Conditional skipping of measurements

Abstract

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a device, a method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium for conditionally skipping measurements. A first device first determines that a first condition for performing measurements is met. In this case, if a second condition for skipping measurements is met, the first device skips the measurements. Thus, wireless measurements can be conditionally performed to save power for the first device.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to methods, devices, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for conditional skipping of measurements. [Background technology]

[0002] In Release (Rel) 17, mobility solutions for New Radio (NR) support over Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) are being developed in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A key solution is the enhancement of conditional handover (CHO), which is currently expected to be adopted for enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC). CHO can be configured by combining A3 / A4 / A5 radio measurements with time / location-based events. For example, whenever a time / location event is triggered, the user equipment (UE) needs to measure the configured A3 / A4 / A5 before performing CHO to the target cell. CHO can be initiated without waiting for a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration command from the serving cell, since such a command would have been received earlier. However, for eMTC devices, or any other power-limited devices that are power-limited and mostly static, and access NTN cells, constant measurements may not be necessary. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a first device is provided, the first device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least determine that a first condition for performing a measurement is satisfied, and skip the measurement in accordance with a determination that a second condition for skipping the measurement is satisfied.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a second device is provided, the second device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least determine that measurement skipping is enabled for the first device and send an indication that measurement skipping is enabled to the first device.

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, the method including: determining, at a first device, that a first condition for performing a measurement is satisfied; and skipping the measurement in accordance with the determination that a second condition for skipping the measurement is satisfied.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, another method is provided, the method including: determining, at a second device, that measurement skipping is enabled for a first device; and transmitting an indication to the first device that measurement skipping is enabled.

[0007] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, the first apparatus comprising: means for determining that a first condition for performing a measurement is satisfied; and means for skipping the measurement according to a determination that a second condition for skipping the measurement is satisfied.

[0008] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, the second apparatus comprising: means for determining that measurement skipping is enabled for a first device; and means for transmitting an indication that measurement skipping is enabled to the first device.

[0009] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to the third aspect.

[0010] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to the fourth aspect.

[0011] It should be understood that this summary section is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the following description.

[0012] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is an example signaling diagram of a measurement process according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] 1 is a flowchart of a method performed on a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart of a method performed on a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an example signaling diagram of a successful handover case according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is an example signaling diagram of a handover failure case according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is an example UE state diagram according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements.

[0015] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only and to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, and are not intended to imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0016] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0017] In this disclosure, references such as "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an exemplary embodiment," and the like indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly stated.

[0018] Although terms such as "first," "second," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, it should be understood that these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0019] As used herein, "at least one of: " and "at least one of " and similar phrases, when a list of two or more elements is connected by "and" or "or", mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0020] As used herein, unless explicitly stated, performing a step "in response to A" does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after "A" occurs, and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0021] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting to example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0022] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., analog and / or digital-only implementations); (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; and (ii) any portion of software (including digital signal processors), hardware processors with software and memory that cooperate to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions; and (c) A hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or part of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but where the software may not be present when it is not required for operation.

[0023] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, when used in this application, the term circuit also covers merely a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor, as well as its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. The term circuit also covers, for example, baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices, if applicable to certain claim elements.

[0024] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or other protocols currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there are certainly future communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied. The scope of the present disclosure should not be considered limited to only the aforementioned systems.

[0025] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node of a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also referred to as gNB), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Radio Header (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), repeater, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, low-power nodes such as femto, pico, satellite network devices, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, airborne network devices, etc. In some example embodiments, a Radio Access Network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. The IAB node includes a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) unit that behaves like a UE to the parent node, and the DU unit of the IAB node behaves like a base station to the next-hop IAB node.

[0026] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback equipment, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (loT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Terminal devices may also correspond to the Mobile Termination (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0027] As used herein, the terms "resource," "transmission resource," "resource block," "physical resource block" (PRB), "uplink resource," or "downlink resource" may refer to any resource for performing communication, e.g., communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in the time domain, a resource in the frequency domain, a resource in the spatial domain, a resource in the code domain, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereinafter, unless explicitly stated, resources in both the frequency domain and the time domain are used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0028] To enhance support for the Internet of Things (IoT) over NTNs, particularly from the perspective of eMTC mobility, it is necessary to build on the Narrow Band (NB)-IoT and eMTC of Rel-17 (Terrestrial Network, TN) to achieve mobility enhancement objectives, including support for neighbor cell measurements and corresponding measurement triggers before radio link failure (RLF). These objectives also include reusing solutions introduced in Rel-17 NR NTN for mobility enhancements for eMTC, adapting them to eMTC with minimal changes. UE Radio Resource Management (RRM) core requirements are also defined for the above mobility enhancement functions.

[0029] As mentioned above, in Release 17, a key mobility solution for NR support over NTNs is the enhancement of CHO. For NR NTN terminal devices (e.g., UEs), CHO can be configured by configuring A3 / A4 / A5 radio measurements along with time / location-based events. Location-based events may include condEvent L4, which includes when the distance between the UE and the reference location of the Primary Cell (PCell) exceeds a threshold (e.g., absolute threshold 1) and when the distance between the UE and a conditional reconfiguration candidate falls below a threshold (e.g., absolute threshold 2). Time-based events may include an event in which the UE is only permitted to perform HO during the time period from T1 to T2. A combination of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time and duration / timer, e.g., 00:00:01 + 40 seconds, may be used to represent the T1 and T2 CHO time events. Radio measurement and new trigger combinations may include location and RRM, and time and RRM as configuration options for CHO.

