Method, device and medium for communication

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives a first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RSs) used to monitor a first set of candidate cells. The terminal device also receives a first signaling that triggers a CSI report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells. In this case, if there is an overlap between the second group of candidate cells and the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device determines a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells. The terminal device monitors a third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration. In this manner, unnecessary cell monitoring may be avoided, thereby reducing power consumption.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communication technology, and more particularly to methods, devices, and media for monitoring candidate cells. Background Art

[0002] Several techniques have been proposed to improve communication performance. For example, the configuration and maintenance of multiple cells allows for the rapid application of configurations for candidate cells. Dynamic handover mechanisms between candidate cells have also been proposed. Further research is needed to enhance inter-cell beam management. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatus, and computer storage media for monitoring candidate cells.

[0004] In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes a processor configured to cause the terminal device to: receive a first configuration from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RSs) used to monitor a first group of candidate cells; receive first signaling from the network device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells; if it is determined that the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, determine a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells; and monitor the third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration.

[0005] In a second aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes a processor configured to cause a terminal device to: transmit a first configuration to the terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RSs) used by the terminal device to monitor a first group of candidate cells; transmit first signaling to the terminal device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for the terminal device to monitor a second group of candidate cells; and receive a monitoring result of at least one target candidate cell in a third group of candidate cells from the terminal device, wherein if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is determined based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells.

[0006] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes: receiving, at a terminal device, a first configuration from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RSs) used to monitor a first group of candidate cells; receiving first signaling from the network device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells; if it is determined that the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, determining a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells; and monitoring the third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method includes: transmitting a first configuration at a terminal device to the terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RS) used by the terminal device to monitor a first group of candidate cells; transmitting first signaling to the terminal device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for the terminal device to monitor a second group of candidate cells; and receiving a monitoring result of at least one target candidate cell in a third group of candidate cells from the terminal device, wherein if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is determined based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, on which instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed on at least one processor, the at least one processor is caused to execute the method according to the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0009] Other features of the present disclosure will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in more detail some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 An example communication environment is shown in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0012] Figure 2 shows a signaling flow for reporting angle information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating candidate cells according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0014] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating a timing diagram according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating a predetermined duration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 6 A flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0017] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating a method implemented at a network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0018] Figure 8A simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for illustrative purposes and to help those skilled in the art understand and implement the present disclosure without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways except for the manner described below.

[0021] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0022] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any device with wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktop computers, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, devices on vehicles for V2X communication (where X represents pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network), devices for integrated access and backhaul (IAB), space-borne vehicles or air-borne vehicles in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) including satellites and high altitude platforms (HAPs) including unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), extended reality (XR) devices including different types of reality (such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR)), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) commonly referred to as drones (which are aircraft without any human pilots), devices on high-speed trains (HSTs), or image capture devices (such as digital cameras, sensors, gaming devices, music storage and playback devices, or Internet appliances that enable wireless or wired Internet access and browsing, etc.). A "terminal device" may also have multicast / broadcast features to support public safety and mission-critical applications, V2X applications, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, Smart TV, radio services, software delivery over the air, group communications, and IoT applications. It may also incorporate one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), known as multi-SIMs. The term "terminal device" may be used interchangeably with UE, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile terminal, user terminal, or wireless device.

[0023] The term "network equipment" refers to a device that can provide or host a cell or coverage area with which a terminal device can communicate. Examples of network equipment include, but are not limited to, Node B (Node B or NB), evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), remote radio unit (RRU), radio head (RH), remote radio head (RRH), IAB node, low power node (such as femto node, pico node), reconfigurable smart surface (RIS), etc.

[0024] Terminal devices or network devices may have artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning capabilities. These typically include models that have been trained from a large amount of collected data for specific functions and can be used to predict certain information.

[0025] The terminal or network device can operate in several frequency ranges, such as FR1 (e.g., 450 MHz to 6000 MHz), FR2 (e.g., 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz), frequency bands greater than 100 GHz, and terahertz (THz). It can also operate in licensed / unlicensed / shared spectrum. In the multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) application scenario, the terminal device can have more than one connection with the network device. The terminal device or network device can operate in full-duplex, flexible duplex, and cross-duplex modes.

[0026] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in a test device, such as a signal generator, a signal analyzer, a spectrum analyzer, a network analyzer, a test terminal device, a test network device, or a channel emulator. In some embodiments, the terminal device may be connected to a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a primary node, and the other may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs). In some embodiments, the first network device may be a first RAT device, and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In some embodiments, the first RAT device is an eNB, and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information related to different RATs may be transmitted from at least one of the first network device and the second network device to the terminal device. In some embodiments, first information may be transmitted from the first network device to the terminal device, and second information may be transmitted from the second network device to the terminal device directly or via the first network device. In some embodiments, information related to a configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related to a reconfiguration of the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device to the terminal device directly or via the first network device.

[0027] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "including" and its variations should be understood as open terms meaning "including" but not limited to. The term "based on" will be understood to mean "based at least in part on." The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" will be understood to mean "at least one embodiment." The term "another embodiment" will be understood to mean "at least one other embodiment." The terms "first," "second," etc. may refer to different or the same objects. Additional definitions, both explicit and implicit, may be included below.

