Failure handling under low layer mobility usage conditions

Abstract

In particular, an apparatus for low-level mobility is disclosed. Also disclosed is an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least:-receive a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information; and-at least one of: determining a handover based on a layer 1 measurement or a layer 3 measurement of the at least one candidate cell; or determining to wait for a network command for handover based on the condition configuration information. Corresponding methods, computer programs and systems are further disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following disclosure relates to the field of wireless networks, or more particularly, to systems, apparatuses, and methods for low-layer mobility. Background Art

[0002] Low layer mobility (LLM) (also known as L1 / 2 inter-cell mobility) may be one of the targets for future mobility enhancements. Cell switching in LLM may be problematic, especially in the case where the L1 report message or the MACCE message used to trigger the cell change is lost, the UE may experience RLF because the cell change cannot be triggered at the UE. The UE may then have to perform cell reselection in order to identify the correct cell to connect to. Summary of the invention

[0003] For convenience, a list of the abbreviations used below has been given here:

[0004] CHO: Conditional Switch

[0005] CP: Control Plane

[0006] CU: Central Unit

[0007] DL: Downlink

[0008] gNB: Base station in NR

[0009] HO: Handover

[0010] HOF: Handover Failed

[0011] L1: Layer 1 (especially the physical layer)

[0012] L2: Layer 2 (especially MAC layer)

[0013] L3: Layer 3 (especially the RRC layer)

[0014] MAC: Media Access Control

[0015] MAC CE: MAC Control Element

[0016] NR: New Radio

[0017] OAM: Operations, Administration, and Maintenance

[0018] RACH: Random Access Channel

[0019] RLF: Radio Link Failure

[0020] RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0021] UE: User Equipment

[0022] UP: User Plane

[0023] The exemplary aspects and exemplary embodiments provided below can achieve enhanced signaling, efficient resource reservation and intercommunication, enhanced handover procedures, such as faster and more efficient handover between cells, reduced interruption time in the event of LLM failure, and reduced probability of RLF maintaining control in the network when the UE is configured with LLM and CHO or conditional LLM. For example, the combination of the RRC configuration of CHO and the RRC configuration of LLM can achieve efficient resource reservation and intercommunication. In addition, the LLM RRC configuration can be enhanced. LLM can reduce the interruption time during handover execution. In addition, the network can maintain control of the handover in the event of rapid network degradation. The exemplary aspects and exemplary embodiments provided below can also achieve the same or similar robustness for LLM as for CHO.

[0024] According to a first exemplary aspect, an apparatus (e.g., a mobile entity or a UE) is disclosed, the apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the apparatus to at least perform:

[0025] receiving (eg, from a second device) a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information (eg, for a candidate cell provided by a candidate network node); and

[0026] At least one of: determining a handover based on layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell (eg, between a source cell provided by a second device and a candidate cell); or determining to wait for a network command for a handover based on conditional configuration information.

[0027] The conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information may, for example, consist of at least one configuration. The conditional configuration may, for example, be or include a dual configuration, a common configuration, a low-layer mobility configuration including a low-layer mobility condition, or a low-layer mobility configuration and a conditional switching configuration. The conditional configuration information may, for example, be or include a switching condition and / or at least one or at least two timers.

[0028] Determining the handover may, for example, include evaluating (or determining) a handover condition, and based on evaluating (or determining) that the handover condition exists, initiating a handover to a target cell in at least one candidate cell, and optionally determining a handover completion condition (e.g., initializing cell recovery based on determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, such as unsuccessful handover). The network command for handover may, for example, be or include a handover trigger or a stay trigger. If the condition configuration information includes an instruction to wait for a network command, determining to wait for a network command for handover based on the condition configuration information may, for example, be determining to wait for a network command.

[0029] The apparatus may be an apparatus for low-layer mobility, such as an apparatus having means for performing low-layer mobility.

[0030] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform at least one of the following:

[0031] - sending (e.g. to a second apparatus according to the second exemplary aspect) a report on layer 3 measurements of at least one of: a source cell or at least one candidate cell;

[0032] - Sending (eg, to a second device) a report of layer 1 measurements regarding at least one of: the source cell or at least one candidate cell.

[0033] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the condition configuration includes one of the following:

[0034] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0035] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0036] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0037] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0038] (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration based on layer 1 measurements to enable low layer mobility;

[0039] (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions;

[0040] (d) Low layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein in particular the second device (in particular the source network node providing the source cell) adjusts the low layer mobility conditions to the conditional handover conditions.

[0041] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform:

[0042] - receiving a network command for handover (e.g. in response to sending a report on layer 1 measurements), wherein the network command for handover is a handover trigger (e.g. to a target cell among at least one candidate cell);

[0043] - In response to receiving a network command for handover, initiating handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell, wherein in particular, initiating handover comprises initializing a random access procedure with the target cell.

[0044] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the at least one memory also stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least perform: in response to not receiving a network command for switching, determining switching based on layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell.

[0045] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the condition configuration information includes a switching condition or information about the switching condition,

[0046] In particular, the handover condition comprises at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and

[0047] In particular, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and

[0048] In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

[0049] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, determining the switching includes the following, and the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform the following:

[0050] - Evaluate handover conditions based on layer 3 measurements or layer 1 measurements;

[0051] - Based on evaluating that a handover condition exists, initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell, wherein in particular, initiating the handover comprises initializing a random access procedure with the target cell; and optionally, sending (e.g., to a second device) a notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated.

[0052] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, determining the switch includes (and the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform):

[0053] - Evaluate handover conditions based on layer 3 measurements or layer 1 measurements;

[0054] - based on evaluating that the handover condition exists, starting at least one timer, and (i) before expiration of the at least one timer, initiating a handover between the source cell and the target cell (e.g., determining the handover completion condition) and stopping the at least one timer, or (ii) in response to expiration of the at least one timer (e.g., determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, and) initiating cell recovery to one of the at least one candidate cell;

[0055] And optionally, sending (eg, to the second device) a notification that the switching condition exists and the switching is initiated.

[0056] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the conditional configuration information further includes information about at least two timers, and the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0057] - evaluating handover conditions based on layer 1 measurements (e.g., measurements of at least one candidate cell);

[0058] - based on evaluating that a switching condition exists, starting a first timer of at least two timers;

[0059] Optionally, sending (eg, to a second device) a report on (eg, layer 1 measurements of the source cell and) layer 1 measurements of at least one candidate cell; and

[0060] (i) before the expiry of the first timer,

[0061] Optionally, sending (e.g., to a second device) a report on (e.g., layer 1 measurements of the source cell and) layer 1 measurements of at least one candidate cell / the report;

[0062] (In response to sending the report on the layer 1 measurement,) receiving (e.g., from a second device, such as a source network node providing a source cell) a network command for handover, wherein the network command for handover is a handover trigger; (e.g., the handover trigger notifies the device to perform initiation of the handover)

[0063] In response to receiving a handover trigger, stopping the first timer and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell in at least one candidate cell;

[0064] (ii) before the expiry of the first timer,

[0065] Optionally, sending (e.g., to a second device) a report on (e.g., layer 1 measurements of the source cell and) layer 1 measurements of at least one candidate cell / the report;

[0066] (in response to sending the report on the layer 1 measurements,) receiving (e.g., from a second device, such as a source network node providing a source cell) a network command for handover, wherein the network command for handover is a dwell trigger;

[0067] In response to receiving a dwell trigger, stopping the first timer and starting a second timer of the at least two timers, and

[0068] (a) before the second timer expires, receiving a handover trigger and stopping the second timer, and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell; or

[0069] (b) in response to the second timer expiring without receiving a handover trigger, repeating the above steps starting from the evaluation of the handover condition based on the layer 1 measurement (e.g., sending another report of another layer 1 measurement of the source cell and at least one candidate cell, re-evaluating the handover condition based on another layer 1 measurement; and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell);

[0070] (iii) in response to expiration of the first timer (eg, without receiving a network command), initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell from among the at least one candidate cell.

[0071] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0072] -After initiating the handover, determining the handover completion conditions;

[0073] - Based on determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, initiating cell recovery to one of the at least one candidate cell (eg, provided by at least one candidate network node).

[0074] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the conditional configuration or the conditional configuration information includes an execution condition that enables the first device to autonomously perform initiation of the handover, and optionally, the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least perform:

[0075] - Autonomously initiate a handover between a source cell and a target cell among at least one candidate cell.

[0076] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0077] - Sending (eg, to the source network node) information indicating the target network node based on the layer 1 measurement (eg, of the target network node).

[0078] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0079] - storing (e.g. in at least one memory) a conditional configuration (e.g. for at least one candidate cell) and conditional configuration information;

[0080] - receiving (eg, from a second device, such as a source network node) an indication of a release of a handover condition;

[0081] - Based on the indication of the release of the handover condition, merge the condition configuration and / or the condition configuration information, in particular, remove (eg, remove from the condition configuration and / or the condition configuration information) or ignore the released handover condition.

[0082] For example, receiving an indication of a release of a handover condition may include receiving a notification (e.g., by a third device, e.g., a third device according to the third exemplary aspect or the eighth exemplary aspect) that the handover condition is released (e.g., from a second device, e.g., a second device according to the second exemplary aspect or the seventh exemplary aspect). In the case where the second device sends a message indicating the release of the conditional handover preparation to the third device, the indication of the release of the handover condition may be or include a message sent by the second device to the first device (e.g., a notification to the UE that the gNB-DU sends a release message to the CU).

[0083] According to a second exemplary aspect, an apparatus (e.g., a (source) network node or a gNB-DU) is disclosed, the apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0084] - sending (eg to a first apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect) a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information.

[0085] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0086] - receiving (e.g. from the first device) a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell and at least one candidate cell (e.g. provided by at least one candidate network node) provided by the second device;

[0087] - sending (e.g. to a third device) a report on layer 3 measurements;

[0088] - in response to sending the report on the layer 3 measurement, receiving (e.g., from a third device) a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information (e.g., for at least one candidate cell);

[0089] - Sending (eg, to the first device) the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information.

[0090] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the conditional configuration includes one of the following:

[0091] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0092] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0093] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0094] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0095] (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration based on layer 1 measurements to enable low layer mobility;

[0096] (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions;

[0097] (d) Low layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein in particular the second device adjusts the low layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition.

[0098] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the conditional configuration or the conditional configuration information includes an execution condition that enables the first device to autonomously perform initiation of the handover.

[0099] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0100] - receiving (e.g., from a first device) a report on layer 1 measurements (e.g., for low layer mobility) of at least one candidate cell;

[0101] - determining whether handover of the first device to a candidate cell (eg provided by a candidate network node) is to be performed based on the report on the layer 1 measurements;

[0102] - based on determining that a handover of the first device to the candidate cell is to be performed, sending (e.g., to the first device) a network command for handover, wherein the network command for handover is a handover trigger;

[0103] - Optionally, sending (eg to a third apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect) a message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation.

[0104] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0105] - receiving (e.g., from a first device) a report on layer 1 measurements (e.g., for low layer mobility) of at least one candidate cell;

[0106] - determining whether a handover of the first device to the candidate cell is to be performed based on the report on the layer 1 measurements;

[0107] - Based on determining that handover of the first device to the candidate cell will not be performed, sending (eg, to the first device) a network command for handover, wherein the network command for handover is a stay trigger.

[0108] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0109] - receiving (e.g. from the first device) information indicating the target cell (e.g. provided by the target network node) based on layer 1 measurements (e.g. layer 1 measurements of at least one candidate cell or the target cell);

[0110] - Sending (eg, to a third device) information indicating the target cell.

[0111] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the condition configuration information includes a switching condition or information about the switching condition,

[0112] In particular, the handover condition comprises at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and

[0113] In particular, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and

[0114] In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

[0115] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0116] - sending (eg to the first device) an indication of the release of the handover condition.

[0117] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0118] - receiving (e.g., from a third device) a flag indicating whether the conditional configuration comprises a dual configuration, a common configuration, a lower layer mobility configuration including a lower layer mobility condition, or a lower layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration, and optionally

[0119] - In response to receiving the flag, pausing, canceling, blocking, or postponing at least one certain process.

[0120] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0121] - in response to receiving (e.g., from a third device) a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information;

[0122] -determine whether the conditional switching condition is included in the conditional configuration information;

[0123] - Based on determining that the conditional handover condition is included by the conditional configuration information, adjusting the lower layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition (eg, the LLM condition detects the same radio condition as the CHO condition).

[0124] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0125] - receiving (e.g. from the first device) a notification that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated;

[0126] - In response to receiving a notification (eg, from the first device) that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated, sending another notification (eg, to a third device) that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated.

[0127] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0128] - receiving (eg, from a third device) an indication that the conditional configuration includes a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration; and optionally

[0129] - sending (eg, to the first device) a network command for handover, wherein the network command for handover is a handover trigger, the handover trigger comprising an identifier of the common configuration; and optionally

[0130] - Pause, cancel, or postpone at least one process.

[0131] According to a third exemplary aspect, an apparatus (e.g., a gNB-CU) is disclosed, the apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0132] - receiving (e.g. from a second device) a report on (e.g. layer 3 measurements of a source cell and) layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node;

[0133] In response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurement, sending a setup request to at least one candidate network node, the setup request indicating preparation of at least one candidate cell for conditional configuration of at least one candidate cell, wherein the conditional configuration includes one of the following:

[0134] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0135] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0136] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0137] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0138] (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration based on layer 1 measurements to enable low layer mobility;

[0139] (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions;

[0140] (d) Low-layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration;

[0141] - in response to sending the setup request, receiving a setup response from at least one candidate network node indicating a conditional configuration of at least one candidate cell;

[0142] - Based on receiving the setup response, sending (eg, to the second device) a conditional configuration (eg, for at least one candidate cell) and conditional configuration information.

[0143] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the condition configuration information includes a switching condition or information about the switching condition,

[0144] In particular, the handover condition comprises at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and

[0145] In particular, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and in particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

[0146] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0147] In response to a setup request indicating a conditional configuration for the at least one candidate cell (or candidate network node), preparing the at least one candidate cell (or candidate network node), wherein the conditional configuration includes a low layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration, receiving information indicating at least one dual configuration of the at least one candidate cell (or candidate network node) from the at least one candidate network node.

[0148] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0149] - receiving information indicating a target cell (or a target network node) from the second device.

[0150] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0151] -Sending (e.g., to a second device) a flag indicating whether the conditional configuration includes a dual configuration, a common configuration, a low-layer mobility configuration including a low-layer mobility condition, or a low-layer mobility configuration and a conditional switching configuration (e.g., the flag enables the second device to suspend, cancel, block, or postpone at least one certain process).

[0152] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0153] - Sending (eg, to the second device) a flag indicating that the conditional configuration comprises the common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration.

[0154] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0155] - receiving (e.g. from a second device) a message indicating release of conditional handover preparation;

[0156] - In response to receiving a message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation, releasing the corresponding conditional handover preparation.

[0157] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0158] - receiving (e.g. from a second device) a notification that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated;

[0159] - In response to receiving a notification that a handover condition exists and handover is initiated, instructing a target network node among the at least one candidate network node to initiate data forwarding to the first device.

