User equipment for communication over a cellular network and a method for operating user equipment for communication over a cellular network

Abstract

This invention provides user devices and methods for operating user devices that improve the robustness of MR-DC functionality and provide a seamless experience in MR-DC mode. [Solution] A user device for communication over a cellular network, wherein the user device communicates simultaneously with one or more cells of a first node of the cellular network and one or more cells of a second node of the cellular network. The user device also communicates simultaneously with one of the cellular network base stations used as a serving base station, or with more of the cellular network base stations each used as a serving base station.

Claims

1. A user device for communication via a cellular network (CN), wherein the cellular network (CN) comprises a plurality of base stations (BS) connected to the core network (COR) of the cellular network (CN) via the xhaul network (XN) of the cellular network, The user device (1'') is configured to communicate with one of the base stations (BS) of the cellular network (CN) used as a serving base station (SBS), or to communicate simultaneously with more of the base stations (BS) of the cellular network (CN) each used as a serving base station (SBS), The user device (1'') is configured to transmit to one of the serving base stations (SBS) a list (LI') of candidate base stations (CBS) that are eligible to replace at least one of the serving base stations (SBS), The user device (1'') is configured to receive quality information (QI) regarding the quality of the communication link (CL') between one of the candidate base stations (CBS) and the core network (COR) for the multiple candidate base stations (CBS) from at least one of the serving base stations (SBS). The user equipment (1'') is configured to select one or more candidate base stations (CBS) to replace one or more of the base stations (BS) currently in use as serving base stations (SBS) based on the quality information (QI).

2. The user device (1'') is configured to transmit a Quality Information Request (QIR) to the at least one of the Serving Base Stations (SBS), the Quality Information Request (QIR) requests the at least one of the Serving Base Stations (SBS) to transmit the Quality Information (QI), as described in claim 1.

3. The user device (1'') is configured to receive the quality information (QI) as an unsorted list containing the quality indicator values ​​of the plurality of candidate base stations (CBS), The user device (1'') is configured to sort the unsorted list to create a sorted list. The user device (1'') is configured to select one or more of the candidate base stations (CBS) to replace one or more of the base stations (BS) currently in use as serving base stations (SBS) based on the sorted list, according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The user device (1'') receives the quality information (QI) As a sorted list of the aforementioned multiple candidate base stations (CBS), or An indexed list, wherein the index corresponds to ordering, as an indexed list, or An indexed list, wherein the index corresponds to the quality instruction value, It is configured to receive, The user device (1'') is configured to select one or more candidate base stations (CBS) to replace one or more of the base stations (BS) currently in use as serving base stations (SBS) based on the sorted list, according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The user device (1'') is configured to transmit a signal (SI) indicating which of the one or more candidate base stations (CBS) has been selected to one of the base stations (BS) currently in use as a serving base station (SBS), and / or one of the selected candidate base stations (CBS), according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The user device (1'') is configured to communicate via the cellular network (CN) using dual connectivity or multi-connectivity. The user device (1'') is configured to communicate simultaneously with a master node, which is one of the serving base stations (SBS), and a secondary node, which is one of the serving base stations (SBS). The user equipment (1'') can create the list of candidate base stations (CBS) (LI') such that the candidate base stations (CBS) in the list of candidate base stations (CBS) (LI') include a plurality of candidate base stations (CBS) that are qualified to replace the master node as one of the serving base stations (SBS), and / or a plurality of candidate base stations (CBS) that are qualified to replace the secondary node as one of the serving base stations (SBS).

7. The user device (1'') is configured to receive, and / or receive quality information (QI) from at least one of the serving base stations (SBS) regarding the quality of the communication link (CL') between one of the candidate base stations (CBS) and the core network (CN) for a plurality of candidate base stations (CBS) that are eligible to replace the master node as one of the serving base stations (SBS), and / or The user device (1'') is configured to receive from at least one of the serving base stations (SBS) the quality information relating to the quality of the communication link (CL') between one of the candidate base stations (CBS) and the core network (CN) for a plurality of candidate base stations (CBS) that are eligible to replace the secondary node as one of the serving base stations (SBS).

8. The user device (1'') is configured to select one or more of the candidate base stations (CBS) to replace the master node currently in use as one of the serving base stations (CBS), and / or The user device (1'') is configured to select one or more of the candidate base stations (CBS) to replace the secondary node currently in use as one of the serving base stations (SBS), according to claim 6 or 7.

9. A method for operating user equipment (1'') for communication over a cellular network (CN), wherein the cellular network (CN) comprises a plurality of base stations (BS) connected to the core network (COR) of the cellular network (CN) via the xhaul network (XN) of the cellular network (CN), and the method is: The steps of using the user equipment (1'') to communicate with one of the base stations (BS) of the cellular network (CN) used as a serving base station (SBS), or to communicate simultaneously with more of the base stations (BS) of the cellular network (CN) used as serving base stations (SBS), The steps include using the user equipment (1'') to transmit to one of the serving base stations (SBS) a list (LI') of candidate base stations (CBS) that are eligible to replace at least one of the serving base stations (SBS), The steps include using the user equipment (1'') to receive quality information (QI) regarding the quality of the communication link (CL') between one of the candidate base stations (CBS) and the core network (COR) for the multiple candidate base stations (CBS) from at least one of the serving base stations (SBS), A step of using the user equipment (1'') to select one or more candidate base stations (CBS) to replace one or more of the base stations (BS) currently in use as serving base stations (SBS) based on the quality information (QI); Methods that include...

10. A computer program that runs on a processor and causes the processor to perform the method described in claim 9.

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