Signaling for terminal device measurements during aerospace device handover

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to signaling for terminal device measurements during aerospace device handover. In an aspect, a terminal device receives an indication of a change in radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell for which the terminal device is performing at least one measurement. The terminal device then resets the at least one measurement for the cell based on the indication. In this way, the terminal device can capture correct measurements of new radio conditions, ensure correct UE behavior, avoid unnecessary measurement reports and potential mobility events, and reduce power consumption in the terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and more particularly to terminal devices, network devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for signaling of terminal device measurements during aerospace equipment handoffs. Background Art

[0002] The feasibility of supporting non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) using the 5G NR standard is being studied. In NTN systems, 5G base stations (gNBs) or gNB functions are deployed on satellites or relayed by gNBs in a transparent manner to provide communication coverage over very large areas. There are different types of satellite orbits for NTN communications, such as low earth orbit (LEO). Some research is needed on how user equipment (UE) and network (NW) should behave in the case of aerospace equipment handovers (such as satellite handovers). The same problem may need to be studied in high-speed aircraft handovers, drone system handovers, or other use cases. The UE can also be some other device, such as a relay device. Summary of the invention

[0003] In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a scheme for signaling of terminal device measurements during aerospace equipment handoff.

[0004] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. When executed by the at least one processor, the terminal device is caused to at least: receive an indication of a change in a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell, for which the terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and reset the at least one measurement for the cell based on the indication.

[0005] In a second aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions. When executed by the at least one processor, the network device is caused to at least: determine that a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell has changed, and a terminal device is performing at least one measurement for the cell; and transmit an indication of the change to the terminal device.

[0006] In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises: receiving, at a terminal device, an indication of a change in radio conditions of aerospace equipment associated with a cell for which the terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and resetting the at least one measurement for the cell based on the indication.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises: determining at a network device a change in a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell for which a terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and transmitting an indication of the change to the terminal device.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises: means for receiving, at a terminal device, an indication of a change in radio conditions of aerospace equipment associated with a cell for which the terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and means for resetting the at least one measurement for the cell based on the indication.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises: means for determining, at a network device, a change in a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell for which a terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and means for transmitting an indication of the change to the terminal device.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least execute the methods in the third aspect and the fourth aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, a computer program is provided, wherein the computer program comprises instructions, and when the instructions are executed by a device, the device is caused to perform at least the methods in the third aspect and the fourth aspect.

[0012] In a ninth aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises: a receiving circuit configured to receive an indication of a change in a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell for which the terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and a resetting circuit configured to reset the at least one measurement for the cell based on the indication.

[0013] In a tenth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device comprises: a determination circuit configured to determine that a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell has changed, for which a terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and a transmission circuit configured to transmit an indication of the change to the terminal device.

[0014] It should be understood that the present invention summary is not intended to identify the key features or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present invention will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0016] Figure 1A An exemplary communication system is shown in which some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0017] Figure 1B An example of an aerospace equipment switch, such as a satellite switch, associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown, wherein the network equipment does not change;

[0018] Figure 2 An example of a process flow for aerospace equipment handoff, such as a satellite handoff, is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 3 An example of a process flow measurement reset in a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figure 4 An example of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 5 An example of a method implemented at a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0022] Figure 6 shows a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0023] Figure 7 A block diagram illustrating an example of a computer readable medium according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration, and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to the methods described below, the disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways.

[0026] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0027] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0028] It should be understood that although the terms "first", "second", etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiment, the first element may be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element may be referred to as the first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0029] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0030] (a) hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation only in analog and / or digital circuits) and

[0031] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware; and (ii) any portion of a hardware processor and software (including a digital signal processor), software and memory that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions; and

[0032] (c) Hardware circuits and / or processors, such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor, that require software (eg, firmware) to operate, but which may not be present when not required for operation.

[0033] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit, or a processor (or multiple processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, if applicable to the particular claim element.

[0034] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that complies with any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network can be carried out according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including but not limited to the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communication protocol and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communication, there are of course future types of communication technologies and systems that can implement the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the above-mentioned systems.

[0035] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network, from which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services from the node. A network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), such as a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a repeater, an integrated and access backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied.

[0036] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not limitation, the terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback facility, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless user terminal equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical equipment and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial equipment and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automatic processing chain environments), consumer electronic devices, equipment operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0037] During the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Releases 15 and 16, the feasibility of using the 5G New Radio (NR) standard to support non-terrestrial networks was studied. In December 2019, the 3GPP RAN plenary meeting approved a normative specification work item for NTN in Release 17. In this work item, it is assumed that the user equipment (UE) supporting NTN has global navigation satellite system (GNSS) capabilities. In the NTN system, 5G base stations (gNBs) or gNB functions are deployed on satellites or transparently relayed by gNBs to provide communication coverage over very large areas that may not be reachable by cellular networks. Such functions can be used to connect Internet of Things (IoT) devices worldwide, as well as to provide personal communications in remote areas and in disaster relief.