[0160] According to a fourth exemplary aspect, a method is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect and / or the third exemplary aspect being caused to perform, being configured to perform, or having components therefor. For example, the method may be performed and / or controlled by an apparatus / the apparatus, such as a server, a server cloud, a gNB and / or a mobile entity (e.g., a mobile telecommunication device or a mobile phone or a user equipment).

[0161] Alternatively, the method may be performed and / or controlled by more than one device, such as a server cloud including at least two servers, or a system of devices, such as a system including at least one gNB and at least one UE. For example, the method may be performed and / or controlled by using at least one processor of a device / the device.

[0162] According to a fifth exemplary aspect, a system is disclosed, the system comprising at least one first device according to the first exemplary aspect, at least one second device according to the second exemplary aspect, and at least one third device according to the third exemplary aspect.

[0163] According to a fifth exemplary aspect, a computer program product is disclosed, which, when executed by a processor of the apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the fourth exemplary aspect.

[0164] According to another exemplary aspect, a computer program is disclosed which, when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus (eg, a server) to perform and / or control the actions of the method according to the second exemplary aspect.

[0165] According to another exemplary aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is disclosed, the computer-readable storage medium comprising the computer program product according to the fourth exemplary aspect.

[0166] According to a sixth exemplary aspect, (for example, as an alternative or in addition to the exemplary apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect,) an apparatus (for example, a mobile entity or a UE) is disclosed, the apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to at least perform the following, or the apparatus comprises means for:

[0167] - sending (e.g., to a second apparatus (e.g., an apparatus according to the seventh exemplary aspect) a report on (e.g., layer 3 measurements of the source cell and) layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell;

[0168] - sending a report on layer 1 measurements of at least one of the following: a source cell or at least one candidate cell (e.g. sending a report on layer 1 measurements of the source cell and at least one candidate cell);

[0169] - optionally, receiving (e.g., from a source network node, e.g., in response to sending a report on layer 1 measurements and / or layer 3 measurements) at least one configuration (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration, the at least one configuration may, e.g., include a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information) of at least one candidate cell (or candidate network node), the at least one configuration including a handover condition or including information about the handover condition (e.g., enabling the apparatus to determine the handover condition);

[0170] - evaluating the handover condition / the handover condition based on at least one of: a layer 3 measurement or a layer 1 measurement;

[0171] - based on evaluating the existence of a handover condition, initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell in at least one candidate cell;

[0172] - Determine the switching completion conditions;

[0173] - Based on determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, initiating cell recovery.

[0174] Sending a report on layer 3 measurements of the source cell may be sending to the source network node. Sending a report on layer 1 measurements of the source cell may be sending to the source network node. Sending a report on layer 1 measurements may be sending a report on layer 1 measurements of low layer mobility (LLM), for example, it may be sending a report on layer 1 measurements periodically. LLM may be understood as that the decision on cell change is based on L1 measurements and is made in the MAC layer in a distributed unit (DU). The source / candidate / target network node may be split into distributed units and control units (CUs). CU may be understood as a logical node, which includes gNB functions such as user data delivery, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for functions specifically assigned to DUs. DU may be understood as a logical node that includes a subset of gNB functions. Its operation may be controlled by the CU. A gNB may consist of a gNB-CU-CP, multiple gNB-CU-UPs, and multiple gNB-DUs, which may provide multiple cells.

[0175] Determining the handover completion condition may be performed after initiating the handover.Determining that the handover completion condition does not exist may include determining a handover failure (HOF) or a radio link failure (RLF).

[0176] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the handover condition comprises at least one of: a conditional handover condition or a low layer mobility condition, wherein in particular the LLM condition comprises a layer 1 / layer 2 condition.

[0177] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0178] - receiving (e.g. from a source network node) at least one configuration (e.g. an RRC reconfiguration) of at least one candidate cell (or candidate network node), the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition or comprising information about a handover condition (e.g. enabling the apparatus to determine the handover condition);

[0179] - in particular, in case at least one configuration comprises information about a handover condition, determining the handover condition based on the information about the handover condition;

[0180] - Optionally, a handover between the source cell and a target cell is initiated by applying at least one configuration of the target cell.

[0181] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, at least one configuration includes one of the following:

[0182] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0183] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0184] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0185] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0186] (b) a common configuration, where the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration that implements low-layer mobility (e.g., based on layer 1 measurements);

[0187] (c) Low-layer mobility configuration including low-layer mobility conditions.

[0188] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, at least one configuration includes an execution condition that enables the apparatus to autonomously perform initiation of a handover, and optionally, the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0189] - Autonomously initiate a handover between a source cell and a target cell among at least one candidate cell.

[0190] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0191] - Receiving (eg from a source network node) a handover trigger for performing an initiation of the handover, in particular receiving the handover trigger in layer 2 (or medium access control layer).

[0192] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0193] - Based on evaluating that a handover condition exists, performing initiation of a handover.

[0194] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0195] - based on evaluating that a switching condition exists, starting at least one timer; and at least one of the following:

[0196] (a) Before at least one timer expires

[0197] (i) (autonomously) initiating a handover between the source cell and the target cell, and stopping at least one timer, and optionally sending (e.g. to the source network node) a notification that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated; or

[0198] (ii) in response to receiving a handover trigger (e.g., on layer 2), initiating a handover between the source cell and the target cell and stopping at least one timer; or

[0199] (iii) in response to receiving (e.g., from the source network node) a stay trigger, stopping at least one timer, sending another report of another layer 1 measurement of the source cell and the at least one candidate cell, re-evaluating the handover condition based on the another layer 1 measurement; and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell in the at least one candidate cell based on the handover condition; or

[0200] (iv) receiving a stay trigger from the source network node 101, and in response to receiving the stay trigger, stopping at least one timer and starting at least one second timer, and (i) before the second timer expires, receiving (e.g., from a second apparatus (e.g., an apparatus according to the seventh exemplary aspect)) a handover trigger, stopping at least one second timer, and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell;

[0201] or (II) in response to at least one second timer expiring without receiving a handover trigger, repeating the steps starting from evaluating the handover condition, for example, sending another report of another layer 1 measurement of the source cell and at least one candidate cell, re-evaluating the handover condition based on another layer 1 measurement; and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell; or

[0202] (b) in response to expiration of at least one timer

[0203] (i) Initiating a handover between a source cell and a target cell;

[0204] (ii) determining that a handover completion condition does not exist; or

[0205] (iii) starting at least one second timer; and before the expiration of the at least one timer, autonomously performing a handover between the source cell and the target cell, and stopping the at least one timer; or in response to the expiration of the at least one second timer, determining that the handover completion condition does not exist.

[0206] For example, the at least one timer may include at least two timers.

[0207] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0208] - Sending (towards the source network node) information indicating the target network node based on layer 1 measurements.

[0209] According to an exemplary embodiment of the sixth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0210] - storing (e.g. in at least one memory) at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell;

[0211] - receiving (e.g., from a source network node) an indication of release of a handover condition, a conditional handover configuration, or a low layer mobility configuration;

[0212] -Merge at least one configuration, in particular, remove or ignore the released handover condition, conditional handover configuration, or low-layer mobility configuration in at least one configuration; or remove a pointer to the released conditional handover configuration or low-layer mobility configuration in the handover condition.

[0213] According to a seventh exemplary aspect, (e.g., as an alternative or in addition to the exemplary apparatus according to the second exemplary aspect), an apparatus (e.g., a (source) network node or a gNB-DU) is disclosed, the apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the apparatus to at least perform the following, or the apparatus comprises means for:

[0214] - receiving (e.g. from a first apparatus (e.g. an apparatus according to the sixth exemplary aspect, e.g. a mobile entity or a UE) a report on layer 3 measurements of (e.g. a source cell provided by an apparatus according to the seventh exemplary aspect and) at least one candidate cell (e.g. provided by at least one candidate network node);

[0215] - receiving (e.g. from the first device or mobile entity or UE) a report of layer 1 measurements (e.g. for low layer mobility) on at least one of: a source cell or at least one candidate cell (e.g. receiving a report of layer 1 measurements on the source cell and at least one candidate cell);

[0216] - sending a report on layer 3 measurements to a third apparatus (e.g., an apparatus according to the eighth exemplary aspect) (e.g., via UL RRC messaging);

[0217] - in response to sending the report on the layer 3 measurements, receiving (e.g., from a third device or a gNB-CU) at least one configuration (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration) of at least one candidate cell, the configuration including a handover condition or including information about the handover condition (e.g., via DL RRC messaging);

[0218] - sending at least one configuration to the apparatus according to the sixth exemplary aspect.

[0219] The apparatus according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the seventh exemplary aspect may be a gNB-DU, for example, the gNB-DU provides a source cell for, for example, the first apparatus or the apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect or the sixth exemplary aspect.

[0220] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, at least one configuration includes one of the following:

[0221] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0222] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0223] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0224] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0225] (b) a common configuration, where the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration that implements low-layer mobility (e.g., based on layer 1 measurements); or

[0226] (c) Low-layer mobility configuration including low-layer mobility conditions.

[0227] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, at least one configuration comprises an execution condition enabling the first apparatus (eg, the apparatus according to the sixth exemplary aspect) to autonomously perform initiation of the handover.

[0228] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0229] -Sending (e.g., to the first device or mobile entity or UE) a handover trigger, in particular, sending a handover trigger in layer 2 (or medium access control layer), for example, sending a handover trigger in response to receiving a report about layer 1 measurements and / or sending a handover trigger based on layer 1 measurements.

[0230] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0231] - receiving (e.g. from a first device or a mobile entity or a UE) information indicating a target cell (or a target network node) based on layer 1 measurements;

[0232] -Sending information indicating the target cell (or target network node) to a third device (e.g., a gNB-CU).

[0233] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the handover condition comprises at least one of: a conditional handover condition or a low layer mobility condition, wherein in particular the LLM condition comprises a layer 1 / layer 2 condition.

[0234] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0235] - Sending (eg to the first device or mobile entity or UE) an indication of a release of a handover condition, a conditional handover configuration, or a low layer mobility configuration.

[0236] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0237] - receiving (e.g., from a third device or a gNB-CU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a conditional handover condition and a lower layer mobility condition, or includes information about the conditional handover condition and the lower layer mobility condition (e.g., the flag enables the device to suspend, cancel, or postpone at least one certain procedure for context release before a timer expires); and optionally

[0238] - Pause, cancel, or postpone at least one process.

[0239] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0240] - Evaluate reports on layer 1 measurements;

[0241] - Based on the evaluation report, sending (eg, to the first device) a handover trigger.

[0242] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0243] - in response to receiving at least one configuration (e.g., an RRC reconfiguration) (e.g., from a third device or a gNB-CU);

[0244] - determining whether the conditional switching condition is included by at least one configuration;

[0245] - Based on determining that the conditional handover condition is included by at least one configuration, adjusting the lower layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition (eg, the LLM condition detects the same radio condition as the CHO condition).

[0246] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0247] - determining (e.g. in Layer 2) whether a handover of a first apparatus (e.g. an apparatus according to the sixth exemplary aspect) to a candidate cell (e.g. provided by a candidate network node) is to be performed based on the report on the Layer 1 measurements;

[0248] - based on determining that handover of the first device to the candidate cell is to be performed, sending (e.g., to the first device) a handover trigger;

[0249] - Optionally, sending (eg to a third device) a message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation.

[0250] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0251] - determining (e.g. in Layer 2) whether a handover of the first device to the candidate cell is to be performed based on the report on the Layer 1 measurements;

[0252] - Based on determining that handover of the first device to the candidate cell is not to be performed, sending a stay trigger (eg, to the first device).

[0253] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0254] - receiving (e.g. from the first device) a notification that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated;

[0255] - In response to receiving (e.g., from the first device) a notification that a switching condition exists and a switching is initiated, sending (e.g., to a third device) another notification that a switching condition exists and a switching is initiated (e.g., so that the third device can initiate data forwarding in a timely manner).

[0256] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0257] - receiving (e.g., from a third device or a gNB-CU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration (e.g., the flag enables the seventh device to suspend, cancel, or postpone at least one certain process, such as context release before expiration of a timer; for example, the identifier enables the device to trigger at least one configuration, for example, the identifier enables the device to trigger the UE to apply the at least one configuration); and optionally

[0258] - (in response to receiving the flag,) sending (eg, to the first device) a handover trigger comprising an identifier of the common configuration; and optionally

[0259] - Pause, cancel, or postpone at least one process.

[0260] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0261] - receiving (e.g., from a third device or a gNB-CU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a low layer mobility condition (e.g., the flag enables the seventh device to prevent at least one certain procedure, such as context release before expiration of a timer);

[0262] - optionally, (in response to receiving the flag) sending (eg to the first device) a handover trigger comprising an identifier of the common configuration; and

[0263] - Optionally block at least one certain process.

[0264] According to an exemplary embodiment of the seventh exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0265] - Sending (eg, to the first device) information for setting at least one timer (eg, to enable enhanced control of the mobility procedure).

[0266] (For example, as an alternative or supplement to the exemplary apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect,) according to an eighth exemplary aspect, a device is disclosed, the device including at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, causing the device to at least perform the following, or the device including components for the following:

[0267] - receiving (e.g., from a seventh apparatus (e.g., an apparatus according to the seventh exemplary aspect), e.g., a gNB-DU) a report on (e.g., layer 3 measurements of a source cell and) layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node;

[0268] - in response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurements, sending a setup request (e.g., a UE context setup request) to at least one candidate network node, the setup request indicating preparation of at least one candidate cell (provided by at least one candidate network node) for at least one configuration of the at least one candidate cell (e.g., preparation of at least one configuration informs the DU which configuration should be applied, such as dual preparation);

[0269] - in response to sending the setup request, receiving, from at least one candidate network node, a setup response indicating at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell;

[0270] - Based on receiving the establishment response, sending (e.g., to the second device) at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell, the at least one configuration including a switching condition or including information about the switching condition (e.g., enabling the first device (e.g., a device according to the sixth exemplary aspect) to determine the switching condition).

[0271] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the handover condition comprises at least one of: a conditional handover condition or a low layer mobility condition, wherein in particular the LLM condition comprises a layer 1 / layer 2 condition.

[0272] The apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect and / or the eighth exemplary aspect may be a gNB-CU (in particular a gNB-CU-CP), which, for example, controls (for example, according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the first exemplary aspect), the second apparatus or gNB-DU providing, for example, a source cell for the first apparatus, and the gNB-CU, for example, controls the gNB-DU providing a candidate or target cell.

[0273] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, at least one configuration includes one of the following:

[0274] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0275] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0276] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0277] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0278] (b) a common configuration, where the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration that implements low-layer mobility (e.g., based on layer 1 measurements); or

[0279] (c) Low-layer mobility configuration including low-layer mobility conditions.

[0280] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, in response to a setup request not indicating preparation of at least one dual configuration, information indicating at least one dual configuration of at least one candidate cell is received from at least one candidate network node (e.g., within a setup response).

[0281] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0282] -Receiving information indicating a target cell (or target network node) from a second device (e.g., a gNB-DU).

[0283] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0284] - Sending (e.g., to the second device or the gNB-DU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a low layer mobility condition (e.g., the flag enables the second device to prevent at least one certain process, such as context release before expiration of a timer).

