Enhancement of inter-frequency measurements for small gaps (ncsgs) with gap demand (nfgs) and network control

Abstract

A user equipment is configured to identify one or more conditions for the UE to support gapless measurements for inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for a synchronization signal block band (SSB), where the one or more conditions include that a frequency separation between a target SSB and an active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the UE is within a configurable threshold, or the frequency separation threshold value comprises that the target SSB is within the channel bandwidth (CBW) of the UE; and transmitting a capability message to a next generation Node B (gNB), the capability message indicating that the UE supports gapless measurements for inter-frequency Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements of the SSB based on the identified condition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to wireless communication, including apparatus, systems, and methods for radio resource management (RRM) measurements of user equipment (UE) that supports a bandwidth portion (BWP) without being limited to 5G NR systems and above. Background Technology

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. In recent years, wireless devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have become increasingly complex and sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now offer access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of operating complex applications that utilize these functionalities.

[0003] Long Term Evolution (LTE) is currently the technology of choice for most wireless network operators worldwide, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed internet access to their subscriber base. LTE was first proposed in 2004 and first standardized in 2008. Since then, with the exponential growth in the use of wireless communication systems, the demand from wireless network operators to support higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users has also increased. Therefore, research into new radio access technologies began in 2015, and in 2017, the first version of 5G New Radio (5G NR) was standardized.

[0004] 5G-NR, also known simply as NR, offers higher capacity for higher-density mobile broadband users compared to LTE, while also supporting ultra-reliable and massive machine-type communication between devices, as well as lower latency and / or lower battery consumption. Furthermore, NR allows for more flexible UE scheduling compared to current LTE. Therefore, ongoing development of 5G-NR is underway to leverage the potentially higher throughput at higher frequencies.

[0005] In 3GPP standard Rel-15, an Unrestricted Bandwidth Part (BWP) (e.g., bwp-WithoutRestriction) was introduced as an optional feature. UEs supporting this feature indicate support for unrestricted BWP operation. Regarding downlink (DL) BWP bandwidth restrictions for primary cell (PCell) and primary / secondary cell (PSCell), this means that the bandwidth of the DL BWP configured for the UE-specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) may exclude the bandwidth of Core Resource Set (CORESET) #0 (if configured) and Synchronization Signal Block (SSB). For secondary cell (SCell), this means that the bandwidth of the DL BWP may exclude the SSB.

[0006] Furthermore, feature 6-1a was introduced as an optional feature in 3GPP standard Rel-15. UEs supporting this feature have the following components: the bandwidth (BW) of the bandwidth portion (BWP) in the UE-specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration may not include the BW of CORESET #0 (if present) and the SSB for PCell / PSCELL (if configured), and the BW of the BWP in the UE-specific RRC configuration may not include the SSB for SCell.

[0007] However, the specifications supporting this feature are not yet fully complete. For example, by the end of Rel-17, radio resource management (RRM) requirements for radio link monitoring (RLM), beam management (BM), and beam failure detection (BFD) only applied when the associated reference signal (RS) was within the UE's active BWP. Therefore, additional details need to be defined to fully support BWPs without restrictions on this feature. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The implementation relates to wireless communication, and more specifically to apparatus, systems, and methods for a user equipment (UE) comprising one or more processors configured to: identify one or more conditions for which the UE is configured to support gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for a target synchronization signal block (SSB); and transmit a capability message to a next-generation node B (gNB) instructing the UE to support gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for the target SSB based on the identified one or more conditions.

[0009] In some implementations, the identified conditions may instruct the UE to support gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements against a target SSB, wherein the SSB is within the UE's channel bandwidth (CBW) in frequency and outside the UE's active bandwidth portion (BWP) in the CBW.

[0010] Other embodiments relate to an apparatus having processing circuitry configured to: identify one or more conditions for a UE to support gapless measurements of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) for a synchronization signal block band (SSB), wherein the one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and the UE's active bandwidth portion (BWP) within a configurable threshold or frequency separation threshold, the frequency separation threshold including the target SSB within the UE's channel bandwidth (CBW); and send a capability message to a next-generation Node B (gNB) instructing the UE to support gapless measurements of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) for the SSB based on the identified conditions. Frequency separation is defined as a continuous frequency range in the frequency domain that completely encompasses the bandwidth of the target SSB and the bandwidth of the active BWP.

[0011] Other embodiments relate to an apparatus for a next-generation node B (gNB) comprising one or more processors configured to: receive a capability message from a UE instructing the UE to support gapless inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for a target synchronization signal block (SSB) based on identified conditions, wherein the capability message instructs one or more conditions for the UE to support gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements for the target SSB, wherein the one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and an active bandwidth portion (BWP) within a configurable threshold or frequency separation threshold for the target SSB, wherein the BWP and the target SSB are within the UE's channel bandwidth.

[0012] The technologies described herein can be implemented in and / or used with a variety of different types of devices, including but not limited to any of the following computing devices: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial vehicle controllers (UACs), UTM servers, base stations, access points, cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and various other computing devices.

[0013] The present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subjects described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are merely illustrative and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or substance of the subjects described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subjects described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Attached Figure Description

[0014] A better understanding of the subject matter can be obtained by considering the following detailed description of various embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1A Example wireless communication systems according to some implementation schemes are illustrated.

[0015] Figure 1B Examples of base stations and access points communicating with user equipment (UE) devices according to some implementation schemes are illustrated.

[0016] Figure 2 Example block diagrams of base stations according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0017] Figure 3 Example block diagrams of servers according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0018] Figure 4 Example block diagrams of a UE according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0019] Figure 5 Example block diagrams of cellular communication circuits according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0020] Figure 6A Examples of 5G network architectures according to some implementation schemes are illustrated, which combine both 3GPP (e.g., cellular) and non-3GPP (e.g., non-cellular) access to 5GCN.

[0021] Figure 6B Examples of 5G network architectures according to some implementation schemes are illustrated, which combine dual 3GPP access to 5GCN (e.g., LTE and 5G NR) and non-3GPP access.

[0022] Figure 7 Examples of baseband processor architectures for UEs according to some implementation schemes are illustrated.

[0023] Figure 8 Examples of devices according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0024] Figure 9 Example baseband circuits according to some implementation schemes are illustrated.

[0025] Figure 10 Example schematic diagrams illustrating a comparison of conventional gap-based methods and enhanced gapless methods for inter-frequency RRM measurements performed by UE using gap requirements (NFG) and network-controlled small gaps (NCSG) according to some implementation schemes.

[0026] Figure 11 An example schematic diagram illustrating an adjustable UE bandwidth for gapless inter-frequency RRM measurement using NFG / NCSG, according to some implementation schemes.

[0027] Figure 12An example is illustrated of a data structure 1200 in ASN.1 format for NFG and NCSG in 3GPP Releases 16 and 17 according to some implementations. This data structure contains 3GPP protocol elements for instructing the UE to support inter-frequency RRM measurements using NFG and NCSG without gaps.

[0028] Figure 13 An example schematic diagram illustrating frequency allocation according to some implementation schemes is shown, in which the UE can use NFG / NCSG to measure only a portion of the frequency band without gaps for inter-frequency RRM.

[0029] Figure 14 Example data structures 1400 for NFG and NCSG according to some implementation schemes are illustrated, wherein new gap indication parameters are introduced in the 3GPP protocol to indicate that the UE supports inter-frequency RRM measurements using NFG and NCSG without gaps.

[0030] Figure 15 An example is provided for a configurable frequency separation threshold between the active BWP and the target SSB supported by conditional inter-frequency RRM measurements using NFG / NCSG.

[0031] Figure 16 Example data structures for NFG and NCSG according to some implementation schemes are illustrated, in which new gap indication parameters are introduced in the 3GPP protocol to indicate that the conditional UE supports inter-frequency RRM measurements using NFG and NCSG without gaps.

[0032] Figure 17 An example is given of a method for determining the measurement gap configuration for RRM measurement according to some implementation schemes.

[0033] Although the features described herein may be subject to various modifications and alternatives, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and their detailed description are not intended to limit one to the specific forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the substance and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. Detailed Implementation

[0034] the term The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure: Memory media—any of various types of nontransitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory media" is intended to include mounting media, such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or magnetic tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory, such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory, such as flash memory; magnetic media, such as hard disk drives or optical storage devices; registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. Memory media may also include other types of nontransitory memory or combinations thereof. Furthermore, memory media may reside in a first computer system executing a program, or may reside in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter example, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory media" may include two or more memory media residing in different locations in different computer systems connected via, for example, a network. Memory media may store program instructions (e.g., embodied in a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0035] Carrier media—memory media as described above, and physical transmission media such as buses, networks, and / or other physical transmission media that transmit signals such as electrical signals, electromagnetic signals, or digital signals.

