Methods for mobility measurements with multiple reception capability

Abstract

An apparatus may be configured to: receive using a first antenna panel, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells; determine that the plurality of cells comprises at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus; based on the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, determine at least one candidate cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction by using a second antenna panel; determine that a signal level for the at least one candidate satisfies at least one condition; perform the measurement on the at least one candidate cell; and transmit, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the at least one candidate cell.

Description

[1] Various example embodiments generally relate to the field of wireless communication. Some example embodiments relate to performing mobility measurements with multiple reception capability based on measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell. BACKGROUND [2] In wireless communication, user equipment (UE) can be configured to perform measurements on neighbor or serving cells for mobility purposes. The configured measurements can be, for example, L3 (Layer 3) measurements, which enable the network to make a decision about L3 handover, or LI (Layer 1) measurements, which enable the network to make a decision about L1 / L2 (Layer 1 / Layer 2) triggered mobility (LTM). LTM is also known as low layer triggered mobility or lower layer triggered mobility. The UE reports the measurements to the network based on a measurement reporting configuration, which may be e.g. periodic or event-triggered. The network makes the handover, or a cell switch, decision based on the reported measurements and commands the UE to perform a handover / cell switch to a selected target cell. SUMMARY [3] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. [4] Example embodiments of the present disclosure enable to perform configured measurements of neighbour cells while avoiding or reducing interruptions to a serving cell data reception, data transmission or measurements. This and other benefits may be achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further example embodiments are provided in the dependent claims, the description, and the drawings. [5] According to a first aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; determine whether there is at least one cell, from the plurality of cells, that can be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus; and if it is determined that there is at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, perform the measurement on the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and transmit, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the determined at least one cell. [6] According to a second aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may comprise: receiving by a user equipment, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; determining whether there is at least one cell, from the plurality of cells, that can be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment; and if it is determined that there is at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction performing the measurement on the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and transmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the determined at least one cell. [7] According to a third aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; and receive, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment. [8] According to a fourth aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may comprise transmitting, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells; and receiving, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated to a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment. [9] According to a fifth aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; determine, from the plurality of cells, at least one of a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus; transmit, to the access node, information indicative of the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells; determine, if there is at least one cell from the plurality cells that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, based on at least one of pre-configured criteria or an indication received by the apparatus from the access node in response to the transmitted information; perform the measurement on at least one of the determined at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, or the determined at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and transmit, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure based on the performed measurement

[10] According to a sixth aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may comprise: receiving by a user equipment, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; determining, from the plurality of cells, at least one of a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment; transmitting, to the access node, information indicative of the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells; determining, if there is at least one cell from the plurality cells that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, based on at least one of pre-configured criteria or an indication received by the user equipment from the access node in response to the transmitted information; performing the measurement on at least one of the determined at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, or the determined at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and transmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure based on the performed measurement.

[11] According to a seventh aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; receive, from the user equipment, information indicative of at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell is a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment; and receive, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell comprises at least one of a cell measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction or a cell measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[12] According to an eight aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may comprise: transmitting, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells; receiving, from the user equipment, information indicative of at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell is a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment; and receiving, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell comprises at least one of a cell measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, or a cell measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[13] According to a ninth aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive using a first antenna panel, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells; determine that the plurality of cells comprises at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus; based on the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, determine at least one candidate cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction by using a second antenna panel different to the first antenna panel; determine that a signal level for the at least one candidate cell to be measured with the second antenna panel satisfies at least one condition; perform the measurement on the at least one candidate cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell by using the second antenna panel determined to satisfy the at least one condition for the signal level; and transmit, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the at least one candidate cell.

[14] According to a tenth aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may comprise receiving by a user equipment using a first antenna panel, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells; determining that the plurality of cells comprises at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment; based on the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, determining at least one candidate cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction by using a second antenna panel different to the first antenna panel; determining that a signal level for the at least one candidate cell to be measured with the second antenna panel satisfies at least one condition; performing the measurement on the at least one candidate cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell by using the second antenna panel determined to satisfy the at least one condition for the signal level; and transmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the at least one candidate cell.

[15] According to an eleventh aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may comprise means for performing the method according to the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, or tenth aspect, or any example embodiment(s) thereof, as provided in the description and / or the claims.

[16] According to a twelfth aspect, a computer program, a computer program product, or a (non-transitory) computer-readable medium is disclosed. The computer program, computer program product, or (non-transitory) computer-readable medium may comprise instructions, which when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform the method according to the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, or tenth aspect, or any example embodiment(s) thereof, as provided in the description and / or the claims.

[17] Example embodiments of the present disclosure can thus provide apparatuses, methods, computer programs, computer program products, or computer readable media for improving various aspects of mobility measurements. Any example embodiment may be combined with one or more other example embodiments. These and other aspects of the present disclosure will be apparent from the example embodiment(s) described below. According to some aspects, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[18] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the example embodiments and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate example embodiments and, together with the description, help to explain the example embodiments. In the drawings:

[19] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a communication network comprising a user node and one or more access nodes;

[20] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an apparatus configured to practice one or more example embodiments;

[21] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of signalling and operations for performing mobility measurements based on evaluation of measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell;

[22] FIG. 4 illustrates another example of signalling and operations for performing mobility measurements based on evaluation of measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell;

[23] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a scenario for alternative antenna selection by a UE;

[24] FIG. 6 illustrate an example of signalling and operations for performing mobility measurements based on evaluation of measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell and antenna panel selection; and

[25] FIGs. 7 to 11 illustrate examples of methods for mobility measurements.

[26] Like references are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[27] Reference will now be made in detail to example embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples.

[28] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a communication network 100 comprising a user node and one or more access nodes. The user node may be a UE 102. The UE 102 may be configured to support multiple reception operation. The UE 102 may comprise a plurality of antennas, such as antenna panels 110, 112 and 114. Access node(s) 104, 106, 108 may be part of a radio access network (RAN) configured to enable a device, represented throughout the description by the UE 102, to access communication services provided by core network. In connection with communication network 100, access node(s) 104, 106, 108 and core network may be collectively referred to as the ‘network’. The UE 102 may comprise a user device, a mobile device, or the like. The UE 102 may be configured to communicate with access node(s) 104, 106,108 over a radio interface, which may be also referred to as an air interface. Access nodes 104, 106, 108 may be also referred to as network devices or transmission and reception points (TRPs).

[29] The radio interface may be configured for example based on the 5G NR (New Radio) standard defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), or any future standard or technology (e.g., 6G). Access nodes 104, 106, 108 may comprise, for example, 5th generation access nodes (gNB). Transmission by an access node to UE 102 may be called downlink (DL) transmission. Transmission by UE 104 to an access node may be called uplink (UL) transmission. The UE 102 may be therefore configured to operate as a transmitter for uplink transmissions and as a receiver for downlink transmissions. Access node(s) 104, 106, 108 may be configured to operate as a receiver for uplink transmissions and as a transmitter for downlink transmissions. Communication network 100 may comprise a wireless communication network or a mobile communication network, such as for example a cellular communication network.

[30] Access node 104, 106, 108 may be configured to communicate with UEs via one or more cells. A cell may be configured to serve UEs at a certain geographical area at a certain radio frequency, or, a range of radio frequencies around a centre frequency of the cell. A UE may receive signals from one or more cells, such as from a serving cell and one or more neighboring cells. A serving cell refers to a specific cell or base station with which a mobile device is currently communicating or has an active connection. The serving cell may be responsible for managing the communication, handling data transfer, and coordinating various aspects of the connection with the mobile device. For example, the access node 104 may serve UE 102 at the serving cell. The access nodes 106, 108 may be at neighboring cells. A neighboring cell is any other cell in the communication network that is not the serving cell but is within range and can potentially be connected to by the mobile device. A mobile device may continuously monitor signals from neighboring cells to be aware of alternative connections. The information about neighboring cells can be used for various purposes, including optimizing handovers, which is the process of switching the mobile device's connection from one cell to another as the mobile device moves within the network.

