Efficient radio resource management measurements for reduced capacity user equipment - Patents.com
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2023568080
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-04-29
- Filing Date
- 2022-05-02
- Publication Date
- 2025-04-18
AI Technical Summary
Existing wireless communication systems face inefficiencies in radio resource management (RRM) measurements for reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE), leading to increased power consumption, resource wastage, and potential performance degradation due to RedCap UEs being prohibited from accessing cells that do not support their capabilities.
Implementing techniques that allow RedCap UEs to identify and perform RRM measurements only on neighboring cells that support their category by receiving system information indicating cell accessibility, thereby optimizing RRM measurements and reducing unnecessary resource usage and latency.
Enhances the efficiency of RRM measurements for RedCap UEs by conserving resources and reducing handover latency, ensuring optimal network performance and reduced power consumption.
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Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 201,707, filed May 10, 2021, entitled "EFFICIENT RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MEASUREMENTS FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENT," and U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 17 / 661,525, filed April 29, 2022, entitled "EFFICIENT RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MEASUREMENTS FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENT," which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications and to techniques and apparatus for efficient radio resource management (RRM) measurements for reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE). [Background technology]
[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services, such as telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. A typical wireless communication system may utilize multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access technologies include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE / LTE-Advanced is a set of extensions to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
[0004] A wireless network may include one or more base stations that support communication for one user equipment (UE) or multiple UEs. A UE may communicate with a base station via downlink and uplink communications. "Downlink" (or "DL") refers to the communication link from a base station to a UE, and "uplink" (or "UL") refers to the communication link from a UE to a base station.
[0005] The above multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that allows different UEs to communicate on a city, national, regional, and / or global scale. New Radio (NR), sometimes referred to as 5G, is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with Cyclic Prefix (CP) (CP-OFDM) on the downlink and CP-OFDM and / or Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) (also known as Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink, as well as better integrating with other open standards that support beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation. Demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, and further improvements in LTE, NR, and other radio access technologies remain useful. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]
[0006] In some aspects, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by a UE of a reduced capabilities (RedCap) category, and performing one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements for the one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by the UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information.
[0007] In some aspects, a method of wireless communication implemented by a network node includes receiving information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of a RedCap category; and transmitting system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0008] In some aspects, a UE for wireless communication includes a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory configured to receive system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by a UE of a RedCap category; and perform one or more RRM measurements for the one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by a UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information.
[0009] In some aspects, a network node for wireless communication includes a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory configured to receive information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of a RedCap category, and to transmit system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0010] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions for wireless communication includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, cause the UE to receive system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by a UE of a RedCap category, and to perform one or more RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by a UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information.
[0011] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions for wireless communication includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network node, cause the network node to receive information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category, and to transmit system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0012] In certain aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication includes means for receiving system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by a UE of a RedCap category, and means for performing one or more RRM measurements for the one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by the UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information.
[0013] In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication includes means for receiving information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of a RedCap category, and means for transmitting system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0014] Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, network nodes, wireless communication devices, and / or processing systems as fully described herein with respect to and as illustrated by the drawings and this specification.
[0015] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure so that the following detailed description may be better understood. Additional features and advantages are described below. The concepts and examples disclosed may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent structures do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation, characteristics thereof, together with associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and explanation, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.
[0016] Although aspects are described in this disclosure by illustrating some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects may be implemented in many different configurations and scenarios. The techniques described herein may be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or packaging configurations. For example, some aspects may be implemented via integrated chip embodiments or other non-modular component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). Aspects may be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and / or system-level components. Devices incorporating the described aspects and features may include additional components and features for the implementation and practice of the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders and / or summers) for analog and digital purposes. It is contemplated that the aspects described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed configurations, and / or end-user devices of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.
[0017] So that the above-listed features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more detailed description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, since the present description may admit of other equally effective embodiments, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings show only some typical embodiments of the present disclosure and therefore should not be considered as limiting its scope. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless network in accordance with the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a base station communicating with user equipment (UE) in a wireless network in accordance with the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a make-before-break handover in accordance with the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless network in which a UE may operate in one or more radio resource control communication modes in accordance with the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 illustrates an example relating to efficient radio resource management (RRM) measurements for reduced capability (RedCap) UEs in accordance with the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 illustrates an example process related to efficient RRM measurements for RedCap UEs in accordance with the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 illustrates an example process related to efficient RRM measurements for RedCap UEs in accordance with the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a block diagram of an example apparatus for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a block diagram of an example apparatus for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] Various aspects of the present disclosure will be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the present disclosure encompasses any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects described herein. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass such an apparatus or method that is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.
[0020] Several aspects of a telecommunications system are now presented with reference to various apparatus and techniques. These apparatus and techniques are described in the detailed description that follows and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.
[0021] Although aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 5G or New Radio (NR) radio access technologies (RATs), aspects of the disclosure may apply to other RATs, such as 3G RATs, 4G RATs, and / or post-5G (e.g., 6G) RATs.
[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless network 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may be or include elements of a 5G (e.g., NR) network and / or a 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)) network, among other examples. The wireless network 100 may include one or more base stations 110 (depicted as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d), user equipment (UE) 120 or more UEs 120 (depicted as UE 120a, UE 120b, UE 120c, UE 120d, and UE 120e), and / or other network entities. The base stations 110 are entities that communicate with the UEs 120. The base stations 110 (sometimes referred to as BSs) may include, for example, NR base stations, LTE base stations, Node Bs, eNBs (e.g., in 4G), gNBs (e.g., in 5G), access points, and / or transmit reception points (TRPs). Each base station 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), the term "cell" can refer to the coverage area of a base station 110 and / or a base station subsystem that serves that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.
[0023] A base station 110 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and / or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a few kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 120 with a service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 120 with a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs 120 having an association with a femto cell (e.g., a UE in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A base station 110 for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station 110 for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico base station. A base station 110 for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto base station or an in-home base station. 1, BS 110a may be a macro base station for a macro cell 102a, BS 110b may be a pico base station for a pico cell 102b, and BS 110c may be a femto base station for a femto cell 102c. A base station may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells.
[0024] In some examples, the cells may not necessarily be stationary and the geographic area of the cells may move according to the location of the base station 110 that is mobile (e.g., a mobile base station). In some examples, the base stations 110 may be interconnected to each other and / or to one or more other base stations 110 or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as direct physical connections or virtual networks, using any suitable transport network.
[0025] The wireless network 100 may include one or more relay stations. A relay station is an entity that may receive a transmission of data from an upstream station (e.g., a base station 110 or a UE 120) and send a transmission of data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE 120 or a base station 110). A relay station may be a UE 120 that may relay a transmission for another UE 120. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a BS 110d (e.g., a relay base station) may communicate with a BS 110a (e.g., a macro base station) and a UE 120d to facilitate communication between the BS 110a (e.g., a macro base station) and the UE 120d. A base station 110 that relays communication may be referred to as a relay station, a relay base station, a relay, etc.
