Method, device, and computer-readable medium for communication measurement

Abstract

Methods, devices, and computers for NewRadio (NR) NewRadio management measurements are provided.SOLUTION: According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the network device may send the co-location information of the component carriers to the terminal device. The terminal device may perform communication measurement based on the collocation information. In this way, measurement effort and burden of the terminal device can be reduced while maintaining flexibility of network deployment.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to communications technology, and more particularly to methods, devices, and computer-readable media for communications measurement. [Background technology]

[0002] In a communication system such as a Long Term Evolved (LTE) communication system or a fifth generation wireless system (5G), in a carrier aggregation scenario, a terminal device needs to perform communication measurements on carrier components. Further research on carrier component measurements is still needed. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods for modulation of communication measurements, and corresponding network and terminal devices.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method implemented in a network device for communication. The method includes determining a first direction of a beam associated with at least one component carrier. The method also includes determining co-location information of the at least one component carrier based on the first direction. The co-location information indicates whether the at least one component carrier is co-located and information of a beam direction associated with the at least one component carrier. The method further includes transmitting the co-location information of the at least one component carrier to a terminal device.

[0005] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method implemented in a terminal device for communications. The method includes receiving, from a network device, co-location information of at least one component carrier. The co-location information indicates whether the at least one component carrier is co-located and indicates beam direction information associated with the at least one component carrier. The method also includes determining communication measurement requirements for the at least one component carrier based on at least one of the co-location information and the information on a first direction of the beam. The method further includes performing communication measurements on the at least one component carrier based on the determined requirements.

[0006] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a network device. The network device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform operations including determining a first direction of a beam associated with at least one component carrier. The operations also include determining co-location information of the at least one component carrier based on the first direction. The co-location information indicates whether the at least one component carrier is co-located. The operations further include transmitting the co-location information and the information of the first direction of the beam associated with the at least one component carrier to a terminal device.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a terminal device. The terminal device comprises at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to perform operations including receiving co-location information of at least one component carrier from a network device. The operations also include determining communication measurement requirements for the at least one component carrier based on at least one of the co-location information and information on a first direction of a beam. The operations further include performing communication measurements on the at least one component carrier based on the determined requirements.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for communication, the device comprising means for performing the method according to the first aspect.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for communication, the apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to the second aspect.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, cause the machine to perform a method according to the first aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by at least one processing unit of a machine, cause the machine to perform a method according to the second aspect.

[0012] Other features and advantages of the presently disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the presently disclosed embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] Embodiments of the present disclosure are presented by way of example, and their advantages will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and a network device. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method implemented in a network device for communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method implemented in a terminal device for communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 4 shows a schematic diagram of a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The subject matter described herein will now be discussed with reference to several exemplary embodiments, it being understood that these embodiments are not intended to imply any limitation on the scope of the subject matter, but are discussed solely for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and therefore practice the subject matter described herein.

[0015] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, it is understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, and / or groups thereof.

[0016] It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the noted functions / acts may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two functions or acts shown in succession may in fact be performed concurrently or may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending on the functions / acts involved.

[0017] As used herein, the term "communications network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communications standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), etc. Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices within a communications network may be performed in accordance with any suitable generation of communications protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communications protocols, and / or any other protocols now known or developed in the future.

[0018] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Considering the rapid development of communication, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be implemented. The technical scope of the present disclosure should not be considered limited to only the aforementioned systems.

[0019] The term "network device" includes, but is not limited to, a base station (BS), a gateway, a management entity, and other suitable devices in a communication system. The term "base station" or "BS" refers to a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, etc.

[0020] The term "terminal device" includes, but is not limited to, "user equipment (UE)" and other suitable end devices capable of communicating with a network device. By way of example, "terminal device" may refer to a terminal, a mobile terminal (MT), a subscriber station (SS), a mobile subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT).

[0021] As used herein, the term "intra-frequency measurement" refers to measuring the signal quality of a serving cell and / or a target cell when the target cell is in the same frequency band as the terminal device's current serving cell, and the term "inter-band measurement" as used herein refers to measuring the signal quality of a target cell when the target cell is in a different frequency band than the terminal device's current serving cell.