[0036] Programmable hardware elements—including a variety of hardware devices comprising multiple programmable functional blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (Field-Programmable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). Programmable functional blocks can range from fine-grained (combinational logic or lookup tables) to coarse-grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as “configurable logic units.”

[0037] Computer system (or computer) — any of the various types of computing or processing systems, including personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, internet-connected appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems, grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations thereof. In general, the term "computer system" can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0038] User equipment (UE) (or “UE device”) — any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone). ™Based on Android ™ Telephones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS) ™ PlayStation Portable ™ Gameboy Advance ™ iPhone ™ ), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. Generally speaking, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic device, computing device, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily transportable by the user and capable of wireless communication.

[0039] Base station—The term “base station” has the full range of its common meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed in a fixed location and is used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

[0040] A processing element (or processor) is a component or combination of components capable of performing the functions of a device such as a user equipment or cellular network device. A processing element may include, for example: a processor and associated memory, portions or circuitry of individual processor cores, an entire processor core, a processor array, circuitry such as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), programmable hardware components such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and any combination thereof.

[0041] A channel is a medium used to transmit information from a transmitter to a receiver. It should be noted that because the characteristics of the term "channel" can vary depending on the wireless protocol, the term "channel" as used herein can be considered to be used in a standard manner consistent with the type of device to which the term is referenced. In some standards, channel bandwidth can be variable (e.g., depending on device capabilities, frequency band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE can support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. 5G NR can support scalable channel bandwidths from 5 MHz to 100 MHz in Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and up to 400 MHz in FR2. In other radio access technologies, WLAN channels can be 22 MHz wide, while Bluetooth channels can be 1 MHz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, for example, different channels for uplink or downlink and / or different channels for different purposes such as data, control information, etc.

[0042] Frequency band—The term “frequency band” has the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a segment of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which a channel is used or reserved for the same purpose.

[0043] Wi-Fi—The term “Wi-Fi” (or WiFi) has the full range of its usual meaning and includes at least wireless communication networks or RATs, which are provided by and through wireless LAN (WLAN) access points to provide connectivity to the Internet. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name “Wi-Fi.” Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are different from cellular networks.

[0044] 3GPP access refers to access technologies (e.g., radio access technologies) specified by 3GPP standards. These access technologies include, but are not limited to, GSM / GPRS, LTE, LTE-A, and / or 5G NR. Generally speaking, 3GPP access refers to various types of cellular access technologies.

[0045] Non-3GPP access refers to any access technology (e.g., radio access technologies) not specified by 3GPP standards. These accesses include, but are not limited to, WiMAX, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, WLAN, and / or fixed networks. Non-3GPP access can be categorized into two types: "trusted" and "untrusted." Trusted non-3GPP access can interact directly with the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and / or 5G Core (5GC), while untrusted non-3GPP access interoperates with the EPC / 5GC via network entities such as Evolved Packet Data Gateways and / or 5G NR Gateways. Generally speaking, non-3GPP access refers to various types of non-cellular access technologies.

[0046] Automatic—means that an action or operation is performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuits, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without requiring direct specification or execution of the action or operation through user input. Therefore, the term "automatically" is the opposite of an operation performed or specified manually by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process can be initiated by user-provided input, but the subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user; that is, they are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out a form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting a checkbox, radio selection, etc.) is considered manually filling out the form, even though the computer system will update the form in response to the user's actions. The form can be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills out the form without any user input specifying answers for the fields. As indicated above, the user can invoke the automatic filling of the form but does not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers for the fields, but they are completed automatically). This manual provides various examples of operations that can be performed automatically in response to actions taken by the user.

[0047] Approximately—means a value close to the correct or precise value. For example, approximately could mean a value within 1% to 10% of the precise (or expected) value. However, it should be noted that the actual threshold (or tolerance) can be application-dependent. For example, in some implementations, “approximately” could mean within 0.1% of some specified or expected value, while in various other implementations, the threshold could be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, etc., depending on the expectations or settings of the specific application.

[0048] Concurrency refers to the parallel execution or implementation of tasks, processes, or programs in a manner that at least partially overlaps. For example, concurrency can be achieved using “strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are executed in parallel (at least partially) on corresponding computing elements; or using “weak parallelism,” where tasks are executed in an interleaved manner (e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads).

[0049] Various components can be described as being "configured" to perform one or more tasks. In this context, "configured" is a broad expression generally meaning "having a structure" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently performing one (e.g., a set of electrical conductors can be configured to electrically connect one module to another, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, "configured" can be a broad expression generally meaning "having a circuit" that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, a component can be configured to perform a task even when it is not currently powered on. Generally, the circuit forming the structure corresponding to "configured" can include hardware circuitry.

[0050] For ease of description, various components may be described as performing one or more tasks. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase "configured to". Statements describing a component as configured to perform one or more tasks are explicitly intended not to invoke the interpretation of 35 USC § 112(f) for that component.

[0051] The example implementation can be further understood by referring to the following description and related figures, in which similar elements have the same reference numerals. The example implementation involves configuring inter-frequency RRM measurements for a UE supporting the bandwidth portion (BWP) without limitations.

[0052] Example implementations are described with reference to user equipment (UE). However, references to the UE are provided for illustrative purposes only. The example implementations can be used with any electronic components capable of establishing a network connection and utilizing hardware, software, and / or firmware configurations to support gapless RRM measurements. Therefore, the UE described herein is used to represent any suitable type of electronic component.

[0053] Example implementations are also described regarding fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) networks that can configure UEs to perform target SSB measurements with and without gaps or interruptions. However, references to 5G NR networks are provided for illustrative purposes only. These example implementations can be utilized with any suitable type of network.

[0054] Throughout this specification, various information elements (IEs) are referred to by specific names. It should be understood that these names are merely examples, and the information-carrying IEs referred to throughout this specification may be referred to by various entities under other names.

[0055] As described above, there are various aspects of the features that still need to be defined. One option for supporting RLM / BM / BFD when the SSB configured for Layer 1 (L1) operation is outside the UE's active BWP is to use greater bandwidth to cover both the target SSB and the UE's active BWP. New UE capabilities can be introduced to indicate conditional UE support for this option.

[0056] In addition to RLM / BM / BFD, the UE can also perform other RRM measurements for mobility purposes, such as handover, carrier aggregation (CA) / dual connectivity (DC) management, etc. In legacy operation (e.g., Rel-15), when the target SSB configured for RRM measurement is outside the UE's active BWP, the network must configure a measurement gap for the UE to perform the measurement. During the measurement gap, the UE can tune its radio frequency (RF) circuitry away from the active BWP to cover the target SSB. Therefore, in this case, the UE cannot be scheduled during the measurement gap.

[0057] A UE capable of increasing its actual bandwidth to include the active BWP and one or more target SSBs should be able to perform RRM measurements on the target SSBs without measurement gaps, even if the SSB is outside the UE's active BWP. Existing UE capabilities indicating support for gapless RRM measurements exist, such as NeedForGaps and Network Control Small Gap (NCSG). However, if a UE wants to support NFG or NCSG for inter-frequency measurements targeting a target frequency band, the UE should support NFG and NCSG for measurements on adjacent cells across the entire frequency band. Under the current design, if a UE can only support NFG or NCSG for inter-frequency measurements within a portion of a frequency band, the UE should not indicate support for inter-frequency measurements targeting the target frequency band. Conditional support indications can be used to enable the UE to identify certain conditions under which the UE can support NFG or NCSG. An example implementation is described in more detail below.

[0058] Figure 1A and Figure 1B Communication system Figure 1A A simplified example wireless communication system according to some implementation schemes is illustrated. It should be noted that... Figure 1A The system described herein is merely one example of a possible system, and the features of this disclosure can be implemented in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0059] As shown in the figure, the example wireless communication system includes a base station 102A, which communicates with one or more user equipments 106A, 106B to 106N via a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE). Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0060] Base station (BS) 102A may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or a cell site (“cellular base station”), and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with UE 106A to UE 106N.

[0061] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell". Base station 102A and UE 106 can be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with air interfaces such as WCDMA or TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE (also known as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)), its alternative location may be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". It should be noted that if base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, its alternative location may be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB".

[0062] As shown in the figure, base station 102A can also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., in various possibilities, the core network of a cellular service provider, telecommunications networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet). Therefore, base station 102A facilitates communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. Specifically, cellular base station 102A can provide UE 106 with various telecommunications capabilities, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services.

