Event definitions for conditional layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility execution based on transmission configuration indicator state

Abstract

A communication device configured to provide an event definition for conditional Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) execution based on a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. The communication device can determine (440) that a trigger condition is satisfied based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement. The first measurement can be associated with a LTM candidate cell and the second measurement can be associated with a serving cell for which a TCI state is activated. In response to the trigger condition being satisfied, the communication device can perform (450) a conditional LTM low layer procedure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to wireless communication systems, and more specifically, to event definitions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) execution based on the state of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI). Background Technology

[0002] Figure 1 An example of a new radio (NR) network (e.g., a fifth-generation (5G) network) is shown, which includes a 5G core (5GC) network 130, network nodes 120a-b (e.g., 5G base stations (gNB)) and multiple communication devices 110 (also referred to as user equipment (UE)).

[0003] Layer 1 (L1) / Layer 2 (L2) triggered mobility (LTM) can be defined as a primary cell (PCell) (or primary / secondary cell (PSCell)) handover process. Therefore, a cell group change occurs (e.g., a primary cell group (MCG) or secondary cell group (SCG) triggered by the network via a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) based on L1 measurements). In this process, the gNB receives L1 measurement reports from the UE, and based on these reports, the gNB changes the UE's serving cell by sending a cell handover command via the MAC CE signaling. The cell handover command indicates the LTM candidate cell configuration that the gNB has previously prepared and provided to the UE via RRC signaling. The UE then hands over to the target cell according to the cell handover command.

[0004] When configured by the network, the TCI states of one or more cells different from the current serving cell (these cells may be referred to as LTM candidate cells) can be activated. For example, the TCI states of these cells can be pre-activated (e.g., by receiving a MAC CE indicating the LTM candidate and the TCI states of the indicated LTM candidate) before any of the LTM candidate cells become the serving cell. This allows the UE to be downlink (DL) synchronized with these indicated cells, thereby facilitating a faster handover to one of these cells when a cell handover is triggered.

[0005] Figure 2 An example of the entire process used for LTM is shown.

[0006] At box 210, the UE sends a MeasurementReport message to the gNB. The gNB decides to configure LTM and initiate candidate cell preparation (one or more).

[0007] At box 220, the gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, which includes the LTM candidate cell configuration of one or more candidate cells.

[0008] At box 230, the UE stores the LTM candidate cell configuration and sends an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the gNB.

[0009] At box 240a, the UE performs DL synchronization with (one or more) candidate cells before receiving a cell handover command.

[0010] At box 240b, the UE performs UL synchronization with (one or more) candidate cells before receiving a cell handover command.

[0011] At box 250, the UE performs L1 measurements on the configured candidate cells(s) and sends an L1 measurement report to the gNB. L1 measurements should be performed whenever RRC reconfiguration (at box 220) is applicable.

[0012] At box 260, the gNB decides to perform a cell handover to the target cell and sends a MAC CE that triggers the handover by including a candidate configuration index for the target cell. The UE hands over to the target cell and applies the configuration indicated by the candidate configuration index.

[0013] At box 270, if the UE does not have a valid timing advance (TA) for the target cell, the UE performs a random access procedure to the target cell. If the LTM cell handover command MAC CE contains information for contention-free random access (CFRA), the UE performs CFRA.

[0014] At box 280, the UE completes the LTM cell handover procedure by sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the target cell. If the UE has already performed the RA procedure (at box 270), the UE considers the LTM cell handover execution to be successfully completed when the random access procedure is successfully completed. For LTM without RACH, the UE considers the LTM cell handover execution to be successfully completed when it determines that the network has successfully received its initial UL data. The UE determines the successful reception of its initial UL data by receiving the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) addressing the UE's Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) in the target cell. This PDCCH schedules new transmissions after the initial UL data. The PDCCH carries the DL allocation or UL authorization addressing the same Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure as the initial UL data. Summary of the Invention

[0015] According to some embodiments, a method for operating a communication device is provided. The method includes: determining, based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, that a triggering condition is met, wherein the first measurement is associated with a Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM candidate cell, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated. The method further includes: in response to the triggering condition being met, performing a conditional LTM lower-layer procedure.

[0016] According to other embodiments, a method for operating a network node is provided. The method includes: sending an instruction to a communication device of configuration information, the configuration information including an instruction of triggering conditions for conditionally Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

[0017] According to other embodiments, a communication device, network node, computer program, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, host, or system is provided to perform one of the above methods.

[0018] Specific embodiments can provide one or more of the following technical advantages. LTM execution conditions have not yet been defined for conditional LTM. According to the proposed method, the UE evaluates the LTM execution conditions based on the status of one or more serving and / or LTM candidate cell TCI states to perform LTM when the LTM execution conditions are met. Some benefits of this solution are described below.

[0019] The proposed LTM execution conditions depend not only on cell quality but also on beam quality, such as the L1 RSPR of at least one SSB of the LTM candidate cell associated with the SSB Resource Indication (SSBRI), which is also the measurement the network uses to determine the trigger for LTM cell handover. In other words, the UE performs LTM cell handover based on similar measurements used by the network to perform LTM cell handover.

[0020] The proposed LTM execution conditions take into account the fact that when a UE is configured with an LTM candidate cell, the UE may have one or more pre-activated TCI states or one or more so-called candidate TCI states, which are associated with beams (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) that the UE may be pre-synchronized with. The TCI state of an LTM candidate cell may have a reference signal (RS) configured as its quasi-co-located source, such as an SSB. Since the TCI states of LTM candidates are network-activated, relying on these states to monitor one or more conditions provides a degree of dynamic network control (via MAC CE / lower-layer signaling below RRC) to indicate which beams / measurements the UE should monitor for determining LTM execution.

[0021] The proposed LTM execution conditions take into account the fact that LTM cell handover also considers the activated TCI state of the PCell, which is a reference for the network to determine whether to trigger LTM cell handover. Attached Figure Description

[0022] The accompanying drawings, included to provide a further understanding of this disclosure and incorporated herein by reference and constituting a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of the inventive concept. In the drawings:

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a fifth-generation (“5G”) network;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a signal flow graph illustrating an example of an LTM process;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of the signaling flow that causes the UE to evaluate LTM execution conditions when the activation of the candidate TCI state according to some embodiments;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating examples of operations performed by a communication device according to some embodiments;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating examples of operations performed by a communication device according to some embodiments;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of a communication system according to some embodiments;

[0029] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0030] Figure 8 This is a block diagram of network nodes according to some embodiments; and

[0031] Figure 9 This is a block diagram of a virtualized environment according to some embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0032] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art, wherein examples of embodiments of the inventive concept are shown. However, the inventive concept can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to make this disclosure exhaustive and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. A component in one embodiment may be assumed to be present / used in another embodiment.

[0033] Rel-18 introduced Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM), which improves handover latency and downtime compared to Layer 3-based mobility. However, LTM introduced in Rel-18 also has several limitations compared to Layer 3 mobility. The Rel-19 work project aims to eliminate some of these limitations. Layer 3 mobility uses Layer 3 measurement reports, which support events evaluated by the UE for triggering the measurement report, and reduces signaling overhead compared to periodic measurement reports. L1 measurements used for LTM mobility do not support this event triggering.

[0034] L1 measurements used in LTM procedures are limited to SSB measurements. Extending L1 measurements to include CSI-RS can overcome this limitation and can be expected to achieve greater throughput on the target cell immediately after cell handover.

[0035] There are some challenges at present. In order to specify conditional LTM, the UE needs to evaluate the conditional LTM execution conditions (which can simply be referred to as execution conditions or LTM execution conditions) so that when the conditions are met, the UE needs to perform LTM cell handover, for example, by applying a stored LTM candidate configuration associated with the execution conditions that have been met.

[0036] One issue to be addressed in Rel-19 is how the conditions for conditional LTM execution (one or more) are defined. One challenge is that in traditional LTM, LTM cell handover decisions at the network are based on lower-layer LTM reports (which take the form of uplink control information (UCI)) including L1 measurements of beams (e.g., SSBs). These reports are configured to be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic; that is, there are no triggering conditions for the reports, which is also part of the work scope that has not yet been addressed in Rel-19.

[0037] For CHO, the execution condition associated with the CHO candidate cell is configured as an A3 event, as follows:

[0038] Event A3 (Neighboring cells become one offset better than SpCell)

[0039] Inequality A3-1 (Entry condition)

[0040] Mn + Ofn + Ocn – Hys > Mp + Ofp + Ocp + Off

[0041] The variables in the formula are defined as follows:

[0042] Mn is the measurement result of neighboring cells, without considering any offset.

[0043] Ofn is the measurement object-specific offset of the reference signal of the neighboring cell (i.e., the offset MO corresponding to the neighboring cell as defined in measObjectNR).

[0044] Ocn is the cell-specific offset of the neighboring cell (i.e., the cellIndividualOffset defined in measObjectNR corresponding to the frequency of the neighboring cell, or the cellIndividualOffset defined in reportConfigNR), and is set to zero if it is not configured for neighboring cells.

[0045] Mp is the measurement result from SpCell, without considering any offset.

[0046] Ofp is the measurement object-specific offset of SpCell (i.e., the offset MO corresponding to SpCell defined in measObjectNR).

[0047] Ocp is the cell-specific offset of the SpCell (i.e., the cellIndividualOffset defined in measObjectNR for the SpCell), which is set to zero if it is not configured for the SpCell.

[0048] Hys is the hysteresis parameter for this event (i.e., the hysteresis defined for this event in reportConfigNR).

[0049] Off is the offset parameter for this event (i.e., the a3 offset defined in reportConfigNR for this event).

[0050] In the case of RSRP, Mn and Mp are expressed in dBm, while in the cases of RSRQ and RS-SINR, they are expressed in dB.

[0051] Ofn, Ocn, Ofp, Ocp, Hys, and Off are represented in dB.

[0052] Note 2: The definition of Event A3 also applies to CondEvent A3.

[0053] However, the same definition of CHO execution conditions cannot be used for conditional LTM for the following reasons.

[0054] The definition of CondEvent A3 for CHO depends solely on cell quality. Moreover, LTM reports (one or more) only include beam quality, such as the L1 RSPR of at least one SSB of an LTM candidate cell associated with an SSB Resource Indication (SSBRI). This means that beam quality is a measurement used by the network to determine the trigger for LTM cell handover; that is, cell quality is not always suitable for triggering conditional LTM cell handover (conditional LTM execution).

[0055] Another reason is that CondEvent A3 does not consider the fact that when a UE is configured as an LTM candidate cell, the UE may have one or more pre-activated TCI states or one or more so-called candidate TCI states, which are associated with beams (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) that the UE may be pre-synchronized with. The TCI state of an LTM candidate cell may have a reference signal (RS) configured as its quasi-co-address source, such as an SSB.

[0056] Another reason is that CondEvent A3 does not take into account the fact that LTM cell handover also takes into account the active TCI state of the PCell, which is the reference for the network to determine whether to trigger LTM cell handover, while CondEvent A3 only considers the cell measurement of the PCell based on the highest beam measurement or the average of multiple beams for a given trigger amount (e.g., RSRP).

[0057] The various embodiments described herein address some of these challenges by enabling the UE to perform a conditional LTM cell handover (and / or perform an LTM cell handover and / or perform conditional LTM execution) when a triggering condition (LTM execution condition) is met, which takes into account the “status” (e.g., activated / deactivated) of one or more TCI states of the serving cell (e.g., PCell) and / or the “status” (e.g., activated / deactivated) of one or more TCI states of the LTM candidate cells and / or the validity of time alignment for the LTM candidate cells.

[0058] According to this method, the UE performs an LTM cell handover when a triggering condition (also known as an LTM execution condition) is met, wherein the LTM execution condition includes a first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell becoming better by an offset than a second measurement associated with the serving cell whose TCI state is activated. As part of the LTM cell handover process, the UE applies an LTM candidate configuration for the LTM candidate cell (e.g., a stored RRC Reconfiguration message).

[0059] According to this method, a first measurement associated with an LTM candidate cell may correspond to a measurement of the beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) of that LTM candidate cell, identified by an identifier (e.g., SSBID, or CSI-RS resource identifier, beam identifier, RS identifier) ​​and associated with the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell. In this case, the UE evaluates LTM execution conditions that take into account the beam of the LTM candidate cell associated with the pre-activated TCI state (i.e., pre-activated upon receiving a MAC CE indicating the LTM candidate cell and the TCI state ID to be activated).

[0060] According to this method, the second measurement associated with the serving cell whose TCI state is activated may correspond to a measurement of the serving cell's beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) by means of an identifier (e.g., SSB ID, or CSI-RS resource identifier, beam identifier, RS identifier) ​​and associated with the serving cell's activated (or indicated) TCI state. In this case, the UE evaluates LTM execution conditions that take into account the serving cell's beam associated with the activated (and / or indicated) TCI state.

[0061] For example, an LTM execution condition can be defined as "the beam associated with the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is better by an offset than the beam associated with the activated TCI state of the PCell." This could correspond to a first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell that measures the beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) activated by the TCI state. In one option, a second measurement associated with the serving cell corresponds to a measurement of the beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) activated by the TCI state. In another option, a second measurement associated with the serving cell corresponds to a measurement of the beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) considered optimal (e.g., having the highest beam measurement value).

