Cell activation measurement report

Abstract

[0003] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, device, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for measurement reporting for cell activation. In the method, a first device receives a cell activation command from a second device. The first device determines whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received. Based on the determination, the first device transmits measurement results of the type of measurement to the second device.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Various example 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 cell activation measurement reporting. [Background technology]

[0002] In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 (Rel-18), enhanced Radio Resource Management (RRM) may reduce the activation delay of a secondary cell (SCell) in Frequency Range 2 (FR2). To reduce the activation delay of an FR2 SCell, enhancements may be considered, such as enhanced cell detection for unknown SCells, enhanced time and frequency (T / F) tracking, reduced Layer 1 (L1) Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement delay on the target SCell, and enhanced user equipment (UE) reference signal and / or signaling to meet the enhanced delay requirements.

[0003] An open issue relates to reducing the activation delay of unknown SCells in FR2. Due to beam sweeping, a UE can expect to experience a long delay in activating such SCells. The activation operation may include automatic gain control (AGC), time and frequency synchronization (T / F synchronization), cell search, L1-RSRP measurement, CSI measurement, etc. To reduce the delay, the UE can transmit Layer 3 (L3) measurement reports containing synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB) indexes to the network (NW) after receiving the SCell activation command. However, some details of such L3 measurement reports, such as trigger conditions, reported content, and report transmission scheme, need further study. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, comprising: receiving, at a first device, a cell activation command from a second device; determining whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received; and transmitting the measurement results of the type of measurement to the second device based on the determination.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, the method including: transmitting, at a second device, a cell activation command to a first device; receiving measurement results of a certain type of measurement of the cell from the first device; and determining whether the received measurement results of the certain type of measurement are valid.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first device, the first device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to perform at least a method according to the first aspect.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second device, 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 perform at least a method according to the second aspect.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus, the first apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to the first aspect.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus, the second apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to the second aspect.

[0010] 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 the method according to the first aspect.

[0011] 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 the method according to the second aspect.

[0012] 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.

[0013] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [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 a signaling diagram of a measurement report according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] 1 is a flowchart of an example method implemented on a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram of various measurement types according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example communication process according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart of an example method performed on a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example cell activation process 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

[0015] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements.

[0016] 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.

[0017] 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.

[0018] 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 that 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.

[0019] Although terms such as "first," "second," and the like 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 of the listed terms, or any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0020] 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.

[0021] 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.

[0022] 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 of other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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.

[0026] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node of a communication network through which a terminal device accesses and receives services from the network. 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), relay, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, low-power nodes such as femto, pico, satellite network devices, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and geosynchronous 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 has a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) section that behaves like a UE to the parent node, and the DU section of the IAB node behaves like a base station to the next-hop IAB node.

[0027] 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 (IoT) 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] As mentioned above, in 3GPP Rel-18, enhanced RRM may reduce the SCell activation delay in FR2. Regarding reducing the FR2 SCell activation delay, an open issue relates to the activation of unknown SCells in FR2. A SCell can have a known state and an unknown state. When a SCell is "known," it may mean that the UE has sent an L3 measurement report within a certain time period before receiving the SCell activation command and the reported SSB index remains detectable. For example, for the first SCell activation in the FR2 band, the SCell may be known if it meets the following conditions: Otherwise, it is considered unknown.

[0030] - During a period equal to 4 seconds for a UE supporting power classes 1 / 5, or 3 seconds for a UE supporting power classes 2 / 3 / 4, before the UE receives the last activation command of the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI), the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) TCI (if applicable), and the semi-persistent Channel-State Information (CSI)-Reference Signal (RS) for Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) reporting (if applicable): - the UE has sent a valid L3-RSRP measurement report containing an SSB index, - The SCell activation command is received after the L3-RSRP report but before the UE receives a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) command for TCI activation. - During the period between the L3-RSRP report and a valid CQI report, the reported indexed SSBs remain detectable according to the cell identification conditions, and the TCI state is selected based on one of the most recent reported SSB indices.

[0031] For an unknown SCell in FR2, the UE may expect a long activation delay due to beam sweeping. To reduce the delay, the UE can send an L3 measurement report including the SSB index after receiving the SCell activation command. For example, if measurement results are available, the UE may report them to the NW. The UE may report valid L3 measurement results after the SCell activation command. This L3 measurement report is intended to provide the latest beam information for the SCell, so that the unknown SCell may be converted to a known status or remain in a known status. This allows the UE and the network to align the cell status upon SCell activation if the status determined based on the current known and unknown conditions differs between the UE and the NW. Therefore, the latest known and unknown status (including the SSB index) may be aligned to avoid any misunderstandings regarding the SCell activation procedure.

