UE measurements

Abstract

Examples of the present disclosure relate to improving the efficiency of UE measurements. In an example of the present disclosure, a UE is configured to receive a message from a network entity. The message includes control instructions for performing verification of the one or more measurements during connection setup. The UE is further configured to perform verification of the one or more measurements in accordance with the instruction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Examples of the present disclosure relate to user equipment (UE) measurements. Some examples relate to improving the efficiency of UE measurements. Background Art

[0002] The UE is expected to perform measurements and verification of measurements during procedures such as connection establishment / connection restoration for carrier aggregation (CA) or establishing dual connectivity or other procedures. Any improvement in the efficiency of these measurements will provide improved power consumption at the UE. Summary of the Invention

[0003] According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a UE comprising means for:

[0004] receiving a message from a network entity, wherein the message includes: a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; and

[0005] Validation of one or more measurements is performed according to the instructions.

[0006] The message including the control instruction may include at least one of the following:

[0007] Connection establishment message;

[0008] Connection reconfiguration message;

[0009] Information request message.

[0010] The connection establishment message may include at least one of the following:

[0011] RRCSetup message;

[0012] RRCResume message.

[0013] The connection reconfiguration message may include an RRCReconfiguration message.

[0014] The control instruction may include at least one of the following:

[0015] an indication of whether to start performing verification of one or more measurements;

[0016] an indication to stop all ongoing verifications of one or more measurements;

[0017] an indication to stop a subset of ongoing validation of one or more measurements;

[0018] an indication to continue a subset of ongoing validation of one or more measurements;

[0019] an indication of whether to report measurement availability, and an indication of a de-authenticated verification status for one or more measurements;

[0020] The maximum duration for the verification process.

[0021] The subset of measurements may be indicated by at least one of the following:

[0022] community

[0023] Carrier

[0024] Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)

[0025] Reference signal (RS).

[0026] The UE may use the indicated maximum duration for the verification procedure to select measurements to perform for verification.

[0027] The component may also be configured to enable transmission of a report including an indication of at least one of:

[0028] measurement availability for one or more measurements performed by the UE;

[0029] The verification status of one or more measurements performed by the UE.

[0030] The report may be sent in an information response message.

[0031] The one or more measurements may include measurements to assist in at least one of:

[0032] Establishment of carrier aggregation (CA);

[0033] Establishment of Dual Connectivity (DC).

[0034] The verification process may include at least one or more of the following:

[0035] Cell detection;

[0036] Measurement of cells;

[0037] Index reads.

[0038] At least some of the measurement and verification procedures may be performed by the UE during at least one of the following:

[0039] Idle mode or inactive mode;

[0040] The connection is established.

[0041] According to various, but not necessarily all, examples of the present disclosure, there is provided a method comprising:

[0042] receiving a message from a network entity, wherein the message includes a control instruction to perform verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; and

[0043] Validation of one or more measurements is performed according to the instructions.

[0044] According to various but not necessarily all examples of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to at least perform:

[0045] receiving a message from a network entity, wherein the message includes: a verification for performing one or more measurements during connection establishment; and

[0046] Validation of one or more measurements is performed according to the instructions.

[0047] According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a network entity comprising components for:

[0048] A message is sent to the UE, wherein the message includes a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

[0049] The message including the control instruction may include at least one of the following:

[0050] Connection establishment message;

[0051] Connection reconfiguration message;

[0052] Information request message.

[0053] The connection establishment message may include at least one of the following:

[0054] RRCSetup message;

[0055] RRCResume message.

[0056] The connection reconfiguration message may include an RRCReconfiguration message.

[0057] The control instruction may include at least one of the following:

[0058] an indication of whether to start performing verification of one or more measurements;

[0059] an indication to stop all ongoing verifications of one or more measurements;

[0060] an indication to stop a subset of ongoing validation of one or more measurements;

[0061] an indication to continue a subset of ongoing validation of one or more measurements;

[0062] an indication of whether to report measurement availability, and an indication of a de-validated verification status for one or more measurements;

[0063] The maximum duration for the verification process.

[0064] The subset of measurements may be indicated by at least one of the following:

[0065] community

[0066] Carrier

[0067] Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)

[0068] Reference signal (RS).

[0069] The UE may use the indicated maximum duration for the verification procedure to select the measurements to perform for verification

[0070] The component may also be configured to receive a report including an indication of at least one of:

[0071] measurement availability for one or more measurements performed by the UE;

[0072] The verification status of one or more measurements performed by the UE.

[0073] The report may be received in an information response message.

[0074] The one or more measurements may include measurements to assist in at least one of:

[0075] Establishment of carrier aggregation (CA);

[0076] Establishment of Dual Connectivity (DC).

[0077] The verification process may include at least one or more of the following:

[0078] Cell detection;

[0079] Measurement of cells;

[0080] Index reads.

[0081] At least some of the measurement and verification procedures may be performed by the UE during at least one of the following:

[0082] Idle mode or inactive mode;

[0083] The connection is established.

[0084] According to various, but not necessarily all, examples of the present disclosure, there is provided a method comprising:

[0085] A message is sent to the UE, wherein the message includes a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

[0086] According to various, but not necessarily all, examples of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to at least:

[0087] A message is sent to the UE, wherein the message includes a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

[0088] Although the above examples and optional features of the present disclosure are described separately, it should be understood that the provision thereof in all possible combinations and arrangements is included in the present disclosure. It should be understood that the various examples of the present disclosure may include any one or all of the features described with respect to other examples of the present disclosure, and vice versa. In addition, it should be understood that any one or more or all of the features may be implemented, included in, or performed by devices, methods, and / or computer program instructions, as needed and appropriate, in any combination. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0089] Some embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0090] Figure 1 An example network is shown;

[0091] Figure 2A and Figure 2B An example method is shown;

[0092] Figure 3 Another example method is shown;

[0093] Figure 4 Another example method is shown;

[0094] Figure 5 Another example method is shown; and

[0095] Figure 6 An example controller is shown.