[0285] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0286] -Sending (e.g., to a second device or a gNB-DU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a conditional handover condition and a lower layer mobility condition, or includes information about the conditional handover condition and the lower layer mobility condition, the flag enabling, for example, the second device to suspend, cancel, or postpone at least one process for context release before a timer expires.

[0287] For example, in a case where at least one configuration includes a conditional switching condition and a low-layer mobility condition or includes information about the conditional switching condition and the low-layer mobility condition, a flag is sent indicating that at least one configuration includes a conditional switching condition and a low-layer mobility condition or includes information about the conditional switching condition and the low-layer mobility condition.

[0288] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, for example, in a case where at least one configuration includes a conditional switching condition and a lower layer mobility condition or includes information about the conditional switching condition and the lower layer mobility condition, a flag is sent indicating that at least one configuration includes a conditional switching condition and a lower layer mobility condition or (indicating that at least one configuration) includes information about the conditional switching condition and the lower layer mobility condition (correspondingly).

[0289] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0290] - Sending (e.g., to a second device or a gNB-DU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration (e.g., the flag enables the second device to suspend, cancel, or postpone at least one certain process, such as context release before expiration of a timer, and the identifier enables the second device to trigger at least one configuration).

[0291] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0292] - Sending (e.g., to the second device or the gNB-DU) a flag indicating that at least one configuration includes a low layer mobility condition (e.g., the flag enables the second device to prevent at least one certain process, such as context release before expiration of a timer).

[0293] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0294] - receiving (e.g. from a second device) a message indicating release of conditional handover preparation;

[0295] - In response to receiving a message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation, releasing the corresponding conditional handover preparation, for example releasing the preparation of at least one configuration for at least one candidate cell from at least one candidate network.

[0296] According to an exemplary embodiment of the eighth exemplary aspect, the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

[0297] - receiving (e.g. from a second device) a notification that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated;

[0298] - In response to receiving a notification that a handover condition exists and a handover is initiated, instructing a target network node of at least one candidate network node to initiate data forwarding to the first device (eg, UE).

[0299] The above-disclosed apparatus according to any aspect may be a module or component for a device, such as a chip. Alternatively, the apparatus disclosed according to any aspect may be a device, such as a server, a mobile entity or a base station. The apparatus disclosed according to any aspect may include only the disclosed components, such as components, processors, memories, or may also include one or more additional components. The above-disclosed apparatus according to any aspect may be an apparatus for or for implementing low-layer mobility, such as an apparatus including components for or configured for or caused to perform low-layer mobility. The above-disclosed apparatus according to any aspect may be an apparatus capable of performing switching and / or cell recovery, such as an apparatus including components for or configured for or caused to perform switching and / or cell recovery.

[0300] The components of the device according to any exemplary aspect can be implemented with hardware and / or software. They may include, for example, at least one processor for executing a computer program code to perform a desired function, at least one memory for storing program code, or both. Alternatively, they may include, for example, a circuit system designed or configured to implement the desired function, such as implemented in a chipset or chip, such as an integrated circuit. Typically, the component may include, for example, one or more processing components or processors. The device may, for example, be or include a mobile entity (e.g., a mobile (telecommunication) device or a mobile phone or a user equipment (UE)).

[0301] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one, more, or all of the following:

[0302] (a) pure hardware circuit implementation (such as implementation in analog and / or digital circuit systems) and

[0303] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0304] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0305] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) (including digital signal processor(s)), software and memory with software that work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions), and

[0306] (c) Hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but where the software may not be present, for operation.

[0307] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term circuitry also covers 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.

[0308] Any disclosure herein related to any exemplary aspect should be understood to be equivalent to any subject matter according to the corresponding exemplary aspect, such as devices, methods, computer programs and computer-readable media. Thus, for example, the disclosure of method steps should also be considered as the disclosure of components for performing and / or configured to perform the corresponding method steps. Similarly, the disclosure of components for performing and / or configured to perform method steps should also be considered as the disclosure of the method steps themselves. The same applies to any paragraph describing the following: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and computer program code are configured to cause the device to perform at least steps together with the at least one processor.

[0309] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, a source cell may be a cell that is currently connected to the first device, for example, for data transmission. The source cell may be provided by a source network node (e.g., a gNB-DU). A candidate cell may be a cell that the first device can measure, for example, it is close enough to the first device to be measured and can be prepared by a third device for cell switching. At least one candidate cell may be provided by at least one candidate network node (e.g., a candidate gNB-DU). The target cell may be a cell in at least one candidate cell for which a switching condition exists or is maintained. The target cell may be provided or controlled by a target network node (included in) at least one candidate network node. A switching or cell change between a source cell provided by the source network node and a target cell provided by the target network node may include a switching between the source network node and the target network node. In some cases, the source network node and the target network node may be the same network node.

[0310] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, a switching condition may be a condition that is to be met / existed so that a switching may be initiated, and it may include at least one of the following: for example, a threshold value (or threshold condition) that needs to be exceeded for the switching condition to be met / existed, or for example, an inequality (condition) that needs to be met for the switching condition to be met / existed. The inequality (condition) may, for example, be or include: a value including a measurement (result) from a candidate or target cell exceeds a value including a measurement (result) from a source cell, the measurement may, for example, be or be based on a layer 1 measurement or a layer 3 measurement. The switching condition may, for example, include a timer, for example, at least one timer, for example, a timer may enable (for example, an apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect) to consider the time for triggering (switching), so that the decision for triggering a switching may be based on more than one measurement, for example, more than one layer 1 measurement.

[0311] The CHO conditions may, for example, include up to two CHO execution conditions for each candidate (target) cell. If two CHO execution conditions are provided, these conditions are associated with a connection relationship, so both conditions need to be met before a handover is initiated. The CHO conditions may be based on layer 3 measurements and / or layer 1 measurements (particularly when layer 3 filters are optionally disabled).

[0312] The LLM condition may, for example, have a similar structure to the CHO condition, which may, for example, include: a value including a measurement (result) from a candidate or target cell exceeds a value including a measurement (result) from a source cell, which measurement (result) may, for example, be or be based on a layer 1 measurement or a layer 3 measurement. The LLM condition may be based on a layer 1 measurement.

[0313] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, a handover completion condition may be a condition indicating whether the handover has been successfully completed / performed. If the handover condition does not exist, the handover may not be successfully completed, and, for example, HOF or RLF may exist. For example, if the first device successfully completes the handover (to the target cell) after initiating the handover, the handover completion condition may exist; if the first device does not successfully complete the handover after initiating the handover, the handover completion condition may not exist.

[0314] Initiating a handover may be, for example, the UE attempting to perform a handover. Successful completion of the handover may be determined later using a handover completion condition.

[0315] The indication of the release of the handover condition may be an indication of the third device releasing the handover condition, such as an indication (e.g., a notification) sent by the second device to the first device, such as when it sends a message indicating the release of the conditional handover preparation to the third device. For example, the indication of the release of the handover condition may be notifying the first device (e.g., UE) that the second device (e.g., gNB-DU) sends a release message to the third device (e.g., gNB-CU).

[0316] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, cell recovery may be understood as performing a handover to a candidate cell among at least one candidate cell, which is configured for handover by a third device (e.g., gNB-CU), after a handover to a target cell fails (e.g., due to signal loss, such as loss of reporting on layer 1 measurements or loss of a trigger from a second device (e.g., source gNB-DU)). The cell recovery may be a conditional handover (CHO) recovery. CHO recovery (which may be configured by the network, such as the gNB-CU) may be performed, for example, as long as at least more than one candidate cell (CHO candidate cell) is provided for CHO handover. In CHO recovery, a first device (e.g., UE) may first trigger a cell selection procedure, and if the selected cell (according to the cell selection procedure) is a CHO candidate cell, the first device may perform CHO to the selected target cell. Cell recovery may be a low layer mobility (LLM) recovery. LLM recovery may be understood as the following process: first, the UE may trigger a cell selection procedure, and if the selected cell (according to the cell selection procedure) is a LLM candidate cell, the UE performs a HO to the selected target cell. If the first device (e.g., UE) is configured with configurations for LLM of candidate cells, these configurations can be used for handover failure and RLF recovery if the best cell selected from the cell reselection is one of the prepared candidate cells for LLM. Depending on the prepared configuration, the CU / DU can also indicate whether a given configuration is suitable for LLM recovery (e.g., at the time of configuration).

[0317] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, preparing at least one candidate network for at least one configuration of at least one candidate network node may be understood as preparing at least one configuration, which configuration may, for example, inform the second device which configuration should be applied, such as dual preparation. Preparing at least one candidate network may be establishing a context in the candidate / target network node.

[0318] The apparatus according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the seventh exemplary aspect may be a gNB-DU, for example, a gNB-DU providing a source cell for, for example, a first apparatus or an apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect or the sixth exemplary aspect. The apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect and / or the eighth exemplary aspect may be a gNB-CU (in particular, a gNB-CU-CP), for example, controlling a second apparatus or a gNB-DU (for example, according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the first exemplary aspect) providing a source cell for, for example, a first apparatus, and for example controlling a gNB-DU providing a candidate or target cell.

[0319] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, sending a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell may be sending to a source network node. Sending a report on layer 1 measurements of a source cell may be sending to a source network node. Sending a report on layer 1 measurements may be sending a report on layer 1 measurements of a low layer mobility (LLM), for example, it may be periodically sending a report on layer 1 measurements. LLM may be understood as a decision on cell change is based on L1 measurements and is made in the MAC layer in a distributed unit (DU). The source / candidate / target network node may be split into a distributed unit and a control unit (CU). CU may be understood as a logical node that includes gNB functions such as user data delivery, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for functions specifically assigned to DU. DU may be understood as a logical node that includes a subset of gNB functions. Its operation may be controlled by a CU. A gNB may consist of a gNB-CU-CP, multiple gNB-CU-UPs, and multiple gNB-DUs, which may provide multiple cells.

[0320] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, determining the handover completion condition may be performed after initiating the handover.Determining that the handover completion condition does not exist may include determining a handover failure (HOF) or a radio link failure (RLF).

[0321] For example, the features according to the sixth exemplary aspect may also be features of the apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect (and vice versa), and may, for example, further specify features of the apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect. For example, the features according to the seventh exemplary aspect may also be features of the apparatus according to the second exemplary aspect (and vice versa), and may, for example, further specify features of the apparatus according to the second exemplary aspect. For example, the features according to the eighth exemplary aspect may also be features of the apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect (and vice versa), and may, for example, further specify features of the apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect.

[0322] In the following, exemplary features and exemplary embodiments of all aspects will be described in more detail.

[0323] According to some or all disclosed exemplary aspects, the handover condition comprises at least one of: a conditional handover condition or a low layer mobility condition, wherein in particular the LLM condition comprises a layer 1 / layer 2 condition.

[0324] According to some or all of the disclosed exemplary aspects, at least one configuration includes one of the following:

[0325] (a) Dual configuration, where the dual configuration

[0326] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0327] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0328] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0329] (b) a common configuration, where the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration that implements low-layer mobility (e.g., based on layer 1 measurements);

[0330] (c) a low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions; or

[0331] (d) Low-layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein optionally, another apparatus, in particular a source network node providing a source cell (eg, a second apparatus according to the second or seventh exemplary aspect) adjusts the low-layer mobility condition to a conditional handover condition.

[0332] The features and exemplary embodiments described above apply equally to the different aspects.

[0333] It should be understood that the presentation in this section is by way of example only and not limitation.

[0334] Other features will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and not as a definition of the scope, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale and that they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0335] The accompanying drawings show:

[0336] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an exemplary cell handover scenario;

[0337] Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method that the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect is caused to perform, or has components for performing, the same;

[0338] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method that an apparatus of the second exemplary aspect is caused to perform, or has components for performing, the same;

[0339] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method that an apparatus of the third exemplary aspect is caused to perform, or has means for performing, the same;

[0340] Figure 5a is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary LLM cell handover;

[0341] Figure 5b is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary LLM cell handover;

[0342] Figure 6a is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary LLM cell handover;

[0343] Figure 6b is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary LLM cell handover;

[0344] Figure 7a is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary CHO cell handover;

[0345] Figure 7b is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary CHO cell handover;

[0346] Figure 8a is a table showing exemplary timers;

[0347] Figure 8b is a table showing exemplary timers;

[0348] Figure 9a is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration;

[0349] Figure 9b is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration, particularly an example of a dual configuration;

[0350] Fig.9c is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration, in particular an example of a common configuration or an LLM configuration with LLM conditions;

[0351] Fig.10a is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0352] Fig.10bis a flow chart showing an example embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first aspect, the second aspect and the third aspect together;

[0353] Fig.11a is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0354] Fig.11b is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0355] Fig.12a is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0356] Figure 12b is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0357] Fig.13a is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0358] Fig.13b is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0359] Fig.13c is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0360] Fig.14a is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0361] Fig.14b is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0362] Fig.14c is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method performed by, for example, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together;

[0363] Fig.15It is a schematic block diagram of an example embodiment of an apparatus according to the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect and / or the eighth aspect and / or an example embodiment of an apparatus configured to perform a method according to the fourth exemplary aspect. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0364] The following description is intended to deepen understanding and should be understood to supplement the description provided in the above-mentioned invention content section of this specification and read together with it. Some aspects may have different terms than, for example, the terms provided in the above description. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these terms refer to the same subject matter, for example, by being more specific. For example, a handover may be referred to as a cell handover, a cell change, or a node handover (in the case where the handover involves a handover to another node), a source cell may be referred to as a serving cell, and a network node may be referred to as a node.

[0365] Figure 1An exemplary (cell) handover from a source cell provided by a source (network) node 101 (e.g., a second device) to a target cell provided by a target node 102 of a set of candidate nodes 102, 103 is shown. A mobile entity 104 (e.g., a first device) performs layer 3 and (periodic) layer 1 measurements 106 on the source cell provided by the source node 101 and the candidate cells provided by the candidate nodes 102, 103. The mobile entity 104 sends 107 a report on the layer 3 measurements and the layer 1 measurements to the source node 101 (which is, for example, a gNB-DU). The source node 101 may send 108 (e.g., forward) the report to a third device 105 (e.g., a server, a control backbone, or a gNB-CU). Based on the report of the measurements, the third device may send 109 a prepare request to the candidate nodes 102, 103 for (cell) handover, which in turn may send 110 an appropriate configuration. The handover conditions may be determined and sent 111 to the source node 101 together with the configuration. In the case where the source node receives a configuration, for example, including a conditional handover configuration, the source node may adjust the low-layer mobility condition (e.g., a low-layer mobility trigger condition for handover) to the received conditional handover condition (e.g., LLM triggers a cell change according to the CHO condition). The source node 101 may send 112 (e.g., forward) the CHO condition and the configuration to the mobile entity 104. In the case where the source node receives a configuration, for example, including a low-layer mobility configuration with a low-layer mobility condition, it may send 112 (e.g., forward) the low-layer mobility configuration with the low-layer mobility condition to the mobile entity 104. The source node 101 may initiate a cell handover to a target cell provided by the target node 102 (i.e., a cell provided by a node where the handover condition is established or exists). In response to receiving a configuration including a handover condition, the UE 104 may autonomously initiate a cell handover if the handover condition exists and, for example, the source node does not initiate a handover (e.g., by a corresponding trigger) within a specific time interval measured by a timer.

