Method and apparatus for measurement resource sharing for wireless communication

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) is configured to determine, over a period of time, whether all synchronization signal block (SSB) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) occasions are within a temporal proximity threshold that is less than any of one or more measurement gap (MG) occasions, and if so, determine whether all the SMTC occasions are within a temporal proximity threshold that is less than any of the one or more MG occasions. If so, measurement resources are allocated to provide equal sharing between gapless measurements during a subset of the SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during a subset of the one or more MG opportunities. The UE is configured to determine, within the time period, whether any of the SMTC occasions is within the temporal proximity threshold less than any of the one or more MG occasions, and if so, allocate non-overlapping ones of the SMTC occasions for gapless measurement, prohibit use of overlapping SMTC occasions, and if not, allocate non-overlapping ones of the SMTC occasions for gapless measurement, prohibit use of the overlapping SMTC occasions for gapless measurement. And assigning the MG opportunities for measurement of the other measurement objects.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications including techniques for measurement resource sharing for wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] A wireless communication network may include user equipment (UE), base stations (BS), and / or other types of wireless devices capable of communicating with each other. During operation, the UE performs measurements of electromagnetic signals, and information obtained from the measurements may be used to improve communication performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] The present disclosure will be easily understood and implemented through the specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The same figure numerals may designate the same features and structural elements. The accompanying drawings and corresponding descriptions are provided as non-limiting examples of aspects, specific implementations, etc. of the present disclosure, and reference to "one" or "an" aspect, specific implementation, etc. may not necessarily refer to the same aspect, specific implementation, etc., and may mean at least one, one or more, etc.

[0004] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network including a user equipment (UE) and a base station, wherein the UE implements a measurement resource sharing scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0005] Figure 2 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a full overlap example according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0006] Figure 3 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a partial overlap example according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0007] Figure 4 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a partial overlap example according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 5 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a fully overlapping example with multiple measurement gaps (MGs) per measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 6 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a full overlap example with multiple MGs per MGRP in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 7 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a partially overlapping example with multiple MGs per MGRP in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 8is a flow chart of a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0012] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] Fig.10 is a method for a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 A flowchart continuation of the flowchart.

[0014] Fig.11 is a method for a UE configured to measure resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 A flowchart continuation of the flowchart.

[0015] Fig.12 is a method for a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 A flowchart continuation of the flowchart.

[0016] Fig.13 is a method for a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 A flowchart continuation of the flowchart.

[0017] Fig.14 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of fair allocation of measurement resources according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Fig.15 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of fair allocation of measurement resources according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Fig.16 is an example and about Figure 5 Timing diagram of an exemplary measurement resource sharing sequence associated with Option 1 discussed.

[0020] Fig.17 is an example of Figure 6 A timing diagram of an associated exemplary measurement resource sharing sequence.

[0021] Fig.18 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system including a UE device and a network device according to some aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar features, elements, operations, etc. In addition, the present disclosure is not limited to the following description, as other specific implementations may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0023] Wireless communications are affected by the spatial relationship between the UE and the BS with which the UE communicates, as well as the spatial relationship relative to other BSs and other environmental objects and conditions. Phenomena such as noise, interference, and attenuation change over time and affect the communication signal. The UE can perform measurements to evaluate the properties of the signal and report the measurement results to the BS. The UE and BS can use the information from the measurements to support UE operations such as cell selection / reselection or beam management, thereby improving the quality of service. For example, in 5G, the synchronization signal block (SSB) is used to determine path loss and average channel quality. The channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) is used to track rapidly changing channel conditions to support mobility and beam management. Some examples of UE measurements include reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

[0024] UE measurements may include changing operating parameters of the UE's transceiver, such as changing the frequency range to which the transceiver is tuned. For example, if communications are provided over a first frequency range, and the UE is to measure synchronization or reference signals in a second frequency range, the UE may require a measurement gap (MG) to re-tune the UE's transceiver to the second frequency range and perform measurements. The MGs may be scheduled to recur, for example, during each measurement gap repetition period (MGRP). In some aspects, more than one MG, such as two MGs, which may be labeled MG1, MG2, may each have a pattern and transmit repeatedly within the same MGRP, such that MG1 may recur during each MGRP and MG2 may recur during the same MGRP.

[0025] On the other hand, since MG corresponds to a period of suspending data transmission and reception on at least one frequency band in order to perform measurements on different frequency bands in some cases, MG reduces transmission / reception efficiency. Therefore, a continuous goal of wireless communication is to reduce or eliminate MG. In some cases, for example, when carrier aggregation is disabled or otherwise turned off, gapless UE measurements can be applied by using inactive RF resources corresponding to the RF chain and baseband circuits for the secondary cell group (SCG). For example, intra-frequency synchronization signal block (SSB) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurements can be performed without using measurement gaps. However, depending on the timing of MG and gapless measurements, conflicts may occur, preventing the UE from performing measurements in MG and gapless measurements very close in time.

[0026] In view of the above, a method and apparatus for measuring resource sharing are provided. In some aspects, the UE is configured to determine whether all SMTC opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any of one or more measurement gap (MG) opportunities within a time period at least as long as a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP). When all SMTC opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any of these MG opportunities, the UE is configured to allocate measurement resources between gapless measurements during a subset of SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during a subset of one or more MG opportunities based on a sharing scheme, as described in more detail below. When not all SMTC opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any of these MG opportunities, the UE is configured to determine whether any of these MG opportunities is within a time proximity threshold less than any of the one or more MG opportunities within the time period. When any of these SMTC opportunities is within a time proximity threshold less than any of these MG opportunities, the UE is configured to allocate non-overlapping SMTC opportunities of the SMTC opportunities for gapless measurements, prohibit the use of overlapping SMTC opportunities, and allocate MG opportunities for measurements of other measurement objects.

[0027] Other aspects and details of the disclosure are further described below with respect to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network including a user equipment (UE) and a base station, wherein the UE implements a measurement resource sharing scheme according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless network 100 includes UE 102, BS 108, BS 110, BS 112, and BS 114. As shown, BS 108 can be, for example, a satellite in orbit 106 or another onboard platform providing a non-terrestrial network (NTN), such as a satellite access network (SAN), or another type of BS platform. UE 102 can communicate with BS 108 via path 136. As shown, BS 110 can be, for example, another satellite in orbit 106 or another orbit providing NTN or another onboard platform, such as a SAN, or another type of BS platform. UE 102 can communicate with BS 110 via path 138. As shown, BS 112 can be, for example, an aerial platform, such as an airplane, a helicopter, a balloon, another type of atmospheric platform, or another type of BS platform. UE 102 can communicate with BS 112 via path 140. As shown, BS 114 may be, for example, a terrestrial BS or another type of BS platform. UE 102 may communicate with BS 114 via path 142.

[0029] UE 102 is shown as a terrestrial UE based on earth 104, or UE 102 may be located elsewhere, such as in an airplane. One example of UE 102 being located in an airplane may be an air-to-ground situation, where the airplane may communicate with a ground-based BS. Another example of UE 102 being located in an airplane may be in an air-to-air or air-to-space situation, where the airplane may communicate with a BS instantiated as an airborne or spaceborne platform.

[0030] The UE may be located at different distances from the BS. In some aspects, the UE may be positioned away from the terrestrial UE. For example, the BS may provide long-distance coverage over a large area with low user density. As another example, an aerial UE may operate in a long-distance air-to-ground situation. The communication between the UE and the BS instantiated as an aerial or satellite platform may involve a long distance. In addition, the relative motion between the UE and the BS may change the propagation delay of the signal being transmitted, which may change the timing of the reception of the signal. The timing domain of one BS may be different from the timing domain of another BS, which may complicate the timing coordination of signal measurements from different BSs. Timing conflicts (also referred to as conflicts) of measurements of different signals may occur not only with temporally overlapping signals, but also with temporally close signals within a temporal proximity threshold.

[0031] UE 102 may tentatively configure multiple MG opportunities 120, 126, and 132 and multiple gapless measurement opportunities 118, 122, 124, 128, 130, and 134 at time 116 for performing measurements on one or more BSs, such as BS 110 via path 138. Multiple gapless measurement opportunities may be used for intra-frequency synchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurements. In the event that all of the multiple gapless measurement opportunities are determined to conflict with at least one of the multiple MG opportunities, the multiple gapless measurement opportunities are considered to be completely overlapped, and measurement resources need to be shared with the multiple MG opportunities. Some MG opportunities are then prohibited from use so that gapless measurements can be performed. For example, as Figure 1As shown, MG opportunity 120 is marked with an X to indicate that the use of MG opportunity 120 for measurement is prohibited due to a conflict with a non-gap measurement opportunity that is close in time, such as non-gap measurement opportunities 118 and 122. As shown, MG opportunities 126 and 132 are marked with O to indicate that MG opportunities 126 and 132 are available for measurement. As shown, non-gap measurement opportunity 118 is marked with an X to indicate that the use of non-gap measurement opportunity 118 for measurement is prohibited due to a conflict with a non-gap measurement opportunity that is close in time, such as MG opportunity 120. As shown, non-gap measurement opportunity 122 is marked with O to indicate that even though non-gap measurement opportunity 122 may be close in time to MG opportunity 120, non-gap measurement opportunity 122 may be used for measurement because prohibiting MG opportunity 120 allows non-gap measurement opportunity 122 to be used for measurement without contention.

[0032] As shown, the gapless measurement opportunities 124 and 128 are marked with an X to indicate that the use of the gapless measurement opportunities 124 and 128 for measurement is prohibited due to conflicts with MG opportunities that are close in time, such as MG opportunity 126. Since the gapless measurement opportunities 124 and 128 are shown as prohibited from use, the MG opportunity 126 can be used without contention despite its proximity in time to the gapless measurement opportunities 124 and 128.

[0033] As shown, the gapless measurement opportunities 130 and 134 are marked with an X to indicate that the use of the gapless measurement opportunities 130 and 134 for measurement is prohibited due to conflicts with MG opportunities that are close in time, such as MG opportunity 132. Since the gapless measurement opportunities 130 and 134 are shown as prohibited from use, the MG opportunity 132 can be used without contention despite its temporal proximity to the gapless measurement opportunities 130 and 134. Thus, measurement resource sharing is provided to accommodate gapless measurements and gap-based measurements while complying with constraints, such as limitations imposed by a temporal proximity threshold.

[0034] For example, over a time period at least as long as a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), the UE 102 may determine whether all synchronization signal block (SSB) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any of the one or more measurement gap (MG) opportunities. When all SMTC opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, the UE 102 may allocate measurement resources to provide equal sharing between gapless measurements during a subset of SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during a subset of one or more MG opportunities. For the time period, the UE 102 may determine whether any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any of the one or more MG opportunities. When any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are less than the time proximity threshold of any of the MG opportunities, the UE 102 may allocate non-overlapping SMTC opportunities of the SMTC opportunities for gapless measurements, prohibit the use of overlapping SMTC opportunities, and allocate MG opportunities for measurements of other measurement objects.

[0035] Figure 2 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a full overlap example according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For the MG case, a UE (such as Figure 11 and 2. MGRP 224 and MGRP 226 are depicted along time axis 204 (aligned in time with time axis 202) for a measurement sharing scheme 200 for a UE 102 (with a UE 102) and for a gapless measurement case, the measurement sharing scheme is shown along time axis 204 (aligned in time with time axis 202). MGs 206, 208, and 210 are depicted along time axis 202. MG 206 is located in MGRP 224 and MG 208 is located in MGRP 226. MGRPs may have a duration of a specific time period, such as 20 milliseconds, 40 milliseconds, 80 milliseconds, or 160 milliseconds. MGs may have a duration called a measurement gap length (MGL) of a specific time period, such as 1.5 milliseconds, 3 milliseconds, 3.5 milliseconds, 4 milliseconds, 5.5 milliseconds, 6 milliseconds, 10 milliseconds, or 20 milliseconds. In the depicted example, MGRP 224 and MGRP 226 are shown as having a duration of 20 milliseconds, and MG 206, MG 208, and MG 210 are shown as having a MGL of 6 milliseconds. Gapless measurement opportunities 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, and 222 are depicted along time axis 204. Gapless measurement opportunity 212 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 228. Gapless measurement opportunity 214 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 230. Gapless measurement opportunity 216 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 232. Gapless measurement opportunity 218 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 234. Gapless measurement opportunity 220 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 236. The gapless measurement repetition period may have a duration of a specific time period, such as 5 milliseconds, 10 milliseconds, 20 milliseconds, 40 milliseconds, 80 milliseconds, or 160 milliseconds. The gapless measurement opportunity may have a duration of a specified time period, such as 1 millisecond, 2 milliseconds, 3 milliseconds, 4 milliseconds, or 5 milliseconds. In the depicted example, the gapless measurement repetition period 228, 230, 232, 234 and 236 are shown as having a duration of 10 milliseconds, and the gapless measurement duration is shown as having a duration of 2 milliseconds. Taking the MGRP of 20 milliseconds and the gapless measurement repetition period of 10 milliseconds as an example, the gapless measurement opportunities occur twice as frequently as the MG opportunities, and therefore, in a given time, there are twice as many gapless measurement opportunities as MG opportunities. Such ratios may vary in different specific implementations, as will be further illustrated by different examples below. The time location of the gapless measurement opportunity may or may not be aligned with the MG time. If the gapless measurement opportunity is located outside the MG, it may or may not be within a time proximity threshold of the MG, such as a leading edge or trailing edge of the MG. The time proximity threshold may have a specified value, for example, 4 milliseconds.