[31] Communication network 100 may be operated based on a protocol stack comprising a plurality of protocol layers. The protocol stack may be arranged based on the open systems interconnection (OSI) model or a layer model of a particular standard such as 3GPP 5G NR. As one example, the protocol stack may comprise a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, which may receive data from an application layer for transmission. The SDAP layer may be configured to exchange data with the packet data convergence (PDCP) layer. The PDCP layer may be responsible of generation of data bursts comprising one or more data packets, for example based on data obtained from the SDAP layer. The PDCP layer may provide data to one or more instances of the radio link control (RLC) layer. For example, PDCP data may be transmitted on one or more RLC transmission legs. Each RLC instance may be associated with corresponding medium access control (MAC) instances of the MAC layer. The MAC layer may provide a mapping between logical channels of upper layer(s) and transport channels of the physical layer, handle multiplexing and demultiplexing of MAC service data units (SDU). Furthermore, the MAC layer may provide error correction functionality based on packet retransmissions, for example according to the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process. Physically separate transmission legs may be provided by the physical (PHY) layer, also known as Layer 1 (LI). A UE may be configured to perform mobility measurements based on lower layers of the protocol stack, for example RLC, MAC, and LI. A radio resource control (RRC) layer of the protocol 5 stack may be configured to manage configuration, connection, and release of radio resources. The RRC layer may be also referred to as Layer 3. In one example. Layer 3 may refer to a network layer routing, addressing, and packet forwarding across different networks. LI and L3 measurements may comprise parameters related to wireless channel conditions, such as signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), 10 channel quality indicators (CQI).

[32] For example, the UE 102 may be configured to perform and report received signal reference power (RSRP) measurements at Layer 1 (physical layer) and / or Layer 3 (RRC layer). The measurements may be, for example, based on synchronization signal block (SSB). In addition, or alternatively, the measurements 15 may be configured in a channel state information (CSI) measurement configuration, and the measurements may be based on CSI reference signals (RS). Layer 3 measurements may comprise, for example, cell or beam level measurements. Beam level measurements may be generated from the Layer 1 measurements by applying Layer 3 filtering. The L3 filtering may be performed to remove the impact of fast 20 fading and to help reduce short term variations in the measurement results. Cell level measurements may be derived from the LI measurements using certain rules. L3 RSRP measurements may be reported in RRC measurement report in an information element for measurement results. LI measurements may comprise beam level measurements. LI RSRP measurements may be reported by the UE 102 25 in channel state information (CSI) based on a CSI reporting configuration.

[33] Communication network 100 may comprise other devices, network device(s), or protocol(s), in addition, or alternative to, those illustrated in FIG. 1. Even though some embodiments have been described in the context of 5G, it is appreciated that embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this 30 example network. Example embodiments may be therefore applied in any present or future communication networks. An apparatus, such as for example UE 102 or access node 104, may comprise, or be configured to implement, e.g., by means of software, one or more of the protocol layers described herein.

[34] LTM is a cell switch procedure, where a serving cell of a UE (e.g., PCell or PSCell) is switched by the network by sending an LTM cell switch command. LTM cell switch decision is in the baseline solution based on LI measurements that are performed and reported by the UE based on LTM candidate cell configuration provided by the network for one or more LTM candidate cells, which may be neighboring cells and / or UE’s current serving cells (e.g. SCells, PCells, and / or PSCells). PCell refers to a primary serving cell for a UE that provides initial connections and handles most of the communication with the UE. PSCell refers to a secondary serving cell configured to work in conjunction with the PCell in dual connectivity mode to enhance data throughput and network performance by providing additional capacity and bandwidth to the UE. SCell refers to another secondary serving cell that can be used can be aggregated with the PCell and PSCell to increase the overall data throughput and capacity for the UE.

[35] Before the cell switch, the network may optionally activate TCI (transmission configuration indication) state(s) for one or more candidate cells and the UE will track the timing of the activated TCI state(s) before the cell switch. The UE may also perform early timing advance (TA) acquisition either based on PDCCH (physical downlink control channel) ordered RACH (random access channel) initiated by the network or as UE autonomous TA acquisition.

[36] LTM measurements may refer to LI measurements, which are configured to the UE in the LTM candidate cell configuration. The UE can be configured to measure up to 8 candidate cells, which may be neighboring cells and / or current serving cells (e.g. SCells). The actual number of cells the UE can be configured with and shall be able to measure may depend on UE capability.

[37] LTM candidate cells can be assumed to be configured based on L3 measurements, that are configured separately. L3 measurements can also be assumed to be running alongside with LTM measurements for the LTM candidate cells and potentially also for some other neighboring cells.

[38] Measurement and scheduling restrictions may be needed for situations where measurement resource for LTM measurements is overlapping either with another measurement or with data scheduling.

[39] For example, a UE may be configured to measure two reference signals (RSs), such as LTM candidate cell measurement and some type of serving cell measurement, in overlapping or adjacent OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) symbols. In this situation, the UE may be restricted to only measure one of the RSs. Therefore, a longer measurement period is expected, which in practice means that there is no minimum requirement for the measurement period.

[40] In addition to the measurement restrictions, also scheduling restrictions may be needed in some situations. For example, on symbols configured for SSB (synchronization signal block) measurements for LTM candidate cells, and possibly also in the symbols before and after the SSB symbols, the UE is not expected to transmit physical uplink control channel / physical uplink shared channel / sounding reference signal (PUCCH / PUSCH / SRS) or receive physical downlink control channel / physical downlink shared channel / channel state information reference signal (PDCCH / PDSCH / CSI-RS) for tracking / CSI-RS for CQI (channel quality information). If the network schedules these channels for the UE in these symbols , longer measurement period is expected i.e. there is no minimum requirement for measurement period. Both scheduling and measurement restrictions may depend on the frequency range where the UE is measuring and / or being scheduled as well as UE capabilities such as simultaneousRxDataSSB-DiffNumerology. SimulatenaousRxDataSSB-DIffNumerology refers to a parameter which indicates whether the UE supports concurrent intra-frequency measurement on serving cell or neighbouring cell and PDCCH or PDSCH reception from the serving cell with a different numerology

[41] A UE that is capable of multi-Rx (multiple reception) operation can receive data and / or measure from two directions (or two QCL Type-D sources) by using at least two reception antenna panels simultaneously. QCL refers to quasi colocation. Two antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located if properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed. For QCL Type-D, the common channel properties comprise a spatial receiver parameter. A UE with multi-Rx capability may be capable of simultaneous data reception, simultaneous measurements, and simultaneous data reception and measurements from two QCL Type-D sources i.e. two TRPs belonging to the same cell. Hence, RRM (radio resource management) requirements to support intra-cell multi-TRP operation where the UE is scheduled from two TRPs may be needed.

[42] The multi-Rx operation can be extended to be used for purposes of intercell mobility. For example, the UE may perform neighbor cell measurements with one antenna panel while receiving / transmitting data on the serving cell using another antenna panel. An advantage of using UE’s multi-Rx capability for mobility is enabling faster measurements and reducing interruptions on serving cell data transmission / reception (e.g., scheduling restrictions) and / or measurements (e.g., measurement restrictions) due to LTM candidate cell measurements.

[43] Scheduling restrictions may be needed in order for the UE to be able to perform measurements. For example, in case of L3 measurements, it may be assumed that the UE needs to perform beam sweeping. Therefore, if the UE can only receive from one direction it may not receive data while sweeping to measure neighbor cells. In case of LI measurements, scheduling restriction may be needed for SSB measurements because of the beam sweeping assumption. Further, CSI-RS measurements may need scheduling restrictions when the target RS is not QCL-Type D with the indicated TCI state. In other words, the CSI-RS to be measured may use the same beam as the indicated TCI state. Otherwise, another DL transmission beam is assumed to be used and the UE cannot receive data and measure CSI-RS at the same time. For LI measurements with multi-Rx, intra-cell measurements can be relaxed and provoke fewer scheduling restrictions if CSI-RS of one TRP has a QCL-Type D relationship with one of the indicated TCI states.

[44] When a multi-Rx capable UE is configured to perform measurements, such as intra-frequency measurements, on LTM candidate cells, the UE may not always be able to use a different antenna panel to perform candidate cell measurements without interrupting the data transmission / reception on the serving cell. This situation may depend on the location of the neighboring TRPs / gNBs and UE antenna panels. Sometimes the UE may need to measure the candidate cell using the same antenna panel as it is using for serving cell data reception / transmission. However, using the same antenna panel may lead to scheduling and measurement restrictions on the serving cell. The scenario is illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the UE 102 is able to measure access node 108 (neighboring cell 2) using a different antenna panel 110 than an antenna panel 112 that the UE 102 is using for the serving cell (access node 104) data reception and measurements. Further, the UE 102 would need to use the same antenna panel 112 as used for the serving cell for measurements on access node 106 (neighboring cell 1).