[0063] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B, ..., 102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards can therefore be provided as a network of cells that can provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping services to UE 106A-106N and similar devices over a geographical area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0064] Therefore, although base station 102A can act as such Figure 1AThe diagram shows the "serving cell" of UEs 106A-106N, but each UE 106 may also be able to receive signals (and possibly within its communication range) from one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-102N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells". Such cells may also facilitate communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. These cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pecimen" cells, and / or any other cells of various other granularities providing a service area size. For example, Figure 1A The illustrated base stations 102A-102B may be macro cells, while base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

[0065] In some implementations, base station 102A may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station or a “gNB”. In some implementations, the gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0066] It should be noted that UE 106 may be able to communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) other than at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD, etc.)). If desired, UE 106 may also be configured, or alternatively, to communicate using one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H) and / or any other wireless communication protocol. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0067] In some implementations, base station 102 may be configured for inter-band SSB-free carrier aggregation, as further described herein. One base station 102A may be a primary cell (PCell) with radio resource control (RRC) connectivity, while another base station 102N may be a secondary cell (SCell) configured for inter-band discontinuous communication without synchronization blocks (SSB).

[0068] Figure 1B User equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with base station 102 and access point 112 according to some embodiments is illustrated. UE 106 can be a device with cellular and non-cellular communication capabilities (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.), such as a mobile phone, handheld device, computer or tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0069] UE 106 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. UE 106 may execute any method implementation of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) configured to execute any method implementation of the method embodiments described herein or any portion thereof.

[0070] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD), LTE / Advanced LTE, or 5G NR and / or GSM, LTE, Advanced LTE, or 5G NR using a single shared radio component. The shared radio component may be coupled to a single antenna or to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communication. Generally, the radio component may include any combination of baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.) or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among multiple wireless communication technologies (such as those discussed above).

[0071] In some implementations, UE 106 may include independent transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including independent antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured to communicate therewith. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radio components uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include shared radio components for communication using either LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1xRTT, or LTE or GSM), and independent radio components for communication using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0072] Figure 2 Block diagram of a base station Figure 2 Example block diagrams of base station 102 according to some implementation schemes are shown. It should be noted that... Figure 2 The base station shown is merely one example of a possible base station. As illustrated, base station 102 may include processor 204, which executes program instructions for base station 102. Processor 204 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 240, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 204 and translate these addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 260 and read-only memory (ROM) 250), or into other circuitry or devices.

[0073] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 270. Network port 270 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to multiple devices, such as UE device 106, as described above in Figure 1 and... Figure 2 Access to the telephone network described in the text.

[0074] Network port 270 (or an additional network port) may also be configured, or alternatively configured, to be coupled to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, network port 270 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

[0075] In some implementations, base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or a “gNB”. In such implementations, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, UEs capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0076] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 234, and may include multiple antennas. At least one antenna 234 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may also be configured to communicate with UE device 106 via radio component 230. Antenna 234 communicates with radio component 230 via communication link 232. Communication link 232 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 230 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0077] Base station 102 can be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include an LTE radio component for performing communication according to LTE and a 5G NR radio component for performing communication according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include a multimode radio component capable of performing communication according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0078] As further described herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting specific implementations of the features described herein. The processor 204 of base station 102 may be configured, for example, to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 204 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in conjunction with one or more of other components 230, 232, 234, 240, 250, 260, 270, the processor 204 of BS 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the features described herein.

[0079] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 204 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 204. Therefore, processor 204 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 204. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 204.

[0080] Furthermore, as described herein, radio component 230 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, radio component 230 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, radio component 230 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio component 230. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio component 230.

[0081] In some implementations, the base station or gNB 102 and / or its processor 204 may be able to and configured to decode indications from UE 106, determine UE capabilities based on these indications, and encode downlink signals for transmission to UE 106, enabling the UE to perform inter-frequency target SSB measurements in a gapless manner based on conditional UE capability indications.

[0082] Figure 3 Server block diagram Figure 3 Example block diagrams of server 104 according to some implementation schemes are shown. Note that... Figure 3The server shown is merely one example of a possible server. As illustrated, server 104 may include processor 344 capable of executing program instructions for server 104. Processor 344 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 374, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 344 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 364 and read-only memory (ROM) 354) or into other circuitry or devices.

[0083] Server 104 can be configured to provide access to network functions to multiple devices, such as base station 102, UE device 106 and / or UTM 108, for example, as further described herein.

[0084] In some implementations, server 104 may be part of a radio access network, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) access network. In some implementations, server 104 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network.

[0085] As described herein, server 104 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of the features described herein. Processor 344 of server 104 may be configured, for example, to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively, processor 344 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of other components 354, 364, and / or 374, processor 344 of server 104 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the features described herein.

[0086] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 344 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 344. Therefore, processor 344 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 344. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 344.

[0087] Figure 4 : UE block diagram Figure 4 A simplified block diagram of a communication device 106 according to some implementation schemes is shown. Note that... Figure 4The block diagram of the communication device is merely one example of possible communication devices. According to implementations, communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, notebook computer, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a UAV controller (UAC), and / or a combination of devices, as well as other devices. As shown, communication device 106 may include a set of components 400 configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system-on-a-chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, the set of components 400 may be implemented as individual components or groups of components for various purposes. The set of components 400 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to various other circuitry of communication device 106.

[0088] For example, communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 410), input / output interfaces such as connector I / F 420 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; docking station; charging station; input devices such as microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices such as speaker; etc.), a display 460 that may be integrated with or external to the communication device 106, and cellular communication circuitry 430 such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short- to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 (e.g., Bluetooth). ™ (and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as, for example, a network interface card for Ethernet.

[0089] Cellular communication circuitry 430 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 435 and 436 shown. Short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 may also be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 437 and 438 shown. Alternatively, short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 may also be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to antennas 435 and 436 as a supplement or alternative to (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) coupled to antennas 437 and 438. Short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 429 and / or cellular communication circuitry 430 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0090] In some embodiments, as further described below, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include a single transmit chain that can be switched between radio components dedicated to a particular RAT. For example, a first radio component may be dedicated to a first RAT, such as LTE, and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with additional radio components, such as a second radio component that may be dedicated to a second RAT (e.g., 5G NR) and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a shared transmit chain.

[0091] The communication device 106 may also include one or more user interface elements and / or be configured to be used with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of a variety of elements, such as a display 460 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of the touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or a speaker, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to the user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0092] The communication device 106 may also include one or more smart cards 445 with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) cards 445. It should be noted that the term "SIM" or "SIM entity" is intended to include any of various types of SIM implementations or SIM functions, such as one or more UICC cards 445, one or more eUICCs, one or more eSIMs, removable or embedded, etc. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include at least two SIMs. Each SIM may execute one or more SIM applications and / or otherwise implement SIM functionality. Thus, each SIM may be a single smart card that can be embedded, for example, soldered to a circuit board in the UE 106, or each SIM 410 may be implemented as a removable smart card. Therefore, a SIM may be one or more removable smart cards (such as UICC cards, sometimes referred to as "SIM cards"), and / or SIM 410 may be one or more embedded cards (such as embedded UICCs (eUICCs), sometimes referred to as "eSIMs" or "eSIM cards"). In some implementations (such as when the SIM includes an eUICC), one or more SIMs within the SIM can implement embedded SIM (eSIM) functionality; in such implementations, a single SIM within the SIM can execute multiple SIM applications. Each SIM may include components such as a processor and / or memory; instructions for performing SIM / eSIM functionality may be stored in memory and executed by the processor. In some implementations, UE 106 may include, as needed, a combination of removable smart cards and fixed / non-removable smart cards (such as one or more eUICC cards implementing eSIM functionality). For example, UE 106 may include two embedded SIMs, two removable SIMs, or a combination of one embedded SIM and one removable SIM. Various other SIM configurations are also envisioned.

[0093] As described above, in some implementations, UE 106 may include two or more SIMs. Including two or more SIMs in UE 106 allows UE 106 to support two different phone numbers and allows UE 106 to communicate on two or more corresponding networks. For example, the first SIM may support a first RAT such as LTE, and the second SIM 106 may support a second RAT such as 5G NR. Other specific implementations and RATs are also possible. In some implementations, when UE 106 includes two SIMs, UE 106 may support Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDA) functionality. DSDA functionality allows UE 106 to connect to two networks simultaneously (and use two different RATs), or allows two connections supported by two different SIMs using the same or different RATs to be maintained simultaneously on the same or different networks. DSDA functionality also allows UE 106 to receive voice calls or data traffic simultaneously on either phone number. In some implementations, voice calls may be packet-switched communications. In other words, voice calls can be received using LTE-based Voice (VoLTE) technology and / or NR-based Voice (VoNR) technology. In some implementations, UE 106 may support Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS) functionality. DSDS functionality allows either of the two SIMs in UE 106 to remain in standby while awaiting a voice call and / or data connection. In DSDS, when a call / data connection is established on one SIM, the other SIM is no longer active. In some implementations, DSDx functionality (DSDA or DSDS functionality) can be implemented using a single SIM (e.g., eUICC) that performs multiple SIM applications for different carriers and / or RATs.

[0094] As shown, the SOC 400 may include a processor 402 and display circuitry 404. The processor executes program instructions for the communication device 106, and the display circuitry performs graphics processing and provides display signals to the display 460. The processor 402 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440, which is configured to receive addresses from the processor 402 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 406, read-only memory (ROM) 450, NAND flash memory 410); and / or coupled to other circuitry or devices, such as the display circuitry 404, short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuitry 429, cellular communication circuitry 430, connector I / F 420, and / or display 460. The MMU 440 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 440 may be included as part of the processor 402.