[0096] The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, certain features and views of the drawings may be shown schematically or scaled up. For example, the dimensions of some elements in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to aid illustration. Corresponding reference numerals are used in the drawings to designate corresponding features. For the sake of clarity, not all reference numerals are necessarily shown in all drawings.

[0097] definition

[0098] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0099] Carrier Aggregation (CA)

[0100] DC Dual Connectivity

[0101] E-UTRA Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access

[0102] eEMR Enhanced EMR

[0103] EMR Early Measurement Report

[0104] FR2 Frequency Range 2

[0105] gNB NR base station

[0106] IE Information Element

[0107] MO Mobile Origination

[0108] NR New Radio

[0109] O-RAN Open Radio Access Network

[0110] RAN Radio Access Network

[0111] RRC Radio Resource Control

[0112] RS reference signal

[0113] SCell Secondary Cell

[0114] SCG Secondary Cell Group

[0115] SIB System Information Block

[0116] SIM Subscriber Identity Module

[0117] SSB Synchronous Signal Block

[0118] UE User Equipment DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0119] Figure 1 The diagram illustrates an example of a network 100 including multiple network entities, including a terminal device 110, a node device 120, and one or more network devices 130. The terminal device 110 and the node device 120 communicate with each other. The one or more network devices 130 communicate with the access node 120. In some examples, the one or more network devices 130 communicate with the terminal device 110.

[0120] In some examples, one or more network devices 130 can communicate with each other. In some examples, one or more node devices 120 can communicate with each other.

[0121] The network 100 may be a cellular network comprising a plurality of cells 122, each cell being served by a node device 120. In this example, the interface between the terminal device 110 and the node devices 120 defining the cells 122 is a wireless interface 124.

[0122] The node device 120 includes one or more cellular radio transceivers. The terminal device 110 includes one or more cellular radio transceivers.

[0123] In the illustrated example, the cellular network 100 is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network, where the terminal device 110 is a user equipment (UE) and the node device 120 may be an access node such as a base station.

[0124] The term "user equipment" is used to refer to a mobile device that includes a smart card, such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), for authentication / encryption, etc. In some examples, the term "user device" is used to refer to a mobile device that includes circuitry embedded as part of the user equipment for authentication / encryption, such as a software SIM.

[0125] Node device 120 may be any suitable base station. A base station is an access node. It may be a network element responsible for radio transmission to or reception from UE 110 in one or more cells. Node device 120 may be a network element in a radio access network (RAN), an open radio access network (O-RAN), an E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access) network, or any other suitable type of network.

[0126] Network device 130 may be part of a core network. Network device 130 may be configured to manage functions related to connectivity for UE 110. For example, network device 130 may be configured to manage functions such as connectivity, mobility, authentication, authorization, and / or other suitable functions. In some examples, network device 130 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) or any other suitable entity.

[0127] exist Figure 1 In the example shown, network device 130 is shown as a single entity. In some examples, network device 130 can be distributed across multiple entities. For example, network device 130 can be cloud-based or distributed in any other suitable manner.

[0128] For example, network 100 may be a 4G network or a 5G network. For example, it may be a New Radio (NR) network using gNBs or eNBs as nodes 120. New Radio is the 3GPP designation for 5G technology. In this case, node devices 120 may include gNodeBs (gNBs) 120 configured to provide user plane and control plane protocol terminations to UE 110 and / or to perform any other suitable functions. gNBs 120 are interconnected with one another via an X2 / Xn interface 126. The gNBs are also connected to a network device 130 via an N2 interface 128. The gNBs may be connected to an AMF or any other suitable network device 130. Other types of networks and interfaces may be used in other examples. Other types of networks may include next-generation mobile and communication networks, such as 6G networks.

[0129] In the network 100 (such as Figure 1 In a network 100 (e.g., a wireless network 100), it is advantageous to make UE 110 measurements available early in connected mode, when a connection is established or restored. This benefit may be particularly relevant for UE 110 transitioning from idle mode or inactive mode. For example, by reducing frequency range 2 (FR2) secondary cell / secondary cell group (SCell / SCG) setup / restore latency for UE 110 connecting from idle mode or inactive mode, there is a significant positive impact on user throughput. The reduced latency will also have a positive impact on UE 110 power savings.

[0130] In the NR network 100 or other suitable networks, early measurements can be configured in a connection release message that releases the UE 110 to idle or inactive mode. For example, early measurements can be configured in an RRCRelease message or any other suitable type of message. In NR and other suitable networks, both idle mode and inactive mode are supported for early measurements. For example, the UE 110 can be configured to perform measurements until a given timer expires or is stopped. The timer can be T331 or any other suitable timer. This can be a mandatory part of the configuration, which indicates how long it takes to perform early measurements after releasing the UE 110. The measurements can then be used to assist in connection mode carrier aggregation (CA) and / or dual connectivity (DC) establishment. The use of these measurements will limit the time spent performing measurements during CA and / or DC establishment and can reduce the power consumption of the UE 110.

[0131] UE 110 may be configured to perform measurements as indicated in the connection release message. UE 110 need not perform measurements on a given carrier in idle or inactive mode if the synchronization signal block (SSB) configuration of the carrier provided via dedicated signaling is different from the SSB configuration broadcasted in the serving cell (if any).

[0132] If UE 110 is not given a carrier in the connection release message, UE 110 will measure the carriers listed in the appropriate system information block (SIB), such as SIB11 (for configuration of NR cells in SIB5 in LTE). UE 110 will perform measurements in idle or inactive mode only for frequencies and carriers in the configured frequency list for which UE 110 supports frequency CA or DC between the frequency and the serving frequency / carrier.

