or more of the following: for example, data rate, latency and / or power consumption, and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restrictions on file size, improved content parsing, better responsiveness and / or extended battery life.

[0340] In an example scenario, the host 1202 may collect and analyze plant status information. As another example, the host 1202 may process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from the UE for use in creating a map. As another example, the host 1202 may collect and analyze real-time data to help control vehicle congestion (e.g., control traffic lights). As another example, the host 1202 may store surveillance videos uploaded by the UE. As another example, the host 1202 may store media content (such as video, audio, VR, or AR) that it may broadcast, multicast, or unicast to the UE, or control access to the media content. As other examples, the host 1202 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical power loads to balance power generation needs, positioning services, presentation services (such as compiling charts based on data collected from remote devices, etc.), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or sending data.

[0341] In some examples, a measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, delays, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1250 between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in the software and hardware of the host 1202 and / or the UE 1206. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 1250 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by supplying the values ​​of the monitored quantities illustrated above or supplying the values ​​of other physical quantities according to which the software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1250 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routes, etc.; the reconfiguration does not require direct changes to the operation of the network node 1204. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve dedicated UE signaling, which facilitates the host 1202 to measure throughput, propagation time, delay, etc. The measurements can be achieved by software enabling the use of the OTT connection 1250 to send messages, particularly empty messages or "dummy" messages, while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0342] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UE, network node, host) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition or similar operations described herein may be performed by a processing circuit, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with the information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making a determination as a result of the processing. In addition, although the components are depicted as being located in a larger box or a single box nested in multiple boxes, in practice, the computing device may include multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and the functions may be divided between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any one of the components described herein, and / or the functions of the components may be divided between the processing circuit and the communication interface. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0343] Fig.14 A method 1300 for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) performed by a UE 402, 502, 602, 800 in a connected state according to certain embodiments is illustrated. The method includes sending a measurement report including one or more measurements associated with one or more cells at step 1302. At step 1304, the UE 402, 502, 602, 800 receives an RRC reconfiguration message including at least one configuration of candidate cells for inter-cell mobility based on L1 / L2. At step 1306, the UE 402, 502, 602, 800 sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0344] In a particular embodiment, the RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more of: at least one CSI measurement configuration; and a first cell group configuration associated with a current PCell of the UE.

[0345] In another specific embodiment, at least one CSI measurement configuration and / or a first cell group configuration associated with the current PCell, and / or at least one configuration of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell is generated by a candidate DU (406, 504, 604), encapsulated by a CU (404, 506, 606) in an RRC reconfiguration message, and received by the UE via the candidate DU.

[0346] In a particular embodiment, the UE receives a measurement configuration, and the measurement configuration includes a reporting configuration. The reporting configuration includes at least one trigger condition that, when satisfied, triggers the UE to send a measurement report.

[0347] In a particular embodiment, the UE performs one or more measurements associated with one or more cells according to the measurement configuration, and the one or more measurements include at least one of CSI measurement, L1 RSRP measurement, differential RSRP measurement, RSRQ measurement, and SINR measurement.

[0348] In a particular embodiment, the UE determines that at least one condition is satisfied, and sends the measurement report in response to determining that the at least one condition is satisfied.

[0349] In certain embodiments, the one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells. Additionally or alternatively, the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

[0350] In a particular embodiment, the RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of configurations, and each of the plurality of configurations is associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0351] In a specific embodiment, the UE receives lower layer signaling including an indication of an L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or a configuration associated with the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. The indication triggers activation of the configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. Based on the indication, the UE initiates operation in the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell according to the configuration.

[0352] In a particular embodiment, the lower layer signaling is received from the distributed unit DU and / or the lower layer signaling is received by at least one lower layer of the protocol stack of the UE. The at least one lower layer includes at least one of the following: PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, physical layer and L1.

[0353] In a particular embodiment, the lower layer signaling is received via MAC-CE or DCI.

[0354] In a particular embodiment, at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of: a SpCell, a PCell, a SCell, a PSCell group cell, a MSG cell, and / or a SCG cell.

[0355] Fig.15A method 1400 for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) for a UE 402, 502, 602, 800 in a connected state performed by a CU 404, 506, 606 is illustrated in accordance with certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1402 when the CU 404, 506, 606 sends at least one request to a candidate DU 406, 504, 604 for the candidate DU to configure inter-cell mobility based on L1 / L2 to the UE. The at least one request indicates at least one inter-cell mobility candidate cell based on L1 / L2. At step 1404, the CU 404, 506, 606 receives at least one configuration of an inter-cell mobility candidate cell based on L1 / L2 from the candidate DU 406, 504, 604. At step 1406, the CU 404, 506, 606 sends an RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE to the candidate DU 406, 504, 604. The RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells. At step 1408, the CU 404, 506, 606 receives an RRC reconfiguration complete from the UE 402, 502, 602, 800 from the candidate DU 406, 504, 604.

[0356] In a particular embodiment, the candidate DU is a source DU for the UE.