[0038] Figure 1AAn exemplary communication system in which some example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown. In the communication system 100, a data network 107 sends data to or receives data from a network device 105. The network device 105 may be a base station of a gNB, an eNB, or other radio access technology (RAT). The network device 105 sends data to and / or receives data from an aerospace device 103, such as a satellite or other unmanned aerial system. The aerospace device 103 may form a beam footprint on the earth, such as a beam footprint 111, using beamforming, and provide services to a terminal device 101 (such as a UE) using a service link 109. There may also be a gateway at the location of the network device 105 for generating wireless signals transmitted to the aerospace device 103, or for receiving signals from the aerospace device 103.

[0039] Different types of satellite orbits are studied for NR access, including low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which orbit about 600 km above the earth. During the Release 16 study project, it was assumed that the typical beam coverage area size for LEO satellites was between 100-1000 km radius. Therefore, one LEO satellite can cover a very large area on the earth that may include multiple countries. Since the aerospace equipment 103 flies so fast in orbit, there may be an aerospace equipment handover, such as a satellite handover, for the terminal device 101 on the earth in the service.

[0040] In Release 18, the topic of introducing an unchanging physical cell identifier (PCI) was introduced or is being considered in 3GPP to reduce signaling overhead and simplify the radio resource control (RRC) process for the terminal device 101. The working principle is that after an aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover, the serving gNB (ground) does not change, so the cell configuration or most of the cell configuration can be maintained without changing the PCI, frequency and other cell configuration parameters such as servingCellconfigCommon. Then, the aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover is almost transparent to the terminal device 101, which does not require the execution of L3 mobility such as a handover process, and the terminal device 101 does not need to update security keys. The conditions for the operation of this mechanism are as follows. NTN cells must be deployed as quasi-earth fixed cells (EFC) because the cell coverage should not change. The network (NW) should instruct the terminal device 101 how and / or when to perform downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) synchronization after an aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover. The network device 105 will accept an interruption gap for the terminal device 101 to detect the new timing and adapt to the new timing. The network equipment 105 needs to have a means to avoid radio link failure (RLF) during this outage gap, such as after the "old" cell disappears and before the "new" cell takes over.

[0041] In Rel-18 the focus is on transparent architecture and the most obvious case is when cells are provided by the same gNB, such as the same cell with fixed PCI is provided by the same gNB, so only the satellite node changes. However, in theory this could also work with different gNBs and potentially even for regeneration scenarios.

[0042] Figure 1B An example of an aerospace equipment handover (e.g., satellite handover) is shown, where the network device does not change, associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, the PCI remains unchanged in a transparent EFC-based deployment. In 120, there is a terminal device 101, a gNB and a gateway 121, a first satellite 123, and a second satellite 125. The terminal device 101 (e.g., UE) and Figure 1A The gNB and the gateway 121 may be implementations of the network device 105, and the first satellite 123 and the second satellite 125 may be Figure 1A The first satellite 123 may be a first aerospace device, and the second satellite 125 may be a second aerospace device.

[0043] The following steps will occur during an aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover. Step 1: A stationary terminal device 101 is served by a first satellite 123 or an old satellite in an old cell 131 via link 129 and by a gNB and gateway 121 via link 127. Step 2: As the first satellite 123 moves away from the terminal device 101 and the second satellite 125 or a new satellite gets closer, the gNB and gateway 121 indicate when an aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover will occur and how to perform a resynchronization to the new cell 137. Step 3: Once the second satellite 125 takes over the new cell 137, the terminal device 101 performs a DL / UL synchronization operation for reconnection.

[0044] Even if the terminal device 101 is served by the second satellite 125 or a new satellite, it does not change the gNB and gateway 121 or the serving gNB, so the terminal device 101 can maintain the cell configuration. The first satellite 123 and the second satellite 125 are configured with the same PCI, the same UE context, and the same protocol stack, such as including one or more of synchronization signal and broadcast block (SSB) generation, encoding and / or decoding, modulation and / or demodulation, the same CORESET configuration, and switching routing. However, from the reference of the terminal device 101, the first satellite 123 and the second satellite 125 introduce different frequency offsets, such as different Doppler shifts due to different movement directions 139 and 141 relative to the terminal device 101, and time drift due to different transmission delays to the terminal device 101. Note that as part of the 3GPP discussion, no specific agreement has been made on how the terminal device 101 and the gNB and gateway 121 should behave in the event of an aerospace equipment handover (such as a satellite handover).

[0045] An aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover can be decomposed into two additional scenarios: i) a hard aerospace equipment handover such as a hard satellite handover and ii) a soft aerospace equipment handover such as a soft satellite handover. The latter considers a certain cell overlap between the NTN cells radiated by the first satellite 123 and the second satellite 125, while the former considers no overlap between the old cell 131 and the new cell 137. The terminal device 101 can pre-compensate the frequency and timing of the new cell 137 considering a certain interruption time. For a soft aerospace equipment handover (e.g., a soft satellite handover), it is assumed that the first satellite 123 and the second satellite 125 transmit SSBs simultaneously, possibly with the same PCI, but with different time / frequency offsets, thereby allowing the terminal device 101 to theoretically smoothly switch to the new 137 of the incoming second satellite 125.

[0046] Current 3GPP discussions on aerospace equipment handovers, such as satellite handovers and unchanged PCI, are documented in the Chairman's Minutes, but few details have been agreed on specific operational steps.