[0030] Therefore, whenever a time / location event is triggered, the UE needs to measure the pre-configured A3 / A4 / A5 before performing HO to the target cell. If the UE is power-limited and mainly static, it may not be necessary to measure all the time. For example, if the satellites are following almost the same ephemeris path data as before (when HO is performed with measurements) and / or are following radio conditions that remain almost the same as before, the UE and / or the Network may be confident in the previous data.

[0031] Therefore, the number of measurements needs to be reduced to reduce the power consumption of the UE. Constant measurements may cause unnecessary and undesirable power consumption for eMTC devices. The UE may be given the option to ignore measuring the target cell depending on the time / location information along with some additional information, considering the trade-off between successful HO and power saving.

[0032]

[0013] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure propose a scheme for defining thresholds and corresponding handshakes between a terminal device and a network device, which can be used to conditionally perform radio measurements for CHO. In some exemplary embodiments, if a condition for performing a measurement (referred to as a first condition) is met, the measurement can be optionally skipped according to a condition for skipping the measurement (referred to as a second condition).

[0033] For example, eMTC devices are power-limited and mostly static. It may not be necessary to always perform measurements when accessing NTN cells. This is especially true for NTNs, where ephemeris and satellite information is known (via System Information Broadcast). Therefore, the UE knows when a cell switch / CHO may be triggered based on estimated radio coverage and time / location-based triggers. At the same time, not performing measurements may lead to CHO failure. Embodiments of the present disclosure conditionally perform radio measurements, thereby saving power for eMTC devices.

[0034] For eMTC-NTN, the CHO execution condition may be defined as a combination of A3 / A4 / A5 events and location (or distance) or timer (or time)-based events for Earth Moving Cells (EMC) scenarios. In the context of this disclosure, the terms “timer / distance-based trigger,” “time / location-based trigger,” and “time / distance trigger” are intended to have the same or similar meaning and are used interchangeably. This combined evaluation is required to ensure that changes in radio conditions at the UE are taken into account during execution, along with conditions linked to NTN cell mobility. In some example embodiments, in the case of a power-limited, stationary UE, radio measurements of the target cell may be skipped if the observed radio conditions remain the same in consecutive executions of the same time / distance trigger, and the results of the CHO execution are also the same. The UE may internally decide to omit radio measurements and consider only timer / distance-based triggers depending on the estimated stability of these measurements. The UE may resume radio measurements for evaluation if a time / distance-trigger-based CHO execution was previously unsuccessful.

[0035] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure propose a mechanism whereby CHO conditions are evaluated only for time / distance-based events, while dynamically skipping radio condition evaluations based on measurement history and CHO execution results.

[0036] More details are described below with reference to FIGS.

[0037] 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. In the communication environment 100, multiple communication devices, including a first device 110 and a second device 120, may communicate with each other.

[0038] 1, the first device 110 may include a terminal device, and the second device 120 may include a network device that provides service to the terminal device. The serving area of ​​the second device 120 may be referred to as a cell 102.

[0039] It should be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 do not imply any limitation and are for illustrative purposes only. Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implement example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it will be understood that one or more additional devices may be located within cell 102 and one or more additional cells may be deployed within communication environment 100. It should be noted that, although shown as a network device, second device 120 may be a device other than a network device. Although shown as a terminal device, first device 110 may be a device other than a terminal device.

[0040] For purposes of explanation, some example embodiments are described below in which first device 110 operates as a terminal device and second device 120 operates as a network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described with reference to a terminal device may be implemented in a network device or other device, and operations described with reference to a network device may be implemented in a terminal device or other device.

[0041] In some example embodiments, when the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device, the link from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is called a downlink (DL), while the link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 is called an uplink (UL). In the DL, the second device 120 is a transmit (TX) device (or transmitter) and the first device 110 is a receive (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, the first device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter) and the second device 120 is a RX device (or receiver).

[0042] Communications in communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any suitable communications protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communications protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), wireless local network communications protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or other protocols now known or developed in the future. Moreover, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communications technology, including, but not limited to, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technology now known or developed in the future.

[0043] There are various deployment scenarios for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, a terrestrial mobile cell scenario (different cells covering the same area at different times according to the satellite's movement) may be used, where the serving cell and the target cell may be part of the same satellite or may be from different satellites. As another example, the deployment scenario may include a (quasi-) terrestrial fixed cell scenario (the same cell covers the area even though the satellite is moving), which is a cell switch case where the serving cell and the target cell belong to different satellites.

[0044] In the above or other possible scenarios, CHO for NTN can be set by configuring a time / location event (based on ephemeris data) together with measurements A3 / A4 / A5. This means that when a time / location event is triggered, the UE may need to perform radio measurements A3 / A4 / A5 as configured, thus initiating HO execution. In neighboring cells to be evaluated with a stationary (or slowly moving) IoT / eMTC device, performing radio measurements can be avoided, especially when the UE is in good coverage, if the ephemeris data is not changed and the radio conditions remain the same (less cell density).