[0357] In a particular embodiment, the RRC reconfiguration includes one or more of: at least one CSI measurement configuration and a first cell group configuration associated with a current PCell of the UE.

[0358] In a specific embodiment, the CU encapsulates at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells in an RRC reconfiguration message to send to the UE via the candidate DU.

[0359] In a particular embodiment, the CU receives a measurement report for the UE from the source DU, and the measurement report includes one or more measurements associated with one or more cells.

[0360] In a particular embodiment, the one or more measurements include one or more values ​​associated with at least one of: a CSI measurement, a L1 RSRP measurement, a differential RSRP measurement, a RSRQ measurement, and a SINR measurement.

[0361] In a particular embodiment, the measurement report is received in an UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER, and the one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells of the UE. Additionally or alternatively, at least one of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

[0362] In a particular embodiment, the request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE is based on a received measurement report including one or more measurements of one or more cells.

[0363] In a specific embodiment, the CU sends a previous message including a measurement configuration to the source DU before the CU receives the measurement report from the source DU. The measurement configuration includes a report configuration, and the report configuration includes at least one trigger condition for triggering the UE to send the measurement report when the at least one trigger condition is met.

[0364] In certain embodiments, at least one of the following is true:

[0365] ● sending in at least one UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE,

[0366] ● receiving in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells,

[0367] The RRC reconfiguration is sent in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST or a DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER, and

[0368] • Receiving RRC Reconfiguration Complete in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE or UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0369] In a particular embodiment, at least one message is sent and / or received over the F1AP interface between the CU and the candidate DU.

[0370] In certain embodiments, the CU obtains information indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility.

[0371] In a particular embodiment, the RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of configurations, and each of the plurality of configurations is associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0372] In a particular embodiment, the at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of: a SpCell, a PCell, a SCell, a PSCell group cell, a MSG cell, and a SCG cell.

[0373] In a specific embodiment, sending at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes sending a single message indicating a request for the candidate DU to configure one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE. The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0374] In a specific embodiment, sending at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes sending multiple messages to the candidate DU, and each of the multiple messages indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure a corresponding one of multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE. The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0375] In a specific embodiment, sending at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes sending a single message to the candidate DU, and the single message indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE. The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells includes multiple configurations, and each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of the multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0376] Fig.16A method 1500 for configuring layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) based inter-cell mobility for a UE 402, 502, 602, 800 in a connected state performed by a candidate DU 406, 504, 604 is illustrated in accordance with certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1502 when the candidate DU 406, 504, 604 receives at least one request from a CU 404, 506, 606 for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE. The at least one request indicates at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell. At step 1504, the candidate DU 406, 504, 604 sends at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the CU 404, 506, 606. At step 1506, the candidate DU 406, 504, 604 receives an RRC reconfiguration from the CU 404, 506, 606. The RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of an inter-cell mobility candidate cell based on L1 / L2. At step 1508, the candidate DU 406, 504, 604 receives an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE 402, 502, 602, 800. At step 1510, the candidate DU 406, 504, 604 sends an RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE 402, 502, 602, 800 to the CU 404, 506, 606.

[0377] In a particular embodiment, the RRC reconfiguration includes one or more of: at least one CSI measurement configuration; and a first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell of the UE.

[0378] In a specific embodiment, the candidate DU is also a source DU for the UE, and the candidate DU sends a measurement report including one or more measurements of one or more cells to the CU. The candidate DU also sends an RRC reconfiguration including at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE.

[0379] In certain embodiments, before sending the measurement report to the CU, the candidate DU receives the measurement report from the UE and encapsulates the measurement report in a message to send to the CU.

[0380] In a particular embodiment, the candidate DU determines at least one L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell to be configured to the UE based on one or more measurements and / or measurement reports of one or more cells.

[0381] In a particular embodiment, the one or more measurements include one or more values ​​associated with at least one of: a CSI measurement, a L1 RSRP measurement, a differential RSRP measurement, a RSRQ measurement, and a SINR measurement.

[0382] In certain embodiments, the one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells of the UE.

[0383] In a particular embodiment, the measurement report is sent to the CU in a UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER, and / or at least one of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

[0384] In certain embodiments, at least one of the following is true:

[0385] ● receiving in at least one UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE,

[0386] ● sending at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE,

[0387] ● Receiving an RRC reconfiguration in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST or a DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER, and

[0388] • Send RRC Reconfiguration Complete in UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE or UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0389] In a particular embodiment, at least one message is sent and / or received over the F1AP interface between the CU and the candidate DU.

[0390] In certain embodiments, the candidate DU obtains information indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility.

[0391] In a particular embodiment, the RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of configurations, and each of the plurality of configurations is associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0392] In a particular embodiment, at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of: a SpCell, a PCell, a SCell, a PSCell group cell, an MCG cell, and / or an SCG cell.