[45] The problem is that whether the UE is able to use the same or different antenna panel for candidate (neighboring) cell measurements. In other words, whether measurement / scheduling restrictions are needed or not, may not be visible to the network. Further, the situation may change when the UE moves, rotates or some obstacle appears between the UE and the gNB / TRP to be measured. Defining measurement requirements for the candidate cell or measurement / scheduling restrictions for the serving cell with the assumption of UE using another antenna panel for candidate cell measurement is not straightforward, as it may not be clear when the UE is able to measure without scheduling / measurement restrictions and without interrupting data scheduling or measurements on the serving cell.

[46] According to an example embodiment, an apparatus is configured with LTM measurements on one or more candidate cells. The apparatus may be, for example, a UE. The apparatus may be further configured with a multi-Rx capability. In one example embodiment, the apparatus is not allowed any scheduling / measurement restrictions on the serving cell due to the LTM candidate cell measurements. The apparatus may be allowed to measure and report results for reference signals (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS) associated to LTM candidate cells that it can measure without scheduling / measurement restrictions on the serving cell.

[47] In an example embodiment, the apparatus may be configured to report to the network an indication of which LTM candidate cells or reference signals associated to the configured candidate cells the apparatus may not be able to measure without scheduling / measurement restrictions on the serving cell. Based on the indication, the apparatus may be enabled or disabled to measure all or a subset of the indicated candidate cells with scheduling and / or measurement restrictions either based on a pre-configuration of the apparatus or a received network indication.

[48] In an example embodiment, the apparatus may be configured to select to use a different antenna panel than used for the serving cell for measuring a LTM candidate cell, if a signal quality for the candidate cell in question on the alternative antenna panel is sufficient, to be able to measure the candidate cell without measurement / scheduling restrictions on the serving cell.

[49] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an apparatus configured to practice one or more example embodiments. The apparatus 200 may comprise a UE such as UE 102, or an access node such as access node 104, 106, or 108, an access point, a base station, a radio network node, a TRP or a network device, or in general any apparatus configured to implement functionality described herein. Apparatus 200 may comprise at least one processor 202. The at least one processor 202 may comprise, for example, one or more of various processing devices, such as for example a co-processor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like.

[50] The apparatus 200 may further comprise at least one memory 204. The memory 204 may be configured to store, for example, computer program code or the like, for example operating system software and application software. Memory 204 may comprise one or more volatile memory devices, one or more non-volatile memory devices, and / or a combination thereof. For example, the memory may be embodied as magnetic storage devices (such as hard disk drives, magnetic tapes, etc.), optical magnetic storage devices, or semiconductor memories (such as mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory), etc.). Memory 204 is provided as an example of a (non-transitory) computer readable medium. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[51] The apparatus 200 may further comprise a communication interface 208 configured to enable the apparatus 200 to transmit and / or receive information. The communication interface 208 may comprise an external communication interface, such as for example a radio interface between UE 102 and access node(s) 104, 106, 108. The communication interface 208 may comprise one or more radio transmitters or receivers, which may be coupled to one or more antennas or the apparatus 200, or be configured to be coupled to one or more antennas external to the apparatus 200.

[52] The apparatus 200 may further comprise other components and / or functions such as a user interface (not shown) comprising at least one input device and / or at least one output device. The input device may take various forms such a keyboard, a touch screen, or one or more embedded control buttons. The output device may for example comprise a display, a speaker, or the like.

[53] When the apparatus 200 is configured to implement some functionality, some component and / or components of the apparatus 200, such as for example the at least one processor 202 and / or the at least one memory 204, may be configured to implement this functionality. Furthermore, when the at least one processor 202 is configured to implement some functionality, this functionality may be implemented using program code 206 comprised, for example, in the at least one memory 204.

[54] The functionality described herein may be performed, at least in part, by one or more computer program product components such as software components. According to an example embodiment, the apparatus 200 comprises a processor or processor circuitry, such as for example a microcontroller, configured by the program code 206, when executed, to execute the embodiments of the operations and functionality described herein. Program code 206 is provided as an example of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor 202, cause performance of the apparatus 200.

[55] Alternatively, or in addition, the functionality described herein can be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, and without limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), graphics processing units (GPUs), or the like.

[56] The apparatus 200 may be configured to perform, or cause performance of, method(s) described herein or comprise means for performing method(s) described herein. In one example, the means comprises the at least one processor 202, the at least one memory 204 including instructions (e.g., program code 206) configured to, when executed by the at least one processor 202, cause the apparatus 200 to perform the method(s). In general, computer program instructions may be executed on means providing generic processing functions. Such means may be embedded for example in a personal computer, a smart phone, a network device, or the like. The method(s) may be thus computer-implemented, for example, based algorithm(s) executable by the generic processing functions, an example of which is the at least one processor 202. The means may comprise transmission or reception means, for example one or more radio transmitters or receivers, which may be coupled or be configured to be coupled to one or more antennas. The apparatus 200 may comprise, for example, a network device, for example, an access node, an access point, a base station, or a central / distributed unit thereof. Although the apparatus 200 is illustrated as a single device, it is appreciated that, wherever applicable, functions of the apparatus 200 may be distributed to a plurality of devices.

[57] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of signalling and operations for performing mobility measurements based on evaluation of measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell. The signalling may be performed between a mobile device, such as the UE 102 and one or more TRPs, such as the access nodes 104, 106, or 108. The one or more TRPs may comprise a source TRP 326. The source TRP may comprise a serving cell for the UE 102. The one or more TRPs may further comprise one or more candidate TRPs, referred to as a first candidate TRP (c-TRPl 328) and a second candidate TRP (c-TRP2 330). The candidate TRPs may comprise neighboring cells for the UE 102. The neighboring cells may be referred to as candidate cells.

[58] At operation 300, the UE 102 may send a L3 measurement report to the source TRP 326.

[59] At operation 302, the source TRP 326 may decide to configure LMT and prepare candidate cell configuration.

[60] At operation 304, the source TRP 326 may send a RRC reconfiguration message to the UE 102 including the candidate cell configuration for one or more candidate cells, such as the c-TRPl 328 and C-TRP2 330.

[61] At operation 306, the UE 102 may respond to the RRC reconfiguration message with a RRC reconfiguration complete message. The RRC reconfiguration complete message may be sent after the candidate cell configurations are stored by the UE 102.

[62] At operation 308, the UE 102 may be configured to evaluate which of the candidate cells in the received configuration it can measure without causing an interruption to the serving cell data reception, transmission and / or measurements. In other words, the UE 102 may determine which candidate cells it can measure without scheduling and / or measurement restrictions on the serving cell. For example, the UE 102 may evaluate which of the candidate cells the UE 102 can measure by using a different panel than what is used by the serving cell. Implementation of the evaluation may depend on UE implementation and beam sweeping strategy. The evaluation may be done, for example, based on ongoing L3 measurements. Based on the L3 measurements, the UE may choose the antenna panel which it will use for refined LTM LI measurements for each configured candidate cell. Based on the evaluation, the UE 102 may conclude that some LTM candidate cells can be measured without interruptions (without scheduling and / or measurement restrictions) on the serving cell, and for some candidate cells there would be scheduling and / or measurement restrictions. For example, the UE 102 may determine that the UE 102 can measure the c-TRPl 328 without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions and the C-TRP2 330 with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions.

[63] In one example embodiment, the UE 102 may not be allowed scheduling and / or measurement restrictions on the serving cell due to LTM candidate cell measurements (e.g., LTM LI measurements configured in the LTM candidate cell configuration). The UE 102 may need to only measure and report LTM candidate cells or reference signals associated to candidate cells that it can measure without the scheduling and / or measurement restrictions on the serving cell. In other words, if the UE 102 is scheduled from the serving cell, and UE 102 receives a reference signal from a candidate cell, the UE 102 may not perform processing on that reference signal if it causes an interruption to data transmission / reception on the serving cell.

[64] For example, for a UE supporting simultaneous candidate cell measurement capability (e.g., multi-Rx operation), there may be no scheduling restrictions on cells due to Ll-RSRP measurements on LTM candidate cells. The UE may transmit PUCCH / PUSCH / SRS and receive PDCCH / PDSCH / CSI-RS for tracking / CSI-RS for CQI, if scheduled, for the serving cell on symbols corresponding to the SSB indexes configured for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement of LTM candidate cells. The UE may perform LTM Ll-RSRP measurements on these symbols if the UE can perform the measurements without scheduling restrictions on the serving cell.