[0045] 2 shows an example signaling diagram of a measurement process 200 according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0046] In the measurement process 200, the second device 120 determines (210) that skipping measurement is enabled for the first device 110 and then sends (220) an indication to the first device 110 that skipping measurement is enabled. Upon receiving (230) the first device 110 realizes that skipping measurement is enabled. The first device 110 then determines whether a first condition for performing measurement is met. If the first device 110 determines (240) that the first condition is met, the first device 110 further determines (250) whether a second condition for skipping measurement is met. If yes, the first device 110 can optionally skip measurement.

[0047] In this way, radio measurements can be performed conditionally instead of always being performed. Thereby, power for measurements can be saved efficiently. Taking an IoT / eMTC device as an example of a first device, avoiding radio measurements in some scenarios when accessing an NTN helps to save power for the IoT / eMTC device. Furthermore, by omitting radio measurements, extra power can be saved and thus used for the extra power required to access the NTN. Therefore, the IoT / eMTC device can maintain its power capability.

[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 implemented at the first device 110 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0049] In block 310, the first device 110 determines that a first condition for performing measurements is met. The first device 110 may perform various measurements or perform tasks or activities in communications. In some example embodiments, the measurements may include radio measurements for a serving cell of the terminal device, radio measurements for neighboring cells, and / or the like.

[0050] The first condition may include any condition that can trigger a measurement. In some example embodiments, the first condition may include an associated event for triggering a measurement. For example, the first condition may be determined to be met if an associated event, such as a time / location-based event, occurs.

[0051] If it is determined in block 320 that a second condition for skipping measurements is met, the first device 110 skips measurements. For example, the first device 110 may perform a handover without performing measurements. In the context of the present disclosure, a handover with measurements may also be interpreted as a handover that is determined to be performed based at least in part on measurements. Similarly, a handover without measurements may be interpreted as a handover decision that is not based on measurements.

[0052] In some example embodiments, the second condition may include a condition that the number of successful handovers with measurements is greater than or equal to a first threshold number (e.g., measContinuousThreshold). Alternatively, or additionally, the second condition may include a condition that the number of successful handovers without measurements is less than or equal to a second threshold number (e.g., measSkipThreshold). For example, if a HO is successful after performing measContinuousThreshold consecutive radio measurements, the first device 110 may be allowed to skip making measSkipThreshold radio measurements for its serving cell and / or target cell (if the first device 110 believes they are sufficiently reliable).

[0053] It should be understood that the above examples of the second condition are merely set forth as examples and not as limitations, and any other suitable conditions are also applicable to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0054] The first threshold number and / or the second threshold number may be determined in several ways. In some example embodiments, first device 110 may receive an indication regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers from second device 120. In response to receiving the indication regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers, first device 110 may transmit an acknowledgement regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers to second device 120.

[0055] The first device 110 may adjust the second threshold number. For example, the first device 110 may increase the second threshold number after a predetermined number of successful handovers without measurements has occurred. As another example, the first device 110 may reset at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on changes in ephemeris data of neighboring cells.

[0056] In some example embodiments, the threshold may be adjusted or readjusted based on success and / or failure rates for the first device 110 or the second device 120 that the first device 110 may report to the second device 120. The adjustment may be controlled by the network and acknowledged by the first device 110, or may be hard-coded in the specification. For example, after 10 successful HOs, the measSkipThreshold may be increased by 1, allowing the first device 110 to skip additional measurements. The threshold is reset if a change occurs in the ephemeris data (enough to no longer rely on the previous HO success rate).

[0057] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may maintain a first counter (e.g., currentMeasContinuous) indicating the number of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter (e.g., currentMeasSkipContinuous) indicating the number of successful handovers without measurements. In some example embodiments, in response to a failed handover without measurements, the first device 110 may reset the first counter indicating the number of successful handovers with measurements. Alternatively, or in addition, in response to a failed handover without measurements, the first device 110 may reset the second counter indicating the number of successful handovers without measurements.

[0058] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit an indication of the first and / or second counter to the second device 120. Thus, the second device 120 may determine at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counter.

[0059] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may use a time reference (e.g., x hours) before it plans to perform CHO. For example, the first device 110 may check the signal strength or signal strength gradient of the serving cell so that the first device 110 can be more confident in performing CHO without radio measurements.

[0060] In some example embodiments, if the second condition is met, first device 110 may check the current serving cell signal strength and skip measurements based on a comparison of the current serving cell signal strength with at least one previous serving cell signal strength, which may include a previous serving cell signal strength associated with a predetermined number of successful handovers.

[0061] In some exemplary embodiments, if the second condition is met, the first device 110 may determine, based on the comparison result, that measurements may optionally be skipped within a predetermined time after checking the signal strength of the current serving cell. In some exemplary embodiments, the serving cell signal strength of the current cell may be compared by the first device 110 to an average value of the signal strength of the previous serving cell of successful handover executions. The averaging is performed based on N successful CHO executions. The first device 110 may switch only on location / timer conditions. In this way, the serving cell signal strength is checked only at the relative (reference) time of execution for similarity with the previous execution (if other information enables radio measurements to be unnecessary).

[0062] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive assistance information related to neighboring cells from the second device 120. The first device 110 may determine whether a second condition for skipping measurements is met by considering the assistance information.

[0063] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive an indication that skipping a measurement is valid from the second device 120. Based on such an indication, the first device 110 may make a decision regarding the second condition.