[0062] In some examples, the UE performs an LTM cell handover when the “best” beam (or RS) of an LTM candidate cell (e.g., the highest L1 RSRP) becomes an offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., a SpCell with an activated TCI state). Specific implementations provide alternatives for the UE to determine the “best” beam of an LTM candidate cell (e.g., the best beam of the LTM candidate cell may correspond to a beam associated with a pre-activated TCI state); and / or the best beam of the serving cell (e.g., a PCell) may correspond to a beam associated with the activated (and / or indicated) TCI state of the PCell (the serving beam indicated by the network).

[0063] In additional or alternative examples, when the cell quality of an LTM candidate cell (e.g., based on the cell's RSRP) becomes an offset better than the cell quality of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell) (e.g., based on the cell's RSRP), the UE performs an LTM cell handover, where the cell quality is derived based on one or more LTM-related parameters. Specific implementations provide alternatives for the UE to determine the cell quality of the PCell and(one or more) LTM candidate cells based on the LTM framework, such as: using LTM CSI resource configuration to determine cell quality; and / or using(one or more) pre-activated TCI states to determine the cell quality of the LTM candidate cells.

[0064] Figure 3 An example of a signaling flow showing that activation of a candidate TCI state leads to the UE evaluating LTM conditions is shown.

[0065] Some embodiments also include a method at a network node for configuring a triggering condition (LTM execution condition) that takes into account the “status” (e.g., activated / deactivated) of one or more TCI states of the serving cell (e.g., PCell) and / or the “status” (e.g., activated / deactivated) of one or more TCI states of the LTM candidate cells, wherein the UE will perform a conditional LTM cell handover (and / or perform an LTM cell handover and / or perform conditional LTM execution) when the triggering condition is met.

[0066] The embodiments described herein refer to the term "L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility" as used in the 3GPP work item description, although the terms L1 / L2 mobility, L1 mobility, L1-based mobility, L1 / L2-centric inter-cell mobility, L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, L1 / L2-triggered mobility, low-layer triggered mobility, or LTM may also be used interchangeably. The basic principle is that the UE receives low-layer signaling from the network that instructs the UE on a change (or handover or activation) of its serving cell (e.g., a change of PCell from source to target PCell). This low-layer signaling is a message / signaling of a low-layer protocol, which may be referred to as an L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility execution command or an LTM cell handover command. A change of serving cell (e.g., a change of Pcell) may also result in a change of Scell(s) within the same cell group, for example, in the case where the command triggers the UE to change to another cell group configuration of the same type (e.g., another MCG configuration). Before the UE receives the LTM cell handover command, the network configures one or more LTM candidate cell configurations for the UE (e.g., by receiving an RRC Reconfiguration message containing at least one LTM candidate cell configuration). The LTM candidate cell configuration may include parameters in the IECellGroupConfig of each candidate cell and / or the embedded RRC Reconfiguration of each LTM candidate cell.

[0067] The term "LTM cell handover process" refers to the process by which a UE uses L1 / L2 triggered mobility (aLTM) to hand over (or change) its cell from a source cell to a target cell (which may be referred to herein as an LTM candidate cell or neighboring cell). In the context of L1 / L2 triggered mobility (LTM), the LTM cell handover process may also be referred to as L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility execution, LTM execution, dynamic handover, LTM handover, (LTM) cell handover, (LTM) serving cell change, or (LTM) cell change. In the context of this invention, handover to an LTM candidate cell configuration includes the UE considering an LTM candidate cell as its new special cell (SpCell), for example, as a Pcell when LTM is configured for a primary cell group (MCG), and / or as a PSCell when LTM is configured for a secondary cell group (SCG); or changing its SpCell from the current Pcell to an LTM candidate cell.

[0068] Even when using the term "cell change", it can include changes to the configuration of the entire cell group, which includes changes to SpCell (e.g., changes to Pcell or PSCell) and changes to Scells of the cell group (e.g., adding, modifying, and / or releasing one or more Scells).

[0069] The LTM cell handover process can be triggered in the UE by receiving an LTM cell handover command (e.g., LTM cell handover MACCE), or alternatively by some other event as a result of recovery from a radio link failure or handover failure, such as the fulfillment of a condition (e.g., a trigger condition for a conditional configuration such as conditional handover).

[0070] The embodiments described herein may relate to LTM candidate cells, which are cells configured when a UE is configured with L1 / L2 triggered mobility. These are cells that the UE can move to during an LTM cell handover process after receiving an LTM cell handover command. These cells may also be referred to as candidate cells(s), LTM candidate cells, candidates, mobility candidates, non-serving cells, supplementary cells, target candidate cells, target candidates, etc. An LTM candidate cell is a cell for which the UE performs measurements (e.g., CSI measurements) so that the UE can report these measurements and the network can make informed decisions about which beam (e.g., TCI state) and / or cell the UE should be handed over to. An LTM candidate cell can be a candidate for a target Pcell or PSCell, or a candidate for an Scell ​​of a cell group (e.g., an MCG Scell).

[0071] The embodiments described herein may involve at least one LTM candidate cell configuration, and the UE has received at least one LTM candidate cell configuration. This is sometimes also referred to as the configuration of the LTM candidate cell, which may be an RRC configuration, for example, encapsulated in an RRCReconfiguration message received by the UE when L1 / L2 triggered mobility is configured. The LTM candidate cell configuration includes the configuration required for the UE to begin operating accordingly when, for example, upon receiving an LTM cell handover command (which instructs the UE to perform an LTM cell handover procedure to become the target cell and the LTM candidate cell in the current (new) SpCell or SCell of the serving frequency), the UE performs an LTM cell handover procedure to that LTM candidate cell. The LTM candidate cell configuration includes parameters of the serving cell (or multiple serving cells, such as a cell group), including one or more sets of parameters, such as the RRCReconfiguration message, IE CellGroupConfig, or IE SpCellConfig (or IE SCellConfig, in the case of a secondary cell). In one example, an LTM candidate cell configuration may include one or more of the following: i) a PCell configuration and one or more SCell configurations for a primary cell group (MCG); ii) a PSCell configuration and one or more SCell configurations for a secondary cell group (SCG). When referring to an LTM candidate cell configuration, the terms (LTM) candidate configuration, LTM configuration, (LTM) candidate target cell configuration, and (LTM) target candidate (cell) configuration may be used interchangeably. An LTM candidate cell configuration is associated with an identifier used in signaling when referring to a specific LTM candidate cell configuration, such as when a UE receives an LTM candidate cell configuration, and when a UE receives an LTM cell handover command instructing the UE to perform an LTM cell handover procedure to that LTM candidate cell. This identifier is sometimes referred to as the LTM candidate cell configuration identifier or LTM candidate configuration index (or similar names).

[0072] The actual LTM candidate cell configuration of the IE and / or embedded message, and its exact content and / or structure, can be referred to as the RRC model for candidate configuration, or simply the RRC model. The LTM candidate cell configuration includes the configuration required for the UE to perform L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility execution on the LTM candidate cell when it receives a low-layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the LTM candidate cell (which becomes the target cell and the current (new) PCell, or SCell in the serving frequency), or when it receives a low-layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating L1 / L2-based inter-cell mobility to the LTM candidate cell configuration indicated by the candidate configuration index (sometimes also represented as the candidate configuration ID). The UE can be configured with multiple LTM candidate cell configurations; therefore, multiple configurations are generated and sent to the CU. The actual LTM candidate cell configuration received by the UE during LTM configuration can be incremental signaling applied on top of the reference configuration, so that the actual configuration that the UE uses in the candidate cell during LTM cell handover is a combination of the LTM candidate cell configuration and the reference configuration (e.g., signaled separately to the UE by the network).

[0073] The embodiments described herein relate to a report triggered by a UE when a triggering condition being evaluated by the UE is met. This report includes measurement results sent by the UE to the network, referred to as an L1 report for LTM, an LTM CSI measurement report, or a CSI report for L1 / L2 triggered mobility (LTM). In one option, the report includes at least one or more measurements used as input to a triggering condition that has been met and triggered the UE to send the report. In one option for an LTM measurement report, the UE includes a list of identifiers (e.g., resource identifiers or resource indicators, or SSB identifiers), where each identifier points to one or more SSBs and LTM candidate cells, where, for example, ID1 is the first element of both the LTM candidate cell list and the SSB list. When the network receives the report, this means that the reported SSB is the SSB identified by the first element of the SSB list and belongs to the LTM candidate cell identified by the first element of the LTM candidate cell list. In the case where the RS is an SSB, this can also be referred to as a resource identifier or indicator, such as an SSB resource identifier (SSBRI).

[0074] LTM candidate cells can also be LTM candidate cells in 5G radio access technologies (such as NR) or 6G radio access technologies.

[0075] Some embodiments in this document relate to RS of LTM candidate cells, which include SSBs and / or RSs transmitted in a beam or spatial direction, and / or Mobility Reference Signals (MRS), Channel State Information-RS (CSI-RS), or RSs defined for a 6G radio interface. The term "beam" may also be used to express the spatial direction in which a reference signal (e.g., an SSB) associated with an index (e.g., an SSB index or a CSI-RS index) is transmitted, such that beam measurements can correspond to measurements of RSs transmitted in that beam, such as SSB measurements.

[0076] Some embodiments of this document relate to beams (or RS) that can be associated with TCI by, for example, via RS (e.g., SSB) configured as TCI state configurations of QCL sources.

[0077] Some embodiments of this document relate to conditional LTM, which can be viewed as a conditional reconfiguration where the execution conditions are associated with the evaluation of conditions related to and based on lower-layer measurements (e.g., Layer 1 (L1) RSRP and / or SS-RSRP) of the serving cell and / or LTM candidate cells(one or more) SSB and / or CSI-RS. In this context, lower-layer measurements can be defined as measurements reported to support lower-layer processes such as beam management, TCI state activation / deactivation, link adaptation, etc. Lower-layer measurements are not filtered according to Layer 3 (L3) parameters.

[0078] In this context, conditional LTM relies on the UE evaluating an execution condition (or conditional LTM execution condition, or LTM execution condition, or triggering condition) or a combination of multiple execution conditions, which / these conditions are evaluated, and when satisfied, cause the UE to perform an LTM cell handover (sometimes referred to as executing the condition) or conditional LTM; as part of this execution, the UE applies a message, a portion of a message, or at least one information element, or performs a serving cell handover or change. Known existing examples of conditional reconfiguration are conditional handover (CHO), conditional PSCell change (CPC), and conditional PSCell addition (CPA). According to the method of the present invention, the UE performs an LTM cell handover when one or more execution conditions are satisfied.

[0079] Some embodiments of this document relate to LTM candidate cells for conditional LTM, which may be referred to as conditional LTM candidate cells, or simply candidate cells or LTM candidate cells in the context of this invention; or L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility candidate cells or target candidate cells for L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility, to refer to the cells configured for a UE when the UE is configured with conditional L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility; these cells are the cells that the UE moves or hands over to during the execution of conditional L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility when the associated execution conditions are met. These cells may also be referred to as candidate cells, candidates, mobility candidates, non-serving cells, supplementary cells, deactivated cells, etc.

[0080] In this method, the UE receives an LTM candidate cell configuration for conditional LTM to use in an LTM candidate cell. The LTM candidate cell configuration may be received in the form of an RRC Reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration), which the UE stores and applies when the conditional LTM execution conditions associated with the LTM candidate cell are met. The LTM candidate cell configuration contains parameters that the UE uses to operate in the associated LTM candidate cell when it moves to the associated LTM candidate cell during an LTM cell handover. The LTM candidate cell configuration may be applied over the UE's current configuration and / or over a reference configuration (also received by the UE, e.g., as part of the conditional LTM configuration).

[0081] In this method, the UE receives conditional LTM execution conditions. This may correspond to the UE receiving an indication of conditional LTM execution conditions and / or one or more parameters for configuring conditional LTM execution conditions, such as event identifier, offset(one or more), threshold(one or more), reference signal type, trigger amount, trigger time, etc.

[0082] LTM candidate cells can also be LTM candidate cells in 5G radio access technologies (such as NR) or 6G radio access technologies.

[0083] Furthermore, in different embodiments, the so-called RS of an LTM candidate cell includes SSBs and / or RSs transmitted in a beam or spatial direction, and / or Mobility Reference Signals (MRS), Channel State Information-RS (CSI-RS), or RSs defined for a 6G radio interface. The term "beam" can also be used to express the spatial direction in which a reference signal (e.g., an SSB) associated with an index (e.g., an SSB index or a CSI-RS index) is transmitted, so that beam measurements can correspond to measurements of RSs transmitted in that beam, such as SSB measurements.

[0084] In some embodiments, the beam (or RS) may be associated with TCI, for example, by configuring the RS (e.g., SSB) as a QCL source of the TCI state configuration.

[0085] The activated TCI state of an LTM candidate cell can also be referred to as the pre-activated TCI state of an LTM candidate cell. This is because the UE receives the command to activate the LTM candidate cell before receiving the command to perform an LTM cell handover, or before the UE meets (one or more) LTM execution conditions in the case of conditional LTM, and / or before the LTM cell handover is performed.

[0086] According to some embodiments, when a UE receives a command to pre-activate (or activate) the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell, it can be said that the UE will perform one or more DL synchronization actions with the LTM candidate cell (also referred to as DL pre-synchronization, pre-synchronization, or pre-synchronization), including the UE detecting and / or measuring at least one synchronization signal of the LTM candidate cell, such as a synchronization signal block (SSB), for example, the SSB of the LTM candidate cell associated with an SSB index and / or identifier and transmitted in the spatial direction (beam), and / or channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) and / or tracking reference signal (TRS) and / or primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or secondary synchronization signal (SSS); in this context, the measurement includes determining measurement values, such as reference signal received power based on the synchronization signal (SS-RSRP) and / or reference signal received quality based on the synchronization signal (SS-RSRQ) and / or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio based on the synchronization signal (SS-SINR).