[65] For example, for a UE supporting simultaneous candidate cell measurement capability, when a SSB for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement on one candidate cell is in the same or adjacent OFDM symbol as SSB transmitted from serving cel 1 (s) for RLM, BFD, or CBD measurement, there may be no measurement restrictions and the UE may measure both SSBs. When the SSB for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement on one candidate cell is in the same or adjacent OFDM symbol as CSLRS transmitted from serving cell(s) for RLM, BFD, or CBD measurement, there may be no measurement restrictions and the UE may measure both CSI-RS.

[66] At operation 310, the UE 102 may be configured to perform measurements on the c-TRPl 328 without the measurement and scheduling restrictions. Because the UE 102 is not allowed to measure the C-TRP2 330 with the scheduling and / or measurement restrictions, the UE 102 decides not to perform the measurements on the C-TRP2 330 although it was included in the LTM candidate cell configuration.

[67] As part of 310, at operation 312, the UE 102 may receive scheduled PDSCH and / or PDCCH from the source TRP 326. The UE 102 may simultaneously perform measurements on the c-TRPl 328. The source TRP 326 may continue to schedule and the UE 102 may continue to receive / transmit data on the serving cell during symbols configured with c-TRPl 328 measurement reference signals (e.g., SSBorCSI-RS).

[68] At operation 314, the UE 102 may report the measurements performed on the c-TRPl 328, e.g. LI measurements, to the source TRP 326.

[69] The source TRP 326 may not have visibility on which cells the UE 102 is able to measure before the measurement report arrives. If the UE 102 would not be able to measure any of the candidate cells without scheduling and measurement restrictions, then the source TRP 326 may conclude from a missing measurement report that there is no suitable LTM candidate cell for the UE to measure. If needed, the source TRP 326 may reconfigure LTM candidate cells differently or configure L3 handover to the UE 102 based on L3 measurements that can be assumed to be running alongside LTM measurements.

[70] The network (e.g., the source TRP 326) may optionally configure at least one of early DL synchronization or early TA acquisition before a cell switch.

[71] At operation 316, the UE 102 may be configured to perform DL synchronization with one or more candidate cells before receiving a command for the cell switch. The DL synchronization may comprise TCI state activation for one or more candidate cells based on a command received from the network. The command may comprise a TCI state activation MAC-CE. The UE 102 may be configured to perform fine time and / or frequency tracking for the activated TCI state based on the MAC-CE. For example, the UE 102 may be instructed by the source TRP 326 to perform DL synchronization with the c-TRPl 328.

[72] At operation 318, the UE 102 may be configured to perform early TA acquisition with one or more candidate cells requested by the network before receiving the command for the cell switch. The early TA acquisition may be done via CFRA (contention-free random access) triggered by a PDCCH order from the source TRP. Based on the request, the UE 102 sends a preamble towards the indicated candidate cell, such as the c-TRPl 328. Another option is UE-based TA acquisition, where the UE 102 estimates the TA based on measurements.

[73] At operation 320, the source TRP 326 may decide to execute LTM cell switch to the c-TRPl 328.

[74] At operation 322, the source TRP 326 may transmit an LTM cell switch command MAC-CE to the UE 102. The command may include a candidate configuration index of the target cell (c-TRPl) for the cell switch.

[75] At 324, the UE 102 switches to the target cell and applies the configuration indicated by candidate configuration index. The cell switch may be RACH-based if TA is not given in the cell switch command (TA is not acquired at operation 318) and the UE is not configured to perform UE based TA estimation on the target cell. The cell switch may be RACH-less if the UE is configured to perform UE based TA estimation for the target cell in the LTM candidate cell configuration, or TA is given in the cell switch command, where the TA given in the cell switch command may be based on earlier TA acquisition at operation 318, or the TA may be equal to serving cell TA or zero.

[76] The UE 102 may complete the LTM cell switch procedure, e.g., by sending a RRC reconfiguration complete message to the c-TRPl 328. If the UE 102 has not performed a random access procedure at operation 318, the UE may consider that LTM execution is successfully completed when the random access procedure at 324 is successfully completed. For RACH-less LTM, where random access is not performed during LTM execution (cell switch) at 324, the UE 102 may consider that LTM execution is successfully completed when the UE 102 determines that the network has successfully received first UL data from the UE 102. The UE 102 may determine successful reception of the first UL data by receiving a PDCCH addressing a C-RNTI (cell radio network temporary identifier) of the UE 102 in the target cell, which schedules a new transmission following the first UL data.

[77] FIG. 4 illustrates another example of signalling and operations for performing mobility measurements based on evaluation of measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell. The signalling may be performed between a mobile device, such as the UE 102, and one or more TRPs, such as the access node(s) 104, 106, or 108. The one or more TRPs may comprise a source TRP 326. The source TRP may comprise a serving cell for the UE 102. The one or more TRPs may further comprise one or more candidate TRPs, referred to as a first candidate TRP (c-TRPl 328) and a second candidate TRP (c-TRP2 330). The candidate TRPs may comprise neighboring cells for the UE 102. The neighboring cells may be referred to as candidate cells.

[78] The UE 102 and the source TRP 326 may be configured to perform the operations 300, 302, 304, 306 and 308 as already described in FIG. 3, and are therefore not repeated here.

[79] In one example, the UE 102 may be configured to indicate to the network which LTM candidate cells or which reference signals associated to LTM candidate cells the UE cannot measure without scheduling and / or measurement restrictions on the serving cell. Other cells, if any, the UE may be expected to measure without measurement or scheduling restrictions.

[80] For example, a UE supporting simultaneous candidate cell measurement capability may not be expected to transmit PUCCH / PUSCH / SRS or receive PDCCHZPDSCH / CSI-RS for tracking / CSI-RS for CQI on symbols corresponding to the SSB indexes configured for Ll-RSRP measurement of LTM candidate cells under one or more of the following conditions:

[81] The UE has sent indication of scheduling restrictions on LTM candidate cell measurements for the candidate cell associated to the SSB indexes configured for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement.

[82] The network has enabled scheduling restrictions on the measured candidate cell with an indication to enable scheduling restrictions on LTM candidate cell.

[83] Otherwise, there may not be scheduling restrictions on cells due to Ll-RSRP measurements on the LTM candidate cell associated to the SSB indexes configured for Ll-RSRP measurement.

[84] For example, when SSB for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement on one candidate cell is in the same or adjacent OFDM symbol as SSB transmitted from serving cell(s) for RLM, BFD, or CBD measurement, UE may measure one of but not both SSBs under one or more of the following conditions:

[85] The UE has sent indication of measurement restrictions on LTM candidate cell measurements for the candidate cell associated to the SSB indexes configured for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement.

[86] The network has enabled measurement restrictions on the measured candidate cell with an indication to enable measurement restrictions on LTM candidate cell. Longer measurement period for SSB based RLM, BFD or CBD measurement may be expected, without a limit for the measurement period.

[87] Otherwise, there may be no measurement restrictions and the UE may measure both SSBs. When the SSB for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement on one candidate cell is in the same or adjacent OFDM symbol as CSLRS transmitted from serving cell(s) for RLM, BFD, or CBD measurement, UE may measure one of but not both SSB for Ll-RSRP measurement and CSLRS under one or more of the following conditions:

[88] The UE has sent indication of measurement restrictions on LTM candidate cell measurements for the candidate cell associated to the SSB indexes configured for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement.

[89] The network has enabled measurement restrictions on the measured candidate cell with an indication to enable measurement restrictions on LTM candidate cell. Longer measurement period for SSB based Ll-RSRP measurement may be expected, without a limit for the measurement period.

[90] Otherwise, there may be no measurement restrictions and the UE may measure both SSB for LTM Ll-RSRP measurement and CSI-RS from serving cell(s).

[91] At operation 400, the UE 102 may be configured to send, to the source TRP 326, information indicative that the UE 102 cannot measure C-TRP2 330 without interruptions. The indication may be sent, for example, as UE assistance information (RRC), in LI or L3 measurement report or through other configured signaling. The indication may be sent periodically or based on a trigger. The trigger may be related to, for example, UE experienced radio conditions and changed ability to measure the candidate cells with or without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions.

[92] The information may be indicative of that the UE 102 cannot measure some of the LTM candidate cells without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions or that it cannot measure any of the cells without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. Alternatively, the information may indicate which candidate cells the UE 102 can measure without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions, thereby also indicating the candidate cells which cannot be measured. The information may comprise an explicit and / or implicit indication of both alternatives, that is, both the candidate cells with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions and the candidate cells without the measurement and scheduling restrictions.