[0022] As used herein, the term "component carrier" refers to each carrier in a carrier aggregation, and as used herein, the term "primary component carrier" refers to the main carrier in any group.

[0023] As mentioned above, the terminal device needs to perform communication measurements on the carrier components. The following measurement conditions have been agreed upon: The term "FR1" used in this specification refers to the frequency range below 6 GHz, and the term "FR2" used in this specification refers to the frequency range above 24 GHz.

[0024] FR1 Requirements

[0025] For each intra-frequency layer, the terminal device shall be able to monitor at least 8 cells. For each intra-frequency layer, during each layer measurement period, the terminal device shall be able to monitor at least 14 SSBs (synchronization blocks) using different SSB indices and / or PCIs on the intra-frequency layer, and the number of SSBs in the serving cell (excluding secondary cells, SCells) shall not be less than the number of configured radio link monitoring reference signal (RLM-RS) SSB resources.

[0026] FR2 Requirements

[0027] For each intra-frequency layer, the terminal device is capable of monitoring at least six cells on a single serving carrier among all serving carriers configured in the same band.

[0028] For each intra-frequency layer, during each layer measurement period, the terminal device shall be able to monitor at least 24 SSBs with different SSB indices and / or PCIs on a single serving carrier (e.g., PCC or PSCC, or one SCC if the PCC / PSCC is in a different band than the SCC) among all serving carriers configured in the same band. The terminal device shall be able to monitor 1 to 4 SSBs on the serving cell for each of the other serving carriers in the same band. The terminal device shall be able to perform Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and / or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) on all the above-mentioned SSBs.

[0029] From these agreements, it can be seen that a terminal device may not perform cell detection for in-band secondary component carriers except for one main component carrier. Furthermore, it is not agreed whether a terminal device may measure 1, 2, 3, or 4 SSB-based beams per in-band secondary component carrier.

[0030] Furthermore, communication measurements can place a burden on end devices, especially considering FR2, where the 240 kHz SSB measurement bandwidth leads to high sampling rates and memory requirements on the end device. Furthermore, it has been decided that the initial phase of NR (New Radio) will include intra-band carrier aggregation of up to eight component carriers covering up to 800 MHz. Thus, research is needed to limit end device measurement requirements in order to reduce the overall complexity and power consumption of end devices.

[0031] In conventional technology, as the initial stage of NR (New Radio) converters, intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) is transmitted up to eight components, so that terminal devices only need to measure one component carrier per band, and do not need to measure other component carriers (intra-frequency CCs) in the same band. However, with the above solution, the question arises as to how the network can receive load information from other component carriers unless they are measured.

[0032] The number of SSB-based beams that a terminal device needs to monitor has yet to be determined. In conventional techniques, when a terminal device measures one in-band component carrier, the measurement result of this one component carrier can represent any measurement result for all other component carriers in the same band as the measured component carrier. That is, a terminal device only needs to measure one in-band component carrier and does not need to measure any other in-band component carriers other than the primary component carrier. However, the above solution depends on the network deployment and cannot be used as a general assumption for developing general terminal device measurement requirements.

[0033] Furthermore, in conventional technologies, if all in-band component carriers are collocated to have the same directivity (or direction) and the same or similar coverage (e.g., the same transmission power and the same beam coverage pattern), the measurement effort and burden on terminal devices can be reduced. However, the above solution may be too restrictive for further network deployment.

[0034] Furthermore, it is unclear what is required on the network side regarding the measurement performance of terminal devices and measurement support information.

[0035] In the prior art, in LTE carrier aggregation, a terminal device can measure any configured component carrier according to communication measurement requirements, with different measurement periods for inactive SCells than for active SCells. These requirements can be assumed to be the baseline for NR (new radio). However, in the current agreement, these requirements are not appropriate.

[0036] To at least partially address the above and other potential problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for New Radio (NR) management measurements. Several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described below with reference to the drawings. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these drawings is for illustrative purposes, as the present disclosure extends beyond these limited embodiments.