[0133] Therefore, a UE 110 with Early Measurement Report (EMR) capability can perform measurements in idle mode until a timer, such as the T311 timer, expires or is stopped. An EMR UE 110 can maintain a cell detectable from connected mode until the timer expires or is stopped. Whether a cell is maintained is unknown in the interval between the expiration or stopping of the T331 timer and the time the UE 110 receives a connection setup message or a connection resume message. After the T331 timer expires or is stopped, whether the cell is maintained or detectable for Early Measurement Reporting purposes is up to the UE 110 implementation. Based on UE 110 information indications and network information requests, the UE 110 can report early measurement results after security is activated.

[0134] Figure 2A and Figure 2B A method according to an example of the present disclosure is shown. The method enables the network to control a verification procedure for measurements performed by a UE 110.

[0135] Figure 2A The method may be implemented by the UE 110, or a device within the UE 110, or any other suitable terminal entity.

[0136] At block 200, the method includes receiving a message including a control instruction to perform verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment. The message may be received from a network entity, such as gNB 120.

[0137] The measurements may include measurements performed while UE 110 is in idle mode or inactive mode, and / or measurements performed during connection establishment and possibly during a period of time in connected mode. The measurements may include measurements used to assist in establishing CA or DC. In some examples, the measurements may include stored measurements. The stored measurements may be performed by UE 110 before leaving connected mode.

[0138] UE 110 may perform a verification procedure for measurements it has performed or is performing. The verification procedure used will depend on the type of measurement that has been performed or is being performed. The verification procedure may determine that the measurement results are still accurate or relevant, or that the measurement meets one or more other appropriate criteria. For example, the verification procedure may determine whether the measurement was performed during an appropriate time period, or that the measurement was obtained using an appropriate procedure. The verification procedure may include cell detection, measurement of cells, index reading, or any other suitable procedure.

[0139] The control instructions may include information indicating how UE 110 should perform measurement and verification. This may indicate whether measurement and verification are required, or whether only a subset of measurements and verifications are required. The control instructions may enable UE 110 to avoid taking unnecessary measurements and performing unnecessary verifications.

[0140] The control instructions may include: an indication of whether to start performing verification of one or more measurements, an indication of stopping all ongoing verification of one or more measurements, an indication of stopping a subset of ongoing verification of one or more measurements, an indication of continuing a subset of ongoing verification of one or more measurements, an indication of whether to report measurement availability, an indication of a de-verified verification state for one or more measurements, a maximum duration for a verification process, or any other suitable indication or combination of indications.

[0141] In examples where the control instructions comprise an indication of a maximum duration for the authentication process, this may be a predefined duration, which may for example be defined in a standard or in any other suitable protocol.

[0142] When a maximum verification has been indicated, UE 110 may use this information to select one or more measurements to perform verification on. For example, UE 110 may select measurements for which verification can be completed within the maximum duration. UE 110 may choose not to perform verifications that cannot be completed within the maximum duration.

[0143] In examples where the control instruction indicates a subset of verifications to be started or stopped, the subset may be indicated in any suitable manner. For example, the subset may be indicated by a cell, a carrier, a synchronization signal block (SSB), a reference signal (RS), or in any other suitable manner.

[0144] The message including the control instruction may include a connection establishment message, a connection reconfiguration message, an information request message, or any other suitable message type.

[0145] The message including the control instruction includes connection establishment information, which may include: RRCSetup message, RRCResume message or any other suitable message type.

[0146] The message including the control instruction includes a connection reconfiguration message, which may include an RRCReconfiguration message or any other suitable message type.

[0147] At block 202, the method includes performing verification of one or more measurements according to instructions.For example, the UE 110 may start performing a verification, may stop an ongoing verification, or may select which verifications to be performed.

[0148] In some examples, UE 110 may also be configured to send a report indicating measurement availability and / or a verification status for one or more measurements performed by UE 110. The control instructions may include instructions regarding how the report is provided. For example, the control instructions may include information to be included in the report or an indication of when the report is to be sent, or any other suitable instructions.

[0149] The report may be sent in an information response message. For example, the report may be sent in a UEInformationResponse message or any other suitable message type.

[0150] The report may include any suitable information related to the measurements performed by UE 110. In some examples, the response may include an indication of any one or more of: measurement available, measurement unavailable, measurement in progress (partially available), verification not started, verification in progress, verification complete, cell monitored, index availability (available / unavailable), or any other suitable information.

[0151] Figure 2B Another example is shown. Figure 2B The method may be implemented by the gNB 120 or a device within the gNB 120 or other network entities.

[0152] At block 204, the method includes sending a message to UE 110, wherein the message includes control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment. The control instructions may include instructions for how UE 110 should perform verification of the measurements. The control instructions may be as described herein.

[0153] After the message has been sent to UE 110, UE 110 may perform verification according to the instructions. In some examples, gNB 120 may receive a report from UE 110, where the report includes an indication of measurement availability and / or verification of one or more measurements performed by UE 110. The report may be as described herein.

[0154] Figure 3 Another example method that can be implemented using UE 110 and gNB 120 is shown. UE 110 and gNB 120 can be as follows: Figure 1 The UE 110 may be part of the network shown, or may be part of any other suitable type of network 100. In this example, the network indicates to the UE 110 that it is not performing verification of the measurements. The UE 110 also does not report the status of the verification.

[0155] At block 300, UE 110 is configured with a FR2 SCell and enhanced EMR (eEMR) capabilities. The eEMR capabilities enable UE 110 to implement examples of the present disclosure. However, UE 110 may also implement examples of the present disclosure without the support of these capabilities.