[93] Based on the indication comprised in the information, the UE 102 may be enabled or disabled to measure all or a subset of the indicated candidate cells / reference signals with scheduling and / or measurement restrictions. The measurements may be enabled or disabled either based on a preconfigured criteria or by a separate network indication.

[94] For example, the network (e.g., source TRP 326) may either decide to disable scheduling and / or measurement restrictions completely or enable them for all or a subset of the UE indicated candidate cells / reference signals. Network may indicate to the UE which cells the UE may measure with scheduling and / or measurement restrictions.

[95] For example, at operation 402, the source TRP 326 may send to the UE 102 an indication that scheduling restrictions and / or measurement restrictions during C-TRP2 330 measurements can be enabled.

[96] Alternatively, the UE 102 may be configured to determine based on the preconfigured criteria whether scheduling and / or measurement restrictions are allowed on the candidate cells determined by the UE 102. The preconfigured criteria may comprise at least one of the following instructions: scheduling / measurement restrictions are allowed on all determined cells scheduling / measurement restrictions are allowed on all determined cells provided that the number of indicated cells is up to a first threshold value scheduling / measurement restrictions are not allowed on the determined cells scheduling / measurement restrictions are not allowed on the indicated cells if the number of determined cells is larger than a second threshold value scheduling / measurement restrictions are allowed based on reference signal type (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS) e.g. so that restrictions are allowed for SSB-based measurements but not for CSI-RS based measurements.

[97] At operation 404, the UE 102 may perform measurements on the c-TRP1 328 without interruptions and on the C-TRP2 330 with scheduling and / or measurement restrictions based on the indication received from the network. Measurements on the C-TRP2 may lead to longer measurement period if the network schedules data on the symbols of the RS configured for C-TRP2 measurements or in the symbols next to the RS, or if measurement occasions for serving cell and candidate cells overlap in time.

[98] At operation 406, the UE 102 may be configured to receive PDSCH and / or PDCCH from the source TRP 104 without scheduling restrictions during the c-TRP1 328 measurement and with scheduling restrictions during the C-TRP2 330 measurement. The UE 102 may be configured to perform simultaneous measurements on the c-TRPl 328 and the C-TRP2 330.

[99] At operation 408, the UE 102 may send a measurement report for the c-TRP1 328 and the C-TRP2 330 to the source TRP 326.

[100] The UE 102 and the source TRP 326 may be then configured to perform operations 316, 318, 320, 322 and 324 as described in FIG. 3, and description of the operations are therefore not repeated here.

[101] Although LTM is illustrated as an example use case, the signalling and operations illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are also applicable for other neighboring cell and / or mobility measurement use cases, such as for L3 measurements or 6G based mobility measurements.

[102] As mentioned, when the UE indicates which candidate cells / reference signals it cannot measure without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions, also the measurement period may be impacted. The measurement delay may depend on the number of LTM candidate cells being measured. When the UE may not be allowed to perform LTM candidate cell measurements on some of the candidate cells due to scheduling / measurement restrictions caused by the measurements on the serving cell, these candidate cells may not be considered as measured candidate cells in the measurement delay requirement.

[103] A measurement delay requirement for candidate cells for a UE with multi-Rx capability may be defined by defining a scaling factor (e.g. Pli sharing) by taking into account the candidate cells the UE cannot measure. Measurement delay may be defined e.g. as follows:

[104] Nbr paiiels: Number of antenna panels the UE is capable of using simultaneously (>2). This may be a static or dynamic UE capability and may depend on some additional UE signaling. How the number of antenna panels is defined is out of the scope of this disclosure. For example, a default number of antenna panels for a multi-Rx capable UE can be considered to be 2.

[105] Nbr measured candidate cells, which is defined as:

[106] Nbrmeasuredcandidate cells = Nbrcandidatecells Nbrcandidatecellsinterrupt, where, Nbr candidate cells: Number of candidate cells the UE is configured or capable to measure (e.g. according to UE capability), Nbr candidate cells jnterrupt: Number of candidate cells the UE cannot measure without interruptions.

[107] In one example, from the network point of view, if the UE has not indicated it cannot measure some of the LTM candidate cells without interruptions (i.e. if indication is not defined), the network may assume Nbr candidate cells interrupt = 0 (i.e. no impact on measurement delay due to this option).

[108] In one example, Nbr candidate cells interrupt is the number of candidate cells the UE has indicated it cannot measure without scheduling / measurement restrictions and is also not allowed to measure with scheduling / measurement restrictions by the preconfigured criteria or network indication. If scheduling and / or measurement restrictions are allowed on the indicated cells, Nbr candidate cells interrupt = 0 (i.e. no impact on measurement delay)

[109] The scaling factor may be defined by taking the following parameters into account: [HO] Scaling factor Z = Nbrmeasuredcandidatecells / (Nbr_panels - 1) , when 1 panel is used for serving cell. [Ill] In one example, the parameters may be: Nbrjanels = 2 Nbr_candidate_cells = 3 Nbrcandidatecellsinterrupt = 1 Nbrmeasuredcandidatecells = 3-1 = 2 Z = 2 / (2-1) = 2.

[112] The scaling factor Z may be subject to other additional conditions such as TCI state activation. When Z would be implemented in the definition of PLlsharing, Z would correspond to the parameter NNeighbor Cell (or even NNeighbor_Cell_in_list).

[113] Here, Pli sharing can be defined as follows:

[114] When number of neighboring cells to be measured is 1, Pi.1 sharing = 2, if any symbol of the SSBs from serving cell and neighbor cell are overlapping or adjacent (in time domain). Otherwise, Pli sharing 1.

[115] When number of neighboring cells to be measured is more than 1 and TCI state of neighboring cells are not in the active TCI state list, PLlsharing = 3*N\eighb<>r cal, where NNeighbo^ceii is the number of neighbor cells to measure on intra-frequency and inter-frequency without gap for which scheduling / measurement restrictions are not disabled.

[116] Otherwise (i.e. if TCI state for the candidate cell has been activated), Pri sharing — j *NNeighbor_ceii_in_iist, where NNeighbor Ceii in iist is the number of neigbour cells (including intra-frequency neighbor cells and inter-frequency without gap neighbor cells) whose TCI state(s) are in the active TCI state list and for which scheduling / measurement restrictions are not disabled.

[117] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a scenario for alternative antenna selection by a UE. The UE 102 may comprise a plurality of antennas, such as antenna panels 110, 112 and 114. The antenna panels 110, 112 and 114 may be disposed at distinct locations of the UE 102. Further, there is an access node 104 with a serving cell for the UE 102 and an access node 106 with a neighboring cell for the UE 102.

[118] In some scenarios, the UE 102 may be able to perform LTM candidate cell measurements either by using the same or a different antenna panel as it is using for the serving cell data reception and measurements. Using the same antenna panel for LTM candidate cell measurements may cause an interruption (scheduling and / or measurement restrictions) on the serving cell and using the other antenna panel may not cause an interruption to the serving cell. For example, the UE 102 may use the antenna panel 112 for serving cell data reception and measurements of the access node 104. If a neighboring cell of the access node 106 is measured with the same antenna panel 112, the measurements may need to be performed with scheduling and / or measurement restrictions of the serving cell.

[119] However, the UE 102 may detect that it can use also an alternative panel (e.g., antenna panel 110) instead of the antenna panel 112 to measure the neighboring cell. The detection may be based on antenna panel sweeping or beam sweeping techniques used to adjust direction of a radiation pattern of antenna(s). In antenna panel sweeping, UE may be configured to dynamically adjust radiation patterns produced by the antenna panels based on a beamforming algorithm configured to analyse channel conditions, user locations, and the like, to determine an optimal antenna configuration. In beam sweeping, UE may be configured to dynamically adjust the direction of transmission or reception of radio frequency beams. For example, the UE may transmit a sequence of SSB beams, wherein a direction of the transmissions is changed, and measure the beams to determine an optimal antenna configuration.

[120] The UE 102 may be configured to select to use a different antenna panel than the antenna panel used for the serving cell data scheduling for LTM candidate cell measurements if at least one preset condition is met.

[121] A first condition may comprise, that measured signal quality (eg. Ll-RSRP or L3-RSRP) for the configured candidate cell / RS on the antenna panel to be selected for measurements is above a first threshold. The first threshold may be determined based on LI measurements, or L3 measurements which can be assumed to run alongside LTM LI measurements. The first threshold may depend on UE implementation and beam sweeping strategy.