[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication system 100, which is part of a communication network, includes a network device 120 and one or more terminal devices 110-1 and 110-2. It should be understood that the communication system 100 may include any suitable number of terminal devices. Note that the communication system 100 may also include other elements that are omitted for clarity. The network device 120 can communicate with the terminal device 110. Note that the number of network devices and terminal devices illustrated in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting. The communication system 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0038] Communications in communication system 100 may be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), and fifth generation (5G), wireless local network communication protocols such as IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, and / or any other protocol now known or developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple addressing (CDMA), frequency division multiple addressing (FDMA), time division multiple addressing (TDMA), frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), and / or any other technology now known or developed in the future.

[0039] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the network device 120 can transmit component carrier co-location information to the terminal device 110. For example, the network device 120 indicates to the terminal device 110 if the terminal device 110 can experience the same channel conditions for component carriers (CCs) (e.g., in-band CCs) and therefore can relax measurement requirements on some CCs compared to the primary CC. The terminal device 110 may perform measurements based on the co-location information. In this way, the measurement effort and burden of the terminal device 110 can be reduced while maintaining flexibility in network deployment.

[0040] It should be noted that embodiments of the present disclosure are described using in-band measurements for purposes of illustration only and not limitation. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using any suitable communication measurements. For example, the measurements may include at least one of in-band measurements, inter-band measurements, and radio resource management (RRM) measurements. The present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0041] 2 shows a flowchart of a method 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 200 may be implemented in the network device 120.

[0042] At block 210, the network device 120 determines a first direction of a beam associated with one or more component carriers. In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the first direction based on the direction of the transmitted antenna.

[0043] In block 220, the network device 120 determines co-location information for one or more component carriers. The co-location information indicates whether one or more component carriers are co-located with other component carriers and information on the beam direction associated with at least one component carrier. If two component carriers are co-located with each other, it means that they have the same channel condition. The network device 120 can determine whether the component carriers are co-located with each other based on their configurations. The co-location information can also include quasi-co-location (QCL) information.

[0044] According to one embodiment, network device 120 may compare a first direction of one or more component carriers to a second direction of a beam associated with a primary component carrier.

[0045] If the similarity value between the first direction and the second direction exceeds a threshold similarity, the network device 120 may determine that one or more component carriers are collocated with the primary component carrier and have the same beam direction. If the similarity value between the first direction and the second direction does not exceed the threshold similarity, the network device 120 may determine that one or more component carriers are not collocated with the primary component carrier, or are collocated but do not have the same beam direction.

[0046] In other embodiments, network device 120 may compare the first direction to a beam of a third direction associated with a set of component carriers. If the similarity value between the first direction and the third direction exceeds a threshold, network device 120 may determine that one or more component carriers and sets of component carriers may be grouped as a co-located group having the same beam direction or beam angle. In other embodiments, one or more component carriers and sets of component carriers may be grouped as a co-located group without the same beam direction or beam angle.

[0047] At block 230, the network device 120 transmits at least one of co-location information and first direction beam information associated with at least one component carrier of the one or more component carriers to the terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the network device 120 determines a primary component carrier from the co-located group of component carriers. The terminal device 120 may transmit the determined primary component carrier information as shown in Table 1 below. [Table 1-1] [Table 1-2]

[0048] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may directly indicate to the terminal device 110 whether the terminal device 110 needs to explicitly measure one or more component carriers. Such an indication may be explicitly signaled. Alternatively, such an indication may be transmitted via the existing measCycleScell. Table 2 below shows an example of a signal. [Table 2-1] [Table 2-2]

[0049] Alternatively, the network device 120 may indicate whether the terminal device 110 needs to explicitly measure a component carrier. Such an indication may be explicitly signaled or may be done by not configuring any measurement cycle for the component carrier (e.g., measCycleScell). Table 3 below shows an example of a signal. [Table 3]

[0050] In some embodiments, if network device 120 determines that one or more component carriers are collocated with other component carriers, the co-location information may indicate that one or more component carriers are collocated with other component carriers. In other embodiments, if network device 120 determines that one or more component carriers are not collocated with other component carriers, the co-location information may indicate that one or more component carriers are not collocated with other component carriers. In some embodiments, the other component carriers may be primary component carriers.