[0087] The UE's DL synchronization with the LTM candidate cell includes: the UE performing fine-grained time tracking and acquiring complete timing information for the LTM candidate cell. Timing acquisition includes: obtaining the time boundaries of time units (e.g., time slots, OFDM symbols, subframes, radio frames) for a given LTM candidate cell. Timing acquisition also includes: synchronizing the clock with the boundaries of the time units (e.g., time slots, OFDM symbols, subframes, radio frames) of the given LTM candidate cell. The acquired fine-grained timing is used as a reference point for PRACH transmissions and UE uplink transmissions.

[0088] Some embodiments of this document involve triggering conditions where one measurement is better than another by an offset, which could correspond to the measurement being higher than another by an offset.

[0089] Some embodiments described herein depict an LTM cell handover procedure (also referred to as the execution of a conditional LTM procedure) performed by a UE in response to the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions. In this procedure, the UE applies (or switches to) the configuration of an LTM candidate cell that will become the new PCell (i.e., the target cell in mobility), selects the cell's beam (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, or other RS), performs a random access or no-RACH procedure, and then sends a complete message (e.g., an RRCReconfiguration Complete message).

[0090] Various embodiments herein relate to operations performed by a UE, wherein the UE performs an LTM cell handover (and / or performs an LTM cell handover and / or performs conditional LTM) when a triggering condition (LTM execution condition) is met, the triggering condition taking into account the “status” (e.g., activated / deactivated) of one or more TCI states of the serving cell (e.g., PCell) and / or the “status” (e.g., activated / deactivated) of one or more TCI states of the LTM candidate cell, wherein the triggering condition includes a first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell becoming an offset better than a second measurement associated with the serving cell whose TCI state is activated.

[0091] The serving cell activated by the TCI state may correspond to a special cell (SpCell), such as the primary cell (PCell) of a primary cell group (MCG) or the primary SCG cell of a secondary cell group (SCG). Alternatively, the serving cell activated by the TCI state may correspond to the SCell of an MCG or the SCcell of an SCG. One or more first and / or second measurements are performed on the cell's reference signal(s) and / or beam(s), where, in this context, the RS (or beam) may be an SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, or any other RS ​​defined for 5G, 6G, etc.

[0092] In response to the fulfillment of triggering conditions (LTM execution conditions), the UE performs an LTM cell handover procedure to an LTM candidate cell where the triggering conditions have been met. As part of this procedure, the UE applies an LTM candidate configuration (e.g., a stored RRC Reconfiguration message) to the LTM candidate cell. This may include the UE applying stored low-layer signaling before applying the LTM candidate cell.

[0093] According to this method, the first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell may correspond to a measurement of the beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) of the LTM candidate cell, identified by an identifier (e.g., SSBID, or CSI-RS resource identifier, beam identifier, RS identifier) ​​and associated with the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell. In this case, the UE evaluates LTM execution conditions that take into account the beam of the LTM candidate cell associated with the pre-activated TCI state (i.e., pre-activated upon receiving a MAC CE indicating the LTM candidate cell and the TCI state ID to be activated).

[0094] According to this method, the second measurement associated with the serving cell whose TCI state is activated may correspond to a measurement of the serving cell's beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) by means of an identifier (e.g., SSB ID, or CSI-RS resource identifier, beam identifier, RS identifier) ​​and associated with the serving cell's activated (or indicated) TCI state. In this case, the UE evaluates LTM execution conditions that take into account the serving cell's beam associated with the activated (and / or indicated) TCI state.

[0095] For example, the LTM execution condition can be defined as "the beam of the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is better than the beam of the PCell associated with the activated TCI state of the PCell by an offset".

[0096] The LTM execution condition, "the first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the second measurement associated with the serving cell whose TCI state is activated," can also be characterized as an event configured by the network for the UE. Therefore, the satisfaction of this condition can correspond to the satisfaction of an event or the entry condition of an event, based on which the UE performs LTM cell handover.

[0097] According to this method, when the UE evaluates the trigger condition, the LTM candidate cell may not have any activated TCI states. This could be due to UE capabilities (the UE already has the maximum number of TCI states it can support for all LTM candidate cells) or network limitations (e.g., the network does not activate TCI states in a timely manner for the LTM candidate cell for which the UE will evaluate the trigger condition). In this case, when the UE receives the configuration including the trigger condition, the UE can also receive a list of TCI states for the serving cell and LTM candidate cells, which can be used to evaluate the trigger condition. This means that the UE can select a TCI state from a subset of the serving cell or LTM candidate cell TCI states and use the beam and / or reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS resources) associated with that TCI state to evaluate the trigger condition.

[0098] In one set of embodiments, the UE performs an LTM cell handover procedure when the “best” beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., the highest L1 RSRP) becomes an offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell).

[0099] There are different options for defining the “optimal” beam, which will allow the UE to determine the input of the triggering conditions for conditional LTM execution.

[0100] The “best” beam for an LTM candidate cell can be the beam (or RS, such as SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) with the highest measurement (e.g., highest L1 RSRP) among the other beams (or RSs) of the LTM candidate cell.

[0101] The “best” beam (or RS) of a serving cell may correspond to the beam with the highest measurement (e.g., highest L1 RSRP) among the other beams (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell).

[0102] The “optimal” beam (or RS) of the serving cell may correspond to the beam (or RS) associated with the active (and / or indicated) TCI state of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell). In this case, the “optimal” beam may be represented by a reference signal (RS) (e.g., SSB), and the optimal beam corresponds to the SSB of the quasi-co-located (QCL) source configured as an active TCI state (or one of the indicated active TCI states) in the serving cell.

[0103] When the serving cell has a single active TCI state, the UE considers the best beam as the beam associated with that active TCI state. For example, suppose the active TCI state of PCell has a configured QCL source [SSB2]. The UE then considers SSB2 as the best beam for that serving cell and uses it as the beam for the so-called second measurement, which is used as input to the LTM execution condition.

[0104] When a serving cell has multiple active TCI states, one option is to consider the best beam as the beam associated with the highest measurement among the beams associated with the active TCI states, and use it as the beam for the second measurement as input to the LTM execution condition. For example, suppose a PCell has three active TCI states with configured QCL sources [SSB2], [SSB5], and [SSB7], where the SSB with the highest L1-RSRP is SSB5. The UE then considers SSB5 as the best beam for that serving cell.

[0105] When a serving cell has multiple active TCI states, the TCI state is "indicated," meaning it is the TCI state associated with the PDCCH instance that the UE is monitoring. This is the beam used as the second measurement input for LTM execution conditions. For example, suppose a PCell has three active TCI states with configured QCL sources [SSB2], [SSB5], and [SSB7], where the SSB quasi-co-located with the "indicated" TCI state is SSB5. The UE then considers SSB5 as the optimal beam for that serving cell.

[0106] The “best” beam (or RS) of an LTM candidate cell may correspond to the beam (or RS) associated with an activated candidate TCI state of the LTM candidate cell. In this case, the beam may be represented by a reference signal (RS), such as an SSB, and the best beam corresponds to the SSB of the QCL source configured as the activated (or pre-activated, or candidate TCI state) in the LTM candidate cell. The candidate TCI state of the LTM candidate cell may be activated before the LTM execution conditions are met, and the UE considers the candidate TCI state when evaluating one or more LTM execution conditions. Activation occurs in response to the UE receiving a MAC CE (e.g., a candidate cell TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE).

[0107] When an LTM candidate cell has a single active TCI state, the UE considers the best beam of the LTM candidate cell (which is to be considered as input to the LTM execution conditions) as the beam associated with that active TCI state. For example, suppose an LTM candidate cell has an active candidate TCI state with a configured QCL source [SSB2]: the UE considers SSB2 as the best beam of that LTM candidate cell.

[0108] When an LTM candidate cell has multiple active TCI states, the optimal beam for the LTM candidate cell (to be considered as input to the LTM execution conditions) is the beam associated with the highest measurement (e.g., L1-RSRP) among the beams associated with the active TCI states of that LTM candidate cell. For example, suppose an LTM candidate cell has three active TCI states with configured QCL sources [SSB2], [SSB5], and [SSB7], where the SSB with the highest L1-RSRP is SSB5. The UE then considers SSB5 as the optimal beam for that LTM candidate cell and uses the measurement of SSB5 (e.g., L1-SRP of SSB5) as input to the LTM execution conditions, i.e., as the so-called second measurement.

[0109] The “best” beam (or RS) for an LTM candidate cell can be a beam (or RS, such as SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) whose average measurement (within the time window) is the highest among the other beams (or RSs) of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., the highest L1 RSRP).

[0110] The “best” beam (or RS) of a serving cell can be a beam whose average measurement (within a time window) is the highest among the other beams (or RSs) of the serving cell (e.g., the highest L1 RSRP).

[0111] The “best” beam (or RS) for an LTM candidate cell can correspond to any of the beams mentioned above, but beams belonging to PCell, PSCell, or SCell (or any combination thereof) are also considered.

[0112] The “best” beam (or RS) for the serving cell can correspond to any of the beams mentioned above, but beams belonging to PCell, PSCell, or SCell (or any combination thereof) are also considered.

[0113] The “best” beam (or RS) for an LTM candidate cell can correspond to any of the beams mentioned above, but consider beams that belong to a TCI state that is part of a subset of TCI states configured by the network for UE evaluation of trigger conditions.

[0114] The "best" beam (or RS) of the serving cell can correspond to any of the beams mentioned above, but consider beams that belong to a TCI state that is part of a subset of TCI states configured by the network for UE evaluation of trigger conditions.

[0115] The triggering conditions (LTM execution conditions) can depend on different combinations of the different options mentioned above for the “best” beam. For example, when the “best” beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., highest L1 RSRP) becomes an offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell), the UE performs an LTM cell handover, wherein: i) the best beam of the LTM candidate cell includes the highest measurement (e.g., highest L1 RSRP) among the other beams (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell, and the “best” beam of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell) includes the beam with the highest measurement (e.g., highest L1 RSRP) among the other beams (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell); or ii) the best beam of the LTM candidate cell includes the highest measurement (e.g., highest L1 RSRP) among the other beams (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell, and the “best” beam of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell) includes the beam (or RS) associated with the active TCI state of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell); or any other combination of the above options for defining the “best” beams of the serving cell and the LTM candidate cell.

[0116] In one option, the UE performs an LTM cell handover when the L1 RSRP of the SSB of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the L1 RSRP (e.g., SS-RSRP) of the SSB of the serving cell (e.g., PCell) with the highest L1 RSRP.

[0117] According to this method, the UE receives an RRC message for configuring one or more parameters for LTM execution conditions. The RRC message (e.g., RRC Reconfiguration) may include an event configuration (e.g., within IE LTM-CSI-ReportConfig, or a report configuration) and an associated resource configuration (e.g., LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig). In other words, an association may exist between the event configuration for LTM execution and one or more LTM CSI resources, which are essentially indications of one or more beam / RS IDs (e.g., SSB identifiers) of LTM candidate cells(s), which need to be measured by the UE as input to LTM execution conditions(s). For example, when the UE is configured with a given event configuration associated with an SSB of a given LTM candidate cell, these SSBs are the SSBs that the UE must perform measurements on to derive a first and / or second measurement. For example, for a condition based on the optimal beam of an LTM candidate cell, the optimal beam of that candidate cell is one of the beams (e.g., SSB IDs) included in the associated resource configuration (e.g., via the association between each SSB ID and an LTM candidate ID).

[0118] Event configuration can indicate an identifier (e.g., event ID) that, when the UE receives the configuration, the UE determines that the configuration is for an event whose condition is defined as "the 'best' beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., the highest L1 RSRP) becomes one offset better than the 'best' beam (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell)".

[0119] The event configuration used for LTM execution conditions can indicate one or more parameters associated with the event, such as: 1) a trigger quantity, which indicates the quantity to be measured and used as input to the trigger condition (LTM execution condition), such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR, CSI-RSRP, CSI-RSRQ, CSI-SINR, etc.; 2) an offset value associated with the event definition, such as in dB; 3) a trigger time value, which indicates how long the UE needs to wait before performing conditional LTM since the condition has been met; 4) an LTM candidate cell ID, which indicates which LTM candidate configuration the event applies to; and 5) a configuration ID, which indicates the configuration belonging to a specific event ID.

[0120] Event configurations can indicate resource configuration identifiers (e.g., LTM-CSI-ReportConfigId included in the report configuration) that indicate one or more LTM candidate cells that may be considered input to conditions associated with an event. Therefore, the UE determines LTM candidate cells for which the beam / SSB within the resource configuration will be considered input to (one or more) events, such as the SSB of (one or more) LTM candidate cells and / or the SSB of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell or PCell). In other words, even if the UE is configured to detect more LTM candidate cells, these LTM candidate cells are not considered applicable cells to be used as input to events unless they are included in the resource configuration.

[0121] The report configuration may indicate an identifier for a resource configuration (e.g., LTM-CSI-ReportConfigId included in the report configuration) that indicates one or more SSBs (or other RSs, such as CSI-RS resources, MRS, etc.) for each or more associated LTM candidate cells, which may be considered as inputs to conditions associated with an event. Therefore, the UE determines one or more SSBs within the resource configuration to be considered as inputs to (one or more) events, such as the SSBs of (one or more) LTM candidate cells and / or the SSBs of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell or PCell). In other words, even if an LTM candidate cell has more SSBs detected by the UE, these SSBs are not considered applicable SSBs to be used as inputs to an event unless they are included in the resource configuration.