[0064] In some example embodiments, after determining whether the first condition is met, the first device 110 may determine whether a condition for restoring measurements (referred to as a third condition) is met. If YES, the first device 110 may perform measurements. The third condition may include various conditions, such as, but not limited to, a condition that a predetermined number of failed handovers occur, a condition that the ephemeris data of the neighboring cell changes, a condition that the positioning-related conditions of the neighboring cell change, and / or the like.

[0065] For example, the first device 110 may switch back to normal execution, including measurements for evaluation, when the CHO execution in "direct execution" fails. The first device 110 may also switch back to normal CHO execution mode if the target cell ephemeris information or conditions related to the position or location change.

[0066] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 switches to dual-state mode based on assistance information provided when a serving cell degradation occurs or when the first device 110 is not confident that it can perform CHO without radio measurements.

[0067] In this way, the second device 120 can provide additional conditions for the use of CHO. The first device 110 can determine whether it needs to perform radio measurements A3 / A4 / A5 as configured in addition to location / time events. This helps to save power for the first device 110, which is, for example, an eMTC device. Therefore, the design for NTN eMTC devices can be improved.

[0068] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various scenarios. For example, some example embodiments are suitable for NTNs where devices are in less dense areas (not served by TNs) and therefore radio conditions from NTN cells during coverage time are relatively stable compared to changes in radio conditions observed in TN cells. Note that the difference between the cell center and cell edge in the NTN case is small (approximately 3 dB) compared to TN cells, which may be tens of dB. Thus, providing further motivation for providing mitigation with respect to performing radio measurements.

[0069] The above scheme as described may also be applied to legacy HO procedures. For example, the first device 110 may send a measurement report to trigger HO, but may not include measurements of the target cell, but may only include an indication of the target cell, such as a physical cell identity (PCI).

[0070] If multiple target cells are identified during a specified time (less applicable in the case of NTN deployments), the first device 110 may select an HO mode based on the past success rate, as described above, and perform HO with the best cell. In case of failure, a CHO recovery mechanism may be applied, and the first device 110 may select the best cell.

[0071] As another example scenario, in the case of Earth Moving Cells (EMC), the serving cell and the target cell may be on the same satellite or on different satellites. If on the same satellite, the only difference between the serving cell and the target cell may be the antenna pattern. Therefore, if the serving cell and the target cell are on the same satellite, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 to the aforementioned relaxed measurement scheme.

[0072] As a further example scenario, in the case of an Earth Fixed Cell (EFC), as part of a cell switching procedure, the serving cell and the target cell may be on different satellites. As described above, based on the ephemeris / satellite information, the serving cell can set the elevation angle difference (delta elevation) between the target cell and the serving cell. This configuration aspect may also be configured by the second device 120.

[0073] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented in the second device 120 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0074] At block 410, the second device 120 determines whether measurement skipping is enabled for the first device 110. In some example embodiments, the measurements may include at least one of radio measurements for a serving cell or radio measurements for a neighboring cell.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may determine whether measurement skipping is enabled for the first device based on the serving cell and neighboring cells present in one device.

[0076] In block 420, the second device 120 sends an indication to the first device 110 that skipping of measurements is enabled. Upon receiving the indication, the first device 110 can note that skipping of measurements is enabled and can determine whether a second condition for skipping measurements is met if the first condition has already been met. If the second condition is also met, the first device 110 can skip measurements. In this manner, power of the first device 110 can be saved.

[0077] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may send an indication of at least one of a first threshold number of successful handovers with measurements or a second threshold number of successful handovers without measurements to the first device 110. At least one of the first or second threshold numbers may be used by the first device 110 to determine whether measurements should be skipped.

[0078] In some example embodiments, after transmitting the first threshold number and / or the second threshold number of indications, the second device 120 may receive the first threshold number and / or the second threshold number of acknowledgments from the first device 110.

[0079] In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 transmits an indication of past success and / or failure rates of measurement-free handovers to the second device 120, the second device 120 may receive such indication from the first device 110 and determine at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the past success and / or failure rates of handovers.

[0080] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may receive from the first device 110 an indication of a first counter indicating the number of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter indicating the number of successful handovers without measurements. Based on this indication, the second device 120 may determine at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counters. In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may increase the second threshold number after the number of successful handovers without measurements reaches a predetermined number. Alternatively, or additionally, the second device 120 may reset at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on changes in ephemeris data of neighboring cells.

[0081] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may transmit assistance information related to neighbor cells to the first device 110. Thus, the first device 110 may use the assistance information to determine whether measurements should be skipped.

[0082] In light of the above, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure, the first device 110 may attempt a CHO execution without radio measurements of the target cell. This may be performed based on stored measurements associated with previous CHO executions and successful handovers associated with static radio conditions based on measurements. The number of successful handovers based on static radio conditions for switching to "execution without radio measurements" may be configured by the network, as described above.

[0083] The second device 120 may set a failure count to switch to the dual execution state. Alternatively or additionally, the second device 120 may provide additional assistance information (e.g., target satellite information when the source / target cells are on the same satellite) to the first device 110 to determine with / without radio measurements.

[0084] 5 illustrates an example signaling diagram 500 of a successful handover case according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of illustration, the successful case is described with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that this is described for illustrative purposes only, without implying any limitations to the present disclosure.