[0366] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method 200 according to the fourth example aspect, or a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method that a first apparatus 104 is caused to perform or has means for performing according to the first example aspect. The first apparatus may be a mobile entity or a UE.

[0367] In a first step, the first device 104 may perform:

[0368] - receiving 201 (e.g. from the source network node 101) a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information. The conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information may, for example, be included in at least one configuration, or, for example, at least one configuration may include the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information. The conditional configuration may, for example, be or may include a dual configuration, a common configuration, a low-layer mobility configuration including a low-layer mobility condition, or a low-layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration. The conditional configuration information may, for example, be or may include a handover condition and / or at least one or at least two timers.

[0369] In the second step, the first device may perform:

[0370] - At least one of the following 202: determining a handover based on layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell; or determining to wait for a network command for the handover based on the conditional configuration information. Determining the handover may, for example, include evaluating (or determining) a handover condition, and based on evaluating (or determining) that the handover condition exists, initiating a handover to a target cell in at least one candidate cell, and optionally, determining a handover completion condition (e.g., initializing cell recovery based on determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, such as unsuccessful handover). The network command for the handover may, for example, be or may include a handover trigger or a stay trigger. If the conditional configuration information includes an instruction to wait for a network command, determining to wait for a network command for the handover based on the conditional configuration information may, for example, be determining to wait for a network command.

[0371] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method 300 according to the fourth exemplary aspect, or a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method that a second apparatus 101 is caused to perform or has components for performing according to the second exemplary aspect. The second apparatus may be a gNB-DU, for example Figure 2 The first device provides the gNB-DU of the source cell.

[0372] In the first step, the second device 101 may perform:

[0373] -Send 301 conditional configuration and conditional configuration information.

[0374] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method 400 according to the fourth exemplary aspect, or a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method that a third device 105 is caused to perform or has components for performing according to the third exemplary aspect. The third device may be a gNB-CU (in particular, a gNB-CU-CP), which, for example, controls the second device 101 ( Figure 3); or controlling a gNB-DU, which provides a source cell for, for example, a first device 104, and controls, for example, a second device / gNB-DU 101 that provides a candidate or target cell 102, 103.

[0375] In the first step, the third device 105 may execute:

[0376] - Receiving 401 (e.g., from a second device or a gNB-DU) a report on layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node.

[0377] In the second step, the third device 105 may perform:

[0378] - In response to receiving a report about layer 3 measurements, sending 402 a setup request to at least one candidate network node, the setup request indicating preparation of at least one candidate cell for conditional configuration of at least one candidate cell, wherein the conditional configuration includes one of the following: (a) dual configuration, (b) common configuration, (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions; or (d) low layer mobility configuration and conditional switching configuration.

[0379] In the third step, the third device 105 may execute:

[0380] - In response to sending 402 a setup request to at least one candidate network node, receiving 403 a setup response from at least one candidate network node indicating a conditional configuration of at least one candidate cell.

[0381] In the fourth step, the third device 105 may execute:

[0382] - Based on receiving the setup response, sending 404 (eg, to the second device) the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information.

[0383] The condition configuration information and / or the condition configuration may, for example, include a switching condition. The switching condition may be a condition that must be met / exist so that the switching can be initiated, and it may include at least one of the following: for example, a threshold that needs to be exceeded for the switching condition to be met / exist, or for example, an inequality that needs to be met for the switching condition to be met / exist. The inequality may, for example, be or include: a value including a measurement (result) from a candidate or target cell exceeds a value including a measurement (result) from a source cell, and the measurement may, for example, be or be based on a layer 1 measurement or a layer 3 measurement. The switching condition may, for example, include a timer, for example, at least one timer, for example, a timer may enable (for example, an apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect and / or the sixth exemplary aspect) to consider the time for triggering (switching), so that the decision for triggering the switching may be based on more than one measurement, for example, more than one layer 1 measurement.

[0384] The CHO conditions may for example comprise up to two CHO execution conditions for each candidate (target) cell.If two CHO execution conditions are provided, these conditions are associated with a connection relationship, so both conditions need to be satisfied before a handover is initiated.

[0385] The LLM condition may, for example, have a similar structure to the CHO condition, which may, for example, include: a value including a measurement (result) from a candidate or target cell exceeds a value including a measurement (result) from a source cell, which measurement (result) may, for example, be or be based on a layer 1 measurement or a layer 3 measurement.

[0386] A CHO or LLM condition may be or include, for example, the inequality (condition):

[0387] Mn+Ofn+Ocn-Hys>Mp+Ofp+Ocp+Off,

[0388] Where Mn is a measurement (result) of a neighboring cell (e.g., a candidate cell or a target cell), without considering any offset, Ofn is a measurement object-specific offset of a reference signal of a neighboring cell, Ocn is a cell-specific offset of a neighboring cell, Mp is a measurement (result) of a serving cell, without considering any offset, Mp is a measurement result of a serving cell, without considering any offset, Ocp is a cell-specific offset of a serving cell, Hys is a hysteresis parameter for the event, and Off is an offset parameter for the event (e.g., a strong neighbor detection event). The switching condition may be or include another inequality, such as Mn>Mp, or other inequalities of the above values.

[0389] The measurement (result) may for example be or be based on a layer 1 measurement or a layer 3 measurement. For CHO conditions, the measurement (result) may be based on a layer 3 measurement, and for LLM conditions, the measurement (result) may be based on a layer 1 measurement.

[0390] Additionally, for example, the triggering time of the event (eg, the switching condition will exist) may be considered if desired to ensure that it is not a single measurement influencing the decision.

[0391] Figure 5a and Figure 5b A flow chart of an exemplary LLM cell handover is shown. Low layer mobility (LLM) may refer to L1 / 2 centric mobility, which may be based on L1 measurements and may be triggered by MAC CE (as opposed to (RRC) L3 mobility). In some cases (i.e., intra-CU handover), LLM may enable handover with reduced interruption time. In addition, it may react faster to rapidly degrading signals compared to baseline HO. Figure 5a and Figure 5b The diagram shows the three stages of low-level mobility:

[0392] LLM preparation: prepare the target cell based on UE L3 measurements

[0393] LLM execution: The network indicates to the UE which cell among the prepared cells it should switch to based on the UE's L1 report

[0394] LLM completion: The UE completes the HO to the target cell, and simultaneously performs context release and path switching.

[0395] If "(multiple) L1 reports" or "MAC CE" are lost, the UE may experience RLF (see Figure 5a The UE may then perform cell reselection, but this may increase the outage time.

[0396] Figure 6a and Figure 6b A flow chart of an exemplary LLM cell handover is shown. Low layer mobility (LLM), which may also be labeled as L1 / 2 inter-cell mobility, may enhance mobility. The decision on cell change may be based on L1 measurements and may be made in the MAC layer in a distributed unit (DU).

[0397] Figure 6a and Figure 6b The following figure shows the message exchange of LLM scenario between DUs. In short:

[0398] The user (UE 104) may provide L3 measurements to the source DU 101, which may be forwarded to the CU-CP 105 (step 602). Based on these measurements, the CU-CP 105 may decide on cell preparation (HO decision) and may proceed to establish a context in the target DU 102 (i.e., prepare the target cell by, for example, sending a preparation of at least one candidate network for at least one configuration of at least one candidate network node in step 605) (steps 605-606). The CU-CP may then communicate with the CU-UP to perform bearer context establishment (steps 607-608).

[0399] In step 609, the CU-CP may forward the RRC Reconfiguration Request to the source DU using DL RRC messaging, and the source DU may forward it to the UE (step 610). The UE 104 may respond with an RRC Reconfiguration Complete, which may then be forwarded to the CU-CP (steps 611-612).

[0400] • The UE 104 may provide periodic L1 reports to the source DU based on its configuration (step 613).

[0401] After the source DU 101 decides that the UE should switch to another DU (e.g., a candidate / target DU), it can use MAC CE to trigger a node switch (step 614). At this point, the UE can receive data from the serving DU 101 (i.e., the gNB-DU providing the serving / source cell).

[0402] UE 104 may then apply the RRC configuration of the target cell indicated by the MAC CE and may perform random access (RA) thereto (steps 616-617). After the RA procedure, UE 104 may send an RRC Reconfiguration Complete to the target cell, which is forwarded to the CU-CP (steps 618-619).

[0403] The CU-CP may perform a bearer modification (steps 620-621) with the CU-UP to update the bearer setup and to cause the CU-UP to start forwarding data to the target DU 102 (and stop forwarding data to the source DU 101). After this is complete, the UE 104 may start receiving data from the target DU 102 (step 622).

[0404] • Finally, the CU-CP may release the UE context from the source DU 101 through a UE context release request (steps 623-624).

[0405] If the L1 report message / the L1 report message (captured in step 613) or the MACCE message for triggering the cell change (step 614) is lost, the UE may experience RLF (determining that the handover completion condition does not exist) because the cell change cannot be triggered at the UE 104. The UE 104 may then have to perform cell reselection in order to identify the correct cell to connect to.

[0406] Figure 7a and Figure 7b A flow chart of an exemplary CHO cell handover between a source node 101 and a target node 102 is shown.

[0407] Conditional Handover (CHO) can ensure the robustness of the handover process. In short, through the CHO process, the serving cell can prepare multiple target cells. The relevant conditional reconfiguration and CHO execution conditions can be provided to the UE 104 in advance to ensure that the radio conditions are sufficient for the UE 104 to receive the reconfiguration. Then, the UE 104 can evaluate the (multiple) CHO execution conditions and can initiate a handover to a specific target cell after its corresponding CHO execution condition is met.

[0408] Figure 7a and Figure 7bThe CHO process is presented in more detail. Steps 701-709 are similar to baseline switching. At step 701, a configured event triggers UE 104 to send a measurement report. Based on the report, the source node can prepare one or more target cells for the handover (CHO request + CHO request confirmation), and then at step 709, an RRC reconfiguration (CHO command) can be sent to the UE. UE 104 can evaluate (multiple) CHO execution conditions (step 710), and after the HO condition is established (step 712), UE 104 can start timer T304 and initiate access to the target cell (steps 713-715).

[0409] After UE 104 completes the handover execution to the target cell (e.g., UE sends RRC reconfiguration completion), the target cell may send a "handover success" indication to the source node 101 (e.g., after determining that the handover completion condition exists) (step 716). Then, in step 719, the source node 101 may stop its TX / RX to / from UE 104 and may start data forwarding of user plane packets to the target cell. In addition, when the source node 101 receives the "HO success" indication, it may release CHO preparation in (multiple) other (candidate or) target nodes / cells, as shown in step 720.

[0410] If CHO fails due to expiry of T304, the UE may, for example:

[0411] Declare a Radio Link Failure (RLF) and initiate an RRC connection re-establishment procedure, or,

[0412] Perform CHO recovery (if so configured by the network) as long as at least more than one CHO target is prepared (e.g., candidate cells / nodes are prepared under CHO conditions). In CHO recovery, the UE 104 may first trigger a cell selection procedure, and if the selected cell (according to the cell selection procedure) is a CHO candidate cell, the UE performs CHO to the selected candidate cell as the target cell.

[0413] LLM may have similarities with conditional HO. In CHO, candidate / target cells are prepared based on UE L3 measurements. UE 104 may receive the preparation in advance and may evaluate the CHO conditions locally. After the conditions are met (i.e., exist), UE 104 may start timer T304 and may proceed with HO to the target cell.

[0414] In CHO, when CHO execution fails due to expiration of T304, the UE may declare a radio link failure (RLF) and initiate an RRC connection reestablishment procedure, or, perform CHO recovery (if configured by the network), as long as at least more than one CHO target is prepared (also refer to steps 713 and 714 in this regard). In CHO recovery, the UE may first trigger a cell selection procedure, and if the selected cell (according to the cell selection procedure) is a CHO candidate cell, the UE 104 may perform CHO to the selected candidate / target cell.

[0415] CHO can only be performed if the associated CHO conditions are met (in contrast to a baseline handover which is performed immediately after receiving a handover command / trigger). For CHO, the UE is configured with up to two execution conditions (CHO conditions) for each candidate target cell. If two conditions are provided, the two conditions are associated through a connection relationship, so both conditions need to be met before handover execution is initiated. Although the UE may be prepared with multiple candidate cells, the UE may only initiate a handover to (i.e., attempt to access) one target cell, which may be the cell that first meets the CHO conditions. If more than one cell meets the CHO conditions, it is up to the UE to decide which of the candidate cells to access.

[0416] Figure 8a and Figure 8b A table including exemplary timers is shown, in particular examples of T304 or T312 timers. Figure 8a The details of the T304 timer are shown. The T304 timer can be used to control the handover process. In CHO, it can be started after the CHO condition is met and stopped after the random access is successfully completed. Figure 8b Details of T312 are shown, which may be used to supervise the RLF procedure (together with T310). If T312 expires, the UE may enter RRC idle or perform RRC re-establishment.

[0417] In LLM, the UE 104 may have stored several RRC configurations of potential target cells (candidate cells). In case of RLF (in LLM), it may not be able to apply / use the provided configuration - even if this can reduce the interruption time. This needs to be enabled and specified. For example, in case of RLF, if the stored configuration is available, the UE can apply for recovery. But this may have to be enabled and specified for LLM.

[0418] Alternatively, the UE may be configured with CHO and LLM and may apply one of the two, thereby having the advantages of both. However, this may result in race conditions and / or potential conflicts between the two handovers. A UE configured with CHO and LLM may end up wasting resources in the network.

[0419] As mentioned above, in LLM, the UE may be provided with a configuration of potential target cells. However, in case of RLF or handover failure, it may not be able to apply / use the provided configuration - even though this may reduce the outage time.

[0420] In order to enable a UE 104 configured with LLM to recover in a prepared cell, the UE may be configured with both CHO and LLM, and one of the two may be applied. However, this may result in race conditions and / or potential conflicts between the two handovers, which may result in ambiguous and inconsistent behavior, and may require the UE to be configured with both CHO and LLM, and may ultimately result in wasted resource overhead in the network.

[0421] The UE 104 may be independently configured with both CHO and LLM simultaneously (without any coordination between them) by providing different RRC configurations for CHO and LLM respectively.

[0422] As mentioned in the previous sections, this can involve the following, but in an unpredictable order:

[0423] 1) Enable UE to perform LLM

[0424] 2) In case of RLF / HOF, enable the UE to perform CHO recovery.

[0425] On the other hand, this may:

[0426] 1) On the UE side, for LLM and CHO (see Figure 9a ) requires two separate complete RRC configurations,

[0427] 2) Requires the UE context to be stored twice on the network side, making potential resource reservations for each configuration of the same UE at the same RAN node, which may waste resources,

[0428] 3) Leading to unpredictable behavior at both the network and the UE, for example, if CHO is executed before LLM.

[0429] This situation can be enhanced / improved by the following exemplary aspects / embodiments:

[0430] • For example, evaluating local conditions (based on L1 measurements or L3 measurements) and ongoing L1 measurements by the LLM at the UE 104. The UE 104 may perform the HO based on local evaluation or based on the NW response to the L1 report (or notification of satisfied conditions).

[0431] • For example, in case of RLF or HOF, the UE 104 may perform recovery to one of the prepared cells if feasible (eg, the prepared cells are configured and available to the UE 104).