[0156] At block 302, gNB 120 sends a release message to UE 110. The release message may be an RRCRelease message or any other suitable type of message. The release message may release or suspend the RRCConnection so that UE 110 may enter an idle mode or inactive mode.

[0157] At block 304, UE 110 enters an idle mode or an inactive mode.

[0158] At block 306 , the frequency is re-evaluated after reselection.

[0159] At block 308, gNB 120 sends a message to the UE indicating which frequencies UE 110 is to perform measurements on. The message may include an appropriate system information block (SIB), such as SIB11.

[0160] At block 310, gNB 120 sends a message to UE 110 indicating the type of measurement to be performed. For example, it may indicate whether the network requires NR or E-UTRA measurements. The message may include an appropriate system information block (SIB), such as SIB2.

[0161] At block 312, UE 110 performs measurements. UE 110 performs measurements while in idle mode or inactive mode. The measurements may include any measurements that may assist in establishing carrier aggregation or dual connectivity.

[0162] At block 314, UE 110 sends a connection request message to gNB 120. The connection request message may include an RRCRequest message, an RRCResume message, or any other suitable message type. The connection request message may include information such as the identity of UE 110 and the establishment cause.

[0163] In this example, control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment may be sent in a connection request message. In this example, the control instructions include instructions for UE 110 to not initiate verification of the measurements. The control instructions may also include instructions for not reporting the verification status of the measurements. These control instructions may be used in scenarios where gNB 120 does not require measurements. Other types of instructions or combinations of instructions may be provided in other examples of this disclosure.

[0164] In this example, the control instructions are sent before the authentication process has been started. The control instructions may be sent at other times in other examples.

[0165] At block 316, UE 110 does not perform verification of the measurements. In this case, no verification process is started.

[0166] At block 318, UE 110 sends a setup complete message to gNB 120. The setup complete message may be an RRCSetupComplete message or any other type of message. The setup complete message does not need to include a report on the verification status because gNB 120 does not need this information.

[0167] At block 320, security is activated between UE 110 and gNB 120. Any suitable protocol may be used to activate security.

[0168] Therefore, in Figure 3 In the example of FIG, the control instruction provided in the connection request message is used to prevent the UE 110 from performing unnecessary authentication procedures. The control instruction prevents the UE 110 from starting the authentication procedure and thus helps reduce power consumption at the UE 110.

[0169] If a control instruction not to start the authentication process is not sent, the UE may start the authentication process according to the agreed-upon procedure. This may be done without any specific control instruction from gNB 120. For example, if the setup message sent at block 314 includes a control instruction, UE 110 will then perform authentication according to the control instruction, but if the setup message sent at block 314 does not include any control instruction, UE 110 will then perform authentication according to the default agreed-upon procedure.

[0170] exist Figure 3 Variations of the method shown in can be used in examples of the present disclosure.

[0171] For example, in some examples, the control instruction may be used to instruct UE 110 to start a verification process. In this case, the control instruction sent from gNB 120 to UE 110 may include an instruction to start performing verification of the measurements. In this case, the control instruction may also include an instruction for the verification status of the measurements to be reported.

[0172] The report of the verification status of the measurements may include any suitable information related to the measurements performed by UE 110. In some examples, the response may include an indication of any one or more of: measurement available, measurement unavailable, measurement in progress (partially available), verification not started, verification in progress, verification complete, cell monitored, index availability (available / unavailable), or any other suitable information.

[0173] The control instruction to start performing verification of measurements may be sent in any suitable message. The message may be sent before the UE 110 starts the verification process. The message may be a connection request message similar to that shown in block 314, or may be any other suitable type of message.

[0174] In some cases, UE 110 may only perform authentication if it receives an instruction from GNB 120 indicating that authentication is to be started. Otherwise, the default procedure for UE 110 will be followed, which may not start authentication in this case.

[0175] Other messages may be used by the gNB to send a control instruction to UE 110 indicating whether to start or not to start the verification process. For example, in some examples, RRCReconfiguration may be used to provide the control instruction.

[0176] The control instruction to start or not start the verification process can be applied to all measurements or to a subset of measurements. If the control instruction is applied only to a subset of measurements, then the relevant subset of measurements can be indicated in the control instruction. For example, the control instruction may indicate not to start verification and a list of reference signals (RS) or carriers or cells to which the instruction applies. In this case, UE 110 will not start the verification process for the indicated RS, but will start verification for RS or carriers or cells that have not yet been indicated. Conversely, in some examples, the control instruction may indicate to start verification and a list of reference signals (RS) or carriers or cells to which the instruction applies. In this case, UE 110 will start the verification process for the indicated RS or carriers or cells, but will not start verification for RS or carriers or cells that have not yet been indicated.

[0177] exist Figure 3 In some examples, the control instructions are sent before the verification process has begun. In other examples, the control instructions can be sent while the verification process is ongoing. Figure 4 and Figure 5 Example methods are shown in which gNB 120 sends control instructions after the verification process has begun. In these examples, the control instructions are sent in an information request message. The control instructions can be sent in any suitable message at any suitable time.

[0178] Figure 4 Another example method that can be implemented using UE 110 and gNB 120 is shown. UE 110 and gNB 120 can be in Figure 1 , or may be part of any other suitable type of network 100. In this example, the network indicates to the UE 110 that it is to stop performing an ongoing authentication procedure.

[0179] Blocks 300 to 320 may be as follows Figure 3 Corresponding reference numerals are used for corresponding blocks of the process.

[0180] At block 400, the UE sends a connection request message to gNB 120. The connection request message may include an RRCRequest message, an RRCResume message, or any other suitable message type. The connection request message may include information such as the identity of UE 110 and the establishment cause.

