Wireless telecommunications device and method

Abstract

It helps the UE achieve an appropriate balance between UE measurement performance (enabling the determination of the optimal serving node, thereby helping to maintain the UE's connectivity with the network through appropriate link switching and / or cell reselection) and UE power consumption (UE power consumption is reduced if unnecessary measurements are not performed). [Solution] A wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network comprises communications circuitry configured to transmit wireless signals to or receive wireless signals from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node, and control circuitry configured to determine whether one or more conditions are satisfied and, if the one or more conditions are satisfied, to measure characteristics of a wireless signal received by the communications circuitry from a different second network node.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless telecommunications devices and methods. [Background technology]

[0002] The provided "Background" discussion is intended to generally indicate the context of the present disclosure. The inventors' work is not expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art to the present disclosure, to the extent that it is described in the Background section, as well as any aspects of the present specification that may not qualify as prior art at the time of filing.

[0003] Recent generations of mobile communication systems, such as those based on the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and 5G New Radio (NR) architectures defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP® (RTM)), can support a wider range of services than the simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile communication systems. For example, the improved air interface and enhanced data rates offered by LTE and NR systems enable users to experience high data rate applications, such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing, that were previously only available over fixed-line data connections.

[0004] In addition to supporting these types of advanced services and devices, new generation mobile communication systems such as NR are also proposed to support less complex services and devices that take advantage of the reliable and wide coverage of the new generation mobile communication systems without necessarily relying on the high data rates available in the new generation mobile communication systems. For example, a less complex device is a small device with a sensor and a small battery capacity. Such a less complex device typically needs to transmit sensor data infrequently and / or at a low data rate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2020 / 030712 [Non-patent literature]

[0006] [Non-Patent Document 1] Holma H. ​​and Toskala A, "LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access", John Wiley and Sons, 2009. [Non-Patent Document 2] 3GPP TR 22.839 V2.0.0 [Non-Patent Document 3] 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.5 [Non-Patent Document 4] 3GPP TS 38.300 V16.5 [Non-Patent Document 5] 3GPP TS 38.214 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Thus, the demand for deploying such networks is high, and the coverage areas of these networks, i.e., the geographic locations from which the networks can be accessed, are expected to increase ever more rapidly. Additionally, there continues to be a need to improve the network speed, reliability, efficiency and / or flexibility of such networks while reducing the power consumption of devices (particularly user devices) in these systems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present disclosure is defined by the claims. According to an exemplary embodiment, a wireless telecommunications device (User Equipment (UE)) for use in a wireless telecommunications network comprises: a communications circuit configured to transmit wireless signals to or receive wireless signals from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; and a control circuit configured to determine whether one or more conditions are satisfied and, if the one or more conditions are satisfied, to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communications circuit from a different second network node; Equipped with:

[0009] According to the disclosed example embodiments, the UE measurement performance may depend on one or more conditions. The one or more conditions may be based on, for example, time, the location of the UE, and the connection characteristics of the UE with one or more particular network nodes. Thus, the UE does not always perform measurements on signals transmitted from all network nodes that can potentially serve the UE. Rather, the UE performs measurements only when necessary based on the satisfaction of one or more conditions. This may assist the UE in achieving an appropriate balance between the UE's measurement performance and the UE's power consumption. This may determine an optimal serving node, thereby maintaining the UE's connectivity with the network through appropriate link switching and / or cell reselection. The UE's power consumption is reduced when unnecessary measurements are not performed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates diagrammatically some elements of a wireless communication system of LTE type; [Diagram 2] 1 illustrates diagrammatically some elements of a NR type wireless communication system; [Diagram 3] 3 illustrates generally in more detail some components of the wireless telecommunications system shown in FIG. 2; [Figure 4]1 illustrates diagrammatically some elements of a NR type wireless communication system; [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates a schematic use case of a mobile network node such as a Vehicle Mounted Relay (VMR); [Figure 6] 1 illustrates a first example method for controlling a wireless telecommunications device. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates a second example method for controlling a wireless telecommunications device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Non-limiting embodiments and advantages of the present disclosure are described with reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0012] Like reference numbers indicate the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

[0013] Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication system

[0014] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating some basic features of a mobile communications network / system 6 that generally operates according to LTE principles, although other radio access technologies may also be supported and adapted to implement the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein. Certain aspects of the various elements of FIG. 1 and their respective operation modes are well known and defined in the relevant standards administered by the 3GPP organization, and are also described in many books on the subject, such as "3GPP LTE Standards for Mobile Communications," IEEE Transactions on Mobile Communications, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1171-1175, 2003. It will be understood that aspects of the operation of the telecommunications network described herein that are not specifically described (e.g., with respect to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented according to any known techniques, such as the relevant standards and known amendments and additions thereto.

[0015] The network 6 includes a number of base stations 1 connected to a core network 2. Each base station provides a coverage area 3 (ie, a cell) in which data communication with a communication device 4 is possible.

[0016] Although each base station 1 is shown as a single entity in Figure 1, those skilled in the art will appreciate that some of the functions of a base station may be performed by separate but interconnected elements such as multiple antennas, multiple remote radio heads, multiple amplifiers, etc. Collectively, one or more base stations can form a radio access network.

[0017] Data is transmitted from the base stations 1 to the communication devices 4 in their respective coverage areas 3 via wireless downlinks. Data is transmitted from the communication devices 4 to the base stations 1 via wireless uplinks. The core network 2 routes data to and from the communication devices 4 via their respective base stations 1 and provides functions such as authentication, mobility management, charging, etc. The communication devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment (UE), user terminals, mobile radios, terminal devices, etc.

[0018] Services provided by the core network 2 may include connectivity to the Internet or connectivity to external telephone services. A base station, which is an example of a network infrastructure device, may also be referred to as a transceiver station, nodeB, e-nodeB, eNB, g-nodeB, gNB, etc. (Note that g-nodeB and gNB are related to 5G New Radio, see below). In this regard, different terms are often associated with different generations of wireless communication systems for elements that provide broadly equivalent functionality. However, certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be similarly implemented in different generations of wireless communication systems, and for simplicity, a particular term may be used regardless of the underlying network architecture. That is, the use of a particular term in connection with certain exemplary embodiments is not intended to indicate that these embodiments are limited to a particular generation of networks that may be most relevant to that particular term.

[0019] In this disclosure, any device (e.g., communications device, infrastructure device, etc.) that transmits and / or receives wireless telecommunications signals in any of the illustrated wireless telecommunications networks / systems may be generally referred to as a wireless telecommunications device.