[0095] As described herein, communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the features described above to communicate a scheduling profile for power saving to the network. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium), processor 402 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein. Alternatively (or in addition), processor 402 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in conjunction with one or more of other components 400, 404, 406, 410, 420, 429, 430, 440, 445, 450, 460, processor 402 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0096] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 402 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 402 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 402. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 402.

[0097] Furthermore, as described herein, the cellular communication circuit 430 and the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the cellular communication circuit 430, and similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429. Therefore, the cellular communication circuit 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 430. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 430. Similarly, the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the short-to-mid-range wireless communication circuit 429.

[0098] In some implementations, UE 106 and processor 402 may be configured and / or able to perform various operations related to the conditional UE capability for reporting inter-frequency operations, including targeting SSBs and performing inter-frequency measurements as described herein.

[0099] Figure 5 Block diagram of cellular communication circuit Figure 5Simplified block diagrams of cellular communication circuits according to some implementation schemes are shown. Note that... Figure 5 The block diagram of the cellular communication circuit is merely one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to the implementation, the cellular communication circuit 530 (which may be the cellular communication circuit 430) may be included in a communication device such as the communication device 106 described above. As noted above, among other devices, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, notebook computer, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, and / or a combination of these devices.

[0100] The cellular communication circuit 530 can be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as ( Figure 4 Antennas 435a-435b and 436 are shown in the diagram. In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry 530 may include dedicated receive chains for various RATs (including and / or coupled to (e.g., communicative ground; directly or indirectly) dedicated processors and / or radio components) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). For example, as... Figure 5 As shown, the cellular communication circuit 530 may include a modem 510 and a modem 520. The modem 510 may be configured for communication according to a first RAT (e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A), and the modem 520 may be configured for communication according to a second RAT (e.g., such as 5G NR).

[0101] As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and memory 516 communicating with processors 512. Modem 510 may communicate with radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 530 may include receiver circuitry (RX) 532 and transmitter circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, receiver circuitry 532 may communicate with downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335a.

[0102] Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and memory 526 communicating with processor 522. Modem 520 may communicate with RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 540 may include receiving circuitry 542 and transmitting circuitry 544. In some embodiments, receiving circuitry 542 may communicate with DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335b.

[0103] In some implementations, switch 570 may couple transmitting circuitry 534 to uplink (UL) front-end 572. Additionally, switch 570 may couple transmitting circuitry 544 to UL front-end 572. UL front-end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Therefore, when cellular communication circuitry 530 receives an instruction to transmit according to a first RAT (e.g., supported by modem 510), switch 570 may be switched to a first state allowing modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including transmitting circuitry 534 and UL front-end 572). Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 530 receives an instruction to transmit according to a second RAT (e.g., supported by modem 520), switch 570 may be switched to a second state allowing modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including transmitting circuitry 544 and UL front-end 572).

[0104] As described herein, modem 510 may include hardware and software components for implementing the features described above or for UL data used in time-division multiplexing NSA NR operation, as well as various other techniques described herein. For example, processor 512 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 512 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein by combining one or more of other components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336.

[0105] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 512 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 512 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 512. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 512.

[0106] For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), processor 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein. Alternatively (or in addition), processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), in combination with one or more of other components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336, processor 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0107] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 522 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 522. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 522.

[0108] In some implementations, processors 512, 522 can be configured for inter-band SSB-free carrier aggregation, as further described herein.

[0109] Figure 6A , Figure 6B and Figure 7 5G Core Network Architecture – Interoperability with Wi-Fi In some implementations, access to the 5G core network (CN) can be made via (or through) cellular connections / interfaces (e.g., via 3GPP communication architectures / protocols) and non-cellular connections / interfaces (e.g., non-3GPP access architectures / protocols such as Wi-Fi connections). Figure 6AAn example of a 5G network architecture according to some implementation schemes is illustrated, which combines both 3GPP (e.g., cellular) and non-3GPP (e.g., non-cellular) access to the 5G CN. As shown, a user equipment device (e.g., such as UE 106) can access the 5G CN through both a radio access network (RAN, such as gNB 604, which can be base station 102) and an access point (such as AP 612). AP 612 may include a connection to the Internet 600 and a connection to a non-3GPP interoperability function (N3IWF) 603 network entity. N3IWF may include a connection to the core access and mobility management function (AMF) 605 of the 5G CN. AMF 605 may include an instance of 5G mobility management (5G MM) function associated with UE 106. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB 604) may also have a connection to AMF 605. Therefore, the 5G CN can support unified authentication on both connections and allow simultaneous registration for UE 106 access via both gNB 604 and AP 612. As shown in the figure, AMF 605 may include one or more functional entities associated with the 5G CN (e.g., Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 620, Short Message Service Function (SMSF) 622, Application Function (AF) 624, Unified Data Management (UDM) 626, Policy Control Function (PCF) 628, and / or Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 630). It should be noted that these functional entities can also be supported through the 5G CN's Session Management Functions (SMF) 606a and SMF 606b. AMF 605 can connect to (or communicate with) SMF 606a. Additionally, gNB 604 can communicate with (or connect to) User Plane Function (UPF) 608a, which can also communicate with SMF 606a. Similarly, the N3IWF 603 can communicate with the UPF 608b, which in turn can communicate with the SMF 606b. Both UPFs can communicate with data networks (e.g., DN 610a and 610b) and / or the Internet 600 and the Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem / IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS) Core Network 610.

[0110] Figure 6BAn example of a 5G network architecture according to some implementation schemes is illustrated, which combines both dual 3GPP (e.g., LTE and 5G NR) and non-3GPP access to the 5GCN. As shown, a user equipment device (e.g., such as UE106) can access the 5GCN via both a radio access network (RAN, such as gNB 604 or eNB 602, which can be base station 102) and an access point (such as AP 612). AP 612 may include a connection to the Internet 600 and a connection to the N3IWF 603 network entity. N3IWF may include a connection to the AMF 605 of the 5G CN. AMF 605 may include an instance of 5G MM functionality associated with UE 106. In addition, the RAN (e.g., gNB 604) may also have a connection to AMF 605. Therefore, the 5G CN can support unified authentication on both connections and allow simultaneous registration of UE 106 accessing via both gNB 604 and AP 612. Additionally, the 5G CN can support dual registration of the UE on both a legacy network (e.g., LTE via eNB 602) and a 5G network (e.g., via gNB 604). As shown in the figure, eNB 602 can have connections to both Mobility Management Entity (MME) 642 and Service Gateway (SGW) 644. MME 642 can have connections to both SGW 644 and AMF 605. Furthermore, SGW 644 can have connections to both SMF 606a and UPF 608a. As shown in the figure, AMF 605 can include one or more functional entities associated with the 5G CN (e.g., NSSF 620, SMSF 622, AF 624, UDM 626, PCF 628, and / or AUSF 630). Note that UDM 626 can also include Home Subscriber Server (HSS) functionality, and PCF can also include Policy and Charging Rules (PCRF) functionality. It should also be noted that these functional entities can also be supported by the 5G CN's SMF 606a and SMF 606b. The AMF 605 can connect to (or communicate with) the SMF 606a. Furthermore, the gNB 604 can communicate with (or connect to) the UPF 608a, which in turn can communicate with the SMF 606a. Similarly, the N3IWF 603 can communicate with the UPF 608b, which can also communicate with the SMF 606b. Both UPFs can communicate with data networks (e.g., DN 610a and 610b) and / or the Internet 600 and the IMS core network 610.

[0111] It should be noted that, in various implementations, one or more of the network entities described above may be configured to perform methods for AI-based CSI feedback with CSI prediction, including systems, methods, and mechanisms for UEs to indicate predicted CSI reports, network configurations for CSI feedback, UE PMI report formats, and AI model lifecycle management, such as those further described herein.

[0112] Figure 7 Examples of baseband processor architectures for UEs (e.g., such as UE 106) according to some implementation schemes are illustrated. Figure 7 The baseband processor architecture 700 described herein can be implemented on one or more radio components (e.g., radio components 429 and / or 430) or modems (e.g., modems 510 and / or 520) as described above. As shown, the non-access stratum (NAS) 710 may include a 5G NAS 720 and a traditional NAS 750. The traditional NAS 750 may include a communication connection with a traditional access stratum (AS) 770. The 5G NAS 720 may include communication connections with a 5G AS 740, a non-3GPP AS 730, and a Wi-Fi AS 732. The 5G NAS 720 may include functional entities associated with both access strata. Therefore, the 5G NAS 720 may include multiple 5G MM entities 726 and 728 and 5G session management (SM) entities 722 and 724. The traditional NAS 750 may include functional entities such as Short Message Service (SMS) entity 752, Evolved Packet System (EPS) Session Management (ESM) entity 754, Session Management (SM) entity 756, EPS Mobility Management (EMM) entity 758, and Mobility Management (MM) / GPRS Mobility Management (GMM) entity 760. Additionally, the traditional AS 770 may include functional entities such as LTE AS 772, UMTS AS 774, and / or GSM / GPRS AS 776.