[0393] In a particular embodiment, at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes receiving a single message indicating a request for the candidate DU to configure one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE. The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0394] In a specific embodiment, receiving at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes receiving multiple second messages from the CU. Each of the multiple second messages indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure a corresponding one of multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE. The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0395] In a specific embodiment, receiving at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes receiving a second message from the CU, and the second message indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE. The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells includes multiple configurations, and each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of the multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0396] In a specific embodiment, the candidate DU sends a lower layer signaling including an indication of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or a configuration associated with the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE to trigger activation of the configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, and wherein the lower layer signaling is sent to and / or received by at least one lower layer of a protocol stack of the UE. The at least one lower layer includes at least one of the following: a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, a physical layer, and an L1.

[0397] In certain embodiments, lower layer signaling is sent via MAC-CE or DCI.

[0398] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be provided by a processing circuit that executes instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by a processing circuit without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuit may be configured to perform the described functions, regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit itself or other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or generally by end users and wireless networks.

[0399] Example Embodiments

[0400] Group A Example Embodiments

[0401] Example embodiment A1. A method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: any one of the user equipment steps, features or functions described above, which is included alone or in combination with other steps, features or functions described above.

[0402] Example embodiment A2. The method as described in the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional user equipment steps, features or functions described above.

[0403] Example Embodiment A3. The method as in any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to the host via transmission to the network node.

[0404] Group B Example Embodiments

[0405] Example embodiment B1. A method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility performed by a network node, the method comprising: any one of the network node steps, features or functions described above, which is included alone or in combination with other steps, features or functions described above.

[0406] Example embodiment B2. The method as described in the previous embodiment further includes one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

[0407] Example embodiment B3. The method as described in any of the preceding embodiments further includes: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user device.

[0408] Group C Example Embodiments

[0409] Example embodiment C1. A method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility performed by a user equipment (UE) in a connected state, the method comprising: receiving a first message including a measurement configuration, wherein the measurement configuration includes a report configuration, wherein the report configuration includes at least one trigger condition that triggers the UE to send a measurement report when met; sending a measurement report including one or more measurements associated with one or more cells; receiving an RRC reconfiguration message including at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; and sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message.

[0410] Example embodiment C2. The method of example embodiment C1, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more of: at least one CSI measurement configuration; and a first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell (PCell) of the UE.

[0411] Example embodiment C3. A method as described in any one of example embodiments C1 to C2, wherein at least one CSI measurement configuration and / or a first cell group configuration associated with a current PCell and / or at least one configuration of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell are generated by a distributed unit (DU), encapsulated in an RRC reconfiguration message by a central unit (CU), and received by the UE via the DU.

[0412] Example Embodiment C4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C3, further comprising: performing one or more measurements associated with one or more cells according to the measurement configuration.

[0413] Example Embodiment C5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C4, wherein the measurement configuration comprises a channel state information (CSI) measurement configuration.

[0414] Example Embodiment C6. The method of any of Example Embodiments C1 to C5, wherein the one or more measurements include at least one of: an L1 RSRP measurement, a differential RSRP measurement, an RSRQ measurement, and / or an SINR measurement.

[0415] Example Embodiment C7. The method of any of Example Embodiments C1 to C6, wherein the one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells.

[0416] Example Embodiment C8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C7, wherein the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

[0417] Example Embodiment C9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C8, further comprising: determining that at least one condition is satisfied, and wherein the measurement report is sent in response to determining that the at least one condition is satisfied.

[0418] Example embodiment C10. A method as described in any one of example embodiments C1 to C9, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes multiple configurations, each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0419] Example embodiment C11. The method as described in any one of example embodiments C1 to C10 also includes: receiving lower layer signaling including an indication of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or a configuration associated with the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, and based on the indication, initiating operation in the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell according to the configuration.

[0420] Example Embodiment C12. The method of Example Embodiment C11, wherein lower layer signaling including the indication triggers activation of configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0421] Example Embodiment C13. The method of any of Example Embodiments C11 to C12, wherein lower layer signaling is received from a distributed unit (DU).

[0422] Example embodiment C14. A method as described in any of example embodiments C11 to C13, wherein the lower layer signaling is received by at least one lower layer of a protocol stack of the UE, and the at least one lower layer includes at least one of the following: PDCP, RLC, MAC, PHY or Layer 1.

[0423] Example Embodiment C15. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C11 to C14, wherein lower layer signaling is received via a MAC control element or downlink control information (DCI).

[0424] Example embodiment C16. A method as described in any one of example embodiments C1 to C15, wherein at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of the following: a special cell (SpCell), a primary cell (PCell), a secondary cell (SCell), a primary-secondary cell group (SCG) cell (PSCell), a master cell group (MCG) cell and / or an SCG cell.

[0425] Example Embodiment C17. The method of Example Embodiments C1 to C16, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to the host via a transmission to the network node.

[0426] Example Embodiment C18. A user device comprising a processing circuit configured to perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C17.