[0020] 5G New Radio (NR) wireless communication system

[0021] An example of the configuration of a wireless communication network using some of the terminology proposed for NR is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, a number of transmission / reception points (TRP) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41, 42 by connection interfaces represented as lines 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals over the radio access interface within the radio frequency bandwidth available in the wireless communication network. Thus, within the range for performing wireless communication over the radio access interface, each of the TRPs 10 forms a cell of the wireless communication network, as represented by a circle 12. In this way, a wireless communication device 14 that is within the wireless communication range provided by the cell 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRP 10 over the radio access interface. Each of the distributed units 41, 42 is connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (sometimes referred to as a control node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to a core network 20 that may include all other functions necessary for data communication between the wireless communication devices and the core network 20. The core network 20 may be connected to other networks 300.

[0022] The elements of the radio access network illustrated in Figure 2 may operate similarly to the corresponding elements of the LTE network described with respect to the example of Figure 1. It will be understood that aspects of operation of the telecommunications network depicted in Figure 2 and other networks described herein in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure that are not specifically described (e.g., with respect to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known technique, e.g., in accordance with currently used approaches for implementing such aspects of operation of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g., in accordance with the relevant standards.

[0023] The TRP 10 of FIG. 2 may have functionality corresponding in part to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communication device 14 may have functionality corresponding to a UE device 4 known for operation in an LTE network. It will therefore be understood that the operation of an NR network (e.g., with respect to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may differ from that known from LTE or other known mobile communication standards. However, it will also be understood that each of the core network components, base stations and communication devices of an NR network are functionally similar to the core network components, base stations and communication devices of an LTE wireless communication network, respectively.

[0024] In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 connected to the NR telecommunication system depicted in Fig. 2 can be broadly considered to correspond to the core network 2 depicted in Fig. 1, and the central unit 40 and the associated DUs 41, 42 / TRP 10 can be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to the base station 1 of Fig. 1. The term network infrastructure device / access node may be used to encompass these elements as well as traditional base station type elements of a wireless communication system. Scheduling responsibility for transmissions scheduled on the air interface between the respective distributed units and the communication devices may lie with the CU 40, the DUs 41, 42 and / or the TRP 10, depending on the application at hand. The communication devices 14 are depicted in Fig. 2 within the coverage area of ​​the respective communication cells 12. These communication devices 14 can therefore transmit and receive signals to and from the CU 40 via the TRP 10 associated with the respective communication cell 12.

[0025] Furthermore, it will be appreciated that FIG. 2 represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for an NR-based telecommunications system in which an approach consistent with the principles described herein may be employed, and that the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in relation to wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures.

[0026] Accordingly, certain embodiments of the present disclosure described herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunications systems / networks according to a variety of different architectures, such as the exemplary architectures shown in Figures 1 and 2. It will therefore be understood that the particular wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary importance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the present disclosure may be generally described in the context of communication between network infrastructure devices / access nodes and communication devices, with the particular nature of the network infrastructure devices / access nodes and communication devices depending on the network infrastructure of the implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios, the network infrastructure devices / access nodes may consist of base stations, such as the LTE type base station 1 as shown in Figure 1, adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, while in other examples, the network infrastructure devices may consist of CUs 40, DUs 41, 42 and I or TRPs 10 of the type shown in Figure 2, adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

[0027] A more detailed view of some of the network components shown in Figure 2 is provided by Figure 3. In Figure 3, the TRP 10 as shown in Figure 2 comprises, as a simplified representation, a radio transmitter 30, a radio receiver 32, and a controller or control processor 34 configured to control the transmitter 30 and the receiver 32 to transmit radio signals to and receive radio signals from one or more UEs 14 in the cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in Figure 3, an exemplary UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding radio transmitter 49, a radio receiver 48, and a controller or control processor 44 configured to control the transmitter 49 to transmit signals indicative of uplink data to a wireless communication network via a radio access interface formed by the TRP 10 and to control the receiver 48 to receive downlink data as signals transmitted by the transmitter 30.

[0028] The transmitters 30, 49 and receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in connection with examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices to transmit and receive wireless signals, for example, according to the 5G / NR standard. The controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described in connection with examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU or a dedicated chipset, etc., and are configured to execute instructions stored in a computer-readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be performed, for example, by a microprocessor in combination with a random access memory operating according to instructions stored in a computer-readable medium.

[0029] 3, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 that connects to the DU 42 via the physical interface 16. The network interface 50 thus provides a communication link for data and signaling traffic from the TRP 10 to the core network 20 via the DU 42 and the CU 40.

[0030] The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F1 interface, which may be a physical interface or a logical interface. The F1 interface 46 between the CU and the DU may operate according to the standards "3GPP TS 38.470" and "3GPP TS 38.473" and may be formed, for example, of optical fiber or other wired high bandwidth connections. In one example, the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is optical fiber. The connection between the TRP 10 and the core network 20 may generally be referred to as the backhaul, and is composed of the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP 10 to the DU 42 and the F1 interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

[0031] An example of the deployment of the present technology can be formed from a wireless communication network corresponding to that shown in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 provides an example in which the cells of the wireless communication network are formed from infrastructure devices with Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) functionality. The wireless communication network 100 is composed of a core network 20 and first, second, third and fourth communication devices (101, 102, 103 and 104, respectively) roughly corresponding to the above-mentioned communication devices 4, 14 (in particular composed of the same electronic components as the UE 14 in Fig. 3).

[0032] The wireless communication network 100 is comprised of a radio access network consisting of a first infrastructure device 110, a second infrastructure device 111, a third infrastructure device 112 and a fourth infrastructure device 113. Each infrastructure device provides a coverage area (i.e., a cell, not shown in FIG. 4) in which data can be communicated to and from the communication devices 101 to 104. For example, the fourth infrastructure device 113 provides a cell in which the third and fourth communication devices 103 and 104 can obtain service. Data is transmitted from the fourth infrastructure device 113 via a wireless downlink to, for example, the fourth communication device 104 within the respective coverage areas (not shown). Data is transmitted from, for example, the fourth communication device 104 to the fourth infrastructure device 113 via a wireless uplink.

[0033] Infrastructure devices 110-113 of FIG. 4 may roughly correspond to TRP 10 of FIGS. 2 and 3 (in particular, are comprised of the same electronic components as TRP 10 of FIG. 3).

[0034] The first infrastructure device 110 of Figure 4 is connected to the core network 20 by one or a series of physical connections 122. The first infrastructure device 110 may consist of a TRP 10 having a physical connection 16 to the DU 42 in combination with a DU 42 having a physical connection to a CU 40 by an F1 interface 46. The CU 40 is in turn connected to the core network 20 by a physical connection (e.g., optical fiber).