[0051] In an example embodiment, if network device 120 determines that one or more component carriers and sets of component carriers belong to the same co-located group, the co-location information may comprise indices of one or more component carriers and sets of component carriers.

[0052] As mentioned above, the co-location information may also refer to an indication of whether the terminal device 110 needs to perform communication measurements on one or more component carriers.

[0053] In other embodiments, the co-location information may also include measurement requirements for one or more component carriers, as will be described below.

[0054] 3 shows a flowchart of a method 300. The method 300 may be implemented in the terminal device 110.

[0055] In block 310, the terminal device 110 receives from the network device 110 co-location information of at least one component carrier and / or information of a beam in a first direction associated with the at least one component carrier. In some embodiments, the co-location information may directly indicate whether the terminal device 110 needs to perform communication measurements on at least one component carrier or whether it needs to perform a reduced amount of communication measurements. For example, if the co-location information indicates that one or more component carriers are primary component carriers, the terminal device 110 may need to perform communication measurements on one or more component carriers.

[0056] Alternatively, the co-location information may include an index of a co-located group of component carriers including one or more component carriers. The terminal device 110 may determine a primary component carrier from the co-located group. For example, if a component carrier of a primary cell exists, this component carrier may be determined as the primary component carrier. If the component carriers in the co-located group are all component carriers of an SCell, the terminal device 110 may randomly determine the primary component carrier. Alternatively, the co-location information may indicate a primary component carrier determined by the network device 120.

[0057] In block 320, the terminal device 110 determines communication measurement requirements for one or more component carriers based on the co-location information and / or information about beams in a first direction associated with one or more component carriers. In some embodiments, if the terminal device 110 determines that one or more component carriers are primary carriers or are not co-located with other primary carriers, the terminal device 110 determines that normal communication measurements are to be performed on one or more component carriers. For example, the terminal device 110 needs to measure RSRP and RSRQ and measure beams based on a minimum number of SSBs on one or more component carriers. In further embodiments, the terminal device 110 may need to perform periodic neighbor cell searches on other component carriers. The primary component carrier can be determined by the terminal device 110 based on predetermined conditions. Alternatively, the primary component carrier can be indicated by the network device 120.

[0058] In another embodiment, if the terminal device 110 determines that one or more component carriers are collocated with other carriers and that one or more component carriers are not primary carrier components, the terminal device 110 determines that reduced communication measurements are to be performed on one or more component carriers. For example, the terminal device 110 may not need to measure one or more component carriers at all. In this manner, the measurement effort and power consumption of the terminal device 110 can be significantly reduced. Alternatively, or additionally, the terminal device 110 can determine to perform reduced communication measurements on one or more component carriers when the collocation information indicates that one or more component carriers have the same beam direction as another component carrier (e.g., the primary component carrier).

[0059] In a further example, the terminal device 110 may determine to measure only a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) if the component carrier is not a primary carrier component. Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 110 may determine not to measure RSPP / RSRQ measurements on one or more component carriers. In other embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that only one SSB per component carrier needs to be measured. In some embodiments, the terminal device 1101 may determine not to perform neighbor cell search on other in-band component carriers.

[0060] As mentioned above, the communication measurement requirements can be determined by the terminal device 110. Alternatively, the communication measurement requirements can be configured by the network device 120.

[0061] In block 330, the terminal device 110 performs communication measurements on one or more component carriers based on the determined requirements.

[0062] 1) The requirement specifies the terminal device measurement effort for collocated CCs (which may differ from non-collocated CCs). The network device 120 indicates the cells where collocation may be assumed (e.g., via the field collocatedWithServCell, as shown above in the signal).

[0063] 2) The network device 120 indicates to the terminal device 110 whether reduced measurement requirements apply to the CC (eg, via the presence of the field relaxedMeasurements in the signaling example above).

[0064] Based on these requirements, the terminal device 110 can perform measurements accordingly.

[0065] According to one embodiment, the terminal device 110 may not need to measure any in-band CCs other than the primary CC, which will significantly reduce UE measurement effort and power consumption.