[0427] Example Embodiment C19. A wireless device comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C17.

[0428] Example embodiment C20. A computer program comprising instructions for performing any one of the methods of example embodiments C1 to C17 when executed on a computer.

[0429] Example Embodiment C21. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions, the instructions when executed on a computer, performing any one of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C17.

[0430] Example Embodiment C22. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C17.

[0431] Group D Example Embodiments

[0432] Example embodiment D1. A method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a user equipment (UE) in a connected state, performed by a central unit, the method comprising: receiving a first message including a measurement report of the UE from a distributed unit (DU), wherein the measurement report includes one or more measurements associated with one or more cells; sending to the DU at least one second message indicating a request for the DU to configure the UE with L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility; receiving from the DU a third message including at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; sending to the DU a fourth message including an RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; and receiving from the DU a fifth message including completion of the RRC reconfiguration from the UE.

[0433] Example embodiment D2. The method of example embodiment D1, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more of: at least one CSI measurement configuration; and a first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell (PCell) of the UE.

[0434] Example embodiment D3. The method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D2, further comprising: encapsulating at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell in an RRC reconfiguration message to send to the UE via the DU.

[0435] Example Embodiment D4. The method of any of Example Embodiments D1 to D3, wherein the one or more measurements include one or more channel state information (CSI) measurements.

[0436] Example Embodiment D5. The method of any of Example Embodiments D1 to D4, wherein the one or more measurements include one or more values ​​associated with at least one of: an L1 RSRP measurement, a differential RSRP measurement, an RSRQ measurement, and / or an SINR measurement.

[0437] Example embodiment D6. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D5, wherein the one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells of the UE.

[0438] Example embodiment D7. The method of any one of example embodiments D1 to D6, wherein at least one of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

[0439] Example Embodiment D8a. The method of any of Example Embodiments D1 to D7, wherein the first message comprises a UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0440] Example Embodiment D8b. The method of any of Example Embodiments D1 to D8a, wherein the at least one second message includes at least one UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST.

[0441] Example Embodiment D9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D8b, wherein the third message comprises a UECONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE.

[0442] Example Embodiment D10. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D9, wherein the fourth message comprises a UECONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST or a DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0443] Example Embodiment D11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D10, wherein the fifth message comprises a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE or a UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0444] Example embodiment D12. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D11, wherein at least one of the first message, at least one second message, the third message, the fourth message and / or the fifth message is sent and / or received via an F1AP interface between the CU and the DU.

[0445] Example embodiment D13. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D12, wherein at least one second message indicating a request for the DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE is based on a received measurement report, which measurement report includes one or more measurements of one or more cells.

[0446] Example Embodiment D14. The method of any of Example Embodiments D1 to D13, wherein the first message includes one or more measurements and / or measurement reports of one or more cells.

[0447] Example embodiment D15. The method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D14 further includes: before the CU receives a first message including a measurement report from the DU, sending a previous message including a measurement configuration to the DU, wherein the measurement configuration includes a report configuration, and the report configuration includes at least one trigger condition for triggering the UE to send a measurement report when the at least one trigger condition is met.

[0448] Example embodiment D16. The method as described in any of example embodiments D1 to D15, further comprising obtaining information indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility.

[0449] Example embodiment D17. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D16, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes multiple configurations, each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0450] Example embodiment D18. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D17, wherein at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of the following: a special cell (SpCell), a primary cell (PCell), a secondary cell (SCell), a primary-secondary cell group (SCG) cell (PSCell), a master cell group (MCG) cell and / or an SCG cell.

[0451] Example embodiment D19. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D18, wherein sending at least one second message to the DU includes: sending a second message indicating a request for the DU to configure an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, and the third message includes a configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0452] Example embodiment D20. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D18, wherein sending at least one second message to the DU includes: sending multiple second messages to the DU, wherein each of the multiple second messages indicates a request for the DU to configure a corresponding one of multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and wherein the third message includes a configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0453] Example embodiment D21. A method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D18, wherein sending at least one second message to the DU includes: sending a second message to the DU, wherein the second message indicates a request for the DU to configure a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and wherein a third message includes a plurality of configurations, wherein each of the plurality of configurations is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0454] Example embodiment D22. A method as described in any of example embodiments D1 to D21, wherein the network node includes a gNodeB (gNB).

[0455] Example embodiment D23. The method as described in any one of example embodiments D1 to D22 further includes: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user device.

[0456] Example Embodiment D24. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D23.

[0457] Example embodiment D25. A computer program comprising instructions to perform any one of the methods of example embodiments D1 to D23 when executed on a computer.

[0458] Example Embodiment D26. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D23.

[0459] Example Embodiment D27. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D23.