[0036] In this example, Figure 2 The relationship of the gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities shown in are within a temporal proximity threshold of each other, so there is competition in the sequence of each. By considering the absence of a time interval of at least the temporal proximity threshold, Figure 2The gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions of can be believed to be completely overlapped. In this case, the scaling factor Kp for measurement resource sharing is defined to be equal to 1, and the gapless measurement occasions share the measurement resources equally with other MG occasions.

[0037] Measurement resource sharing may be achieved as described below. It may be observed that the gapless measurement period is less than the MGRP. Within each MGRP, for each gapless measurement opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may apply a time proximity rule (e.g., a comparison with a time proximity threshold) to determine whether the gapless measurement opportunity overlaps with the MG opportunity. If all gapless measurement opportunities within the MGRP are determined to overlap with the closest MG opportunity (e.g., conflict, including when the time proximity rule is applied), the relationship of the gapless measurement opportunity to the MG opportunity is considered to be completely overlapping. The UE may arrange gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency measurement objects (MOs)) associated with the gapless measurement opportunity (rather than with the MG) to equally share measurement resources with other measurements (e.g., inter-frequency MOs and intra-frequency MOs) that may be associated with the MG opportunity. Contention instances between gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities may be resolved by permitting the use of gapless measurement opportunities for gapless measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent MG opportunities. Different instances of contention between gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities can be resolved by allowing the use of MG opportunities for gap-based measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities. By allowing and prohibiting the use of gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities for measurements in an appropriate ratio (e.g., a cyclic sequence), a fair allocation of measurement resources can be provided for different types of measurements.

[0038] Figure 3 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a partially overlapping example according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For the MG case, a UE (such as Figure 1102) and is shown along a time axis 304 (aligned in time with the time axis 302) for a gapless measurement case. MGs 306 and 310 are depicted along the time axis 302. MG 306 is located in an MGRP 324. In the depicted example, MGRP 324 is shown as having a duration of 40 milliseconds, and MG 306 and MG 310 are shown as having an MGL of 6 milliseconds. Gapless measurement opportunities 312, 314, 316, 318, 320, and 322 are depicted along the time axis 304. Gapless measurement opportunity 312 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 328. Gapless measurement opportunity 314 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 330. Gapless measurement opportunity 316 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 332. Gapless measurement opportunity 318 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 334. The gapless measurement opportunity 320 is located in the gapless measurement repetition period 336. In the depicted example, the gapless measurement repetition periods 328, 330, 332, 334, and 336 are shown as having a duration of 10 milliseconds, and the gapless measurement duration is shown as having a duration of 2 milliseconds. Taking the MGRP of 40 milliseconds and the gapless measurement repetition period of 10 milliseconds as an example, the gapless measurement opportunity occurs four times more frequently than the MG opportunity, and therefore, in a given time, the gapless measurement opportunity is four times the MG opportunity. Such ratios may vary in different implementations. The temporal proximity threshold may have a specified value, for example, 4 milliseconds.

[0039] In this example, Figure 3 The relationship of the gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities shown in FIG. 1 includes some such as gapless measurement opportunities 312 and 314 and MG opportunity 306, and gapless measurement opportunities 320 and 322 and MG opportunity 310 (which are within the time proximity threshold of each other and there is contention between them), and others such as gapless measurement opportunities 316 and 318, which are not within the time proximity threshold of any MG opportunity. Since some measurement opportunities are overlapping and some are not, where the overlap includes the presence of an amount of time less than the time proximity threshold, Figure 3 The gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities can be believed to be partially overlapping. In such cases, the scaling factor Kp for measurement resource sharing is defined as X / Y, where Y is the total number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP, including those that overlap and do not overlap with measurement gap opportunities within the MGRP based on the proximity rule, and X is the number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP that do not overlap with any MG opportunity (does not satisfy the proximity rule). Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 3 , the total number of SMTC opportunities Y within MGRP 324 is equal to 4, and the number of SMTC opportunities X within MGRP 324 that do not overlap with any MG opportunities is equal to 2, so Figure 3 The scaling factor Kp of the example is defined as X / Y=2 / 4=0.5.

[0040] Measurement resource sharing may be implemented as follows. It may be observed that the gapless measurement period is less than the MGRP. Within each MGRP, for each gapless measurement opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may apply a time proximity rule (e.g., a comparison with a time proximity threshold) to determine whether the gapless measurement opportunity overlaps with the MG opportunity. Since some but not all gapless measurement opportunities within the MGRP are determined to overlap with the closest MG opportunity (e.g., conflict, including when the time proximity rule is applied), the relationship of the gapless measurement opportunity to the MG opportunity is considered to be partially overlapping. Under the condition that the gapless measurement opportunity does not overlap with any MG opportunity, the UE may arrange to perform gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency measurement objects (MOs)) associated with the gapless measurement opportunity (rather than with the MG) in the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may prohibit gapless measurements in gapless measurement opportunities that overlap with any MG opportunity (including any time distance less than the time proximity threshold before or after any MG opportunity). The UE may enable gap-based measurements to be performed in those MG opportunities for which time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities are prohibited. Thus, the UE may be allowed to perform gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency MO (without MG)) and also be allowed to perform other measurements associated with MG occasions (e.g., inter-frequency MO and intra-frequency MO). Instances of contention between gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions may be resolved by permitting the use of MG occasions for gap-based measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent gapless measurement occasions, because in the case of partial overlap, other gapless measurement occasions without contention may be used for gapless measurements. By permitting and prohibiting the use of gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions for measurements in an appropriate ratio (e.g., a cyclic sequence), fair allocation of measurement resources may be provided for different types of measurements.

[0041] Figure 4 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a partially overlapping example according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For the MG case, a UE (such as Figure 11 and 10. In the example depicted, a measurement sharing scheme 400 for a UE 102 (with a UE 102) is shown and is illustrated along a time axis 404 (aligned in time with the time axis 402) for a gapless measurement case. MGs 406 and 410 are depicted along the time axis 402. MG 406 is located in an MGRP 424. In the depicted example, MGRP 424 is shown as having a duration of 40 milliseconds, and MG 406 and MG 410 are shown as having an MGL of 6 milliseconds. Gapless measurement opportunities 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, and 422 are depicted along the time axis 404. Gapless measurement opportunity 412 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 428. Gapless measurement opportunity 414 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 430. Gapless measurement opportunity 416 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 432. Gapless measurement opportunity 418 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 434. The gapless measurement opportunity 420 is located in the gapless measurement repetition period 436. In the depicted example, the gapless measurement repetition periods 428, 430, 432, 434, and 436 are shown as having a duration of 10 milliseconds, and the gapless measurement duration is shown as having a duration of 2 milliseconds. Taking the MGRP of 40 milliseconds and the gapless measurement repetition period of 10 milliseconds as an example, the gapless measurement opportunity occurs four times more frequently than the MG opportunity, and therefore, in a given time, the gapless measurement opportunity is four times the MG opportunity. Such ratios may vary in different implementations. The temporal proximity threshold may have a specified value, for example, 4 milliseconds.

[0042] In this example, Figure 4 The relationship between the gapless measurement opportunities and the MG opportunities shown in FIG. 4 includes some such as the gapless measurement opportunity 412 and the MG opportunity 406, and the gapless measurement opportunity 420 and the MG opportunity 410 (which are within the time proximity threshold of each other and there is contention between them), and others such as the gapless measurement opportunities 414, 416, 418 and 422, which are not within the time proximity threshold of any MG opportunity. Therefore, Figure 4 and Figure 3 The difference between the two is that the gapless measurement opportunity 414 is not within the time proximity threshold of the MG opportunity 406 (i.e., does not overlap with the MG opportunity), and the gapless measurement opportunity 422 is not within the time proximity threshold of the MG opportunity 410 (i.e., does not overlap with the MG opportunity). Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 3 , the gapless measurement opportunity 314 is within the time proximity threshold of the MG opportunity 306 (i.e., overlaps with the MG opportunity), and the gapless measurement opportunity 322 is within the time proximity threshold of the MG opportunity 310 (i.e., overlaps with the MG opportunity). Figure 4 In the example of , some measurement opportunities overlap and some do not overlap, where overlap includes presence within an amount of time less than a temporal proximity threshold, so Figure 4 The gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities can be believed to be partially overlapping. In such cases, the scaling factor Kp for measurement resource sharing is defined as X / Y, where Y is the total number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP, including those that overlap and do not overlap with measurement gap opportunities within the MGRP based on the proximity rule, and X is the number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP that do not overlap with any MG opportunity (does not satisfy the proximity rule). Figure 4 In the example of FIG4 , the total number of SMTC opportunities Y in MGRP 424 is equal to 4, and the number of SMTC opportunities X in MGRP 424 that do not overlap with any MG opportunities is equal to 3, so Figure 4 The scaling factor Kp of the example is defined as X / Y=3 / 4=0.75.

[0043] Measurement resource sharing may be implemented as follows. It may be observed that the gapless measurement period is less than the MGRP. Within each MGRP, for each gapless measurement opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may apply a time proximity rule (e.g., a comparison with a time proximity threshold) to determine whether the gapless measurement opportunity overlaps with the MG opportunity. Since some but not all gapless measurement opportunities within the MGRP are determined to overlap with the closest MG opportunity (e.g., conflict, including when the time proximity rule is applied), the relationship of the gapless measurement opportunity to the MG opportunity is considered to be partially overlapping. Under the condition that the gapless measurement opportunity does not overlap with any MG opportunity, the UE may arrange to perform gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency measurement objects (MOs)) associated with the gapless measurement opportunity (rather than with the MG) in the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may prohibit gapless measurements in gapless measurement opportunities that overlap with any MG opportunity (including any time distance less than the time proximity threshold before or after any MG opportunity). The UE may enable gap-based measurements to be performed in those MG opportunities for which time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities are prohibited. Thus, the UE may be allowed to perform gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency MO (without MG)) and also be allowed to perform other measurements associated with MG occasions (e.g., inter-frequency MO and intra-frequency MO). Instances of contention between gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions may be resolved by permitting the use of MG occasions for gap-based measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent gapless measurement occasions, because in the case of partial overlap, other gapless measurement occasions without contention may be used for gapless measurements. By permitting and prohibiting the use of gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions for measurements in an appropriate ratio (e.g., a cyclic sequence), fair allocation of measurement resources may be provided for different types of measurements.

[0044] Figure 5is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a fully overlapping example with multiple measurement gaps (MGs) per measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For the MG case, a UE (such as Figure 1 1 and 10. A measurement sharing scheme 500 for a UE 102 (with a UE 102) is shown and is illustrated along a time axis 504 (aligned in time with the time axis 502) for a gapless measurement case. MGs 506, 508, and 510 are depicted along the time axis 502. MGs 506 and 508 are located in an MGRP 524, where MG 506 is denoted as MG1 and MG 508 is denoted as MG2. MG1 and MG2 are repeated in each successive MGRP, as shown in the example where MG 510 is MG1 in the MGRP following MGRP 524. In the depicted example, MGRP 524 is shown as having a duration of 40 milliseconds, and MGs 506, 508, and MG 510 are shown as having an MGL of 6 milliseconds. Gapless measurement opportunities 512, 516, and 520 are depicted along the time axis 504. Gapless measurement opportunity 512 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 528. The gapless measurement opportunity 516 is located in the gapless measurement repetition period 532. In the depicted example, the gapless measurement repetition periods 528 and 532 are shown as having a duration of 20 milliseconds, and the gapless measurement duration is shown as having a duration of 2 milliseconds. Taking the 40 millisecond MGRP and the 20 millisecond gapless measurement repetition period as an example, the gapless measurement repetition period occurs twice as frequently as the MGRP, but since there are two MGs per MGRP at a given time, there are an equal number of gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities. Such ratios may vary in different specific implementations. The time position of the gapless measurement opportunity may or may not be aligned with the MG time. If the gapless measurement opportunity is located outside the MG, it may or may not be within a time proximity threshold of the MG, such as a leading edge or trailing edge of the MG. The time proximity threshold may have a specified value, for example, 4 milliseconds.