[0047] At the RAN2#121-bis-e meeting, the following agreement was reached on this topic. 1. In the case of Quasi Terrestrial Fixed (QEF) cells, for hard satellite handover in the same SSB frequency and the same gNB (old cell 131 and new cell 137 do not overlap), space equipment handover such as satellite handover without changing PCI or requiring L3 mobility is supported unless RAN1 finds major technical issues. As always, RAN2 will work to minimize the impact on the specifications so that they are compliant with Rel-18. 2.2 Delete the part in brackets in the LS to RAN1 "RAN2 will, as always, work to minimize the impact on the specifications so that they are included in Rel-18. Action to RAN1 will also request feedback on hard satellite handover, not just in the case of soft satellite handover, such as the action to RAN1 is to see if there are any major technical issues in the agreement.

[0048] At the RAN2#122 meeting, the following agreement was reached on this topic. 1. In SIB19, the cell coverage end time indication for T-service or unchanged PCI mobility can also be interpreted by Rel-18 UE in connected mode to understand the occurrence of satellite change or feeder link change. In hard handover unchanged PCI scenario or no handover, the terminal device 101 needs to know the time when the terminal device 101 attempts to resynchronize. Further study is required if the gap is short or zero, whether a new t-start is required, or an indication of the time when the satellite associated with the new cell 137 becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility, or t-gap, or the duration that the cell is unavailable for unchanged PCI mobility, or whether the t-Service can be reused without additional information elements (IEs).

[0049] This means at least agreement to support hard space equipment handover such as satellite handover with unchanged PCI and no layer 3 (L3) mobility. However, no clear details have been decided so far.

[0050] For mobility enhancement in Rel-18NR NTN, in the case of quasi-geo fixed cells, RAN2 has discussed unchanged PCI scenarios, including hard aerospace equipment switching (such as satellite switching (non-overlapping satellite coverage at switching time)) and soft aerospace equipment switching (such as soft satellite switching (overlapping satellite coverage at switching time)).

[0051] RAN2 has agreed to support aerospace equipment handover such as satellite handover without PCI change (no L3 mobility required) in case of quasi-geo-fixed cells for hard satellite handover (no critical changes) in the same SSB frequency and same gNB, unless RAN1 identifies major technical issues. RAN2 understands that the standard impact includes that the UE may be notified to reacquire DL / UL synchronization with the serving cell after an aerospace equipment handover such as satellite handover.

[0052] RAN2 understands that the feasibility of soft aerospace equipment handover such as satellite handover without PCI change (no L3 mobility required) is more relevant to RAN1 aspect and will want to check its feasibility with RAN1. RAN2 requests RAN1 to consider the above agreement on hard aerospace equipment handover (e.g. hard satellite handover without PCI change) and provide feedback if RAN1 identifies any major technical issues and also provide feedback on the feasibility of supporting soft aerospace equipment handover (e.g. soft satellite handover without PCI change).

[0053] During RAN1#113, the topic was discussed shortly and RAN1 provided LS response to RAN2. The question was whether RAN1 identified any major technical issues for hard aerospace equipment handover, such as hard satellite handover without PCI change. The response from RAN1 was that RAN1 discussed resynchronization of UE in case of hard handover, assuming that new common timing advance (TA), K_mac, ephemeris and cell-specific K offset are applied during resynchronization to the new satellite. From RAN1's ​​point of view, no feasibility issues were identified for hard aerospace equipment handover, such as satellite handover without PCI change.

[0054] In some embodiments, in a unchanged PCI scenario, an aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover occurs transparently to a terminal device 101 such as a UE. This means that the terminal device 101 switches from a first satellite 123 such as a source satellite access node to a second satellite 125 such as a target satellite access node without performing L3 mobility and without changing a network device 121 such as a serving gNB. This topic is currently discussed in 3GPP and two scenarios are considered: a hard aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover and a soft aerospace equipment handover such as a satellite handover. The initial protocol considers at least a hard aerospace equipment handover (such as a satellite handover) or a time when there is no overlap between the old cell and the new cell.

[0055] In some embodiments, a hard aerospace equipment handover (e.g., satellite handover with unchanged PCI) is a scenario designed to make cell handover as transparent as possible to the terminal device 101 and involve as little service interruption as possible, so by making the satellite handover occur similar to a "flip of a switch", the terminal device 101 can seamlessly resume transmission (TX) / reception (RX), where all UEs will adapt to the new cell conditions with minimal interruption. There will be some interruptions, such as new cell access failures, as the UE may lose connectivity and have to reconnect, while others may require interruption time to re-tune the radio front-end hardware, such as pre-compensation of timing and Doppler shifts.

[0056] In some embodiments, a soft aerospace handover such as a satellite handover with unchanged PCI is intended to make the cell handover as transparent as possible to the terminal device 101 and involves a scenario of some coverage overlap between a first satellite 123 such as a serving satellite and a second satellite 125 such as an incoming satellite. The gNB 121 creates a live copy of the cell identities routed through both satellites. The overlap period before the aerospace handover (e.g., satellite handover) may allow the UE to attempt to resynchronize to the same cell with a more time-spread series of events that may distribute the load and ensure that some UEs may be able to proceed to IDLE mode mobility to a new serving satellite with the same PCI.

[0057] In some embodiments, in addition to the serving cell, there may be one or more neighboring cells for the terminal device 101. One of the challenges when performing a change of satellites while maintaining the same PCI is that any UE (such as the terminal device 101) making measurements within the system (such as serving cell measurements or neighboring cell measurements) may be confused by sudden changes in signal propagation conditions, signal timing, Doppler shift, etc. This may potentially cause the UE to make erroneous measurements and potentially trigger actions from the network side that may not be needed.