[0460] Group E Example Embodiments

[0461] Example embodiment E1. A method for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a user equipment (UE) in a connected state, performed by a distributed unit, the method comprising: sending a first message including a measurement report to a central unit (CU), wherein the measurement report includes one or more measurements of one or more cells; receiving from the CU at least one second message indicating a request for the DU to configure the UE with L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility; sending to the CU a third message including at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; receiving from the CU a fourth message including an RRC reconfiguration, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; sending to the UE an RRC reconfiguration including at least one configuration of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; receiving from the UE an RRC reconfiguration completion; and sending to the CU a fifth message including the RRC reconfiguration completion from the UE.

[0462] Example Embodiment E2. The method of Example Embodiment E1, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more of: at least one CSI measurement configuration; and a first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell (PCell) of the UE.

[0463] Example embodiment E3. The method of any one of example embodiments E1 to E2, wherein before sending the first message, the method further comprises: receiving a measurement report from the UE; and encapsulating the measurement report in the first message to send to the CU.

[0464] Example Embodiment E4. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E3, wherein the one or more measurements include one or more channel state information (CSI) measurements.

[0465] Example Embodiment E5. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E4, wherein the one or more measurements include one or more values ​​associated with at least one of: an L1 RSRP measurement, a differential RSRP measurement, an RSRQ measurement, and / or an SINR measurement.

[0466] Example Embodiment E6. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E5, wherein the one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells of the UE.

[0467] Example Embodiment E7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E6, wherein at least one of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

[0468] Example Embodiment E8a. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E7, wherein the first message comprises a UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0469] Example Embodiment E8b. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E8a, wherein the at least one second message comprises at least one UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST.

[0470] Example Embodiment E9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E8b, wherein the third message comprises a UECONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE.

[0471] Example Embodiment E10. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E9, wherein the fourth message comprises a UECONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST or a DL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0472] Example Embodiment E11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E10, wherein the fifth message comprises a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE or a UL RRC MESSAGE TRANSFER.

[0473] Example embodiment E12. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E11, wherein at least one of the first message, at least one second message, the third message, the fourth message and / or the fifth message is sent and / or received via an F1AP interface between the CU and the DU.

[0474] Example embodiment E13. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E12, wherein at least one second message indicating a request for the DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE is based on a received measurement report, which measurement report includes one or more measurements of one or more cells.

[0475] Example Embodiment E14a. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E13, wherein the first message includes one or more measurements and / or measurement reports of one or more cells.

[0476] Example embodiment E14b. The method of any one of example embodiments E1 to E14a, further comprising determining at least one L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell to be configured to the UE based on one or more measurements and / or measurement reports of one or more cells.

[0477] Example embodiment E15a. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E14b, wherein before receiving the measurement report, the method further includes: sending a previous message including a measurement configuration to the UE, wherein the measurement configuration includes a report configuration, and wherein the report configuration includes at least one trigger condition for triggering the UE to send the measurement report when the at least one trigger condition is met.

[0478] Example Embodiment E15b. The method of Example Embodiment E15a, further comprising receiving a measurement configuration from the CU.

[0479] Example Embodiment E16. The method of any of Example Embodiments E1 to E15b, further comprising obtaining information indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility.

[0480] Example embodiment E17. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E16, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes multiple configurations, each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0481] Example embodiment E18. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E17, wherein at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of the following: a special cell (SpCell), a primary cell (PCell), a secondary cell (SCell), a primary-secondary cell group (SCG) cell (PSCell), a master cell group (MCG) cell and / or an SCG cell.

[0482] Example embodiment E19. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E18, wherein receiving at least one second message from the CU includes: receiving a second message indicating a request for the DU to configure an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, and wherein the third message includes a configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0483] Example embodiment E20. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E18, wherein receiving at least one second message from the CU includes: receiving multiple second information from the CU, wherein each of the multiple second information indicates a request for the DU to configure a corresponding one of multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and wherein the third information includes a configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0484] Example embodiment E21. A method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E18, wherein receiving at least one second message from the CU includes: receiving a second message from the CU, wherein the second message indicates a request for the DU to configure multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and wherein a third message includes multiple configurations, and wherein each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of the multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

[0485] Example embodiment E22. The method as described in any one of example embodiments E1 to E21 also includes: sending a lower layer signaling including an indication of an L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or a configuration associated with the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE to trigger activation of the configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

[0486] Example embodiment E23. A method as described in Example embodiment E22, wherein lower layer signaling is sent to and / or received by at least one lower layer of the UE's protocol stack, the at least one lower layer comprising at least one of: PDCP, RLC, MAC, PHY, or Layer 1.

[0487] Example Embodiment E24. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E22 to E23, wherein lower layer signaling is sent via a MAC control element or downlink control information (DCI).

[0488] Example embodiment E25. A method as described in any of example embodiments E1 to E24, wherein the network node includes a gNodeB (gNB).

[0489] Example Embodiment E26. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E25, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or user device.

[0490] Example Embodiment E27. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E26.

[0491] Example embodiment E28. A computer program comprising instructions for performing any one of the methods of example embodiments E1 to E26 when executed on a computer.

[0492] Example embodiment E29. A computer program product comprising a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, perform any one of the methods of example embodiments E1 to E26.