[0032] However, the standard does not specify details about L3 measurement reporting such as trigger conditions, what is reported, how reports are sent, etc. For example, the following aspects need further consideration: whether to define new sub-states for known and unknown states of FR2 SCell, when and how to trigger, configure and report such L3 measurement results, whether L3 measurement reporting is required when the UE does not have valid measurement results, how to determine that measurement results are available, what is reported in the L3 measurement report, etc.

[0033] Furthermore, the network may not have information about the measurement status of the UE, e.g., it is unknown how long the UE has measured a cell or carrier or whether the measurement report received is valid. It may be entirely up to the UE to decide whether an L3 measurement report is valid, but what is "valid" is unknown to the network.

[0034] Furthermore, the UE may have performed various types of measurements on the SCell to be activated before receiving the SCell activation command. For example, in connection with setup extensions from idle and inactive modes, the UE may perform idle or inactive mode measurements on possible target cells before setting up the connection. Measurement requirements in this scenario may be based on discontinuous reception (DRX) in idle mode or idle and inactive measurement requirements that take into account paging cycles. Furthermore, the UE may perform verification measurements during and after the radio resource control (RRC) connection setup procedure.

[0035] A UE may be configured with inter-frequency measurements on carriers including a target cell before the target cell is added or configured as an SCell for carrier aggregation (CA) or a PSCell for dual connectivity (DC). In this case, the measurement requirements may be based on inter-frequency measurements, such as SSB-based gap-assisted measurements and SSB-based RRM measurement timing configuration (SMTC) on the target cell, taking gap sharing into account. The UE may perform intra-frequency measurements on a cell after the cell is configured or added as a serving cell. This may apply to a cell configured in an inactive or active state (meaning the cell becomes an SCell or PSCell, i.e., a serving cell). Similar requirements may also apply when an SCell or PSCell is deactivated from an activated state. The measurement requirements are based on intra-frequency measurement requirements, such as applying a configured cycle, measCycleSCell, to a deactivated SCell. While some exemplary embodiments are described below using an SCell as an example, the exemplary embodiments herein may also be generally applicable to other serving cells, such as a PSCell.

[0036] Depending on how and when the SCell is configured and / or activated, the measurement status and latest measurement occasion at the time of the SCell activation command may relate to any of the measurements mentioned above. For example, if the SCell is activated immediately after being added (or configured), the UE may not have time to perform intra-frequency measurements on the (deactivated) SCell before the SCell is activated. Instead, the UE may only have inter-frequency measurements on the cell, if configured. In another example, if the UE is not also configured for inter-frequency measurements on the cell, the measurements available at the UE may come from idle mode measurements. In either case, the network has no way of knowing what type of measurements, if any, the UE may have performed upon receipt of the L3 measurement report after the SCell activation command.

[0037] Since these measurements have different measurement periods and accuracy requirements, it may not be clear to the network how the results reported in the measurement report were derived, e.g., the number of received signal samples used, and therefore the measurement accuracy.Since the L3 measurement report may be used to inform the network of beam index information for SCell activation, ambiguity in the L3 measurement report may be misleading to the network and therefore have a negative impact on the activation procedure.

[0038] Therefore, clear information about "valid L3 measurement reports" can be expected so that the network can have complete knowledge of the received reports and can decide whether they can be used directly for SCell activation. Although this problem arises from FR2 SCell activation, the problem also applies to other frequency ranges, such as FR1 SCell activation and Primary SCell (PSCell) activation. Therefore, the solution proposed in this disclosure can be generally applied to different frequency ranges, including, for example, both FR1 and FR2, and can also be generally applied to any serving cell type, including both SCell and Special Cell (SPCell).

[0039] An example embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a measurement reporting scheme. In this scheme, a first device, such as a UE, determines whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for reporting based on measurements available at the time an activation command for a cell, such as an SCell (also referred to as a target cell), is received. Then, based on the determination, the first device sends the measurement results of the type of measurement to a second device, such as a gNB. For explanatory purposes, in the context of the present disclosure, the type of measurement is also referred to as the measurement type.

[0040] Therefore, the second device determines whether the measurement result of the received measurement of that type is valid. The second device may then perform an action based on the determination result. For example, if the received measurement result is valid, the second device may send a TCI activation command for the cell to the first device. Therefore, some normal L3 and L1 operations can be skipped for cell activation.

[0041] In this way, the activation delay of an SCell may be reduced. Furthermore, activation of a deactivated SCell may be facilitated.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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.

[0044] 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).

[0045] 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.

[0046] In environment 100, first device 110 can access a communication network via multiple cells, including, for example, a first cell 121 (also referred to as Cell 1) and a second cell 122 (also referred to as Cell 2) for CA. Either or both cells may be provided by second device 120 or any other suitable device that may employ the same or different radio access technologies. In some example embodiments, first cell 121 may be a primary cell (PCell), and second cell 122 may be a primary secondary cell (PSCell) or a secondary cell (SCell). Although two cells 121 and 122 are shown in FIG. 1, first device 110 may be provided with fewer or more cells.