[0058] Examples of situations in which the terminal device 101 may perform avoidable measurements, erroneous measurements, or measurements that may result in signaling overhead. The terminal device 101 measures neighboring cells before t-service. If the terminal device 101 observes similar or better signal conditions for neighboring cells close to the location of the terminal device 101, the terminal device 101 may trigger a measurement report. If the satellite switch is turned off, the terminal device 101 may relax or suspend these measurements because the signal state of the surrounding cells will change after the satellite switch. The terminal device 101 performs cell measurements during the hard satellite handover interruption time. The terminal device 101 may attempt to perform cell measurements during the interruption gap for radio link monitoring. This may result in unnecessary increased power consumption in the terminal device 101.

[0059] In some embodiments, once a new cell is available, the terminal device 101 performs L3 measurements. The cell measurements are filtered at Layer 1 and Layer 3. Such filtering uses past samples to average short-term signal fading and other signal impairments. During and after a satellite handover, the UE may consider past samples from a previous satellite that would result in erroneous measurements. The terminal device 101 performs neighbor cell measurements during an overlap period of a soft aerospace equipment handover, such as a soft satellite handover. The terminal device 101 may attempt to perform neighbor cell measurements during the overlap period.

[0060] Figure 2 An example of a process flow for aerospace equipment handover (such as satellite handover) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In process flow 200, at 210, network device 105 determines that a radio condition of aerospace equipment associated with a cell has changed, and the terminal device is performing at least one measurement for the cell. Network device 105 sends (213) an indication 213 of the change in radio condition to terminal device 101. After receiving indication 213, terminal device 101 resets at least one measurement for the cell based on indication 213.

[0061] In some embodiments, there may be a serving cell and / or one or more neighboring cells for the terminal device 101. In the case where the cell is a serving cell for the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information, such as "t", for resetting at least one measurement for the serving cell. In this way, the terminal device 101 can obtain first time information for aerospace equipment handover (such as satellite handover in the serving cell) and capture timing for correct measurements of new radio conditions in the serving cell, avoiding unnecessary measurement reports and potential mobility events and reducing power consumption.

[0062] Additionally or alternatively, if the cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes second time information, such as "t2", for resetting at least one measurement for the neighboring cell. In this way, the terminal device 101 can obtain second time information for aerospace equipment handover (such as satellite handover in a neighboring cell) and capture timing for correct measurement of new radio conditions in the neighboring cell, avoiding unnecessary measurement reports and potential mobility events and reducing power consumption.

[0063] As an example, in the case where the serving cell and the neighboring cell are generated by the same aerospace equipment such as the same satellite, the first time information is the same as the second time information. In this way, the indication of radio condition changes and resetting measurements can be simplified to reduce power consumption in the terminal device 101.

[0064] In some example embodiments, one or both of the first time information and the second time information may indicate different types of time information. For example, the first time information, the second time information, or both may include an absolute time point. Additionally or alternatively, the first time information, the second time information, or both may include a duration. Additionally or alternatively, the first time information, the second time information, or both may include a time point relative to at least one reference time point (such as, t-Service). In this way, the first time information and / or the second time information may be flexibly implemented.

[0065] In some embodiments, one of the first time information and the second time information is based on an indication of the time when coverage of a cell for aerospace equipment switching without L3 mobility ends, for example, unchanged physical cell ID (PCI) mobility, for example, "t-service". Additionally or alternatively, the first time information, the second time information, or both are based on an indication of the time when a satellite associated with the cell becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility, such as "t-start". Additionally or alternatively, the first time information, the second time information, or both are based on a duration of time that the cell is not available for unchanged PCI mobility, such as "t-gap". In detail, "T-service" may indicate the time when the terminal device 101 leaves the coverage of the current serving cell or the current neighboring cell. "T-start" may indicate the time when the terminal device 101 enters the coverage of a new serving cell or a new neighboring cell. "T-gap" may indicate the time when the terminal device 101 is in a gap between the current serving cell and the new serving cell or in a gap between the current neighboring cell and the new neighboring cell. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the first time information and the second time information may be implemented in other formats. In this way, the timing of aerospace equipment handovers, such as satellite handovers, can be flexibly indicated for both the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0066] In some example scenarios, the terminal device 101 may have multiple neighboring cells. The second time information is configured for multiple neighboring cells of the terminal device 101, where the neighboring cell is one of the multiple neighboring cells. In this way, the second time information can be transmitted to the terminal device 101 in one message to reduce the message payload. Alternatively, the second time information is configured separately for different neighboring cells of the terminal device 101 to increase the flexibility of the second time information.

[0067] The first time information or the second time information may be transmitted in various possible ways. For example, the first time information may be broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell (such as a public service cell configuration parameter). Additionally or alternatively, the second time information may be part of the system information of at least one of the serving cell or the neighboring cell, such as the system information block 19 (SIB19) for NR NTN. Additionally or alternatively, the first time information, the second time information, or both may be covered by dedicated signaling. In this way, the first time information and the second time information can be reliably transmitted to the terminal device 101 and can be flexibly covered.