[0432] In a first alternative (eg, method), the RRC configuration of CHO is combined with the RRC configuration of LLM (for an example of dual configuration, see Figure 9b ), which can achieve efficient resource reservation and interworking, and another alternative is based on an enhancement of the LLM RRC configuration (an example of a common configuration or an LLM configuration with LLM conditions). More details of the alternatives (e.g., alternative methods) are described below.

[0433] A first exemplary alternative (e.g., a method or apparatus comprising components for:

[0434] 1) Combine the prepared LLM RRC configuration of the target cell with the CHO RRC configuration. This means that the LLM configuration will be linked with the CHO RRC configuration (with a pointer to the RRC reconfiguration ID of CHO) (see Figure 9b ). The configuration differences (IE) between LLM and CHO can be explicitly marked in the RRC configuration.

[0435] 2) In this case, the network may neither perform double resource reservation (for LLM and CHO) nor maintain a copy of the UE context, and the UE may be aware that the two configurations are linked; this is Figure 9b It is schematically shown in FIG.

[0436] 3) In addition, the dual configuration can be notified by the CU-CP 105 to the serving DU 101 so as to operate in a non-conflicting manner (i.e., not having more aggressive CHO switching conditions compared to LLM, not declaring internal / link failure, and performing UE context release when HARQ transmission expires, and maintaining UE context for possible CHO execution, etc.).

[0437] 4) CU-CP can configure appropriate LLM execution thresholds for DUs to ensure that CHO execution criteria are not configured to execute before the LLM execution threshold. Alternatively, if the LLM execution threshold is configured at the OAM of the DU, the CU-CP can indicate the configuration value range of LLM (via F1) to avoid unpredictability of CHO-LLM execution.

[0438] A second exemplary alternative (e.g., a method or apparatus including components for:

[0439] 1) This can enhance the LLM process. The execution condition for the fallback of DU-based LLM can be added to the LLMRRC configuration. (e.g. Fig.9c shown).

[0440] 2) After the conditions are met, the UE can autonomously decide to switch to the target (cell / node).

[0441] 3) If a radio link problem (RLP, start of timer T310) is detected by network configuration conditions, the UE may autonomously decide to handover to the target cell.

[0442] 4) The network needs to enable this feature.

[0443] 5) Interworking between LLM and CHO configurations to avoid conflicts may also apply here (as in the first alternative).

[0444] Another exemplary alternative for LLM recovery of RLF (e.g., a method or apparatus including components for:

[0445] If the UE is configured with a target cell configuration for LLM, these configurations can be used for handover failure and RLF recovery if the best cell selected from cell reselection is one of the prepared target cells for LLM. Depending on the prepared target configuration, the CU / DU can also indicate whether a given configuration is suitable for LLM recovery (at configuration time).

[0446] Figure 9a A schematic diagram of two RRC configurations is shown, one for LLM and the other for CHO. However, as mentioned above, this may require two configurations in the UE, which may result in wasted signaling; and / or two configurations in the network, which may result in wasted resources.

[0447] Figure 9bA schematic diagram of two RRC configurations is shown, one RRC configuration for LLM and the other RRC configuration for CHO, where the LLM configuration has a pointer to the CHO configuration (an example of dual configuration). For example, one configuration points to the other configuration, which can reduce or avoid signaling waste or reservation waste in the network (about the example in Figure 9).

[0448] Fig.9c A schematic diagram of an RRC configuration with conditional LLM is shown. For example, LLM (an example of a common configuration or LLM configuration with LLM conditions) and a configuration in a failure case. There is no signaling waste or reservation waste in the network. The conditional reconfiguration entry may also indicate that the configuration may also be used for LLM switching. A variable "other triggers" may be included, which may be set to "low layer mobility".

[0449] Fig.10a and Fig.10b An example embodiment of a method is shown together (for example, performed by the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together, or performed by the apparatus of the sixth exemplary aspect, the seventh exemplary aspect, and the eighth exemplary aspect together), in particular an example in which at least one configuration includes a dual configuration (for example, a combination of RRC reconfiguration for CHO and LLM).

[0450] An exemplary first device 104 (eg, UE 104) (eg, according to the first exemplary aspect and / or the sixth exemplary aspect) may include a device for performing Fig.10a and Fig.10b For example, the exemplary first apparatus has a component, the component is used for or includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the apparatus 104 to at least perform:

[0451] - sending 1001 to the source network node 101 a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell provided by the source network node 101 and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node 102, 103;

[0452] - receiving 1007 at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell from the source network node, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition or comprising information about a handover condition, wherein the handover condition comprises a CHO condition; the at least one configuration comprises a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration is a low layer mobility configuration with a pointer to the conditional handover configuration;

[0453] - sending 1010 to the source network node 101 (periodically) a report on layer 1 measurements of the source cell and at least one candidate cell;

[0454] - receiving 1011 a handover trigger from the source network node 101 for performing an initiation of a handover;

[0455] - (in response to receiving a handover trigger,) evaluating 1019 handover conditions based on layer 3 measurements;

[0456] - based on evaluating (or determining) that the handover condition exists, starting 1020 at least one timer, such as timer T304, and before the expiration of the at least one timer, autonomously initiating 1022 a handover between the source cell and the target cell (initiating 1022 a handover between the source cell and one of the at least one candidate cells provided by the target network node 102 in the at least one candidate network node 102, 103 based on the handover condition), and stopping the at least one timer, or in response to the expiration of the at least one timer, determining that the handover completion condition does not exist (e.g., case 3: HOF or RLF), or in response to the expiration of the at least one timer, determining that the handover condition does not exist;

[0457] -After initiating the handover, determining the handover completion conditions;

[0458] - initiating cell recovery 1023 of one of the at least one (prepared) candidate cells provided by the at least one candidate network node 102, 103 based on determining that a handover completion condition is not present (eg detection of a radio failure (HOF or RLF)).

[0459] The exemplary second apparatus 101 (e.g., gNB-DU 101) (e.g., according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the seventh exemplary aspect) may include a method for performing Fig.10a and Fig.10b For example, the exemplary second apparatus has a component, the component is used for or includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the apparatus 101 to at least perform:

[0460] - receiving 1001 from the first device a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell provided by the second device and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node;

[0461] - sending a report on layer 3 measurements to the third device 105 (e.g. via UL RRC messaging);

[0462] - in response to sending the report on the layer 3 measurements, receiving 1005 from the third device 105 at least one configuration (e.g., RRC reconfiguration) of at least one candidate cell, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition (e.g., messaged via DL RRC messaging), wherein the handover condition comprises a CHO condition; the at least one configuration comprises a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to the conditional handover configuration;

[0463] - In response to receiving at least one configuration (eg, RRC reconfiguration) from the third device 105:

[0464] - determining whether the conditional switching condition is included by at least one configuration;

[0465] - Based on determining that the conditional handover condition is included by the at least one configuration, adjusting 1006 the lower layer mobility condition to a conditional handover condition such that the LLM condition is triggered simultaneously with the CHO condition.

[0466] - (before or after adjusting 1006), receiving from the first device (periodic) reports of layer 1 measurements (e.g., for low layer mobility) of the source cell and at least one candidate cell;

[0467] - (before or after adjusting 1006 ), sending 1007 at least one configuration to the first device 104 ;

[0468] - determining (e.g. in layer 2) whether a handover of the first device 104 to the candidate network node 102, 103 is to be performed based on the report on the layer 1 measurements;

[0469] - based on determining that a handover of the first device to the candidate network node is to be performed, sending 1011 a handover trigger to the first device 104;

[0470] - Sending 1012 a message to the third device 105 indicating release of conditional handover preparation.

[0471] The exemplary third device 105 (e.g., gNB-CU 105) (e.g., controlling the second device 101 and at least one candidate network node 102, 103) (e.g., according to the third exemplary aspect and / or the eighth exemplary aspect) may include a method for performing Fig.10a and Fig.10b The device 105 may include a component for or including at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the device 105 to at least perform:

[0472] - receiving 1002 from the second device 101 a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node 102, 103;

[0473] - in response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurements, sending 1003 a setup request (e.g. a UE context setup request) to at least one candidate network node 102, 103, the setup request indicating preparation of the at least one candidate network node for at least one configuration of the at least one candidate network node 102 and 103;

[0474] - receiving 1004 a setup response from at least one candidate network node indicating at least one configuration of at least one candidate network node 102, 103, wherein the at least one configuration comprises a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration is a low layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration;

[0475] - based on receiving the setup response, sending 1005 at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell to the second device 101, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition, wherein the handover condition comprises a CHO condition;

[0476] - receiving 1012 a message from the second device 101 indicating release of conditional handover preparation;

[0477] - In response to receiving a message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation, releasing 1013 according to the conditional handover preparation.

[0478] The exemplary first device, second device, and third device may, for example, perform the following method.

[0479] An exemplary method:

[0480] • In step 1001, the UE may provide L3 measurements to the source node (source DU). These may be forwarded to the CU along with the UL RRC messaging message (step 1002).

[0481] In step 1003, the CU may proceed with the UE context establishment request of the UE to prepare the target node (target DU) for both LLM and CHO. In this message, the CU may inform the target node (here DU) that the preparation may be "dual".

[0482] A dual provisioning can refer to a provisioning of an LLM that has a pointer to (or refers to) a CHO configuration and vice versa, e.g. Figure 9b shown.

[0483] • Dual preparation may not mean dual resource reservation of LLM and CHO, but the configuration of LLM (mainly consisting of L1 / L2 parameters) is common to CHO (also including bearer configuration parameters). This can reduce the amount of dual resource reservation.

[0484] In step 1004, the target DU may provide RRC configuration for LLM and CHO; the configuration may be dual; which means, it refers to dual preparation. As another embodiment, alternatively, if the CU does not require the DU to perform dual preparation, the DU may inform the CU that it provides dual preparation.

[0485] In step 1005, the CU may provide the RRC configuration to the source node (source DU) to prepare for LLM and CHO. The configuration may be dual. In addition, the CU provides a flag to the source DU to inform the UE that it is provided with LLM and CHO preparation for the same cell, as well as the corresponding CHO condition.

[0486] • This flag may enable the source DU to suspend / cancel / postpone certain procedures before the timer expires, e.g. context release due to UE loss (identified by consecutive HARQ unacknowledged messages) (i.e., to prevent preparation for accidental release of CHO).

[0487] The CHO condition may cause (allow alignment) the source DU to trigger a cell change with respect to UE L1 measurements before the CHO condition is met on the UE side (i.e., not always letting the CHO condition expire instead of the LLM decision)

[0488] The source DU may use the CHO condition to decide the LLM triggering condition (step 1006); this step may be performed before or after the step of forwarding the RRC reconfiguration to the UE (see the following items).

[0489] In step 1007, the source DU may forward the RRC reconfiguration to the UE. The UE replies with RRC reconfiguration completion (step 8), which may be forwarded to the CU (step 1009).

[0490] • The UE may initiate L1 beam reporting of serving and non-serving cells and evaluate CHO conditions simultaneously (step 1010).

[0491] Case 1: LLM trigger from the network:

[0492] • If the source node decides (based on L1 measurements) that the UE should handover to a new node, it may send a MAC CE to trigger a cell change (step 1011).

[0493] In step 1012 (optional message), it may inform the CU to release the CHO preparations, as it is no longer needed; these are released in step 1013. This may allow the CU to remove additional preparations (e.g., bearer configuration) that were part of the CHO. Alternatively, the CU may release the preparations after the process is finished (step 1018).

[0494] Steps 1014-1018 can be Figure 6b Steps 616-621 are the same.

[0495] Case 2: CHO condition is met

[0496] • As described above, the UE may evaluate the CHO condition - this is captured by step 1019, but this starts from step 1008 and may be a background operation.

[0497] After the condition is met, the UE initiates timer T304 (as indicated by standard operation) (step 1020)

[0498] • The UE may inform the source node that the autonomous assessment condition (CHO condition) has expired and it may perform CHO (step 1021).

[0499] • The source DU can indicate this to the CU so that data forwarding is initiated in a timely manner.

[0500] Then (step 1022) the UE performs the above operation, for example, Figure 7a , Figure 7b The execution of CHO.

[0501] Case 3: RLF or handover failure

[0502] If the T304 timer (which may be associated with LLM HO) expires, the UE may experience a handover failure and may perform CHO recovery. Similarly, this may be applied to the case of RLF (step 23),

[0503] In one alternative, the release of the CHO or LLM configuration may trigger the UE to merge the pointed RRC reconfiguration into the unreleased configuration before releasing the CHO or LLM preparation. This may remove the pointer to the released configuration. In a second alternative, the release of the CHO configuration may trigger the UE to remove (or ignore) the condition of the conditional configuration in the case of CHO. The pointer may be retained after the release message.

[0504] Fig.11a and Fig.11b Another example embodiment of the method (eg, similar in part to Fig.10a and Fig.10b)(for example, among others, for example, performed together by the apparatuses of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect and the third exemplary aspect, or for example, performed together by the apparatuses of the sixth exemplary aspect, the seventh exemplary aspect and the eighth exemplary aspect), in particular an example, wherein at least one configuration includes a dual configuration (for example, a combination of RRC reconfiguration for CHO and LLM) (see Figure 9b ).

[0505] Among them, the network can provide separate LLM and CHO configurations to the UE, which can be enhanced by providing 1 configuration with LLM and CHO (L3 condition); LLM execution may result in the release of the prepared CHO from the CU; if the TTT of CHO expires and the UE can conclude that a decision is made locally, LLM BYE. 1130: Provide the RRC configuration of LLM+CHO to the UE. The flag / this flag can enable the source DU to block certain processes before the timer expires, such as context release due to UE loss (identified by consecutive HARQ non-acknowledgement messages). 1131: LLM executes all configurations of the CU that may result in the release of the prepared CHO. This can occur after the low-layer ACK of 1110 is received from the UE. 1132: If the TTT of CHO expires, an autonomous evaluation can be completed and the UE can decide to make a decision locally, for example, when the UE does not receive any L1 reported MAC CE under the first condition (Δ earlier than the actual CHO), the UE can start the first timer. At the expiration of this timer, the UE may send a BYE to indicate that "Autonomous Execution" is about to start. This may indicate that the CHO evaluation has started. From this point on, the DU may decide not to attempt any LLM actions. The LLM BYE may be replaced by LLM-CHO-Eva-start or LLM-UE-Exec-start. Sending BYE at 1119 may not be reliable.

[0506] Fig.12a and Figure 12b Another example embodiment of the method is shown together (for example, performed together by the devices of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect, or performed together by the devices of the sixth exemplary aspect, the seventh exemplary aspect, and the eighth exemplary aspect), in particular an example in which at least one configuration includes a common configuration.