[0493] Example Embodiment E30. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform any one of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E26.

[0494] Group F Example Embodiments

[0495] Example embodiment F1. A user equipment in a connected state for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility, comprising: a processing circuit configured to perform any steps of any one of the example embodiments of Group A and Group C; and a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

[0496] Example embodiment F2. A network node for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility for a user equipment (UE) in a connected state, the network node comprising: a processing circuit configured to perform any steps of any one of the Group B, Group D and Group E example embodiments; a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

[0497] Example embodiment E3. A user equipment (UE) in a connected state for configuring L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility, the UE comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and a processing circuit and configured to adjust signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit; the processing circuit is configured to perform any steps of any one of the example embodiments of Group A and Group C; an input interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuit; an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information that has been processed by the processing circuit from the UE; and a battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0498] Example embodiment E4. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and a processing circuit, the communication interface and processing circuit of the UE being configured to perform any steps of any one of the example embodiments of Group A and Group C to receive user data from the host.

[0499] Example Embodiment E5. The host as described in the preceding example embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a network node configured to communicate with the UE to send user data from the host to the UE.

[0500] Example embodiment E6. A host as described in the above two example embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0501] Example embodiment E7. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data to the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the network node, wherein the UE performs any operation of any one of the embodiments in Group A to receive the user data from the host.

[0502] Example Embodiment E8. The method as described in the preceding example embodiment further comprises: executing, at the host, a host application associated with the client application executed on the UE to receive user data from the UE.

[0503] Example embodiment E9. The method as described in the aforementioned example embodiment further includes: at the host, sending input data to the client application executed on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0504] Example embodiment E10. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of user data to a cellular network to send to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and a processing circuit, and the communication interface and processing circuit of the UE are configured to perform any steps of any one of the example embodiments of Group A and Group C to send the user data to the host.

[0505] Example Embodiment E11. The host as described in the preceding example embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a network node configured to communicate with the UE to send user data from the UE to the host.

[0506] Example embodiment E12. A host as described in the above two example embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0507] Example embodiment E13. A method implemented by a host, the host being configured to operate in a communication system that also includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data sent by the UE to the host via the network node, wherein the UE performs any steps of any one of the example embodiments of Group A and Group C to send the user data to the host.

[0508] Example Embodiment E14. The method as described in the preceding example embodiment, further comprising: executing, at the host, a host application associated with the client application executed on the UE to receive user data from the UE.

[0509] Example embodiment E15. The method as described in the aforementioned example embodiment further includes: at the host, sending input data to the client application executed on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0510] Example embodiment E16. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of user data to a network node in a cellular network to send to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the network node being configured to perform any operation of any one of the Group B, Group D, and Group E example embodiments to send user data from the host to the UE.

[0511] Example embodiment E17. A host as described in the aforementioned example embodiment, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides user data; and the UE includes a processing circuit that is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive a transmission of user data from the host.

[0512] Example embodiment E18. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data to the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the network node, wherein the network node performs any operation of any one of the Group B, Group D and Group E example embodiments to send the user data from the host to the UE.

[0513] Example embodiment E19. The method as described in the previous example embodiment, further comprising: at the network node, sending user data provided by the host for the UE.

[0514] Example Embodiment E20. The method as in any one of the preceding 2 example embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0515] Example embodiment E21. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top service, the communication system comprising: a host, comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data to a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node to send to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the network node being configured to perform any operation of any one of the example embodiments of Group B, Group D, and Group E to send the user data from the host to the UE.

[0516] Example embodiment E22. The communication system as described in the above example embodiment, further comprising: a network node; and / or a user equipment.

[0517] Example embodiment E23. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: a processing circuit configured to initiate reception of user data; and a network interface configured to receive user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the network node being configured to perform any operation of any one of the Group B, Group D, and Group E example embodiments to receive user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0518] Example embodiment E24. A host as described in the above two example embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application.

[0519] Example Embodiment E25. The host of any of the preceding two example embodiments, wherein initiating receipt of user data comprises requesting user data.

[0520] Example embodiment E26. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system, the communication system also including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating reception of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission that the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any steps of any one of the Group B, Group D, and Group E example embodiments to receive user data from the UE for the host.

[0521] Example Embodiment E27. The method as described in the preceding example embodiment, further comprising: at the network node, sending the received user data to the host.

Claims

1. A method (1300) for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) performed by a user equipment UE (402, 502, 602, 800) in a connected state, the method comprising: sending (1302) a measurement report including one or more measurements associated with one or more cells; receiving (1304) a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration message including at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; and Send (1306) an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: The RRC reconfiguration message includes one or more of the following: at least one channel state information (CSI) measurement configuration; and A first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell PCell of the UE.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein: The at least one CSI measurement configuration and / or the first cell group configuration associated with the current PCell and / or the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell are generated by a candidate distributed unit DU (406, 504, 604), encapsulated in the RRC reconfiguration message by a central unit CU (404, 506, 606), and received by the UE via the candidate DU.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: A measurement configuration is received, wherein the measurement configuration comprises a reporting configuration, wherein the reporting configuration comprises at least one trigger condition that, when satisfied, triggers the UE to send the measurement report.