[0068] In some example cases, the cell may be a serving cell for the terminal device 101. In these cases, the indication may include first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the serving cell, and the terminal device 101 is further caused to determine the first time information as second time information for resetting one or more measurements for one or more neighboring cells of the terminal device 101. In this way, the measurements may be simplified in cases such as when the serving cell and the neighboring cell are generated by the same satellite.

[0069] The serving cell and the neighboring cell may be generated by the same satellite. The terminal device 101 may determine the first time information as the second time information by the following scheme. Based on receiving an indication that the first time information is applied to at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the terminal device 101 determines the first time information as the second time information in the absence of the second time information. In this way, the second time information may be saved to save some signaling payload.

[0070] In some examples, measurements in the terminal device 101 may be reset when radio conditions change, such as aerospace equipment switching (such as, satellite switching). For example, when resetting at least one measurement, the terminal device 101 may determine at least one sample obtained after the radio conditions of the aerospace equipment change as invalid for at least one measurement. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 101 may start performing a set of measurements based on the radio conditions after the change. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 101 may reset at least one measurement sample for at least one measurement. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 101 may change the measurement conditions based on the radio conditions after the change. Additionally or alternatively, the terminal device 101 may change at least one measurement filter coefficient for at least one measurement. Additionally or alternatively, the terminal device 101 may change the number of samples required for at least one measurement. In this way, interference between samples under different radio conditions before and after the change can be avoided, thereby ensuring correct UE behavior, avoiding potential mobility events and reducing UE power consumption.

[0071] In some embodiments, there may be one or more situations that cause the radio conditions of the terminal device 101 to change. The change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by a hard aerospace equipment switch (such as a hard satellite switch from the first satellite 123 providing the cell 131 to the second satellite 125 providing the cell 137). Additionally or alternatively, the change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by a soft aerospace equipment switch (such as a soft satellite switch from the first satellite 123 to the second satellite 125). Additionally or alternatively, the change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by a change in the beam of the satellite providing the cell. Additionally or alternatively, the change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by a change in the transmit power of the satellite providing the cell. Additionally or alternatively, the change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by a change in the beam direction of the satellite providing the cell. Additionally or alternatively, the change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by a change in the beam width of the beam of the satellite providing the cell. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the change in the radio conditions of the cell may be caused by other situations. In this way, radio condition changes and measurement resets may be applied in several situations to enable the terminal device 101 to communicate reliably.

[0072] In some embodiments, the network device 105 may discard measurement reports for cells received from the terminal device 101 shortly before the switching time to avoid having erroneous measurement reports.

[0073] In some embodiments, the present disclosure may be summarized as follows. It is proposed to create awareness of potential sudden changes in radio conditions for a given cell being used as a candidate for measurement. The source of such a change in radio conditions may be a soft or hard satellite handover routing the same cell with an unchanged PCI, but for general applicability of the application may also be triggered by other conditions. The change may also occur for the same cell with a changed PCI. Awareness may be provided for the current serving cell or a candidate neighboring cell. Awareness may be created by indicating specific times at which the terminal device 101 should consider measurements as "potentially corrupted".

[0074] In some embodiments, there may be the following example situations. In the first case, a terminal device 101 in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE is performing measurements on its serving cell, and when a configured time "t" is reached, the terminal device 101 will stop or relax considering new samples as valid for the current measurement to stop new samples from "polluting" the existing measurements, and start a new set of measurements with new radio timing conditions (such as with new SSB timing, new Doppler shift, etc.). The terminal device 101 resets the filter to perform a new "clean" measurement.

[0075] In the second case, the terminal device 101 is performing measurements on a neighbor, and the terminal device 101 is configured with a measurement event similar to type B1 or B2. A time "t2" configured for one neighbor is reached, at which time the terminal device 101 will reset the measurement samples for the configured neighbor, change the measurement conditions with new radio parameters, or change the measurement filter coefficients to take into account one or more sudden changes in the radio conditions of the neighboring cell.

[0076] In some embodiments, the target scenario is an EFC deployment with hard and soft aerospace equipment handovers (such as soft satellite handovers). An advantage of an embodiment may be that by controlling or resetting the measurements, the terminal device 101 captures correct measurements of the new radio conditions. This ensures correct behavior of the terminal device 101, avoids unnecessary measurement reports and potential mobility events, and reduces power consumption of the terminal device 101.

[0077] In some embodiments, specific implementations are described below. Figure 3 An example of a process flow measurement reset in a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. When measurements are made for a serving cell and / or a neighboring cell at 310, at 320, the terminal device 101 checks whether a time "t" for the serving cell has been reached. Time "t" may also correspond to a time window in which the serving cell is unavailable. When time "t" is reached or the time window has expired, at 320, the terminal device 101 resets the measurements for the serving cell and adapts to new radio conditions. At the same time, at 340, the terminal device 101 checks whether a time "t2" for a neighboring cell has been reached. Time "t2" may also correspond to a time window in which a neighboring cell is unavailable. When time "t2" is reached or the time window has expired, the terminal device 101 resets the measurements for the neighboring cell and adapts to new radio conditions. In this way, the terminal device 101 can reset the measurements when radio conditions in the serving cell or neighboring cell change to avoid unnecessary measurement reports and potential mobility events and reduce power consumption of the terminal device 101.