[0507] An exemplary first device 104 (eg, UE 104) (eg, according to the first exemplary aspect and / or the sixth exemplary aspect) may include a device for performing Fig.12a and Figure 12bFor example, the exemplary first device has a component, the component is used for or includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the device 104 to at least perform:

[0508] - sending 1201 to the source network node 101 a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell provided by the source network node 101 and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node 102, 103;

[0509] - receiving 1207 at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell from the source network node, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition or comprising information about a handover condition, wherein the handover condition comprises a CHO condition; and the at least one configuration comprises a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration enabling low layer mobility;

[0510] - sending 1210 to the source network node 101 (periodically) a report on layer 1 measurements of the source cell and at least one candidate cell;

[0511] - receiving 1211 a handover trigger for performing initiation of the handover from the source network node 101, the handover trigger for example comprising an identifier of / the identifier of the common configuration (e.g. enabling the first device to trigger the common configuration) and / or a trigger of the common configuration;

[0512] - (in response to receiving a handover trigger,) evaluating 1219 handover conditions based on layer 3 measurements;

[0513] - based on evaluating that the handover condition exists, starting 1220 at least one timer, such as timer T304, and before expiration of the at least one timer, autonomously initiating 1222 a handover between the source cell and the target cell (initiating 1222 a handover between the source cell and one of the at least one candidate cells provided by the target network node 102 in at least one candidate network node 102, 103 based on the handover condition), and stopping the at least one timer, or in response to expiration of the at least one timer, determining that the handover completion condition does not exist (e.g., case 3: HOF or RLF);

[0514] -After initiating the handover, determining the handover completion conditions;

[0515] - Based on determining that the handover completion condition is not present, initiating cell recovery 1223 of one of the at least one (prepared) candidate cells provided by the at least one candidate network node 102, 103.

[0516] The exemplary second apparatus 101 (e.g., gNB-DU 101) (e.g., according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the seventh exemplary aspect) may include a method for performing Fig.12a and Figure 12b For example, the exemplary third apparatus has a component, the component is used for or includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the apparatus 101 to at least perform:

[0517] - receiving 1201 from the first device a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell provided by the second device and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node;

[0518] - sending 1201 a report on layer 3 measurements to the third device 105 (e.g. via UL RRC messaging);

[0519] - in response to sending the report on the layer 3 measurements, receiving 1205 from the third device 105 at least one configuration (e.g., RRC reconfiguration) of at least one candidate cell, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition (e.g., messaged via DL RRC messaging), wherein the handover condition comprises a CHO condition, the at least one configuration comprising a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration enabling low layer mobility;

[0520] - In response to receiving at least one configuration (eg, RRC reconfiguration) from the third device 105:

[0521] - determining whether the conditional switching condition is included by at least one configuration;

[0522] - based on determining that the conditional handover condition is included by at least one configuration, adjusting 1206 the lower layer mobility condition to a conditional handover condition such that the LLM condition is triggered simultaneously with the CHO condition;

[0523] - (before or after adjusting 1206), receiving from the first device (periodic) reports of layer 1 measurements (e.g., for low layer mobility) of the source cell and at least one candidate cell;

[0524] - (before or after adjusting 1206 ), sending 1207 at least one configuration to the first device 104 ;

[0525] - Optionally, receiving from the third device 105 a flag indicating that the at least one configuration includes a public configuration and an identifier of the public configuration;

[0526] - determining (e.g. in layer 2) whether a handover of the first device 104 to the candidate network node 102, 103 is to be performed based on the report on the layer 1 measurements;

[0527] - based on determining that a handover of the first device to the candidate network node is to be performed, sending 1211 a handover trigger to the first device 104, the handover trigger for example comprising an identifier of / the identifier of the public configuration (e.g. enabling the first device to trigger the public configuration) and / or a trigger of the public configuration;

[0528] - Sending 1212 a message to the third device 105 indicating release of conditional switching preparation.

[0529] The exemplary third device 105 (e.g., gNB-CU 105) (e.g., controlling the second device 101 and at least one candidate network node 102, 103) (e.g., according to the third exemplary aspect and / or the eighth exemplary aspect) may include a method for performing Fig.12a and Figure 12b The device 105 may include a component for or including at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the device 105 to at least perform:

[0530] - receiving 1202 from the second device 101 a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node 102, 103;

[0531] - in response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurements, sending 1203 a setup request (e.g. a UE context setup request) to at least one candidate network node 102, 103, the setup request indicating preparation of the at least one candidate network node for at least one configuration of the at least one candidate network node 102 and 103;

[0532] - receiving 1204 a setup response from at least one candidate network node indicating at least one configuration of at least one candidate network node 102, 103, the at least one configuration comprising a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration enabling low layer mobility;

[0533] - based on receiving the setup response, sending 1205 at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell to the second device 101, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition, wherein the handover condition comprises a CHO condition;

[0534] - receiving 1212 a message from the second device 101 indicating release of conditional handover preparation;

[0535] - In response to receiving a message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation, releasing 1213 according to the conditional handover preparation.

[0536] The exemplary first apparatus, the second apparatus, and the third apparatus may, for example, perform the following exemplary method (have means for performing the following exemplary method).

[0537] An exemplary method (e.g., may be similar in part to Fig.10a / Fig.10b The exemplary method shown):

[0538] A common configuration can be used for both CHO and LLM; a common configuration can be a CHO configuration that can also be used for LLM. In this case, the source DU can be provided with a common configuration (and corresponding ID) and trigger it after the LLM condition is met. For example, refer to Fig.12a / Figure 12b .

[0539] • The UE may provide L3 measurements to the source node (source DU) in step 1201. These may be forwarded to the CU along with the UL RRC messaging message (step 1202).

[0540] In step 1203, the CU may proceed with the UE context establishment request of the UE to prepare the target node (target DU) for both LLM and CHO. In this message, the CU may inform the target node / the target node (here DU) that the preparation may be "public".

[0541] - In step 1204, the target DU may provide a common RRC configuration; this may be a CHO configuration which may also be used for LLM.

[0542] In step 1205, the CU may provide the RRC configuration to the source node (source DU) to prepare for LLM and CHO. The configuration may be dual. In addition, the CU may, for example, provide a flag to the source DU to notify that this is a common configuration for both CHO and LLM.

[0543] • This flag may enable the source DU to suspend / cancel / postpone certain procedures before the timer expires, e.g. context release due to UE loss (identified by consecutive HARQ non-acknowledgement messages) (i.e., to prevent preparation for accidental release of CHO).

[0544] The CHO condition may cause (allow alignment) the source DU to trigger a cell change with respect to UE L1 measurements before the CHO condition is met on the UE side (i.e., not always letting the CHO condition expire instead of the LLM decision)

[0545] • A common configuration ID may enable a DU to trigger the configuration.

[0546] Steps 1206-1210 and Fig.10a / Fig.10bThe steps 1006-1010 in are the same.

[0547] In step 1211, based on the UE L1 beam measurement, the DU may trigger a common configuration using a common configuration ID.

[0548] Steps 1212-1223 and Fig.10a / Fig.10b Steps 1012-1023 in are the same.

[0549] Fig.13a , Fig.13b and Fig.13c An example embodiment of a method is shown together (for example, performed by the apparatuses of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, and the third exemplary aspect together, or performed by the apparatuses of the sixth exemplary aspect, the seventh exemplary aspect, and the eighth exemplary aspect together), in particular an example in which at least one configuration includes a low-layer mobility configuration, and the low-layer mobility configuration includes a low-layer mobility condition (for example, a conditional LLM).

[0550] An exemplary first device 104 (eg, UE 104) (eg, according to the first exemplary aspect and / or the sixth exemplary aspect) may include a device for performing Figures 13a to 13c For example, the exemplary first device has a component, the component is used for or includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the device 104 to at least perform:

[0551] - sending 1301 to the source network node 101 a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell provided by the source network node 101 and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node 102, 103;

[0552] - receiving 1306 from the source network node at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition or comprising information about a handover condition, wherein the handover condition comprises a low-layer mobility condition; the at least one configuration comprises a low-layer mobility configuration, the low-layer mobility configuration comprising the low-layer mobility condition;

[0553] - sending 1309 (periodically) to the source network node 101 a report on layer 1 measurements of the source cell and at least one candidate cell;

[0554] - evaluating 1310 handover conditions based on layer 1 measurements;

[0555] - based on evaluating the existence of a switching condition, starting at least one timer; or one of the following

[0556] (i) before the expiration of at least one timer,

[0557] optionally sending 1312 to the source network node 101 (periodically) a report on layer 1 measurements of the source cell and at least one candidate cell (e.g., including the target cell); receiving 1313 from the source network node 101 a handover trigger for performing initiation of a handover; in response to receiving the handover trigger (e.g., on layer 2), initiating a handover between the source cell and the target cell and stopping at least one timer;

[0558] (ii) before the expiration of at least one timer,

[0559] receiving 1320 a stay trigger from the source network node 101, in response to receiving the stay trigger, stopping at least one timer and starting 1422 at least one second timer, and one of:

[0560] Before the second timer expires, receiving a handover trigger and stopping at least one timer, and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell;

[0561] or in response to at least one second timer expiring 1423 without receiving a handover trigger, repeating the method starting from the evaluation of handover conditions, e.g. sending another report of another layer 1 measurement of the source cell and at least one candidate cell, re-evaluating the handover conditions based on another layer 1 measurement; and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell;

[0562] (iii) in response to at least one timer expiring, determining that a handover completion condition does not exist;

[0563] -After initiating the handover, determining the handover completion conditions;

[0564] - Based on determining that the handover completion condition is not present, initiating cell recovery 1430 of one of the at least one (prepared) candidate cells provided by the at least one candidate network node 102, 103. In this case, the cell recovery may be based on at least one (prepared) LLM configuration.

[0565] The exemplary second apparatus 101 (e.g., gNB-DU 101) (e.g., according to the second exemplary aspect and / or the seventh exemplary aspect) may include a method for performing Figures 13a to 13c For example, the exemplary third apparatus has a component, the component is used for or includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the apparatus 101 to at least perform:

[0566] - receiving 1301 from the first device a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell provided by the second device and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node;

[0567] - sending 1301 a report on layer 3 measurements to the third device 105 (eg, via UL RRC messaging);

[0568] - in response to sending the report on the layer 3 measurements, receiving 1305 from the third device 105 at least one configuration (e.g., RRC reconfiguration) of at least one candidate cell, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition (e.g., via DL RRC messaging), wherein the handover condition comprises a low layer mobility condition; the at least one configuration comprises a low layer mobility configuration, the low layer mobility configuration comprising the low layer mobility condition;

[0569] - in response to receiving at least one configuration (eg, an RRC reconfiguration) from the third device 105, sending 1306 the at least one configuration to the first device 104;

[0570] - receiving 1309 from the first device a (periodic) report of layer 1 measurements (e.g. for low layer mobility) of a source cell and at least one candidate cell;

[0571] - Optionally, receiving a flag from the third device 105 indicating that at least one configuration includes a low-layer mobility condition (e.g., the flag enables the second device to prevent at least one certain process, such as context release before expiration of a timer);

[0572] - optionally blocking at least one process;

[0573] - determining (e.g. in layer 2) whether a handover of the first device 104 to the candidate network node 102, 103 is to be performed based on the report on the layer 1 measurements;

[0574] - Based on determining that a handover of the first device to the candidate network node is to be performed, sending 1313 a handover trigger to the first device 104 .

[0575] The exemplary third device 105 (e.g., gNB-CU 105) (e.g., controlling the second device 101 and at least one candidate network node 102, 103) (e.g., according to the third exemplary aspect and / or the eighth exemplary aspect) may include a method for performing Figures 13a to 13c The device 105 may include a component for or including at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the device 105 to at least perform:

[0576] - receiving 1302 from the second device 101 a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell and at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node 102, 103;

[0577] - in response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurements, sending 1303 a setup request (e.g. a UE context setup request) to at least one candidate network node 102, 103, the setup request indicating preparation of the at least one candidate network node for at least one configuration of the at least one candidate network node 102 and 103;

[0578] - receiving 1304 a setup response from at least one candidate network node indicating at least one configuration of at least one candidate network node 102, 103, the at least one configuration comprising a low layer mobility configuration, the low layer mobility configuration comprising a low layer mobility condition

[0579] - based on receiving the setup response, sending 1205 to the second device 101 at least one configuration of at least one candidate cell, the at least one configuration comprising a handover condition, wherein the handover condition comprises a low layer mobility condition;

[0580] - Sending a flag to the second device 101 indicating that at least one configuration includes a low-layer mobility condition (eg, the flag enables the second device to prevent at least one certain process, such as context release before a timer expires).

[0581] The exemplary first apparatus, the second apparatus, and the third apparatus may, for example, perform the following exemplary method (have means for performing the following exemplary method).

[0582] An exemplary method (e.g., see Figure 13a-Figure 13c ):

[0583] • The UE may provide L3 measurements to the source node (source DU) in step 1301. These may be forwarded to the CU along with the UL RRC messaging message (step 1302).

[0584] In step 1303, the CU proceeds with the UE context establishment request of the UE to prepare the target node (target DU) for the conditional LLM.

[0585] A conditional LLM may be a preparation for an LLM with conditions that the UE can evaluate locally, such as Fig.9c shown.

[0586] In step 1304, the target DU may provide the configuration of the LLM. The target DU may provide the conditions of the LLM to the UE.

[0587] In step 1305, the CU may provide the RRC configuration with conditional LLM to the source node (source DU). If not provided in step 1304, the CU may add the LLM condition. In addition, the CU provides a flag to the source node to notify that the configuration is conditional LLM and to notify the LLM condition.

[0588] • This flag may enable the source DU to prevent certain procedures, such as context release due to UE loss (identified by consecutive HARQ non-acknowledgement messages) before the timer expires.

[0589] LLM conditions may cause the source DU to not apply more restrictive techniques to LLM compared to CHO (i.e., not always letting CHO conditions expire instead of LLM decisions)

[0590] In step 1306, the source node may provide RRC reconfiguration to the UE; the UE may be provided with timers T1 and T2 in order to control the mobility procedure. T1 and T2 may be configured by the CU (and within the RRC reconfiguration message) or by the DU.

[0591] • The UE may respond with an RRC Reconfiguration Complete (step 1307), which may be forwarded to the CU (step 1308).

[0592] • The UE may initiate L1 beam reporting of serving and non-serving cells and may evaluate CHO conditions at the same time (step 1309). After step 1309, the UE may initiate evaluation of LLM conditions (step 1310).

[0593] In step 1311, the condition is met and the UE may initiate timer T1.

[0594] • In step 1312, the UE may provide an L1 beam report to the source node and may inform it of potential targets.

[0595] Case 1: HO MAC CE transmission

[0596] • After receiving the potential target from the UE, the network may send a MAC CE indicating a cell change to the UE (step 1313).

[0597] After receiving the MAC CE, the UE stops the timer T1 (step 1314).

[0598] Steps 1315-1319 can be Figure 6b Steps 616-621 are the same.

[0599] Case 2: MAC CE Hold - The network decides to keep the UE under the source node

[0600] After receiving the potential target from the UE, the network may decide to keep the UE under the source node and send a MAC CE (MAC CE stay) to notify it to stop the cell change process (step 1320)

[0601] UE stops T1 and starts timer T2 (step 1321). T2 is used to repeat the process less frequently.

[0602] After T2 expires, the UE enters step 1310 (step 1322).

[0603] Case 3: T1 timer expires

[0604] After T1 expires (step 1323) and the UE does not receive a MAC CE to trigger a cell change or stay in a cell, the UE may perform a HO to a target cell that meets the conditions, such as Figure 7b The timer T304 can be used to monitor the process.

[0605] Case 4: RLF or handover failure

[0606] In case of handover failure or RLF, the UE may perform LLM recovery. LLM recovery may be the following process: the UE may first trigger a cell selection procedure, and if the selected cell (according to the cell selection procedure) is a LLM candidate cell, the UE performs a HO to the selected target cell.