[0047] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may be configured to implement beamforming techniques and transmit signals to the first device 110 via multiple beams. The first device 110 may be configured to receive signals transmitted by the second device 120 via multiple beams. Different beams may be configured for the first cell 121 and the second cell 122. As shown in FIG. 1 , the second cell 122 may be configured with beam 130. It should be understood that the second cell 122 may have more beams associated with it. Although not shown, the first cell 121 may also have a beam associated with it.

[0048] It should be understood that the number of devices, cells, and beams is not meant to imply any limitation and is for illustrative purposes only, and communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices, cells, and beams adapted to implement embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0049] 2 shows a signaling diagram 200 of measurement reporting between a first device 110 and a second device 120, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the signaling diagram 200 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0050] 2, the second device 120 (e.g., a gNB) transmits 205 an activation command for a cell, such as the second cell 122 or Cell2, to the first device 110 (e.g., a UE). In an example embodiment in which the cell is an SCell, the activation command may be an SCell activation command to activate the SCell after or when the SCell is added or configured for the first device 110. The activation command may be transmitted via the first cell 121 or Cell1 acting as a PCell.

[0051] After the first device 110 receives a cell activation command (210), the first device 110 determines (215) whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received. Various types of measurements may have been performed on the cell before the activation command. For example, during idle mode or inactive mode, the first device 110 may perform idle mode or inactive mode measurements on potential cells (including Cell2). After connection setup or setup resumption (such as RRC setup or setup resumption) and / or during connected mode, the first device 110 may perform verified or validation measurements on potential cells (including Cell2). Depending on the measurement configuration from the second device 120, the first device 110 may perform inter-frequency measurements on neighboring cells (including Cell2). After adding an SCell (which may be deactivated), the first device 110 may perform intra-frequency measurements on serving cells (including Cell2).

[0052] From the available measurements, the first device 110 can determine the types of measurements that have valid measurements. The validity of a measurement may be determined based on several conditions, which are explained in detail in the following paragraphs with reference to FIG.

[0053] 2, the first device 110 then transmits (220) the measurement results of the measurement type based on the determination to the second device 120. For example, the first device 110 may transmit a valid measurement result or an invalid measurement result depending on the determination of the validity of the measurement result of the available measurement.

[0054] In some example embodiments, invalid measurements are not sent. In this case, the measurement report may include only valid measurements and measurement types. In other example embodiments, the first device 110 may include all measurements in the measurement report, but only indicate the measurement types that were recently verified or are "valid."

[0055] After the second device 120 receives (225) measurement results for that type of measurement from the first device 110, the second device 120 determines (230) whether the received measurement results are valid. The second device 120 may then perform subsequent actions based on that determination. For example, if the received measurement results are valid for a given cell, the second device 120 may send a TCI activation command immediately after receiving a valid measurement report. If the received measurement results are invalid or have a low accuracy level, the second device 120 may wait for the first device 110 to send another measurement report, for example, an L1-RSRP report.

[0056] Some detailed implementation examples are described below with reference to FIGS.

[0057] 3 shows a flowchart of an example method 300 implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the method 300 will be described from the perspective of the first device 110 with reference to FIG.

[0058] At block 310, the first device 110 receives a cell activation command from the second device 120. For example, in an example embodiment where the cell is a deactivated SCell, the activation command may be a SCell activation command to activate the deactivated SCell.

[0059] In block 320, the first device 110 determines whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received. The measurement options can be based on the capabilities of the first device 110 and measurements previously performed by the first device 110. Some example embodiments in this regard are described below with reference to FIG. 4.

[0060] 4 shows a diagram of various measurement types according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, a first cell 121, i.e., Cell1, acts as a PCell and a second cell 122, i.e., Cell2, acts as an SCell.

[0061] 4, in time period 405, the first device 110 may perform IDLE mode and / or INACTIVE mode measurements on Cell2. In time period before connected mode 410 and time period after RRC setup completion 415, the first device 110 may perform verification measurements on Cell2 and derive verified or unverified measurements. In time period after measurement configuration 420, the first device 110 may perform inter-frequency measurements on Cell2. In time period after SCell configuration or addition 425, the first device 110 may perform intra-frequency measurements on Cell2.

[0062] In some example embodiments, the measurement types may comprise measurements during RRC setup / resumption. For example, these measurements may comprise measurements in idle mode without DRX enabled. Also, the measurement types may also comprise measurements verified during and after the RRC setup procedure.

[0063] 3, to determine (at block 320) whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid, the first device 110 may consider measurement types including at least one of intra-frequency measurements on a deactivated SCell, inter-frequency measurements on a neighboring cell, verified measurements, non-verified measurements, idle mode measurements, inactive mode measurements, or connected mode measurements. From the available measurements, the first device 110 may determine valid measurement results of a certain type of measurement for a cell to be activated.