[0078] In some embodiments, the time "t" and "t2" may relate to an absolute time point, a duration, or a relative time relative to another time, such as a time indication of the end of coverage of a cell for unchanged PCI mobility or t-Service. The time "t" and "t2" may also relate to a framework for unchanged PCI mobility considered in 3GPP, such as t-Service, t-Start as a time indication that a satellite associated with a cell becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility, or t-Gap as a duration that a cell is not available for unchanged PCI mobility. More specifically, the time values ​​"t" and "t2" may be the same as any one of t-service, t-start, t-gap, or a combination thereof. In other possible scenarios, those time values ​​correspond to t-service, t-start, t-gap. In this way, changes in radio conditions may be flexibly indicated to the terminal device 101.

[0079] In some embodiments, the same "t2" is provided for a neighboring cell list (e.g., a per-cell list). Alternatively, different "t2s" (such as an array of "t2s") may be provided to the terminal device 101, indicating which neighboring cell it applies to. In this way, second time information such as "t2" may be used flexibly in a variety of situations. In the absence of "t2", the terminal device 101 may implicitly assume that "t" is "t2" for all cells, assuming that the surrounding cells will switch at a similar time to the serving cell. Similarly, the UE may read a flag indicating that all "t2s" are explicitly used as "t". In this way, signaling payload may be saved, or the indication may be more reliable when "t2" is received erroneously.

[0080] In some embodiments, time "t" may be broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell (such as a public service cell configuration parameter), and time "t2" may be included as part of the system information of the serving cell or the system information of a neighboring cell (such as SIB19 for NR NTN). In this way, time "t" or "t2" may be reliably transmitted to the terminal device 101. Time "t" or "t2" may be covered by dedicated signaling, such as a reconfiguration message for a UE in connected mode. In this way, time "t" or "t2" may be flexibly covered.

[0081] In some embodiments, it is also possible to dynamically change the number of samples required for cell measurement. In this way, interference in changing radio conditions can be reduced. In some embodiments, the network device 105 can discard the measurement report for the cell received shortly before the switching time to avoid having an erroneous measurement report. In some embodiments, in the case of satellite beam change behavior (e.g., changing power, destructively moving the beam direction, or changing the beam width), time "t" and "t2" can also be used to reset the reconfiguration measurement. In this way, measurement reset can be applicable to a variety of radio condition change situations.

[0082] Figure 4 An example of a method implemented at a terminal device 101 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In method 400, at 410, the terminal device 101 receives an indication of a change in radio conditions of an aerospace device associated with a cell for which the terminal device 101 is performing at least one measurement. At 420, based on the indication, the terminal device 101 resets at least one measurement for the cell.

[0083] In some embodiments, when the cell is a service cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the service cell; or when the cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes second time information for resetting at least one measurement for the neighboring cell.

[0084] In some embodiments, the first time information is the same as the second time information. In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information indicates at least one of the following: an absolute time point; a duration; or a time point relative to at least one reference time point.

[0085] In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information is based on at least one of: a time indication of the end of coverage of a cell for aerospace equipment switching without L3 mobility; a time indication when aerospace equipment associated with the cell becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility; or a duration of time that the cell is unavailable for unchanged PCI mobility.

[0086] In some embodiments, the second time information is configured for multiple neighboring cells of the terminal device 101, where the neighboring cell is one of multiple neighboring cells; or the second time information is configured separately for the neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0087] In some embodiments, the method includes at least one of the following: the first time information is broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell; the second time information is part of the system information of at least one of the serving cell or the neighboring cell; or at least one of the first time information or the second time information is covered by dedicated signaling.

[0088] In some embodiments, the cell is a service cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the service cell, and the terminal device 101 is also caused to: determine the first time information as second time information for resetting at least one measurement of at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0089] In some embodiments, the terminal device 101 is caused to determine the first time information as the second time information in the following manner: based on receiving an indication that the first time information is applicable to at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the first time information is determined as the second time information in the absence of the second time information.

[0090] In some embodiments, the terminal device 101 is caused to reset at least one measurement by at least one of the following: determining at least one sample obtained after the radio conditions of the aerospace equipment are changed as invalid for at least one measurement; starting a set of measurements based on the radio conditions after the change; resetting at least one measurement sample for at least one measurement; changing the measurement conditions based on the radio conditions after the change; changing at least one measurement filter coefficient for at least one measurement; or changing the number of samples required for at least one measurement.

[0091] In some embodiments, the change in the radio conditions of the cell is caused by at least one of: a hard aerospace equipment switch from a first aerospace equipment providing the cell to a second aerospace equipment providing the cell; a soft aerospace equipment switch from the first aerospace equipment to the second aerospace equipment; a change in the beam of the aerospace equipment providing the cell; a change in the transmit power of the aerospace equipment providing the cell; a change in the beam direction of the aerospace equipment providing the cell; or a change in the beam width of the beam of the aerospace equipment providing the cell.

[0092] Figure 5 An example of a method implemented at a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In method 500, at 510, network device 105 determines that a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell has changed, and terminal device 101 is performing at least one measurement for the cell. At 520, network device 105 transmits an indication of the radio condition change to terminal device 101.

[0093] In some embodiments, when the cell is a service cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the service cell; or when the cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes second time information for resetting at least one measurement for the neighboring cell.

[0094] In some embodiments, the first time information is the same as the second time information. In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information indicates at least one of the following: an absolute time point; a duration; or a time point relative to at least one reference time point.