[0085] 5, a first device 110, which may be a terminal device (e.g., a UE), is handed over from a serving cell 502 to a target cell 505. As an example, both the serving cell 502 and the target cell 505 may be managed by a second device 120. As another example, the serving cell 502 may be managed by the second device 120 (e.g., a serving BS), and the target cell 505 may be managed by a further device (e.g., a target BS) (also referred to as a third device).

[0086] The first device 110 may receive ephemeris data for both the serving cell 502 and the next target cell 505 as part of system information from the serving cell 502 (510). The first device 110 may transmit to the serving cell 502, for example, past CHO success rates without measurements for the first device 110, the serving cell 502, and the target cell 505 (520). The first device 110 may receive threshold parameters “measContinuousThreshold” and “measSkipThreshold” from the serving cell 502 for the next CHO (530). Upon receiving the threshold parameters (530), the first device 110 may acknowledge them (540).

[0087] The second device 120 may configure the CHO, along with assistance information as needed, to perform the CHO without radio measurements. The first device 110 may then receive the configuration 550. Based on the configuration, the first device 110 may perform the CHO to the target cell 510 with or without measurements 560.

[0088] For example, in a scenario such as that shown in FIG. 5, the UE can obtain ephemeris data from the serving BS (if it has not changed) and inform the second device 120 (e.g., the UE's serving BS) of the past HO success rate without radio measurements for this UE, serving cell, and target cell. The UE and serving BS can exchange the threshold parameters "measContinuousThreshold" and "measSkipThreshold" for future CHOs (e.g., between the UE, serving BS, and target BS). These values ​​can be updated based on the past HO success / failure rate. If there is no change in the past HO success / failure rate, the threshold parameters may not be changed or reconfigured. Alternatively, the serving BS can also check the ephemeris data, determine a second condition for skipping measurements, and indicate it to the UE. The UE may not need to track the ephemeris data.

[0089] The UE may also signal the value of an internal counter (e.g., "currentMeasContinuous" / "currentMeasSkipContinuous"). "currentMeasContinuous" may represent how many consecutive successful CHOs the UE has performed with radio measurements. "currentMeasSkipContinuous" may represent how many consecutive successful CHOs the UE has performed without radio measurements. The serving BS may then configure CHO for the target BS with additional information necessary for the UE to apply CHO without radio measurements. With this configuration, the UE may perform CHO with / without radio measurements according to the above information.

[0090] 6 shows an example signaling diagram 600 of a handover failure case according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the failure case is described with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that this is described for illustrative purposes only, without implying any limitation to the present disclosure.

[0091] In a failure case, as shown in FIG. 6, a first device 110, which may be a terminal device (e.g., a UE), is handed over from a serving cell managed by a second device 120 to a target cell managed by a third device, for example. The second device 120 may first transmit ephemeris data of both the serving cell and the next target cell to the first device 110 as part of system information (610). The first device 110 may transmit past measurement-free CHO success rates for the first device 110, the second device 120, and the third device to the second device 120 (620). The second device 120 may transmit threshold parameters “measContinuousThreshold” and “measSkipThreshold” for the next CHO to the first device 110 (630). Upon receiving the threshold parameters, the first device 110 may acknowledge them (640). The second device 120 may then configure the CHO with the necessary assistance information to perform the CHO without over-the-air measurements and send the configuration to the first device 110 (650).

[0092] With this configuration, the first device 110 may attempt to perform CHO without a measurement (660), but fail. The first device 110 may then execute a CHO failure mechanism, a recovery mechanism, or other existing mechanism (662). The first device 110 may reset an internal counter, for example, "currentMeasContinuous" or "currentMeasSkipContinuous" (664).

[0093] Specifically, in an HO failure scenario as shown in Figure 6, operations 610 to 650 are performed, which are similar to operations 510 to 550 in the success case. The difference is that the UE was unable to successfully perform CHO without radio measurements. If the UE is configured to perform CHO recovery, it may perform CHO recovery; otherwise, the UE may trigger RRC re-establishment on the target cell. In this case, the UE may reset its counters ("currentMeasContinuous", "currentMeasSkipContinuous").

[0094] FIG. 7 illustrates an example state diagram 700 of a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0095] 7, the first device 110, which may be a terminal device or a UE, may have two states: a single state and a dual state. The single state indicates that no radio measurements are included for CHO. The dual state indicates that radio measurements are included for CHO.

[0096] In some example embodiments, if "currentMeasContinuous" is equal to "measContinuousThreshold", then "currentMeasSkipContinuous" may be set to a predetermined value, for example, 0. Thus, the first device 110 may be transitioned from the dual state to the single state.

[0097] If the execution of CHO fails, or if the first device 110 is not confident (using available aiding information) to execute CHO without over-the-air measurements, or if "currentMeasSkipContinuous" is equal to "measSkipThreshold", the first device 110 may transition from the single state to the dual state. At the same time, "currentMeasContinuous" may be set to a predetermined value, for example, 0.

[0098] Note that "currentMeasSkipContinuous" or "currentMeasContinuous" may be incremented for each successful CHO with or without measurement. In this way, the first device 110 can be seamlessly transitioned between the single and dual states. This helps to save power for IoT / eMTC devices by avoiding radio measurements in some scenarios when accessing the NTN. Thus, the saved extra power can be used for the extra power required to access the NTN. Thus, the IoT / eMTC devices can maintain their power performance.