[122] A second condition may comprise that measured signal quality (e.g. Ll-RSRP or L3-RSRP) for the configured candidate cell / RS on the antenna panel to be selected for the measurements is not more than a second threshold lower than the measured signal quality on the same candidate cell / RS on the antenna panel used for the serving cell. The second threshold may be determined based on LI measurements, or L3 measurements which can be assumed to run alongside LTM LI measurements. The second threshold may depend on UE implementation and beam sweeping strategy.

[123] If one or both of the conditions are met, the UE 102 can determine to use the different antenna panel for measuring this neighbor cell without scheduling / measurement restrictions on the serving cell. After the UE 102 has selected which antenna panel to use for the neighboring cell, the UE 102 may continue with beam refinement measurements using one antenna panel.

[124] Ifnone of the conditions are met, the UE 102 may either not measure the neighboring cell or measures the neighboring cell with scheduling and / or measurement restrictions using the same antenna panel as it is using for the serving cell. Decision on whether or not to measure the neighboring cell with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions may depend on a configuration of the UE 102.

[125] In one example, the UE 102 may be configured to measure candidate cells without measurement and scheduling restrictions on the serving cell. Hence, by selecting to use an alternative antenna panel, the UE 102 is able to increase the number of candidate cells that the UE 102 can measure without the measurement restrictions and / or scheduling restrictions.

[126] In one example, the UE 102 may be configured to transmit, to the serving cell, an indication if one or more candidate cells cannot be measured without the measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. The UE 102 may be further configured to determine whether measurements with the scheduling and / or measurement restrictions on one or more of the indicated candidate cells is enabled based on preconfigured criteria or instructions, or based on indication received from the serving cell. Hence, even if the UE 102 has determined that it cannot use an alternative antenna panel for the measurements on a candidate cell with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions, the UE 102 may still be configured to perform the measurements on that candidate cell depending on the preconfigured criteria or the indication received from the serving cell.

[127] The preconfigured criteria may comprise, for example, instructions to enable the measurements with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions based on a limit for an amount of the indicated candidate cells. In addition, or alternatively, the preconfigured criteria may comprise instructions to enable the measurements with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions based on a reference signal type of the measurements to be performed. Alternatively, the preconfigured criteria may comprise, for example, an indication that the measurements with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions are not allowed on any of the indicated candidate cells or that the measurements with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions are allowed on all of the indicated candidate cells.

[128] The indication received from the serving cell may indicate which of the indicated candidate cells are allowed to be measured with the measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. For example, the serving cell may decide that none, all, or a subset of the candidate cells indicated by the UE 102 are allowed to be measured.

[129] In some implementations, the antenna panels of the UE 102 may be grouped together based on physical resource association (e.g., reception chain association, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) allocation). In this scenario, even if conditions for a single antenna panel in the group meet the conditions, the UE 102 may be configured not to associate the antenna panel with the neighbor cell measurements as the group allocation is done for the serving cell. In this type of scenario, the serving cell may use two antenna panels, while the measurements are only using one antenna panel.

[130] FIG. 6 illustrate an example of signalling and operations for performing mobility measurements based on evaluation of measurement and scheduling restrictions on a serving cell and antenna panel selection.

[131] The signalling may be performed between a device, such as the UE 102, and one or more TRPs, such as the access node(s) 104, 106, 108. The one or more TRPs may comprise a source TRP 326. The source TRP may comprise a serving cell for the UE 102. The one or more TRPs may further comprise one or more candidate TRPs, referred to as a first candidate TRP (c-TRPl 328) and a second candidate TRP (c-TRP2 330). The candidate TRPs may comprise neighboring cells for the UE 102. The neighboring cells may be referred to as candidate cells.

[132] The UE 102 and the source TRP 326 may be configured to perform operations 300, 302, 304, 306 and 308 as already described in FIG. 3, and are not therefore repeated herein.

[133] After evaluating, at operation 308, that the C-TRP2 330 cannot be measured without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions on the serving cell, the UE 102 may be configured to detect, at operation 600, that the C-TRP2 330 can be also measured with another antenna panel than the serving cell to avoid interruptions on the serving cell. The detection may be based on antenna panel and / or beam sweeping performed by the UE 102.

[134] Based on the detection, the UE 102 may determine if a measured signal quality for the C-TRP2 330 is sufficient for performing the measurements. For example, the UE 102 may determine if the signal quality satisfies at least one condition. The at least one condition may comprise one or more thresholds determined for reference signal measurements performed on the C-TRP2 330 on the detected alternative antenna panel. The reference signal measurements may comprise, for example, Ll-RSRP measurements or L3-RSRP measurements. The one or more thresholds may be determined based on at least one of LI measurements or L3 measurements performed by the UE 102.

[135] The UE 102 may determine, for example, that the reference signal measurements for the C-TRP2 330 performed on the alternative antenna panel are above a first threshold. In addition, or alternatively, the UE 102 may determine that the reference signal measurements for the C-TRP2 330 are not more than a second threshold lower than the measured signal quality for the C-TRP2 330 on the antenna panel used for the serving cell. Based on determining that at least one of the conditions are met for the signal quality, the UE 102 may determine that the signal quality is sufficient and to use the alternative antenna panel for C-TRP2 330 measurements. Because C-TRP2 330 is now measured with a different antenna panel than the serving cell, measurements on both the C-TRP2 330 and c-TRPl 328 can be performed without interruptions on scheduled transmission between the UE 102 and the source TRP 326, at operation 602. Hence, at operation 310, the source TRP 326 may transmit PDSCH and / or PDCCH for the UE 102 without scheduling restrictions.

[136] At operation 604, the UE 102 may be configured to transmit a LI measurement report for the c-TRPl 328 and the C-TRP2 330 based on the performed measurements.

[137] The source TRP 326 can then decide to initiate a cell switch based on the LI measurement report. For example, the UE 102, the source TRP and the c-TRPl may be configured to perform the signalling and operations 316, 318, 320, 322 and 324 as described in FIG. 3, and are therefore not repeated here.

[138] In one example, the UE 102 may be configured to indicate to the source TRP 326 which candidate cells the UE 102 is not able to measure without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. For example, the measurement configuration received at operation 304 may also comprise a candidate cell configuration for C-TRP3 (not shown). At operation 308, the UE 102 may evaluate that it can measure the C-TRP2 330 and the C-TRP3 with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. At operation 600, the UE 102 may detect that it can measure the C-TRP2 with the alternative panel, but that C-TRP3 cannot be measured with an alternative panel. The UE 102 may be configured to send, to the source TRP 326, information indicative that the C-TRP3 can be measured with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. In response to the sent information, the source TRP 326 may be configured to respond to the UE 102 with an indication whether or not the UE 102 can perform the measurements on the C-TRP3 with the measurement and / or scheduling restrictions. If yes, the UE 102 measures the c-TRPl 326 and C-TRP2 (with the alternative panel) without measurement and / or scheduling restrictions and the C-TRP3 with measurement and / or scheduling restrictions on the serving cell. The C-TRP3 measurements may have a longer measurement period if the source TRP 326 schedules data on the symbols of the RS configured for C-TRP3 measurements or in the symbols next to the RS, or if measurement occasions for serving and candidate cells overlap in time. The UE 102 may be configured to send the measurement results to the source TRP 326 in a same or separate measurement reports. In one example, the UE 102 may be configured to determine whether one or more candidate cells indicated to the network (e.g., the C-TRP3) can be measured with the measurement and / or scheduling restrictions based on a preconfigured criteria instead of the indication received from network. That is, the alternative antenna panel selection performed by the UE may be applied to the operations illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

[139] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a method 700 for mobility measurements according to Example embodiment 1 of method 700. The method 700 may be performed by an apparatus such as the UE 102.

[140] At operation 702, the method may comprise receiving, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells. The access node may be, for example, a base station such as a gNB.

[141] At operation 704, the method may comprise determining whether there is at least one cell, from the plurality of cells, that can be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus.

[142] At operation 706, the method may comprise, if it is determined that there is at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, performing the measurement on the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[143] At operation 708, the method may comprise transmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the determined at least one cell.

[144] Method 700 may be performed, for example, according to any of the following example embodiments:

[145] Example embodiment 2: Method 700 according to Example embodiment 1, wherein the apparatus supports multiple reception operation.

[146] Example embodiment 3: Method 700 according to any of Example embodiments 1 or 2, wherein the measurement is performed using an antenna panel different from what is used for the serving cell.