[0095] In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information is based on at least one of: a time indication of the end of coverage of a cell for aerospace equipment switching without L3 mobility; a time indication when aerospace equipment associated with the cell becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility; or a duration of unavailability of the cell defined for unchanged PCI mobility.

[0096] In some embodiments, the second time information is configured for a plurality of neighboring cells of the terminal device, where the neighboring cell is one of a plurality of neighboring cells; or the second time information is configured separately for a neighboring cell of the terminal device.

[0097] In some embodiments, at least one of the following: the first time information is broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell or at least one of the serving cells; the second time information is part of the system information of the neighboring cell; or at least one of the first time information or the second time information is covered by dedicated signaling.

[0098] In some embodiments, the cell is a serving cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the serving cell, and the network device 105 is further caused to: transmit to the terminal device 101 an indication that the first time information is applicable to at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device.

[0099] In some embodiments, the network device 105 is further caused to discard at least one measurement report received from the terminal device 101 during a predetermined duration prior to the change in radio conditions. In some embodiments, the change in radio conditions of the cell is caused by at least one of: a hard aerospace device handover, such as a hard satellite handover from a first aerospace device providing the cell to a second aerospace device providing the cell; a soft aerospace device handover, such as a soft satellite handover from the first aerospace device to the second aerospace device; a change in the beam of the satellite providing the cell; a change in the transmit power of the satellite providing the cell; a change in the beam direction of the satellite providing the cell; or a change in the beam width of the satellite providing the cell.

[0100] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 400 (eg, terminal device 101) may include a component for executing the corresponding steps of method 400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0101] In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving an indication of a change in radio conditions of aerospace equipment associated with a cell for which the terminal device 101 is performing at least one measurement; and means for resetting the at least one measurement for the cell based on the indication.

[0102] In some embodiments, when the cell is a service cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the service cell; or when the cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes second time information for resetting at least one measurement for the neighboring cell.

[0103] In some embodiments, the first time information is the same as the second time information. In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information indicates at least one of: an absolute time point; a duration; or a time point relative to at least one reference time point.

[0104] In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information is based on at least one of: a time indication of the end of coverage of a cell for aerospace equipment switching without L3 mobility; a time indication when aerospace equipment associated with the cell becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility; or a duration of time that the cell is unavailable for unchanged PCI mobility.

[0105] In some embodiments, the second time information is configured for multiple neighboring cells of the terminal device 101, where the neighboring cell is one of multiple neighboring cells; or the second time information is configured separately for the neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0106] In some embodiments, the first time information is broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell; the second time information is part of the system information of at least one of the serving cell or the neighboring cell; or at least one of the first time information or the second time information is covered by dedicated signaling.

[0107] In some embodiments, the cell is a serving cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the serving cell, and the apparatus further includes a component for determining the first time information as second time information for resetting at least one measurement for at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0108] In some embodiments, the component for determining the first time information as the second time information includes: a component for determining the first time information as the second time information in the absence of the second time information based on receiving an indication that the first time information is applicable to at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0109] In some embodiments, the component for resetting at least one measurement includes at least one of the following: a component for determining at least one sample obtained after a change in radio conditions of the aerospace equipment as invalid for at least one measurement; a component for starting a set of measurements based on the radio conditions after the change; a component for resetting at least one measurement sample for at least one measurement; a component for changing measurement conditions based on the radio conditions after the change; a component for changing at least one measurement filter coefficient for at least one measurement; or a component for changing the number of samples required for at least one measurement.

[0110] In some embodiments, the change in the radio conditions of the cell is caused by at least one of the following: a hard aerospace equipment switch, such as a hard satellite switch from a first aerospace equipment providing the cell to a second aerospace equipment providing the cell; a soft aerospace equipment switch, such as a soft satellite switch from a first aerospace equipment to a second aerospace equipment; a change in the beam of the aerospace equipment providing the cell; a change in the transmit power of the aerospace equipment providing the cell; a change in the beam direction of the aerospace equipment providing the cell; or a change in the beam width of the beam of the aerospace equipment providing the cell.

[0111] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 500 (e.g., network device 105) may include a component for executing the corresponding steps of method 500. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0112] In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining a change in a radio condition of an aerospace device associated with a cell for which the terminal device 101 is performing at least one measurement; and means for transmitting an indication of the change to the terminal device 101 .

[0113] In some embodiments, when the cell is a service cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the service cell; or when the cell is a neighboring cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes second time information for resetting at least one measurement for the neighboring cell.

[0114] In some embodiments, the first time information is the same as the second time information. In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information indicates at least one of the following: an absolute time point; a duration; or at least one time point relative to a reference time point.

[0115] In some embodiments, at least one of the first time information or the second time information is based on at least one of: a time indication of end of coverage of the cell for unchanged physical cell ID (PCI) mobility; a time indication when aerospace equipment associated with the cell becomes available for unchanged PCI mobility; or a duration of cell unavailability defined for aerospace equipment handover without L3 mobility.

[0116] In some embodiments, the second time information is configured for multiple neighboring cells of the terminal device 101, where the neighboring cell is one of multiple neighboring cells; or the second time information is configured separately for the neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0117] In some embodiments, at least one of the following: the first time information is broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell; the second time information is part of the system information of the serving cell or at least one of the neighboring cells; or at least one of the first time information or the second time information is covered by dedicated signaling.