[0122] For example, suppose an instance of IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig-r18 (with an associated identifier, such as ltm-CSI-ResourceConfigId-r18) is grouped into resource sets (e.g., in IE LTM-CSI-SSB-ResourceSet-r18), where the resource set can be constructed as a first list and a second list, wherein the first list includes one or more SSB indices, and the second list includes one or more LTM candidate cell identifiers (IDs), wherein the position in the list is associated with an LTM CSI source in that LTM CSI resource configuration. For example, an instance of IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig includes the following lists ltm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r18 and ltm-CandidateIdList-r18: ltm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r18 ltm-CandidateIdList-r18 [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5]

[0123] Therefore, even if the UE has other configured LTM candidate cells, the UE also monitors the triggering conditions associated with the resource configuration of the LTM candidate cells [LTM candidate cell ID 1], [LTM candidate cell ID 2], [LTM candidate cell ID 3], and [LTM candidate cell ID 4].

[0124] Moreover, even if the UE has other detectable SSBs for each LTM candidate cell, the UE also monitors the triggering conditions associated with the resource configuration [SSB1], [SSB2], [SSB3], [SSB4], [SSB5] for each LTM candidate cell.

[0125] In one option, not all SSBs included in the resource configuration of the LTM candidate cell apply to the input considered as a trigger condition; rather, only the SSBs associated with one or more active LTM candidate cells that are also in the resource configuration apply. Assuming the example above, where [LTM candidate cell ID 2] is active, [LTM candidate cell ID 2] is evaluated against the serving cell; that is, only the SSB of LTM candidate cell ID 2 is evaluated against the serving cell.

[0126] In another option, not all SSBs included in the resource configuration of the LTM candidate cell are applicable to the input considered as a trigger condition. Instead, the SSBs in the resource configuration associated with one or more active TCI states of the LTM candidate cell are applicable, such as the SSBs configured as QCL sources of active candidate TCI states. Assuming the example above, where [LTM candidate cell ID 2] is active (SSB5), [SSB5] of [LTM candidate cell ID 2] is evaluated by comparing the best beam of the serving cell (e.g., Pcell). It is possible to consider one or more SSBs configured as QCL sources of one or more active TCI states of the LTM candidate cell as applicable SSBs for the UE to compare the serving cell to perform measurements, such as the SSBs quasi-co-located with the active TCI states of the Pcell.

[0127] In another option, instead of all SSBs included in the resource configuration for the serving cell (e.g., SpCell, Pcell), the inputs treated as trigger conditions are applied. Instead, the SSBs in the resource configuration associated with one or more of the serving cell’s (and / or “indicated”) activated TCI states apply, such as the SSBs of the QCL source configured to be activated TCI states.

[0128] In one option, the event configuration is associated with the LTM candidate ID, and no explicit list of SSBs is provided in the resource configuration. The UE determines the SSBs associated with the LTM candidate ID that can be considered as inputs to the event / trigger condition by obtaining the TCI state configuration. The SSBs considered as possible inputs are the SSBs configured as one or more QCL sources in the candidate TCI state configurations associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0129] In one set of embodiments, multiple LTM candidate cells meet a triggering condition: the “best” beam (or RS) of an LTM candidate cell (e.g., the highest L1 RSRP) becomes one offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell). In other words, at a given point in time, the best beam of multiple LTM candidate cells can be one offset better than the best beam of the SpCell.

[0130] In one set of embodiments, when the cell quality (e.g., based on the cell's RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the cell quality (e.g., based on the cell's RSRP) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell), the UE performs conditional LTM, that is, performs LTM cell handover.

[0131] There are different options for defining the cell quality that the UE should use as a trigger condition (LTM execution condition).

[0132] Cell quality can correspond to cell measurement results, such as cell-based RSRP, cell-based RSRQ, and cell-based SINR. Measurements can be performed on one or more reference signals (RS) (such as SSB or CSI-RS) transmitted in one or more different spatial directions (e.g., beams).

[0133] The cell quality of an LTM candidate cell can be determined by the highest beam measurement among the other beams of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., the highest RSRP or the highest L1 RSRP).

[0134] The cell quality of a serving cell (e.g., SpCell) can correspond to the highest beam measurement among the other beams of the serving cell (e.g., the highest RSRP or the highest L1 RSRP).

[0135] The cell quality of a serving cell (e.g., SpCell) can correspond to the beam measurement of the beam (or RS) associated with the activated TCI state of the SpCell.

[0136] In one option, when the serving cell (e.g., Pcell) has a single active TCI state, the UE treats the cell quality as the quality of the beam associated with that active TCI state. For example, suppose Pcell has an active TCI state with a configured QCL source [SSB2]. The UE then treats the beam quality of SSB2 as the cell quality.

[0137] In one option, when the serving cell has multiple active TCI states, one option is to treat cell quality as the highest measurement among the beams associated with the active TCI states. For example, suppose a Pcell has 3 active TCI states with configured QCL sources [SSB2], [SSB5], and [SSB7], where the SSB with the highest L1-RSRP is SSB5. The UE then treats cell quality as the quality of SSB5.

[0138] In one option, when the serving cell has multiple active TCI states, one option is to treat cell quality as a measurement of the beam associated with the indicated TCI state, i.e., a measurement used to monitor the DL control channel (e.g., PDCCH). For example, suppose the Pcell has 3 active TCI states with configured QCL sources [SSB2], [SSB5], and [SSB7], where the SSB quasi-co-located with the indicated TCI state is SSB5. The UE then treats cell quality as the quality of SSB5.

[0139] The cell quality of an LTM candidate cell can be correlated with the beam measurement of the beam (or RS) associated with the activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0140] In one option, when an LTM candidate cell has a single active TCI state, the UE treats the cell quality as the quality of the beam associated with that active TCI state. For example, suppose an LTM candidate cell has an active TCI state and has a configured QCL source [SSB2]. The UE then treats the beam quality of SSB2 as the cell quality.

[0141] In one option, when an LTM candidate cell has multiple active TCI states, one option is to treat cell quality as the highest measurement among the beams associated with the active TCI states. For example, suppose an LTM candidate cell has three active TCI states with configured QCL sources [SSB2], [SSB5], and [SSB7], where the SSB with the highest L1-RSRP is SSB5. The UE then treats cell quality as the quality of SSB5.

[0142] The cell quality of a serving cell can be represented by the average value of the highest "K" beam measurements of the serving cell.

[0143] For example, cell quality can be a linear power scale average of the highest beam measurement value above a threshold (e.g., absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation), where the total number of averaged beams should not exceed “N” (e.g., nrofSS-BlocksToAverage).

[0144] The cell quality of an LTM candidate cell can be represented by the average of the highest "K" beam measurements of the LTM candidate cell.

[0145] For example, cell quality can be a linear power scale average of the highest beam measurement value above a threshold (e.g., absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation), where the total number of averaged beams should not exceed “N” (e.g., nrofSS-BlocksToAverage).

[0146] The cell quality of a serving cell can be represented by the average of the K beam measurements associated with the K active TCI states of the serving cell.

[0147] In one option, "K" beams are a subset of all total beams measured above a threshold. In another option, the average of the "K" beam measurements is taken over a defined time window.

[0148] The cell quality of an LTM candidate cell can be correlated with the average of K beam measurements associated with the K active candidate TCI states of the LTM candidate cell. In one option, the K beam measurements are a subset of all total beams that measure above a threshold. In another option, the average of the K beam measurements is over a defined time window.

[0149] The cell quality of LTM candidate cells can correspond to any of the above, but the beams belonging to Pcell, PSCell, or (one or more) Scells (or any combination thereof) are taken into account.

[0150] The cell quality of the serving cell may correspond to any of the above, but takes into account the beam belonging to a Pcell, PSCell, or (one or more) Scell ​​(or any combination thereof).

[0151] The cell quality of an LTM candidate cell can correspond to any of the above, but a beam belonging to a TCI state is considered: this TCI state is a subset of the TCI states configured by the network for UE evaluation of trigger conditions.

[0152] The cell quality of the serving cell may correspond to any of the above, but a beam belonging to a TCI state is taken into account: this TCI state is a subset of the TCI states configured by the network for UE evaluation of triggering conditions.

[0153] The triggering conditions may depend on different combinations of the various options described above for cell quality. For example, when the cell quality of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the cell quality of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell), the UE performs conditional LTM, where: i) the cell quality of the LTM candidate cell corresponds to cell measurement results (such as cell-based RSRP, cell-based RSRQ, cell-based SINR), and the cell quality of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell) corresponds to cell measurement results (such as cell-based RSRP, cell-based RSRQ, cell-based SINR); or ii) the cell quality of the LTM candidate cell may correspond to the highest beam measurement among the other beams of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., highest RSRP or highest L1 RSRP), and the cell quality of the serving cell (e.g., Pcell) may correspond to the highest beam measurement among the other beams of the serving cell (e.g., highest RSRP or highest L1 RSRP). (i) the serving cell quality (e.g., SpCell) may correspond to the beam measurement of the beam (or RS) associated with the activated TCI state of the SpCell, and the LTM candidate cell quality may correspond to the beam measurement of the beam (or RS) associated with the activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell; or any other combination of the above options for defining the serving cell quality and the LTM candidate cell quality.

[0154] In one set of embodiments, the UE performs cell quality derivation of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell) and / or LTM candidate cells, based on one or more parameters obtained, for example, when the UE receives an RRC message (such as an RRC Reconfiguration message), to be used as input for the triggering conditions for performing conditional LTM. These parameters may be referred to herein as Cell Quality Derivation (CQD) parameters and include one or more of the following: 1) a “threshold” for determining the beams to be averaged for CQD. When this threshold is configured, the UE derives cell measurements as a linear power scale average of the highest beam measurements above the threshold, wherein the total number of averaged beams should not exceed the value N; 2) a value “N” for determining the number of beams to be averaged for CQD. The UE derives cell measurements as a linear power scale average of the highest beam measurements above the threshold, wherein the total number of averaged beams should not exceed the value “N”; 3) a time window “T” for determining the time period during which the beams should be averaged; and 4) an offset. In one option, each measurement has a threshold; for example, RSRP has a threshold, RSRQ has a threshold, and SINR has a threshold. In another option, each RS type has a threshold; for example, SSB measurement has a threshold, CSI-RS measurement has a threshold, MRS has a threshold, etc.

[0155] The QCD parameters for the serving cell used for LTM can be configured in the measurement object associated with the serving cell's SSB frequency (e.g., the same as indicated in the serving cell configuration). This option means that the UE receives the measurement object associated with the serving cell (e.g., IE MeasObjectNR).

[0156] The QCD parameters for the serving cell used for LTM can be configured in the measurement object indicated in the serving cell configuration (i.e., the measurement object identifier indicated in the serving cell configuration). This option means that the UE receives the measurement object associated with the serving cell (e.g., IE MeasObjectNR).

[0157] The QCD parameters for the serving cell used for LTM can be configured in the serving cell configuration.

[0158] The QCD parameters for the serving cell used in LTM can be configured in the LTM configuration.

[0159] The QCD parameters for the serving cell used for LTM can be configured in the resource configuration associated with the report configuration and the triggering conditions for LTM reporting.

[0160] The QCD parameters for LTM candidate cells can be configured in the measurement object associated with the SSB frequency of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., the same as indicated in the LTM configuration used for that candidate). This option means that the UE receives the measurement object associated with LTM (e.g., IE MeasObjectNR).

[0161] The candidate cells to be measured are used as inputs for the triggering conditions of the LTM report.

[0162] The QCD parameters for an LTM candidate cell can be configured in the LTM configuration for that LTM candidate cell (e.g., a configuration to be applied at reception, not at execution time).

[0163] The QCD parameters used for LTM candidate cells can be configured in the resource configuration associated with the report configuration and the triggering conditions of the LTM report.

[0164] According to this method, the UE receives an RRC message for configuring one or more parameters for LTM execution conditions. The RRC message (e.g., RRC Reconfiguration) may include event configuration (e.g., LTM-CSI-ReportConfig or reporting configuration) and associated resource configuration (e.g., LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig). In other words, an association may exist between the event configuration for LTM execution and one or more LTM CSI resources, which are essentially indications of one or more beam / RS IDs (e.g., SSB identifiers) of LTM candidate cells(s), which need to be measured and processed by the UE to derive cell quality (e.g., cell measurement results) to be used as input to LTM execution conditions(s). For example, when the UE is configured with a given event configuration associated with an SSB of a given LTM candidate cell, these SSBs are the SSBs that the UE must measure to derive cell quality to be considered as a first measurement and / or a second measurement.

[0165] Event configuration can indicate an identifier (e.g., event ID) such that when the UE receives the configuration, the UE determines that the configuration is for an event for which its condition is defined as above (i.e., "the cell quality (e.g., cell-based RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the cell quality (e.g., cell-based RSRP) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell)").

[0166] Event configurations can indicate resource configuration identifiers (e.g., LTM-CSI-ReportConfigId included in report configurations) that indicate one or more LTM candidate cells that may be considered inputs to conditions associated with an event. Therefore, the UE determines the LTM candidate cells within the resource configuration that are considered inputs to the event. In other words, even if the UE is configured with more LTM candidate cells that can be detected by the UE, these LTM candidate cells are not considered applicable cells to be used as inputs to the event unless they are included in the resource configuration.