[147] Example embodiment 4: Method 700 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a low layer measurement or a layer 3 measurement.

[148] Example embodiment 5: Method 700 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the apparatus, reception of data from the serving cell by the apparatus or measurement performed by the apparatus on the serving cell.

[149] Example embodiment 6: Method 700 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the measurement report is reported at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

[150] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a method 800 for mobility measurements according to Example embodiment 1 of method 800. The method 800 may be performed by an apparatus, such as the access node 104.

[151] At operation 802, the method may comprise transmitting, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells.

[152] At operation 804, the method may comprise receiving, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment.

[153] Method 800 may be performed, for example, according to any of the following example embodiments:

[154] Example embodiment 2: Method 800 according to Example embodiment 1, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the user equipment, reception of data from the serving cell by the user equipment or measurements performed by the user equipment on the serving cell.

[155] Example embodiment 3: Method 800 according to Example embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the measurement report is received at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

[156] Example embodiment 4: Method 800 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a layer 3 measurement or a measurement on a layer lower than a layer 3. A measurement on a layer lower than the layer 3 may be referred to as a lower layer measurement.

[157] Example embodiment 5: Method 800 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the method further comprises receiving from the user equipment, information indicative of at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell is a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell of the user equipment; and wherein the measurement report is received for at least one of at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured with at least one of the measurement restrictions or the scheduling restriction or at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction

[158] Example embodiment 6: Method 800 according to Example embodiment 5, wherein the method comprises determining, based on the received information, at least one cell that is allowed to be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; transmitting, to the user equipment, an indication of the determined at least one cell; and wherein the measurement report comprises a measurement performed on the determined at least one cell.

[159] Example embodiment 7: Method 800 according Example embodiment 5 or 6, wherein the information indicative of the at least one cell from the plurality of cells is received from the user equipment periodically or event-triggered based on radio conditions, and wherein the information is received by means of at least one of a radio resource control signaling, layer 1 measurement report or layer 3 measurement report.

[160] Example embodiment 8: Method according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the method may further comprise detecting that the measurement report is not received from the user equipment within a certain time interval; determining that the user equipment is not able to perform the measurements for the plurality of cells without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction based on the detection; and transmitting, to the user equipment, instructions to perform the measurements on one or more cells different from the plurality of cells.

[161] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a method 900 for mobility measurements according to Example embodiment 1 of method 900. The method 900 may be performed by an apparatus, such as the UE 102.

[162] At operation 902, the method comprises receiving, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells. The access node may be, for example, a base station such as a gNB.

[163] At operation 904, the method comprises determining, from the plurality of cells, at least one of a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus.

[164] At operation 906, the method comprises transmitting, to the access node, information indicative of the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells.

[165] At operation 908, the method comprises determining, if there is at least one cell from the plurality cells that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, based on at least one of pre-configured criteria or an indication received by the apparatus from the access node in response to the transmitted information.

[166] At operation 910, the method comprises performing the measurement on at least one of the determined at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, or the determined at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[167] At operation 912, the method comprises transmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure based on the performed measurement.

[168] Method 900 may be performed, for example, according to any of the following example embodiments:

[169] Example embodiment 2: Method 900 according to Example embodiment 1, wherein the apparatus supports multiple reception operation.

[170] Example embodiment 3: Method 900 according to Example embodiment 2, wherein the multiple reception operation uses a plurality of antenna panels.

[171] Example embodiment 4: Method 900 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a low layer measurement or a layer 3 measurement.

[172] Example embodiment 5: Method 900 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the apparatus, reception of data from the serving cell by the apparatus or measurements performed by the apparatus on the serving cell.

[173] Example embodiment 6: Method 900 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the measurement report is reported at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

[174] Example embodiment 7: Method 900 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the information indicative of the determined at least one cell is transmitted to the access node periodically or event-triggered based on radio conditions, and wherein the information is transmitted by means of at least one of a radio resource control signaling, layer 1 measurement report or layer 3 measurement report.

[175] Example embodiment 8: Method 900 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the pre-configured criteria or the indication received from the access node indicate for the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction at least one of the following: measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on one or more of the determined one or more cells; - measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on all of the determined one or more cells based on the number of determined cells being below a first value; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are not allowed on any of the determined one or more cells; - measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are not allowed on the determined one or more cells based on the number of determined cells being greater than a second value; - measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed based on a reference signal type of the configured measurements; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed for the determined one or more cells with a synchronization signal block based measurement configuration; - measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed for the determined one or more cells with a channel status information reference signal based measurement configuration.

[176] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a method 1000 for mobility measurements according to Example embodiment 1 of method 1000. The method 1000 may be performed by an apparatus, such as the access node 104.

[177] At operation 1002, the method comprises transmitting, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells.

[178] At operation 1004, the method comprises receiving, from the user equipment, information indicative of at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell is a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment.

[179] At 1006, the method comprises receiving, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell comprises at least one of a cell measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction or a cell measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[180] Method 1000 may be performed, for example, according to any of the following example embodiments:

[181] Example embodiment 2: Method 1000 according to Example embodiment 1, wherein the method further comprises determining, based on the received information, at least one cell that is allowed to be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and transmitting, to the user equipment, an indication of the determined at least one cell; and wherein the measurement report comprises measurement performed on the determined at least one cell.

[182] Example embodiment 3: Method 1000 according to any of Example embodiments 1 or 2, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the user equipment, reception of data from the serving cell by the user equipment or measurement performed by the user equipment on the serving cell.

[183] Example embodiment 4: Method 1000 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the measurement report is received at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

[184] Example embodiment 5: Method 1000 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a low layer measurement or a layer 3 measurement.

[185] Example embodiment 6: Method 1000 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the information indicative of the at least one cell from the plurality of cells is received from the user equipment periodically or event-triggered based on radio conditions, and wherein the information is received by means of at least one of a radio resource control signaling, layer 1 measurement report or layer 3 measurement report.

[186] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a method 1100 for mobility measurements according to Example embodiment 1 of method 1100. The method 1100 may be performed by an apparatus. The apparatus may comprise, for example, a user equipment such as the UE 102.

[187] At operation 1102, the method may comprise receiving using a first antenna panel, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells.

[188] At operation 1104, the method may comprise determining that the plurality of cells comprises at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus.

[189] At operation 1106, the method may comprise determining, based on the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, at least one candidate cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction by using a second antenna panel different to the first antenna panel.

[190] At operation 1108, the method may comprise determining that a signal level for the at least one candidate cell to be measured with the second antenna panel satisfies at least one condition.

[191] At operation 1110, the method may comprise performing the measurement on the at least one candidate cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell by using the second antenna panel determined to satisfy the at least one condition for the signal level.

[192] At operation 1112, the method may comprise transmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the at least one candidate cell.

[193] Method 1100 may be performed, for example, according to any of the following example embodiments:

[194] Example embodiment 2: Method 1100 according to Example embodiment 1, wherein the apparatus supports multiple reception operation.

[195] Example embodiment 3: Method 1100 according to Example embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel are disposed at distinct locations of the apparatus.

[196] Example embodiment 4: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment and the access node is a base station.

[197] Example embodiment 5: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a layer 3 measurement or a measurement on a layer lower than a layer 3.

[198] Example embodiment 6: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of the following: a measured signal quality for the at least one candidate cell is above a first threshold value; or a measured signal quality for the at least one candidate cell is not more than a second threshold value lower than a measured signal quality for the same cell on the antenna panel that is used for the serving cell.

[199] Example embodiment 7: Method 1100 according to Example embodiment 6, wherein the signal quality is measured based on at least one of a layer 1 reference signal received power or a layer 3 reference signal received power.

[200] Example embodiment 8: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 6 or 7, wherein at least one of the first threshold value or the second threshold value is determined based on at least one of the following: layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements.

[201] Example embodiment 9: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the method comprises determining that the second antenna panel is comprised in a group of antenna panels allocated for a serving cell based on a physical resource association; and based on determining that the second antenna panel is comprised in the group of antenna panels, determining that the second antenna panel cannot be selected for the measurement.

[202] Example embodiment 10: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the apparatus, reception of data from the serving cell by the apparatus or measurements performed by the apparatus on the serving cell.