[0035] However, there is no direct physical connection between any of the second infrastructure equipment 111, the third infrastructure equipment 112 and the fourth infrastructure equipment 113 and the core network 20. As such, it may be determined necessary or appropriate for data received from a communication device (i.e. uplink data) or data for transmission to a communication device (i.e. downlink data) to be transmitted to or from the core network 20 via another infrastructure equipment, such as the first infrastructure equipment 110 that is physically connected to the core network 20, even if the communication device is not currently served by the first infrastructure equipment 110, but is, for example in the case of the wireless communication device 104, served by the fourth infrastructure equipment 113.

[0036] Each of the second, third and fourth infrastructure devices 111-113 in FIG. 4 may constitute a TRP broadly similar in functionality to TRP 10 in FIG.

[0037] In some implementations of the present technology, one or more of the second to fourth infrastructure devices 111 to 113 in FIG. 4 may further include a DU 42, and in some implementations of the present technology, one or more of the second to fourth infrastructure devices 110 to 113 may include a DU and a CU.

[0038] In some configurations of the present technology, a CU 40 for a first infrastructure device 110 can perform CU functions not only for the first infrastructure device 110, but also for one or more of the second, third and fourth infrastructure devices 111 to 113.

[0039] To provide for the transmission of uplink or downlink data between a communication device and a core network, a route is determined by any suitable means, with one end of the route being an infrastructure device that is physically connected to the core network and through which uplink and downlink traffic is routed to and from the core network.

[0040] In the following, the term "node" is used to refer to an entity or infrastructure device that forms part of the transmission path of uplink or downlink data.

[0041] An infrastructure device operating according to the exemplary arrangement that is physically connected to the core network and may provide communication resources to other infrastructure devices is referred to as a "donor node." An infrastructure device that acts as an intermediate node (i.e., forms part of a path but does not act as a donor node) is referred to as a "relay node." It should be noted that such intermediate node infrastructure devices act as relay nodes for backhaul links, but may also provide services to communication devices. A relay node at the end of a path, which is an infrastructure device that controls a cell from which a communication device is served, is referred to as a "terminal node."

[0042] Therefore, for clarity and brevity in the following description, the first infrastructure device 110 will be referred to as the "donor node," the second infrastructure device 111 will be referred to as the "first node," the third infrastructure device 112 will be referred to as the "second node," and the fourth infrastructure device 113 will be referred to as the "third node."

[0043] In this disclosure, the term "upstream node", when used for data transmission over a path from a wireless communication device to a core network, is used to refer to a node acting as a relay node or a donor node in the path that is the next hop. That is, "upstream node" is used to refer to a relay node or a donor node from which uplink data is transmitted for transmission to the core network. Similarly, "downstream node" is used to refer to a relay node from which uplink data is received for transmission to the core network. For example, if uplink data is transmitted over a path consisting of (in order) the third node 113, the first node 111, and the donor node 110, the donor node 110 is an upstream node with respect to the first node 111, and the third node 113 is a downstream node with respect to the first node 111.

[0044] The transmission of uplink / downlink data from / to a communication device can use multiple paths. This is called "multi-connectivity." For example, uplink data transmitted by the wireless communication device 104 is transmitted to the donor node 110 via the third node 113 and the second node 112, or transmitted to the donor node 110 via the third node 113 and the first node 111.

[0045] The donor node 110 and the second through fourth infrastructure devices acting as the first through third nodes 111, 112, 113 may communicate with one or more other nodes by way of one or more inter-node wireless communication links (which may also be referred to as "wireless backhaul communication links"). For example, FIG. 4 shows four inter-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136.

[0046] Each of the inter-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 may be provided by a respective wireless access interface, or two or more of the inter-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 may be provided by a common wireless access interface, and in particular, in some deployments of the present technology, all of the inter-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 are provided by a shared wireless access interface.

[0047] The wireless access interface providing the inter-node wireless communication link may also be used for communication between the infrastructure device and the communication device served by the infrastructure device. For example, the fourth wireless communication device 104 may communicate with the third node 113 using the wireless access interface providing the inter-node wireless communication link 134 connecting the third node 113 and the second node 112.

[0048] The wireless access interfaces providing the inter-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 may operate according to any suitable standards and technologies.

[0049] Examples of radio access interface standards include the 3GPP standard General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) / Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) ("2G"), Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA®) / Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and related standards such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and HSPA+ ("3G"), LTE and related standards including LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) ("4G"), and NR and related standards including NR-Advanced ("5G"). Technologies that may be used to provide the radio access interface include one or more of time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA). Duplexing (i.e., transmission in two directions over a radio link) is accomplished by frequency division duplexing (FDD) or time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of both.

[0050] In some deployments of the present technology, two or more of the node-to-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 may share communication resources because two or more of the node-to-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 are provided by a single radio access interface or because two or more of the node-to-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 operate simultaneously using a common frequency range. The nature of the node-to-node wireless communication links 130, 132, 134, 136 may depend on the architecture in which the wireless backhaul function is achieved.

[0051] In the described example, the term "serving node" refers to a node to which a UE directly transmits wireless uplink signals or directly receives wireless downlink signals to communicate with the network. For example, in FIG. 4, node 111 is the serving node for UEs 101 and 102, and node 113 is the serving node for UEs 103 and 104.

[0052] FIG. 5 illustrates a use case of a network based on the network 100 of FIG. 4 according to an embodiment. Here, the relay node 111 is a mobile relay node. For example, the relay node 111 is a vehicle mounted relay (VMR) mounted on a vehicle (e.g., a bus or a train), which moves and connects to different upstream nodes depending on its location. The mobility of the mobile relay node 111 is managed by the core network 20, the CU (not shown in FIG. 5), the DU (not shown in FIG. 5) and / or other nodes of the network to which the mobile relay node 111 can be connected via a node-to-node wireless communication link. At the time of FIG. 5, the mobile relay node 111 has established a node-to-node wireless communication link 130 with the donor node 110. The donor node 110 is in turn connected to the core network 20 via one or more physical connections 122. Uplink and downlink data are transmitted wirelessly between the UE 101 and the network via a wireless communication path 500 established between the UE 101 and the mobile relay node 111.

[0053] Use cases involving mobile relay nodes such as VMR are described, for example, in Non-Patent Document 2. VMRs can improve cellular coverage and / or capacity on the fly, when and where needed. They also help improve connectivity for UEs in vehicles equipped with VMRs. In Non-Patent Document 2, several use cases for VMR are described along with potential new network requirements that may be needed to support these use cases, in particular enabling UEs to maintain connectivity with the network via the mobile relay nodes. One example use case is a network supporting the use of mobile relay nodes to provide network access to UEs in vehicles along the vehicle's itinerary. Another example use case is a network providing a means to ensure that UEs in vehicles maintain connectivity via the mobile relay nodes once network access and connectivity via the mobile relay nodes is provided.