[0028] In some examples, values, processes, or devices are referred to as "best," "lowest," "highest," "minimum," "maximum," etc. It should be understood that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection can be made among many functional alternatives for use, and that such a selection is not necessarily better, smaller, higher, or otherwise superior to other options.

[0029] As used herein, the terms "resources," "transmission resources," "uplink resources," or "downlink resources" may refer to any resources used to perform communication, such as resources in the time domain, resources in the frequency domain, resources in the spatial domain, resources in the code domain, or any other resources that enable communication. In the following, unless explicitly stated, resources in the frequency domain and the time domain will be used as examples of transmission resources to describe some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Note that the example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains. The term "channel state information (CSI)" used herein may refer to channel properties of a communication link. CSI describes how a signal propagates from a transmitter to a receiver, and represents, for example, the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The term "CSI report" may refer to a report that indicates how good or bad a channel is.

[0030] As mentioned above, it is necessary to study enhancements for inter-cell beam management. In addition to one serving cell, a user equipment (UE) can be configured with up to 7 non-serving cells. The CSI report can be associated with one or more synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (SSB) sets configured for non-serving cells and / or serving cells. The CSI report can include measurement results of the serving cell and measurement results of one or more non-serving cells. Persistent (P) CSI reports, semi-persistent (SP) CSI reports and aperiodic (AP) CSI reports triggered by the network (NW) and UE event-triggered reports can be configured at the same time. In this case, it is not difficult to find that the non-serving cells monitored in the P / SP / AP CSI reports triggered by the NW (especially in the P / SP CSI reports) do not need to be monitored in the UE event-triggered reports. Otherwise, unnecessary non-serving cell monitoring will result, resulting in unnecessary UE power consumption. In addition, as the number of candidate cells increases, these problems will become more serious. According to some solutions, in order to avoid unnecessary candidate cell monitoring and UE power consumption, the NW needs to reconfigure the non-serving cells to be monitored in the UE event-triggered reports while triggering the P / SP CSI reports for the non-serving cells. However, signaling to reconfigure candidate cells to be monitored in UE event-triggered reporting is clearly unnecessary.

[0031] In order to solve at least part of the above problems, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solution for monitoring candidate cells. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal device receives a first configuration indicating at least one group of reference signals (RS) used to monitor a first group of candidate cells. The terminal device also receives a first signaling that triggers a CSI report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells. In this case, if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device determines a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells. The terminal device monitors the third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration. In this way, unnecessary cell monitoring can be avoided, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0032] In the context of this application, the term "candidate cell" may refer to a neighboring cell or non-serving cell that is different from the serving cell. It may be represented or indicated by an indicator, such as a physical cell identifier (PCI) or a candidate cell PCI. In the context of this application, "candidate cell PCI" is used as an indicator of a candidate cell. Typically, one candidate cell corresponds to one PCI configured by the network network (NW).

[0033] The principles and implementations of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Figure 1A schematic diagram of an example communication environment 100 is shown in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices including a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 may communicate with each other.

[0035] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG, the terminal device 110 may be a UE, and the network device 120 may be a base station serving the UE. The service area of the network device 120 may be referred to as a cell 102.

[0036] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of devices and their connections shown in FIG is for illustrative purposes only and does not imply any limitation. Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implement the example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it should be understood that one or more additional devices may be located in cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in communication environment 100. Note that although shown as a network device, network device 120 may be another device other than a network device. Although shown as a terminal device, terminal device 110 may be another device other than a terminal device.

[0037] Hereinafter, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described in which the terminal device 110 operates as a UE and the network device 120 operates as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, the operations described in conjunction with the terminal device may be implemented at the network device or other devices, and the operations described in conjunction with the network device may be implemented at the terminal device or other devices.

[0038] In some exemplary embodiments, if terminal device 110 is a terminal device and network device 120 is a network device, the link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), and the link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In the DL, network device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter), and terminal device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, terminal device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter), and network device 120 is an RX device (or receiver).

[0039] Communications in the communication environment 100 may conform to any suitable standard, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Evolution, Advanced LTE (LTE-A), New Radio (NR), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Machine Type Communications (MTC), etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in accordance with any generation of communication protocols currently known or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include but are not limited to first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, 5.5G, advanced 5G networks, or sixth generation (6G) networks.

[0040] refer to Figure 2 , which shows a signaling flow 200 for reporting angle information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to the terminal device 110 and the network device 120, for example. Figure 1 Discuss the signaling flow 200. Note that Figure 2 These are example embodiments only.

[0041] The network device 120 transmits (2010) a first configuration to the terminal device 110, the first configuration indicating at least one set of RSs used to monitor the first set of candidate cells. In this case, the terminal device 110 may be configured or indicated with at least one set of RSs used to monitor the first set of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the set of RSs may include a set of SSBs. Alternatively, the set of RSs may include a set of channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS). Each RS or RS group may be associated with a candidate cell PCI. Figure 3 As shown, the first group of candidate cells 3110 may include cells 310, 320, 330, and 340. Note that Figure 3 The number of cells shown in is only an example and not a limitation. The first set of candidate cells may include any appropriate number of candidate cells.

[0042] The network device 120 transmits (2020) a first signaling to the terminal device 110. The first signaling triggers a CSI report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells. For example, Figure 3 As shown, the second group of candidate cells 3120 may include cells 310 and 320. It should be noted that Figure 3 The number of cells in the second set of candidate cells shown in FIG is only an example and not a limitation. The second set of candidate cells may include any appropriate number of candidate cells.