[0026] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of base stations 110, such as macro base stations, pico base stations, femto base stations, relay base stations, etc. These different types of base stations 110 may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and / or different susceptibility to interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro base station may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5-40 watts), while the pico base stations, femto base stations, and relay base stations may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1-2 watts).
[0027] A network controller 130 may couple to or communicate with a set of base stations 110 and may provide coordination and control for these base stations 110. The network controller 130 may communicate with the base stations 110 via backhaul communication links. The base stations 110 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly via wireless or wireline backhaul communication links.
[0028] The UEs 120 may be dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE 120 may be fixed or mobile. The UEs 120 may include, for example, an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, and / or a subscriber unit. A UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smartphone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device, a biometric device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, a smart clothing, a smart glasses, a smart wristband, a smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, and / or a satellite radio), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, an industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, and / or any other suitable device configured to communicate over a wireless medium.
[0029] Some UEs 120 may be considered as machine-type communication (MTC) UEs or evolved or enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC UEs and / or eMTC UEs may include, for example, a robot, a drone, a remote device, a sensor, a meter, a monitor, and / or a location tag that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. Some UEs 120 may be considered as Internet of Things (IoT) devices and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) devices. Some UEs 120 may be considered as customer premises equipment. The UE 120 may be included within a housing that houses components of the UE 120, such as a processor component and / or a memory component. In some examples, the processor component and the memory component may be coupled to each other. For example, the processor component (e.g., one or more processors) and the memory component (e.g., a memory) may be operatively coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, and / or electrically coupled.
[0030] In general, any number of wireless networks 100 may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network 100 may support a particular RAT and may operate on one or more frequencies. The RAT may be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. The frequencies may be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR networks or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.
[0031] In some examples, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly (e.g., without using the base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with each other) using one or more sidelink channels. For example, the UEs 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, device-to-device (D2D) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (which may include, e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, or vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) protocols), and / or mesh networks. In such examples, the UEs 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by the base station 110.
[0032] The devices of the wireless network 100 may communicate using an electromagnetic spectrum, which may be subdivided by frequency or wavelength into various classes, bands, channels, etc. For example, the devices of the wireless network 100 may communicate using one or more operating bands. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers, although a portion of FR1 is higher than 6 GHz. Similar nomenclature issues may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
[0033] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands that fall within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, thus effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being considered to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.
[0034] With the above examples in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Additionally, unless otherwise specified, it should be understood that terms such as "millimeter wave" as used herein may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band. It is contemplated that the frequencies included in these operating bands (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4, FR4-a, FR4-1, and / or FR5) may be modified, and the techniques described herein are applicable to those modified frequency ranges.
[0035] In some aspects, the term "base station" (e.g., base station 110) or "network node" or "network entity" may refer to an aggregated base station, a disaggregated base station (e.g., as described with respect to FIG. 9), an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, and / or one or more components thereof. For example, in some aspects, a "base station", "network node", or "network entity" may refer to a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near-real-time (Near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (Non-RT) RIC, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the term "base station", "network node", or "network entity" may refer to one device configured to perform one or more functions, such as those described with respect to base station 110 herein. In some aspects, the term "base station", "network node", or "network entity" may refer to multiple devices configured to perform one or more functions. For example, in some distributed systems, several different devices (which may be in the same geographic location or different geographic locations) may each be configured to perform at least some of the functions or to replicate the implementation of at least some of the functions, and the term "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to any one or more of these different devices. In some aspects, the term "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to one or more virtual base stations and / or one or more virtual base station functions. For example, in some aspects two or more base station functions may be instantiated on a single device.In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to one of the base station functions and not the other. Thus, a single device may include two or more base stations.
[0036] The deployment of a communication system such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system may be arranged in multiple ways with various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of the network, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element, a base station, or a network equipment may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station (BS), 5G NB, gNodeB (gNB), access point (AP), transmit reception point (TRP), or cell) performing a base station function, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing a base station function, may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station. A "network entity" or a "network node" may refer to a disaggregated base station or one or more units (such as one or more CUs, one or more DUs, one or more RUs, or a combination thereof) of a disaggregated base station.
[0037] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node (e.g., within a single device or unit). A non-aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more CUs, one or more DUs, or one or more RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be collocated with the CU, or alternatively may be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit (e.g., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU)).
[0038] The operation or network design of a base station type may take into account the aggregated nature of the base station functions. For example, aggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtual radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)) to facilitate scaling of the communication system by separating the base station functions into one or more units that may be deployed individually. A non-aggregated base station may include functions that are implemented across two or more units in various physical locations, as well as functions that are implemented virtually for at least one unit, which may allow flexibility in network design. Various units of a non-aggregated base station may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit of the non-aggregated base station.
[0039] In some aspects, the base station 110 may serve different categories of UEs 120 associated with different capabilities. For example, the base station 110 may serve one or more UEs 120 of a reduced capability (RedCap) category, which may include UEs 120 having less advanced capabilities. In some cases, a UE of the RedCap category may be referred to as a RedCap UE, an NR-Lite UE, a low tier UE, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the base station 110 may serve one or more UEs 120 having more advanced capabilities (e.g., compared to a UE 120 of the RedCap category). In some cases, a UE 120 having more advanced capabilities than a RedCap UE 120 may be referred to as a premium UE, an NR UE, a legacy UE, a high tier UE, etc. (hereinafter, the terms "premium or legacy UE" are often used). In some aspects, a UE 120 of the RedCap category may generally have a reduced feature set compared to a UE 120 of a non-RedCap category, such as a premium or legacy UE 120. For example, compared to a premium or legacy UE 120, a RedCap UE 120 may support a lower maximum modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) compared to 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)), may support lower transmit power, may have less advanced beamforming capabilities, may have a smaller maximum bandwidth, may have fewer antennas (e.g., transmit and / or receive antennas) and / or antenna ports, may be limited to half-duplex communication, and / or may have a lower power class. Thus, one consideration in deploying a wireless network 100 is to compensate for UEs 120 with different capabilities. For example, a base station 110 serving a UE 120 with different capabilities may implement features to mitigate or limit performance degradation (e.g., potential coverage reduction) that may result from serving a reduced complexity RedCap UE 120.
[0040] In some aspects, the UE 120 may include a communications manager 140. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, the communications manager 140 may receive system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by the RedCap category UE 120 and perform one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by the RedCap category UE based at least in part on the system information. Additionally or alternatively, the communications manager 140 may perform one or more other operations described herein.
[0041] In some aspects, a network node (e.g., base station 110) may include a communications manager 150. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, communications manager 150 may receive information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a RedCap category UE 120 and transmit system information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a RedCap category UE 120. Additionally or alternatively, communications manager 150 may perform one or more other operations described herein.
[0042] As noted above, Figure 1 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from the example described with respect to Figure 1.
[0043] 2 illustrates an example base station 200 in communication with a UE 120 in a wireless network 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The base station 110 may be equipped with a set of antennas 234a through 234t, such as T antennas, where T≧1. The base station 120 may be equipped with a set of antennas 252a through 252r, such as R antennas, where R≧1.