[0054] To maintain connectivity, a UE typically periodically performs signal measurements of all network nodes that can potentially serve the UE in order to find the most suitable serving node. However, performing these measurements requires power, which undesirably increases the power consumption of the UE.

[0055] To address this issue, it is recognized that in situations such as the use case of 3GPP TS 2010-011361, where the UE is provided with network access via a single mobile relay node (e.g., a relay node on board a bus or train in which the user with the UE is riding), the UE does not need to perform such measurements periodically, since a single mobile relay node is the optimal serving node while the user is traveling in the vehicle. This is especially true when, for example, the vehicle's itinerary is planned in advance. Therefore, power consumption can be reduced by not performing periodic measurements when they are not necessary. However, on the other hand, the UE needs to be able to resume performing periodic measurements when appropriate, to prevent loss of connectivity when, for example, it leaves the vehicle and can no longer rely on the mobile relay node on board the vehicle. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively manage whether or not to perform UE side measurements in different scenarios.

[0056] Some of the described examples include a mobile IAB node as the mobile network node, but more generally, the mobile network node may be any suitable relay device, such as, for example, a relay UE, and the described embodiments may also be implemented by a UE served by a network node that is not a relay node (e.g., donor node 110).

[0057] In an embodiment, the performance of the UE measurements depends on one or more conditions. The conditions are based on, for example, time, the location of the UE, and the connection characteristics of the UE with one or more particular network nodes. Thus, the UE does not always perform measurements on signals transmitted from all network nodes that can potentially serve the UE. Rather, it performs measurements only when necessary based on the satisfaction of one or more conditions. This helps to achieve a proper balance between the UE's measurement performance (allowing to determine the optimal serving node, thereby helping to maintain the UE's connectivity with the network through appropriate link switching and / or cell reselection) and the UE's power consumption (as the UE's power consumption is reduced if unnecessary measurements are not performed). In an embodiment, the term "full UE measurements" refers to the above-mentioned power consumption performance of measurements by the UE on signals received from all network nodes that can potentially serve the UE. The measurements on each signal may be, for example, measurements of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of the signals transmitted from each network node. The term "measurement configuration" refers to the network nodes on which the measurements are performed. For example, the measurement configuration may be a complete UE measurement configuration or the UE may perform measurements only for one node (eg, the serving node) or for a subset of nodes that can potentially serve the UE.

[0058] In one embodiment, a list of preferred nodes and link quality based measurements are used to determine the type of UE measurements.

[0059] For example, a UE connected with a relay device, such as a network relay (IAB, VMR) or a UE relay, is configured with a prioritized measurement list. The prioritized measurement list identifies one or more network nodes (e.g. the relay device currently serving the UE and optionally one or more additional network nodes). The prioritized measurement list is stored, for example, in a storage medium (not shown) incorporated as part of the circuitry of the controller 44.

[0060] The UE performs measurements only for nodes in the prioritized measurement list (rather than all nodes that may serve the UE) unless the radio link quality (e.g., as measured by RSRP or RSRQ) of at least one node in the prioritized measurement list (e.g., all nodes or only some nodes, depending on the configuration) falls below a threshold. This threshold is preconfigured and may be the same or different for each node in the prioritized measurement list. Only when the radio link quality falls below the threshold for at least one node in the prioritized measurement list, the UE starts performing full UE measurements.

[0061] The prioritized measurement list and / or thresholds for each node in the prioritized measurement list may be indicated to the UE in a signal received from the serving relay (eg, when the UE first connects).

[0062] The preferred measurement list and / or thresholds can form a new so-called "S-Measure" criterion. The existing S-Measure criterion for non-relay network nodes is described for example in 3GPP TS 2013-01-1321, where the threshold is for NRSp cell RSRP measurements and controls when the UE needs to perform measurements on non-serving cells. This threshold can be based on ssb-RSRP (corresponding to cell RSRP based on Synchronization Signal (SS) / Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks) or csi-RSRP (corresponding to cell RSRP based on Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS)). This idea can be extended to relay network nodes as a new S-Measure criterion that is more suited to the requirements for relay nodes.

[0063] For example, the link quality threshold for the new S-Measure criterion can be selected to reflect differences between the Uu interface between a UE and a fixed IAB node (on which the existing S-Measure criterion is set) and the Uu interface between a UE and a mobile IAB node or the PC5 interface between a remote UE and a relay UE, etc. The link quality threshold can also be set tighter (i.e., indicative of higher link quality) to reflect the fact that, for example, a slight degradation in link quality with a relay may be more problematic than with a fixed network node (because, unlike a fixed network node, a relay may suddenly move away from the UE it is serving, e.g., if the relay is mounted in a vehicle that the UE's user has just exited), and therefore it may be beneficial to initiate full UE measurements more quickly.

[0064] The new S-Measure criteria may be signaled to the UE, for example, in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message (eg, from an IAB node) or a PC5 RRC message (eg, from a relay UE).

[0065] In one embodiment, the timing is used to determine the type of UE measurement.

[0066] When a UE is configured with a measurement configuration, there is a time constraint associated with it. For example, the time constraint may be configured as follows:

[0067] 1) Start time: The UE starts measurement according to the measurement configuration after the start time.

[0068] 2) Stop Time: The UE shall stop performing measurements according to the measurement configuration once the stop time has elapsed.

[0069] 3) Start time and stop time: The UE performs measurements according to the measurement configuration between the start time and stop time.

[0070] 4) Start time+time: The UE performs measurements according to the measurement configuration between Start time and Start time+time.

[0071] The start time, stop time and / or duration may be defined, for example, as part of a measurement configuration, which may be transmitted by the serving node to the UE (including the start time, stop time and / or duration, if applicable).

[0072] For example, when a user gets into a vehicle and starts a service by the VMR installed in the vehicle, a measurement configuration may be sent to the UE. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE performs measurements only on the VMR (and without other network nodes) for a time determined, for example, according to the start and stop times of the vehicle. For example, if the vehicle is a bus or a train that leaves a first stop at a first time and arrives at a second stop at a second time, the duration may be defined to be between the first time and the second time, where the first time and the second time are defined as the start time and the stop time, respectively, in the measurement configuration notified to the UE by the VMR.

[0073] This helps to reduce the UE's power consumption when it is moving with the vehicle (since it only needs to perform measurements of the VMR and not all detectable network nodes), while ensuring that the UE maintains connectivity when it leaves the vehicle at a stop (the time when the UE leaves the vehicle at a stop corresponds to the stop time associated with that stop, thereby allowing the UE to start measuring network nodes other than the VMR). The various start and stop times of the measurement configuration may be pre-determined based, for example, on the known route and stopping points of the vehicle.