[0043] In some embodiments, the CSI report used to monitor the second group of candidate cells may refer to a CSI report used to obtain the results of monitoring the second group of candidate cells, that is, the quality of (multiple) RSs associated with the second group of candidate cells (associated with the CSI report). In some embodiments, the (multiple) RSs associated with the second group of candidate cells may be derived from the following items: CSI-SSB-ResourceSet, a list of CSI-RS resource configurations, or a list of CSI-RS resource configurations for each PCI in CSI-ResourceConfig in CSI-ResourceConfig.

[0044] In some embodiments, the first signaling may include a configuration for periodic channel state information (CSI) reporting for monitoring a second group of candidate cells (hereinafter referred to as the "second configuration"). In this case, the first signaling may be radio resource control (RRC) signaling. Alternatively, the first signaling may include an indication for activating semi-persistent CSI reporting for monitoring a second group of candidate cells (hereinafter referred to as the "first indication"). In this case, the first signaling may be a medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI). In some other embodiments, the first signaling may include an indication for triggering a non-periodic CSI report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells (hereinafter referred to as the "second indication"). In this case, the first signaling may be a DCI.

[0045] If the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 determines (2030) a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the second group of candidate cells may partially overlap with the first group of candidate cells. In this case, the third group of candidate cells may include one or more candidate cells in the first group of candidate cells that do not overlap with the second group of candidate cells. In other words, the terminal device 110 may select one or more candidate cells included in the second group of candidate cells from the first group of candidate cells. For example, Figure 3 As shown, the first group of candidate cells 3110 includes cells 310, 320, 330, and 340, and the second group of candidate cells 3120 includes cells 310 and 320. In this case, the third group of candidate cells 3130 includes cells 330 and 340. It should be noted that Figure 3 The number of cells in the third group of candidate cells shown in FIG is only an example and not a limitation. The third group of candidate cells may include any appropriate number of candidate cells.

[0046] In some other embodiments, the second set of candidate cells may completely overlap with the first set of candidate cells. In this case, the terminal device 110 may stop monitoring the first set of candidate cells. For example, the third set of candidate cells may be considered empty. In other words, the third set of candidate cells may include zero candidate cells.

[0047] Return Reference Figure 2 , the terminal device 110 monitors (2040) the third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration. Figure 3 As shown, the terminal device 110 can monitor candidate cells 330 and 340 and stop monitoring candidate cells 310 and 320. In other words, the terminal device 110 only needs to monitor a subset of the first set of candidate cells instead of the entire first set of candidate cells. In this way, unnecessary candidate cell monitoring, UE power consumption, and signaling for reconfiguring the candidate cells to be monitored (in UE event-triggered reporting) can be avoided.

[0048] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may receive one or more RSs indicated in the first configuration. The terminal device 110 may measure the quality corresponding to the one or more RSs based on the received one or more RSs. For example, the first configuration may indicate a group of RSs for cells 310, 320, 330, and 340. The terminal device 110 may receive a group of RSs for cells 330 and 340 (i.e., a third group of candidate cells) based on the first configuration. The terminal device 110 may measure the quality corresponding to the group of RSs for cells 330 and 340.

[0049] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may measure reference signal received power (RSRP) based on one or more received RSs. The quality may also include one or more of the following: L1 signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR), filtered L1-RSRP, filtered L1-SINR, or SINR.

[0050] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine one or more target candidate cells from the third group of candidate cells. For example, the terminal device 110 may identify one or more target candidate cells from the third group of candidate cells based on some predefined rules or thresholds. One or more target candidate cells may satisfy the predefined rules or thresholds. For example, the quality of one or more target candidate cells may satisfy a quality threshold.

[0051] The terminal device 110 may report (2050) the monitoring results of one or more target candidate cells to the network device 120. For example, the monitoring results may include measurement qualities based on received RSs corresponding to the one or more target candidate cells. In this case, the terminal device 110 only needs to report the monitoring results of the target candidate cells (i.e., the measurement qualities corresponding to the RSs (multiple) used to monitor the target candidate cells) determined from the third group of candidate cells to the NW.

[0052] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells in the first time slot after the timing when the terminal device 110 receives the first signaling (hereinafter referred to as the "first timing"). Figure 4 As shown, the terminal device 110 may receive the first signaling at timing 410. The terminal device 110 may start monitoring the third group of candidate cells in the first time slot after timing 410. In some embodiments, the third group of candidate cells may be monitored from the first time slot after the resource carrying the first signaling. In some embodiments, the resource may be a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) resource. Alternatively, the resource may be a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) resource. As described above, the first signaling may be one of the following: RRC, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0053] Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells from the first time slot after the timing (hereinafter referred to as the "second timing") that is the application timing of the CSI report. In other words, the third group of candidate cells may be monitored from the first time slot after the second timing when the first signaling takes effect. For example, Figure 4 As shown, the first signaling may take effect at timing 420. The terminal device 110 may start monitoring the third group of candidate cells from the first time slot after timing 420.