[0045] In this example, Figure 5 The relationship of the gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities shown in are within a temporal proximity threshold of each other, as shown by the dashed lines, so there is competition in the sequence of each. By considering the absence of a time interval of at least the temporal proximity threshold, Figure 5The gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities of MGRP 524 can be considered to be completely overlapping. Note that in this example, MG opportunity 506 (MG1) and MG opportunity 508 (MG2) are separated from each other by at least the time proximity threshold, so there is no contention between MG1 and MG2 within MGRP 524, but the time proximity of gapless measurement opportunity 512 to MG opportunity 506 and the time proximity of gapless measurement opportunity 516 to MG opportunity 508 still result in Figure 5 is an example of complete overlap. In this case, the scaling factor Kp for measurement resource sharing is defined to be equal to 1, and the gapless measurement occasions share the measurement resources equally with other MG occasions.

[0046] Measurement resource sharing may be achieved as described below. It may be observed that the gapless measurement period is less than the MGRP. Within each MGRP, for each gapless measurement opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may apply a time proximity rule (e.g., a comparison with a time proximity threshold) to determine whether the gapless measurement opportunity overlaps with the MG opportunity. If all gapless measurement opportunities within the MGRP are determined to overlap with the closest MG opportunity (e.g., conflict, including when the time proximity rule is applied), the relationship of the gapless measurement opportunity to the MG opportunity is considered to be completely overlapping. The UE may arrange gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency measurement objects (MOs)) associated with the gapless measurement opportunity (rather than with the MG) to equally share measurement resources with other measurements (e.g., inter-frequency MOs and intra-frequency MOs) that may be associated with the MG opportunity. Contention instances between gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities may be resolved by permitting the use of gapless measurement opportunities for gapless measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent MG opportunities. Different instances of contention between gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities can be resolved by permitting the use of MG opportunities for gap-based measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities. By permitting and prohibiting the use of gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities for measurements in appropriate proportions (e.g., a cyclic sequence), a fair allocation of measurement resources can be provided for different types of measurements. As an example, a fair sequence can include prohibiting MG1 opportunities and MG2 opportunities in one MGRP (e.g., MG opportunities 506 and MG opportunities 508 in MGRP 524) to allow the use of corresponding time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities (e.g., gapless measurement opportunities 512 and 516) for gapless measurements, and prohibiting time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities (e.g., gapless measurement opportunities 520) in a subsequent MGRP to allow the use of MG1 opportunities and MG2 opportunities in a subsequent MGRP (e.g., MG opportunity 510 and subsequent MG2 opportunities) for gap-based measurements. The gapless and gap-based measurement sequence can continue in a subsequent MGRP. As another example, a fair sequence may include prohibiting a gapless measurement opportunity that is close in time to an MG1 opportunity or an MG2 opportunity in one MGRP, performing gap-based measurement using the corresponding MG1 opportunity or MG2 opportunity, prohibiting the opposite of the MG1 opportunity and the MG2 opportunity in the MGRP and performing gapless measurement using a gapless measurement opportunity that is close in time to the opportunity, and then in another MGRP, performing the same operation but in the opposite situation with respect to the MG1 opportunity and the MG2 opportunity to allow gap-based measurement for MG1 and MG2, and allowing gapless measurement across multiple MGRPs.

[0047] In some aspects, such as Figure 5As shown in the example of, for a scenario with multiple MGs per MGRP (e.g., a scenario with two MGs per MGRP, such as in the case of configuring two different MG modes, e.g., for the NTN case), for example, the following actions can be performed by the UE:

[0048] Determine the window as the maximum (SMTC period, maximum MGRP), where the maximum MGRP is the maximum MGRP over all configured per-UE measurement gaps and / or per-frequency range (per-FR) measurement gaps within each frequency range (per-FR) that is the same as the SSB frequency layer, and starts from the start of any SMTC occasion. Since MGRP 524 has a longer duration than the gapless measurement repetition periods 528 and 532, thus Figure 5 the window is determined to start at the start of the gapless measurement occasion 512, and the duration equal to the duration of MGRP 524 is extended to start at the start of the gapless measurement occasion 520, spanning the gapless measurement repetition periods 528 and 532, because in this example, the ratio of the duration of MGRP 524 to the durations of the gapless measurement repetition periods 528 and 532 is 2:1.

[0049] For each SMTC occasion, the UE can find the MG occasion closest to the SMTC occasion. In Figure 5 the example of, for the gapless measurement occasion 512, the closest MG occasion is determined as the MG occasion 506. The UE can use the time proximity rule to determine whether the SMTC overlaps with the closest MG. In Figure 5 the example of, the MG occasion 506 is closer to the gapless measurement occasion 512 than the time proximity threshold of the time proximity rule. If all SMTCs within this window are determined to conflict with their respective closest MGs, but the MGs do not conflict with each other, then this situation will be regarded as a complete overlap situation with the measurement resource sharing ratio factor Kp = 1. In Figure 5 the example of, as shown by the dashed ellipsis and the "<Th" symbol, all gapless measurement occasions within the window are determined to conflict with their respective closest MGs, and as shown by the ">Th" symbol between the gapless measurement occasions 506 and 508, the MGs do not conflict with each other, so Figure 5 the example of will be regarded as a complete overlap situation with the measurement resource sharing ratio factor Kp = 1. The in-frequency measurement objects (MOs) (without MGs) associated with this SMTC can share measurement resources with other inter-frequency and in-frequency measurement objects (with MGs) based on the following options, where MG1 is associated with m1 MOs, and MG2 is associated with m2 MOs:

[0050] Option 1: The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with the SMTC will occupy 1 / (max(m1, m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended by (max(m1, m2)+1). Figure 5 In the context of , if MG1 is used for measurement of two MOs, and MG2 is used for measurement of three MOs, Option 1 will produce a result of gapless measurement performed in 1 / (3+1)=1 / 4 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to 3+1=4 times the amount of time used if gapless measurement was performed in all gapless measurement opportunities. Figure 5 In the embodiment, MG opportunity 506 and MG opportunity 508 do not conflict with each other and both can be used to make measurements according to their corresponding MOs, so when using option 1, at least one measurement can be made for each MO of both MG1 and MG2 between the allowed gapless measurements.

[0051] Option 2: The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with the SMTC will occupy 1 / (min(m1, m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended by (min(m1, m2)+1). Figure 5 In the context of example, if MG1 is used for measurement of two MOs and MG2 is used for measurement of three MOs, Option 2 will produce the result of gapless measurements performed in 1 / (2+1)=1 / 3 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to 2+1=3 times the amount of time used if gapless measurements were performed in all gapless measurement opportunities.

[0052] Option 3: The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with the SMTC will occupy 1 / ((m1+m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended by ((m1+m2)+1). Figure 5 In the context of example, if MG1 is used for measurement of two MOs and MG2 is used for measurement of three MOs, Option 1 will produce the result of gapless measurements performed in 1 / (5+1)=1 / 6 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to 5+1=6 times the amount of time used when gapless measurements were performed in all gapless measurement opportunities.

[0053] Option 4: If the measurement requires N SMTCs, the total measurement period based on the SMTCs will be extended to (N / 2)*(m1+1)+(N / 2)*(m2+1), if N is an even number, the total measurement period based on the SMTCs will be extended to ((N+1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N-1) / 2)*(m2+1), or if N is an odd number, it will be ((N-1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N+1) / 2)*(m2+1). Figure 5 In the context of example, if MG1 is used for measurement of two MOs and MG2 is used for measurement of three MOs, and 5 gapless (e.g., SMTC) measurements are required, Option 4 will produce the result of gapless measurements performed in 1 / (5+1)=1 / 6 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to ((5+1) / 2)*(2+1)+((5-1) / 2)*(3+1)=3*3+2*4=9+8=17 or ((5-1) / 2)*(2+1)+((5+1) / 2)*(3+1)=2*3+3*4=6+12=18 times the amount of time used if gapless measurements were performed in all gapless measurement opportunities.

[0054] Figure 6 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a fully overlapping example with multiple MGs per MGRP according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For the MG case, a UE (such as Figure 11 and 10. The embodiment of the present invention is a measurement sharing scheme 600 for a UE 102 having a plurality of UEs and for a gapless measurement case, the measurement sharing scheme is shown along a time axis 604 (aligned in time with the time axis 602). MGs 606, 608, and 610 are depicted along the time axis 602. MGs 606 and MG 608 are located in an MGRP 624, wherein MG 606 is denoted as MG1 and MG 608 is denoted as MG2. MG1 and MG2 are repeated in each successive MGRP, as shown in the example where MG 610 is MG1 in the MGRP following MGRP 624. In the depicted example, MGRP 624 is shown as having a duration of 40 milliseconds, and MGs 606, MG 608, and MG 610 are shown as having an MGL of 6 milliseconds. Gapless measurement opportunities 612, 616, and 620 are depicted along the time axis 604. Gapless measurement opportunity 612 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 628. The gapless measurement opportunity 616 is located in the gapless measurement repetition period 632. In the depicted example, the gapless measurement repetition periods 628 and 632 are shown as having a duration of 20 milliseconds, and the gapless measurement duration is shown as having a duration of 2 milliseconds. Taking the 40 millisecond MGRP and the 20 millisecond gapless measurement repetition period as an example, the gapless measurement repetition period occurs twice as frequently as the MGRP, but since there are two MGs per MGRP at a given time, there are an equal number of gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities. Such ratios may vary in different specific implementations. The time position of the gapless measurement opportunity may or may not be aligned with the MG time. If the gapless measurement opportunity is located outside the MG, it may or may not be within a time proximity threshold of the MG, such as a leading edge or trailing edge of the MG. The time proximity threshold may have a specified value, for example, 4 milliseconds.

[0055] In this example, Figure 6 The relationship of the gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities shown in are within a temporal proximity threshold of each other, as shown by the dashed lines, so there is competition in the sequence of each. By considering the absence of a time interval of at least the temporal proximity threshold, Figure 6 Note that in this example, MG opportunity 606 (MG1) and MG opportunity 608 (MG2) are not separated from each other by at least the time proximity threshold, so there is contention between MG1 and MG2 within MGRP 624, and MG opportunity 606 is within the time proximity threshold less than the gapless measurement opportunity 612, and MG opportunity 608 is within the time proximity threshold of the gapless measurement opportunity 616, Figure 6 An example of complete overlap is illustrated. In this case, the scaling factor Kp for measurement resource sharing is defined to be equal to 1, and the gapless measurement occasions share the measurement resources equally with other MG occasions.

[0056] Measurement resource sharing may be achieved as described below. It may be observed that the gapless measurement period is less than the MGRP. Within each MGRP, for each gapless measurement opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may apply a time proximity rule (e.g., a comparison with a time proximity threshold) to determine whether the gapless measurement opportunity overlaps with the MG opportunity. If all gapless measurement opportunities within the MGRP are determined to overlap with the closest MG opportunity (e.g., conflict, including when the time proximity rule is applied), the relationship of the gapless measurement opportunity to the MG opportunity is considered to be completely overlapping. The UE may arrange gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency measurement objects (MOs)) associated with the gapless measurement opportunity (rather than with the MG) to equally share measurement resources with other measurements (e.g., inter-frequency MOs and intra-frequency MOs) that may be associated with the MG opportunity. Contention instances between gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities may be resolved by permitting the use of gapless measurement opportunities for gapless measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent MG opportunities. Different instances of contention between gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities can be resolved by permitting the use of MG opportunities for gap-based measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities. By permitting and prohibiting the use of gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities for measurements in appropriate proportions (e.g., a cyclic sequence), a fair allocation of measurement resources can be provided for different types of measurements. As an example, a fair sequence can include prohibiting MG1 opportunities and MG2 opportunities in one MGRP (e.g., MG opportunities 606 and MG opportunities 608 in MGRP 624) to allow the use of corresponding time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities (e.g., gapless measurement opportunities 612 and 616) for gapless measurements, and prohibiting time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities (e.g., gapless measurement opportunities 620) in a subsequent MGRP to allow the use of MG1 opportunities and MG2 opportunities in a subsequent MGRP (e.g., MG opportunity 610 and a subsequent MG2 opportunity) for gap-based measurements. The gapless and gap-based measurement sequence can continue in a subsequent MGRP. As another example, a fair sequence may include prohibiting a gapless measurement opportunity that is close in time to an MG1 opportunity or an MG2 opportunity in one MGRP, performing gap-based measurement using the corresponding MG1 opportunity or MG2 opportunity, prohibiting the opposite of the MG1 opportunity and the MG2 opportunity in the MGRP and performing gapless measurement using a gapless measurement opportunity that is close in time to the opportunity, and then in another MGRP, performing the same operation but in the opposite situation with respect to the MG1 opportunity and the MG2 opportunity to allow gap-based measurement for MG1 and MG2, and allowing gapless measurement across multiple MGRPs.