[0099] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus (e.g., first device 110 of FIG. 1 ) capable of performing any of method 300 may comprise means for performing each operation of method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented as a circuit or a software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as first device 110 of FIG. 1 or may be included as part of first device 110 of FIG. 1 .

[0100] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises means for determining that a first condition for performing a measurement is met, and means for skipping the measurement in accordance with a determination that a second condition for skipping the measurement is met.

[0101] In some example embodiments, the measurements include at least one of radio measurements for a serving cell or radio measurements for a neighboring cell.

[0102] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for skipping measurements comprises means for performing a handover without measurements.

[0103] In some example embodiments, the second condition comprises at least one of a condition that the number of successful handovers with measurements is greater than or equal to a first threshold number, or a condition that the number of successful handovers without measurements is less than or equal to a second threshold number.

[0104] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from the second device, an indication regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for transmitting an indication of past success and / or failure rates of measurement-less handovers to the second device.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for transmitting an acknowledgement to the second device regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers in response to receiving an indication regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers.

[0107] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for transmitting an indication of a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements to the second device.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the first device further comprises means for increasing the second threshold number after the number of successful handovers without measurements reaches a predetermined number.

[0109] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device further comprises means for resetting at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on a change in the ephemeris data of the neighboring cell.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for resetting a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements in response to a failure of the handover without measurements.

[0111] In some example embodiments, the means for skipping measurements comprises means for checking a signal strength of a current serving cell pursuant to a determination that the second condition is met, and means for skipping measurements based on a comparison of the signal strength of the current serving cell with a signal strength of at least one previous serving cell.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the signal strength of the at least one previous serving cell includes signal strengths of previous serving cells associated with a predetermined number of successful handovers.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the means for skipping measurements comprises means for determining, within a predetermined time after checking the signal strength of the current serving cell, based on the comparison, that the measurements should be skipped, and means for skipping the measurements in accordance with the determination that the measurements should be skipped.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the means for skipping measurements comprises means for receiving, from the second device, assistance information related to the neighbor cell; and means for skipping measurements based on the assistance information pursuant to a determination that the second condition is met.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving an indication from the second device that skipping the measurement is valid.

[0116] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device further comprises means for determining, according to a further determination that the first condition for performing the measurement is satisfied, that a third condition for recovering the measurement is satisfied, and means for performing the measurement based on the determination that the third condition is satisfied.

[0117] In some example embodiments, the third condition includes at least one of a condition that a predetermined number of failed handovers occur, a condition that the ephemeris data of the neighboring cell changes, or a condition related to the positioning of the neighboring cell changes.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing method 300 or other operations in some example embodiments of first device 110. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the operations of the first apparatus to be performed.

[0119] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus (e.g., second device 120 of FIG. 1 ) capable of performing any of method 400 may comprise means for performing each operation of method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as second device 120 of FIG. 1 or may be included in second device 120 of FIG. 1 .

[0120] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for determining whether measurement skipping is enabled for the first device, and means for sending an indication to the first device that measurement skipping is enabled.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the measurements include at least one of radio measurements for a serving cell or radio measurements for a neighboring cell.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the means for determining that measurement skipping is valid comprises means for determining that measurement skipping is valid based on a serving cell and a neighboring cell present in the same device.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the method further comprises means for transmitting an indication to the first device of at least one of a first threshold number of successful handovers with measurements or a second threshold number of successful handovers without measurements, wherein at least one of the first or second threshold numbers is used by the first device to determine whether measurements should be skipped.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the method further comprises means for receiving, from the first device, an acknowledgement for at least one of the first or second threshold numbers in response to transmitting the indication for at least one of the first or second threshold numbers.

[0125] In some example embodiments, the method further comprises means for receiving, from the first device, an indication of past success and / or failure rates of handovers without measurements, and means for determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on past success and / or failure rates of handovers.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the method further comprises means for receiving, from the first device, an indication of a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements, and means for determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counters.

[0127] In some example embodiments, the means for determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counter comprises means for increasing the second threshold number after a successful handover without the predetermined number of measurements.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the second device comprises means for resetting at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on a change in the ephemeris data of the neighboring cell.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting assistance information related to neighboring cells to the first device, the assistance information being used by the first device to determine whether measurements should be skipped.

[0130] In some exemplary embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing method 400 or other operations in some exemplary embodiments of second device 120. In some exemplary embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to perform operations.

[0131] 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for practicing an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Device 800 may be provided to implement a communications device such as, for example, first device 110 or second device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to processor 810, and one or more communications modules 840 coupled to processor 810.

[0132] The communications module 840 is for bidirectional communication. The communications module 840 includes one or more communications interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communications interfaces may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communications module 840 may include at least one antenna.

[0133] Processor 810 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of the following: a general-purpose computer, an application-specific computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 800 may include multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips time-synchronized with a clock that is synchronous with the main processor.

[0134] The memory 820 can include one or more nonvolatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of nonvolatile memories include, but are not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM) 824, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), optical disks, laser disks, and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM) 822 and other volatile memories that are not retained during periods of power interruption.