[0054] In some embodiments, if the first signaling is RRC signaling, the terminal device 110 may select In this case, u can represent the subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration for PUCCH, u Kmac Can be expressed for k mac SCS configuration, where the value for frequency range 1 is 0, k mac A PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the first signaling may be transmitted in time slot n. mac Can be provided by K-Mac, or if K-Mac is not provided then k mac =0.

[0055] Alternatively, if the first signaling is MCE CE, the terminal device 110 may select In this case, u can represent the SCS configuration for PUCCH, u Kmac Can be expressed for k mac SCS configuration, where the value for frequency range 1 is 0, k mac A PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the first signaling may be transmitted in time slot n. mac Can be provided by K-Mac, or if K-Mac is not provided then k mac = 0. In some other embodiments, if the first signaling is DCI, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells starting from the th time slot after the PDCCH resource carrying the first signaling.

[0056] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells in the first time slot after the timing (hereinafter referred to as the “third timing”) when the terminal device 110 receives the RS associated with the CSI report. Figure 4 As shown, the RS associated with the CSI report may be received at timing 430. The terminal device 110 may start monitoring the third group of candidate cells in the first time slot after timing 430. In some embodiments, the RS may be the first RS resource (e.g., in the time domain) in a group of RSs associated with the CSI report. Alternatively, the RS may be the last RS resource in a group of RSs associated with the CSI report.

[0057] Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells in the first time slot after the timing (hereinafter referred to as the “fourth timing”) when the terminal device 110 transmits the CSI report. Figure 4As shown, the CSI report may be transmitted at timing 440. The terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells starting at the first time slot after timing 440. The CSI report may be the Nth CSI report, where N is a positive integer. For example, if the CSI report is a periodic CSI report or a semi-persistent CSI report, the CSI report is the first CSI report in the time domain. For example, the CSI report may be the first CSI report. For example, if the CSI report is a PUCCH-based PCSI report or SP report, the third group of candidate cells may be monitored from the first time slot after the PUCCH resource carrying the Nth CSI report. Alternatively, if the CSI report is a PUSCH-based SP CSI report or AP CSI report, the third group of candidate cells may be monitored starting from the first time slot after the PUSCH resource carrying the Nth CSI report. It should be noted that Figure 4 The timing shown in is merely an example and not a limitation, and the order of the timing is also an example.

[0058] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells from the first time slot after the following timing (hereinafter referred to as the "fifth timing"), which is the last time slot within the first predetermined duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing. In some embodiments, the first predetermined duration is determined based on the time domain range of at least one group of RSs associated with the first group of candidate cells. As an example, the first predetermined duration can be determined based on the size of the range. For example, the first predefined duration can be one of the following: the number of symbols (e.g., K), the number of time slots, the number of milliseconds, or the number of seconds.

[0059] The network device 120 may transmit (2060) a second signaling to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the second signaling may include a configuration (hereinafter referred to as the "third configuration") to release a CSI report (e.g., a PC CSI report). In this case, the second signaling may be RRC signaling. Alternatively, the second signaling may include an indication (hereinafter referred to as the "third indication") to deactivate a CSI report (e.g., an SP CSI report). In this case, the second signaling may be one of the following: a MAC CE or a DCI. In other embodiments, the second signaling may include an indication (hereinafter referred to as the "fourth indication") to trigger another CSI report (e.g., another AP CSI report). In this case, the second signaling may be a DCI. In some embodiments, if the second signaling is received, the terminal device 110 may start a candidate cell monitoring timer.

[0060] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may stop monitoring the third group of candidate cells. For example, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the timing when the terminal device 110 receives the second signaling (hereinafter referred to as the "sixth timing"). Figure 4 As shown, terminal device 110 may receive the second signaling at timing 450. Terminal device 110 may stop monitoring the third group of candidate cells after timing 450. In some embodiments, the third group of candidate cells may be monitored until a time slot in which resources carry the second signaling. In some embodiments, the resources may be PDSCH resources. Alternatively, the resources may be PDCCH resources. As described above, the second signaling may be one of the following: RRC, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0061] Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the timing (hereinafter referred to as the "seventh timing") which is the stop timing of the CSI report. In other words, the terminal device 110 may stop monitoring the third group of candidate cells after the second signaling takes effect.

[0062] In some embodiments, if the second signaling is RRC signaling, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the time slot In this case, u may represent the subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration for PUCCH, u Kmac Can be expressed for k mac SCS configuration, where the value for frequency range 1 is 0, k mac A PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the second signaling may be transmitted in time slot n. mac Can be provided by K-Mac, or if K-Mac is not provided then k mac =0.

[0063] Alternatively, if the second signaling is MCE CE, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the time slot In this case, u can represent the SCS configuration for PUCCH, u Kmac Can be expressed for k mac SCS configuration, where the value for frequency range 1 is 0, k mac A PUCCH with HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the PDSCH carrying the second signaling may be transmitted in time slot n. mac Can be provided by K-Mac, or if K-Mac is not provided then k mac= 0. In some other embodiments, if the second signaling is DCI, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until a time slot in which the PDCCH resource carries the first signaling.

[0064] In some other embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the first time slot after a second predetermined duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing. For example, the second predetermined duration may include one of the following: M2 symbols, M2 time slots, M2 ms, or M2 seconds. In this case, M2 may be equal to or greater than 0.