5. The method of claim 4, comprising: performing the one or more measurements associated with the one or more cells according to the measurement configuration, and The one or more measurements include at least one of the following: Channel state information measurement, Layer 1 reference signal received power measurement, Differential reference signal received power measurement, Reference signal reception quality measurements, and Signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio measurement.

6. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 5, comprising: determining that the at least one condition is satisfied, and The measurement report is sent in response to determining that the at least one condition is met.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells, and The L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of configurations, each of the plurality of configurations being associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising: receiving lower layer signaling, the lower layer signaling comprising an indication of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or a configuration associated with the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, wherein the indication triggers activation of the configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, and Based on the indication, an operation is initiated in the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell according to the configuration.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: At least one of the following: receiving said lower layer signaling from said distributed unit DU, and The lower layer signaling is received by at least one lower layer of a protocol stack of the UE, the at least one lower layer comprising at least one of: Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer, Radio Link Control layer, Media access control layer, Physical layer, and Layer 1 is L1.

11. The method according to any one of claims 9 and 10, wherein: The lower layer signaling is received via a medium access control-control element or a downlink control information.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein: The at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of the following: Special neighborhoods, Main area, Auxiliary area, Primary and secondary cell groups, Primary cell group cells, and / or Auxiliary cell group cell.

13. A method (1400) for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) for a user equipment UE (402, 502, 602, 800) in a connected state, performed by a central unit CU (404, 506, 606), the method comprising: sending (1402) to a candidate DU (406, 504, 604) at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE, the at least one request indicating at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; receiving (1404) at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell from the candidate DU; sending (1406) a radio resource configuration RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE to the candidate DU, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; and An RRC Reconfiguration Complete is received (1408) from the candidate DU from the UE.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein: The candidate DU is a source DU for the UE.

15. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein: The RRC reconfiguration includes one or more of the following: at least one channel state information (CSI) measurement configuration; and A first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell PCell of the UE.

16. The method of any one of claims 13 to 15, comprising: The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell is encapsulated in an RRC reconfiguration message to be sent to the UE via the candidate DU.

17. The method of any one of claims 13 to 16, comprising: A measurement report of the UE is received from a source distributed unit DU, wherein the measurement report includes one or more measurements associated with one or more cells.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein: The one or more measurements include one or more values ​​associated with at least one of: Channel state information measurement, Layer 1 reference signal received power measurement, Differential reference signal received power measurement, Reference signal reception quality measurements, and Signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio measurement.

19. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 18, wherein: At least one of the following is true: receiving the measurement report in a UL RRC messaging, The one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells of the UE, and At least one of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

20. The method of any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein: The request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE is based on the received measurement report including the one or more measurements of the one or more cells.

21. The method of any one of claims 17 to 20, comprising: before the CU receives the measurement report from the source DU, sending a previous message including a measurement configuration to the source DU, The measurement configuration includes a report configuration, and The report configuration includes at least one trigger condition, which is used to trigger the UE to send the measurement report when the at least one trigger condition is met.

22. The method of any one of claims 13 to 21, wherein: At least one of the following: sending, in at least one UE context modification request, the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE, receiving the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell in a UE context modification response, sending the RRC reconfiguration in a UE context modification request or DL ​​RRC messaging, and The RRC Reconfiguration Complete is received in a UE Context Modification Response or UL RRC messaging.

23. The method of any one of claims 13 to 22, wherein: At least one message is sent and / or received via an F1 application protocol F1AP interface between the CU and the candidate DU.

24. The method of any one of claims 13 to 23, comprising: Information indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility is obtained.

25. The method of any one of claims 13 to 24, wherein: The RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of configurations, each of the plurality of configurations being associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

26. The method of any one of claims 13 to 25, wherein: The at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of the following: Special neighborhoods, Main area, Auxiliary area, Primary and secondary cell groups, The main cell group cell, and Auxiliary cell group cell.

27. The method of any one of claims 13 to 26, wherein: Sending the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes: sending a single message indicating a request for the candidate DU to configure a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, and The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

28. The method of any one of claims 13 to 26, wherein: Sending the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes: sending a plurality of messages to the candidate DU, wherein each of the plurality of messages indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

29. The method of any one of claims 13 to 26, wherein: Sending the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes: sending a single message to the candidate DU, wherein the single message indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes multiple configurations, and each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of the multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

30. A method (1500) for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) for a user equipment UE (402, 502, 602, 800) in a connected state, performed by a candidate distributed unit DU (406, 504, 604), the method comprising: receiving (1502) from a central unit CU (404, 506, 606) at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE, the at least one request indicating at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; sending (1504) at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the CU; receiving (1506) a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration from the CU, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete from the UE; and Sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message from the UE to the CU.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein: The RRC reconfiguration includes one or more of the following: at least one CSI measurement configuration; and A first cell group configuration associated with a current primary cell of the UE.