[0064] In some example embodiments, measurement types may be categorized by layer, including, for example, L1 measurements and L3 measurements. As an example, measurement types may comprise L1 intra-frequency measurements, L1 inter-frequency measurements, L3 intra-frequency measurements, and / or L inter-frequency measurements.

[0065] The validity of a measurement result may be determined based on whether one or more conditions are met. In some example embodiments, the conditions may relate to measurement duration and / or accuracy requirements. For example, for a particular measurement type, if the measurement duration and accuracy requirements defined in the 3GPP standard are met, the corresponding measurement result may be considered valid.

[0066] Alternatively, or in addition, the measurement period requirement may be specific to cell-activation measurement reporting. In some example embodiments, the measurement period requirement may be associated with the DRX cycle, the SMTC window, the presence or absence of inter-frequency measurement gaps, and / or the number of received signal samples. For example, the first device 110 may be required to acquire a required number of received signal samples within a given SMTC window within a given DRX cycle, with or without considering gaps. The accuracy requirement may also be specific to the cell-activation measurement reporting scenario. In some example embodiments, the measurement period requirement and / or the accuracy requirement may be configured by the network or may be predefined for cell-activation measurement reporting.

[0067] Alternatively, or in addition, these conditions may relate to the detectability of a reference signal in a certain type of measurement. For example, if the reference signal used in a measurement is detectable upon receipt of an activate command, the corresponding measurement result may be considered valid. If the most recent measurement value before the activate command exceeds a threshold, the reference signal may be considered detectable. The threshold may be preset to less than ±6 dB or less than ±2 dB, depending on the particular implementation.

[0068] In some example embodiments, the measurement period requirement, accuracy requirement, and detectability of the reference signal may be used in combination as default conditions for determining valid measurement reports.

[0069] Alternatively, or in addition, certain conditions may require a specific type of measurement to activate a cell. The type may be configured or predefined by the network via the second device 120. The measurement type may be configured or predefined per UE and / or per carrier. For example, the first device 110 may receive from the second device 120 a configuration of at least one type of measurement to be used for cell activation. Based on the received configuration, the first device 110 may determine that a measurement result of one of the measurement types is valid only if that type is configured by the network. For a measurement type configured for a particular carrier, the first device 110 may determine whether a measurement result of the measurement type configured on the particular carrier is valid.

[0070] In another example, a specific type of measurement may be predefined. Thus, the first device 110 may determine the type of measurement based on the predefined measurement type. For example, if the type is predefined as an intra-frequency measurement of a deactivated cell (e.g., a deactivated SCell), the L3 measurement report is valid only if it meets the measurement period and / or accuracy requirements of the intra-frequency measurement of the deactivated SCell.

[0071] This configuration may be conveyed in any appropriate message or signaling. In some example embodiments, this configuration may be conveyed in a measurement configuration depending on the type of measurement. The measurement configuration may indicate whether this type of measurement is used for cell activation. Alternatively, or additionally, this configuration may be included in an SCell Addition message, an SCell Activation Command, or any RRC or MAC message.

[0072] In some example embodiments, at least one of the above conditions for determining the validity of the measurement result may be configured by the second device 120. Accordingly, the first device 110 may receive such configuration from the second device 120.

[0073] As an example, the network may configure "valid" conditions for measurement reporting, such as L3 measurement reporting after an SCell activation command, e.g., via the second device 120. In one example, the network may configure an RSRP threshold above which measurement results are considered valid and reported to the network. In another example, the network may configure one or more measurement types for L3 measurement reporting after an SCell activation command. This enables specific types of L3 measurement results to be reported to the network. The conditions may also include the number of DRX cycles or received signal samples used for the type of measurement, which may be related to the measurement period. In another example, the network may indicate in the measurement configuration whether measurements on the target cell can be used for SCell activation.

[0074] After the determination (at block 320), at block 330, the first device 110 transmits the measurement results of the type of measurement to the second device 120 based on the determination. Depending on the result of the determination at block 320, the transmitted measurement results may be valid or invalid. In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit an indication of whether the measurement results of the type of measurement are valid to the second device 120. Thus, the second device 120 may recognize the validity of the received measurement results.

[0075] The indication may be explicit or implicit. For example, the first device 110 may send an explicit indication in any message or signaling to explicitly indicate whether the measurement results of that type of measurement are valid. As another example, the first device 110 may use a special value in a measurement report as an implicit indication to implicitly indicate that the measurement results of that type of measurement are invalid. In this way, signaling overhead may be reduced.