[0065] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the following timing (hereinafter referred to as the "eighth timing"), which is the last time slot within the third predefined duration after one of the sixth timing or the seventh timing. For example, the third predetermined duration may be determined based on the time domain range of at least one group of RSs associated with the first group of candidate cells. As an example, the third predetermined duration may be determined based on the size of the range. For example, the third predetermined duration may include one of the following: M1 symbols, M1 time slots, M1 ms, or M1 seconds. In this case, M1 may be equal to or greater than 0.

[0066] In some embodiments, if the second signaling is received before the fourth predetermined duration before subsequent monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing. In some embodiments, if the first signaling is received before the fifth predetermined duration before monitoring the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells. For example, Figure 5 As shown, the first signaling may be received before the predetermined duration 510 before monitoring the first set of candidate cells. In this case, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third set of candidate cells. If the first signaling is received within the predetermined duration 510, the terminal device 110 may not monitor the third set of candidate cells.

[0067] In some embodiments, the fourth predetermined duration or the fifth predetermined duration may be based on the period of monitoring the first group of candidate cells. For example, the period may refer to the period of monitoring the RS of the first group of candidate cells. Alternatively or additionally, the fourth predetermined duration or the fifth predetermined duration may be based on the time required for the first signaling to take effect. For example, if the first signaling is RRC signaling, the required time may be 10ms. Alternatively, if the first signaling is MAC CE, the required time may be 3ms. As an example, the fourth predetermined duration or the fifth predetermined duration may include one of the following: P code elements, P time slots, P ms, or P seconds. In this case, P may be equal to or greater than 0.

[0068] In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 receives the second signaling during monitoring the third group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor or stop monitoring the first group of candidate cells from the target timing (e.g., one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing) if the terminal device 110 receives the second signaling before a predefined duration (e.g., P symbols / time slots / ms / s, P≥0) before the UE is required to monitor the first group of candidate cells subsequently or next time. Alternatively, if the terminal device 110 receives the second signaling during stopping monitoring the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the first group of candidate cells from the target timing (e.g., one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing) if the terminal device 110 receives the second signaling before a predefined duration (e.g., P symbols / time slots / ms / s, P≥0) before the UE is required to monitor the first group of candidate cells subsequently or next time.

[0069] In some embodiments, the second signaling may be received during monitoring of the third group of candidate cells. In this case, in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may stop monitoring the first group of candidate cells to be stopped from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing. In other embodiments, if the terminal device 110 receives the second signaling during stopping monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may continue to stop monitoring the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing.

[0070] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a fourth group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells. In this case, the fourth group of candidate cells may include one or more cells in the first group of candidate cells that overlap with the second group of candidate cells. For example, Figure 3 As shown, if the first group of candidate cells 3110 includes cells 310 , 320 , 330 , and 340 , and the second group of candidate cells 3120 includes cells 310 and 320 , the fourth group of candidate cells may include cells 310 and 320 .

[0071] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may set the candidate cell monitoring counter to a predetermined value. Specifically, the candidate cell monitoring counter may refer to: the number of times the upper layer continuously receives a specific indication from the lower layer within a predefined duration. The specific indication may refer to: an indication reflecting that the measurement / monitoring result of at least one candidate cell meets some predefined events or conditions. The candidate cell monitoring counter may correspond to the candidate cell, that is, the candidate cell monitoring counter corresponds to the (multiple) RSs used to monitor the candidate cell. In some embodiments, the first candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the fourth group of candidate cells may be set to zero. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 110 may set the second candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero.

[0072] In some embodiments, if the second group of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may set the third candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero. For example, the terminal device 110 may set all candidate cell monitoring counters to zero. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may set a candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 110 may stop the candidate cell monitoring timer. The terminal device 110 may determine that the candidate cell monitoring process is successfully completed. In some other embodiments, the terminal device 110 may cancel all candidate cell monitoring processes for the serving cell.

[0073] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a communication method 600 implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 600 may be implemented by Figure 1 The terminal device 110 in is implemented.

[0074] At block 610, the terminal device 110 receives a first configuration from the network device 120. The first configuration indicates at least one set of reference signals (RS) to be used for monitoring a first set of candidate cells.

[0075] At block 620, the terminal device 110 receives first signaling from the network device 120, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the first signaling may include at least one of the following: a second configuration configuring a periodic channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells; a first indication activating a semi-persistent CSI report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells; or a second indication triggering an aperiodic CSI report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells.

[0076] At block 630, if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 determines a third group of candidate cells based on the first and second groups of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the third group of candidate cells includes at least one candidate cell in the first group of candidate cells that does not overlap with the second group of candidate cells.

[0077] At block 640, the terminal device 110 monitors the third set of candidate cells based on the first configuration.In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may cause monitoring of the first set of candidate cells to be stopped if the second set of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first set of candidate cells.

[0078] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine at least one target candidate cell from the third group of candidate cells. In this case, the terminal device 110 may report the monitoring result of the at least one target candidate cell to the network device 120.

[0079] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the following: the first timing when the terminal device receives the first signaling, the second timing as the application timing of the CSI report, the third timing when the terminal device receives the RS associated with the CSI report, the fourth timing when the terminal device transmits the CSI report, or the fifth timing, the fifth timing being the last time slot within the first predetermined duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing. In some embodiments, the RS is the first RS resource or the last RS resource in a group of RS associated with the CSI report. In some embodiments, the CSI report is the Nth CSI report, and N is a positive integer. In some embodiments, the first predetermined duration is determined based on the time domain range of at least one group of RS associated with the first group of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until the first time slot after the second predetermined duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing.