[0118] In some embodiments, the cell is a serving cell of the terminal device 101, the indication includes first time information for resetting at least one measurement for the serving cell, and the apparatus further comprises a component for transmitting to the terminal device 101 an indication that the first time information is applicable to at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device 101.

[0119] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for discarding at least one measurement report received from the terminal device 101 during a predetermined duration prior to the change in radio conditions. In some embodiments, the change in radio conditions of the cell is caused by at least one of: a hard aerospace equipment handover, such as a hard satellite handover from a first aerospace equipment providing the cell to a second aerospace equipment providing the cell; a soft aerospace equipment handover, such as a soft satellite handover from the first aerospace equipment to the second aerospace equipment; a change in the beam of the satellite providing the cell; a change in the transmit power of the satellite providing the cell; a change in the beam direction of the satellite providing the cell; or a change in the beam width of the satellite providing the cell.

[0120] Figure 6 600 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be configured to implement a communication device, such as Figure 1A or Figure 3 The terminal device 101 or the network device 105 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610 , one or more memories 620 coupled to the processors 610 , and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to the processors 610 .

[0121] The communication module 640 is used for two-way communication. The communication module 640 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.

[0122] Processor 610 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include one or more of the following: a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0123] The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 624, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD), and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last for the duration of a power outage.

[0124] Computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by associated processor 610. Program 630 may be stored in ROM 624. Processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 630 into RAM 622.

[0125] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 630, so that the device 600 may execute the following steps: Figures 1A to 5 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0126] In some example embodiments, program 630 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in device 600 (such as in memory 620) or in other storage devices accessible by device 600. Device 600 may load program 630 from the computer-readable medium to RAM 622 for execution. Computer-readable media may include any type of tangible, non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.

[0127] Figure 7 A block diagram showing an example of a computer readable medium 700 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium 700 has a program 630 stored thereon. Figure 7 Computer readable medium 700 is described as being in the form of a CD or DVD, but computer readable medium 700 may be in any other form suitable for carrying or maintaining program 630.

[0128] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or illustrated and described using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the boxes, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0129] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-referenced Figure 45 or 500 described herein. Typically, a program module includes a routine, program, library, object, class, component, data structure, etc. that performs a specific task or implements a specific abstract data type. In various embodiments, the functions of the program modules can be combined or split between program modules as needed. Machine executable instructions for program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in both local storage media and remote storage media.

[0130] The program code for executing the method of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code can be provided to a processor or controller in a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device, so that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, enables the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be realized. The program code can be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as an independent software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or completely on a remote machine or server.

[0131] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0132] Computer readable medium can be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. Computer readable medium can include but is not limited to electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or equipment, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer readable storage medium will include electrical connections with one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memories (RAM), read-only memories (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. As used herein, the term "non-transient" is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), rather than a limitation on data storage persistence (e.g., RAM and ROM).

[0133] In addition, although the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential order, or performing all illustrated operations, to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather should be interpreted as descriptions of features that may be specified in a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be implemented in a single embodiment in combination. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0134] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Instead, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as At least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to at least: receiving an indication of a change in a radio condition of aerospace equipment associated with a cell for which the terminal device is performing at least one measurement; and The at least one measurement for the cell is reset based on the indication.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein: In a case where the cell is a serving cell of the terminal device, the indication comprises first time information for resetting the at least one measurement for the serving cell; or In case the cell is a neighbouring cell of the terminal device, the indication comprises second time information for resetting the at least one measurement for the neighbouring cell.

3. The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein: The first time information is the same as the second time information.

4. The terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein at least one of the first time information or the second time information indicates at least one of the following: Absolute time point; duration; or A point in time relative to at least one reference point in time.

5. The terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein at least one of the first time information or the second time information is based on at least one of the following: an indication of a time at which coverage of said cell ends for aerospace equipment handover without L3 mobility; an indication of a time when said aerospace equipment associated with said cell becomes available for constant PCI mobility; or The cell is unavailable for the duration of the unchanged PCI mobility.

6. The terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: configuring the second time information for a plurality of neighboring cells of the terminal device, wherein the neighboring cell is one of the plurality of neighboring cells; or The second time information is configured separately for the neighboring cell of the terminal device.

7. The terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein at least one of the following is: The first time information is broadcast as part of the system information of the serving cell; The second time information is part of system information of at least one of the serving cell or the neighboring cell; or At least one of the first time information or the second time information is covered by dedicated signaling.

8. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the cell is a serving cell of the terminal device, the indication comprises first time information for resetting the at least one measurement for the serving cell, and the terminal device is further caused to: The first time information is determined as second time information for resetting at least one measurement of at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device.

9. The terminal device according to claim 8, wherein the terminal device is caused to determine the first time information as the second time information in the following manner: Based on receiving an indication that the first time information is applicable to the at least one neighboring cell of the terminal device, the first time information is determined as the second time information in the absence of the second time information.

10. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the terminal device is caused to reset the at least one measurement by at least one of the following: determining at least one sample obtained after a change in the radio condition of the aerospace equipment as invalid for the at least one measurement; starting to perform a set of measurements based on the radio conditions after the change; resetting at least one measurement sample for the at least one measurement; changing a measurement condition based on the radio condition after the change; changing at least one measurement filter coefficient for the at least one measurement; or The number of samples required for the at least one measurement is varied.

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