[0076] Some other rules for validity indication may be predefined. For example, if a measurement type is configured to be measured, the first device 110 may be predefined to report only valid measurements of the configured measurement type. In this case, the validity indication as well as the measurement type indication may not be necessary to further reduce system overhead.

[0077] To further reduce system overhead, in some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit measurement results of a type of measurement to the second device 120 if the measurement results of that type of measurement are determined to be valid. If the measurement results of that type of measurement are invalid or if none of the measurement results of a type of measurement are valid, the first device 110 may not transmit a measurement report or may transmit a measurement report indicating invalidity.

[0078] In some example embodiments, the first device 110 can send an indication of the type of measurement along with the measurement results of that type of measurement to the second device 120. Thus, the second device 120 can know what type of measurement the first device 110 performed when it received the cell activation command. Because different types of measurements may have different measurement durations and accuracy requirements, the network can know the number of samples used and whether the measurement accuracy is sufficient to shorten cell activation.

[0079] In one example, the type of measurement and the validity of the measurement result may be indicated together. For example, if the measurement result of a certain type of measurement is determined to be valid, the first device 110 may indicate to the second device 120 that the measurement report is valid and the measurement type after receiving the cell activation command.

[0080] In a measurement report, the measurement type can be indicated by a single type flag for each measurement type or a combination of multiple type flags for each measurement type. Table 1 shows examples of flags that indicate measurement types.

[0081] [Table 1]

[0082] In some example embodiments, if a single type of measurement is allowed in a measurement report, the measurement type may not be indicated by the first device 110 to the second device 120 to further reduce signaling overhead.

[0083] An example process for determining valid L3 measurement reports and measurement types based on available measurements is described below with reference to FIG.

[0084] 5 illustrates a diagram of an example communication process 500 between a UE (as an example of a first device 110) and a network, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, a UE 505 can communicate with the network via a PCell 510 and an SCell 515, with the SCell 515 acting as a target cell for measurements.

[0085] As shown in FIG. 5, at 520, the UE 505 may be in IDLE mode or INACTIVE mode. At 522, RRC Setup Resumption may be performed between the UE 505 and the network via the PCell 510. At 524, RRC Setup Complete may be performed between the UE 505 and the network via the PCell 510. At 526, the UE 505 may be in CONNECTED mode. At 528, measurement option 1 may comprise idle and inactive measurements obtained before the RRC setup procedure. It may also comprise verified measurements during and after the RRC setup procedure. These measurements may be performed during IDLE and INACTIVE modes and verified during RRC setup or setup resumption and / or during CONNECTED mode.

[0086] At 530, the UE 505 may receive a measurement configuration including the SCell 515. At 532, measurement option 2 may comprise inter-frequency measurements on the SCell 515. The UE 505 may perform inter-frequency measurements based on the received measurement configuration. At 534, the UE 505 may receive an SCell addition message in which the SCell 515 is deactivated. At 536, measurement option 3 may comprise intra-frequency measurements after SCell addition. The UE 505 may perform intra-frequency measurements on the serving cell (including the PCell 510 and the SCell 515) after receiving the SCell addition message.

[0087] At 538, the UE 505 may receive an SCell activation command. At 540, the UE 505 may determine a valid L3 measurement report and measurement type based on the available measurements. At 542, the UE 505 may send an L3 measurement report including the measurement type.

[0088] After the network receives the measurement type, it will be able to understand the measurement period and accuracy, and therefore be able to determine the activation step based at least on the measurement type. Some exemplary embodiments on the network side are described below with reference to Figure 6.

[0089] 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a second device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120 with reference to FIG.

[0090] In block 610, the second device 120 sends an activation command for a cell, such as the second cell 122, which may be a PSCell or an SCell, to the first device 110. In block 620, the second device 120 receives measurement results of a certain type of measurement of the cell from the first device 110. In block 630, the second device 120 determines whether the received measurement results of the type of measurement are valid.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may receive an indication of whether the measurement results of the received measurement type from the first device 110 are valid. Based on this indication, the second device 120 may determine the validity of the received measurement results. The indication may be explicit or implicit. In some example embodiments, a special value in the measurement report may be used as an implicit indication that the measurement results of the measurement type are invalid.

[0092] In some example embodiments, if the measurement result is invalid, the first device 110 may not send a measurement report. In these example embodiments, after receiving the measurement result from the first device 110, the second device 120 may determine that the received measurement result is valid because the first device 110 may not report an invalid measurement result.

[0093] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may receive an indication of the type of measurement from the first device 110. In some example embodiments, the type of measurement may comprise at least one of an idle mode, inactive mode, or connected mode measurement, an inter-frequency measurement, or an intra-frequency measurement, or a verified or unverified measurement.

[0094] Based on the type of measurement, the second device 120 may perform subsequent actions. In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may send a TCI activation command for the cell to the first device 110 if the measurement result of the received measurement is determined to be valid.