[0080] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until one of the following: a sixth timing when the terminal device receives the second signaling, a seventh timing as a stop timing for CSI reporting, or an eighth timing, where the eighth timing is the last time slot within a third predetermined duration after one of the sixth timing or the seventh timing. In some embodiments, the second signaling includes at least one of the following: a third configuration for releasing the CSI report, a third indication for deactivating the CSI report, or a fourth indication for triggering another CSI report. In some embodiments, the third predetermined duration is determined based on the time domain range of at least one group of RSs associated with the first group of candidate cells.

[0081] In some embodiments, if the second signaling is received during monitoring of the third group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing. Alternatively or additionally, if the second signaling is received during monitoring of the third group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may stop monitoring of the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing. In some embodiments, if the second signaling is received, the terminal device 110 may start a candidate cell monitoring timer.

[0082] In some embodiments, if the second signaling is received before a fourth predetermined duration before subsequent monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells until one of a sixth timing, a seventh timing, or an eighth timing. In some embodiments, if the first signaling is received before a fifth predetermined duration before monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may monitor the third group of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the fourth predetermined duration or the fifth predetermined duration may be determined based on at least one of the following: a period for monitoring the first group of candidate cells, or a time required for the first signaling to take effect.

[0083] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine a fourth group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells. The fourth group of candidate cells may include at least one cell in the first group of candidate cells that overlaps with the second group of candidate cells. In this case, the terminal device 110 may perform at least one of the following: setting the first candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the fourth group of candidate cells to zero; or setting the second candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero. In some embodiments, if the second group of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the terminal device 110 may perform at least one of the following: setting the third candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero; stopping the candidate cell monitoring timer; determining that the candidate cell monitoring process is successfully completed; or canceling all candidate cell monitoring processes for the serving cell.

[0084] Figure 7 FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a communication method 700 implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 700 may be implemented by Figure 1 The network device 120 in is implemented.

[0085] At block 710, the network device 120 transmits a first configuration to the terminal device 110. The first configuration indicates at least one set of reference signals (RS) to be used for monitoring a first set of candidate cells by the terminal device.

[0086] At block 720, the network device 120 transmits first signaling to the terminal device 110, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells by the terminal device. In some embodiments, the first signaling may include at least one of the following: a second configuration configuring a periodic channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells; a first indication activating a semi-persistent CSI report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells; or a second indication triggering an aperiodic CSI report for monitoring the second set of candidate cells.

[0087] At block 730, network device 120 receives monitoring results for at least one target candidate cell in the third group of candidate cells from the terminal device. If the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells may be determined based on the first and second groups of candidate cells. In some embodiments, the third group of candidate cells includes at least one candidate cell in the first group of candidate cells that does not overlap with the second group of candidate cells.

[0088] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may transmit a second signaling to the terminal device 110. The second signaling may include at least one of the following: a third configuration for releasing the CSI report, a third indication for deactivating the CSI report, or a fourth indication for triggering another CSI report.

[0089] Figure 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be considered as Figure 1 Accordingly, the device 800 may be implemented at the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 or as at least a part thereof.

[0090] As shown, device 800 includes a processor 810, a memory 820 coupled to processor 810, a suitable transmitter (TX) / receiver (RX) 840 coupled to processor 810, and a communication interface coupled to TX / RX 840. Memory 810 stores at least a portion of a program 830. TX / RX 840 is configured for bidirectional communication. TX / RX 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, but in practice, the access nodes referred to in this application may have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 / Xn interface for bidirectional communication between an eNB / gNB, an S1 / NG interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / SGW / UPF and an eNB / gNB, a Un interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a relay node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB / gNB and a terminal device.

[0091] Program 830 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 810, enable device 800 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 7 The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 810 of the device 800, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 810 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present application. Furthermore, the combination of the processor 810 and the memory 820 may form a processing component 850 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0092] Memory 820 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory (as non-limiting examples). Although only one memory 820 is shown in device 800, several physically distinct memory modules may be present in device 800. As non-limiting examples, processor 810 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 800 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-slave to a clock of a synchronized master processor.

[0093] In some embodiments, a terminal device includes a circuit system configured to: receive an indication of a first configuration from a network device, the first configuration being used to monitor at least one group of reference signals (RS) of a first group of candidate cells; receive a first signaling from the network device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells; if it is determined that the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, determine a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells; and monitor the third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration.

[0094] In some embodiments, a network device includes a circuit system configured to: transmit a first configuration to a terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least one group of reference signals (RS) used by the terminal device to monitor a first group of candidate cells; transmit a first signaling to the terminal device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells by the terminal device; and receive monitoring results of at least one target candidate cell in a third group of candidate cells from the terminal device, wherein if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is determined based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells.

[0095] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the circuit system may be configured to perform any of the methods implemented by the apparatus as described above.