[0066] In some embodiments, if the colocation information indicates that one or more component carriers cannot be assumed to be colocated with any primary CC (e.g., via the absence of a colocation indication field or via setting the colocated colocation field equal to the parent serving cell id), the terminal device 110 may perform measurements on one or more component carriers accordingly, i.e., the terminal device 110 may perform periodic measurements on one or more component carriers on multiple cells and beams.

[0067] As described above, when one or more component carriers are collocated with other component carriers and are not primary component carriers, the terminal device 110 may perform partial communication measurements on one or more component carriers. For example, the terminal device 110 may provide only Layer 1 (L1) RSRP results without Layer 3 (L3) filtering. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may provide only cell detection / non-detection information.

[0068] That is, some measurement parameters do not need to be measured. In this way, the measurement effort and power consumption of the terminal device 110 can be greatly reduced.

[0069] In some embodiments, an apparatus for performing method 200 (e.g., network device 120) may comprise respective means for performing corresponding steps in method 200. These means may be implemented in any suitable manner, for example, by a circuit or a software module.

[0070] In some embodiments, an apparatus comprises: means for determining a first direction of a beam associated with at least one component carrier; means for determining co-location information of the at least one component carrier based on the first direction, the co-location information indicating whether the at least one component carrier is co-located; and means for transmitting the co-location information of the at least one component carrier and / or information of the beam in the first direction associated with the at least one component carrier to a terminal device.

[0071] In some embodiments, the means for determining co-location information of the at least one component carrier comprises means for comparing a first direction of a beam associated with the at least one component carrier with a second direction of a beam associated with the primary component carrier, and means for determining the co-location information of the at least one component carrier based on the comparison.

[0072] In some embodiments, the means for transmitting co-location information of the at least one component carrier comprises means for determining at least one component carrier having the same beam direction as the primary component carrier in response to a similarity value between the first direction and the second direction exceeding a threshold and the at least one component carrier being co-located with the primary carrier; and means for transmitting to the terminal device co-location information indicating the at least one component carrier being co-located with the primary component carrier and the at least one component carrier having the same beam direction as the primary component carrier.

[0073] In some embodiments, the means for transmitting co-location information of the at least one component carrier comprises: means for determining, in response to the at least one component carrier being co-located with the primary carrier, at least one component carrier co-located with the primary component carrier and at least one component carrier having a beam direction different from that of the primary component carrier, in response to a similarity value between the first direction and the second direction being less than a threshold; and means for transmitting, to the terminal device, co-location information indicating the at least one component carrier co-located with the primary component carrier and at least one component carrier having a beam direction different from that of the primary component carrier.

[0074] In some embodiments, the means for transmitting co-location information of the at least one component carrier comprises means for determining at least one component carrier having the same beam direction as the primary component carrier in response to a similarity value between the first direction and the second direction exceeding a threshold and the at least one component carrier that is not co-located with the primary carrier, and means for transmitting to the terminal device co-location information indicating the at least one component carrier that is not co-located with the primary component carrier and the at least one component carrier that has the same beam direction as the primary component carrier.

[0075] In some embodiments, the means for determining co-location information of the at least one component carrier comprises means for comparing a first direction of a beam associated with the at least one component carrier with a third direction of a beam associated with the set of component carriers, and means for determining the co-location information of the at least one component carrier based on the comparison.

[0076] In some embodiments, the means for transmitting co-location information of at least one component carrier comprises: means for determining at least one component carrier having the same beam direction as the set of component carriers in response to a similarity value between the first direction and the third direction exceeding a threshold and at least one of the component carriers co-located with the set of component carriers; and means for transmitting to the terminal device co-location information indicating at least one of the component carriers co-located with the set of component carriers and at least one of the component carriers having the same beam direction, and the co-location information including an index of the at least one component carrier and the set of component carriers.

[0077] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a primary component carrier from the at least one component carrier and the set of component carriers, and means for transmitting co-location information to the terminal device, the co-location information including an index of the determined primary component carrier.

[0078] In some embodiments, an apparatus for performing method 300 (e.g., terminal device 110) may comprise respective means for performing corresponding steps in method 300. These means may be implemented in any suitable manner, for example, by a circuit or a software module.