[0181] Figure 4 Example with Figure 3 The example is different because Figure 4In the example of FIG4 , no control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements is sent in the connection request message. Instead, UE 110 begins performing verification at block 402. Verification may be initiated according to an agreed procedure.

[0182] At block 404, the UE sends a setup complete message to gNB 120. The setup complete message may be an RRCSetupComplete message or any other type of message, and at block 406, security is activated between UE 110 and gNB 120. Any suitable protocol may be used to activate security.

[0183] At block 408, an information request message is sent from gNB 120 to UE 110. The information request message may be a UEInformationRequest message or any other suitable type of message.

[0184] exist Figure 4 In the example of FIG402 , a control message for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment may be sent in an information request message. In this example, the control instruction includes an instruction to UE 110 to stop an ongoing verification process. This instruction may cause UE 110 to stop the verification process started at block 402.

[0185] The control instructions may also include instructions not to report the verification status of measurements. These control instructions may be used in scenarios where gNB 120 does not require measurements. Other types of instructions or combinations of instructions may be provided in other examples of the present disclosure.

[0186] At block 410, the UE 110 stops the verification of the measurements. This may stop any ongoing verification process according to the control instruction. When the verification process is stopped, any timer supervising the verification process may be stopped or reset.

[0187] At block 412, UE 112 responds to the information request message by sending an information response message to gNB 120. The information request message may include a UEInformationResponse message or any other suitable type of message. The information response message may include the information requested in the information request message.

[0188] In some examples, the information response message may include a report indicating measurement availability and measurement status for one or more measurements. UE 110 may determine whether a report should be included in the information request message based on the control instruction. For example, if the control instruction requests a report on completed verification, then that information may be included in the information response message. If the control instruction requests that no report be sent, then no report needs to be sent in the information response message.

[0189] The report sent by UE 110 may include any suitable information related to measurements performed by UE 110. In some examples, the response may include an indication of any one or more of: measurement available, measurement not available, measurement in progress (partially available), verification not started, verification in progress, verification complete, cell detected, index availability (available / unavailable), or any other suitable information.

[0190] Variations of this approach may be used in examples of this disclosure.

[0191] For example, in Figure 4 In the example of FIG. 1 , the control instruction may instruct UE 110 to stop all ongoing verifications. In some examples, gNB 120 may require verification of some of the measurements. In this case, the control instruction sent from gNB 120 to UE 110 may include an instruction to continue the verification process for a subset of measurements or targets. This may cause UE 110 to stop the verification process for measurements not in the subset.

[0192] If the control instruction is to be applied only to a subset of target measurements, then the relevant subset of measurements can be indicated in the control instruction. For example, the control instruction can indicate to continue verification and a list of target reference signals (RS) to which the instruction applies. The target can include a reference signal (RS), a carrier, or a cell. In this case, the UE 110 will continue the verification process for the indicated target, but will stop verification for targets that have not yet been indicated. Conversely, in some examples, the control instruction can indicate to stop verification and a list of targets to which the instruction applies. In this case, the UE 110 will stop the verification process for the indicated target, but will continue verification for targets that have not yet been indicated.

[0193] A field in the information request message or any other suitable message may be used to indicate the measurement to which the control instruction applies. If the control instruction is to apply to all measurements, the field may be left blank. That is, the control instruction need not apply to any specific measurement. Figure 5 An example method is shown in which gNB 120 can control UE 110 to stop a subset of ongoing measurements.

[0194] Figure 5 Another example method that can be implemented using UE 110 and gNB 120 is shown. UE 110 and gNB 120 can be as shown in FIG. Figure 1 1. In this example, the network indicates to UE 110 that UE 110 is to stop performing a subset of the ongoing authentication procedures.

[0195] Blocks 300 to 312 may be as in Figure 3 and Figure 4 . Blocks 400 to 406 may be as in Figure 4 Corresponding reference numerals are used for corresponding blocks of the process.

[0196] At block 500, an information request message is sent from gNB 120 to UE 110. The information request message may be a UEInformationRequest message or any other suitable type of message.

[0197] exist Figure 5 In the example of FIG4 , a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment may be sent in an information request message. In this example, the control instruction includes an instruction to the UE to stop a subset of ongoing verification procedures. This instruction may cause the UE 110 to stop the subset of verification procedures started at block 402.

[0198] The control instructions may also include instructions related to reporting measurement availability and / or verification status. For example, the control instructions may include instructions that the verification status of a measurement that has been stopped should not be reported.

[0199] These control instructions may be used in scenarios where gNB 120 only needs to measure a subset of the data. Other types of instructions or combinations of instructions may be provided in other embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0200] At block 502, the UE 110 stops verification of measurements that have been instructed in the control instruction. This may stop a subset of ongoing verification processes. Any timer supervising the verification process that has been stopped may be stopped or reset.

[0201] At block 504, UE 110 responds to the information request message by sending an information response message to gNB 120. The information response message may include a UEInformationResponse message or any other suitable type of message. The information response message may include the information requested in the information request message.

[0202] At block 506, the UE continues verification of other measurements not indicated in the control instruction. These verification processes may be performed according to the agreed upon process.

[0203] In some examples, UE 110 may send a report to UE 110 indicating measurement availability and verification status for one or more measurements. The report may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the information response message may include a report indicating measurement availability and verification status for one or more measurements. UE 110 may determine whether a report should be included in the information request message based on the control instruction. For example, if the control instruction requests a report on completed verification, then that information may be included. If the control instruction requests that no report be sent, then no report needs to be sent in the information response message.

[0204] The report sent by UE 110 may include any suitable information related to the measurements performed by UE 110. In some examples, the response may include an indication of any one or more of: measurement available, measurement unavailable, measurement in progress (partially available), verification not started, verification in progress, verification complete, cell detected, index availability (available / unavailable), or any other suitable information. This information may be provided only for a subset of the measurements that have been indicated in the control instruction.