[0057] for Figure 6For example, the intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC will occupy 1 / ((m1+m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on this SMTC will be extended by ((m1+m2)+1). Figure 6 In the context of example, if MG1 is used for measurement of two MOs and MG2 is used for measurement of three MOs, Option 1 will produce the result of gapless measurements performed in 1 / (5+1)=1 / 6 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to 5+1=6 times the amount of time used when gapless measurements were performed in all gapless measurement opportunities.

[0058] Figure 7 is a timing diagram illustrating measurement resource sharing for a partially overlapping example with multiple MGs per MGRP according to some aspects of the present disclosure. For the MG case, a UE (such as Figure 1 1 and 10. A measurement sharing scheme 700 for a UE 102 (with a UE 102) is shown and is illustrated along a time axis 704 (aligned in time with the time axis 702) for a gapless measurement case. MGs 706, 708, and 710 are depicted along the time axis 702. MGs 706 and 708 are located in an MGRP 724, where MG 706 is denoted as MG1 and MG 708 is denoted as MG2. MG1 and MG2 are repeated in each successive MGRP, as shown in the example where MG 710 is MG1 in the MGRP following MGRP 724. In the depicted example, MGRP 724 is shown as having a duration of 40 milliseconds, and MGs 706, 708, and MG 710 are shown as having an MGL of 6 milliseconds. Gapless measurement opportunities 712, 716, and 720 are depicted along the time axis 704. Gapless measurement opportunity 712 is located in a gapless measurement repetition period 728. The gapless measurement opportunity 716 is located in the gapless measurement repetition period 732. In the depicted example, the gapless measurement repetition periods 728 and 732 are shown as having a duration of 20 milliseconds, and the gapless measurement duration is shown as having a duration of 2 milliseconds. Taking the MGRP of 40 milliseconds and the gapless measurement repetition period of 20 milliseconds as an example, the gapless measurement repetition period occurs twice as frequently as the MGRP, but since there are two MGs per MGRP at a given time, there are an equal number of gapless measurement opportunities and MG opportunities. Such ratios may vary in different specific implementations. The time position of the gapless measurement opportunity may or may not be aligned with the MG time. If the gapless measurement opportunity is located outside the MG, it may or may not be within a time proximity threshold of the MG, such as a leading edge or trailing edge of the MG. The time proximity threshold may have a specified value, for example, 4 milliseconds.

[0059] exist Figure 7, gapless measurement opportunity 712 is shown as being within the time proximity threshold of MG opportunity 706 (MG1), gapless measurement opportunity 720 is shown as being within the time proximity threshold of MG opportunity 710 (MG1 of the next MGRP), and MG opportunity 706 (MG1) is shown as being within the time proximity threshold of MG opportunity 708 (MG2), but gapless measurement opportunity 716 is shown as being at least away from the time proximity threshold of MG opportunity 708 (MG2). Therefore, there is contention between gapless measurement opportunity 712 and MG opportunity 706, between gapless measurement opportunity 720 and MG opportunity 710, and between MG opportunity 706 and MG opportunity 708, but there is no contention between gapless measurement opportunity 716 and its closest MG opportunity in time (MG opportunity 708). Therefore, in the case where gapless measurement opportunity 716 does not overlap, Figure 7 An example of partial overlap is illustrated. In such a case, the scaling factor Kp for measurement resource sharing is defined as X / Y, where Y is the total number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP, including those that overlap and do not overlap with measurement gap opportunities within the MGRP based on the proximity rule, and X is the number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP that do not overlap with any MG opportunity (the proximity rule is not satisfied). Figure 7 In the example of FIG. 7 , the total number Y of SMTC opportunities within MGRP 724 is equal to 2, and the number X of SMTC opportunities within MGRP 724 that do not overlap with any MG opportunity is equal to 1, so Figure 7 The scaling factor Kp of the example is defined as X / Y=1 / 2=0.5.

[0060] Measurement resource sharing may be implemented as follows. It may be observed that the gapless measurement period is less than the MGRP. Within each MGRP, for each gapless measurement opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may apply a time proximity rule (e.g., a comparison with a time proximity threshold) to determine whether the gapless measurement opportunity overlaps with the MG opportunity. Since some but not all gapless measurement opportunities within the MGRP are determined to overlap with the closest MG opportunity (e.g., conflict, including when the time proximity rule is applied), the relationship of the gapless measurement opportunity to the MG opportunity is considered to be partially overlapping. Under the condition that the gapless measurement opportunity does not overlap with any MG opportunity, the UE may arrange to perform gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency measurement objects (MOs)) associated with the gapless measurement opportunity (rather than with the MG) in the gapless measurement opportunity. The UE may prohibit gapless measurements in gapless measurement opportunities that overlap with any MG opportunity (including any time distance less than the time proximity threshold before or after any MG opportunity). The UE may enable gap-based measurements to be performed in those MG opportunities for which time-adjacent gapless measurement opportunities are prohibited. Thus, the UE may be allowed to perform gapless measurements (e.g., intra-frequency MO (without MG)) and also be allowed to perform other measurements associated with MG occasions (e.g., inter-frequency MO and intra-frequency MO). Instances of contention between gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions may be resolved by permitting the use of MG occasions for gap-based measurements and prohibiting the use of time-adjacent gapless measurement occasions, because in the case of partial overlap, other gapless measurement occasions without contention may be used for gapless measurements. By permitting and prohibiting the use of gapless measurement occasions and MG occasions for measurements in an appropriate ratio (e.g., a cyclic sequence), fair allocation of measurement resources may be provided for different types of measurements.

[0061] Figure 8 It is a flow chart of a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Method 800 includes actions 802, 804 and 806. At action 802, for each of a plurality of gapless synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), the UE finds the measurement gap (MG) opportunity that is closest in time to the gapless SMTC opportunity. At action 804, the UE applies a time proximity rule to check whether each of a plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity that is closest in time. At action 806, the UE determines a measurement resource sharing scheme based on checking whether each of a plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity that is closest in time.

[0062] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Method 900 includes actions 902, 904, 906, 908, 910 and 912. At action 902, within a first measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), for each of N SMTC opportunities, the UE finds the MG opportunity that is closest in time among M MG opportunities. Action 904 is a decision box, where the UE determines whether the relationship of the N SMTC opportunities completely overlaps with the M MG opportunities. If so, at action 906, within a time proximity threshold of the first SMTC opportunity, the UE prohibits measurement during a first MG opportunity among the M MG opportunities, assigns the first SMTC opportunity for the first SMTC measurement, prohibits measurement during a second SMTC opportunity within a time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity, and assigns the second MG opportunity for the first non-SMTC measurement.

[0063] If at action 904, the UE determines that the relationship between the N SMTC opportunities and the M MG opportunities does not completely overlap, the UE performs action 908, which is a decision box, in which the UE determines whether the relationship between the N SMTC opportunities and the M MG opportunities partially overlaps. If so, at action 912, within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity, the UE prohibits measurement during the first SMTC opportunity, assigns the first MG opportunity for the first non-SMTC measurement, and assigns the second SMTC opportunity for the second SMTC measurement. The second SMTC opportunity is away from any MG opportunity among the M MG opportunities by more than the time proximity threshold. If at action 908, the UE determines that the relationship between the N SMTC opportunities and the M MG opportunities does not partially overlap, the UE performs action 910 to use the available SMTC and MG opportunities without restrictions on non-overlapping situations.

[0064] Fig.10 is a method for a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 The sub-method 1000 includes an action 1002, where the UE may, for example, Fig. 9 The action is performed after action 906. At action 1002, within a time proximity threshold of a third SMTC opportunity, the UE prohibits measurement during a third MG opportunity in a third MGRP, assigns the third SMTC opportunity for a second SMTC measurement, prohibits measurement during a fourth SMTC opportunity, and assigns a fourth MG opportunity in a fourth MGRP for a second non-SMTC measurement.

[0065] Fig.11 is a method for a UE configured to measure resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9Sub-method 1100 includes action 1102 and action 1104. For example, the UE may Fig. 9 After action 906, action 1102 is performed. At action 1102, when the third MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity, the UE prohibits measurement during the third MG opportunity. At action 1104, when the third SMTC opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the third MG opportunity, the UT prohibits measurement during the third SMTC opportunity.

[0066] Fig.12 is a method for a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 Sub-method 1200 includes action 1202, as an example, the UE can Fig. 9 The action is performed after action 912. At action 1202, within the time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity, the UE prohibits measurement during the third SMTC opportunity, assigns the second MG opportunity for the second non-SMTC measurement, and assigns the third SMTC opportunity for the third SMTC measurement, the third SMTC opportunity being away from any of the M MG opportunities beyond the time proximity threshold.

[0067] Fig.13 is a method for a UE configured to perform measurement resource sharing according to some aspects of the present disclosure Fig. 9 Sub-method 1300 includes action 1302, as an example, the UE can Fig. 9 This action is performed after action 912. At action 1302, when the third SMTC opportunity is away from the third MG opportunity beyond a time proximity threshold, the UE assigns the third SMTC opportunity for the second SMTC measurement.

[0068] Fig.1414 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of fair allocation of measurement resources according to some aspects of the present disclosure. A sequence 1400 of measurement resource opportunities begins with a gapless SMTC opportunity 1402, followed by an MG opportunity 1404 that is less than a time proximity threshold, the MG opportunity belonging to the MG1 group of MG opportunities, and begins with an MGRP that ends at the start of MG opportunity 1412. MG opportunity 1404 is followed by an MG opportunity 1406 that is less than a time proximity threshold, the MG opportunity belonging to the MG2 group of MG opportunities, and is in the same MGRP as MC opportunity 1404. MC opportunity 1406 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1408 that is less than a time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity also being in the same MGRP as MG opportunities 1404 and 1406. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1408 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1410 that is in the same MGRP as MG opportunities 1404 and 1046 and the gapless SMTC opportunity 1408.

[0069] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1402, MG opportunity 1404, MG opportunity 1406 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1408, these opportunities are not allowed to be adjacent in time to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the gapless SMTC opportunity 1402 is to be used for gapless measurement, and the MG opportunity 1404 and MG opportunity 1406 are prohibited from being used for measurement. However, the prohibition of MG opportunities 1404 and 1406 breaks the chain of time proximity that is not allowed between SMTC opportunity 1402 and SMTC opportunity 1408, thereby allowing SMTC opportunity 1408 to be selected for measurement as well.

[0070] The gapless SMTC opportunity 1410 is followed by an MG opportunity 1412 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the second MGRP. The MG opportunity 1412 is followed by an MG opportunity 1414 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1414 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1416 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0071] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1410, MG opportunity 1412, MG opportunity 1414 and SMTC opportunity 1416, these opportunities are not allowed to be time adjacent to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the MG opportunity 1412 is to be used for gap-based measurement, and the gapless SMTC opportunity 1410, MG opportunity 1414 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1416 are prohibited from being used for measurement.

[0072] At a time greater than or equal to the time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity 1416 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1418. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1418 is followed by an MG opportunity 1420 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the third MGRP. The MG opportunity 1420 is followed by an MG opportunity 1422 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1422 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1424 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0073] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1418, MG opportunity 1420, MG opportunity 1422 and SMTC opportunity 1424, these opportunities are not allowed to be time adjacent to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the MG opportunity 1422 is to be used for gap-based measurement, and the gapless SMTC opportunity 1418, MG opportunity 1420 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1422 are prohibited from being used for measurement.

[0074] At a time greater than or equal to the time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity 1424 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1426. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1426 is followed by an MG opportunity 1428 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the third MGRP. The MG opportunity 1428 is followed by an MG opportunity 1430 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1430 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1432 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0075] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1426, MG opportunity 1428, MG opportunity 1430 and SMTC opportunity 1432, these opportunities are not allowed to be time adjacent to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the gapless SMTC opportunity 1426 is to be used for gapless measurement, and the MG opportunity 1428 and MG opportunity 1430 are prohibited from being used for measurement. However, the prohibition of MG opportunities 1428 and 1430 breaks the chain of time proximity that is not allowed between SMTC opportunity 1426 and SMTC opportunity 1432, thereby allowing SMTC opportunity 1432 to be selected for measurement as well. At this point in the sequence, four gapless SMTC opportunities (gapless SMTC opportunity 1402, gapless SMTC opportunity 1408, gapless SMTC opportunity 1426 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1432) have been selected for gapless measurement, and two MG opportunities (MG opportunity 1412 and MG opportunity 1422) have been selected for gap-based measurement, thereby providing fairness and equality in measurement resource sharing. At this point, the selection sequence may be repeated as will be described below.