[0135] The computer program 830 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. The instructions of the program 830 may include instructions for performing the operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 830 may be stored in a memory, for example, the ROM 824. The processor 810 may load the program 830 into the RAM 822 to perform any appropriate acts and processes.

[0136] An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 830 such that the device 800 may perform any process of the present disclosure, such as those described with reference to Figures 2 through 7. An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0137] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 830 may be physically contained in a computer-readable medium that may be included in the device 800 (such as in memory 820) or other storage device accessible by the device 800. The device 800 may load the program 830 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 822 for execution. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term "non-transitory" as used herein is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), as opposed to a limitation to the permanence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0138] 9 shows an example of a computer readable medium 900, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD or other optical storage disc. The computer readable medium 900 has a program 830 stored thereon.

[0139] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0140] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product physically stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute on a target physical or virtual processor device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split among program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0141] Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that, when executed by the processor or controller, the program code implements the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or remote server, as a stand-alone software package.

[0142] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0143] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium includes, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0144] Furthermore, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all of the operations depicted be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while details of several specific implementations are included in the above description, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be unique to particular embodiments. Unless expressly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless expressly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0145] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the particular features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. a first device, at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to determining that a first condition for performing a measurement is met; and skipping the measurement in accordance with a determination that a second condition for skipping the measurement is satisfied; and A first device that executes the

2. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the measurements include at least one of radio measurements for a serving cell or radio measurements for a neighboring cell.

3. You can skip a measurement. The first device of claim 1 or 2, comprising performing a handover without measurements.

4. The second condition is the condition that the number of successful handovers with measurements is greater than or equal to a first threshold number; or the condition that the number of successful handovers without measurements is less than or equal to a second threshold number; The first device according to claim 1 , comprising at least one of:

5. The first device The first device of claim 4 , further configured to receive, from the second device, an indication regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers.

6. The first device The first device of claim 5 , further configured to transmit to the second device an indication of past success and / or failure rates of measurement-free handovers.

7. The first device 7. The first device of claim 5 or 6, further configured to transmit, in response to receiving an indication of at least one of the first or second threshold numbers, an acknowledgement to the second device regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers.

8. The first device 8. The first device of claim 5, further configured to send an indication of a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements to a second device.

9. The first device The first device according to claim 4 , further configured to increase the second threshold number after the number of successful handovers without measurements reaches a predetermined number.

10. The first device The first device of claim 4 , further configured to reset at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on changes in ephemeris data of neighboring cells.

11. The first device 11. The first device of claim 4, further configured to reset a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements in response to a failure of a handover without measurements.

12. You can skip a measurement. checking a current serving cell signal strength in accordance with determining that the second condition is met; and and skipping measurements based on a comparison of a current serving cell signal strength with at least one previous serving cell signal strength.

13. 13. The first device of claim 12, wherein the at least one previous serving cell signal strength comprises a previous serving cell signal strength associated with a predetermined number of successful handovers.

14. You can skip a measurement. Within a predetermined time after checking the current serving cell signal strength, determining based on the comparison result that measurement should be skipped; skipping a measurement pursuant to a determination that the measurement should be skipped; 14. The first device according to claim 12 or 13, comprising:

15. You can skip a measurement. receiving, from a second device, assistance information related to a neighboring cell; skipping measurements based on the assistance information in accordance with a determination that the second condition is met; and 15. The first device of claim 1, comprising:

16. The first device The first device of claim 1 , further configured to receive an indication from the second device that skipping measurements is enabled.

17. The first device determining, following a further determination that the first condition for performing the measurement is satisfied, that a third condition for retrieving the measurement is satisfied; and performing a measurement based on a determination that the third condition is met; and The first device according to claim 1 , further configured to perform the following:

18. The third condition is, a condition that a predetermined number of failed handovers occur; The condition that the ephemeris data of the neighboring cell changes, or The condition that the conditions related to the positioning of the neighboring cells are changed.

20. The first device of claim 17, comprising at least one of:

19. a second device, at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to determining that skipping measurements is enabled for a first device; sending an indication to the first device that skipping the measurement is enabled; A second device that runs the

20. 20. The second device of claim 19, wherein the measurements include at least one of radio measurements to a serving cell or radio measurements to a neighboring cell.

21. Determining that skipping a measurement is valid includes: The second device of claim 20 , further comprising determining whether skipping measurements is valid based on a serving cell and neighboring cells present in one device.

22. The second device a first threshold number of successful handovers with measurements, or A second threshold number of successful handovers without measurements to the first device; 22. The second device of claim 19 or 21, wherein at least one of the first or second threshold numbers is used by the first device to determine whether a measurement should be skipped.

23. The second device 23. The second device of claim 22, further configured to receive, in response to transmitting an indication regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers, an acknowledgement regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers from the first device.

24. The second device receiving from the first device an indication of past success and / or failure rates of handovers without measurements; determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on past success and / or failure rates of handovers; 24. The second device according to claim 22 or 23, further configured to perform:

25. The second device receiving, from the first device, an indication of a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements; determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counters; 25. The second device of claim 22, further configured to perform:

26. Determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counters; 26. The second device of claim 25, further comprising increasing the second threshold number after a number of successful handovers without measurements reaches a predetermined number.

27. The second device 27. The second device of any of claims 22 to 26, further configured to reset at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on changes in ephemeris data of neighboring cells.