[0167] Event configurations can indicate one or more parameters associated with an event, such as: 1) a trigger quantity, which indicates what quantity is measured and used as input to the trigger condition (LTM execution condition), such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR, CSI-RSRP, CSI-RSRQ, CSI-SINR, etc.; 2) an offset value associated with the event definition, such as in dB; 3) a trigger time value, which indicates how long the UE needs to wait before performing conditional LTM since the condition has been met; 4) an LTM candidate cell ID, which indicates which LTM candidate configuration the event applies to; or 5) a configuration ID, which indicates the configuration belonging to a specific event ID.

[0168] Event configurations can indicate resource configuration identifiers (e.g., LTM-CSI-ReportConfigId included in the report configuration) that indicate one or more SSBs (or other RSs, such as CSI-RS resources, MRS, etc.) of each or more associated LTM candidate cells. These SSBs may be considered inputs to CQD, which are inputs to triggering conditions associated with the resource configuration. Therefore, the UE determines which SSB(s) within the resource configuration should be considered inputs to CQD, for example, the SSB(s) of the LTM candidate cell(s) from which the highest beam measurement is obtained and / or the SSB of the serving cell, or the beam from which the measurement is averaged. In other words, even if an LTM candidate cell has more SSBs detected by the UE, these SSBs are not considered as inputs to the event for CQD unless they are included in the resource configuration.

[0169] For example, suppose an instance of IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig-r18 (with an associated identifier, such as ltm-CSI-ResourceConfigId-r18) is grouped into resource sets (e.g., in IE LTM-CSI-SSB-ResourceSet-r18), where the resource set can be constructed as a first list and a second list, wherein the first list includes one or more SSB indices, and the second list includes one or more LTM candidate cell identifiers (IDs), wherein the position in the list is associated with an LTM CSI source in that LTM CSI resource configuration. For example, an instance of IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig includes the following lists ltm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r18 and ltm-CandidateIdList-r18: ltm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r18 ltm-CandidateIdList-r18 [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 1] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 2] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 3] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 4] [SSB1] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB2] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB3] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB4] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5] [SSB5] [LTM Candidate Cell ID 5]

[0170] Therefore, even if the UE has other configured LTM candidate cells, the UE also monitors the triggering conditions associated with the resource configuration of the LTM candidate cells [LTM candidate cell ID 1], [LTM candidate cell ID 2], [LTM candidate cell ID 3], and [LTM candidate cell ID 4].

[0171] Moreover, even if the UE has other detectable SSBs for each LTM candidate cell, the UE also performs CQD, that is, the triggering conditions associated with the resource configuration [SSB1], [SSB2], [SSB3], [SSB4], [SSB5] for each LTM candidate cell.

[0172] In one option, instead of all SSBs included in the resource configuration of the LTM candidate cell being considered as input to CQD, only the SSBs associated with the activated LTM candidate cells that are also in the resource configuration are considered as input to CQD.

[0173] In another option, not all SSBs included in the resource configuration of the LTM candidate cell are suitable for consideration for CQD. Instead, only the SSBs associated with one or more active TCI states of the LTM candidate cell in the resource configuration are suitable, such as the SSBs configured as the QCL source of the active candidate TCI state. Assuming the example above, where [LTM candidate cell ID 2] is active, then [SSB3], [SSB4], and [SSB5] of [LTM candidate cell ID 2] are considered for CQD of [LTM candidate cell ID 2].

[0174] In another option, instead of all SSBs included in the resource configuration of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell, Pcell), they are considered for CQD. Instead, SSBs associated with one or more active TCI states of the serving cell are considered for CQD, such as SSBs of QCL sources configured as active TCI states.

[0175] In one option, the reporting configuration is associated with the LTM candidate ID, and no explicit list of SSBs is provided in the resource configuration. The UE determines the SSBs associated with the LTM candidate ID for CQD by obtaining the TCI state configuration. The SSBs considered as possible inputs to CQD are the SSBs configured as one or more QCL sources in the candidate TCI state configuration associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0176] In one set of embodiments, multiple LTM candidate cells satisfy a triggering condition: the cell quality (e.g., based on the cell's RSRP) of an LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the cell quality (e.g., based on the cell's RSRP) of the serving cell (e.g., SpCell). In other words, for a given measurement (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.), at a specific point in time, multiple LTM candidate cells can be an offset better than the Pcell.

[0177] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors the satisfaction of trigger conditions (LTM execution conditions) for the presence of one or more LTM candidate cells with at least one active (or pre-activated) candidate TCI state. These LTM candidate cells may be referred to as 'activated' LTM candidate cells and are cells that perform DL synchronization and / or DL ​​pre-synchronization with the UE. When an LTM candidate cell does not have at least one active candidate TCI state (which may be referred to as a deactivated LTM candidate cell), the UE does not monitor the LTM candidate cell for the satisfaction of trigger conditions for performing conditional LTM; when the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell is activated, the UE evaluates the trigger conditions (LTM execution conditions); when the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell is deactivated, the UE stops evaluating the trigger conditions. One benefit is that the UE reduces the number of LTM candidate cells for which it needs to evaluate trigger conditions, which reduces the number of measurements the UE needs to perform and reduces the number of LTM candidates from which the UE can perform LTM to the number of LTM candidates that the network controls to be active. In other words, in this case, it can be said that the applicable LTM candidate cells are the configured "active" LTM candidate cells for which the UE has at least one active TCI state.

[0178] It is possible to consider receiving a command from the network to pre-activate the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell that does not have any activated TCI states (e.g., receiving "Candidate Cell TCI State Activation / Deactivation MAC CE MAC CE"), causing the UE to initiate an evaluation of the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions. This can provide a degree of network control over the conditional LTM process, allowing the UE to consider only one or more activated LTM candidate cells.

[0179] For example, when the LTM resource configuration associated with the event configuration includes one or more LTM candidate cells (e.g., LTM candidate IDs in the resource configuration), the UE considers a subset of LTM candidate cells whose candidate TCI states have been activated as applicable cells (i.e., cells whose LTM execution conditions are evaluated to be compared with the serving cell). For example, it could be a single LTM candidate cell. For example, when the UE is configured with an LTM candidate cell, the candidate TCI state of that LTM candidate cell is configured at the UE, and the UE can also receive a command to pre-activate the TCI state of the LTM candidate cell before the execution of conditional LTM, such that in response to the command to activate the candidate TCI state of the LTM candidate, the UE evaluates the satisfaction of the LTM execution conditions for the LTM candidate cell, without needing to evaluate the triggering conditions for other LTM candidate cells whose candidate TCI states are not activated in the LTM resource configuration.

[0180] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions for beams (e.g., SSBs) of one or more LTM candidate cells associated with an activated (or pre-activated) candidate TCI state. When a beam is associated with an activated candidate TCI state, such as when the beam (e.g., SSB) of an LTM candidate cell is configured as a QCL source for the activated candidate TCI state, beam measurements (of the LTM candidate cell beam) are considered inputs to the trigger conditions. When a beam of an LTM candidate cell has no associated activated candidate TCI state, the beam is not monitored for the satisfaction of trigger conditions; when the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell is activated, the UE evaluates the trigger conditions for the associated beam; when the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell is deactivated, the UE stops evaluating the trigger conditions for the beam associated with that TCI state. One benefit is that the UE reduces the number of LTM candidate cell beams for which it needs to evaluate trigger conditions, which reduces the number of measurements the UE needs to perform and report. In other words, in this case, it can be said that the applicable beam of the LTM candidate cell is the beam of the configured LTM candidate cell for which the UE has an activated associated TCI state.

[0181] It is possible to consider receiving a command from the network to pre-activate the TCI state of an LTM candidate cell that does not have any activated TCI state (e.g., receiving "candidate cell TCI state activation / deactivation MAC CE MAC CE") to cause the UE to initiate an evaluation of the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions.

[0182] For example, when the LTM resource configuration associated with the event configuration includes one or more SSBs of the LTM candidate cell (e.g., SSB indexes in the resource configuration), the UE considers a subset of beams / SSBs among those with associated activated candidate TCI states as applicable beams / SSBs (i.e., beams / SSBs evaluated for triggering conditions to be compared with the best beam / SSB of the serving cell). For example, it could be a single SSB of the LTM candidate cell. For example, when the UE is configured with an LTM candidate cell, the candidate TCI state of that LTM candidate cell is configured at the UE, and the UE can also receive a command to pre-activate the TCI state of the LTM candidate cell before the LTM cell handover command, such that in response to the command to activate the candidate TCI state of the LTM candidate (associated with beam / SSB-X), the UE evaluates the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions for SSB-X of the LTM candidate cell, and does not need to evaluate triggering conditions for other beams of the LTM candidate cell that do not have activated candidate TCI states in the LTM resource configuration.

[0183] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions for one or more LTM candidate cells for which the UE has performed an early uplink synchronization procedure (e.g., for an LTM candidate cell for which the UE has received a PDDCH command for sending a preamble for early UL synchronization). When an LTM candidate cell is a cell for which the UE has not yet performed an early UL synchronization procedure, the UE does not monitor the LTM candidate cell for the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions; when the UE triggers an early UL synchronization procedure, the UE evaluates the LTM execution conditions for that LTM candidate cell; when UL synchronization for an LTM candidate cell is determined to be invalid (e.g., indication from the network and / or expiration of a time alignment timer), the UE stops evaluating the triggering conditions. One benefit is that the UE reduces the number of LTM candidate cells for which it needs to evaluate triggering conditions, which reduces the number of measurements the UE needs to perform and report. In other words, in this case, it can be said that the applicable LTM candidate cells are the configured LTM candidate cells for which the UE has the opportunity to perform an LTM cell handover without a random access procedure.

[0184] It is possible that receiving a command from the network to trigger early UL synchronization (i.e., a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) command indicating an LTM candidate cell) causes the UE to initiate an evaluation of whether the LTM execution conditions for the indicated LTM candidate cell are met. Alternatively, a preamble can be sent to the LTM candidate cell indicated in the PDCCH command. Alternatively, a preamble can be sent to the LTM candidate cell indicated in the PDCCH command, and there is no other PDCCH command indicating an attempt to retransmit.

[0185] For example, when the LTM resource configuration associated with the event configuration for the event includes one or more LTM candidate cells (e.g., LTM candidate IDs in the resource configuration), the UE will consider a subset of LTM candidate cells from the LTM candidate cells for which the UE has performed early UL synchronization as the applicable cells (i.e., the cells to be evaluated against the triggering conditions and compared with the serving cell), for example, it can be a single LTM candidate cell.

[0186] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions for a beam (e.g., SSB) of one or more LTM candidate cells that have been indicated during early UL synchronization. When a beam (e.g., SSB) has been indicated in the PDCCH command that triggers the early UL synchronization process, beam measurements (of the beam of the LTM candidate cell) are considered as input to the trigger conditions, resulting in the selection of random access resources for the LTM candidate cell associated with the indicated beam (SSB). When a beam of an LTM candidate cell is not indicated in the PDCCH command that triggers early UL synchronization, the beam is not monitored for the satisfaction of the trigger conditions; when a beam (SSB index) is indicated in the PDCCH that triggers early UL synchronization, the UE evaluates the trigger conditions for the associated beam; when early UL synchronization with the beam becomes invalid (e.g., the time alignment timer for the LTM candidate cell and / or beam expires), the UE stops evaluating the trigger conditions for the beam associated with that TCI state. One benefit is that the UE reduces the number of beams it needs to evaluate for the LTM candidate cells that trigger the conditions, which reduces the number of measurements the UE needs to perform and report. In other words, in this case, it can be said that the applicable beam for the LTM candidate cells is the beam that has already been indicated to the UE in the PDCCH command that triggers early UL synchronization.

[0187] It is possible that receiving a command from the network to trigger early UL synchronization (e.g., a PDCCH command indicating the LTM candidate cell and associated beam / SSB index) could lead to the UE initiating the satisfaction of the evaluation conditions.

[0188] For example, when the LTM resource configuration associated with the event configuration includes one or more SSBs of LTM candidate cells (e.g., SSB indexes in the resource configuration), the UE will consider a subset of the beams / SSBs that have already been indicated in the command used to trigger early UL synchronization as the applicable beams / SSBs (i.e., the beams / SSBs evaluated for the triggering conditions to be compared with the best beam / SSB of the serving cell).

[0189] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions for the existence of at least one active (or pre-activated) candidate TCI state and for the early UL synchronization to be triggered for one or more LTM candidate cells.

[0190] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors the satisfaction of LTM execution conditions for the beam (e.g., SSB) of one or more LTM candidate cells associated with an activated (or pre-activated) candidate TCI state and which has been indicated during early UL synchronization.

[0191] In one set of embodiments, the UE monitors and evaluates only one or more beams (e.g., one or more SSBs) associated with an activated (or pre-activated) TCI state (i.e., having an activated (or pre-activated) TCI state), provided that any such beams for that LTM candidate cell exist. If no beam (e.g., SSB) is associated with an activated (or pre-activated) TCI state (i.e., having an activated (or pre-activated) TCI state), then for an LTM candidate cell, the UE monitors and evaluates any beams of that LTM candidate cell. This can then correspond to the UE evaluating, for example, the optimal beam for the LTM candidate cell. Thus, the UE can also perform an LTM cell handover to a conditional LTM candidate cell even when TCI state activation has not yet been performed for any beams of that cell.