[0044] At the base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data destined for a UE 120 (or set of UEs 120) from a data source 212. The transmit processor 220 may select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) for the UE 120 based at least in part on one or more channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE 120. The base station 110 may process (e.g., encode and modulate) data for the UE 120 based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE 120 and provide data symbols to the UE 120. The transmit processor 220 may process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI)) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, and / or higher layer signaling) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS)) and a synchronization signal (e.g., a primary synchronization signal (PSS) or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide a set of output symbol streams (e.g., T output symbol streams) to a corresponding set of modems 232 (e.g., T modems), denoted as modems 232a through 232t. For example, each output symbol stream may be provided to a modulator component (denoted as MOD) of the modem 232. Each modem 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) using a respective modulator component to obtain an output sample stream. Each modem 232 may further process (eg, convert to analog, amplify, filter, and / or upconvert) the output sample stream using a respective modulator component to obtain a downlink signal.Modems 232a through 232t may transmit a set of downlink signals (eg, T downlink signals) via a corresponding set of antennas 234 (eg, T antennas) that are illustrated as antennas 234a through 234t.
[0045] At the UE 120, a set of antennas 252 (depicted as antennas 252a through 252r) may receive downlink signals from the base station 110 and / or other base stations 110 and may provide a set of received signals (e.g., R received signals) to a set of modems 254 (e.g., R modems) depicted as modems 254a through 254r. For example, each received signal may be provided to a demodulator component (depicted as DEMOD) of the modems 254. Each modem 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and / or digitize) the received signal using a respective demodulator component to obtain input samples. Each modem 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM) using the demodulator component to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from the modems 254, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control and system information to the controller / processor 280. The term “controller / processor” may refer to one or more controllers, one or more processors, or a combination thereof. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) parameter, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter, and / or a CQI parameter, among other examples. In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 120 may be included within the housing 284.
[0046] The network controller 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292. The network controller 130 may include, for example, one or more devices in a core network. The network controller 130 may communicate with the base stations 110 via the communication unit 294.
[0047] One or more antennas (e.g., antennas 234a-t and / or antennas 252a-r) may include or be contained within one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more sets of antenna elements, and / or one or more antenna arrays, among other examples. An antenna panel, antenna group, set of antenna elements, and / or antenna array may include (in a single housing or multiple housings) one or more antenna elements, a set of coplanar antenna elements, a set of non-coplanar antenna elements, and / or one or more antenna elements coupled to one or more transmitting and / or receiving components, such as one or more components of FIG.
[0048] On the uplink, at the UE 120, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from the data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and / or CQI) from the controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, if applicable, further processed by the modem 254 (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM or CP-OFDM), and transmitted to the base station 110. In some examples, the modem 254 of the UE 120 may include a modulator and demodulator. In some examples, the UE 120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of the antennas 252, the modem 254, the MIMO detector 256, the receive processor 258, the transmit processor 264, and / or the TX MIMO processor 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (eg, controller / processor 280) and memory 282 to implement aspects of any of the methods described herein (eg, with reference to FIGS. 5-9).
[0049] At the base station 110, uplink signals from the UE 120 and / or other UEs may be received by an antenna 234, processed by a modem 232 (e.g., a demodulator component of the modem 232, denoted as DEMOD), detected by a MIMO detector 236, if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and may provide the decoded control information to a controller / processor 240. The base station 110 may include a communication unit 244 and may communicate with the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. The base station 110 may include a scheduler 246 to schedule one or more UEs 120 for downlink and / or uplink communications. In some examples, the modem 232 of the base station 110 may include a modulator and a demodulator. In some examples, the base station 110 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of antennas 234, modem 232, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, and / or TX MIMO processor 230. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., controller / processor 240) and memory 242 to implement any aspects of the methods described herein (e.g., with reference to FIGS. 5-9).
[0050] The controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or any other components of FIG. 2 may implement one or more techniques related to efficient radio resource management (RRM) measurements for reduced capacity (RedCap) UEs, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or any other components of FIG. 2 may implement or direct the operation of, for example, process 600 of FIG. 6, process 700 of FIG. 7, and / or other processes described herein. The memory 242 and the memory 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 110 and the UE 120, respectively. In some examples, the memory 242 and / or the memory 282 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores one or more instructions (e.g., code and / or program code) for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed (e.g., immediately or after being compiled, converted, and / or interpreted) by one or more processors of the base station 110 and / or the UE 120, may cause the one or more processors, the UE 120, and / or the base station 110 to perform or direct operations of, for example, process 600 of FIG. 6, process 700 of FIG. 7, and / or other processes described herein. In some examples, executing the instructions may include executing the instructions, converting the instructions, compiling the instructions, and / or interpreting the instructions, among other examples.
[0051] In some aspects, the UE 120 includes means for receiving system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by a UE of the RedCap category, and / or means for performing one or more RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by a UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information. The means for the UE 120 to perform the operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of the communications manager 140, the antenna 252, the demodulator 254, the MIMO detector 256, the receive processor 258, the transmit processor 264, the TX MIMO processor 266, the modulator 254, the controller / processor 280, or the memory 282.
[0052] In some aspects, a network node (e.g., base station 110) includes means for receiving information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category and / or means for transmitting system information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category. Means for base station 110 to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of communications manager 150, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230, modulator 232, antenna 234, demodulator 232, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, controller / processor 240, memory 242, or scheduler 246.
[0053] 2 are shown as separate components, the functionality described above with respect to the blocks may be implemented in a single hardware, software, or combination component, or in various combinations of components. For example, functionality described with respect to transmit processor 264, receive processor 258, and / or TX MIMO processor 266 may be performed by or under the control of controller / processor 280.
[0054] As noted above, Figure 2 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from those described with respect to Figure 2.
[0055] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example make-before-break handover 300 in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0056] As shown in FIG. 3, the make-before-break (MBB) handover procedure may include a UE 305, a source base station 310, a target base station 315, a user plane function (UPF) device 320, and an access and mobility management function (AMF) device 325. The UE 305 may correspond to a UE 120 described elsewhere herein. The source base station 310 and / or the target base station 315 may correspond to a base station 110 described elsewhere herein. The UPF device 320 and / or the AMF device 325 may correspond to a network controller 130 described elsewhere herein. The UE 305 and the source base station 310 may be connected (e.g., may have a radio resource control (RRC) connection) by a serving cell or a source cell, and the UE 305 may undergo a handover to the target base station 315 by the target cell. The UPF device 320 and / or the AMF device 325 may be located in a core network. The source base station 310 and the target base station 315 may be in communication with a core network for mobility support and user plane functions. The MBB handover procedure may include an enhanced MBB (eMBB) handover procedure.
[0057] As shown, the MBB handover procedure may include a handover preparation phase 330, a handover execution phase 335, and a handover completion phase 340. During the handover preparation phase 330, the UE 305 may perform one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements for the source base station 310 and / or one or more neighboring base stations (e.g., including the target base station 315) and may report RRM measurements that cause the source base station 310 and / or the target base station 315 to prepare for the handover and trigger the execution of the handover. During the handover execution phase 335, the UE 305 may perform the handover by performing a random access procedure with the target base station 315 and establishing an RRC connection with the target base station 315. During the handover completion phase 340, the source base station 310 may transfer stored communications associated with the UE 305 to the target base station 315, and the UE 305 may be released from communication with the source base station 310.