[0096] The term "circuitry" as used herein may refer to hardware circuitry and / or a combination of hardware circuitry and software. For example, a circuitry may be a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware. As another example, a circuitry may be any portion of a hardware processor with software that includes a digital signal processor, software, and memory that work together to enable an apparatus such as a terminal device or a network device to perform various functions. In yet another example, a circuitry may be a hardware circuitry and / or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software / firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when not required for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also encompasses implementations of only a hardware circuitry or (multiple) processors or a portion of a hardware circuitry or (multiple) processors and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware.

[0097] In summary, embodiments of the present disclosure provide the following aspects.

[0098] In one aspect, a terminal device includes a processor configured to cause the terminal device to: receive a first configuration from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RS) used to monitor a first group of candidate cells; receive first signaling from the network device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells; if it is determined that the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, determine a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells; and monitor the third group of candidate cells based on the first configuration.

[0099] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: if it is determined that the second group of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, cause monitoring of the first group of candidate cells to be stopped.

[0100] In some solutions, the first signaling includes at least one of the following: a second configuration, which configures periodic channel (CSI) reporting for monitoring a second set of candidate cells, a first indication, which activates semi-persistent CSI reporting for monitoring the second set of candidate cells, or a second indication, which triggers aperiodic CSI reporting for monitoring the second set of candidate cells.

[0101] In some solutions, the third set of candidate cells includes at least one candidate cell in the first set of candidate cells that does not overlap with the second set of candidate cells.

[0102] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: determine at least one target candidate cell from the third group of candidate cells; and report a monitoring result of the at least one target candidate cell to the network device.

[0103] In some solutions, the processor is further configured to cause the terminal device to: monitor the third group of candidate cells from a first time slot after one of the following: a first timing when the terminal device receives the first signaling, a second timing as an application timing of the CSI report, a third timing when the terminal device receives the RS associated with the CSI report, a fourth timing when the terminal device transmits the CSI report, or a fifth timing, the fifth timing being the last time slot within a first predetermined duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing.

[0104] In some solutions, the RS is the first RS resource or the last RS resource in a group of RSs associated with the CSI report.

[0105] In some solutions, if the CSI report is a periodic CSI report or a semi-persistent CSI report, the CSI report is the first CSI report in the time domain.

[0106] In some solutions, the first predetermined duration is determined based on a time domain range of at least one set of RSs associated with the first set of candidate cells.

[0107] In some solutions, the processor is further configured to cause the terminal device to: monitor a third group of candidate cells until a first time slot after a second predetermined duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing.

[0108] In some solutions, the processor is further configured to cause the terminal device to: monitor the third group of candidate cells until one of: a sixth timing when the terminal device receives the second signaling, a seventh timing as the stop timing of the CSI report, or an eighth timing, the eighth timing being the last time slot within a third predetermined duration after one of the sixth timing or the seventh timing.

[0109] In some solutions, the second signaling includes at least one of: releasing a third configuration of CSI reporting, a third indication to deactivate CSI reporting, or a fourth indication to trigger another CSI report.

[0110] In some solutions, the third predetermined duration is determined based on a time domain range of at least one set of RSs associated with the first set of candidate cells.

[0111] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: monitor the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing if it is determined that the second signaling is received during the monitoring of the third group of candidate cells; or stop monitoring the first group of candidate cells from the first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing.

[0112] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: if it is determined that the second signaling is received, start a candidate cell monitoring timer.

[0113] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: if it is determined that the second signaling is received before a fourth predetermined duration before subsequent monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, monitor the third group of candidate cells until one of a sixth timing, a seventh timing, or an eighth timing.

[0114] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to monitor a third group of candidate cells if it is determined that the first signaling is received before a fifth predetermined duration prior to the monitoring of the first group of candidate cells.

[0115] In some solutions, the fourth predetermined duration or the fifth predetermined duration is determined based on at least one of the following: a period for monitoring the first group of candidate cells, or a time required for the first signaling to take effect.

[0116] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: determine a fourth group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells, wherein the fourth group of candidate cells includes at least one cell in the first group of candidate cells that overlaps with the second group of candidate cells; and perform at least one of the following: setting a first candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the fourth group of candidate cells to zero; or setting a second candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero.

[0117] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: if it is determined that the second group of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, perform at least one of the following: set a third candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero; stop a candidate cell monitoring timer; determine that the candidate cell monitoring process is successfully completed; or cancel all candidate cell monitoring processes for the serving cell.

[0118] In one aspect, a network device includes a processor configured to cause the network device to: transmit a first configuration to a terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RS) used by the terminal device to monitor a first group of candidate cells; transmit first signaling to the terminal device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report used by the terminal device to monitor a second group of candidate cells; and receive monitoring results of at least one target candidate cell in a third group of candidate cells from the terminal device, wherein if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is determined based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells.

[0119] In some solutions, the first signaling includes at least one of: a second configuration for configuring a periodic channel state information (PCSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells, a first indication for activating a semi-persistent CSI report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells, or a second indication for triggering an aperiodic CSI report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells.

[0120] In some solutions, the third set of candidate cells includes at least one candidate cell in the first set of candidate cells that does not overlap with the second set of candidate cells.

[0121] In some solutions, the processor is configured to further cause the network device to transmit second signaling to the terminal device, wherein the second signaling includes at least one of the following: a third configuration for releasing CSI reporting, a third indication for deactivating CSI reporting, and a fourth indication for triggering other CSI reporting.

[0122] In one aspect, a computer-readable medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the apparatus discussed above.