[0095] As an example, in an exemplary embodiment where the measurement result and measurement type are transmitted in an L3 measurement report, if the received L3 measurement report is based on an intra-frequency measurement on a deactivated SCell, the network may send a TCI activation command via the second device 120 immediately after receiving a valid L3 measurement report. Otherwise, the network may wait for the first device 110 to send an L1-RSRP report according to legacy activation behavior.

[0096] In some example embodiments, several types of measurements may be allowed for cell activation. These measurement types may be configured by the network. Measurement types may be configured per UE and / or per carrier. In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may send to the first device 110 a configuration of at least one type of measurement to be used for cell activation. Such a configuration may comprise a measurement configuration for a type of measurement and may indicate whether that type of measurement is used for cell activation.

[0097] In an example embodiment where only one measurement type is allowed for cell activation, the first device 110 may not send an indication of that type of measurement, and therefore the second device 120 may not receive such an indication because the UE sends an L3 measurement report only if the configured measurement type is satisfied.

[0098] In some example embodiments, L1 measurements and L3 measurements are two cell-activated measurement types. In this example, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 with such two measurement types, but the first device 110 may not need to send an indication of the type of measurement, such as an indication of whether the measurement type is an L1 measurement or an L3 measurement. The same is true if L1 intra-frequency measurements and L1 inter-frequency measurements are configured as two measurement types, or if L3 intra-frequency measurements and L3 inter-frequency measurements are configured as two measurement types.

[0099] In some example embodiments, at block 640, the second device 120 may transmit a configuration of at least one condition for determining that the measurement result of that type of measurement is valid to the first device 110. Based on the condition, both the first device 110 and the second device 120 may determine whether the measurement result of a certain type of measurement is valid.

[0100] The at least one condition may comprise at least one of: a measurement period requirement is met, an accuracy requirement is met, a reference signal for the measurement is detectable, the measurement is performed on a specific reference signal predefined or configured by the network, or the measurement type is a predetermined measurement type. In some example embodiments, the measurement period requirement is associated with at least one of a DRX cycle, an SMTC window, the presence or absence of inter-frequency measurement gaps, or the number of received signal samples.

[0101] All operations and features relating to the second device 120 described above with reference to Figures 1-5 are equally applicable to, and have similar effect on, the method 600. Details are omitted for the sake of brevity.

[0102] 7 illustrates an example process 700 for determining valid L3 measurement reports for SCell activation, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In this example, PCell 510 operates as Cell1 (i.e., first cell 121 in FIG. 1 ), and SCell 515 operates as Cell2 (i.e., second cell 122 in FIG. 1 ).

[0103] As shown in FIG. 7, at 702, UE 505 may perform idle mode measurements on both Cell1 and Cell2. At some point, UE 505 may establish an RRC connection to Cell1. At 704, UE 505 is in connected mode. UE 505 may be configured with inter-frequency measurements on carriers including Cell2. At 706, UE 505 may perform inter-frequency measurements. After some time, at 708, the network may configure or add Cell2 as a secondary cell. Therefore, UE 505 may need to measure the SCell even if the SCell is in an inactive state. At 710, UE 505 may perform intra-frequency measurements on the deactivated SCell. UE 505 may not send any L3 measurement reports for the SCell before activation of the SCell. At 712, a measurement report is not triggered.

[0104] In some example embodiments, in Case 1, the UE 505 may receive an SCell activation command to activate a deactivated SCell at 714. The UE 505 may determine whether there is a valid L3 measurement report to send to the network at 716, and the measurement report is determined to be valid if it meets the requirements of the measurement type. The UE 505 may send the L3 measurement report with the measurement type at 718. For example, if the SCell is activated immediately after adding the SCell, the UE 505 may not be able to perform sufficient intra-frequency measurements for the deactivated SCell. The UE 505 may send the latest inter-frequency measurement report, if available, and indicate that this measurement report is an inter-f measurement (i.e., measurement type) for cell 2.

[0105] In some other example embodiments, in Case 2, the network may configure "valid" conditions before activating the SCell at 720. This may be included in the SCell Add, SCell Activation command, or any RRC or MAC message. For example, the network may configure the measurement type to be used for the L3 measurement report. The network may also indicate an RSRP threshold, a reference signal index, or a number of samples or DRX cycles based on which the L3 measurement results are derived. At 722, the UE 505 may determine whether the L3 measurement is valid based on the conditions. For example, the UE 505 may consider the L3 measurement report valid only if these conditions are met.

[0106] In some example embodiments, if the measurement type is implicitly predefined or if a single type of measurement is allowed for the L3 measurement report, the UE 505 may or may not send the measurement type.