[0076] At a time greater than or equal to the time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity 1432 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1434. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1434 is followed by an MG opportunity 1436 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the third MGRP. The MG opportunity 1436 is followed by an MG opportunity 1438 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1438 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1440 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0077] In the gapless SMTC opportunity 1434, MG opportunity 1436, MG opportunity 1438 and SMTC opportunity 1440, these opportunities are not allowed to be close in time to each other, thereby preventing them from being used for measurement. The UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the MG opportunity 1436 is to be used for gap-based measurement, and the MG opportunity 1436, MG opportunity 1438 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1440 are prohibited from being used for measurement. As shown in the figure, a cyclic allocation scheme can be used, wherein, after selecting to use the SMTC opportunity 1432, the MG opportunity 1436 can be selected for gap-based measurement, thereby providing a repetitive pattern of SMTC-MG1-MG2-SMTC-MG1-MG2... for measurement resource sharing. If one or both of MG1 or MG2 supports more than one MO, multiple MOs of each MG can take turns in the cyclic allocation. For example, for the example of MG1 having two MOs and MG2 having two MOs, a sequence of SMTC-MG1MO1-MG2MO1-MG1MO2-MG2MO2-SMTC-MG1MO1-MG2MO1-MG1MO2-MG2MO2 . . . may be implemented.

[0078] Fig.15 is a timing diagram illustrating an example of fair allocation of measurement resources according to some aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, different implementations may select among different MG opportunities of multiple MG opportunities in each MGRP in various orders. Fig.14 shows the MG1-MG2 selection order, but Fig.15The MG2-MG1 selection order is shown. The selection order of the MOs of the MGs may also be changed. The sequence 1500 of measurement resource opportunities begins with a gapless SMTC opportunity 1502, followed by an MG opportunity 1504 that is less than a time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group of MG opportunities, and begins with an MGRP that ends at the start of MG opportunity 1512. MG opportunity 1504 is followed by an MG opportunity 1506 that is less than a time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group of MG opportunities, and is in the same MGRP as MC opportunity 1504. MC opportunity 1506 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1508 that is less than a time proximity threshold, which is also in the same MGRP as MG opportunities 1504 and 1506. Gapless SMTC opportunity 1508 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1510, which is in the same MGRP as MG opportunities 1504 and 1046 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1508.

[0079] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1502, MG opportunity 1504, MG opportunity 1506 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1508, these opportunities are not allowed to be adjacent in time to each other, thereby preventing them from being all used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the gapless SMTC opportunity 1502 is to be used for gapless measurement, and the MG opportunity 1504 and MG opportunity 1506 are prohibited from being used for measurement. However, the prohibition of MG opportunities 1504 and 1506 breaks the chain of time proximity that is not allowed between SMTC opportunity 1502 and SMTC opportunity 1508, thereby allowing SMTC opportunity 1508 to be selected for measurement as well.

[0080] The gapless SMTC opportunity 1510 is followed by an MG opportunity 1512 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the second MGRP. The MG opportunity 1512 is followed by an MG opportunity 1514 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1514 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1516 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0081] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1510, MG opportunity 1512, MG opportunity 1514 and SMTC opportunity 1516, these opportunities are not allowed to be time adjacent to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the MG opportunity 1514 is to be used for gap-based measurement, and the gapless SMTC opportunity 1510, MG opportunity 1512 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1516 are prohibited from being used for measurement.

[0082] At a time greater than or equal to the time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity 1516 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1518. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1518 is followed by an MG opportunity 1520 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the third MGRP. The MG opportunity 1520 is followed by an MG opportunity 1522 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1522 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1524 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0083] Among the gapless SMTC opportunity 1518, MG opportunity 1520, MG opportunity 1522 and SMTC opportunity 1524, these opportunities are not allowed to be time adjacent to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the MG opportunity 1520 is to be used for gap-based measurement, and the gapless SMTC opportunity 1518, MG opportunity 1522 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1524 are prohibited from being used for measurement.

[0084] At a time greater than or equal to the time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity 1524 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1526. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1526 is followed by an MG opportunity 1528 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the third MGRP. The MG opportunity 1528 is followed by an MG opportunity 1530 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1530 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1532 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0085] Among the gapless SMTC opportunities 1526, MG opportunities 1528, MG opportunities 1530, and SMTC opportunities 1532, these opportunities are not allowed to be time adjacent to each other, thereby preventing them all from being used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the gapless SMTC opportunity 1526 is to be used for gapless measurement, and the MG opportunities 1528 and MG opportunities 1530 are prohibited from being used for measurement. However, the prohibition of MG opportunities 1528 and 1530 breaks the chain of time proximity that is not allowed between SMTC opportunities 1526 and SMTC opportunities 1532, thereby allowing SMTC opportunities 1532 to be selected for measurement as well. At this point in the sequence, four gapless SMTC opportunities (gapless SMTC opportunities 1502, gapless SMTC opportunities 1508, gapless SMTC opportunities 1526, and gapless SMTC opportunities 1532) have been selected for gapless measurement, and two MG opportunities (MG opportunities 1512 and MG opportunities 1522) have been selected for gap-based measurement, thereby providing fairness and equality in measurement resource sharing. At this point, the selection sequence may be repeated as will be described below.

[0086] At a time greater than or equal to the time proximity threshold, the gapless SMTC opportunity 1532 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1534. The gapless SMTC opportunity 1534 is followed by an MG opportunity 1536 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG1 group and starts the third MGRP. The MG opportunity 1536 is followed by an MG opportunity 1538 less than the time proximity threshold, which belongs to the MG2 group. The MG opportunity 1538 is followed by a gapless SMTC opportunity 1540 less than the time proximity threshold.

[0087] In the gapless SMTC opportunity 1534, MG opportunity 1536, MG opportunity 1538 and SMTC opportunity 1540, these opportunities are not allowed to be close in time to each other, thereby preventing them from being used for measurement, and the UE selects a measurement resource opportunity, in which case the MG opportunity 1536 is to be used for gap-based measurement, and the MG opportunity 1536, MG opportunity 1538 and gapless SMTC opportunity 1540 are prohibited from being used for measurement. As shown in the figure, a cyclic allocation scheme can be used, wherein, after selecting to use the SMTC opportunity 1532, the MG opportunity 1536 can be selected for gap-based measurement, thereby providing a repetitive pattern of SMTC-MG2-MG1-SMTC-MG2-MG1... for measurement resource sharing. If one or both of MG1 or MG2 supports more than one MO, multiple MOs of each MG can take turns in the cyclic allocation. For example, for the example of MG1 having two MOs and MG2 having two MOs, a sequence of SMTC-MG2MO1-MG1MO1-MG2MO2-MG1MO2-SMTC-MG2MO1-MG1MO1-MG2MO2-MG1MO2 . . . may be implemented.

[0088] Fig.16 is an example and about Figure 5 Timing diagram of an exemplary measurement resource sharing sequence related to Option 1 discussed above. As discussed above, the intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with the SMTC will occupy 1 / (max(m1, m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended by (max(m1, m2)+1). Figure 5 In the context of , if MG1 is used for measurement of three MOs and MG2 is used for measurement of two MOs, option 1 will produce a result of gapless measurement performed in 1 / (3+1)=1 / 4 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to 3+1=4 times the amount of time used if gapless measurement was performed in all gapless measurement opportunities. Figure 5In the embodiment, MG opportunity 506 and MG opportunity 508 do not conflict with each other and both can be used to make measurements according to their corresponding MOs, so when using option 1, at least one measurement can be made for each MO of both MG1 and MG2 between the allowed gapless measurements. As discussed below, in Fig.16 The evolution of the measurement resource sharing scheme over time can be seen in .

[0089] In the conflicting gapless measurement opportunity 1602 and the MG opportunity 1604 of MG1, the gapless measurement opportunity 1602 is selected for use, and the MG opportunity 1604 is prohibited. In the conflicting gapless measurement opportunity 1606 of MG2 and the gapless measurement opportunity 1608, the gapless measurement opportunity 1608 is selected for use, and the MG opportunity 1606 is prohibited. In the conflicting gapless measurement opportunity 1610 and the MG opportunity 1612 of MG1, the MG opportunity 1612 of MG1 is selected for the first MO of the three MOs of MG1, and the gapless measurement opportunity 1610 is prohibited. In the conflicting gapless measurement opportunity 1614 of MG2 and the gapless measurement opportunity 1616, the MG opportunity 1614 is selected for the first MO of the two MOs of MG2. In the conflicting gapless measurement opportunity 1618 and the MG opportunity 1620 of MG1, the MG opportunity 1620 of MG1 is selected for the second MO of the three MOs of MG1, and the gapless measurement opportunity 1618 is prohibited. In the conflicting MG timing 1622 of MG2 and the gapless measurement timing 1624, the MG timing 1622 is selected for the second MO of the two MOs of MG2. In the conflicting gapless measurement timing 1626 and the MG timing 1628 of MG1, the MG timing 1628 of MG1 is selected for the third MO of the three MOs of MG1, and the gapless measurement timing 1626 is prohibited. In the conflicting MG timing 1630 of MG2 and the gapless measurement timing 1632, the MG timing 1630 is selected for the next instance of the first MO of the two MOs of MG2. In the conflicting gapless measurement timing 1634 and the MG timing 1636 of MG1, the use of the gapless measurement timing 1634 is selected, and the MG timing 1636 is prohibited. In the MG timing 1638 of MG2 and the gapless measurement timing 1640, the gapless measurement timing 1640 is selected for the gapless measurement, and the MG timing 1638 is prohibited.

[0090] Fig.17 is an example of Figure 6 Timing diagram of the related exemplary measurement resource sharing sequence. As discussed above, the intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with the SMTC will occupy 1 / (m1+m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended by (m1+m2)+1). Figure 6In the context of , if MG1 is used for measurement of three MOs, and MG2 is used for measurement of two MOs, the result will be that gapless measurement is performed in 1 / (5+1)=1 / 6 of the gapless measurement opportunities, and the total measurement period will be extended to 5+1=6 times the amount of time used if gapless measurement was performed in all gapless measurement opportunities. Figure 6 MG Opportunity 606 and MG Opportunity 608 conflict with each other, so both cannot be used in the same MGRP for measurements according to their respective MOs. If one or the other MO is selected, then either the MO of MG1 or the MO of MG2 can be used for measurements in that MGRP. As discussed below, Fig.17 The evolution of the measurement resource sharing scheme over time can be seen in .

[0091] Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1702, MG opportunities 1704 of MG1, MG opportunities 1706 of MG2, and gapless measurement opportunities 1708, the gapless measurement opportunity 1702 is selected for use, and the MG opportunities 1704 and 1706 are prohibited. Since the time proximity chain between the gapless measurement opportunities 1702 and 1708 is broken by prohibiting the MG opportunities 1704 and 1706, there is enough time of at least the time proximity threshold between the gapless measurement opportunities 1704 and 1706, and both opportunities can be used for gapless measurement. Therefore, together with the gapless measurement opportunity 1602, the gapless measurement opportunity 1608 is also selected for gapless measurement.

[0092] Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1710 , MG opportunity 1712 of MG1 , MG opportunity 1714 of MG1 , and gapless measurement opportunities 1716 , MG opportunity 1712 of MG1 is selected for the first MO of the three MOs of MG1 , and gapless measurement opportunities 1710 , 1714 , and 1716 are prohibited.

[0093] Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1718, the MG opportunities 1720 of MG1, the MG opportunities 1722 of MG2, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1724, the MG opportunities 1722 are selected for the first MO of the two MOs of MG2. Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1726, the MG opportunities 1728 of MG1, the MG opportunities 1730 of MG2, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1732, the MG opportunities 1728 of MG1 are selected for the second MO of the three MOs of MG1, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1726, MG opportunities 1730, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1732 are prohibited. Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1734, the MG opportunities 1736 of MG1, the MG opportunities 1738 of MG2, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1740, the MG opportunities 1738 are selected for the second MO of the two MOs of MG2. Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1742, the MG opportunity 1744 of MG1, the MG opportunity 1746 of MG2, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1748, the MG opportunity 1744 of MG1 is selected for the third MO of the three MOs of MG1, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1742, 1746, and 1748 are prohibited. Among the conflicting gapless measurement opportunities 1750, the MG opportunity 1752 of MG1, the MG opportunity 1754 of MG2, and the gapless measurement opportunities 1756, the gapless measurement opportunities 1750 and the gapless measurement opportunities 1756 are selected for the gapless measurement. Breaking the time-adjacent conflict chain by prohibiting the MG opportunities 1752 and 1754 allows the use of the gapless measurement opportunities 1750 and 1756.

[0094] Fig.18 18 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system including a UE device and a network device according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In system 1800, signaling 1834 is performed between a wireless device 1802 and a network device 1818 according to at least one aspect disclosed herein. System 1800 may be part of a wireless communication system as described herein. Wireless device 1802 may be, for example, a UE of a wireless communication system. Network device 1818 may be, for example, a base station (e.g., an evolved next generation base station (eNB) or a next generation base station (gNB)) of a wireless communication system.