[0058] As indicated by reference numeral 345, the UE 305 may perform one or more RRM measurements and may send a measurement report to the source base station 310 based at least in part on performing one or more measurements (e.g., serving cell measurements and / or neighbor cell measurements). The measurement report may indicate, for example, an RSRP parameter, an RSRQ parameter, an RSSI parameter, and / or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SINR) parameter (e.g., for the serving cell and / or one or more neighbor cells). The source base station 310 may use the measurement report to determine whether to trigger a handover to the target base station 315. For example, if one or more measurements meet a condition (e.g., an RSRP measurement associated with the target base station 315 meets a threshold and / or exceeds an RSRP measurement associated with the source base station 310), the source base station 310 may trigger a handover of the UE 305 to the target base station 315.
[0059] As indicated by reference numeral 350, the source base station 310 and the target base station 315 may communicate with each other to prepare for handover of the UE 305. As part of the handover preparation, the source base station 310 may send a handover request to the target base station 315 to instruct the target base station 315 to prepare for the handover. The source base station 310 may communicate RRC context information related to the UE 305 and / or configuration information related to the UE 305 to the target base station 315. The target base station 315 may prepare for the handover by reserving resources for the UE 305. After reserving the resources, the target base station 315 may send an acknowledgement (ACK) to the source base station 310 in response to the handover request.
[0060] As indicated by reference numeral 355, the source base station 310 may send an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE 305. The RRC reconfiguration message may include a handover command instructing the UE 305 to perform a handover procedure from the source base station 310 to the target base station 315. The handover command may include information related to the target base station 315, such as a random access channel (RACH) preamble allocation for accessing the target base station 315. Receipt of the RRC reconfiguration message including the handover command by the UE 305 may trigger the start of a handover execution phase 335.
[0061] As indicated by reference numeral 360, during a handover execution phase 335 of the MBB handover, the UE 305 may execute the handover by performing a random access procedure with the target base station 315 (e.g., including synchronization with the target base station 315) while continuing communication with the source base station 310. For example, while the UE 305 is performing the random access procedure with the target base station 315, the UE 305 may transmit uplink data, uplink control information, and / or uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals) to the source base station 310 and / or receive downlink data, downlink control information, and / or downlink reference signals from the source base station 310.
[0062] Upon successfully establishing a connection with the target base station 315 (e.g., by a random access procedure), the UE may send an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target base station 315, as indicated by reference numeral 365. Receipt of the RRC reconfiguration message by the target base station 315 may trigger the start of the handover completion phase 340.
[0063] As indicated by reference numeral 370, the source base station 310 and the target base station 315 may communicate with each other to prepare for the release of the connection between the source base station 310 and the UE 305. In some aspects, the target base station 315 may determine that the connection between the source base station 310 and the UE 305 is to be released, such as after receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE 305. In this case, the target base station 315 may send a handover connection setup complete message to the source base station 310. The handover connection setup complete message may cause the source base station 310 to stop transmitting data to the UE 305 and / or to stop receiving data from the UE 305. Additionally or alternatively, the handover connection setup complete message may cause the source base station 310 to forward communications related to the UE 305 to the target base station 315 and / or to inform the target base station 315 of the status of one or more communications with the UE 305. For example, the source base station 310 may forward buffered downlink communications (e.g., downlink data) for the UE 305 and / or uplink communications (e.g., uplink data) received from the UE 305 to the target base station 315. Additionally or alternatively, the source base station 310 may inform the target base station 315 regarding a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) status associated with the UE 305 and / or a sequence number used for downlink communications with the UE 305.
[0064] As indicated by reference numeral 375, the target base station 315 may send an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE 305 to instruct the UE 305 to release the connection with the source base station 310. Upon receiving the instruction to release the connection with the source base station 310, the UE 305 may cease communicating with the source base station 310. For example, the UE 305 may refrain from sending uplink communications to the source base station 310 and / or may refrain from monitoring downlink communications from the source base station 310.
[0065] As indicated by reference numeral 380, the UE may send an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target base station 315 to indicate that the connection between the source base station 310 and the UE 305 is released or has been released.
[0066] As indicated by reference numeral 385, the target base station 315, the UPF device 320, and / or the AMF device 325 may communicate to switch the user plane path of the UE 305 from the source base station 310 to the target base station 315. Before switching the user plane path, the downlink communication of the UE 305 may be routed to the source base station 310 via the core network. After the user plane path is switched, the downlink communication of the UE 305 may be routed to the target base station 315 via the core network. Upon completing the user plane path switch, the AMF device 325 may send an end marker message to the source base station 310 to signal the completion of the user plane path switch. As indicated by reference numeral 390, the target base station 315 and the source base station 310 may communicate to release the source base station 310.
[0067] As part of the MBB handover procedure, the UE 305 may maintain simultaneous connections with the source base station 310 and the target base station 315 for a time period 395. The time period 395 may begin at the beginning of the handover execution phase 335 (e.g., when the UE 305 receives a handover command from the source base station 310) in which the UE 305 performs a random access procedure with the target base station 315. The time period 395 may end upon releasing the connection between the UE 305 and the source base station 310 (e.g., when the UE 305 receives an instruction from the target base station 315 to release the source base station 310). By maintaining simultaneous connections with the source base station 310 and the target base station 315, the handover procedure may be performed with zero or minimal interruption to communication, thereby reducing latency.
[0068] As noted above, Figure 3 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from those described with respect to Figure 3.
[0069] 4 illustrates an example wireless network (e.g., wireless network 100) 400 in which a UE (e.g., UE 120) may operate in one or more RRC communication modes in accordance with the present disclosure. The UE may be communicatively connected to a source base station in the wireless network. Additionally, in some aspects, the UE may be located within or near the coverage area of one or more neighboring base stations.
[0070] 4, the UE may support a connected communication mode (e.g., RRC active mode 402), an idle communication mode (e.g., RRC idle mode 404), and an inactive communication mode (e.g., RRC inactive mode 406). The RRC inactive mode 406 may be functionally between the RRC active mode 402 and the RRC idle mode 404.
[0071] The UE may transition between different modes based at least in part on various commands and / or communications received from the source base station. For example, the UE may transition from an RRC active mode 402 or an RRC inactive mode 406 to an RRC idle mode 404 based at least in part on receiving an RRCRelease communication from the source base station. As another example, the UE may transition from an RRC active mode 402 to an RRC inactive mode 406 based at least in part on receiving an RRCRelease with a suspendConfig communication from the source base station. As another example, the UE may transition from an RRC idle mode 404 to an RRC active mode 402 based at least in part on receiving an RRCSetupRequest communication from the source base station. As another example, the UE may transition from an RRC inactive mode 406 to an RRC active mode 402 based at least in part on receiving an RRCResumeRequest communication from the source base station.