[0113] Therefore, the baseband processor architecture 700 allows for a common 5G-NAS for both 5G cellular and non-cellular (e.g., non-3GPP access) networks. The baseband processor architecture 700 can communicate with one or more UICC 745s. Note that, as shown in the figure, the 5G MM can maintain separate connection management and registration management state machines for each connection. Additionally, a device (e.g., UE 106) can register to a single PLMN (e.g., a 5G CN) using both 5G cellular and non-cellular access. Furthermore, a device can be in a connected state in one access and an idle state in another, or vice versa. Finally, for both accesses, there may be common 5G-MM procedures (e.g., registration, deregistration, identification, authentication, etc.).

[0114] It should be noted that, in various implementations, one or more of the aforementioned functional entities of the 5G NAS and / or 5G AS may be configured to perform methods for AI-based CSI feedback with CSI prediction, including systems, methods, and mechanisms for UE to indicate predicted CSI reports, network configuration for CSI feedback, UE PMI report format, and AI model lifecycle management, such as those further described herein.

[0115] Figure 8 and Figure 9 Baseband circuit and example interface Figure 8 Example components of device 800 according to some embodiments are illustrated. In some embodiments, device 800 may include application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, radio frequency (RF) circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, one or more antennas 810, and power management circuitry (PMC) 812 (at least coupled together as shown). Components of the illustrated device 800 may be included in a UE or RAN node. In some embodiments, device 800 may include fewer components (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 802, but instead include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, device 800 may include additional components such as memory / storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be individually included in more than one device for a cloud RAN (C-RAN) specific implementation).

[0116] Application circuitry 802 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). These processors may be coupled to or may include memory / storage devices and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on device 800. In some embodiments, the processor of application circuitry 802 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0117] Baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 806 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 806. Baseband processing circuitry 804 may interact with application circuitry 802 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuitry 806. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 804 may include a third-generation (3G) baseband processor 804A, a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor 804B, a fifth-generation (5G) baseband processor 804C, or one or more other existing, under development, or future generations of baseband processors 804D (e.g., second-generation (2G), sixth-generation (6G), etc.). Baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more baseband processors among baseband processors 804A-804D) may handle various radio control functions to implement communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuitry 806. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 804A to 804D may be included in modules stored in memory 804G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 804E. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, and radio frequency shifting. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functionality. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functionality. Implementations of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

[0118] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (“DSPs”) 804F. The audio DSP 804F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuitry 804 and the application circuitry 802 may be implemented together, for example, on a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0119] In some implementations, baseband circuit 804 can provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some implementations, baseband circuit 804 can support communication with the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), or Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN). Implementations in which baseband circuit 804 is configured to support radio communication with more than one radio protocol may be referred to as multimode baseband circuits.

[0120] RF circuit 806 enables communication with a wireless network via a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 806 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuit 806 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting the RF signal received from FEM circuit 808 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 804. RF circuit 806 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting the baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 804 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 808.

[0121] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuit 806 may include mixer circuit 806A, amplifier circuit 806B, and filter circuit 806C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuit 806 may include filter circuit 806C and mixer circuit 806A. RF circuit 806 may also include synthesizer circuit 806D for synthesizing the frequency used by mixer circuit 806A in both the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 806A in the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from FEM circuit 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 806D. Amplifier circuit 806B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 806C may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuit 804 for further processing. In some implementations, these output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, but this is not necessary. In some implementations, the mixer circuit 806A in the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect.

[0122] In some implementations, the mixer circuit 806A of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 806D to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 808. The baseband signal can be provided by the baseband circuit 804 and can be filtered by the filter circuit 806C.

[0123] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A for the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806A for the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0124] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuit 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuit 804 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with RF circuit 806.

[0125] In some dual-mode implementations, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, but the scope of the implementation is not limited in this respect.

[0126] In some implementations, synthesizer circuit 806D can be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of implementations is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 806D could be... Synthesizers, frequency multipliers, or synthesizers including phase-locked loops with frequency dividers.

[0127] Synthesizer circuit 806D can be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by mixer circuit 806A of RF circuit 806. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 806D can be a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0128] In some implementations, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not mandatory. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuitry 804 or the application processor 802 according to the desired output frequency. In some implementations, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 802.

[0129] The synthesizer circuit 806D of the RF circuit 806 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. Thus, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0130] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 806D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and frequency divider circuitry to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry 806 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0131] FEM circuit 808 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 810, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuit 806 for further processing. FEM circuit 808 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify a transmit signal provided by RF circuit 806 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 810. In various embodiments, amplification via the transmit or receive signal path may be performed only in RF circuit 806, only in FEM 808, or in both RF circuit 806 and FEM 808.

[0132] In some embodiments, FEM circuit 808 may include a TX / RX switch for switching between transmit and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit may include an LNA for amplifying the received RF signal and providing the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., provided to RF circuit 806). The transmit signal path of FEM circuit 808 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying (e.g., provided by RF circuit 806) the input RF signal; and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more antennas in one or more antennas 810).

[0133] In some implementations, the PMC 812 manages the power supplied to the baseband circuitry 804. Specifically, the PMC 812 controls power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. The PMC 812 is typically included when the device 800 can be powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 812 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired specific implementation size and thermal characteristics.

[0134] Although Figure 8 A PMC 812 is shown coupled only to the baseband circuit 804. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 812 may be additionally or alternatively coupled to other components, such as, but not limited to, application circuit 802, RF circuit 806, or FEM 808, and perform similar power management operations.

[0135] In some implementations, PMC 812 may be controlled or otherwise incorporated into various power-saving mechanisms of device 800. For example, if device 800 is in RRC_connected state, where the device is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, the device may enter a state known as discontinuous receive mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, device 800 may be powered down for short intervals, thereby saving power.

[0136] If there is no data traffic activity during the extended period, device 800 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handover. Device 800 enters a very low power state and performs paging, during which the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers off again. Device 800 cannot receive data in this state. To receive data, the device can transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0137] An additional power-saving mode renders the device unusable for a period exceeding the paging interval (from seconds to hours). During this time, the device is completely unconnected to the network and may be completely powered off. Any data transmitted during this period will incur significant latency, which is assumed to be acceptable.

[0138] The processor of application circuit 802 and the processor of baseband circuit 804 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuit 804 can be used individually or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of application circuit 804 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., transmit communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 (L3) may include the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 (L2) may include the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 (L1) may include the physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below. Therefore, baseband circuit 804 can be used to encode messages for transmission between the UE and gNB, or to decode messages received between the UE and gNB.

[0139] Figure 9 Example interfaces of baseband circuits according to some implementation schemes are illustrated. As discussed above, Figure 8 The baseband circuit 804 may include processors 804A-804E and a memory 804G utilized by the processors. Each of the processors 804A-804E may respectively include a memory interface 904A-904E for transferring / receiving data to / from the memory 804G.

[0140] The baseband circuit 804 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 912 (e.g., an interface for transferring / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 804) or an application circuit interface 914 (e.g., an interface for transferring / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 804). Figure 8 Application circuit 802 is an interface for transmitting / receiving data), and RF circuit interface 916 (e.g., for sending / receiving data to / from...). Figure 8 The RF circuit 806 is an interface for transmitting / receiving data, and the wireless hardware connection interface 918 is used for transmitting / receiving data to / from near field communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth, etc. ® Components (e.g., Bluetooth) ® Low power consumption, Wi-Fi ®Interfaces for transmitting / receiving data to / from components and other communication components) and power management interface 920 (e.g., an interface for transmitting / receiving power or control signals to / from PMC 812).

[0141] Figure 10 Schematic bandwidth diagram in the frequency domain Figure 10 Illustrations of bandwidth diagrams 1010 and 1020 in the frequency domain according to some example implementations are provided, which compare a traditional gap-based method and an enhanced gapless method for inter-frequency RRM measurements performed by a UE using gap requirements (NFG) and network control small gaps (NCSG) introduced in 3GPP Rel-16 and Rel-17. Figure 10 The conventional method 1010 described herein illustrates the use of measurement gaps to measure the target SSB 1022, as used in 3GPP Rel-15, while the bottom portion 1020 illustrates an enhanced method 1020 for measuring the target SSB 1022 without gaps, using gap requirements (NFG) or small gaps controlled by network control (NCSG), as introduced in 3GPP Rel-16 and Rel-17.