[0607] Fig.14a , Fig.14b and Fig.14c Another example embodiment of a method (eg, similar in part to Figure 13a-Figure 13c )(for example, among others, for example, performed together by the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect and the third exemplary aspect, or for example, performed together by the apparatus of the sixth exemplary aspect, the seventh exemplary aspect and the eighth exemplary aspect), in particular an example, wherein at least one configuration includes a low-layer mobility configuration, the low-layer mobility configuration includes a low-layer mobility condition (for example, a conditional LLM) (see Fig.9c ).

[0608] Among them, the LLM RRC configuration can be enhanced by executing conditions as a fallback to DU-based LLM; after the conditions are met, the UE can decide to switch to the target autonomously and take into account the corresponding timer (see Fig.14a , Fig.14b and Fig.14c); In case of RLP (initiation of timer T310), the UE may decide to switch autonomously; the network may need to enable this feature; optional "request to leave" and "MAC CE stay". 1430: Provide the UE with RRC configuration for LLM with conditions. This flag may enable the source DU to block certain procedures before the timer expires, such as context release due to UE loss (identified by consecutive HARQ non-acknowledgement messages). 1431: If the LLM condition is established before the reception of the MAC CE triggering the cell change: the UE may start timer T1: T1 may enable the UE to wait for the network to coordinate the process; the network may be informed of potential targets. 1432: The network may decide to trigger a cell change - whether it is a change indicated by the UE or other changes. 1433: The network may decide to keep the UE associated in the serving cell - the UE may start T2 before re-initiating the evaluation to ensure compliance with the network decision. This may avoid restarting the process too frequently. It may not be necessary to stop the evaluation, but the TTT may be extended to align the execution point with the NW side timer later. Starting the evaluation later may delay the CHO execution itself. Optional flags:

[0609] ServiceDU

[0610] RLF aspects to include

[0611] ·CHO

[0612] Target DU

[0613] Both configurations are provided to the UE

[0614] 1434: In case of T1 expiration, the UE may perform HO since the connection with the network cannot be ensured. 1435: In case of RLF, the UE may be enabled to perform LLM recovery.

[0615] The network may provide LLM configuration as well as (L3 / LLM) "CHO ​​conditions". In addition: the UE may coordinate with the network before performing CHO if the conditions are met first; the UE may apply configuration taking into account timers to increase / ensure system stability; in the case of RLF, the UE may perform LLM recovery (similar to CHO recovery, but for LLM configuration).

[0616] Different schemes are proposed, such as using dual prepared LLM / CHO with the same resources, or using common LLM / CHO configuration, or using L1 / 2 configuration / conditions and timers to achieve an efficient combination of LLM and CHO.

[0617] Fig.15It is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 600 according to an exemplary aspect, which may, for example, represent an apparatus according to the first exemplary aspect, the second exemplary aspect, the third exemplary aspect, the sixth exemplary aspect, the seventh exemplary aspect or the eighth exemplary aspect, or, for example, one of apparatuses 101, 102, 103, 104, 105.

[0618] The apparatus 600 comprises a processor 601 , a program memory 602 , a working or main memory 603 , a data memory, a communication interface(s) 604 and an optional user interface 605 .

[0619] The apparatus 600 may be configured to execute and / or control or include corresponding components (at least one of 601 to 605) for executing and / or controlling the method according to the fourth exemplary aspect. The apparatus 600 may also constitute an apparatus comprising at least one processor (601) and at least one memory (602) including computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, enable the apparatus (e.g., the apparatus 600) to at least execute and / or control the method according to some or all exemplary aspects.

[0620] The processor 601 may also control, for example, memories 602 to 603 , communication interface(s) 604 , and an optional user interface 605 .

[0621] The processor 601 may, for example, execute computer program code stored in a program memory 602, which may, for example, represent a computer-readable storage medium comprising program code which, when executed by the processor 601, causes the processor 601 to perform a method according to the fourth exemplary aspect.

[0622] Processor 601 (and any other processors mentioned in this specification) can be any suitable type of processor. Processor 601 can include, but is not limited to, one or more microprocessors, one or more processors with accompanying one or more digital signal processors, one or more processors without (multiple) accompanying digital signal processors, one or more special-purpose computer chips, one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), one or more controllers, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more computers. The relevant structure / hardware has been programmed to perform the above functions. Processor 601 can be, for example, an application processor running an operating system.

[0623] A program memory 602 may also be included in the processor 601. The memory may, for example, be fixedly connected to the processor 601, or at least partly removable from the processor 601, for example in the form of a memory card or a memory stick. The program memory 602 may, for example, be a non-volatile memory. For example, it may be any one of a flash memory (or a part thereof), a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM and an EEPROM memory (or a part thereof), or a hard disk (or a part thereof), to name a few examples. The program memory 602 may also include an operating system for the processor 601. The program memory 602 may also include firmware for the device 600.

[0624] The device 600 includes a working memory 603, for example in the form of a volatile memory. For example, it can be a random access memory (RAM) or a dynamic RAM (DRAM), to name a few non-limiting examples. For example, it can be used by the processor 601 when executing an operating system and / or a computer program.

[0625] The data memory may be, for example, a non-volatile memory. For example, it may be a flash memory (or a portion thereof), any one of a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM and an EEPROM memory (or a portion thereof), or a hard disk (or a portion thereof), to name a few examples. The data memory may, for example, store one or more pieces of information, such as a measurement value of the first signal, information about the first subspace, additional information.

[0626] The communication interface(s) 604 enable the apparatus 600 to communicate with other entities, such as the first device 104 communicating with the second device 101 or the second device 101 communicating with the third device 105. The communication interface(s) 604 may, for example, include a wireless interface, such as a cellular radio communication interface and / or a WLAN interface) and / or a wired interface, such as an IP-based interface, for example communicating with an entity via the Internet. The communication interface(s) may enable the apparatus 600 to communicate with other entities, such as one or more entities comprised by a mobile communication network.

[0627] The user interface 605 is optional and may include a display for displaying information to a user and / or an input device (eg, a keyboard, keypad, touch pad, mouse, etc.) for receiving information from a user.

[0628] For example, some or all components of the apparatus 600 may be connected via a bus.For example, some or all components of the apparatus 600 may be combined into one or more modules.

[0629] The disclosed exemplary aspects may allow for enhanced signaling, efficient resource reservation and interworking, enhanced handover procedures, such as faster and more efficient handover between cells, reduced interruption time in the event of LLM failure, reduced probability of RLF maintaining control in the network when the UE is configured with LLM and CHO or with conditional LLM. For example, the combination of the RRC configuration of CHO with the RRC configuration of LLM may enable efficient resource reservation and interworking. In addition, the LLM RRC configuration may be enhanced. LLM may reduce the interruption time during handover execution. In addition, the network may maintain control of the handover in the event of rapid network degradation. The disclosed exemplary aspects may also achieve the same or similar robustness for LLM as for CHO.

[0630] Furthermore, advantages of some of the disclosed exemplary aspects and embodiments may be:

[0631] LLM can reduce the outage time. In addition, the network can maintain control of the switch in the event of rapid network degradation.

[0632] Reduce the interruption time in case of LLM failure.

[0633] • If the UE is configured with LLM and CHO or with conditional LLM, control in the network is maintained.

[0634] Reduce the probability of RLF.

[0635] Achieve the same robustness as in CHO.

[0636] LLM can reduce the interruption time during handover execution. In addition, the network can maintain control of the handover in the case of rapid network degradation.

[0637] Reduce the interruption time in case of LLM failure.

[0638] The following embodiments should also be considered for disclosure:

[0639] Embodiment 1:

[0640] A first apparatus comprises components for:

[0641] - receiving condition configuration and condition configuration information; and

[0642] - at least one of: determining handover based on layer 1 measurement or layer 3 measurement of at least one candidate cell; or determining waiting for a network command for handover based on the conditional configuration information.

[0643] Embodiment 2:

[0644] The apparatus according to embodiment 1 further comprises a component for at least one of the following:

[0645] - sending a report of layer 3 measurements on at least one of: the source cell or the at least one candidate cell; or

[0646] - Sending a report of layer 1 measurements on at least one of: the source cell or the at least one candidate cell.

[0647] Embodiment 3:

[0648] The apparatus according to embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the condition configuration comprises one of the following:

[0649] (a) a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration

[0650] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0651] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0652] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, the parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, in the dual configuration, the configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0653] (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration to enable low layer mobility based on layer 1 measurements;

[0654] (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions;

[0655] (d) Low layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein in particular, the second device adjusts the low layer mobility condition to a conditional handover condition.

[0656] Embodiment 4:

[0657] The device according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3, further comprising means for:

[0658] - receiving a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger;

[0659] - In response to receiving the network command for the handover, initiating a handover between a source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell, wherein the initiating the handover specifically comprises initializing a random access procedure with the target cell.

[0660] Embodiment 5:

[0661] The device of any one of embodiments 1 to 4 further comprising means for:

[0662] - In response to not receiving the network command for the handover, determining the handover based on layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell.

[0663] Embodiment 6:

[0664] The apparatus according to any one of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the condition configuration information includes a switching condition or information about the switching condition,

[0665] In particular, the handover condition includes at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and

[0666] In particular, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and

[0667] In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

[0668] Embodiment 7:

[0669] The apparatus of embodiment 6, wherein the determining the switching comprises the following, and the apparatus further comprises means for:

[0670] - evaluating the handover condition based on the layer 3 measurement or the layer 1 measurement;

[0671] - Based on evaluating that the handover condition exists, initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell of the at least one candidate cell, wherein the initiating the handover specifically comprises initializing a random access procedure with the target cell; and optionally sending a notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated.

[0672] Embodiment 8:

[0673] The apparatus of embodiment 6, wherein the determining the switching comprises the following, and the apparatus further comprises means for:

[0674] - evaluating the handover condition based on the layer 3 measurement or the layer 1 measurement;

[0675] - based on evaluating that the handover condition exists, starting at least one timer, and one of: (i) before expiration of the at least one timer, initiating the handover between the source cell and the target cell and stopping the at least one timer, or (ii) in response to expiration of the at least one timer, initiating cell recovery of one of the at least one candidate cell;

[0676] and optionally sending a notification that the switching condition exists and the switching is initiated.

[0677] Embodiment 9:

[0678] The apparatus according to embodiment 6, wherein the condition configuration information further includes information about at least two timers, and the apparatus further includes means for:

[0679] - evaluating said handover condition based on said layer 1 measurements;

[0680] - based on evaluating that the switching condition exists, starting a first timer of the at least two timers; and one of the following

[0681] (i) before the first timer expires,

[0682] sending a report on layer 1 measurements of the at least one candidate cell;

[0683] receiving a network command for the handover in response to sending the report regarding the layer 1 measurement, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger;

[0684] In response to receiving the handover trigger, stopping the first timer and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell of the at least one candidate cell;

[0685] (ii) before the first timer expires,

[0686] receiving a network command for the handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a stay trigger;

[0687] In response to receiving the dwell trigger, stopping the first timer and starting a second timer of the at least two timers, and one of the following:

[0688] (a) before the second timer expires, receiving a handover trigger and stopping the second timer, and initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell; or

[0689] (b) in response to expiration of the second timer without receiving a handover trigger, repeating the steps starting from the evaluation of the handover condition based on the layer 1 measurement;

[0690] (iii) in response to expiration of the first timer, initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell.

[0691] Embodiment 10:

[0692] A device according to embodiment 9, further comprising means for:

[0693] - after initiating the handover, determining a handover completion condition;

[0694] - Based on determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, initiating cell recovery of one of the at least one candidate cell.

[0695] Embodiment 11:

[0696] The apparatus according to any one of embodiments 1 to 10, wherein the conditional configuration or the conditional configuration information includes an execution condition that enables the apparatus to autonomously execute the initiation of the switching, and optionally, the apparatus further includes means for:

[0697] - autonomously initiating a handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell.

[0698] Embodiment 12:

[0699] The device of any one of embodiments 1 to 11 further comprising means for:

[0700] - sending information indicative of a target network node based on said layer 1 measurements.

[0701] Embodiment 13:

[0702] The apparatus according to any one of embodiments 6 to 12 when dependent on embodiment 6, further comprising means for:

[0703] -Storing the condition configuration and the condition configuration information;

[0704] - receiving an indication of a release of a switching condition;

[0705] - merging the conditional configuration and / or the conditional configuration information, in particular removing the released switching condition from the conditional configuration and / or the conditional configuration information or ignoring the released switching condition.

[0706] Embodiment 14:

[0707] A second apparatus comprising means for:

[0708] -Send conditional configuration and conditional configuration information.

[0709] Embodiment 15:

[0710] The apparatus of embodiment 14 further comprising means for:

[0711] - receiving a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell and at least one candidate cell provided by said second means;

[0712] - sending said report on said layer 3 measurements to a third device;

[0713] - receiving a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information in response to said sending said report regarding said layer 3 measurement;

[0714] -Sending the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information.

[0715] Embodiment 16:

[0716] The apparatus according to embodiment 14 or 15, wherein the condition configuration comprises one of the following:

[0717] (a) a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration

[0718] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0719] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0720] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, the parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, in the dual configuration, the configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0721] (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration to enable low layer mobility based on layer 1 measurements;

[0722] (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions;

[0723] (d) Low layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein in particular, the second device adjusts the low layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition.

[0724] Embodiment 17:

[0725] The apparatus according to any one of embodiments 14 to 16, wherein the conditional configuration or the conditional configuration information includes an execution condition that enables the first apparatus to autonomously execute the initiating handover.

[0726] Embodiment 18:

[0727] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 17, further comprising means for:

[0728] - receiving a report on layer 1 measurements of the at least one candidate cell;

[0729] - determining whether handover of the first device to a candidate cell is to be performed based on said report on said layer 1 measurements;

[0730] - based on determining that the handover of the first device to the candidate cell is to be performed, sending a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger;

[0731] - Optionally send a message indicating release of conditional handover preparation.

[0732] Embodiment 19:

[0733] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 18, further comprising means for:

[0734] - receiving a report on layer 1 measurements of the at least one candidate cell;

[0735] - determining whether handover of the first device to a candidate cell is to be performed based on said report on said layer 1 measurements;

[0736] - Based on determining that the handover of the first device to the candidate cell will not be performed, sending a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a stay trigger.

[0737] Embodiment 20:

[0738] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 19, further comprising means for:

[0739] - receiving information indicating a target cell based on layer 1 measurements;

[0740] -Sending the information indicating the target cell.

[0741] Embodiment 21:

[0742] The apparatus according to any one of embodiments 14 to 20, wherein the condition configuration information includes a switching condition or information about the switching condition,

[0743] In particular, the handover condition includes at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and

[0744] In particular, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and

[0745] In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

[0746] Embodiment 22:

[0747] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 21, further comprising means for:

[0748] - Sending an indication of the release of the handover condition.

[0749] Embodiment 23:

[0750] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 22, further comprising means for:

[0751] - receiving a flag indicating whether the conditional configuration comprises a dual configuration, a common configuration, a lower layer mobility configuration including a lower layer mobility condition, or a lower layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration, and optionally

[0752] - In response to receiving the flag, pausing, cancelling, blocking or postponing at least one certain process.