[0074] More generally, the timing included in the measurement configuration indicates one or more timing related conditions that must be satisfied in order to perform measurements according to the measurement configuration (e.g., perform full UE measurements or perform measurements only for UEs on a prioritized measurement list). The timing related condition may be that a time has occurred (e.g., a stop time for a vehicle to arrive at a stop has occurred), that a time has not yet occurred (e.g., a start time for a vehicle to leave a stop has not yet occurred), that a time has elapsed (e.g., a time has elapsed between a vehicle leaving a first stop and arriving at a second stop), or that a time has not elapsed (e.g., a time has not elapsed between a vehicle arriving at a stop and leaving the same stop). Some principles of measurement timing are explained, for example, in US Pat. No. 6,399,433.

[0075] Although the above example timings of this embodiment apply to measurements performed at nodes other than the serving node, such timings can also be applied to measurements performed at the serving node. For example, a measurement configuration can be considered that makes the UE perform measurements of VMR only when or during periods when the vehicle is not moving. This is because when the vehicle is moving, it is assumed that the VMR is the most suitable serving node (so there is no need to measure VMR), whereas when the vehicle is not moving, there may be a more suitable serving node that can be used (so there is a need to measure VMR and neighboring nodes).

[0076] In one embodiment, the measurement configuration is pre-configured and activated or deactivated to determine the type of UE measurements.

[0077] For example, the UE is preconfigured with one or more measurement configurations (e.g., a first measurement configuration to perform measurements only on serving nodes, a second measurement configuration to perform measurements only on nodes in a preferred measurement list, etc.) by a signal from the network (e.g., an RRC signal). The UE then starts performing measurements according to one of the preconfigured measurement configurations only if it receives an activation signal from the network (e.g., from the current serving node). In general, the preconfigured measurement configuration causes measurements to be performed with respect to the serving node and / or one or more neighboring nodes.

[0078] In one example, each preconfigured measurement configuration is associated with a respective predefined index, and the activation signal indicates the index of each measurement configuration to be activated. For example, if a first measurement configuration with index "1" (e.g., performing measurements only on serving nodes) is to be activated, the activation signal includes index "1". Similarly, if a second measurement configuration with index "2" (e.g., performing measurements only on nodes in a preferred measurement list) is to be activated, the activation signal includes index "2". An activation signal including multiple indices or multiple activation signals each having a different respective index can be sent to simultaneously activate multiple preconfigured measurement configurations (including the condition that they are not mutually exclusive).

[0079] In one example, the UE continues to perform measurements according to the activated measurement configuration until a subsequent deactivation signal is received from the network (e.g., from the current serving node), where the deactivation signal indicates the index of each preconfigured measurement configuration to be deactivated.

[0080] The activation and deactivation signals may take any suitable form, for example activation / deactivation commands signaled via RRC signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling, or appropriate L1 layer signaling (such as Downlink Control Information (DCI)).

[0081] The network may send an activation or deactivation signal according to one or more characteristics of the UE.

[0082] For example, sending an activation or deactivation command may be triggered by one or more of the following:

[0083] 1) Location information received from the UE (e.g., allowing the network to activate a measurement configuration for performing measurements on network nodes in the vicinity of the UE's location).

[0084] 2) The strength or quality of the uplink reference signal received from the UE (e.g., RSRP or RSRQ) (e.g., allowing the network to activate a measurement configuration to perform measurements on a network node other than the current serving node if the strength of the UE's uplink reference signal quality is below a threshold or indicates a UE speed and / or location for which a different pre-configured measurement configuration is appropriate).

[0085] 3) A known itinerary or route as the UE moves (e.g., the network allows the UE to activate different pre-configured measurement configurations at different times and / or locations along the UE's itinerary or route).

[0086] In one embodiment, the UE may be required to perform a single measurement or a series of measurements according to the measurement configuration. This may be referred to as a "one-shot" measurement configuration. In this case, for example, the need to perform measurements according to the one-shot measurement configuration is indicated to the UE by a predefined signal transmitted from the network (e.g., the current serving node). Once the measurements are completed (e.g., after a predefined time or a certain number of measurements), the UE returns to the state before receiving the predefined signal without receiving any further signals (e.g., a deactivation signal) from the network. The predefined signal transmitted to the UE to initiate the one-shot measurement configuration may indicate the one-shot measurement configuration (e.g., by including all necessary parameters defining the measurement configuration) or may trigger a one-shot measurement configuration preconfigured in the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, MAC CE, or Layer 1 signaling).

[0087] For example, a one-shot measurement transmission may be triggered by one or more of the following:

[0088] 1. The network wants to know the current location of the UE so that it can provide appropriate location-based services. In this case, for example, the UE can perform complete UE measurements for a limited time in response to a predefined signal from the network and report the measurements to the network. Based on the measurements, the network can estimate the UE's location. Alternatively, if it has the capability to do so, the UE can also send a location report in response to receiving a predefined signal from the network.

[0089] 2. The network wants to know the current radio link quality of the UE so that the UE can adjust the beam direction. In this case, for example, the UE can perform measurements on the current serving node for which the beam direction is determined in response to a predetermined signal from the network and report the measurements to the network. Alternatively, in response to the predetermined signal, the UE can transmit an uplink reference signal, which is measured by the current serving node to determine the current radio link quality. Based on the measurements (reported from the UE or measured directly based on the received uplink reference signal), the network can estimate whether the current beam direction needs to be adjusted or not.

[0090] 3. The network wants to check the coverage situation in a certain area. In this case, for example, a predetermined signal is transmitted to all UEs in the area (e.g. by a network node providing a cell covering the area). In response, each UE performs a full UE measurement for a limited time in response to the predetermined signal from the network and reports the measurement to the network. In this case, for example, a UE can perform a measurement of an interfering signal for a limited time in response to a predetermined signal from the network and report the measurement to the network. This allows the network to determine which network entities may cause interference to the UE and to perform appropriate mitigation measures.

[0091] The predefined signal that triggers the one-shot measurement configuration may take any suitable form, for example a one-shot trigger command signaled via RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling or appropriate L1 layer signaling (such as DCI). In general, the one-shot measurement configuration causes measurements to be performed on the serving node and / or one or more neighboring nodes.

[0092] The UE may be configured to perform a one-shot measurement configuration (e.g., one of the example measurement configurations above) within a predefined time. That is, the UE may be configured such that the action it performs in response to receiving a predefined signal from the network (e.g., performing a measurement and / or transmitting an uplink reference signal) occurs during or at the end of a predefined time period that begins when the predefined signal is received. The predefined time period may be measured, for example, in seconds or in radio frames, subframes, or slots. This allows the network to know when an action has been performed. This can be useful, for example, to determine which network entity is causing interference to the UE (because the network knows when the interference was measured by the UE).