[0095] The wireless device 1802 may include one or more processors 1804. The processor 1804 may execute instructions to cause various operations of the wireless device 1802 to be performed, as described herein. The processor 1804 may include one or more baseband processors implemented using, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0096] The wireless device 1802 may include a memory 1806. The memory 1806 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 1808 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by the processor 1804). The instructions 1808 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. The memory 1806 may also store data used by the processor 1804 and results calculated by the processor.

[0097] The wireless device 1802 may include one or more transceivers 1810, which may include radio frequency (RF) transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses an antenna 1812 of the wireless device 1802 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 1834) transmitted or received by the wireless device 1802 with other devices (e.g., network device 1818) according to a corresponding RAT.

[0098] The wireless device 1802 may include one or more antennas 1812 (e.g., one, two, four, or more). For aspects having multiple antennas 1812, the wireless device 1802 may take advantage of the spatial diversity of such multiple antennas 1812 to transmit and / or receive multiple different data streams on the same time-frequency resources. This behavior may be referred to as, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) behavior (referring to multiple antennas used at each of the transmitting device and the receiving device to implement this aspect). MIMO transmissions by the wireless device 1802 may be implemented based on precoding (or digital beamforming) applied to the wireless device 1802, which multiplexes the data streams between the antennas 1812 based on known or assumed channel characteristics, so that each data stream is received with appropriate signal strength relative to the other streams and at a desired location in the spatial domain (e.g., the location of the receiver associated with the data stream). Certain aspects may use a single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) approach (where data streams are all directed to a single receiver) and / or a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) approach (where separate data streams may be directed to separate (different) receivers in different locations in the spatial domain).

[0099] In certain aspects with multiple antennas, wireless device 1802 may implement analog beamforming techniques whereby the phases of signals transmitted by antennas 1812 are adjusted relative to each other such that the (joint) transmissions of antennas 1812 are directional (this is sometimes referred to as beam steering).

[0100] The wireless device 1802 may include one or more interfaces 1814. The interface 1814 may be used to provide input or output to the wireless device 1802. For example, the wireless device 1802 as a UE may include an interface 1814, such as a microphone, a speaker, a touch screen, a button, etc., to allow a user of the UE to input and / or output to the UE. Other interfaces of such a UE may be composed of transmitters, receivers, and other circuit systems (for example, in addition to the transceiver 1810 / antenna 1812 described above), which allow the UE to communicate with other devices and may be based on known protocols (for example, etc.) to perform the operation.

[0101] The network device 1818 may include one or more processors 1820. The processor 1820 may execute instructions to cause various operations of the network device 1818 to be performed, as described herein. The processor 1804 may include one or more baseband processors implemented using, for example, a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a controller, an FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0102] The network device 1818 may include a memory 1822. The memory 1822 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 1824 (these instructions may include, for example, instructions executed by the processor 1820). The instructions 1824 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. The memory 1822 may also store data used by the processor 1820 and results calculated by the processor.

[0103] The network device 1818 may include one or more transceivers 1826, which may include RF transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses an antenna 1828 of the network device 1818 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 1834) transmitted or received by the network device 1818 with other devices (e.g., wireless device 1802) according to a corresponding RAT.

[0104] The network device 1818 can include one or more antennas 1828 (e.g., one, two, four, or more). In aspects with multiple antennas 1828, the network device 1818 can perform MIMO, digital beamforming, analog beamforming, beamsteering, etc. as described.

[0105] The network device 1818 may include one or more interfaces 1830. The interfaces 1830 may be used to provide input or output to the network device 1818. For example, the network device 1818 acting as a base station may include interfaces 1830 composed of a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuitry (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 1826 / antenna 1828 already described), which enable the base station to communicate with other equipment in the core network and / or enable the base station to communicate with an external network, a computer, a database, etc., for the purpose of performing operations, managing, and maintaining the base station or other equipment operably connected thereto.

[0106] According to at least one aspect, the instructions 1808 in the memory 1806 may include instructions for resolving time conflicts (i.e., de-conflicting) between gapless measurement opportunities (e.g., SMTC measurement opportunities) and gap-based measurement opportunities (e.g., MG opportunities). Examples of such operations that detail the UE device 1802 (such as UE 102) are disclosed herein to implement a measurement sharing scheme for resolving any such time conflicts (including time conflicts caused by the operation of the time proximity rule), and at least one method for implementing a measurement sharing scheme for resolving any such time conflicts.

[0107] In some aspects, for a single MG scenario, when the SMTC period < MGRP, for example, the following actions may be performed by the UE:

[0108] Within the MGRP, for each SMTC opportunity, the UE may find the MG opportunity closest to the SMTC opportunity. The UE may use the proximity rule to determine whether the SMTC overlaps with the MG. If all SMTCs within the MGRP are determined to conflict with their respective closest MG, such a case will still be regarded as a complete overlap case with a measurement resource sharing ratio factor Kp = 1. The in-frequency MO (without MG) associated with the SMTC may share the measurement resources equally with other inter-frequency and in-frequency MOs (with MG). If not all SMTCs within the MGRP are determined to conflict with their respective closest MG, such a case will be regarded as a partially overlapping case, where the measurement resource sharing ratio factor is Kp = X / Y, where Y is the total number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP, including those that overlap and do not overlap with the measurement gap opportunities within the MGRP based on the proximity rule, and X is the number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP that do not overlap with any MG opportunity (not satisfying the proximity rule).

[0109] In some aspects, for a scenario with multiple MGs per MGRP (e.g., a scenario with two MGs per MGRP, such as in the case of configuring two different MG modes, e.g., for the NTN case), for example, the following actions may be performed by the UE:

[0110] For a window of maximum (SMTC period, maximum MGRP), where maximum MGRP is the maximum MGRP over all configured per-UE measurement gaps and / or per-FR measurement gaps within the same FR as the SSB frequency layer, and starting from the start of any SMTC opportunity, the UE will find the MG opportunity closest to the SMTC opportunity for each SMTC opportunity. The UE will use the proximity rule to determine whether the SMTC overlaps with the closest MG. If all SMTCs within the window are determined to conflict with their corresponding closest MGs, but the MGs do not conflict with each other, this situation will be considered a full overlap situation with a measurement resource sharing scaling factor of Kp=1. The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC can share measurement resources with other inter-frequency and intra-frequency measurement objects (with MG) based on the following options, where MG1 is associated with the m1 MO and MG2 is associated with the m2MO:

[0111] Option 1: The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC will occupy 1 / (max(m1, m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on this SMTC will be extended by (max(m1, m2)+1)

[0112] Option 2: The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC will occupy 1 / (min(m1, m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on this SMTC will be extended by (min(m1, m2)+1)

[0113] Option 3: The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC will occupy 1 / ((m1+m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on this SMTC will be extended by ((m1+m2)+1)

[0114] Option 4: If the measurement requires N SMTCs, the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended to (N / 2)*(m1+1)+(N / 2)*(m2+1), if N is an even number, the total measurement period based on the SMTC will be extended to ((N+1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N-1) / 2)*(m2+1), or if N is an odd number, it will be ((N-1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N+1) / 2)*(m2+1).

[0115] In some aspects, for a scenario of multiple MGs per MGRP (e.g., a scenario of two MGs per MGRP, such as when two different MG modes are configured, e.g., for an NTN case), for example, the following actions may be performed by the UE:

[0116] For a window of maximum (SMTC period, maximum MGRP), where maximum MGRP is the maximum MGRP over all configured per-UE measurement gaps and / or per-FR measurement gaps within the same FR as the SSB frequency layer, and starting from the start of any SMTC opportunity, the UE will find the MG opportunity closest to the SMTC opportunity for each SMTC opportunity. The UE will use the proximity rule to determine whether the SMTC overlaps with the closest MG. If all SMTCs within the window are determined to conflict with their corresponding closest MGs, and the MGs conflict with each other, this situation will be considered a full overlap situation with a measurement resource sharing scaling factor of Kp=1. The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC can share measurement resources with other inter-frequency and intra-frequency measurement objects (with MG) based on the following options, where MG1 is associated with the m1 MO and MG2 is associated with the m2MO:

[0117] The intra-frequency MO (without MG) associated with this SMTC will occupy 1 / ((m1+m2)+1), and the total measurement period based on this SMTC will be extended by ((m1+m2)+1).

[0118] In some aspects, for a scenario of multiple MGs per MGRP (e.g., a scenario of two MGs per MGRP, such as when two different MG modes are configured, e.g., for an NTN case), for example, the following actions may be performed by the UE:

[0119] For a window of maximum (SMTC period, maximum MGRP), where maximum MGRP is the maximum MGRP over all configured per-UE measurement gaps and / or per-FR measurement gaps within the same FR as the SSB frequency layer, and starting from the start of any SMTC opportunity, the UE will find the MG opportunity closest to the SMTC opportunity for each SMTC opportunity. The UE will use the proximity rule to determine whether the SMTC overlaps with the closest MG. If not all SMTCs within the window are determined to conflict with their corresponding closest MGs, regardless of whether the MGs conflict with each other, such cases will be considered as partial overlap cases, where the measurement resource sharing scaling factor Kp = X / Y, where Y is the total number of SMTC opportunities within the MGRP, including those that overlap and do not overlap with measurement gap opportunities within the MGRP based on the proximity rule, and X is the number of SMTC opportunities within the window that do not overlap with any non-discarded MG opportunities.

[0120] Although the method is illustrated above and described as a series of actions or events, it should be understood that the order of such actions or events illustrated should not be interpreted as having a limiting meaning. For example, some actions can occur simultaneously with other actions or events other than those illustrated and / or described herein in different orders. In addition, all illustrated actions may not be required to implement one or more aspects or embodiments disclosed herein. In addition, one or more actions in the actions shown herein may be performed in one or more separate actions and / or stages. In some embodiments, the method illustrated above can be implemented in a computer-readable medium using instructions stored in a memory. Many other embodiments and variations are possible within the scope of the present disclosure protected by the claims.

[0121] As used in this specification, the term "processor" may refer to substantially any computing processing unit or device, including but not limited to single-core processors; single processors with software multi-threaded execution capabilities; multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multi-threaded execution capabilities; multi-core processors with hardware multi-threading technology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributed shared memory. In addition, a processor may refer to an integrated circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic controller, a complex programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions and / or processes described herein. The processor may utilize nanoscale architectures, such as but not limited to molecular and quantum dot-based transistors, switches, and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhance the performance of a mobile device. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing processing units. The processor or baseband processor may be configured to execute the instructions described herein.

[0122] Embodiments (aspects) may include subject matter, such as a method, components for performing actions or blocks of the method, and at least one machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a machine (e.g., a processor with memory, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.), cause the machine to perform actions of a method or apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to the aspects and embodiments described herein.

[0123] Embodiment 1 may include a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE includes one or more processors, wherein the processors are configured to enable the UE to: determine a measurement gap (MG) opportunity that is closest in time for each of a plurality of gapless synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP); apply a time proximity rule to check whether each of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity that is closest in time; determine a measurement resource sharing scheme based on checking whether each of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity that is closest in time; and perform one or more measurements based on the measurement resource sharing scheme.

[0124] Embodiment 2 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may also include: when each of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities share measurement resources equally with other measurement objects using MG opportunities.

[0125] Embodiment 3 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may further include: when each of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, the first overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is enabled for gapless measurement, the first overlapping MG opportunity is disabled, and the first overlapping MG opportunity is located within the time proximity threshold of the first overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity, the second overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is disabled, and the second overlapping MG opportunity is enabled for gap-based measurement, and the second overlapping MG opportunity is located within the time proximity threshold of the second overlapping SMTC opportunity.

[0126] Embodiment 4 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may also include: when less than all of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlap with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, a first non-overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is enabled for gapless measurement, a first overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is disabled, and a first overlapping MG opportunity is enabled for gap-based measurement, and the first overlapping MG opportunity is located within a time proximity threshold of the first overlapping SMTC opportunity.

[0127] Embodiment 5 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may further include: when a first MG opportunity is within a time proximity threshold of a second MG opportunity, prohibiting use of the first MG opportunity and enabling use of the second MG opportunity for gap-based measurement.

[0128] Embodiment 6 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may also include: when each of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, and the first MG opportunity overlaps with the second MG opportunity, the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities equally share measurement resources with other measurement objects (MO) using the first MG opportunity and the second MG opportunity.

[0129] Embodiment 7 may include Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 6, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may further include: when the first MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity and the second MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first SMTC opportunity, enabling measurement of a first measurement object (MO) associated with the first MG opportunity, prohibiting measurement of the second MO associated with the second MG opportunity, and prohibiting gapless measurement of at least one of the first MO and the second MO within the time proximity threshold.