[0753] Embodiment 24:

[0754] The apparatus according to any one of embodiments 15 to 23 when dependent on embodiment 15, further comprising means for:

[0755] - in response to receiving the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information;

[0756] -determining whether the conditional switching condition is included in the conditional configuration information;

[0757] - based on determining that the conditional handover condition is comprised by said conditional configuration information, adjusting the lower layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition.

[0758] Embodiment 25:

[0759] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 24, further comprising means for:

[0760] - receiving a notification that a handover condition exists and that the handover is initiated;

[0761] - in response to receiving the notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated, sending another notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated.

[0762] Embodiment 26:

[0763] The device of any one of embodiments 14 to 25, further comprising means for:

[0764] - receiving a flag indicating that the conditional configuration includes a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration; and optionally

[0765] - sending a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger, the handover trigger comprising the identifier of the common configuration; and optionally

[0766] - Pause, cancel or postpone at least one process.

[0767] Embodiment 27:

[0768] A third apparatus comprises means for:

[0769] - receiving a report on layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node;

[0770] - in response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurement, sending a setup request to the at least one candidate network node, the setup request indicating preparation of the at least one candidate cell for a conditional configuration of the at least one candidate cell, wherein the conditional configuration comprises one of the following:

[0771] (a) a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration

[0772] (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or

[0773] (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration;

[0774] wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, the parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, in the dual configuration, the configuration differences between the low layer mobility and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked;

[0775] (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration to enable low layer mobility based on layer 1 measurements;

[0776] (c) a low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions; or

[0777] (d) Low-layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration;

[0778] - in response to said sending said establishment request, receiving, from said at least one candidate network node, an establishment response indicating a conditional configuration of said at least one candidate cell;

[0779] - Based on receiving the establishment response, sending the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information.

[0780] Embodiment 28:

[0781] The apparatus according to embodiment 27, wherein the condition configuration information includes a switching condition or information about the switching condition,

[0782] In particular, the handover condition includes at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and

[0783] In particular, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and

[0784] In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

[0785] Embodiment 29:

[0786] The apparatus according to embodiment 27 or 28, further comprising means for:

[0787] - in response to the establishment request indicating a conditional configuration for the at least one candidate cell, preparing the at least one candidate cell, wherein the conditional configuration comprises a low layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration, receiving information indicating at least one dual configuration of the at least one candidate cell from the at least one candidate network node.

[0788] Embodiment 30:

[0789] The device of any one of embodiments 27 to 29, further comprising means for:

[0790] - receiving information indicating a target cell from the second device.

[0791] Embodiment 31:

[0792] The device of any one of embodiments 27 to 30, further comprising means for:

[0793] - Sending a flag indicating whether the conditional configuration comprises a dual configuration, a common configuration, a low layer mobility configuration including a low layer mobility condition, or a low layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration.

[0794] Embodiment 32:

[0795] The device of any one of embodiments 27 to 31, further comprising means for:

[0796] - sending a flag indicating that the conditional configuration comprises a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration.

[0797] Embodiment 33:

[0798] The device of any one of embodiments 27 to 32, further comprising means for:

[0799] - receiving a message indicating release conditional handover preparation;

[0800] - in response to receiving the message indicating the release of the conditional handover preparation, releasing the corresponding conditional handover preparation.

[0801] Embodiment 34:

[0802] The device of any one of embodiments 27 to 33, further comprising means for:

[0803] - receiving a notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated;

[0804] - In response to said receiving said notification that said handover condition exists and said handover is initiated, indicating to a target network node of said at least one candidate network node to initiate data forwarding towards the first device.

[0805] In this specification, any connection presented in the described embodiments should be understood in a manner that the components involved are operationally coupled. Therefore, the connection may be direct or indirect, there may be any number or combination of elements in between, and there may be only functional relationships between components.

[0806] In addition, any methods, processes, and actions described or illustrated herein may be implemented using executable instructions in a general or special purpose processor and stored on a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., disk, memory, etc.) for execution by such a processor. References to "computer-readable storage medium" should be understood to include special purpose circuits such as FPGAs, ASICs, signal processing devices, and other devices.

[0807] The expression "A and / or B" is considered to include any of the following three situations: (i) A, (ii) B, (iii) A and B. The expressions "at least one of the following: " and "at least one of " and similar expressions (wherein a list of two or more elements is connected by "and" or "or") represent at least any one of these elements, or at least any two or more of these elements, or at least all of these elements. In addition, the article "a" should not be understood as "one", that is, the use of the expression "an element" does not exclude the presence of other elements. The term "comprising" should be understood in an open sense, that is, the object of "comprises an element A" may also include other elements in addition to element A. In addition, the term "comprising" may be limited to "consisting of", that is, consisting only of the specified elements.

[0808] It should be understood that all presented embodiments are exemplary only, and any feature presented for a particular example embodiment may be used alone in any aspect or in combination with any feature presented for the same or another particular example embodiment and / or in combination with any other feature not mentioned. In particular, the example embodiments presented in this specification should also be understood to be disclosed to each other in all possible combinations, as long as it is technically reasonable and the example embodiments are not alternatives to each other. It will also be understood that any feature presented for an example embodiment in a particular category (method / device / computer program / system) may also be used in a corresponding manner in an example implementation of any other category. It should also be understood that the presence of a feature in the presented example embodiment does not necessarily mean that the feature forms an essential feature and cannot be omitted or replaced.

[0809] It is not mandatory for the statement of a feature to include at least one of the subsequently enumerated features, since the feature includes all of the subsequently enumerated features or includes one or more of a plurality of subsequently enumerated features. Furthermore, the enumerated features may be selected in any combination or only one of the enumerated features may be selected. Specific combinations of all of the subsequently enumerated features are also conceivable. Furthermore, only one of the subsequently enumerated features may be possible.

[0810] The order of all the above method steps is not mandatory, and other orders are also possible. However, the specific sequence of the method steps exemplarily shown in the figures should be regarded as a possible method step sequence of the corresponding embodiment described by the corresponding figure.

[0811] The subject matter has been described above by way of example embodiments. It should be noted that there are alternatives and modifications that are apparent to those skilled in the art and that may be implemented without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A first 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 apparatus to at least perform: - receiving condition configuration and condition configuration information; as well as - at least one of: determining handover based on layer 1 measurement or layer 3 measurement of at least one candidate cell; or determining to wait for a network command for handover based on the conditional configuration information.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least one of the following: - sending a report on layer 3 measurements of at least one of: the source cell or the at least one candidate cell; or - Sending a report on layer 1 measurements of at least one of: the source cell or the at least one candidate cell.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the conditional configuration comprises one of the following items: (a) a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or Those (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration; wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, the parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked; (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration to enable low layer mobility based on layer 1 measurements; (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions; (d) Low layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein in particular the second device adjusts the low layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger; - in response to receiving the network command for the handover, initiating the handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell, wherein initiating the handover specifically comprises: Initialize a random access procedure with the target cell.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, In response to not receiving the network command for the handover, determining the handover based on layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the condition configuration information comprises a switching condition or information about the switching condition, In particular, the handover condition includes at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and The switching condition specifically includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein determining the switching comprises the following, and the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform the following: - evaluating the handover condition based on the layer 3 measurement or the layer 1 measurement; - based on evaluating that the handover condition exists, initiating the handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell, wherein initiating the handover specifically comprises: Initializing a random access process with the target cell; And optionally, sending a notification that the switching condition exists and the switching is initiated.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein determining the switching comprises the following, and the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform the following: - evaluating the handover condition based on the layer 3 measurement or the layer 1 measurement; - based on evaluating that the handover condition exists, starting at least one timer and (i) before expiration of the at least one timer, initiating the handover between the source cell and the target cell and stopping the at least one timer, or (ii) in response to expiration of the at least one timer, initiating cell recovery of one of the at least one candidate cell; And optionally, sending a notification that the switching condition exists and the switching is initiated.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the conditional configuration information further comprises information about at least two timers, and the at least one memory further stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - evaluating the handover condition based on the layer 3 measurement or the layer 1 measurement; - based on evaluating that the switching condition exists, starting a first timer of the at least two timers; sending a report on layer 1 measurements of the at least one candidate cell; and one of the following (i) before the first timer expires, receiving a network command for the handover in response to sending the report regarding the layer 1 measurement, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger; In response to receiving the handover trigger, stopping the first timer and initiating the handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell; (ii) before the first timer expires, receiving a network command for the handover in response to sending the report regarding the layer 1 measurement, wherein the network command for the handover is a dwell trigger; In response to receiving the dwell trigger, stopping the first timer and starting a second timer of the at least two timers, and one of the following (a) before the second timer expires, receiving a handover trigger and stopping the second timer, and initiating the handover between the source cell and a target cell; or (b) in response to the second timer expiring without receiving a handover trigger, repeating the described steps starting from said evaluation of said switching condition based on said layer 1 measurements; (iii) in response to expiration of the first timer, initiating the handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - after initiating the handover, determining a handover completion condition; - Based on determining that the handover completion condition does not exist, initiating cell recovery of one of the at least one candidate cell.

11. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the conditional configuration or the conditional configuration information comprises an execution condition, wherein the execution condition enables the first device to autonomously initiate the switching, and optionally, the at least one memory further stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least execute: - autonomously initiating the handover between the source cell and a target cell among the at least one candidate cell.

12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - sending information indicative of a target network node based on said layer 1 measurements.

13. The apparatus of any one of claims 6 to 12 when dependent on claim 6, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: -Storing the condition configuration and the condition configuration information; - receiving an indication of a release of a switching condition; - merging the conditional configuration and / or the conditional configuration information, in particular by removing the released handover condition from the conditional configuration and / or the conditional configuration information, or by ignoring the released handover condition.

14. A second 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 apparatus to at least perform: -Send conditional configuration and conditional configuration information.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a report on layer 3 measurements of a source cell and at least one candidate cell provided by said second means; - sending said report on said layer 3 measurements to a third device; - receiving a conditional configuration and conditional configuration information in response to sending said report on said layer 3 measurement; -Sending the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the conditional configuration comprises one of the following: (a) a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or Those (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration; wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, the parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked; (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration to enable low layer mobility based on layer 1 measurements; (c) low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions; (d) Low layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration, wherein in particular, the second device adjusts the low layer mobility condition to the conditional handover condition. 17 . The device according to claim 14 , wherein the conditional configuration or the conditional configuration information comprises an execution condition, wherein the execution condition enables the first device to autonomously execute the initiating switching.

18. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a report on layer 1 measurements of the at least one candidate cell; - determining, based on said report on said layer 1 measurements, whether handover of the first device to a candidate cell is to be performed; - based on determining that the handover of the first device to the candidate cell is to be performed, sending a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger; - Optionally, sending a message indicating release conditional handover preparation.

19. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a report on layer 1 measurements of the at least one candidate cell; - determining, based on said report on said layer 1 measurements, whether handover of the first device to a candidate cell is to be performed; - Based on determining that the handover of the first device to the candidate cell will not be performed, sending a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a stay trigger.

20. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 19, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving information indicating a target cell based on layer 1 measurements; -sending said information indicating said target cell.

21. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein the condition configuration information comprises a switching condition or information about the switching condition, In particular, the handover condition includes at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and The switching condition specifically includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and In particular, the condition configuration information also includes information about at least two timers.

22. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 21, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - Sending an indication of the release of the handover condition.

23. The apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 22, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a flag indicating whether the conditional configuration comprises a dual configuration, a common configuration, a lower layer mobility configuration including a lower layer mobility condition, or a lower layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration, and optionally - In response to receiving the flag, pausing, canceling, blocking, or postponing at least one certain process.

24. The apparatus of any one of claims 15 to 23 when dependent on claim 15, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - in response to receiving the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information; -determining whether the conditional switching condition is included in the conditional configuration information; - based on determining that a conditional handover condition is comprised by said conditional configuration information, adjusting a lower layer mobility condition to said conditional handover condition.

25. The apparatus of any one of claims 14 to 24, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a notification that a handover condition exists and that the handover is initiated; - in response to receiving the notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated, sending another notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated.

26. The apparatus of any one of claims 14 to 25, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a flag indicating that the conditional configuration includes a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration; and optionally - sending a network command for handover, wherein the network command for the handover is a handover trigger, the handover trigger comprising the identifier of the common configuration; and optionally - Pause, cancel, or postpone at least one process.

27. A third 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 apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a report on layer 3 measurements of at least one candidate cell provided by at least one candidate network node; - in response to receiving the report on the layer 3 measurement, sending a setup request to the at least one candidate network node, the setup request indicating preparation of the at least one candidate cell for a conditional configuration of the at least one candidate cell, wherein the conditional configuration comprises one of the following: (a) a dual configuration, wherein the dual configuration (i) is a lower layer mobility configuration with a pointer to a conditional handover configuration; or Those (ii) is a conditional handover configuration with a pointer to the lower layer mobility configuration; wherein in both cases (i) and (ii), in particular, the parts of the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration that are common to both configurations are included in only one of these configurations, and optionally, within the dual configuration, configuration differences between the low layer mobility configuration and the conditional handover configuration are explicitly marked; (b) a common configuration, wherein the common configuration is a conditional handover configuration to enable low layer mobility based on layer 1 measurements; (c) a low layer mobility configuration including low layer mobility conditions; or (d) Low-layer mobility configuration and conditional handover configuration; - in response to sending the establishment request, receiving a establishment response from the at least one candidate network node, the establishment response indicating a conditional configuration of the at least one candidate cell; - Based on receiving the establishment response, sending the conditional configuration and the conditional configuration information.

28. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the condition configuration information comprises a switching condition or information about the switching condition, In particular, the handover condition includes at least one of the following: a conditional handover condition or a low-layer mobility condition; and The switching condition specifically includes at least one of the following: an inequality or a threshold condition; and the condition configuration information specifically includes information about at least two timers.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 or 28, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - in response to the establishment request indicating a conditional configuration for the at least one candidate cell, preparing the at least one candidate cell, wherein the conditional configuration comprises a low layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration, receiving information indicating at least one dual configuration of the at least one candidate cell from the at least one candidate network node.

30. The apparatus of any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving information indicating a target cell from the second device.

31. The apparatus of any one of claims 27 to 30, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - Sending a flag indicating whether the conditional configuration comprises a dual configuration, a common configuration, a low layer mobility configuration including a low layer mobility condition, or a low layer mobility configuration and a conditional handover configuration.

32. The apparatus of any one of claims 27 to 31, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - sending a flag indicating that the conditional configuration comprises a common configuration and an identifier of the common configuration.

33. The apparatus of any one of claims 27 to 32, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a message indicating a release conditional handover preparation; - in response to receiving said message indicating release of the conditional handover preparation, releasing the corresponding conditional handover preparation.

34. The apparatus of any one of claims 27 to 33, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: - receiving a notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated; - In response to receiving the notification that the handover condition exists and the handover is initiated, instructing a target network node among the at least one candidate network node to initiate data forwarding to the first device.

35. A method comprising the steps that an apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 34 is caused to perform.

36. A system comprising: at least one first device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, at least one second device according to any one of claims 14 to 26, and At least one third device according to any one of claims 27 to 34.

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