32. The method of any one of claims 30 to 31, wherein: The candidate DU is also a source DU for the UE, and the method includes: sending a measurement report including one or more measurements of one or more cells to the CU; An RRC reconfiguration including the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell is sent to the UE.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: Before sending the measurement report to the CU, the method includes: receiving the measurement report from the UE; and The measurement report is encapsulated in a message to be sent to the CU.

34. The method of any one of claims 32 to 33, comprising: At least one L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cell to be configured for the UE is determined based on the one or more measurements and / or the measurement reports of the one or more cells.

35. The method of any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein: The one or more measurements include one or more values ​​associated with at least one of: Channel state information measurement, Layer 1 reference signal received power measurement, Differential reference signal received power measurement, Reference signal reception quality measurements, and Signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio measurement.

36. The method of any one of claims 32 to 35, wherein: The one or more cells associated with the measurement report include one or more neighbor cells and / or one or more non-serving cells of the UE.

37. The method of any one of claims 32 to 36, wherein: At least one of the following: sending the measurement report to the CU in UL RRC messaging, and At least one of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells is one of the one or more cells associated with the measurement report.

38. The method of any one of claims 30 to 37, wherein: At least one of the following: receiving, in at least one UE context modification request, the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE, sending the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell in a UE context modification response, receiving an RRC reconfiguration in a UE context modification request or DL ​​RRC messaging, and The RRC Reconfiguration Complete is sent in a UE Context Modification Response or UL RRC messaging.

39. The method of any one of claims 30 to 38, wherein: At least one message is sent and / or received via an F1 application protocol F1AP interface between the CU and the candidate DU.

40. The method of any one of claims 30 to 39, comprising: Information indicating that the UE is capable of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility is obtained.

41. The method of any one of claims 30 to 40, wherein: The RRC reconfiguration message includes a plurality of configurations, each of the plurality of configurations being associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

42. The method of any one of claims 30 to 41, wherein: The at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes a candidate that will be at least one of the following: Special neighborhoods, Main area, Auxiliary area, Primary and secondary cell groups, Primary cell group cells, and / or Auxiliary cell group cell.

43. The method of any one of claims 30 to 42, wherein: Receiving the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes: receiving a single message indicating a request for the candidate DU to configure a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the UE, and The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

44. The method of any one of claims 30 to 42, wherein: Receiving the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes: receiving a plurality of second messages from the CU, wherein each of the plurality of second messages indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure a corresponding one of a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell.

45. The method of any one of claims 30 to 42, wherein: Receiving the at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE includes: receiving a second message from the CU, wherein the second message indicates a request for the candidate DU to configure a plurality of L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells to the UE, and The at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell includes multiple configurations, and each of the multiple configurations is associated with a corresponding one of the multiple L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cells.

46. ​​The method of any one of claims 30 to 45, comprising: sending to the UE lower layer signaling including an indication of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell and / or the configuration associated with the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to trigger activation of the configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell, and wherein the lower layer signaling is sent to and / or received by at least one lower layer of a protocol stack of the UE, and Wherein, the at least one lower layer includes at least one of the following: Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer, Radio Link Control layer, Media access control layer, Physical layer, and Layer 1 is L1.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein: The lower layer signaling is sent via a medium access control-control element or a downlink control information.

48. A method for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) performed by a user equipment (UE) in a connected state, the UE being adapted to: sending a measurement report comprising one or more measurements associated with one or more cells; receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including at least one configuration of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cells; and Send RRC reconfiguration complete message.

49. The UE according to claim 48, wherein: The UE is adapted to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 12.

50. A central unit CU, configured to configure inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) for a user equipment UE in a connected state, the CU being adapted to: Sending, to a candidate DU, at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the UE, the at least one request indicating at least one L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; receiving at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell from the candidate DU; sending a radio resource configuration RRC reconfiguration to be sent to the UE to the candidate DU, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; and and receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete from the UE from the candidate DU.

51. The CU of claim 50, wherein: The CU is adapted to perform the method of any one of claims 14 to 29.

52. A candidate distributed unit DU, for configuring inter-cell mobility based on layer 1 / layer 2 (L1 / L2) for a user equipment UE in a connected state, wherein the candidate DU is suitable for: receiving from a central unit CU at least one request for the candidate DU to configure L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to the UE, the at least one request indicating at least one L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; Sending at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell to the CU; receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration from the CU, wherein the RRC reconfiguration includes the at least one configuration of the L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility candidate cell; receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete from the UE; and Sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message from the UE to the CU.

53. The candidate DU of claim 52, wherein: The candidate DU is suitable for performing the method as claimed in any one of claims 31 to 47.

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