[0192] In an alternative, the UE receives from the network an indication of whether to monitor and evaluate LTM candidate cells in an inactive TCI state. For example, this indication may be included in the configuration of execution conditions and / or conditional events, such as in the event configuration.

[0193] In one embodiment, when the L1 RSRP of the SSB of the LTM candidate cell, which is configured as an LTM candidate cell and is in an activated TCI state quasi-co-located (QCL) source, becomes an offset better than the L1 RSRP (e.g., SS-RSRP) of the SSB of the serving cell, which is configured as a serving cell and is in an activated TCI state QCL source, the UE triggers the execution of conditional LTM.

[0194] Now refer to Figure 4 The flowchart discusses a communication device 700 (using) according to some embodiments of the present invention. Figure 7 The structure of the implementation (operations). For example, modules can be stored in Figure 7 The modules are stored in the memory 710, and these modules can provide instructions such that when the instructions of the modules are executed by the corresponding communication device processing circuit 702, the communication device 700 performs the corresponding operation of the flowchart.

[0195] At block 410, processing circuitry 702 receives instructions on configuration information via communication interface 712. In some embodiments, the configuration information configures the communication device to perform a conditional LTM process in response to a trigger condition being met.

[0196] In an additional or alternative embodiment, the instruction to receive configuration information includes: receiving a report configuration associated with a resource configuration that indicates at least one resource to be measured and used as input for triggering conditions.

[0197] At block 420, processing circuitry 702 determines a first measurement. In some embodiments, the first measurement is associated with a mobility LTM candidate cell triggered by layer 1 / layer 2. In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the first measurement includes determining a measurement of the beam of the LTM candidate cell.

[0198] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the first measurement includes: determining an indication of the optimal beam for the LTM candidate cell.

[0199] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the first measurement includes: determining cell-level measurements of LTM candidate cells.

[0200] At block 430, processing circuitry 702 determines a second measurement. In some embodiments, the second measurement is associated with a serving cell in which a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated. In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the second measurement includes determining a measurement of at least one of the following: a beam associated with a TCI state activated in the serving cell; a reference signal associated with a TCI state activated in the serving cell; a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) associated with a TCI state activated in the serving cell; and a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) associated with a TCI state activated in the serving cell.

[0201] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the second measurement includes determining a measurement of the serving cell's beam.

[0202] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the second measurement includes determining an indication of the optimal beam for the serving cell. In some examples, the optimal beam for the serving cell corresponds to at least one of the following: a beam associated with a TCI state activated in the serving cell; a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a quasi-co-located QCL source configured to be activated in the serving cell's TCI state; a beam associated with the highest measurement among the beams associated with the activated TCI state; and a beam that the communication device is considering for Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) reception.

[0203] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the second measurement includes: determining the cell-level measurement of the serving cell.

[0204] In additional or alternative embodiments, the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated includes at least one of the following: a special cell (SpCell); a primary cell of a primary cell group (MCG); a primary cell of a secondary cell group (SCG); a secondary cell of an MCG; and a secondary cell of an SCG.

[0205] At block 440, processing circuitry 702 determines that a trigger condition is met. In some embodiments, determining that a trigger condition is met includes determining that the trigger condition is met based on the difference between a first measurement and a second measurement. In additional or alternative embodiments, determining that a trigger condition is met includes determining that the first measurement is better than the second measurement by an offset.

[0206] At block 450, processing circuitry 702 performs a conditional LTM low-level procedure. In some embodiments, the communication device performs the conditional LTM low-level procedure in response to a trigger condition being met. In additional or alternative embodiments, performing the conditional LTM low-level procedure includes performing an LTM cell handover procedure.

[0207] In additional or alternative embodiments, performing a conditional LTM procedure includes applying an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the LTM candidate cell. In some examples, applying the LTM candidate cell configuration includes selecting a beam and performing a random access procedure to the LTM candidate cell. In additional or alternative examples, applying the LTM candidate cell configuration includes selecting a beam and accessing the LTM candidate cell based on that beam.

[0208] Some embodiments of communication equipment and related methods Figure 4 The various operations in the flowchart can be optional.

[0209] Now refer to Figure 5 The flowchart discusses network node 700 (using) according to some embodiments of the present invention. Figure 8 The structure of the implementation (operations). For example, modules can be stored in Figure 8 The memory 804 contains these modules, and these modules can provide instructions such that when the instructions of the modules are executed by the corresponding network node processing circuit 802, the network node 800 performs the corresponding operation of the flowchart.

[0210] At block 510, processing circuitry 802 transmits an indication of configuration information via communication interface 806. In some embodiments, the configuration information includes an indication of triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell where the Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

[0211] At block 520, processing circuitry 802 receives a message from communication device via communication interface 806 indicating that communication device has performed a conditional LTM procedure. In some embodiments, the network node receives this message after sending an indication of configuration information.

[0212] Some embodiments of communication equipment and related methods Figure 5 The various operations in the flowchart can be optional.

[0213] Example implementations are provided below.

[0214] Example A1. A method at a UE, comprising:

[0215] The conditional LTM procedure is executed when the triggering condition (LTM execution condition) is met.

[0216] The triggering condition includes a first measurement associated with an LTM candidate cell becoming an offset better than a second measurement associated with a serving cell whose TCI state is activated.

[0217] Example A2. The method according to A1, wherein the second measurement is performed on the beam and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS associated with the activated TCI state in the serving cell.

[0218] Example A2a. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein performing the conditional LTM procedure includes: performing an LTM cell handover procedure.

[0219] Example A2b. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated includes a special cell (SpCell), such as the primary cell (PCell) of a primary cell group (MCG) or the primary SCG cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG).

[0220] Example A2c. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated includes a secondary cell (SCell) of the MCG or an SCell of the SCG.

[0221] Example A2d. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein, before the UE evaluates the LTM execution condition, the UE is configured by the network with one or more parameters associated with the triggering condition.

[0222] Example A2e. According to the method described in A2d, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the trigger condition include one or more of the following: trigger condition identifier (e.g., event ID), trigger time (TTT) value, time domain filtering configuration, relative threshold and / or offset associated with trigger amount, trigger amount (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR).

[0223] Example A2f. According to the method of A1, wherein the second measurement is performed on a beam and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS associated with a subset of TCI states of the serving cell configured to evaluate the triggering condition.

[0224] Example A3. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell includes a measurement of the beam (or RS transmitted in the beam) of the LTM candidate cell; and the second measurement associated with the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated (and / or indicated) includes a beam measurement associated with the serving cell.

[0225] Example A3b. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell includes a measurement of the beam (or RS transmitted in the beam) of the LTM candidate cell in which the TCI state is activated (and / or indicated and / or pre-activated).

[0226] Example A3c. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell includes a measurement of the beam (or RS transmitted in the beam) of the LTM candidate cell associated with a TCI state belonging to a subset of TCI states configured for the UE to evaluate the triggering condition.

[0227] Example A4. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the triggering condition includes: the “best” beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell.

[0228] Example A4b. According to the method described in A1, A2, and A3, wherein the triggering condition includes: the “best” beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell becomes better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell by an offset, wherein the best “beam” of the LTM candidate cell is associated with the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0229] Example A5. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell includes cell-level measurements of the LTM candidate cell, and the second measurement associated with the serving cell whose TCI state is activated (and / or indicated) includes cell-level measurements associated with the serving cell.

[0230] Example A6. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the triggering condition includes: the cell quality of the LTM candidate cell becomes better than the cell quality of the serving cell by an offset, wherein the cell quality is based on at least one LTM-related configuration.

[0231] Example A7. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein performing the conditional LTM procedure further includes: applying an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with an LTM candidate cell (triggered cell) whose LTM execution conditions are met.

[0232] Example A7b. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein performing the conditional LTM procedure further includes: the UE selecting a beam, and, based on the selected beam, performing a random access procedure toward the LTM candidate cell to which the LTM execution conditions are met.

[0233] Example A7c. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein performing the conditional LTM procedure further includes: the UE selecting a beam and accessing the LTM candidate cell where the LTM execution conditions are met, wherein the access does not involve a random access procedure and the access is based on the selected beam.

[0234] Example A8. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement is associated with an LTM candidate cell having at least one activated (and / or indicated or pre-activated) TCI state.

[0235] Example A8a. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement is associated with an LTM candidate cell having a subset of TCI states configured for the UE to evaluate the triggering condition.

[0236] Example A8b. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the LTM candidate cell on which the first measurement is performed is an LTM candidate cell having at least one activated (and / or indicated or pre-activated) TCI state.

[0237] Example A8c. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the LTM candidate cell on which the first measurement is performed is an LTM candidate cell having a subset of TCI states configured for the UE to evaluate the triggering condition.

[0238] Example A9. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement is performed on the beam and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS and / or Mobility Reference Signal (MRS) associated with the activated (pre-activated) TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0239] Example A9b. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement is performed on the beam and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS of a QCL source configured as an activated (pre-activated and / or indicated) TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0240] Example A9c. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the first measurement is performed on a beam and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS and / or Mobility Reference Signal (MRS) associated with a subset of TCI states configured for the UE to evaluate the triggering condition.

[0241] Example A10. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein, before the UE evaluates and / or monitors the triggering condition (LTM execution condition), the UE receives configuration of at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell in a first message (e.g., RRC Reconfiguration), and also receives an activation command to activate and / or pre-activate the at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell in a second message (e.g., MAC CE for activating candidate TCI states).

[0242] Example A10b. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein, in response to receiving the activation command in the second message to activate and / or pre-activate the at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, the UE evaluates the satisfaction of the triggering condition (LTM execution condition).

[0243] Example A10c. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the UE delays the evaluation of the satisfaction of the triggering condition (LTM execution condition) until the UE also receives the activation command in the second message to activate and / or pre-activate the at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0244] Example A10d. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the UE does not evaluate the satisfaction of the triggering condition (LTM execution condition) for the (one or more) RS IDs and / or (one or more) beams and / or (one or more) SSB IDs and / or CSI-RS identifiers associated with the unactivated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0245] Example A10d. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the UE does not evaluate the satisfaction of the triggering condition (LTM execution condition) for the purpose of the serving cell (e.g., PCell) with respect to one or more RS IDs and / or one or more beams and / or one or more SSB IDs and / or CSI-RS identifiers associated with an inactive TCI state of the serving cell (e.g., PCell).

[0246] Example A10e. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the UE does not evaluate the satisfaction of the triggering condition (LTM execution condition) for the purpose of the serving cell (e.g., PCell) with respect to one or more RS IDs and / or one or more beams and / or one or more SSB IDs and / or CSI-RS identifiers associated with an unindicated (e.g., although activated) TCI state.

[0247] Example A10f. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein, when there is no pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, the UE evaluates the satisfaction of the triggering condition (LTM execution condition) for any (one or more) RS IDs and / or (one or more) beams and / or (one or more) SSB IDs and / or CSI-RS identifiers associated with the non-pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0248] Example A11. According to the method of A1, wherein the LTM candidate cell associated with the first measurement is an LTM candidate cell with a deactivated TCI state (e.g., the LTM candidate cell may have multiple TCI states, wherein at least one TCI state is activated, but at least one TCI state is deactivated).

[0249] Example A12. According to the method of A1, wherein the first measurement is associated only with LTM candidate cells (one or more) whose TCI state is activated.

[0250] Example A13. The method according to A1 and all embodiments, wherein the pre-activated TCI state is associated with a QCL source configured as an SSB identifier and / or a CSI-RS resource identifier.

[0251] Example A14. According to the method of A1, wherein when the UE has a valid time alignment for an LTM candidate cell, the UE considers that cell as input to be used as the execution condition.

[0252] Example B1. A method at a network node (serving the UE), comprising:

[0253] Send the configuration of the triggering conditions (LTM execution conditions) for conditional LTM execution to the UE.

[0254] The triggering condition is defined as a first measurement associated with an LTM candidate cell becoming an offset better than a second measurement associated with a serving cell whose TCI state is activated.

[0255] Example B2. According to the method in B1, wherein the serving network node transmits beams and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell for the UE to perform the second measurement.

[0256] Example B2a. According to the method in B1, wherein the serving network node transmits the beam and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS of the LTM candidate cell for the UE to perform a first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0257] Example B2b. The method according to B1 and all embodiments, wherein the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated includes a special cell (SpCell), such as the primary cell (PCell) of the primary cell group (MCG) associated with the serving network node or the primary SCG cell (PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG).

[0258] Example B2c. The method according to B1 and all embodiments, wherein the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated includes the secondary cell (SCell) of the MCG of the serving network node or the SCell of the SCG.

[0259] Example B2d. The method according to B1 and all embodiments further includes: the serving network node configuring one or more parameters associated with the triggering condition for the UE.

[0260] Example B2e. According to the method described in B2d, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the triggering condition sent by the service network node include one or more of the following: triggering condition identifier (e.g., event ID), trigger time (TTT) value, time domain filtering configuration, relative threshold and / or offset associated with the trigger amount, and trigger amount (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR).

[0261] Example B2f. According to the method in B1, wherein the serving network node sends beams and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS associated with TCI states belonging to a subset of TCI states configured for the UE to perform the second measurement.

[0262] Example B2g. According to the method in B1, wherein the serving network node sends beams and / or RS and / or SSB and / or CSI-RS of the LTM candidate cell associated with a subset of the TCI states of the TCI states that are configured for the UE to perform a first measurement associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0263] Example B4. The method according to B1 and all embodiments, wherein the triggering condition configured by the serving network node includes: the “best” beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell.