[0205] Variations of this method may be used in examples of the present disclosure. For example, Figure 5 In the example of , gNB 120 sends a control instruction that instructs UE 110 on a subset of measurements for which it is to stop the verification process. In other examples, gNB 120 may send a control instruction that instructs UE 110 on a subset of measurements or targets for which it is to continue the verification process. This may be done in, for example, Figure 5 In this example, UE 110 will continue the verification process for the indicated measurements and stop the verification process for measurements that have not been indicated.

[0206] Any suitable field may be used to provide the control instruction in the corresponding message. For example, if the control instruction is to be used to instruct UE 110 to stop the entire validation process, the field STOP_VALIDATION=true / false may be included in the appropriate message. The indication need not be true / false.

[0207] Other types of indications may be used, such as a bit "0" or "1" indicating start or stop. In some examples, the indication may be part of a configuration bitmap. The bitmap may include multiple bits. For example, 0001 would indicate stopping measurements for three cells but starting measurements for one cell.

[0208] If the control instruction is to be used to instruct UE 110 to stop a subset of the validation procedures, the field STOP_VALIDATION = TRUE + list of affected targets. The affected targets can be indicated by a list of RS indices, cells, carriers, or any combination of these. These control instructions can cause UE 110 to stop the indicated measurements and continue all other measurements.

[0209] In some examples, the control instructions may also include an instruction to the UE regarding whether to provide a report regarding measurement availability and / or validity status. In some cases, reporting of this information may use a default agreed-upon procedure. This default agreed-upon procedure may be overridden if appropriate instructions are provided by gNB 120. Any suitable field in a suitable message may be used by gNB 120 to provide instructions regarding information reporting. For example, in some cases, a field STOP_VALIDATION = TRUE may indicate to UE 110 that the validation process is stopped and that an information request is not yet responded to. In other words, it may indicate in any other suitable message that an information response message and / or a report is not sent. The indication need not be true / false. Other types of indications may be used, such as a bit "0" or "1" indicating start or stop. In some examples, the indication may be part of a configuration bitmap. The indication may indicate whether to stop or start validation of measurements for one or more targets.

[0210] In some examples, UE 110 can be configured to always send a report on the measurement availability and / or validity status for any requested measurement. In some cases, when verification of all or a subset of measurements is stopped, gNB 120 can indicate to UE 110 to provide a report on the measurements that have been verified. This can be indicated using any suitable field, such as REPORT=true / false indicating whether to report the measurement results and verification status. The indication need not be true / false. Other types of indications can be used, such as a bit "0" or "1" indicating start or stop. In some examples, the indication can be part of a configuration bitmap.

[0211] In some examples, the control instruction may indicate a maximum allowed duration for the authentication process. This may indicate the maximum duration for the process from the time UE 110 receives the connection request message until the time UE 110 needs to stop the authentication process and continue in RRC connected mode. In some examples, the maximum allowed duration may be predefined in the standard. In other examples, the maximum allowed duration may not be predefined in the standard, but may be defined by any other suitable means.

[0212] gNB 120 may send an instruction indicating the maximum allowed duration to UE 110 in any suitable message. In some examples, the control instruction indicating the maximum allowed duration may be sent to UE 110 before verification has begun. For example, the control instruction may be sent in a connection request message, in a SIB or measurement configuration message, or in any other suitable type of message.

[0213] In some examples, a control instruction indicating the maximum allowed duration may be sent to UE 110 after verification has begun. This may be used if network 100 wishes to change a defined or previously signaled maximum allowed duration. In this case, the control instruction indicating the maximum allowed duration may be sent in an information request message or in any other suitable message.

[0214] In some examples, UE 110 may be required to respond immediately to the information request message. In this example, gNB 120 may be configured to send multiple information request messages, and gNB 120 may adjust the time at which it will request any results based on the indicated maximum allowed duration. In some cases, UE 110 may be configured to defer responding to the information request message. In this case, UE 110 will defer the information response message until the maximum verification duration has expired.

[0215] UE 110 may determine which measurements to verify based at least in part on a maximum allowed duration. The maximum allowed duration may be shorter than the time it may take UE 110 to verify some measurements. UE 110 may assess how long it will take to verify the respective measurements and only initiate verification of measurements that can be verified in a time shorter than or equal to the maximum verification duration. UE 110 may assess how long it will take to verify the respective measurements by calculating how long an index read takes, calculating how long measurements associated with the verification take, assuming a cell is detected, and / or any other procedure or combination of procedures.

[0216] All of the methods described herein may be used either alone or in any kind of combination to allow for better control over the authentication process performed by the UE 110 .

[0217] A benefit of allowing gNB 120 to control the verification process performed by UE 110 as described herein is that UE 110 does not need to expend unnecessary time or power verifying that network 100 may not use measurements of interest in SCell / SCG activation. The methods described herein also allow network 100 and UE 110 to react to sudden changes during the activation process.

[0218] Figure 6 An example of a controller 600 is shown. Controller 600 may be provided within a device such as UE 110 or a network device. Controller 600 may be implemented as controller circuitry. Controller 600 may be implemented solely in hardware, with certain aspects in software including firmware alone, or may be a combination of hardware and software (including firmware).

[0219] As in Figure 6 As shown in FIG, the controller 600 may be implemented using instructions that enable hardware functionality, such as by using executable instructions in a general or special purpose processor 602, which may be stored on a computer readable medium (disk, memory, etc.) for execution by the processor 602.

[0220] The processor 602 is configured to read from and write to the memory 604. The processor 602 may also include an output interface through which data and / or commands are output by the processor 602, and an input interface through which data and / or commands are output to the processor 602.