[203] Example embodiment 11: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 10, wherein the measurement report is reported at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

[204] Example embodiment 12: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 11, wherein the method comprises determining that the plurality of cells further comprises at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell; performing the measurement on the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and wherein the measurement report is further transmitted for the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[205] Example embodiment 13: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the method comprises transmitting, to the access node, information indicative of the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells that at least one of can be measured, or cannot be measured, without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell; determining, based on the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction based on at least one of pre-configured criteria or an indication received by the apparatus from the access node in response to the transmitted information; performing the measurement on the at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; and wherein the measurement report is further transmitted for the at least one candidate cell with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

[206] Example embodiment 14: Method 1100 according Example embodiment 13, wherein the information indicative of the determined at least one cell is transmitted to the access node periodically or event-triggered based on radio conditions, and wherein the information is transmitted by means of at least one of a radio resource control signaling, layer 1 measurement report or layer 3 measurement report.

[207] Example embodiment 15: Method 1100 according to any of Example embodiments 13 or 14, wherein the pre-configured criteria or the indication received from the access node indicate for the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction at least one of the following: measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on one or more of the determined one or more cells; - measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on all of the determined one or more cells based on the number of indicated cells being below a first value; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are not allowed on any of the determined one or more cells; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are not allowed on the determined one or more cells based on the number of determined cells is greater than a second value; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed based on a reference signal type of the configured measurements; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on the determined one or more cells with a synchronization signal block based measurement configuration; measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on the determined one or more cells with a channel status information reference signal based measurement configuration.

[208] Further features of the methods directly result for example from functionality of UE 102, or access node 104, as described throughout the description, claims, and drawings, and are therefore not repeated here. An apparatus, for example a UE 102, or an access node 104, 106 or 108, may be configured to perform or cause performance of any aspect of the method(s) described herein. Further, a computer program, a computer program product, or a (non-transitory) computer-readable medium may comprise instructions for causing, when executed by an apparatus, the apparatus to perform any aspect of the method(s) described herein. Further, an apparatus may comprise means for performing any aspect of the method(s) described herein. According to an example embodiment, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform any aspect of the method(s).

[209] Any range or value given herein may be extended or altered without losing the effect sought. Also, any embodiment may be combined with another embodiment unless explicitly disallowed.

[210] Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as examples of implementing the claims and other equivalent features and acts are intended to be within the scope of the claims.

[211] It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages. It will further be understood that reference to 'an' item may refer to one or more of those items.

[212] The steps or operations of the methods described herein may be carried out in any suitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from any of the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Aspects of any of the example embodiments described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other example embodiments described to form further example embodiments without losing the effect sought.

[213] The term 'comprising' is used herein to mean including the method, blocks, or elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprise an exclusive list and a method or apparatus may contain additional blocks or elements.

[214] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[215] Although subjects may be referred to as ‘first’ or ‘second’ subjects, this does not necessarily indicate any order or importance of the subjects. Instead, such attributes may be used solely for the purpose of making a difference between subjects.

[216] As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processors)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessors) or a portion of a microprocessors), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims.

[217] As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[218] It will be understood that the above description is given by way of example 5 only and that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous 10 alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from scope of this specification.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor;and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:receive using a first antenna panel, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells;determine that the plurality of cells comprises at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the apparatus;based on the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, determine at least one candidate cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction by using a second antenna panel different to the first antenna panel;determine that a signal level for the at least one candidate cell to be measured with the second antenna panel satisfies at least one condition;perform the measurement on the at least one candidate cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell by using the second antenna panel determined to satisfy the at least one condition for the signal level; andtransmit, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the at least one candidate cell.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus supports multiple reception operation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel are disposed at distinct locations of the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment and the access node is a base station.

5. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a layer 3 measurement or a measurement on a layer lower than a layer 3.

6. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of the following:- a measured signal quality for the at least one candidate cell is above a first threshold value; ora measured signal quality for the at least one candidate cell is not more than a second threshold value lower than a measured signal quality for the same cell on the antenna panel that is used for the serving cell.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the signal quality is measured based on at least one of a layer 1 reference signal received power or a layer 3 reference signal received power.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 6 or 7, wherein at least one of the first threshold value or the second threshold value is determined based on at least one of the following: layer 1 measurements or layer 3 measurements.

9. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, further caused to: determine that the second antenna panel is comprised in a group of antenna panels allocated for a serving cell based on a physical resource association; andbased on determining that the second antenna panel is comprised in the group of antenna panels, determine that the second antenna panel cannot be selected for the measurement.

10. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the schedulingrestriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the apparatus, reception of data from the serving cell by the apparatus or measurements performed by the apparatus on the serving cell.

11. The apparatus of any of the preceding claims, wherein the measurement report is reported at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further caused to:determine that the plurality of cells further comprises at least one cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell;perform the measurement on the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; andwherein the measurement report is further transmitted for the determined at least one cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

13. The apparatus of any preceding claim, further caused to:transmit, to the access node, information indicative of the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells that at least one of can be measured, or cannot be measured, without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell;determine, based on the determined at least one cell from the plurality of cells that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction based on at least one of pre-configured criteria or an indication received by the apparatus from the access node in response to the transmitted information;perform the measurement on the at least one candidate cell that can be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction; andwherein the measurement report is further transmitted for the at least one candidate cell with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the information indicative of the determined at least one cell is transmitted to the access node periodically or event-triggered based on radio conditions, and wherein the information is transmitted by means of at least one of a radio resource control signaling, layer 1 measurement report or layer 3 measurement report.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 or 14, wherein the pre-configured criteria or the indication received from the access node indicate for the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction at least one of the following:measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on one or more of the determined one or more cells;measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on all of the determined one or more cells based on the number of indicated cells being below a first value;- measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are not allowed on any of the determined one or more cells;measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are not allowed on the determined one or more cells based on the number of determined cells is greater than a second value;- measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed based on a reference signal type of the configured measurements;measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on the determined one or more cells with a synchronization signal block based measurement configuration;- measurements with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction are allowed on the determined one or more cells with a channel status information reference signal based measurement configuration.

16. An apparatus, comprising:at least one processor;and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:transmit, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells;receive, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated to a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the measurement without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell comprises measurement without an interruption to at least one of transmission of data to the serving cell by the user equipment, reception of data from the serving cell by the user equipment or measurements performed by the user equipment on the serving cell.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 or 17, wherein the measurement report is received at least one of periodically, aperiodically, semi-persistently or event-triggered based on radio conditions.

19. The apparatus of any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the measurement comprises at least one of a layer 3 measurement or a measurement on a layer lower than a layer 3.

20. The apparatus of any of claims 16 to 19, further caused to:receive from the user equipment, information indicative of at least one cell from the plurality of cells, wherein the at least one cell is a cell that can be measured, or a cell that cannot be measured, without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell of the user equipment; andwherein the measurement report is received for at least one of at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured with at least one of the measurement restrictions or the scheduling restriction or at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further caused to:determine, based on the received information, at least one cell that is allowed to be measured with at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction;transmit, to the user equipment, an indication of the determined at least one cell; andwherein the measurement report comprises a measurement performed on the determined at least one cell.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the information indicative of the at least one cell from the plurality of cells is received from the user equipment periodically or event-triggered based on radio conditions, and wherein the information is received by means of at least one of a radio resource control signaling, layer 1 measurement report or layer 3 measurement report.

23. The apparatus of any of claims 16 to 22, further caused to:detect that the measurement report is not received from the user equipment within a certain time interval;determine that the user equipment is not able to perform the measurements for the plurality of cells without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction based on the detection; andtransmit, to the user equipment, instructions to perform the measurements on one or more cells different from the plurality of cells.

24. A method, comprising:receiving by a user equipment using a first antenna panel, from an access node, a measurement configuration to perform measurements from a plurality of cells;determining that the plurality of cells comprises at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment;based on the determined at least one cell that cannot be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction, determining at least one cell candidate cell that can be measured without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction by using a second antenna panel different to the first antenna panel;determining that a signal level for the at least one candidate cell to be measured with the second antenna panel satisfies at least one condition;performing the measurement on the at least one candidate cell without at least one of the measurement restriction or the scheduling restriction on the serving cell by using the second antenna panel determined to satisfy the at least one condition for the signal level; andtransmitting, to the access node, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for the at least one candidate cell.

25. A method, comprising:transmitting, to a user equipment, a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a plurality of cells;receiving, from the user equipment, a measurement report of a reference signal associated with a mobility procedure for at least one cell from the plurality of cells measured without at least one of a measurement restriction or a scheduling restriction on a serving cell of the user equipment.

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