[0264] Example B4b. The method according to B1 and all embodiments, wherein the triggering condition configured by the serving network node includes: the “best” beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the “best” beam (or RS) of the serving cell, wherein the best “beam” of the LTM candidate cell is associated with the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell.

[0265] Example B6. The method according to B1 and all embodiments, wherein the triggering condition configured by the serving network node includes: the cell quality of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the cell quality of the serving cell, wherein the cell quality is based on at least one LTM-related configuration.

[0266] Example B10. The method according to B1 and all embodiments further includes: the serving network node sending configuration of at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell in a first message (e.g., RRC Reconfiguration), and also sending an activation command to activate and / or pre-activate the at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell in a second message (e.g., MAC CE for activating candidate TCI states).

[0267] Example 1. A method for operating a communication device, the method comprising:

[0268] Based on the difference between the first and second measurements, it is determined that (440) triggering conditions are met, the first measurement is associated with a Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM candidate cell, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated; and

[0269] In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

[0270] Example 2. The method according to Example 1 further includes:

[0271] Determine (420) the first measurement; and

[0272] Determine (430) the second measurement.

[0273] Example 3. The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 2, wherein determining that the triggering condition is met includes: determining that the first measurement is better than the second measurement by an offset.

[0274] Example 4. The method according to any one of Examples 2 to 3, wherein determining the second measurement comprises: determining a measurement for at least one of the following:

[0275] The beam associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell;

[0276] A reference signal associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell;

[0277] Synchronization signal block SSB associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell; and

[0278] Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell.

[0279] Example 5. The method according to any one of Examples 2 to 4, wherein determining the first measurement includes: determining the beam measurement of the LTM candidate cell, and

[0280] The determination of the second measurement includes: determining the measurement of the beam of the serving cell.

[0281] Example 6. The method according to any one of Examples 2 to 5, wherein determining the first measurement includes: determining an indication of the optimal beam for the LTM candidate cell, and

[0282] The determination of the second measurement includes: determining an indication of the optimal beam for the serving cell.

[0283] Example 7. The method according to any one of Examples 2 to 5, wherein determining the first measurement includes: determining the cell-level measurement of the LTM candidate cell, and

[0284] The determination of the second measurement includes: determining the cell-level measurement of the serving cell.

[0285] Example 8. The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 7, wherein performing the conditional LTM lower layer procedure includes: performing an LTM cell handover procedure.

[0286] Example 9. The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 8, wherein the serving cell in which the TCI state is activated includes at least one of the following:

[0287] Special cell SpCell;

[0288] The main cells of the main cell group MCG;

[0289] The main cell of the auxiliary cell group SCG;

[0290] The secondary cell of the MCG; and

[0291] The secondary cell of the SCG.

[0292] Example 10. The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 9 further includes:

[0293] Instructions to receive (410) configuration information from a network node, the configuration information configuring the communication device to execute the conditional LTM process in response to the fulfillment of the triggering condition.

[0294] Example 11. The method according to Example 10, wherein the instruction to receive the configuration information includes: receiving a report configuration associated with a resource configuration, the resource configuration indicating at least one resource to be measured and used as input to the trigger condition.

[0295] Example 12. The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 10, wherein performing the conditional LTM procedure includes: applying an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0296] Example 13. The method according to Example 12, wherein applying the LTM candidate cell configuration includes: selecting a beam and performing a random access procedure to the LTM candidate cell.

[0297] Example 14. The method according to Example 12, wherein applying the LTM candidate cell configuration includes: selecting a beam, and accessing the LTM candidate cell based on the beam.

[0298] Example 15. A method for operating a network node, the method comprising:

[0299] Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

[0300] Example 16. A communication device (QQ200) adapted to perform operations, said operations including:

[0301] Based on the difference between the first and second measurements, it is determined that (440) triggering conditions are met, the first measurement is associated with a Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM candidate cell, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated; and

[0302] In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

[0303] Example 17. The communication device according to Example 16, the operation further includes any operation of the method according to any one of Examples 2 to 14.

[0304] Example 18. A computer program including program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a communication device (QQ200), wherein the execution of the program code causes the communication device to perform an operation, the operation including:

[0305] Based on the difference between the first and second measurements, it is determined that (440) triggering conditions are met, the first measurement is associated with a Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM candidate cell, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated; and

[0306] In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

[0307] Example 19. The computer program according to Example 18, the operation further includes any operation of the method according to any one of Examples 2 to 14.

[0308] Example 20. A computer program product including a non-transitory storage medium (QQ210), the non-transitory storage medium (QQ210) including program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a communication device (QQ200), whereby the execution of the program code causes the communication device to perform an operation, the operation including:

[0309] Based on the difference between the first and second measurements, it is determined that (440) triggering conditions are met, the first measurement is associated with a Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM candidate cell, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated; and

[0310] In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

[0311] Example 21. The computer program product according to Example 20, further comprising any operation of the method described according to any one of Examples 2 to 14.

[0312] Example 22. A network node (QQ300) adapted to perform operations, said operations including:

[0313] Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

[0314] Example 23. A computer program including program code to be executed by the processing circuitry (QQ302) of a network node (QQ300), wherein the execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations including:

[0315] Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

[0316] Example 24. A computer program product including a non-transitory storage medium (QQ304), the non-transitory storage medium (QQ304) including program code to be executed by the processing circuitry (QQ302) of a network node (QQ300), whereby the execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations including:

[0317] Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

[0318] Figure 6 An example of a communication system 600 according to some embodiments is shown.

[0319] In this example, the communication system 600 includes a telecommunications network 602, which includes an access network 604 (e.g., a radio access network (RAN)) and a core network 606 (which includes one or more core network nodes 608). The access network 604 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 610a and 610b (one or more of which may generally be referred to as network node 610), or any other similar 3GPP access node or non-3GPP access point. Furthermore, as those skilled in the art will understand, network nodes are not necessarily limited to implementations in which the radio and baseband portions are provided and integrated by a single vendor. Therefore, it will be understood that network nodes include decomposed implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 602 includes one or more Open RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunications network 602 that supports ORAN specifications (e.g., specifications published by the O-RAN Alliance or any similar organization) and can operate individually or together with other nodes to implement one or more functions of any node in the telecommunications network 602 (including one or more network nodes 610 and / or core network nodes 608).

[0320] Examples of ORAN network nodes include Open Radio Units (O-RUs), Open Distributed Units (O-DUs), Open Central Units (O-CUs) (including O-CU control planes (O-CU-CPs) or O-CU user planes (O-CU-UPs)), RAN Intelligent Controllers carrying software or software plug-ins (near real-time or non-real-time) (e.g., near real-time control applications (e.g., xApps) or non-real-time control applications (e.g., rApps)), or any combination thereof (the adjective "open" specifies support for the ORAN specification). Network nodes can support the specification by, for example, supporting interfaces defined by the ORAN specification, such as A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interfaces, Open Fronthaul User Plane interfaces, or Open Fronthaul Management Plane interfaces. Furthermore, ORAN access nodes can be logical nodes within physical nodes. Additionally, ORAN network nodes can be implemented in a virtualized environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualized environment can include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a service management and orchestration framework via the O-2 interface or similar technologies defined by the O-RAN Consortium. Network node 610 facilitates direct or indirect connections of user equipment (UE), for example by connecting UE 612a, 612b, 612c and 612d (one or more of which may generally be referred to as UE 612) to core network 606 over one or more wireless connections.

[0321] Examples of wireless communication via a wireless connection include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information without the use of wires, cables, or other conductors. Furthermore, in various embodiments, communication system 600 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via a wired or wireless connection). Communication system 600 may include and interface with any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0322] UE 612 can be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are deployed, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 610 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 610 is deployed, capable of, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 612 and / or other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network 602 to enable and / or provide network access (e.g., wireless network access) and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in telecommunication network 602.

[0323] In the depicted example, core network 606 connects network node 610 to one or more host computing systems, such as host 616. These connections can be direct or indirect, via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Core network 606 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 608) comprised of hardware and software components. The characteristics of these components may be substantially similar to those described for UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the description generally applies to the corresponding components of core network node 608. Example core network nodes include one or more of the following functions: Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier Dehiding Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Secure Edge Protection Agent (SEPP), Network Open Function (NEF), and / or User Plane Function (UPF).

[0324] Host 616 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of access network 604 and / or telecommunications network 602. Host 616 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (e.g., retrieving and editing data detected by multiple UEs regarding various environmental conditions), analytics functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions performed by a server.

[0325] Overall, Figure 6 The communication system 600 enables connectivity between the UE, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system 600 can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards including, but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Global Microwave Access Interoperability (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards, such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0326] In some examples, telecommunications network 602 is a cellular network implementing 3GPP standardized features. Therefore, telecommunications network 602 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to it. For example, telecommunications network 602 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive machine-type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to yet another set of UEs.

[0327] In some examples, UE 612 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to send information to access network 604 according to a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from access network 604. Additionally, the UE may be configured to operate in single RAT, multi-RAT, or multi-standard modes. For example, the UE may operate using any one or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0328] In this example, hub 614 communicates with access network 604 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 612c and / or 612d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 610b). In some examples, hub 614 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any other communication device described herein relating to the UE. For example, hub 614 may be a broadband router that enables the UE to access core network 606. As another example, hub 614 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. Commands or instructions may be received from the UE, network node 610, or via executable code, scripts, procedures, or other instructions in hub 614. As another example, hub 614 may be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data, and in some embodiments, data analytics or other processing may be performed. As yet another example, hub 614 may be a content source. For example, for a UE acting as a VR device, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, hub 614 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensing information via a network node, and then provide them to the UE directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In yet another example, hub 614 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, particularly when one or more UEs are low-power IoT devices.

[0329] Hub 614 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node 610b. Hub 614 may also allow different communication schemes and / or scheduling between hub 614 and UEs (e.g., UEs 612c and / or 612d) and between hub 614 and core network 606. In other examples, hub 614 is connected to core network 606 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Furthermore, hub 614 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider via access network 604 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, a UE may establish a wireless connection with network node 610 while still being connected via hub 614 through a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 614 may be a dedicated hub, that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communication from network node 610b to UE / from UE to network node 610B. In other embodiments, hub 614 may be a non-dedicated hub, that is, a device capable of operating to route communication between the UE and network node 610b, but also capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for a specific data channel.

[0330] Figure 7 A UE 700 according to some embodiments is shown. The UE 700 presents... Figure 1 Additional details regarding some embodiments of UE 612 are provided below. As used herein, UE refers to a device capable of, configured to, positioned and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage / playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptops, devices with built-in laptops (LEE), devices with integrated laptops (LME), augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) devices, wireless client devices (CPE), vehicles, in-vehicle or vehicle-embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, Machine-Type Communication (MTC) UEs and / or Enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0331] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for secondary link communication, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated equipment. Instead, the UE may represent a device intended for sale to or operated by a human user but which may not, or initially may not, be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device not intended for sale to or operated by an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0332] UE 700 includes processing circuitry 702, which is operatively coupled via bus 704 to input / output interface 706, power supply 708, memory 710, communication interface 712, and / or any other component or any combination thereof. A particular UE may utilize... Figure 7 All components or subsets of components are shown. The level of integration between components can vary from UE to UE. Furthermore, a particular UE may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0333] Processing circuitry 702 is configured to process instructions and data and can be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions of a machine-readable computer program stored in memory 710. Processing circuitry 702 can be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., using discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors (e.g., microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) and appropriate software; or any combination thereof. For example, processing circuitry 702 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0334] In this example, input / output interface 706 can be configured to provide one or more interfaces to input devices, output devices, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. Input devices can allow users to capture information into UE 700. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital camcorders, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, steering wheels, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. Presence-sensitive displays may include capacitive or resistive touch sensors to sense input from the user. Sensors may be, for example, accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt sensors, force sensors, magnetometers, optical sensors, proximity sensors, biometric sensors, etc., or any combination thereof. Output devices can use the same type of interface port as input devices. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port can be used to provide both input and output devices.

[0335] In some embodiments, power supply 708 is configured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may be used, such as external power sources (e.g., power outlets), photovoltaic devices, or battery cells. Power supply 708 may also include power circuitry for delivering power from power supply 708 itself and / or external power sources to various parts of UE 700 via input circuitry or interfaces (e.g., power cords). The delivery of power may, for example, be used to charge power supply 708. The power circuitry may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modifications to the power from power supply 708 to suit the appropriate components of UE 700 to which power is supplied.

[0336] Memory 710 may be, or may be configured to include, memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), disk, optical disk, hard disk, removable cassette tape, flash drive, etc. In one example, memory 710 includes one or more applications 714 (e.g., operating system, web browser application, widget, utility engine, or other application) and corresponding data 716. Memory 710 may store any one or a combination of various operating systems for use by UE 700.

[0337] The memory 710 can be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile optical disc (HD-DVD) drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) disc drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (such as a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identification modules (SIMs), such as USIM and / or ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC can be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC, commonly referred to as a "SIM card". The memory 710 can allow the UE 700 to access instructions, applications, etc., stored on transient or non-transient storage media to offload or upload data. Articles manufactured using communication systems may be tangibly embodied in or contained in memory 710, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0338] Processing circuitry 702 can be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using communication interface 712. Communication interface 712 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to antenna 722. Communication interface 712 may include one or more transceivers for communication (e.g., via one or more remote transceivers capable of wireless communication with another device (e.g., another UE or a network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 718 and / or a receiver 720 adapted to provide network communication (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). Furthermore, transmitter 718 and receiver 720 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 722) and may share circuitry, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0339] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication interface 712 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as using a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0340] Regardless of the sensor type, the UE can provide the output of data captured by its sensors via its communication interface 712 through a wireless connection with a network node. Data captured by the UE's sensors can be transmitted via another UE through the wireless connection with the network node. The output can be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the reporting load from multiple sensors), responsive to a triggered event (e.g., sending an alarm when humidity is detected), responsive to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., real-time video feed of a patient).