[0123] In one aspect, a computer program includes instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method implemented by the above apparatus.

[0124] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or a controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0125] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as computer executable instructions included in a program module executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-referenced Figures 1 to 8Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of program modules can be combined or split between program modules as needed. Machine-executable instructions for program modules can be executed on a local device or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0126] The program code for executing the method of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device so that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, enables the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be implemented. The program code can be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0127] The program code described above may be embodied on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0128] In addition, although the operation is described in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring the specific order shown or to perform such operation in sequence, or to perform all operations shown to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multi-tasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure, but should be interpreted as describing the features that can be specific to a particular embodiment. Some features described in the context of a separate embodiment also can be combined in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment also can be realized in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0129] Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it should be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A terminal device, comprising: a processor configured to cause the terminal device to: receiving a first configuration from a network device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RSs) to be used for monitoring a first set of candidate cells; receiving first signaling from the network device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second set of candidate cells; If it is determined that the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, determining a third group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells; as well as Based on the first configuration, the third group of candidate cells is monitored.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the terminal device to: If it is determined that the second group of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, monitoring of the first group of candidate cells is stopped.

3. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first signaling comprises at least one of the following: a second configuration configured to monitor periodic channel CSI reports of the second group of candidate cells, a first indication, wherein the first indication activates a semi-persistent CSI report for monitoring the second group of candidate cells, or A second indication triggers an aperiodic CSI report for monitoring the second group of candidate cells. 4 . The terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein the third group of candidate cells includes at least one candidate cell in the first group of candidate cells that does not overlap with the second group of candidate cells.

5. The terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: Determine at least one target candidate cell from the third group of candidate cells; and Reporting the monitoring result of the at least one target candidate cell to the network device.

6. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: The third set of candidate cells is monitored from the first time slot after one of the following: a first timing when the terminal device receives the first signaling, A second timing as the application timing of the CSI report, a third timing when the terminal device receives the RS associated with the CSI report, a fourth timing at which the terminal device transmits the CSI report, or A fifth timing, where the fifth timing is a last time slot within a first predetermined time duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing. 7 . The terminal device according to claim 6 , wherein the RS is a first RS resource or a last RS resource in a group of RSs associated with the CSI report. 8 . The terminal device according to claim 6 , wherein if the CSI report is a periodic CSI report or a semi-persistent CSI report, the CSI report is the first CSI report in the time domain.

9. The terminal device according to claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: The third group of candidate cells is monitored until a first time slot after a second predetermined time duration after one of the first timing, the second timing, the third timing, or the fourth timing.

10. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: The third set of candidate cells is monitored until one of the following occurs: A sixth timing when the terminal device receives the second signaling, The seventh timing as the stop timing of the CSI report, or An eighth timing, where the eighth timing is a last time slot within a third predetermined time duration after one of the sixth timing or the seventh timing.

11. The terminal device according to claim 11, wherein the second signaling comprises at least one of the following: releasing the third configuration of the CSI report, a third indication to disable said CSI reporting, or A fourth indication triggering another CSI report.

12. A terminal device according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the first predetermined duration is determined based on the time domain range of the at least one group of RSs associated with the first group of candidate cells, and wherein the third predetermined duration is determined based on the time domain range of the at least one group of RSs associated with the first group of candidate cells.

13. The terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: If it is determined that the second signaling is received during the monitoring of the third group of candidate cells, then Monitor the first group of candidate cells from a first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing; or The first time slot after one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing causes monitoring of the first group of candidate cells to be stopped.

14. The terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: If it is determined that the second signaling is received, the candidate cell monitoring timer is started.

15. The terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: If it is determined that the second signaling is received before a fourth predetermined duration before subsequent monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is monitored until one of the sixth timing, the seventh timing, or the eighth timing.

16. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: If it is determined that the first signaling is received before a fifth predetermined time duration before the monitoring of the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is monitored.

17. The terminal device according to claim 16, wherein the fourth predetermined duration or the fifth predetermined duration is determined based on at least one of the following: monitoring period of the first group of candidate cells, or The time required for the first signaling to take effect.

18. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: determining a fourth group of candidate cells based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells, wherein the fourth group of candidate cells includes at least one cell in the first group of candidate cells that overlaps with the second group of candidate cells; and Do at least one of the following: Setting the first candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the fourth group of candidate cells to zero; or A second candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells is set to zero.

19. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to further cause the terminal device to: If it is determined that the second group of candidate cells completely overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, performing at least one of the following: Setting a third candidate cell monitoring counter corresponding to the first group of candidate cells to zero; Stopping the candidate cell monitoring timer; The candidate cell monitoring process is successfully completed; or Cancel all candidate cell monitoring processes for the serving cell.

20. A network device comprising: a processor configured to cause the network device to: transmitting a first configuration to a terminal device, the first configuration indicating at least one set of reference signals (RSs) to be used by the terminal device to monitor a first set of candidate cells; Transmitting first signaling to the terminal device, the first signaling triggering a channel state information (CSI) report for monitoring a second group of candidate cells by the terminal device; as well as A monitoring result of at least one target candidate cell in a third group of candidate cells is received from the terminal device, wherein if the second group of candidate cells overlaps with the first group of candidate cells, the third group of candidate cells is determined based on the first group of candidate cells and the second group of candidate cells.

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