[0142] In conventional method 1010, UE 106 has a single radio frequency (RF) chain RF1. In conventional method 1010, UE 106 has a single RF chain tuned to a serving cell carrier (e.g., carrier 1). However, the target SSB in the target frequency band is on a different carrier frequency band (e.g., carrier 2). UE 106 is configured to perform inter-frequency RRM measurements on the target frequency carrier 2. This involves measuring the target synchronization signal block (SSB) 1022 transmitted on carrier 2. To perform inter-frequency RRM measurements on a different carrier frequency (e.g., carrier 2), UE 106 is configured with periodic measurement gaps 1020, in which UE 106 temporarily suspends communication on the serving cell carrier (e.g., carrier 1). That is, to measure SSB 1022 on carrier 2, UE 106 is configured with periodic measurement gaps 1024, in which the UE temporarily suspends communication on carrier 1.

[0143] During these measurement gaps 1024, the UE redirects its single RF chain to switch reception from the frequency range of carrier 1 to the frequency range of carrier 2 in order to receive and measure SSB 1022 for inter-frequency RRM measurements. The frequency range of carrier 2 can be a different band than carrier 1, or a different channel within the same frequency band as carrier 1. The need to periodically switch RF link reception between carrier 1 and carrier 2 to measure the target SSB 1022, along with the interruption of active communication during the cessation of reception operation during gap 1024, also complicates scheduling at the gNB and network, as the UE cannot be scheduled to perform uplink or downlink transmissions during the frequency gap period. The frequency gap period can be relatively long, typically approximately 5 to 6 milliseconds.

[0144] In the enhanced method 1020 using NFG / NCSG, UE 106 is equipped with a second RF chain (e.g., RF2) in addition to RF1. By using one RF chain to receive the serving cell using carrier 1 and another dedicated RF chain to receive inter-frequency signals using carrier 2, the UE can perform inter-frequency RRM measurements of the target SSB without using measurement gaps that would interrupt serving cell communication and complicate NW scheduling. For inter-frequency RRM measurements, UE 106 is configured to receive and measure the target SSB 1022 transmitted on the target frequency carrier 2 while still communicating with the serving cell on carrier 1. With NFG / NCSG, the UE can achieve this without measurement gaps. "Potential Interruption: RF1 On" 1024 describes RF1 being continuously configured to receive on carrier 1 for serving cell communication. That is, RF1 is continuously configured to receive on the carrier 1 frequency for serving cell communication, as shown in "Potential Interruption: RF1 On" 1024. In one example, carrier 1 reception by RF1 of the first RF chain for the serving cell can be performed without any scheduled interruptions or gaps by the gNB or NW. In another implementation, RF1 can be dynamically reconfigured during the measurement interval to switch its reception to carrier 2 to receive and measure SSB 1022, as depicted in "Potential Interruption: RF1 Off" 1026. That is, "Potential Interruption: RF1 Off" 1026 describes RF1 also switching to receive on carrier 2 during the measurement interval to receive and measure the target SSB 1022 without interrupting communication on carrier 1. By using NFG / NCSG, no measurement gap is required, and UE 106 can receive both carriers 1 and 2 to maintain serving cell communication and perform inter-frequency RRM measurements. The UE can indicate this gapless NFG / NCSG measurement capability to the network using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. This will be discussed more fully in the preceding paragraphs.

[0145] Figure 11 Bandwidth diagram of a UE with adjustable bandwidth Figure 11 An example schematic bandwidth diagram 1100 is illustrated, showing adjustments to the UE bandwidth measured using gapless inter-frequency RRM with NFG / NCSG according to some implementation schemes. In this example, bandwidth diagram 1100 can be considered to illustrate the downlink (DL) bandwidth on which gNB 120A is transmitting and UE 110 is receiving. However, the uplink (UL) diagram will be similar to DL bandwidth diagram 1100, except that UE 110 will be transmitting on the UL frequency and gNB 120A will be receiving. Furthermore, the types of signals transmitted / received in DL and UL can be different.

[0146] Initially (to the left of the arrow depicted for illustrative purposes only), bandwidth diagram 1100 shows the UE (e.g., Figures 1A to 1B The channel bandwidth CBW 1112 for UE 106 is defined as follows: Typically, in 5G networks, CBW is the maximum transmit bandwidth (defined according to resource blocks (RBs)) and the guard bands at both ends of the spectrum (defined according to kHz). However, CBW 1112 can be any consecutive group of frequencies. An active BWP 1113 frequency is defined within CBW 1112. Active BWP 1113 is a set of consecutive frequencies within CBW 1112 configured for the UE. Multiple UEs can utilize the same active BWP 1113 configuration. A UE (e.g., UE 106) can be configured to receive Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions, Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmissions, Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), and Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) within the configured active BWP 1113. Alternatively, UE 106 can state that it does not expect to receive these signals outside of active BWP 1113. The actual BW 1110 of a UE is the active bandwidth that the UE is configured to use or is able to use for communication.

[0147] It should be noted that SSB bands can be defined within CBW 1112. Multiple SSBs can be configured for the UE. The in-frequency synchronization signal block “SSB” 1114 is depicted and is an SSB transmitted on the same carrier frequency as the active BWP 1113 of the UE 106. The in-frequency SSB 1114 may contain synchronization signals, broadcast information, and reference signals used by the UE for beam management, beam failure detection, and other radio resource management (RRM) measurements on its serving cell carrier. The in-frequency SSB 1114 is configured for Layer 1 RRM measurements performed by the UE on the active in-frequency carrier.

[0148] Inter-frequency SSB 1116 is a synchronization signal block transmitted on a different carrier frequency compared to the actual BW 1110 of UE 106. Inter-frequency SSB 1116 may contain synchronization signals, broadcast information, and reference signals used by the UE for inter-frequency neighbor cell search and measurement. Inter-frequency SSB 1116 is configured for Layer 1 inter-frequency RRM measurements performed by the UE to detect and measure neighboring cells on other frequency carriers that can be used in carrier aggregation (CA). As depicted on the left side of the arrow, inter-frequency SSB 1116 is located outside the active BWP 1113 of UE CBW 1112.

[0149] exist Figure 11 To the upper left of the middle arrow, UE 106 has a CBW 1112, which is the total bandwidth that UE 106 can support. Active BWP 1113 is configured within CBW 1112 for active communication. In-frequency SSB 1114 is configured on the same frequency carrier as active BWP 1113.

[0150] Without bandwidth adjustment, UE 106 would require a measurement gap to measure the inter-frequency SSB 1116, which is located outside its active BWP 1113. To achieve gapless inter-frequency RRM measurement, UE 106 could extend its receiver bandwidth from receiving only within the active BWP 1113 to receiving over a wider practical bandwidth (e.g., UE practical BW 1120), which also covers the inter-frequency SSB 1116, as... Figure 11 As shown on the upper right. When not measuring inter-frequency SSB 1116, UE 106 can be configured to reduce its actual bandwidth 1120 back to a smaller bandwidth to receive only within the active BWP 1113, excluding inter-frequency SSB 1116. In other words, the UE's actual bandwidth 1120 can be... Figure 11 The actual bandwidth of the UE on the left is 1110 to Figure 11 The actual bandwidth of the UE on the right is periodically adjusted between 1120 and then adjusted back.

[0151] Therefore, as described herein, UE 106 can use a larger bandwidth (e.g., UE actual BW 1120) to cover the target SSB (e.g., inter-frequency SSB 1116) and UE active BWP 1113. UE actual BW 1110 can be set to CBW 1112. Figure 11As shown, UE 106 can periodically change the actual UE bandwidth 1113 to use a larger bandwidth, for example, by increasing the actual UE bandwidth 1113 to cover the target SSB and the UE active bandwidth 1113, and by changing the actual UE bandwidth 1113 to use a smaller bandwidth, for example, by decreasing the actual UE bandwidth 1113 to include the UE active bandwidth 1113 and exclude the target SSB (e.g., inter-frequency SSB 1116). Reducing the size of the actual UE bandwidth can provide significant power savings for UE 106.

[0152] Because UE 106 can use a larger bandwidth, UE 106 may not need to be off-band (e.g., with or without a measurement gap) and may not need to be interrupted (e.g., with or without a measurement interruption) to perform inter-frequency RRM measurements on target SSB 1022 outside of active BWP 1113. Furthermore, because UE 106 can periodically or occasionally switch between a larger (1120) bandwidth and a smaller (1110) bandwidth, UE 106 may not need to be off-band (e.g., with or without a measurement gap), but may need to be interrupted (e.g., with or without a measurement interruption) to perform inter-frequency RRM measurements on target SSB 1116 outside of active BWP 1113.

[0153] Figure 12 Data structures for NFG and NCSG Figure 12 An example is illustrated of a data structure 1200 in ASN.1 format for NFG and NCSG in 3GPP Releases 16 and 17 according to some implementations. This data structure contains 3GPP protocol elements for instructing the UE to support inter-frequency RRM measurements using NFG and NCSG without gaps. As shown, support for NFG and NCSG is indicated for intra-frequency and inter-frequency scenarios, respectively.