[0341] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. The state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change in response to the received wireless input. For example, the UE may include a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a flying drone based on the received input, or control a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0342] When taking the form of an IoT device, the UE can be a device for one or more application areas, including but not limited to urban wearable technology, extended industry applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices include devices that are or are embedded in: connected refrigerators or freezers, televisions, connected lighting devices, electricity meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, air conditioning systems such as heat pumps, autonomous vehicles, surveillance systems, weather monitoring devices, vehicle parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smartwatches, fitness trackers, wearable devices for haptic or sensory enhancement, sprinklers, animal or object tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any kind of medical device such as heart rate monitors or remote-controlled surgical robots. The UE in the form of an IoT device includes the circuitry and / or software associated with the intended application of the IoT device and for... Figure 7 Other components described in UE 700 shown.

[0343] As another specific example, in IoT scenarios, a UE can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or network node. In this case, the UE can be an M2M device, which can be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a UE can implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE can represent a vehicle (e.g., a car, bus, truck), ship, aircraft, or other equipment capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0344] In practice, any number of UEs can be used together for a single use case. For example, the first UE may be or be integrated into the drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE, which acts as a remote controller for operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE can adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling the actuators) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first UE and / or the second UE may also include multiple functions described above. For example, the UE may include sensors and actuators and handle data communication between both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0345] Figure 8A network node 800 according to some embodiments is illustrated. As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and O-RAN nodes or components of O-RAN nodes (e.g., O-RUs, O-DUs, O-CUs).

[0346] Base stations can be classified based on the coverage they provide (or in other words, their transmit power level), and therefore, depending on the coverage provided, they can be called femtocells, picocells, microcells, or macrocells. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) portions of a distributed radio base station (e.g., centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in O-RAN access nodes), and / or remote radio units (RRUs) (sometimes referred to as remote radio heads (RRHs)). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as antenna-integrated radios. A portion of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as a node in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0347] Other examples of network nodes include multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment (such as MSR BS), network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNC) or base station controllers (BSC), base transceiver stations (BTS), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCE), operations and maintenance (O&M) nodes, operations support system (OSS) nodes, self-organizing network (SON) nodes, location nodes (e.g., evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC)), and / or minimized drive test (MDT).

[0348] Network node 800 includes processing circuitry 802, memory 804, communication interface 806, and power supply 808. Network node 800 may include multiple physically separate components (e.g., node B components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), each component may have its own corresponding components. In a specific scenario where network node 800 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more separate components may be shared among multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple node Bs. In such scenarios, under certain circumstances, each unique node B and RNC pair may be considered a single, separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 800 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 804 for different RATs), while some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 810 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 800 may also include multiple sets of various example components for integrating different wireless technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, RFID, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) into network node 800. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as well as other components within network node 800.

[0349] Processing circuitry 802 may include one or more of the following, operable to provide network node 800 functionality individually or in combination with other network node 800 components (e.g., memory 804): microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field-programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or coding logic.

[0350] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes a system-on-a-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 812 and a baseband processing circuitry 814. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 812 and the baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (e.g., radio units and digital units). In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 812 and the baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0351] Memory 804 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drives, optical discs (CDs), or digital video discs (DVDs)) and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 802. Memory 804 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.) and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuitry 802 and utilized by network node 800. Memory 804 may be used to store any calculations performed by processing circuitry 802 and / or any data received via communication interface 806. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 802 and memory 804 are integrated.

[0352] Communication interface 806 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks, and / or UEs. As shown, communication interface 806 includes a port / terminal 816 for sending and receiving data to and from the network, for example, via a wired connection. Communication interface 806 also includes radio front-end circuitry 818 that may be coupled to antenna 810 or, in a particular embodiment, is part of antenna 810. Radio front-end circuitry 818 includes a filter 820 and an amplifier 822. Radio front-end circuitry 818 may be connected to antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. Radio front-end circuitry 818 may be configured to modulate the signal transmitted between antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. Radio front-end circuitry 818 may receive digital data that will be transmitted to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry 818 may use a combination of filter 820 and / or amplifier 822 to convert the digital data into radio signals with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signals may then be transmitted via antenna 810. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 810 can collect radio signals, which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 818. The digital data can then be passed to processing circuitry 802. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0353] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 800 does not include a separate radio front-end circuitry 818; instead, processing circuitry 802 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 810. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of RF transceiver circuitry 812 is part of communication interface 806. In other embodiments, communication interface 806 includes one or more ports or terminals 816, radio front-end circuitry 818, and RF transceiver circuitry 812 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communication interface 806 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 814, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0354] Antenna 810 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 810 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 818 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In a particular embodiment, antenna 810 is decoupled from network node 800 and may be connected to network node 800 via an interface or port.

[0355] Antenna 810, communication interface 806, and / or processing circuitry 802 can be configured to perform any receive operation and / or specific acquisition operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals can be received from the UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 810, communication interface 806, and / or processing circuitry 802 can be configured to perform any transmit operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals can be transmitted to the UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0356] Power supply 808 provides power to the various components of network node 800 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). Power supply 808 may also include or be coupled to power management circuitry to provide power to the components of network node 800 for performing the functions described herein. For example, network node 800 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., mains, power outlet) via input circuitry or an interface (e.g., a cable), whereby the external power source provides power to the power circuitry of power supply 808. As yet another example, power supply 808 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated into the power circuitry. The battery can provide backup power if the external power source fails.

[0357] Embodiments of network node 800 may include Figure 8Additional components beyond those shown, which provide specific aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the topics described herein. For example, network node 800 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into and output from network node 800. This allows users to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on network node 800. In some embodiments, a core network node (e.g., Figure 6 The core network node 108 and some components (e.g., radio front-end circuit 818 and RF transceiver circuit 812) can be omitted.

[0358] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment 900 in which functionality implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized. In the current context, virtualization means creating virtual versions of devices or equipment, which may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device or component thereof described herein and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functionality described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) in one or more virtual environments 900 hosted by one or more hardware nodes, such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts. Furthermore, in embodiments in which virtual nodes do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes or hosts), the nodes can be fully virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualized environment 900 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a service management and orchestration framework via an O-2 interface. Virtualization can facilitate the distributed implementation of network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts.

[0359] Application 902 (which may also be referred to as a software instance, virtual device, network function, virtual node, virtual network function, etc.) runs in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement certain features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0360] Hardware 904 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 906 (also referred to as a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM)), provide virtual machines 908a and 908b (one or more of which may generally be referred to as virtual machine 908), and / or perform any functionality, features, and / or benefits described for some embodiments described herein. Virtualization layer 906 may present a virtual operating platform to virtual machine 908 that appears to be networked hardware.

[0361] Virtual machine 908 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage devices, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 906. Different embodiments of instances of virtual device 902 can be implemented on one or more virtual machines 908, and can be implemented in different ways. In some contexts, hardware virtualization is referred to as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many types of network devices onto industry-standard, high-capacity server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices that can reside in data centers and client devices.

[0362] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 908 can be a software implementation of a physical machine, which runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 908, along with the portion of hardware 904 that executes that virtual machine (hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or hardware shared by that virtual machine with other virtual machines), forms a separate virtual network unit. Still within the context of NFV, the virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions running on one or more virtual machines 908 above hardware 904, and corresponds to application 902.

[0363] Hardware 904 can be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 904 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 904 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 910, which, among other things, oversees the lifecycle management of application 902. In some embodiments, hardware 904 is coupled to one or more radio units, each including one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more suitable network interfaces and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide a radio-capable virtual node, such as a radio access node or base station. In some embodiments, a control system 912 may be used to provide signaling, which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes and the radio units.

[0364] While the computing devices (e.g., UE, network node) described herein may include combinations of the hardware components shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It will be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information, for example, by: converting acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired or converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information, and making a determination as a result of said processing. Furthermore, although components are depicted as single boxes located within larger boxes or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a computing device may include multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between individual components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of a component may be partitioned between processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0365] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in memory, which may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by processing circuitry without requiring, for example, hard-wired execution of instructions stored on separate or separate device-readable storage media. In any of these particular embodiments, processing circuitry may be configured to perform the described functions regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuitry or other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or generally by the end user and wireless network.

Claims

1. A method for operating a communication device, the method comprising: Based on the difference between the first measurement and the second measurement, it is determined that the triggering condition (440) is met, the first measurement is associated with a mobility LTM candidate cell triggered by layer 1 / layer 2, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated. as well as In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine (420) the first measurement; as well as Determine (430) the second measurement.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein, Determining that the triggering condition is met includes: determining that the first measurement is better than the second measurement by an offset.

4. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein, Determining the second measurement includes: determining a measurement for at least one of the following: The beam associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell; A reference signal associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell; Synchronization signal block SSB associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell; and Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein, Determining the first measurement includes: determining the beam measurement of the LTM candidate cell, and The determination of the second measurement includes: determining the measurement of the beam of the serving cell.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein, Determining the first measurement includes: determining an indication of the optimal beam for the LTM candidate cell.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein, Determining the second measurement includes: determining an indication of the optimal beam for the serving cell.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The optimal beam of the serving cell corresponds to at least one of the following: A beam represented by a reference signal associated with the TCI state activated in the serving cell; The beam represented by the synchronization signal block SSB of the quasi-co-located QCL source configured to be activated in the serving cell; The beam associated with the highest measurement among the beams associated with the activated TCI state; and The communication equipment is considering the beam for receiving the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein, Determining the first measurement includes: determining the cell-level measurement of the LTM candidate cell, and The determination of the second measurement includes: determining the cell-level measurement of the serving cell.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, The execution of the conditional LTM lower-layer procedure includes: performing the LTM cell handover procedure.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, The serving cell for which the TCI state is activated includes at least one of the following: Special cell SpCell; The main cells of the main cell group MCG; The main cell of the auxiliary cell group SCG; The secondary cell of the MCG; and The secondary cell of the SCG.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: Instructions to receive (410) configuration information from a network node, the configuration information configuring the communication device to execute the conditional LTM process in response to the fulfillment of the triggering condition.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The instruction to receive the configuration information includes: receiving a report configuration associated with a resource configuration, the resource configuration indicating at least one resource to be measured and used as input to the trigger condition.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein, Performing the conditional LTM procedure includes applying the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the LTM candidate cell.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, Applying the LTM candidate cell configuration includes: selecting a beam and performing a random access procedure to the LTM candidate cell.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein, The application of the LTM candidate cell configuration includes: selecting a beam, and accessing the LTM candidate cell based on the beam.

17. A method for operating a network node, the method comprising: Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: After sending the instruction of the configuration information, a message indicating that the communication device has executed the conditional LTM procedure is received from the communication device (520).

19. A communication device (700) adapted to perform an operation, the operation comprising: Based on the difference between the first measurement and the second measurement, it is determined that the triggering condition (440) is met, the first measurement is associated with a mobility LTM candidate cell triggered by layer 1 / layer 2, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated. as well as In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

20. The communication device of claim 19, wherein the operation further comprises any operation of the method according to any one of claims 2 to 16.

21. A computer program including program code, said program code to be executed by processing circuitry (702) of a communication device (700), whereby execution of said program code causes the communication device to perform operations, said operations including: Based on the difference between the first measurement and the second measurement, it is determined that the triggering condition (440) is met, the first measurement is associated with a mobility LTM candidate cell triggered by layer 1 / layer 2, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated. as well as In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

22. The computer program of claim 21, wherein the operation further includes any operation of the method of any one of claims 2 to 16.

23. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (710), the non-transitory storage medium (710) comprising program code to be executed by a processing circuitry (702) of a communication device (700), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device to perform operations, the operations including: Based on the difference between the first measurement and the second measurement, it is determined that the triggering condition (440) is met, the first measurement is associated with a mobility LTM candidate cell triggered by layer 1 / layer 2, and the second measurement is associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated. as well as In response to the triggering condition being met, the (450) conditional LTM low-level process is executed.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising any operation of the method of any one of claims 2 to 16.

25. A network node (800) adapted to perform operations, said operations including: Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

26. The network node according to claim 25, further comprising: After sending the instruction of the configuration information, a message indicating that the communication device has executed the conditional LTM procedure is received from the communication device (520).

27. A computer program including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (802) of a network node (800), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations including: Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

28. The computer program of claim 27, further comprising: After sending the instruction of the configuration information, a message indicating that the communication device has executed the conditional LTM procedure is received from the communication device (520).

29. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (804), the non-transitory storage medium (804) comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (802) of a network node (800), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations, the operations including: Instructions to send (510) configuration information to the communication device, the configuration information including instructions for triggering conditions for conditionally layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM execution, the triggering conditions being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with an LTM candidate cell and the second measurement being associated with a serving cell whose Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is activated.

30. The computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the operation further comprises: After sending the instruction of the configuration information, a message indicating that the communication device has executed the conditional LTM procedure is received from the communication device (520).

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