[0072] When transitioning to the RRC inactive mode 406, the UE and / or the source base station may store the UE context (e.g., access stratum (AS) context and / or higher layer configuration). This allows the UE and / or the source base station to apply the stored UE context when the UE transitions from the RRC inactive mode 406 to the RRC active mode 402 to resume communication with the source base station, thereby reducing the latency of the transition to the RRC active mode 402 as compared to the transition from the RRC idle mode 404 to the RRC active mode 402. Additionally or alternatively, the source base station may provide the stored UE context to neighboring base stations to facilitate handover of the UE, as described in more detail elsewhere herein.
[0073] In some cases, the UE may communicatively connect to a new base station when transitioning from an RRC idle mode 404 or an RRC inactive mode 406 to an RRC active mode 402 (e.g., the UE may perform cell reselection to a neighboring base station if one or more RRM measurements associated with the source base station or a neighboring base station satisfy a condition).
[0074] In all RRC states, the UE may periodically perform RRM measurements on one or more neighboring cells. For example, in some aspects, a source base station may transmit a system information block (SIB) indicating a set of neighboring cells associated with the source base station, and the UE may perform RRM measurements on the set of neighboring cells indicated in the SIB when the UE is in an RRC active mode 402, an RRC idle mode 404, an RRC inactive mode 406, or other suitable RRC mode. For example, the set of neighboring cells may be indicated in SIB2 including parameters related to intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and / or inter-RAT cell reselection, in SIB3 including only parameters related to intra-frequency cell reselection, in SIB4 including only parameters related to inter-frequency reselection, and / or in SIB5 including only parameters related to inter-RAT cell reselection. In this case, when the UE is in RRC idle mode 404 or RRC inactive mode 406, the UE may reselect a neighboring cell associated with a neighboring base station as a new serving cell based on one or more RRM measurements satisfying a condition (e.g., when an RSRP measurement associated with the neighboring base station meets a threshold and / or exceeds an RSRP measurement associated with the source base station, among other examples).
[0075] Additionally or alternatively, in the RRC active mode 402, the source base station may provide the UE with a measurement configuration, which may indicate which neighboring cell or cells the UE is to measure and / or how often the UE is to measure the neighboring cell or cells indicated in the measurement configuration. Thus, in the RRC active mode 402, the UE may send measurement reports to the source base station periodically, on demand, and / or based on a triggering event (e.g., RSRP measurements related to one or more neighboring cells meeting a configured threshold). In some aspects, as described herein, the source cell (e.g., source base station) may determine whether and / or when to facilitate a handover of the UE to a new serving cell (e.g., a target cell served by a neighboring base station) based on the measurement report provided by the UE.
[0076] Thus, as described herein, the UE may perform (e.g., obtain) and report RRM measurements in all RRC states to support UE mobility and improved performance (e.g., to determine whether to perform cell reselection to a neighboring cell in RRC idle mode 404 or RRC inactive mode 406 and / or to determine whether to initiate a handover to a neighboring cell that may offer better performance than the UE is experiencing in the source cell in RRC active mode 402). However, performing RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells may result in inefficiencies when the UE is in a reduced capabilities (RedCap) category. For example, as described herein, compared to a premium or legacy UE, a RedCap UE may support a lower maximum MCS (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) compared to 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)), may support lower transmit power, may have less advanced beamforming capabilities, may have a smaller maximum bandwidth, may have fewer antennas (e.g., transmit and / or receive antennas) and / or antenna ports, may be limited to half-duplex communication, and / or may have a lower power class.
[0077] Thus, in some cases, a base station may implement features to mitigate or limit performance degradation (e.g., potential coverage reduction) that may result from serving a RedCap UE that may require more network resources to serve due to limited capabilities. For example, if a RedCap UE has one (1) receive antenna, there may be at least a 6 decibel (dB) loss in link budget. To compensate for the loss in link budget, a base station serving a RedCap UE may use multiple repetitions in downlink transmissions to the RedCap UE to ensure that the RedCap UE has the same coverage as a non-RedCap (e.g., premium or legacy) UE. As a result, a base station may bar the RedCap UE from accessing a cell served by the base station separately from the non-RedCap UE. For example, when cell load increases, the base station may prevent the RedCap UE from accessing the cell, such that cell barring for RedCap UEs may be more dynamic (e.g., change more frequently) than for non-RedCap legacy UEs. Thus, when a RedCap UE performs RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells, performing RRM measurements for a neighboring cell that does not support access by the RedCap UE (e.g., the RedCap UE is temporarily or permanently barred from accessing this neighboring cell) wastes limited resources of the RedCap UE (e.g., by increasing power consumption). Furthermore, inefficiencies (e.g., increased handover latency and / or signaling overhead) may occur if the source cell initiates a handover for the RedCap UE to a target cell that does not support access by the RedCap UE.For example, a target cell that does not support access by RedCap UEs may reject the handover request from the source cell and therefore an attempt must be made to initiate a handover to a different target cell, which may also reject the handover if the other target cell does not support access by RedCap UEs.
[0078] Some aspects described herein relate to techniques and apparatuses for enhancing the efficiency of RRM measurements by RedCap UEs. For example, a cell (e.g., a base station) in a wireless network may exchange information with neighboring cells to indicate whether the cell supports access by RedCap UEs (e.g., the RedCap UE is allowed to access the cell) or does not support access by RedCap UEs (e.g., the RedCap UE is temporarily or permanently barred from accessing the cell). Each cell may transmit system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports or prohibits access by RedCap UEs so that the RedCap UE may determine whether to measure the neighboring cell in RRC idle mode 404 or RRC inactive mode 406 (e.g., the RedCap UE may refrain from attempting to measure or perform cell reselection for a neighboring cell that does not support access by RedCap UEs). Additionally or alternatively, the measurement configuration that a cell provides to a RedCap UE in RRC active mode 402 may exclude any neighboring cells that do not support access by the RedCap UE, such that the RedCap UE does not measure neighboring cells that do not support access by the RedCap UE in RRC active mode 402. Furthermore, the serving cell of the RedCap UE may exclude neighboring cells that do not support access by the RedCap UE from handover decisions for the RedCap UE. In this manner, the RedCap UE may conserve resources that would otherwise be wasted measuring neighboring cells that do not support access by the RedCap UE, and / or signaling overhead and handover latency may be reduced by excluding neighboring cells that do not support access by the RedCap UE from measurements and / or handover decisions in RRC active mode 402.
[0079] As noted above, Figure 4 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from those described with respect to Figure 4.
[0080] FIG. 5 illustrates an example 500 relating to efficient RRM measurements for a RedCap UE according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the example 500 includes communication between a UE (e.g., UE 120) and a serving base station UE (e.g., base station 110), and communication between the serving base station and a neighboring base station (e.g., base station 110). In some aspects, the UE, the serving base station, and the neighboring base station may be included in a wireless network, such as wireless network 100. The serving base station and the UE may communicate via a wireless access link, which may include an uplink and a downlink. Additionally, the serving base station and the neighboring base station may communicate via a backhaul link, such as an operations, administration, and management (OAM) interface or an inter-node messaging interface (e.g., an F1 interface, an NG interface, and / or an Xn interface). In some aspects, the UE may be a RedCap UE, the serving base station may be referred to as a serving cell, and the neighboring base station may be referred to as a neighboring cell, as described herein.