[0221] The memory 604 stores a computer program 606 including computer program instructions (computer program code) that controls the operation of the device when loaded into the processor 602. The computer program instructions of the computer program 606 provide logic and routines that enable the device to perform the methods illustrated in the accompanying drawings. By reading the memory 604, the processor 602 can load and execute the computer program 606.

[0222] In an example where the controller 600 is provided within the UE 110, the controller 600 thus includes: at least one processor 602; and at least one memory 604 storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 602, cause the UE 110 to at least:

[0223] receiving 200 a message from a network entity, wherein the message comprises: a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; and

[0224] Validation of one or more measurements is performed 202 according to the instructions.

[0225] In an example where the controller 600 is provided within the gNB 120, the controller 600 thus includes at least one processor 602, and at least one memory 604 storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 602, cause the UE 110 to at least:

[0226] A message is sent 204 to the UE 110, wherein the message includes control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

[0227] The computer program 606 may reach the UE 110 via any suitable delivery mechanism 608. For example, the delivery mechanism 608 may be a machine-readable medium, a computer-readable medium, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a memory device, a recording medium (such as a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or a digital versatile disk (DVD) or a solid-state memory), an article of manufacture including or tangibly embodying the computer program 606. The delivery mechanism may be a signal configured to reliably transmit the computer program 606. An apparatus may propagate or transmit the computer program 606 as a computer data signal.

[0228] The computer program 606 may include computer program instructions for causing the UE 110 to perform at least the following, or computer program instructions for performing at least the following:

[0229] receiving 200 a message from a network entity, wherein the message comprises: a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; and

[0230] Validation of one or more measurements is performed 202 according to the instructions.

[0231] The computer program 606 may include computer program instructions for causing the gNB 120 to perform at least the following, or computer program instructions for performing at least the following:

[0232] A message is sent 204 to the UE 110, wherein the message includes control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

[0233] The computer program instructions may be included in a computer program, a non-transitory computer readable medium, a computer program product, a machine readable medium. In some, but not necessarily all, examples, the computer program instructions may be distributed across more than one computer program product.

[0234] Although memory 604 is illustrated as a single component / circuitry, it may be implemented as one or more separate components / circuitry, some or all of which may be integrated / removable, and / or may provide permanent / semi-permanent / dynamic / cached storage.

[0235] Although processor 602 is illustrated as a single component / circuitry, it may be implemented as one or more separate components / circuitry, some or all of which may be integrated / removable.Processor 602 may be a single-core or multi-core processor.

[0236] References to "computer-readable storage medium," "computer program product," "tangibly embodied computer program," etc., or "controller," "computer," "processor," etc., should be understood to include not only computers with different architectures (such as single / multi-processor architectures and sequential (von Neumann) / parallel architectures), but also special-purpose circuits (such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific circuits (ASICs), signal processing devices, and other processing circuit systems). References to computer programs, instructions, code, etc., should be understood to include software or firmware for a programmable processor, such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device, whether instructions for a processor or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array, or programmable logic device, etc.

[0237] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0238] (a) hardware circuitry only (such as implementation in analog and / or digital circuitry only), and

[0239] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (as applicable):

[0240] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0241] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) (including digital signal processor(s)) with software, software and memory(s) that work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, and (c) hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may not be present when the software is not required for operation.

[0242] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, the term circuitry also covers a baseband integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or networking device, if applicable to the particular claim element.

[0243] In Figures 2 to Figure 5 The stages illustrated in the figure may represent steps in a method and / or code sections in the computer program 606. The description of a particular order of blocks does not necessarily imply that there is a required or preferred order for the blocks, and the order and arrangement of the blocks may vary. In addition, some blocks may be omitted.

[0244] Where a structural feature has been described, it may be replaced by a component for performing one or more of the functions of the structural feature, whether that function or functions is described explicitly or implicitly.

[0245] The term "comprising" is used in this document in an inclusive, rather than exclusive, sense. That is, any reference to X including Y indicates that X may include only one Y or may include more than one Y. If the exclusive meaning of "comprising" is intended, then this will be made clear from the context by reference to "including only one" or by use of "consisting of."

[0246] In this specification, the terms "connected," "coupled," and "in communication with" and their derivatives mean operatively connected / coupled / in communication with each other. It should be understood that any number or combination of intervening components (including no intervening components) may be present, i.e., to provide a direct or indirect connection / coupling / in communication with each other. Any such intervening components may include hardware components and / or software components.

[0247] As used herein, the term "determine" (and grammatical variations thereof) may include, but is not limited to, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, measuring, investigating, identifying, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), obtaining, etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0248] In this specification, references have been made to various examples. The description of features or functions associated with an example indicates that those features or functions are present in that example. Whether clearly and explicitly stated or not, the use of the term "example" or "for example" or "may" or "can" as used herein indicates that the feature or function is present in at least the example described, whether described or not, indicating that they can but not necessarily be present in some or all other examples. Therefore, "example", "for example", "can", "may" refer to a specific instance in a class of examples. The attributes of an instance may be attributes of only that instance, or attributes of a class, or attributes of a subclass of a class that includes some but not all instances in the class. Therefore, it is implicitly disclosed that features described with reference to one example rather than with reference to another example can be used in that other example as part of a working combination where possible, but do not necessarily have to be used in that other example.

[0249] Although the examples have been described in the preceding paragraphs with reference to various examples, it should be appreciated that modifications to the examples given can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0250] Features described in the preceding description may be used in combinations other than those explicitly described above.

[0251] Although functions have been described with reference to certain examples, those functions may be performable by other features whether described or not.

[0252] Although features have been described with reference to certain examples, those features may also be present in other examples whether described or not.