[0130] Embodiment 8 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may also include: when at least one of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities does not overlap with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities are measured only during the at least one gapless SMTC opportunity, and not during other gapless SMTC opportunities that overlap with any MG opportunity among the MG opportunities.

[0131] Embodiment 9 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may also include: when each of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, allocating measurement resources in a cyclic manner between gapless measurements during a subset of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during MG opportunities.

[0132] Embodiment 10 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may further include: when less than all of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlap with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, allocating measurement resources according to a measurement resource sharing proportional factor to provide gapless measurements during the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities in proportion to other measurement objects using the MG opportunities, the value of the measurement resource sharing proportional factor being equal to a fraction, the numerator of the fraction being equal to the first number of SMTC windows that do not conflict with any MG within the MGRP within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), and the denominator being equal to the total number of SMTC windows within the MGRP.

[0133] Embodiment 11 may include embodiment 1, and the measurement resource sharing scheme may also include: when the first MG opportunity is away from the second MG opportunity beyond a time proximity threshold, and the second MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first SMTC opportunity, enabling the use of the first MG opportunity for measurement according to the measurement object (MO), prohibiting the use of the second MG opportunity, and enabling the use of the first SMTC opportunity for gapless measurement.

[0134] Embodiment 12 may include embodiment 1 and embodiment 11, and further, wherein enabling use of the first MG opportunity includes selecting the MO according to a round-robin selection among a plurality of MOs associated with any one of the one or more MGs.

[0135] Embodiment 13 may include Embodiment 1, Embodiment 11 and Embodiment 12, and further, wherein the cyclic selection includes corresponding measurements for multiple MOs to be performed, selecting in turn among the multiple MOs; and when each MGRP defines two MGs, the SSB-based measurement to be performed is selected once more than the maximum value of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

[0136] Embodiment 14 may include Embodiment 1, Embodiment 11 and Embodiment 12, and further, wherein the cyclic selection includes corresponding measurements for multiple MOs to be performed, selecting in turn among the multiple MOs; and when each MGRP defines two MGs, the SSB-based measurement to be performed is selected once more than the minimum of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

[0137] Embodiment 15 may include Embodiment 1, Embodiment 11 and Embodiment 12, and further, wherein the cyclic selection includes corresponding measurements for multiple MOs to be performed, selecting in turn among the multiple MOs; and when each MGRP defines two MGs, the SSB-based measurement to be performed is selected once more than the sum of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

[0138] Embodiment 16 may include Embodiment 1, Embodiment 11 and Embodiment 12, and further, wherein the cyclic selection includes corresponding measurements for multiple MOs to be performed, selecting in turn among the multiple MOs; and, when each MGRP defines two MGs, and N SSB-based measurements are to be performed and N is an even number, each time (N / 2)*(m1+1)+(N / 2)*(m2+1), where m1 represents a first number of MOs associated with the first MG, and m2 represents a second number of MOs associated with the second MG, selects the SSB-based measurement to be performed.

[0139] Embodiment 17 may include Embodiment 1, Embodiment 11 and Embodiment 12, and further, wherein the cyclic selection includes selecting in turn from the multiple MOs for corresponding measurements to be performed; and, when each MGRP defines two MGs, and N SSB-based measurements are to be performed and N is an odd number, the SSB-based measurements to be performed are selected each time ((N+1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N-1) / 2)*(m2+1), where m1 represents the first number of MOs associated with the first MG, and m2 represents the second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

[0140] Embodiment 18 may include Embodiment 1, Embodiment 11 and Embodiment 12, and further, wherein the cyclic selection includes selecting corresponding measurements for multiple MOs to be performed, and selecting from the multiple MOs in turn; and, when each MGRP defines two MGs, and N SSB-based measurements are to be performed and N is an odd number, each time ((N-1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N+1) / 2)*(m2+1), where m1 represents a first number of MOs associated with the first MG, and m2 represents a second number of MOs associated with the second MG, selects the SSB-based measurement to be performed.

[0141] Embodiment 19 may include embodiment 1 and wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme includes: when a first SMTC opportunity is within a time proximity threshold of a first MG opportunity, the first MG opportunity is within a time proximity threshold of a second MG opportunity, and the second MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the second SMTC opportunity, for corresponding measurements of multiple MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence from the multiple MOs, and when each MGRP defines two MGs, selecting the SSB-based measurement to be performed each time one more than the sum of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

[0142] Embodiment 20 may include embodiment 1 and embodiment 19, and wherein for corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, sequentially selecting among the plurality of MOs comprises: selecting a MO among the plurality of MOs according to a cyclic selection.

[0143] Embodiment 21 may include a user equipment (UE), the UE including a memory and a processor, the processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the UE: within a first measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), for each of n synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities, determines the MG opportunity that is closest in time among m measurement gap (MG) opportunities; applies a time proximity rule to determine whether the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap, partially overlap, or do not overlap in time with the m MG opportunities; when the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, within a time proximity threshold of the first SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, among the m MG opportunities During the first MG opportunity of the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited, the first SMTC opportunity is assigned for the first SMTC measurement, within a time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity, measurement is prohibited during a second SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, and the second MG opportunity is assigned for the first non-SMTC measurement; and when the n SMTC opportunities partially overlap with the m MG opportunities, within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity among the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited during the first SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, the first MG opportunity is assigned for the first non-SMTC measurement, and a second SMTC opportunity is assigned for the second SMTC measurement, the second SMTC opportunity being away from any one of the m MG opportunities by more than the time proximity threshold.

[0144] Embodiment 22 may include embodiment 11, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions so that the UE: when the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, within the time proximity threshold of the third SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, prohibits measurement during the third MG opportunity in the third MGRP, assigns the third SMTC opportunity for the second SMTC measurement, prohibits measurement during the fourth SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, and assigns the fourth MG opportunity in the fourth MGRP for the second non-SMTC measurement.

[0145] Embodiment 23 may include embodiment 11, wherein the first MG opportunity is within the first MGRP, and the second MG opportunity is within a second MGRP different from the first MGRP.

[0146] Embodiment 24 may include embodiment 11, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions so that the UE: when the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, and when the third MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity, prohibits measurement during the third MG opportunity.

[0147] Embodiment 25 may include embodiment 11, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions so that the UE: when the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, and when the third SMTC opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the third MG opportunity, prohibits measurement during the third SMTC opportunity.

[0148] Embodiment 26 may include embodiment 11, wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, cause the UE to: prohibit measurement during a third SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities within the time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity, assign the second MG opportunity for a second non-SMTC measurement, and assign the third SMTC opportunity for a third SMTC measurement, the third SMTC opportunity being away from any one of the m MG opportunities beyond the time proximity threshold, when the n SMTC opportunities partially overlap with the m MG opportunities.

[0149] Embodiment 27 may include embodiment 11 and embodiment 16, and further, wherein the first MG opportunity is within the first MGRP, and the second MG opportunity is within a second MGRP different from the first MGRP.

[0150] Embodiment 28 may include embodiment 11, and wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, cause the UE to: assign the third SMTC opportunity for the second SMTC measurement when the n SMTC opportunities partially overlap with the m MG opportunities and when the third SMTC opportunity is beyond the time proximity threshold away from the third MG opportunity.

[0151] Embodiment 29 may include a method comprising: determining at a user equipment (UE) whether all synchronization signal block (SSB) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any one of one or more measurement gap (MG) opportunities within a time period at least as long as a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP); when all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any one of the MG opportunities, allocating measurement resources at the UE to provide equal sharing between gapless measurement during a subset of the SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during a subset of the one or more MG opportunities; for the time period, determining at the UE whether any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any one of the one or more MG opportunities; and, when any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, allocating non-overlapping SMTC opportunities of the SMTC opportunities at the UE for gapless measurement, prohibiting the use of overlapping SMTC opportunities, and allocating the MG opportunities for measurement of the other measurement objects.

[0152] Embodiment 30 may include embodiment 29 and wherein, when all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, a measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set equal to 1 and the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is used to allocate the measurement resources.

[0153] Embodiment 31 may include embodiment 29 and wherein, when any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, a measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set equal to a fraction, the numerator of the fraction is equal to the first number of SMTC windows within the MGRP that do not conflict with any MG within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) and the denominator is equal to the total number of SMTC windows within the MGRP, and the measurement resources are allocated according to the measurement resource sharing scaling factor.

[0154] Embodiment 32 may include embodiment 29 and wherein, when all of the SMTC occasions are within the time proximity threshold less than any of the MG occasions, the measurement resources are allocated in a round-robin manner between the gapless measurement and other measurement objects.

[0155] Embodiment 33 may include a user equipment (UE), the UE including a memory and a processor, the processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the UE determines a first measurement gap (MG) opportunity that is closest in time to a measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunity based on a first synchronization signal block (SSB); applies a time proximity rule to determine whether the first SMTC opportunity completely overlaps, partially overlaps, or does not overlap in time with the first MG opportunity; when there is a first MG opportunity that completely overlaps with the first SMTC opportunity, assigns a first non-SMTC measurement to occur at the first MG opportunity; and, when there is a first MG opportunity that partially overlaps with the first SMTC opportunity, prohibits measurement during the first SMTC opportunity.

[0156] Embodiment 34 may include embodiment 33, and wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions so that the UE: when there is a partial overlap of the first MG opportunity with the first SMTC opportunity, assigns a second SMTC opportunity for performing SMTC measurements, and the second SMTC opportunity is non-overlapping.

[0157] Embodiment 35 may include embodiment 33 and embodiment 34, and wherein the SMTC opportunity and the second SMTC opportunity are within a single MG repetition period (MGRP).

[0158] Embodiment 36 may include embodiment 33 and embodiment 34, and wherein the processor is further configured to execute the instructions so that the UE: when there is a partial overlap of the first MG opportunity with the first SMTC opportunity, assigns the first MG opportunity for performing the first non-SMTC measurement.

[0159] Embodiment 37 may include embodiment 33 and embodiment 34 as well as embodiment 36, and wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, cause the UE to: determine a second MG opportunity that is closest in time to a third SMTC opportunity; apply the time proximity rule to determine whether the third SMTC opportunity completely overlaps, partially overlaps, or does not overlap in time with the second MG opportunity; when there is a complete overlap of the second MG opportunity with the third SMTC opportunity, assign non-SMTC measurements to occur at the second MG opportunity; and, when there is a partial overlap of the second MG opportunity with the third SMTC opportunity, prohibit measurements during the third SMTC opportunity.

[0160] Embodiment 38 may include embodiment 33 and embodiment 34 and embodiment 36 and embodiment 37, and wherein the first MG opportunity and the second MG opportunity are within a single MG repetition period (MGRP).

[0161] Embodiment 39 may include embodiment 33, and wherein the processor is further configured to cause the UE to: prohibit a second non-SMTC measurement during a second MG opportunity when there is a complete overlap of a first MG opportunity with the first SMTC opportunity, and assign a first SMTC measurement to occur at a second SMTC opportunity that overlaps with the second MG opportunity by executing the instructions.

[0162] Embodiment 40 may include embodiment 33 and embodiment 39, and wherein the first MG opportunity and the second MG opportunity are within a single MG repetition period (MGRP).

[0163] Embodiment 41 may include a user equipment (UE), the UE including a memory and a processor, the processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the UE: for a first SMTC time window, determines a first time proximity between the first SMTC time window and a first closest measurement gap (MG); for a second SMTC time window, determines a second time proximity between the second SMTC time window and a second closest MG; determines whether the first time proximity is less than a minimum acceptable threshold; determines whether the second time proximity is less than a minimum acceptable threshold; determines whether all multiple SMTC time windows within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) have corresponding time proximity with the corresponding closest MG that is less than the minimum acceptable threshold, the multiple SMTC time windows including the first SMTC time window and the second SMTC time window, the corresponding time proximity includes the first time proximity and the second time proximity, and the corresponding closest MG includes the closest first MG and the closest second MG; when all multiple SMTC time windows within the MGRP have a corresponding time proximity with the corresponding closest MG that is less than the minimum acceptable threshold, the measurement use of the closest first MG is prohibited, the first SMTC time window is used for the first synchronization signal block (SSB) measurement, the SSB measurement use of the second SMTC time window is prohibited, and the closest second MG is used for measurement object (MO) measurement; when the first time proximity is at least the minimum acceptable threshold, the first SMTC time window is used for the first SSB measurement, and the closest second MG is used for the MO measurement.

[0164] Embodiment 42 may include embodiment 41, and wherein a different MG is used for the second MO measurement.

[0165] Embodiment 43 may include embodiment 41, and wherein the MO measurement and the second MO measurement are repeated in a cyclic manner at subsequent MGs.