[0093] In one embodiment, the information indicating the type of UE measurement is indicated in an idle or inactive measurement configuration signal received by the UE from the network. Examples of idle or inactive measurement configuration signals are disclosed in 3GPP TS 2010 / 013311 and configure the UE to perform certain measurements when in RRC idle or inactive mode. Such a signal may be included, for example, in an RRC release message.

[0094] In one example, in case of RRC idle mode, the availability of measurements performed by the UE during RRC idle mode is reported to the network in a subsequent RRC Setup Complete message. After security activation (e.g., after sending a security mode command to the UE and before receiving security mode complete from the UE), the network can request measurements (and the UE then provides these measurements to the network).

[0095] In one example, in case of RRC inactive mode, the network may request the UE to provide in an RRC resume message the measurements performed by the UE during the RRC inactive mode, and the UE may then include the available measurement results in the RRC resume complete message. Alternatively, the UE may provide an indication in the RRC resume complete message to the network that measurement results are available, and the network may request the UE to provide these measurements (which the UE then provides to the network).

[0096] The type of UE measurement (e.g., a first measurement configuration to perform measurements only on serving nodes, a second measurement configuration to perform measurements only on nodes in a prioritized measurement list, etc.) can be provided as part of the idle or inactive measurement configuration signal (e.g., in the RRC release message and / or in the system information block (SIB) 11 as an information element (IE) Meas Idle Config). The type of UE measurement can define further characteristics regarding the idle or inactive measurement to be performed. For example, the characteristics can be time-based (e.g., indicating the time and / or duration at which the UE performs the idle or inactive measurements), location-based (e.g., indicating the location / area to which the UE performs the idle or inactive measurements) or other characteristics such as UE speed or the particular network node to which the UE is connected before entering the idle or inactive mode. For example, relay node information can also be included (e.g., in the validity area list) so that potential relay nodes that the UE may encounter in idle or inactive mode can be included in any prioritized measurement list.

[0097] It should be noted that although some of the described embodiments concern L3 layer measurement reporting, RSRP and CSI reporting is also possible at the L1 layer (e.g., as described in Non-Patent Document 5). Thus, the present technology may be extended to the L1 layer to provide measurement configuration to the UE based on time, location, specific network node, etc. The type of UE measurements can be configured at the L1 layer, for example, via RRC signaling.

[0098] Depending on the requirements of the network, different embodiments can be combined. For example, the UE can be configured to perform only measurements on nodes in the preferred network list before or after a predefined time, or before or after expiry of a predefined time (provided that the radio link quality of at least one node in the preferred list is equal to or greater than a predefined threshold). In another example, the UE may be configured to perform only measurements on nodes in the preferred network list (again, provided that the radio link quality of at least one node in the preferred list is equal to or greater than a predefined threshold), but this may be overridden, for example, when an activation signal or a predefined signal indicating full UE measurements is received. It will be understood that any of the described embodiments can be combined according to the requirements of the network.

[0099] Thus, the present technique, particularly in the context of a mobile network node, enables UE measurements to be configured according to one or more conditions in order to achieve an improved balance between UE connectivity and UE power consumption.

[0100] 6 illustrates a method performed by a wireless telecommunications device (eg, UE 101) according to one embodiment. The method begins at step 600.

[0101] In step 601, communications circuitry (e.g., transmitter 49 and / or receiver 48) transmits or receives a wireless signal to or from a first network node (e.g., node 111), the first network node being a mobile network node.

[0102] In step 602, the control circuitry (e.g., controller 44) determines whether one or more conditions are satisfied. If one or more conditions are satisfied, the method proceeds to step 603. If not, the method returns to step 601.

[0103] In step 603, the control circuitry measures a characteristic (eg, RSRP or RSRQ) of a wireless signal received by the communication circuitry from a different second network node.

[0104] The method ends at step 604.

[0105] Various examples are given for the one or more conditions of step 602. Various examples include a condition that a measurement indicating a communication link quality between the wireless telecommunication device and each network node in the list of preferred network nodes is less than a communication link quality threshold (wherein the first network node is in the list of preferred network nodes and the second network node is not). Also included are conditions that a time has occurred (e.g., vehicle stop time), a time has not yet occurred (e.g., vehicle start time), a time has elapsed (e.g., vehicle running time) or a time has not yet elapsed (e.g., vehicle stop time). Examples also include a condition that a predetermined signal is received from the network (e.g., from a serving node). The predetermined signal may be, for example, an activation signal or a predetermined signal that triggers a one-shot measurement configuration.

[0106] A signal indicating information about the one or more conditions may be transmitted by the network to the wireless telecommunication device executing the method of Fig. 6. This information may indicate the one or more conditions themselves (e.g., measurement configuration information, optionally including information such as time of day or time, if such information is included as a condition) or information about the one or more conditions if these are preconfigured in the UE (e.g., a list of preferred network nodes and a communication link quality threshold or an index indicating a particular measurement configuration).

[0107] The signal indicating information regarding one or more conditions is transmitted by an appropriate node of the network, such as the current serving node. Such a node may take the form of a wireless telecommunication device, such as node 111. Figure 7 illustrates a method performed by such a wireless telecommunication device, according to an embodiment. The method starts at step 700.

[0108] In step 701, communication circuitry (e.g., transmitter 30 and / or receiver 32) transmits a wireless signal to or receives a wireless signal from a second wireless telecommunication device (e.g., a wireless telecommunication device performing the method of FIG. 6, such as UE 101).

[0109] In step 702, the communications circuitry transmits a signal indicative of information regarding one or more conditions to a second wireless telecommunications device.

[0110] The method ends in step 703.

[0111] Embodiments of the present disclosure are defined by the following numbered paragraphs:

[0112] (1) A wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising: a communications circuit configured to transmit wireless signals to or receive wireless signals from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; and a control circuit configured to determine whether one or more conditions are satisfied and, if the one or more conditions are satisfied, to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communications circuit from a different second network node; A wireless telecommunications device comprising:

[0113] (2) The wireless telecommunications device according to (1), the first network node is included in a preferred network node list; the second network node is not included in the preferred network node list; The one or more conditions include a condition that a measurement indicative of a communication link quality between the wireless telecommunication device and at least one network node in the preferred network node list is below a communication link quality threshold. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0114] (3) The wireless telecommunications device according to (2) above, The communications circuitry is configured to receive a signal from the network indicative of at least one of a list of preferred network nodes and a communications link quality threshold for each network node in the list of preferred network nodes. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0115] (4) A wireless telecommunications device according to any preceding claim, The one or more conditions include a condition that a time has occurred, a time has not yet occurred, a time has passed, or a time has not yet passed. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0116] (5) A wireless telecommunications device according to any preceding claim, The one or more conditions include a current location of the wireless telecommunication device. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0117] (6) A wireless telecommunications device according to any one of (1) to (4) above, The control circuit includes: Estimating a current location of the wireless telecommunication device; transmitting an estimate of the current location of the wireless telecommunications device to the wireless telecommunications network; In response thereto, the wireless telecommunications device is configured to receive from the wireless telecommunications network an activation command indicating that the wireless telecommunications device should measure a characteristic of a radio signal received by the communication circuitry or a deactivation command indicating that the wireless telecommunications device should stop measuring the characteristic of the radio signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0118] (7) A wireless telecommunications device according to any one of the preceding claims, The one or more conditions include a condition that the communication circuit receives a predetermined signal from the network. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0119] (8) The wireless telecommunications device according to (7), the predetermined signal indicates that a characteristic of a radio signal received by the communication circuitry from the different second network node should be measured a limited number of times and / or for a limited time; In response to the communications circuitry receiving the predetermined signal, the control circuitry is configured to measure the characteristic of the wireless signal received by the communications circuitry from the different second network node for the limited number of times and / or for the limited time. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0120] (9) The wireless telecommunications device according to (8), The control circuitry is configured to initiate measurements of the characteristics of the wireless signals received by the communications circuitry from the different second network node for or at the end of a predetermined time period that begins upon receipt of the predetermined signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0121] (10) The wireless telecommunications device according to (7), the predetermined signal being an activation signal indicating that a characteristic of a radio signal received by the communication circuitry from the different second network node should be measured; In response to the communications circuit receiving the predetermined signal, the control circuitry is configured to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communications circuit from the different second network node by the communications circuit until a deactivation signal is further received by the communications circuit. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0122] (11) A wireless telecommunication device according to any one of the preceding claims, The communication circuitry is configured to receive a signal from the network indicative of the one or more conditions. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0123] (12) The wireless telecommunications device according to (11), the control circuitry is configured to control the wireless telecommunication device to perform measurements of characteristics of radio signals received by the communication circuitry when the wireless telecommunication device is in an idle or inactive mode in accordance with an idle or inactive measurement configuration signal received by the communication circuitry from the network; The one or more conditions are indicated by the idle or inactive measurement set signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0124] (13) A wireless telecommunications device according to any one of the preceding claims, The control circuitry is configured to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communications circuitry from the first network node when the one or more conditions are satisfied. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0125] (14) A wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising: a second wireless telecommunication device configured to transmit or receive radio signals to or from a second wireless telecommunication device, the second wireless telecommunication device being configured to transmit or receive radio signals to or from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; determining whether one or more conditions are satisfied; measuring a characteristic of a wireless signal received by communication circuitry from a different second network node if the one or more conditions are satisfied, and transmitting a signal to the second wireless telecommunication device indicative of information associated with the one or more conditions. A communication circuit configured as follows: A wireless telecommunications device comprising:

[0126] (15) The wireless telecommunications device according to (14), the first network node is included in a preferred network node list; the second network node is not included in the preferred network node list; the one or more conditions include a condition that a measurement indicative of a communication link quality between the second wireless telecommunication device and at least one network node in the preferred network node list is less than a communication link quality threshold; The signal transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device indicative of information regarding the one or more conditions is indicative of at least one of the preferred network node list and a communication link quality threshold for each network node in the preferred network node list. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0127] (16) A wireless telecommunications device according to (14) or (15), the one or more conditions being a condition that the second wireless telecommunication device receives a predetermined signal from the network; The signal indicative of information regarding the one or more conditions transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device is the predetermined signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0128] (17) The wireless telecommunications device according to (16), The predetermined signal indicates that a characteristic of a radio signal received by the second wireless telecommunication device from the different second network node should be measured a limited number of times and / or for a limited time. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0129] (18) The wireless telecommunications device according to (16), the predetermined signal being an activation signal indicating that the characteristic of the radio signal received by the second wireless telecommunication device from the different second network node should be measured; The communications circuitry is configured to transmit a deactivation signal to the second wireless telecommunications device indicating that the characteristic of the wireless signal received by the second wireless telecommunications device from the different second network node should no longer be measured. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0130] (19) A wireless telecommunications device according to (17) or (18), The signal indicative of information regarding the one or more conditions transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device is indicative of the one or more conditions. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0131] (20) The wireless telecommunications device according to (19), The signal indicative of the one or more conditions transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device is an idle or inactive measurement configuration signal configured to cause the second wireless telecommunication device to perform measurements of characteristics of radio signals received by the communication circuitry when the second wireless telecommunication device is in an idle or inactive mode. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0132] (21) A wireless telecommunication device according to any one of the preceding claims, The one or more conditions indicate to the second wireless telecommunication device whether or not the second wireless telecommunication device measures a characteristic of a wireless signal received from the first network node. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

[0133] (22) The wireless communication device according to (1) above, (14) A wireless communication device according to the present invention; A wireless communication system comprising:

[0134] (23) A method for controlling a wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising the steps of: transmitting a radio signal to or receiving a radio signal from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; determining whether one or more conditions are satisfied; measuring a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communication circuitry from a different second network node if the one or more conditions are satisfied; and controlling the wireless telecommunications device so as to method.

[0135] (24) A method for controlling a wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising the steps of: a second wireless telecommunication device configured to transmit or receive radio signals to or from a second wireless telecommunication device, the second wireless telecommunication device being configured to transmit or receive radio signals to or from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; determining whether one or more conditions are satisfied; measuring a characteristic of a wireless signal received by communication circuitry from a different second network node if the one or more conditions are satisfied, and transmitting a signal to the second wireless telecommunication device indicative of information associated with the one or more conditions. and controlling the wireless telecommunications device so as to method.

[0136] (25) A program for controlling a computer to execute the method according to (23) or (24) above.

[0137] (26) A storage medium storing the program described in (25) above.

[0138] Numerous modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the present disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

[0139] To the extent that embodiments of the present disclosure have been described as being implemented, at least in part, by one or more software-controlled information processing devices, it will be understood that machine-readable media (particularly non-transitory machine-readable media) bearing such software, such as optical disks, magnetic disks, semiconductor memories, etc., are also considered to represent embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, the present disclosure should be understood to include non-transitory storage media that include code components that cause a computer to perform any of the disclosed methods.

[0140] It will be appreciated that in the above description, for clarity, embodiments have been described with reference to different functional units, circuits and / or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuits and / or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

[0141] The described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. The described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least in part as computer software running on one or more computer processors (e.g., data processors and / or digital signal processors). The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in multiple units or as part of other functional units. Thus, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuits and / or processors.