[0081] As shown in FIG. 5 by reference numeral 510, cells in a wireless network may exchange information indicating whether access by RedCap UEs is supported (e.g., enabled) or not supported (e.g., temporarily or permanently restricted). For example, as shown, a serving cell associated with a UE may transmit, and a neighboring cell may receive (e.g., via an OAM or inter-node messaging interface) information indicating whether the serving cell supports access by RedCap UEs. Additionally, a neighboring cell may transmit, and a serving cell may receive (e.g., via an OAM or inter-node messaging interface) information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by RedCap UEs. In some aspects, cells in general may transmit information indicating whether access by RedCap UEs is supported or not supported based on a change in a configuration related to whether access by RedCap UEs is supported or not supported. For example, a serving cell and / or neighboring cell may transmit information advertising whether access by RedCap UEs is supported or not supported when there is a change from supporting to not supporting access by RedCap UEs or from not supporting to supporting access by RedCap UEs. In this way, each cell in the wireless network may know whether each neighboring cell currently supports or does not support access by RedCap UEs and can configure its system information and / or measurement configuration to enable more efficient RRM measurements by and / or more efficient handover decisions for RedCap UEs.
[0082] For example, as indicated by reference numeral 520, the serving cell may transmit, and the UE may receive, system information and / or measurement configurations based at least in part on support for access by RedCap UEs in one or more neighboring cells. For example, the serving cell may transmit a SIB identifying a set of neighboring cells associated with the serving cell, and the SIB may further indicate whether each neighboring cell supports or does not support access by RedCap UEs. In some aspects, the SIB indicating whether the neighboring cell supports or does not support access by RedCap UEs may be a SIB including information related to cell reselection parameters applicable to RedCap UEs. For example, the SIB indicating whether the neighboring cell supports or does not support access by RedCap UEs may be SIB2 including parameters related to intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and / or inter-RAT cell reselection, SIB3 including parameters related only to intra-frequency cell reselection, or SIB4 including parameters related only to inter-frequency cell reselection. In this way, when the UE performs RRM measurements in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode, the UE may identify neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs based on the system information received from the serving cell and refrain from performing RRM measurements on such neighboring cells. In other words, when the UE performs RRM measurements in RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode, the system information indicating whether the neighboring cells support or do not support access by RedCap UEs may enable the UE to measure only one or more neighboring cells that support access by RedCap UEs. In this way, the UE may avoid wasting resources by measuring or attempting to perform cell reselection on neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs.
[0083] Additionally or alternatively, when the UE is in RRC connected or active mode, the serving cell may transmit a measurement configuration identifying one or more neighboring cells for which the UE performs RRM measurements. In this case, the serving cell may exclude from the measurement configuration neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs. In other words, the measurement configuration provided to the UE in RRC connected or active mode may include only one or more neighboring cells that support access by RedCap UEs, so that the UE may avoid wasting resources measuring or attempting to perform handover to neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs. Furthermore, the serving cell may exclude neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs from handover decisions for UEs of the RedCap category.
[0084] As further shown in FIG. 5 by reference numeral 530, the UE may perform one or more RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells based on system information or measurement configurations received from a serving base station. For example, in an RRC idle or inactive mode, the UE may identify a set of neighboring cells in the system information received from the serving cell (e.g., in SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4). As described above, the system information may indicate whether each neighboring cell supports or does not support access by a RedCap UE. Thus, when performing RRM measurements in an RRC idle or inactive mode, the UE may perform RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells that support access by a RedCap UE and may refrain from performing RRM measurements for neighboring cells that do not support access by a RedCap UE. In this way, indicating in the system information whether a neighboring cell supports or does not support access by a RedCap UE may enable the UE to save resources that may otherwise be wasted by measuring neighboring cells that do not support access by a RedCap UE and / or performing cell reselection to neighboring cells that do not support access by a RedCap UE.
[0085] Additionally or alternatively, in RRC connected or active mode, the UE may determine one or more neighboring cells to be measured based on a measurement configuration provided by the serving cell. In this case, as described above, the measurement configuration may exclude neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs. Thus, when performing RRM measurements in RRC connected or active mode, the UE may perform RRM measurements only for neighboring cells that support access by RedCap UEs. In this way, neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs may be excluded from the measurement configuration to enable the UE to conserve resources that may otherwise be wasted measuring neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs and / or attempting to initiate handovers to neighboring cells that do not support access by RedCap UEs.
[0086] As noted above, Figure 5 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from those described with respect to Figure 5.
[0087] 6 illustrates an example process 600, performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with the present disclosure. The example process 600 is an example in which a UE (e.g., UE 120) performs operations related to efficient RRM measurements for RedCap UEs.
[0088] 6, in some aspects, process 600 may include receiving system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by UEs of the RedCap category (block 610). For example, the UE may receive (e.g., using the communications manager 140 and / or the receiving component 802 shown in FIG. 8) system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by UEs of the RedCap category, as described above.
[0089] 6, in some aspects, process 600 may include performing one or more RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by a UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information or measurement configuration (block 620). For example, the UE may perform (e.g., using the communications manager 140 and / or measurement component 808 shown in FIG. 8) one or more RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by a UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information or measurement configuration, as described above.
[0090] Process 600 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.
[0091] In a first aspect, the system information is received in a SIB that includes information related to cell reselection parameters.
[0092] In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, the SIB is SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4.
[0093] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the process 600 includes receiving a measurement configuration, where one or more neighboring cells for which one or more RRM measurements are to be performed are identified based at least in part on the measurement configuration.
[0094] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the measurement configuration excludes neighboring cells that do not support access by UEs of the RedCap category.
[0095] In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the process 600 includes determining, based at least in part on the system information, at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by a UE of the RedCap category, and refraining from performing RRM measurements for the at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0096] 6 illustrates example blocks of process 600, in some aspects process 600 may include additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged blocks compared to those illustrated in FIG 6. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 600 may be performed in parallel.
[0097] 7 illustrates an example process 700 implemented, for example, by a base station, in accordance with the present disclosure. The example process 700 is an example in which a base station (e.g., base station 110) implements operations related to efficient RRM measurements for RedCap UEs.
[0098] 7, in some aspects, process 700 may include receiving information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category (block 710). For example, the base station may receive (e.g., using the communications manager 150 and / or the receiving component 902 shown in FIG. 9) information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category, as described above.
[0099] 7, in some aspects, the process 700 may include transmitting system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by the RedCap category UE (block 720). For example, the base station (e.g., using the communications manager 150 and / or the transmitting component 904 shown in FIG. 9) may transmit system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by the RedCap category UE, as described above.
[0100] Process 700 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.
[0101] In a first aspect, information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category is received based at least in part on the neighboring cell changing a setting related to whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0102] In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first aspect, information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by UEs of the RedCap category is received via an OAM interface or inter-node messaging.
[0103] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the system information is transmitted in a SIB that includes information related to cell reselection parameters.
[0104] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, the SIB is SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4.