[0253] As used in this document, the terms "a," "an," or "the" have an inclusive, rather than exclusive, meaning. That is, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, any reference to X that includes a / an / the Y indicates that X may include only one Y or may include more than one Y. If the exclusive meaning of "a," "an," or "the" is intended, then this will become clear from the context. In some cases, the use of "at least one" or "one or more" may be used to emphasize the inclusive meaning, but the absence of these terms should not be used to infer any exclusive meaning.

[0254] The presence of a feature (or combination of features) in a claim is a reference to that feature (or combination of features) itself, and also to features that achieve substantially the same technical effect (equivalent features). For example, equivalent features include features that are variants and achieve substantially the same result in substantially the same way. For example, equivalent features include features that perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result.

[0255] In this specification, reference has been made to various examples of using adjectives or adjective phrases to describe features of examples. The description of the feature in relation to the examples indicates that the feature exists in some examples exactly as described and in other examples substantially as described.

[0256] The above description describes some examples of the present disclosure, however, those skilled in the art will be aware of possible alternative structural and method features that provide equivalent functionality to the specific examples of such structures and methods described above herein, and which have been omitted from the above description for the sake of brevity and clarity. Nevertheless, the above description should be interpreted as implicitly including reference to these alternative structural and method features that provide equivalent functionality, unless the alternative structural or method feature is explicitly excluded in the above description of the examples of the present disclosure.

[0257] While efforts have been made in the foregoing description to draw attention to those features regarded as important, it will be understood that the applicant may seek protection by way of claims for any patentable feature or combination of features mentioned above and / or shown in the accompanying drawings, whether or not emphasis has been given thereto.

Claims

1. A UE comprising components for: A message is received from a network entity, wherein the message includes: control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; as well as Validation of the one or more measurements is performed according to the instructions.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the message including the control instruction comprises at least one of the following: Connection establishment message; Connection reconfiguration message; Information request message.

3. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the connection establishment message includes at least one of the following: RRCSetup message; RRCResume message. The UE according to claim 2 , wherein the connection reconfiguration message comprises an RRCReconfiguration message.

5. The UE according to any preceding claim, wherein the control instruction comprises at least one of the following: an indication of whether to start performing said verification of said one or more measurements; an indication to stop all ongoing validations of the one or more measurements; an indication to stop the ongoing validation of a subset of the one or more measurements; an indication to continue the subset of the ongoing validation of the one or more measurements; an indication of whether to report measurement availability, and an indication of a de-authenticated verification status for the one or more measurements; The maximum duration for the verification process.

6. The UE of claim 5 , wherein the subset of measurements is indicated by at least one of: community Carrier Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) Reference signal (RS). 7 . The UE of claim 5 , wherein the UE uses the indicated maximum duration for the verification procedure to select measurements to perform verification.

8. The UE according to any preceding claim, wherein the means is further configured to enable transmission of a report, the report comprising an indication of at least one of: measurement availability for one or more measurements performed by the UE; A verification status of one or more measurements performed by the UE.

9. The UE of claim 8, wherein the report is sent in an information response message.

10. The UE according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more measurements include measurements to assist at least one of: Establishment of carrier aggregation (CA); Establishment of Dual Connectivity (DC).

11. The UE according to any preceding claim, wherein the verification process comprises at least one or more of the following: Cell detection; Measurement of cells; Index reads.

12. The UE according to any preceding claim, wherein at least some of the measurements and the verification procedures are performed by the UE during at least one of: Idle mode or inactive mode; The connection is established.

13. A method comprising: receiving a message from a network entity, wherein the message includes: a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; and Validation of the one or more measurements is performed according to the instructions.

14. A computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to at least: A message is received from a network entity, wherein the message includes: control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment; as well as Validation of the one or more measurements is performed according to the instructions.

15. A network entity comprising means for: Send a message to the UE, where the message includes: Control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

16. The network entity according to claim 15, wherein the message including the control instruction comprises at least one of the following: Connection establishment message; Connection reconfiguration message; Information request message.

17. The network entity according to claim 16, wherein the connection establishment message comprises at least one of the following: RRCSetup message; RRCResume message.

18. The network entity of claim 16, wherein the connection reconfiguration message comprises an RRCReconfiguration message.

19. The network entity according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the control instruction comprises at least one of the following: an indication of whether to start performing said verification of said one or more measurements; an indication to stop all ongoing validations of the one or more measurements; an indication to stop the ongoing validation of a subset of the one or more measurements; an indication to continue the subset of the ongoing validation of the one or more measurements; an indication of whether to report measurement availability, and an indication of a de-authenticated verification status for the one or more measurements; The maximum duration for the verification process.

20. The network entity of claim 19, wherein the subset of measurements is indicated by at least one of: community Carrier Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) Reference signal (RS).

21. The network entity of claim 19, wherein the UE uses the indicated maximum duration for the verification procedure to select measurements to perform verification.

22. The network entity according to any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein the component is further configured to receive a report, the report comprising an indication of at least one of the following: measurement availability for one or more measurements performed by the UE; A verification status of one or more measurements performed by the UE.

23. The network entity of claim 22, wherein the report is received in an information response message.

24. The network entity of any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein the one or more measurements comprise measurements to assist with at least one of: Establishment of carrier aggregation (CA); Establishment of Dual Connectivity (DC).

25. The network entity according to any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein the verification process comprises at least one of the following: Cell detection; Measurement of cells; Index reads.

26. The network entity according to any one of claims 15 to 25, wherein at least some of the measurements and the verification procedures are performed by the UE during at least one of the following: Idle mode or inactive mode; The connection is established.

27. A method comprising: A message is sent to a UE, wherein the message includes a control instruction for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

28. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to at least: Send a message to the UE, where the message includes: Control instructions for performing verification of one or more measurements during connection establishment.

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