[0107] In an example embodiment where L1 and L3 measurements are configured as the two measurement types for cell activation, the UE 505 may not send an indication of that type of measurement, such as an indication of whether the measurement type is L1 or L3. Alternatively, or additionally, in an example embodiment where L1 intra-frequency and L1 inter-frequency measurements, or L3 intra-frequency and L3 inter-frequency measurements are configured for cell activation, the UE 505 may not send an indication of that type of measurement.

[0108] After the network receives a valid L3 measurement report, the network may determine the next activation step based at least on the measurement type at 724. In one example, at 726, if the received measurement type is an inactive intra-frequency measurement, the network may send a TCI activation command.

[0109] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus (e.g., first device 110 of FIG. 1 ) capable of performing any of methods 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 in a circuit or a software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in first device 110 of FIG. 1 .

[0110] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving a cell activation command from a second device, means for determining whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received, and means for transmitting the measurement results of the type of measurement to the second device based on the determination.

[0111] In some exemplary embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for transmitting an indication of the type of measurement to the second device.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for transmitting an indication to the second device of whether the measurement results of the type of measurement are valid.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting an indication of whether the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid comprises means for transmitting, based on a determination that the measurement result of the type of measurement is invalid, a special value in the measurement report to the second device indicating that the measurement result of the type of measurement is invalid.

[0114] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for transmitting the measurement result of the type of measurement comprises means for transmitting the measurement result of the type of measurement based on a determination that the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving from the second device a configuration of at least one type of measurement used for cell activation, and the means for determining whether a measurement result of the type of measurement is valid comprises means for determining the type of measurement based on the received configuration.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the at least one type of measurement comprises a measurement configuration for a type of measurement, the measurement configuration indicating whether the type of measurement is used for activation of the cell.

[0117] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for determining whether the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid comprises means for determining the type of measurement based on predefined measurement types.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the type of measurement comprises at least one of an idle mode, inactive mode or connected mode measurement, an inter-frequency or intra-frequency measurement, or a verified or unverified measurement.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving a cell transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command from the second device in response to the transmitted measurement result being valid.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid comprises means for determining that the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid based on at least one condition being met, the at least one condition comprising at least one of: a measurement period requirement being met; an accuracy requirement being met; a reference signal for the type of measurement being detectable; or the type of measurement being a predetermined measurement type.

[0121] In some example embodiments, the measurement period requirement is associated with at least one of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB)-based radio resource management (RRM) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window, an inter-frequency measurement gap, or a number of received signal samples.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for receiving a configuration of at least one of the at least one condition from the second device.

[0123] In some exemplary embodiments, the cell is a primary secondary cell or a secondary cell.

[0124] 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 first apparatus to perform.

[0125] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus (e.g., second device 120 of FIG. 1 ) capable of performing any of method 600 may comprise means for performing each operation of method 600. 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 .

[0126] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for sending a cell activation command to the first device, means for receiving measurement results of a certain type of measurement of the cell from the first device, and means for determining whether the received measurement results of the certain type of measurement are valid.

[0127] In some exemplary embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for receiving an indication of the type of measurement from the first device.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for receiving from the first device an indication of whether the measurement results of the received measurement of the type are valid.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the means for receiving an indication of whether the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid comprises means for receiving, from the first device, a special value in the measurement report indicating that the measurement result of the type of measurement is invalid.

[0130] In some exemplary embodiments, the measurement results of the received measurement of that type are valid.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting to the first device a configuration of at least one type of measurement used for cell activation.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the configuration of the at least one type of measurement comprises a measurement configuration for a type of measurement, the measurement configuration indicating whether the type of measurement is used for activation of the cell.

[0133] In some example embodiments, the type of measurement comprises at least one of an idle mode, inactive mode or connected mode measurement, an inter-frequency or intra-frequency measurement, or a verified or unverified measurement.

[0134] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting a cell transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command to the first device based on a determination that the received measurement result of the type of measurement is valid.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting to the first device a configuration of at least one condition for determining that the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid, the at least one condition comprising at least one of a condition that a measurement duration requirement is met, a condition that an accuracy requirement is met, a condition that a reference signal for the measurement is detectable, or a condition that the type of measurement is a predetermined measurement type.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the measurement period requirement is associated with at least one of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB)-based radio resource management (RRM) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window, an inter-frequency measurement gap, or a number of received signal samples.

[0137] In some exemplary embodiments, the cell is a primary secondary cell or a secondary cell.

[0138] In some exemplary embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing method 600 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.

[0139] 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.

[0140] The communications module 840 is for bidirectional communication. The communications module 840 has 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.

[0141] 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 have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that follow the time of a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0142] The memory 820 can include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile 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 do not persist during power down periods.

[0143] 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.

[0144] 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.

[0145] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 830 may be tangibly 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 the data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0146] 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.

[0147] 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 embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using 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.

[0148] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly 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 distributed devices, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0149] 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 functionality / 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.

[0150] 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.