[0079] In some embodiments, an apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from a network device, co-location information of at least one component carrier and / or information of a beam in a first direction associated with the at least one component carrier, the co-location information being co-location information indicating whether the at least one component carrier is co-located; means for determining a communication measurement request for the at least one component carrier based on the information of the beam in the first direction associated with the at least one component carrier; and means for performing communication measurement on the at least one component carrier based on the determined request.

[0080] In some embodiments, the means for determining a requirement includes means for determining, in response to co-location information indicating at least one of the at least one component carriers is co-located with another component carrier, at least one component carrier having the same beam direction as the other component carrier, a requirement indicating one of the measurement parameters excluding at least one of the measurement parameters including only a reference signal received power and a reference signal received quality, a received signal strength indication, and one synchronization block, that the communication measurement is null.

[0081] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a primary component carrier from the at least one component carrier and the set of component carriers in response to determining at least one component carrier that is co-located with the set of component carriers.

[0082] In some embodiments, the means for determining the request includes means for determining a request to indicate one of the measurement parameters responsive to a primary component carrier excluding at least one component carrier, where the communication measurement is null, where the measurement parameters excluding at least one of a reference signal received power and a reference signal received quality, where the measurement parameters include only a received signal strength indication, and where the measurement parameters include one synchronization block on at least one component carrier.

[0083] In some embodiments, the means for determining the request includes: means for determining a primary component carrier from at least one of the component carriers and the set of component carriers in response to determining at least one of at least one component carrier collocated with the set of component carriers and at least one component carrier having the same beam direction as the set of component carriers; and means for determining a request to indicate one of measurement parameters including at least one of reference signal received power, reference signal received quality received signal strength indication, and two or more synchronization blocks on at least one component carrier in response to the at least one component carrier being the primary component carrier, to perform neighbor cell search.

[0084] In some embodiments, the co-location information includes an index of the determined primary component carrier.

[0085] In some embodiments, the means for determining the request includes means for determining at least one component carrier that is not collocated with another component carrier and at least one of the component carriers that has a different beam direction than the other component carriers, and determining a request for an indication of one of the measurement parameters including at least one of a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality received signal strength indication, and two or more synchronization blocks on the at least one component carrier.

[0086] 4 is a simplified block diagram of a device 400 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 400 may be implemented in a network device 120. The device 400 may be implemented in a terminal device 110. As shown, the device 400 includes one or more processors 410, one or more memories 420 coupled to the processors 410, and one or more transmitters and / or receivers (TX / RX) 440 coupled to the processors 410.

[0087] The processor 410 can be of any type suitable for a local technology network and can include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 400 can have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0088] The memory 420 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as, by way of non-limiting example, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory.

[0089] The memory 420 stores at least a portion of the program 430. The TX / RX 440 is for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 440 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice the access nodes referred to in this application may have several antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements.

[0090] The program 430 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by an associated processor 410, enable the device 400 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as described herein with reference to Figures 2-3. That is, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 410 of the device 400, by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0091] While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any disclosure or what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of a particular disclosure. Certain features described herein in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable combination. Furthermore, while features may be described above as operating in a particular combination and may initially be claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may optionally be deleted from that combination, and a claimed combination may be directed to sub-combinations or varying amounts of sub-combinations.

[0092] Similarly, while operations are shown in the figures in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown, or in any sequential order, or that all of the operations shown be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Furthermore, the separation of various system components in the above embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged in multiple software products.

[0093] Various modifications, adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant art in light of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Any and all modifications will remain within the scope of the non-limiting exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Moreover, other embodiments of the disclosures set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these embodiments of the disclosure pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.

[0094] Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not to be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

[Claim 1] A method of communication comprising: receiving, from a network device, information of at least one component carrier, the information indicating whether at least two component carriers are co-located; determining communication measurement requirements for the at least one component carrier based on the information, wherein the communication measurement requirements for the at least one component carrier are configured by the network device; performing the communications measurements on the at least one component carrier based on the determined requirements; the method of communications further comprising, in response to determining that the at least two component carriers are co-located, determining a primary component carrier from the at least two component carriers, wherein communications measurements are performed on the determined primary component carrier. The method of device communication.

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