[0166] Embodiment 44 may include embodiment 41, and wherein the conflicting MG of the subsequent MG is prohibited from being used for subsequent MO measurement, and a conflicting SMTC window temporally close to the conflicting MG is used for subsequent SSB measurement.

[0167] Embodiment 45 may include embodiment 41 and wherein, when all multiple SMTC time windows within the MGRP have corresponding time proximity to the corresponding closest MG less than the minimum acceptable threshold, the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set to a value of 1, and the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is used to allocate measurement resources.

[0168] Embodiment 46 may include embodiment 41 and wherein, when the first temporal proximity is at least the minimum acceptable threshold, the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set to have a value less than 1, and the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is used to allocate measurement resources.

[0169] Embodiment 47 may include embodiment 41 and wherein, when the first time proximity is at least the minimum acceptable threshold, the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set to a value equal to a fraction, the numerator of the fraction is equal to the first number of SMTC windows within the MGRP that do not conflict with any MG within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) and the denominator is equal to the total number of SMTC windows within the MGRP, and the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is used to allocate measurement resources.

[0170] Embodiment 48 may include embodiment 41, and wherein the closest first MG and the closest second MG both transmit within a time span that is less than a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP).

[0171] Embodiment 49 may include embodiment 41, and wherein a different MG is used for the second MO measurement.

[0172] Embodiment 50 may include embodiment 41, and wherein the MO measurement and the second MO measurement are repeated in a cyclic manner at subsequent MGs.

[0173] The above description of illustrative examples, implementations, aspects, etc. of the disclosed subject matter, including what is described in the abstract of the specification, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Although specific examples, implementations, aspects, etc. are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications can be considered within the scope of such examples, implementations, aspects, etc., as can be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art.

[0174] In this regard, while the subject matter of the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with various examples, implementations, aspects, etc. and corresponding figures, it should be understood that other similar aspects may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the disclosed subject matter, where applicable, for performing the same, similar, alternative or alternative functions of the subject matter without departing from the disclosed subject matter. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single example, implementation, or aspect described herein, but should be interpreted in accordance with the breadth and scope of the following claims.

[0175] In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-described components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), unless otherwise specified, the terms used to describe such components (including references to "members") are intended to correspond to any component or structure that performs the specified functions of the components (e.g., functionally equivalent), even if not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structures that perform the functions in the exemplary implementations illustrated herein. In addition, while particular features have been disclosed with respect to only one of a plurality of implementations, for any given or particular application, such features may be combined with one or more other features of other implementations, which may be desirable and advantageous.

[0176] As used herein, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive arrangements. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied in any of the foregoing cases. In addition, the articles "a" and "an" used in this application and the appended claims should generally be interpreted as meaning "one or more" unless otherwise specified or clear from the context to be directed to the singular form. In addition, to the extent that the terms "including", "comprising", "having", "having", "with", or variations thereof are used in the detailed description and claims, such terms are intended to be included in a manner similar to the term "comprising". In addition, where one or more numbered items (e.g., "first X", "second X", etc.) are discussed, generally, the one or more numbered items may be different or they may be the same, but in some cases, the context may indicate that they are different or that they are the same.

[0177] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising one or more processors, the processors being configured to cause the UE to: For each of a plurality of non-gap synchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), determining a measurement gap (MG) opportunity that is closest in time; applying a temporal proximity rule to check whether each of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities overlaps with the corresponding temporally closest MG opportunity; determining a measurement resource sharing scheme based on checking whether each of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding temporally closest MG opportunity; One or more measurements are performed based on the measurement resource sharing scheme.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When each of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity that is closest in time, the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities equally share measurement resources with other measurement objects that use MG opportunities.

3. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When each of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, the first overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is enabled for gapless measurement, the first overlapping MG opportunity is disabled, and the first overlapping MG opportunity is located within the time proximity threshold of the first overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity, the second overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is disabled, and the second overlapping MG opportunity is enabled for gap-based measurement, and the second overlapping MG opportunity is located within the time proximity threshold of the second overlapping SMTC opportunity.

4. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When less than all of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlap with the corresponding temporally closest MG opportunity, a first non-overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is enabled for gapless measurement, a first overlapping gapless SMTC opportunity is disabled, and a first overlapping MG opportunity is enabled for gap-based measurement, and the first overlapping MG opportunity is within a temporal proximity threshold of the first overlapping SMTC opportunity.

5. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When a first MG opportunity is within a time proximity threshold of a second MG opportunity, use of the first MG opportunity is prohibited, and use of the second MG opportunity for gap-based measurement is enabled.

6. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When each of the multiple seamless SMTC opportunities overlaps with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, and the first MG opportunity overlaps with the second MG opportunity, the multiple seamless SMTC opportunities equally share measurement resources with other measurement objects (MOs) using the first MG opportunity and the second MG opportunity.

7. The UE according to claim 7, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When the first MG opportunity is within a time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity and the second MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first SMTC opportunity, measurement of a first measurement object (MO) associated with the first MG opportunity is enabled, measurement of a second MO associated with the second MG opportunity is prohibited, and gapless measurement of at least one of the first MO and the second MO within the time proximity threshold is prohibited.

8. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When at least one of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities does not overlap with the corresponding temporally closest MG opportunity, the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities are measured only during the at least one gapless SMTC opportunity and not during other gapless SMTC opportunities overlapping with any of the MG opportunities.

9. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When each of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlaps with the corresponding temporally closest MG opportunity, measurement resources are allocated in a round-robin manner between gapless measurements during a subset of the plurality of gapless SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during MG opportunities.

10. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When less than all of the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities within the MGRP overlap with the corresponding MG opportunity closest in time, measurement resources are allocated according to a measurement resource sharing scaling factor to provide gapless measurements during the multiple gapless SMTC opportunities in proportion to other measurement objects using the MG opportunities, and the value of the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is equal to a fraction, the numerator of the fraction is equal to the first number of SMTC windows that do not conflict with any MG within the MGRP within a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), and the denominator is equal to the total number of SMTC windows within the MGRP.

11. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When the first MG opportunity is beyond a time proximity threshold away from the second MG opportunity, and the second MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first SMTC opportunity, the use of the first MG opportunity for measurement is enabled according to the measurement object (MO), the use of the second MG opportunity is prohibited, and the use of the first SMTC opportunity for gapless measurement is enabled.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein enabling use of the first MG opportunity comprises: The MO is selected according to a round-robin selection among a plurality of MOs associated with any MG of the one or more MGs.

13. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the cyclic selection comprises: For corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence among the plurality of MOs; as well as When two MGs are defined per MGRP, a SSB-based measurement is selected to be performed each time more than a maximum of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

14. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the cyclic selection comprises: For corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence among the plurality of MOs; and When two MGs are defined per MGRP, a SSB-based measurement is selected to be performed one more time than a minimum of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

15. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the cyclic selection comprises: For corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence among the plurality of MOs; as well as When two MGs are defined per MGRP, a SSB based measurement is selected to be performed each time one more than the sum of a first number of MOs associated with the first MG and a second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

16. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the cyclic selection comprises: For corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence among the plurality of MOs; as well as When each MGRP defines two MGs, and N SSB-based measurements are to be performed and N is an even number, the SSB-based measurements to be performed are selected each time (N / 2)*(m1+1)+(N / 2)*(m2+1), where m1 represents the first number of MOs associated with the first MG, and m2 represents the second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

17. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the cyclic selection comprises: For corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence among the plurality of MOs; as well as When two MGs are defined for each MGRP, and N SSB-based measurements are to be performed and N is an odd number, the SSB-based measurement to be performed is selected each time ((N+1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N-1) / 2)*(m2+1), where m1 represents the first number of MOs associated with the first MG, and m2 represents the second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

18. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the cyclic selection comprises: For corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, selecting in sequence among the plurality of MOs; as well as When two MGs are defined for each MGRP, and N SSB-based measurements are to be performed and N is an odd number, the SSB-based measurements to be performed are selected each time ((N-1) / 2)*(m1+1)+((N+1) / 2)*(m2+1), where m1 represents the first number of MOs associated with the first MG, and m2 represents the second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

19. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the measurement resource sharing scheme comprises: When the first SMTC opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity, the first MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity, and the second MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the second SMTC opportunity, for corresponding measurements of multiple MOs to be performed, selections are made in sequence among the multiple MOs, and when each MGRP defines two MGs, the SSB-based measurement to be performed is selected once more than the sum of the first number of MOs associated with the first MG and the second number of MOs associated with the second MG.

20. The UE according to claim 19, wherein for corresponding measurements of a plurality of MOs to be performed, sequentially selecting among the plurality of MOs comprises: A MO among the plurality of MOs is selected according to a round-robin selection.

21. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising: Memory; and a processor, the processor being coupled to the memory and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory so that the UE: In a first measurement gap repetition period (MGRP), for each of n synchronization signal block (SSB) based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities, determine a measurement gap (MG) opportunity that is closest in time to m MG opportunities; Applying a temporal proximity rule to determine whether the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap, partially overlap, or do not overlap in time with the m MG opportunities; When the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, prohibiting measurement during a first SMTC opportunity among the m MG opportunities within a time proximity threshold of a first SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, assigning the first SMTC opportunity for a first SMTC measurement, prohibiting measurement during a second SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities within the time proximity threshold of a second MG opportunity, and assigning the second MG opportunity for a first non-SMTC measurement; as well as When the n SMTC opportunities partially overlap with the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited during a first SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity among the m MG opportunities, the first MG opportunity is assigned for a first non-SMTC measurement, and a second SMTC opportunity is assigned for a second SMTC measurement, and the second SMTC opportunity is away from any MG opportunity among the m MG opportunities by more than the time proximity threshold.

22. The UE according to claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, enable the UE to: When the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited during the third MG opportunity in the third MGRP within the time proximity threshold of the third SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, the third SMTC opportunity is assigned for the second SMTC measurement, measurement is prohibited during the fourth SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities, and the fourth MG opportunity in the fourth MGRP is assigned for the second non-SMTC measurement.

23. The UE of claim 22, wherein the first MG opportunity is within the first MGRP, and the second MG opportunity is within a second MGRP different from the first MGRP.

24. The UE according to claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, enable the UE to: When the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited during a third MG opportunity when the third MG opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the first MG opportunity.

25. The UE according to claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, enable the UE to: When the n SMTC opportunities completely overlap with the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited during a third SMTC opportunity when the third SMTC opportunity is within the time proximity threshold of the third MG opportunity.

26. The UE according to claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, enable the UE to: When the n SMTC opportunities partially overlap with the m MG opportunities, measurement is prohibited during a third SMTC opportunity among the n SMTC opportunities within the time proximity threshold of the second MG opportunity, the second MG opportunity is assigned for a second non-SMTC measurement, and a third SMTC opportunity is assigned for a third SMTC measurement, and the third SMTC opportunity is away from any MG opportunity among the m MG opportunities by more than the time proximity threshold.

27. The UE of claim 26, wherein the first MG opportunity is within the first MGRP, and the second MG opportunity is within a second MGRP different from the first MGRP.

28. The UE according to claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to, by executing the instructions, enable the UE to: When the n SMTC opportunities partially overlap with the m MG opportunities, when a third SMTC opportunity is away from a third MG opportunity beyond the time proximity threshold, the third SMTC opportunity is assigned for a second SMTC measurement.

29. A method comprising: determining at a user equipment (UE) whether all synchronization signal block (SSB) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) opportunities are within a time proximity threshold less than any MG opportunity in one or more measurement gap (MG) opportunities over a period of time at least as long as a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP); When all of the SMTC opportunities are within the temporal proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, allocating measurement resources at the UE to provide equal sharing between gapless measurements during the subset of the SMTC opportunities and other measurement objects during the subset of the one or more MG opportunities; determining, at the UE, for the time period, whether any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within the temporal proximity threshold less than any of the one or more MG opportunities; and When any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, non-overlapping SMTC opportunities of the SMTC opportunities are allocated at the UE for gapless measurement, the use of overlapping SMTC opportunities is prohibited, and the MG opportunities are allocated for measurement of the other measurement objects.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: When all of the SMTC occasions are within the temporal proximity threshold less than any of the MG occasions, a measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set equal to 1 and the measurement resource sharing scaling factor is used to allocate the measurement resources.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein: When any but not all of the SMTC opportunities are within the time proximity threshold less than any of the MG opportunities, a measurement resource sharing scaling factor is set equal to a fraction, the numerator of the fraction is equal to a first number of SMTC windows within the MGRP that do not conflict with any MG within the measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) and the denominator is equal to the total number of SMTC windows within the MGRP, and the measurement resources are allocated according to the measurement resource sharing scaling factor.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein: When all of the SMTC occasions are within the temporal proximity threshold less than any of the MG occasions, the measurement resources are allocated in a round-robin manner between the gapless measurement and other measurement objects.

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