[0151] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, 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 the computer-readable storage medium may 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.

[0152] 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.

[0153] 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. In the first device, receiving a cell activation command from a second device; determining whether measurement results of a particular type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received; transmitting measurement results of the type of measurement to the second device based on the determination; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of sending an indication of the type of measurement to a second device.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising the step of transmitting an indication to the second device whether the measurement results of the type of measurement are valid.

4. Sending an indication of whether the measurement results for that type of measurement are valid; 4. The method of claim 3, comprising, based on a determination that the measurement result of the type of measurement is invalid, sending a special value in the measurement report to the second device indicating that the measurement result of the type of measurement is invalid.

5. Sending the measurement results of that type of measurement is 4. The method of claim 1, comprising transmitting a measurement result of a measurement of that type based on a determination that the measurement result of that type is valid.

6. receiving from the second device a configuration of at least one type of measurement to be used for cell activation; Determining whether the measurement results of that type of measurement are valid is 6. The method of claim 1, comprising determining the type of measurement based on the received configuration.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the configuration of at least one type of measurement includes a measurement configuration for a type of measurement, the measurement configuration indicating whether the type of measurement is used for cell activation.

8. Determining whether the measurement results of that type of measurement are valid is 6. The method of claim 1, comprising determining the type of measurement based on predefined measurement types.

9. The type of measurement is Idle, inactive or connected mode measurements, Inter-frequency or intra-frequency measurements, Validated or unvalidated measurements, or Verified measurements during and after the Radio Resource Control (RRC) setup procedure The method of claim 1 , comprising at least one of:

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a cell transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command from the second device in response to the transmitted measurement result being valid.

11. Determining whether the measurement results of that type of measurement are valid is determining that the measurement result of the type of measurement is valid based on at least one condition being met, wherein the at least one condition comprises: the conditions under which the measurement period requirements are met; the conditions under which accuracy requirements are met, The condition that a reference signal for that type of measurement is detectable, or The condition that a measurement of that type is of a given measurement type. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising at least one of:

12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the measurement period requirement is associated with at least one of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB)-based radio resource management (RRM) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window, an inter-frequency measurement gap, or a number of received signal samples.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, further comprising receiving a configuration of at least one of the at least one condition from the second device.

14. 14. The method of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the cell is a primary secondary cell or a secondary cell.

15. In the second device, sending a cell activation command to the first device; receiving measurement results of a type of measurement of a cell from a first device; determining whether the measurement results of the received measurement of that type are valid; A method comprising:

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving an indication of the type of measurement from the first device.

17. 17. The method of claim 15 or 16, further comprising receiving an indication from the first device whether the measurement results of the received measurement of that type are valid.

18. receiving an indication of whether the measurement results for that type of measurement are valid; 18. The method of claim 17, comprising receiving from the first device in a measurement report a special value indicating that the measurement result for that type of measurement is invalid.

19. 18. A method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the measurement results of the received measurements of that type are valid.

20. 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting to the first device a configuration of at least one type of measurement used for cell activation.

21. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the configuration of at least one type of measurement includes a measurement configuration for a type of measurement, the measurement configuration indicating whether the type of measurement is used for cell activation.

22. The type of measurement is Idle, inactive or connected mode measurements, Inter-frequency or intra-frequency measurements, or Validated or unvalidated measurements 22. The method of any one of claims 15 to 21, comprising at least one of:

23. 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising transmitting a cell transmission configuration indication (TCI) activation command to the first device based on a determination that the received measurement results of the type of measurement are valid.

24. and transmitting to the first device a configuration of at least one condition for determining that a measurement result of the type of measurement is valid, the at least one condition being: the conditions under which the measurement period requirements are met; the conditions under which accuracy requirements are met, The condition that a reference signal for the measurement is detectable, or The condition that the type of measurement is a given type of measurement 24. The method of any one of claims 15 to 23, comprising at least one of:

25. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the measurement period requirement is associated with at least one of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB)-based radio resource management (RRM) measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window, an inter-frequency measurement gap, or a number of received signal samples.

26. 26. The method of any one of claims 15 to 25, wherein the cell is a primary secondary cell or a secondary cell.

27. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; 15. A first device comprising: instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the first device to perform at least the method of any of claims 1 to 14.

28. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; 27. A second device comprising: instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the first device to perform at least the method of any of claims 15 to 26.

29. means for receiving a cell activation command from a second device; means for determining whether measurement results of a certain type of measurement are valid for the cell based on measurements available at the time the activation command is received; means for transmitting measurement results of the type of measurement to a second device based on the determination; A first device comprising:

30. means for sending a cell activation command to the first device; means for receiving measurement results of a type of measurement of a cell from a first device; A means to perform actions based on type A second device comprising:

31. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 or any one of claims 15 to 26.

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