[0105] In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth aspects, the process 700 includes transmitting a measurement configuration to a RedCap category UE including one or more neighboring cells for which the UE performs radio resource management measurements based at least in part on information indicating whether the neighboring cells support access by the RedCap category UE.
[0106] In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth aspects, the measurement configuration excludes a neighboring cell based at least in part on an indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0107] In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth aspects, the process 700 includes excluding a neighboring cell from a set of candidate target cells for handover for a RedCap category UE based at least in part on an indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by the RedCap category UE.
[0108] Although Figure 7 illustrates example blocks of process 700, in some aspects process 700 may include additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged blocks compared to those illustrated in Figure 7. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 700 may be performed in parallel.
[0109] 8 is a block diagram of an example apparatus 800 for wireless communication. The apparatus 800 may be a UE, or a UE may include the apparatus 800. In some aspects, the apparatus 800 includes a receiving component 802 and a transmitting component 804, which may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). As shown, the apparatus 800 may communicate with another apparatus 806 (such as a UE, a base station, or another wireless communication device) using the receiving component 802 and the transmitting component 804. As further shown, the apparatus 800 may include a communications manager 140. The communications manager 140 may include one or more of a measuring component 808 or a determining component 810, among other examples.
[0110] In some aspects, the apparatus 800 may be configured to perform one or more operations described herein with respect to FIG. 5. Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus 800 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein, such as the process 600 of FIG. 6. In some aspects, the apparatus 800 and / or one or more components illustrated in FIG. 8 may include one or more components of a UE described with respect to FIG. 2. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components illustrated in FIG. 8 may be implemented within one or more components described with respect to FIG. 2. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components of the set of components may be implemented at least in part as software stored in a memory. For example, a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by a controller or processor to perform the function or operation of the component.
[0111] The receiving component 802 may receive communications from the device 806, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof. The receiving component 802 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of the device 800. In some aspects, the receiving component 802 may perform signal processing on the received communications (such as filtering, amplifying, demodulating, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, among other examples) and provide the processed signals to one or more other components of the device 800. In some aspects, the receiving component 802 may include one or more antennas, a demodulator, a MIMO detector, a receive processor, a controller / processor, a memory, or a combination thereof of a UE as described with respect to FIG.
[0112] The transmitting component 804 may transmit a communication to the device 806, such as a reference signal, control information, a data communication, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, one or more other components of the device 800 may generate a communication and provide the generated communication to the transmitting component 804 for transmission to the device 806. In some aspects, the transmitting component 804 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, among other examples) on the generated communication and may transmit the processed signal to the device 806. In some aspects, the transmitting component 804 may include one or more antennas, a modulator, a transmit MIMO processor, a transmit processor, a controller / processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of a UE as described with respect to FIG. 2. In some aspects, the transmitting component 804 may be collocated with the receiving component 802 in a transceiver.
[0113] The receiving component 802 may receive system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by UEs of the RedCap category. The measurement component 808 may perform one or more RRM measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by UEs of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information.
[0114] The receiving component 802 may receive a measurement configuration, and the measurement component 808 may identify one or more neighboring cells on which to perform one or more RRM measurements based at least in part on the measurement configuration.
[0115] The determining component 810 may determine, based at least in part on the system information, at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by the UE of the RedCap category. The measurement component 808 may refrain from performing RRM measurements for the at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by the UE of the RedCap category.
[0116] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 8 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged components compared to those shown in Figure 8. Furthermore, two or more of the components shown in Figure 8 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 8 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, a set of components (or components) shown in Figure 8 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figure 8.
[0117] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example apparatus 900 for wireless communication. The apparatus 900 may be a base station, or a base station may include the apparatus 900. In some aspects, the apparatus 900 includes a receiving component 902 and a transmitting component 904, which may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). As shown, the apparatus 900 may communicate with another apparatus 906 (such as a UE, a base station, or another wireless communication device) using the receiving component 902 and the transmitting component 904. As further shown, the apparatus 900 may include a communications manager 150. The communications apparatus 150 may include a handover component 908, among other examples.
[0118] In some aspects, the apparatus 900 may be configured to perform one or more operations described herein with respect to FIG. 5. Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus 900 may be configured to implement one or more processes described herein, such as the process 700 of FIG. 7. In some aspects, the apparatus 900 and / or one or more components illustrated in FIG. 9 may include one or more components of a base station described with respect to FIG. 2. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components illustrated in FIG. 9 may be implemented within one or more components described with respect to FIG. 2. Additionally or alternatively, one or more components of the set of components may be implemented at least in part as software stored in a memory. For example, a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by a controller or processor to perform the function or operation of the component.
[0119] The receiving component 902 may receive communications from the device 906, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof. The receiving component 902 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of the device 900. In some aspects, the receiving component 902 may perform signal processing on the received communications (such as filtering, amplifying, demodulating, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, among other examples) and provide the processed signals to one or more other components of the device 900. In some aspects, the receiving component 902 may include one or more antennas, a demodulator, a MIMO detector, a receive processor, a controller / processor, a memory, or a combination thereof of a base station as described with respect to FIG.
[0120] The transmitting component 904 may transmit a communication to the device 906, such as a reference signal, control information, a data communication, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, one or more other components of the device 900 may generate a communication and provide the generated communication to the transmitting component 904 for transmission to the device 906. In some aspects, the transmitting component 904 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, among other examples) on the generated communication and may transmit the processed signal to the device 906. In some aspects, the transmitting component 904 may include one or more antennas, a modulator, a transmit MIMO processor, a transmit processor, a controller / processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of a base station as described with respect to FIG. 2. In some aspects, the transmitting component 904 may be collocated with the receiving component 902 in a transceiver.
[0121] The receiving component 902 may receive information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by the UE of the RedCap category. The transmitting component 904 may transmit system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by the UE of the RedCap category.
[0122] The transmitting component 904 may transmit, based at least in part on the information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by the RedCap category UE, a measurement configuration including one or more neighboring cells for which the UE will perform radio resource management measurements to the RedCap category UE.
[0123] The handover component 908 may exclude the neighboring cell from a set of candidate target cells for handover for the RedCap category UE based at least in part on the indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by the RedCap category UE.
[0124] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 9 are given as an example. In practice, there may be additional, fewer, different, or differently arranged components compared to those shown in Figure 9. Furthermore, two or more of the components shown in Figure 9 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 9 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, a set of components (or components) shown in Figure 9 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figure 9.
[0125] The following provides a summary of several aspects of the disclosure.
[0126] Aspect 1: A method of wireless communications implemented by a UE, comprising: receiving system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by a UE of a RedCap category; and performing one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by a UE of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information.
[0127] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the system information is received in a SIB including information related to cell reselection parameters.
[0128] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 2, wherein the SIB is SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4.
[0129] Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 to 3, further comprising receiving a measurement configuration, wherein one or more neighboring cells for which one or more RRM measurements are to be performed are identified based at least in part on the measurement configuration.
[0130] Aspect 5: The method of aspect 4, wherein the measurement configuration excludes neighboring cells that do not support access by UEs of the RedCap category.