[0142] Although the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with several embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to these embodiments. Moreover, while certain features may appear to be described in conjunction with particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various features of the described embodiments can be combined in any manner suitable for practicing the present disclosure.

Claims

1. 1. A wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising: a communications circuit configured to transmit wireless signals to or receive wireless signals from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; and a control circuit configured to determine whether one or more conditions are satisfied and, if the one or more conditions are satisfied, to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communication circuit from a different second network node; A wireless telecommunications device comprising:

2. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, the first network node is included in a preferred network node list; the second network node is not included in the preferred network node list; The one or more conditions include a condition that a measurement indicative of a communication link quality between the wireless telecommunication device and at least one network node in the preferred network node list is below a communication link quality threshold. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

3. 3. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 2, comprising: The communications circuitry is configured to receive a signal from the network indicative of at least one of a list of preferred network nodes and a communications link quality threshold for each network node in the list of preferred network nodes. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

4. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, The one or more conditions include a condition that a time has occurred, a time has not yet occurred, a time has passed, or a time has not yet passed. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

5. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, The one or more conditions include a current location of the wireless telecommunication device. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

6. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, The control circuit includes: Estimating a current location of the wireless telecommunication device; transmitting an estimate of the current location of the wireless telecommunications device to the wireless telecommunications network; In response thereto, the wireless telecommunications device is configured to receive from the wireless telecommunications network an activation command indicating that the wireless telecommunications device should measure a characteristic of a radio signal received by the communication circuitry or a deactivation command indicating that the wireless telecommunications device should stop measuring the characteristic of the radio signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

7. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, The one or more conditions include a condition that the communication circuitry receives a predetermined signal from the network. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

8. 8. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 7, comprising: the predetermined signal indicates that a characteristic of a radio signal received by the communication circuitry from the different second network node should be measured a limited number of times and / or for a limited time; In response to the communications circuitry receiving the predetermined signal, the control circuitry is configured to measure the characteristic of the wireless signal received by the communications circuitry from the different second network node for the limited number of times and / or for the limited time. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

9. 9. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 8, comprising: The control circuitry is configured to initiate measurements of the characteristics of the radio signals received by the communications circuitry from the different second network node for or at the end of a predetermined time period that begins upon receipt of the predetermined signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

10. 8. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 7, comprising: the predetermined signal being an activation signal indicating that a characteristic of a radio signal received by the communication circuitry from the different second network node should be measured; In response to the communications circuit receiving the predetermined signal, the control circuitry is configured to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communications circuitry from the different second network node until a deactivation signal is further received by the communications circuitry. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

11. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, The communication circuitry is configured to receive a signal from the network indicative of the one or more conditions. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

12. 12. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 11, comprising: the control circuitry is configured to control the wireless telecommunication device to perform measurements of characteristics of radio signals received by the communication circuitry when the wireless telecommunication device is in an idle or inactive mode in accordance with an idle or inactive measurement configuration signal received by the communication circuitry from the network; The one or more conditions are indicated by the idle or inactive measurement set signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

13. 2. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 1, The control circuitry is configured to measure a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communications circuitry from the first network node when the one or more conditions are satisfied. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

14. 1. A wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising: a second wireless telecommunication device configured to transmit radio signals to or receive radio signals from said second wireless telecommunication device, said second wireless telecommunication device being configured to transmit radio signals to or receive radio signals from said first network node, said first network node being a mobile network node; determining whether one or more conditions are satisfied; measuring a characteristic of a radio signal received by communication circuitry from a different second network node if the one or more conditions are satisfied, and transmitting a signal to the second wireless telecommunication device indicative of information associated with the one or more conditions. A communication circuit configured as follows: A wireless telecommunications device comprising:

15. 15. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 14, comprising: the first network node is included in a preferred network node list; the second network node is not included in the preferred network node list; the one or more conditions include a condition that a measurement indicative of a communication link quality between the second wireless telecommunication device and at least one network node in the preferred network node list is less than a communication link quality threshold; The signal transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device indicative of information regarding the one or more conditions is indicative of at least one of the preferred network node list and a communication link quality threshold for each network node in the preferred network node list. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

16. 15. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 14, comprising: the one or more conditions being a condition that the second wireless telecommunication device receives a predetermined signal from the network; The signal indicative of information regarding the one or more conditions transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device is the predetermined signal. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

17. 17. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 16, comprising: The predetermined signal indicates that a characteristic of a radio signal received by the second wireless telecommunication device from the different second network node should be measured a limited number of times and / or for a limited time. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

18. 17. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 16, comprising: the predetermined signal being an activation signal indicating that the characteristic of the radio signal received by the second wireless telecommunication device from the different second network node should be measured; The communications circuitry is configured to transmit a deactivation signal to the second wireless telecommunications device indicating that the characteristic of the radio signal received by the second wireless telecommunications device from the different second network node should no longer be measured. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

19. 18. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 17, comprising: The signal indicative of information regarding the one or more conditions transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device is indicative of the one or more conditions. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

20. 20. A wireless telecommunications device as claimed in claim 19, comprising: The signal indicative of the one or more conditions transmitted to the second wireless telecommunication device is an idle or inactive measurement configuration signal configured to cause the second wireless telecommunication device to perform measurements of characteristics of radio signals received by the communication circuitry when the second wireless telecommunication device is in an idle or inactive mode. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

21. 15. A wireless telecommunications device according to claim 14, comprising: The one or more conditions indicate to the second wireless telecommunication device whether or not the second wireless telecommunication device measures a characteristic of a radio signal received from the first network node. Wireless telecommunications equipment.

22. A wireless communication device according to claim 1; A wireless communication device according to claim 14. A wireless communication system comprising:

23. 1. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising: transmitting a radio signal to or receiving a radio signal from a first network node, the first network node being a mobile network node; determining whether one or more conditions are satisfied; measuring a characteristic of a wireless signal received by the communication circuitry from a different second network node if the one or more conditions are satisfied; and controlling the wireless telecommunications device so as to method.

24. 1. A method of controlling a wireless telecommunications device for use in a wireless telecommunications network, comprising: a second wireless telecommunication device configured to transmit radio signals to or receive radio signals from said second wireless telecommunication device, said second wireless telecommunication device being configured to transmit radio signals to or receive radio signals from said first network node, said first network node being a mobile network node; determining whether one or more conditions are satisfied; measuring a characteristic of a radio signal received by communication circuitry from a different second network node if the one or more conditions are satisfied, and transmitting a signal to the second wireless telecommunication device indicative of information associated with the one or more conditions. and controlling the wireless telecommunications device so as to method.

25. A program for controlling a computer to carry out the method according to claim 23 or 24.

26. A storage medium storing the program according to claim 25.

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