[0154] For inter-frequency support, NFG and NCSG capabilities are indicated per frequency band. The UE can report NFG or NCSG capability parameters for each supported frequency band. The "NeedForGapsNR-r16" IE depicts the per-band NFG capability indication for a UE configured for NR based on 3GPP Release 16. The "gapIndication" parameter is used to indicate per-band NFG capability. The UE can report "gap" or "no gap" for each frequency band to indicate whether NFG support for gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements is used in one or more frequency bands.

[0155] Similarly, the "NeedForNCSG-NR-r17" IE displays the NCSG capability indication for each frequency band, using the gapIndication parameter of the UE configured for NR based on 3GPP Release 17. The UE can report "gap", "ncsg", or "nogap-noncsg" for each frequency band to indicate whether NCSG is used to support gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements.

[0156] Figure 13 An example schematic diagram 1300 illustrating frequency allocation according to some implementation schemes is provided, in which the UE can use NFG or NCSG to measure only a portion of the frequency band without gaps for inter-frequency RRM measurements. More specifically, Figure 13 This describes a challenge faced by a UE that may only support NFG or NCSG for inter-frequency RRM measurements within a portion of a frequency band. That is, if the UE is designed to support gapless measurements (e.g., NFG or NCSG) for inter-frequency target SSBs in a target frequency band, the UE is configured to support gapless measurements on all neighboring cells across the entire frequency band of BS 102. As shown, base station 102 can transmit SSBs across its entire transmit bandwidth. However, UE 106 has a limited channel bandwidth (CBW) 1310 that is smaller than the base station bandwidth (e.g., BS BW 1320). Figure 13 In the first frequency, SSB #A 1312 is within UE 106's CBW 1310. If UE 106 does not have an additional RF chain, UE 106 can adjust its channel bandwidth 1310 to cover SSB #A 1312 (or SSB #A may already be within the UE's active BWP) and perform gapless measurements to measure the SSB using NFG / NCSG. However, SSB #B 1322 is at a different frequency and outside UE 106's CBW 1310. UE 106 will need a measurement gap to measure SSB #B.

[0157] According to current standards, if UE 106 can only support NFG or NCSG for inter-frequency measurements within a portion of a frequency band, then UE 106 should not indicate support for the entire frequency band. Therefore, even if UE 106 can use NFG or NCSG to measure SSB #A without gaps, UE 106 cannot indicate NFG / NCSG support for that frequency band because SSB #B falls outside the UE bandwidth 1310. These constraints may limit the UE's ability to perform gapless measurements of the target SSB.

[0158] According to one implementation, new parameters can be introduced whereby the UE can provide more detailed capability information regarding its ability to perform gapless measurements. Instead of limiting the UE's capability to only providing gapless indication (and noNCSG indication) when the UE can support NFG or NCSG for inter-frequency measurements across the entire target band, the UE can provide conditions to inform the gNB of its ability to perform gapless measurements under certain conditions. Figure 12 The illustrated method of parameter communication is transmitted to the gNB.

[0159] Figure 14 Data structures for NFG and NCSG with conditional parameters Figure 14 Example data structure 1400 for NFG and NCSG is illustrated, in which a new gap indication parameter is introduced in the 3GPP protocol to indicate that the condition UE supports inter-frequency RRM measurement using NFG and NCSG without gap. Figure 14 An example is given of solving this problem by providing new indication parameters in the 3GPP protocol. Figure 13 The solution to the challenges raised in the paper is a new indication parameter that enables the UE to indicate support for gapless measurements of inter-frequency RRM measurements (e.g., NFG / NCSG), which may be performed under one or more conditions.

[0160] As depicted, a new "gapIndication_Cond" parameter can be introduced in the "NeedForGapsNR" and "NeedForNCSG-NR" IEs, which indicate the inter-frequency capabilities of a UE configured for 3GPP Release 16 or Release 17 across a specific frequency band. This allows the UE to provide a more granular indication of conditional NFG capabilities using a "gapIndication_Cond" parameter separate from the traditional "gapIndication" parameter, which indicates general capabilities across the entire frequency band. Similarly, the new "gapIndication_Cond" parameter in the "NeedForNCSG-NR" IE can be used to indicate conditional NCSG capabilities. By introducing these new conditional parameters, the UE can indicate NFG / NCSG support limited to a portion of a frequency band while still utilizing the traditional parameters to indicate general capabilities across the entire frequency band.

[0161] Figure 15 : Features a configurable frequency-separated bandwidth map Figure 15 Example schematic bandwidth diagram 1500 illustrates a configurable frequency separation threshold between active BWP and SSB targets supported by conditional inter-frequency RRM measurements using NFG / NCSG, as shown. Figure 14 exemplified.

[0162] As shown in the figure, the base station bandwidth 1520 covers the entire frequency span. The UE's base station bandwidth (BS BW) is configured within the base station bandwidth (BS BW) 1520. Within the UE's BS BW, the UE active bandwidth portion (BWP) 1510 is configured. The UE 106 actively receives data and control information on the BWP 1512 band. A target SSB 1512 is also shown, which is configured at a specific frequency within the BS BW 1520. This target SSB 1510 can be measured by the UE for inter-frequency RRM purposes.

[0163] A frequency separation, designated as "X," exists between the center of the active BWP 1510 and the target SSB 1512. In one implementation, the frequency separation is defined as a continuous frequency range in the frequency domain that completely encompasses the bandwidth of both the target SSB and the active BWP. If this frequency separation X is within a configured threshold (i.e., the UE's capability), the UE 106 can indicate conditional support for gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements of the target SSB 1512. The frequency separation threshold "X" can be specified in different ways.

[0164] In one implementation, a first condition (e.g., option 1) is that the target SSB 1512 to be measured is within the UE's channel bandwidth (CBW). If the target SSB 1512 is within the UE's CBW, then the UE 106 can perform gapless measurement by increasing the UE 106's receive bandwidth.

[0165] In the second condition (e.g., option 2), the frequency separation between the target SSB 1512 and the active BWP 1510 is within a specific threshold X. The value of X can be indicated by the UE, thereby instructing the UE to increase its actual bandwidth to include both the active BWP 15120 and the target SSB 1512. If the target SSB 1512 is within the specific frequency separation from the active BWP 1510, the UE 106 can perform gapless measurements by increasing its actual bandwidth. In one example, multiple options can be used to configure the frequency separation threshold X. That is, the UE 106 can indicate its capability in terms of frequency separation that the UE can support between the active BWP 1510 and the target SSB 1512 for gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements. In one embodiment, data structure 1400 ( Figure 14 This provides a predetermined frequency band from which the UE can indicate its capabilities. For example, the UE can select from options such as 50MHz, 100MHz, 200MHz, 400MHz, etc., for a frequency separation value X. This example is not intended to be limiting. The separation value can include even larger separation values ​​that can be used in frequency range 2 (FR2).

[0166] For example, the second condition may include the following. In one example of the second condition (e.g., option 2a), the frequency separation threshold X is indicated based on the UE 109's capability in supported frequency separations (such as, for example, 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, or 400 MHz). The UE may report one or more of these options based on its capability (e.g., total UE CBW). Since the frequency separation capability can vary with subcarrier spacing (SCS), the UE can configure different X values ​​indicating the frequency separation threshold for different SCSs, where different X values ​​can be reported per UE, frequency range, per bandwidth, or a combination of per bandwidth and per bandwidth.

[0167] Figure 16 Data structures for NFG and NCSG with conditional parameters In another example, in the second condition (e.g., option 2b), the frequency separation threshold X value can be indicated in a new IE in the NFG or NCSG feedback from UE106, such as Figure 14 The additional parameter in the example. The second condition is... Figure 16 The data structure 1600 for NFG and NCSG is described in the example, which is illustrated in ASN.1 format.

[0168] In another example, in the second condition (e.g., option 2c), the frequency separation threshold X value can be predefined in the specification based on UE configuration (such as, for example, for selected subcarrier spacing, with a single component carrier, for carrier aggregation and / or bandwidth category, etc.). By defining the condition based on SSB location and frequency separation, the UE can accurately indicate its conditional capability for gapless inter-frequency measurements.

[0169] In addition, one or more rules are defined to report newly introduced gapless measurement indications (e.g., "gapIndication_Cond") as well as existing traditional "gapIndication" parameters. These rules will align the values ​​indicated across both parameters.

[0170] For NFG, if UE 106 indicates a "gap" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter, it will only indicate a "gap" value for the traditional "gapIndication" parameter. If UE 106 indicates a "no gap" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter, then UE 106 is allowed to indicate either a "gap" value or a "no gap" value for the traditional "gapIndication" parameter.

[0171] Regarding NCSG, if UE 106 indicates a "gap" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter, UE 106 will only indicate a "gap" for the traditional "gapIndication" parameter. If UE 106 indicates an "ncsg" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter, UE 106 will only indicate either a "gap" or "ncsg" for the traditional "gapIndication" parameter.