[0131] Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 to 5, further comprising: determining, based at least in part on the system information, at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by a UE of the RedCap category; and refraining from performing RRM measurements for the at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0132] Aspect 7: A method of wireless communication implemented by a network node, comprising: receiving information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of a RedCap category; and transmitting system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0133] Aspect 8: The method of aspect 7, wherein the information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category is received based at least in part on the neighboring cell changing a setting related to whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
[0134] Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 7 to 8, wherein information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by UEs of the RedCap category is received via an operations, management, and maintenance interface or inter-node messaging.
[0135] Example 10: The method of any one of examples 7 to 9, wherein the system information is transmitted in a SIB including information related to cell reselection parameters.
[0136] Embodiment 11: The method of embodiment 10, wherein the SIB is SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4.
[0137] Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 7 to 11, further comprising: transmitting, to a RedCap category UE, a measurement configuration including one or more neighboring cells for which the UE performs radio resource management measurements, based at least in part on information indicating whether the neighboring cells support access by the RedCap category UE.
[0138] Aspect 13: The method of aspect 12, wherein the measurement configuration excludes a neighboring cell based at least in part on an indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by UEs of the RedCap category.
[0139] Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 7 to 13, further comprising excluding a neighboring cell from a set of candidate target cells for handover for a RedCap category UE based at least in part on an indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by the RedCap category UE.
[0140] Aspect 15: An apparatus for wireless communication in a device, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 6.
[0141] Aspect 16: A device for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform a method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 6.
[0142] Aspect 17: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 6.
[0143] Aspect 18: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code including instructions executable by a processor to perform a method as described in one or more of aspects 1 to 6.
[0144] Aspect 19: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions including one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform a method as described in one or more of aspects 1 to 6.
[0145] Aspect 20: An apparatus for wireless communication in a device, comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform a method according to one or more of aspects 7 to 14.
[0146] Aspect 21: A device for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform a method according to one or more of aspects 7 to 14.
[0147] Aspect 22: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method according to one or more of aspects 7 to 14.
[0148] Aspect 23: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code including instructions executable by a processor to perform a method as described in one or more of aspects 7 to 14.
[0149] Aspect 24: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions including one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform a method as described in one or more of aspects 7 to 14.
[0150] The above disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the embodiments.
[0151] The term "component" as used herein shall be broadly construed as hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. "Software" shall be broadly construed to mean, among other examples, instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, and / or functions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. A processor, as used herein, is implemented in hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. It will be apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods is not intended to limit the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are described herein without reference to specific software code, as those skilled in the art will appreciate that software and hardware may be designed to implement the systems and / or methods based at least in part on the description herein.
[0152] As used herein, "meeting a threshold" can refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, etc., depending on the context.
[0153] Although particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and / or disclosed herein, those combinations do not limit the disclosure of the various aspects. Many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and / or disclosed herein. The disclosure of the various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with any other claim in the claim set. As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to encompass a, b, c, a+b, a+c, b+c, and a+b+c, as well as any combination having multiple identical elements (e.g., a+a, a+a+a, a+a+b, a+a+c, a+b+b, a+c+c, b+b, b+b+b, b+b+c, c+c, and c+c+c, or any other order of a, b, and c).
[0154] No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless expressly described as such. Additionally, the articles "a" and "an" as used herein are intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with "one or more." Additionally, the article "the" as used herein is intended to include one or more items referred to with the article "the" and may be used interchangeably with "one or more." Additionally, the terms "set" and "group" as used herein are intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with "one or more." When only one item is intended, the phrase "only one" or similar language is used. Additionally, terms such as "has," "have," and "having" as used herein are intended to be open-ended terms that do not limit the elements they modify (e.g., an element that "has" A may also have B). Additionally, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on," unless otherwise specified. Additionally, as used herein, the term "or" is intended to be inclusive when used in a consecutive manner, and may be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless otherwise noted (e.g., when used in combination with "either" or "only one of"). [Explanation of symbols]
[0155] 100 Wireless Network 102a Macrocell 102b Picocell 102c Femtocell 110 base station 120 User Equipment (UE) 130 Network Controller 140 Communications Manager 150 Communications Manager 212 Data Source 220 Transmit Processor 230 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor 232 Modems, Modulators, Demodulators 236 MIMO Detector 238 Receive Processor 234 Antenna 236 MIMO Detector 238 Receive Processor 240 Controllers / Processors 242 Memory 244 Communication Unit 246 Scheduler 252 Antenna 254 Modem, Demodulator, Modulator 256 MIMO detector 258 Receive Processor 260 Data Sink 262 Data Sources 264 Transmit Processor 266 TX MIMO Processor 280 Controller / Processor 282 Memory 284 Housing 290 Controller / Processor 292 Memory 294 Communication Unit 305 UE 310 Source base station 315 Target Base Station 320 User Plane Function (UPF) Device 325 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) Devices 402 RRC active mode 404 RRC idle mode 406 RRC Inactive Mode 800 equipment 802 Receiving Component 804 Transmission Components 806 Other Devices 808 Measurement components 810 Decision Component 900 equipment 902 Receiving Component 904 Transmission Component 906 Another Device 908 Handover Components
Claims
1. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving system information indicating whether one or more neighboring cells support access by UEs of a reduced capabilities (RedCap) category; receiving a measurement configuration, wherein the one or more neighboring cells on which the one or more RRM measurements are to be performed are identified based at least in part on the measurement configuration, the measurement configuration excluding neighboring cells that do not support access by UEs of the RedCap category; performing one or more radio resource management (RRM) measurements for one or more neighboring cells identified as supporting access by UEs of the RedCap category based at least in part on the system information; A method comprising:
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the system information is received in a system information block (SIB) that includes information related to cell reselection parameters.
3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the SIB is SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4.
4. determining, based at least in part on the system information, at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by UEs of the RedCap category; refraining from performing RRM measurements for the at least one neighboring cell that does not support access by UEs of the RedCap category; The method of claim 1, further comprising:
5. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a network node, comprising: receiving information indicating whether a neighboring cell supports access by a user equipment (UE) of a reduced capabilities (RedCap) category; transmitting, to the RedCap category UE, a measurement configuration including one or more neighboring cells for which the UE will perform radio resource management measurements, based at least in part on the information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by the RedCap category UE, wherein the measurement configuration excludes the neighboring cell based at least in part on an indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by the RedCap category UE; transmitting system information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by UEs of the RedCap category; A method comprising:
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category is received based at least in part on the neighboring cell changing a setting related to whether the neighboring cell supports access by a UE of the RedCap category.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the information indicating whether the neighboring cell supports access by UEs of the RedCap category is received via an operations, management, and maintenance interface or inter-node messaging.
8. The method of claim 5, wherein the system information is transmitted in a system information block (SIB) that includes information related to cell reselection parameters.
9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the SIB is SIB2, SIB3, or SIB4.
10. excluding the neighboring cell from a set of candidate target cells for handover for the RedCap category UE based at least in part on an indication that the neighboring cell does not support access by the RedCap category UE.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:
11. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communications, comprising: Memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 4.
12. A network node for wireless communication, comprising: Memory, and one or more processors coupled to said memory, said one or more processors configured to perform the method of any one of claims 5 to 10.