28. The second device 28. The second device of claim 19, further configured to transmit assistance information related to neighboring cells to the first device, the assistance information being used by the first device to determine whether measurements should be skipped.

29. 1. A method comprising: On the first device: determining that a first condition for performing a measurement is met; and skipping the measurement in accordance with a determination that a second condition for skipping the measurement is satisfied; and A method comprising:

30. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the measurements include at least one of radio measurements to a serving cell or radio measurements to a neighboring cell.

31. You can skip a measurement.

31. A method according to claim 29 or 30, comprising performing handover without measurements.

32. The second condition is the condition that the number of successful handovers with measurements is greater than or equal to a first threshold number; or the condition that the number of successful handovers without measurements is less than or equal to a second threshold number; 32. The method of any of claims 29 to 31, comprising at least one of:

33. receiving an indication from the second device regarding at least one of the first or second threshold numbers; 33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

34. Transmitting an indication of past success and / or failure rates of measurement-free handovers to the second device 34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

35. In response to receiving the indication for at least one of the first or second threshold numbers, transmitting an acknowledgement for at least one of the first or second threshold numbers to the second device.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34, further comprising:

36. Sending an indication of a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements to the second device.

36. The method of any of claims 33 to 35, further comprising:

37. Increasing the second threshold number after the number of successful handovers without measurements reaches a predetermined number.

37. The method of any of claims 32 to 36, further comprising:

38. Resetting at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on changes in neighboring cell ephemeris data.

38. The method of any of claims 32 to 37, further comprising:

39. resetting a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements in response to a failure of the handover without measurements; 39. The method of any of claims 32 to 38, further comprising:

40. You can skip a measurement. checking a current serving cell signal strength in accordance with determining that the second condition is met; and skipping measurements based on a comparison of the current serving cell signal strength with at least one previous serving cell signal strength; 40. The method of any of claims 29 to 39, comprising:

41. 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the at least one previous serving cell signal strength comprises a previous serving cell signal strength associated with a predetermined number of successful handovers.

42. You can skip a measurement. Within a predetermined time after checking the current serving cell signal strength, determining based on the comparison result that measurement should be skipped; skipping a measurement pursuant to a determination that the measurement should be skipped; 42. The method of claim 40 or 41, comprising:

43. You can skip a measurement. receiving, from a second device, assistance information related to a neighboring cell; skipping measurements based on the assistance information in accordance with a determination that the second condition is met; and 43. The method of any of claims 29 to 42, comprising:

44. receiving an indication from the second device that skipping measurements is enabled; 44. The method of any of claims 29 to 43, further comprising:

45. determining, following a further determination that the first condition for performing the measurement is satisfied, that a third condition for retrieving the measurement is satisfied; and performing a measurement based on a determination that the third condition is met; and 45. The method of any of claims 29 to 44, further comprising:

46. The third condition is, a condition that a predetermined number of failed handovers occur; The condition that the ephemeris data of the neighboring cell changes, or The condition that the conditions related to the positioning of the neighboring cells are changed.

46. ​​The method of claim 45, comprising at least one of:

47. 1. A method comprising: On the second device, determining that skipping measurements is enabled for a first device; sending an indication to the first device that skipping the measurement is enabled; A method comprising:

48. 48. The method of claim 47, wherein the measurements include at least one of radio measurements to a serving cell or radio measurements to a neighboring cell.

49. Determining whether skipping a measurement is valid involves:

49. The method of claim 48, comprising determining whether skipping measurements is valid based on a serving cell and neighboring cells present in a device.

50. a first threshold number of successful handovers with measurements, or A second threshold number of successful handovers without measurements transmitting to the first device at least one indication of further comprising 50. A method according to any of claims 47 to 49, wherein at least one of the first or second threshold numbers is used by the first device to determine whether a measurement should be skipped.

51. receiving an acknowledgment for at least one of the first or second threshold numbers from the first device in response to transmitting the indication for at least one of the first or second threshold numbers; 51. The method of claim 50, further comprising:

52. receiving from the first device an indication of past success and / or failure rates of handovers without measurements; determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on past success and / or failure rates of handovers; 52. The method of claim 50 or 51, further comprising:

53. receiving, from the first device, an indication of a first counter of successful handovers with measurements and / or a second counter of successful handovers without measurements; determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counters; 53. The method of any of claims 50 to 52, further comprising:

54. Determining at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on the first and / or second counters includes:

54. The method of claim 53, comprising increasing the second threshold number after a number of successful handovers without measurements reaches a predetermined number.

55. Resetting at least one of the first or second threshold numbers based on changes in neighboring cell ephemeris data.

55. The method of any of claims 50 to 54, further comprising:

56. Transmitting assistance information related to neighboring cells to the first device wherein the assistance information is used by the first device to determine whether a measurement should be skipped.

56. A method according to any one of claims 47 to 55.

57. 1. A first device, comprising: means for determining that a first condition for performing a measurement is met; means for skipping measurement in accordance with a determination that a second condition for skipping measurement is satisfied; and A first device comprising:

58. a second device, means for determining that skipping measurements is enabled for the first device; means for transmitting an indication to the first device that skipping the measurement is enabled; A second device comprising:

59. 57. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to at least perform the method of any of claims 29 to 46 or any of claims 47 to 56.

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