[0172] If the UE indicates a "nogap-noncsg" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter, then UE 106 can indicate any value for the traditional "gapIndication" parameter. Let me know if this helps explain the reporting rules proposed for consistency between the "gapIndication_Cond" and traditional gapIndication parameters.

[0173] Figure 17 Method for determining the configuration of measurement gaps Figure 17 A block diagram illustrating an example of a method 1700 for determining a measurement gap configuration for RRM measurement according to some implementation schemes is shown. Figure 17 The method 1700 illustrated in the example can also be used in conjunction with any of the systems, methods, or devices shown in the figure, as well as other devices. In various implementations, some of the method elements shown may be executed concurrently in a different order than shown, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may also be executed as needed. As shown, the method can operate as follows.

[0174] At 1710, the UE can identify one or more conditions for supporting gapless measurements of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) for synchronization signal block bands (SSBs), wherein one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and the UE's active bandwidth portion (BWP) within a configurable threshold, or the frequency separation threshold includes the target SSB being within the UE's channel bandwidth (CBW). Frequency separation is defined as a continuous frequency range in the frequency domain that completely encompasses both the bandwidth of the target SSB and the bandwidth of the active BWP.

[0175] At 1720, the UE can send a capability message to the next-generation node B (gNB) indicating that the UE supports gapless measurements of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements against the SSB based on the identified conditions.

[0176] In some implementations, the frequency separation threshold is a specified frequency separation based on the UE's capability of 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, or 400 MHz frequency separation. In some implementations, the frequency separation threshold is specified in a measurement gap parameter value, wherein the measurement gap parameter value is the gap indication condition (gapIndication_Cond) parameter in the gap requirement information element (IE).

[0177] In some implementations, the frequency separation threshold is configured for the selected frequency band. In some implementations, the frequency separation threshold is configured for the frequency range. In other implementations, the frequency separation threshold is predefined based on at least one of subcarrier spacing (SCS), single component carrier, carrier aggregation, or bandwidth category.

[0178] In some implementations, the UE can be configured to indicate a "gap" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter for the gap requirement (NFG) to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using the NFG, wherein the UE indicates only the "gap" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "gap" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter. In some implementations, the UE can be configured to indicate a "gapless" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter for the gap requirement (NFG) to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using the NFG, wherein the UE indicates either "gap" or "gapless" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "gapless" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

[0179] In some implementations, the UE can configure a small gap (NCSG) indication for the “ncsg” value of the “gapIndication_Cond” parameter to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NCSG, wherein the UE indicates “gap” or “ncsg” in the gapIndication parameter based on the “ncsg” value in the “gapIndication_Cond” parameter.

[0180] In some implementations, the UE can configure a "nogap-noncsg" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using the NCSG, wherein the UE indicates any value in the gapIndication parameter based on the "nogap-noncsg" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

[0181] In some embodiments, the illustrated implementation provides a next-generation node B (gNB) capable of operating to assist enhanced inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements performed by a user equipment (UE), the apparatus including one or more processors coupled to memory. The one or more processors are configured to receive a capability message from the UE and / or decode such a capability message instructing the UE to support gapless inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for a target synchronization signal block band (SSB) based on identified conditions, wherein the capability message instructs one or more conditions for the UE to support gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements for the target SSB, wherein one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and an active bandwidth portion (BWP) within a configurable threshold or frequency separation threshold for the target SSB, wherein the BWP and the target SSB are within the UE's channel bandwidth.

[0182] Embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

[0183] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, wherein, if executed by a computer system, the program instructions cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any method embodiment of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of method embodiments described herein, or any subset or combination of any such subset of any method embodiments described herein.

[0184] In some implementations, the device (e.g., UE 106) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, and the processor is configured to read from and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method implementations described herein (or any combination of method implementations described herein, or any subset of any method implementations described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be implemented in any of the various forms.

[0185] By interpreting each message / signal X received by the user equipment (UE) in the downlink as a message / signal X sent by the base station, and interpreting each message / signal Y sent by the UE in the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station, any of the methods described herein for operating the UE can serve as the basis for a corresponding method for operating the base station.

[0186] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully understood. It is intended that the following claims be construed as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a user equipment (UE) configured to perform inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements, the apparatus comprising: One or more processors, said one or more processors being coupled to memory and configured to: Identify one or more conditions, for which the UE is configured to support gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for a target synchronization signal block band (SSB); as well as Send a capability message to the next-generation node B (gNB) indicating that the UE supports gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements against the target SSB based on one or more identified conditions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions include the support being limited to one or more portions of a frequency band.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the UE within a configurable threshold.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the frequency separation threshold includes the target SSB within the channel bandwidth (CBW) of the UE.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the frequency separation threshold is a specified frequency separation based on the UE's capability of 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, or 400 MHz frequency separation.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the frequency separation threshold is specified in a measurement gap parameter value, wherein the measurement gap parameter value is a gap indication condition (gapIndication_Cond) parameter in a gap requirement information element (IE).

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the frequency separation threshold is configured for selecting a frequency band.

8. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the frequency separation threshold is configured for frequency range.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the frequency separation threshold is predefined based on at least one of subcarrier spacing (SCS), single component carrier, carrier aggregation, or bandwidth category.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure an indication for a "gap" value for a "gap" parameter in relation to a gap requirement (NFG) to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using the NFG, wherein the UE indicates only the "gap" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "gap" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure an indication for a "gapless" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter for gap requirement (NFG) to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NFG, wherein the UE indicates "gap" or "gapless" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "gapless" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a small gap (NCSG) configuration indication for a "ncsg" value for a "gapIndication_Cond" parameter to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NCSG, wherein the UE indicates a "gap" or "ncsg" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "ncsg" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a "nogap-noncsg" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter for Network Control Small Gap (NCSG) configuration indication to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NCSG, wherein the UE indicates any value in the gapIndication parameter based on the "nogap-noncsg" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

14. An apparatus for user equipment configured to enhance inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements, the apparatus comprising: One or more processors, said one or more processors being coupled to memory and configured to: Identify one or more conditions that enable the UE to support gapless measurements of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) for a target synchronization signal block band (SSB), wherein the one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and the UE's active bandwidth portion (BWP) within a configurable threshold, or a frequency separation threshold including the target SSB within the UE's channel bandwidth (CBW); and Send a capability message to the next-generation node B (gNB) indicating that the UE supports gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements against the SSB based on identified conditions.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the frequency separation threshold is a specified frequency separation based on the UE's capability of 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, or 400 MHz frequency separation.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the frequency separation threshold is specified in a measurement gap parameter value, wherein the measurement gap parameter value is a gap indication condition (gapIndication_Cond) parameter in a gap requirement information element (IE).

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the frequency separation threshold is configured for selecting a frequency band.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the frequency separation threshold is configured for frequency range.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the frequency separation threshold is predefined based on at least one of subcarrier spacing (SCS), single component carrier, carrier aggregation, or bandwidth category.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure an indication for a "gap" value for a "gap" parameter in relation to a gap requirement (NFG) to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using the NFG, wherein the UE indicates only the "gap" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "gap" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure an indication for a "gapless" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter for gap requirement (NFG) to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NFG, wherein the UE indicates "gap" or "gapless" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "gapless" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

22. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a small gap (NCSG) configuration indication for a "ncsg" value for a "gapIndication_Cond" parameter to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NCSG, wherein the UE indicates a "gap" or "ncsg" in the gapIndication parameter based on the "ncsg" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

23. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide a "nogap-noncsg" value for the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter for Network Control Small Gap (NCSG) configuration indication to indicate that the UE supports gapless measurement using NCSG, wherein the UE indicates any value in the gapIndication parameter based on the "nogap-noncsg" value in the "gapIndication_Cond" parameter.

24. A method for performing enhanced inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements, the method comprising: Identify one or more conditions that enable the UE to support gapless measurements of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for the target synchronization signal block band (SSB); as well as Send a capability message to the next-generation node B (gNB) indicating that the UE supports gapless measurement of inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for the target SSB based on identified conditions.

25. An apparatus for a next-generation node B (gNB) capable of operating to assist enhanced inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements performed by user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: One or more processors, said one or more processors being coupled to memory and configured to: The UE receives a capability message indicating that it supports gapless inter-frequency radio resource management (RRM) measurements for a target synchronization signal block band (SSB) based on identified conditions. The capability message indicates one or more conditions for the UE to support gapless inter-frequency RRM measurements for the target SSB. The one or more conditions include frequency separation between the target SSB and an active bandwidth portion (BWP) within a configurable threshold or frequency separation threshold of the target SSB, wherein the BWP and the target SSB are within the UE's channel bandwidth.

26. A user equipment (UE) configured to perform any of the operations described herein.

27. A computer program product comprising computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform any of the operations described herein.

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