Inter-Radio Access Technology Measurements Without Measurement Gap

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to techniques for performing inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system. A wireless device and a cellular base station can establish a radio link according to a first radio access technology. The cellular base station can indicate to the wireless device to perform inter-radio access technology measurements. The wireless device can determine that it can perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps. The wireless device can provide capability information to the cellular base station indicating that the wireless device can perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps. The wireless device can perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to systems, apparatus, and methods for performing inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in wireless communications systems. [Background technology]

[0002] The use of wireless communication systems is rapidly increasing. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. Many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices, or UEs) now not only support telephony, but also provide access to the Internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the Global Positioning System (GPS), and are capable of running sophisticated applications that utilize these capabilities. In addition, many different wireless communication technologies and standards exist. Some examples of wireless communication standards include GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with a WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interface), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), BLUETOOTH™, and the like.

[0003] The ever-increasing number of features and functions introduced into wireless communication devices creates a continuing need to improve both wireless communication and wireless communication devices. In particular, it is important to ensure the accuracy of transmitted and received signals via user equipment (UE) devices, e.g., wireless devices such as cellular telephones, base stations, and relay stations used in wireless cellular communications. Additionally, increasing the functionality of UE devices can place a significant strain on the battery life of the UE devices. Therefore, it is also very important to reduce the power requirements of UE devices while enabling the UE devices to maintain good transmission and reception capabilities for improved communications. Therefore, improvements in this area are desirable. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Presented herein are embodiments of an apparatus, system, and method for performing inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system.

[0005] The techniques described herein include signaling mechanisms for wireless devices and cellular base stations to coordinate whether the wireless devices perform inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps. The techniques can include, among other possibilities, scenarios in which the serving cell operates according to LTE and NR measurements are configured, and scenarios in which the serving cell operates according to NR and LTE measurements are configured.

[0006] According to the techniques described herein, a wireless device may be able to determine and indicate its ability to perform inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps for measurements that fall within a current active bandwidth portion for the wireless device and / or for measurements that do not fall within a current active bandwidth portion for the wireless device. The cellular base station may then determine whether to configure those measurements with or without measurement gaps accordingly. Thus, at least some inter-RAT measurements may be able to be performed without measurement gaps, which, according to at least some embodiments, may potentially reduce communication interruptions, increase spectral efficiency, increase data throughput, and / or provide any of various other benefits to cellular networks and / or wireless devices implementing the techniques described herein.

[0007] Note that techniques are also described herein for handling carrier-specific scaling factor determination to account for the possibility that such inter-RAT measurements may be performed without a measurement gap. Additionally, techniques are described herein for handling scenarios in which a wireless device does not support mixed numerology but may otherwise perform inter-RAT measurements using a different subcarrier spacing than the serving cell without a measurement gap.

[0008] It should be noted that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used in conjunction with many different types of devices, including, but not limited to, base stations, access points, cellular telephones, portable media players, tablet computers, wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aerial controllers, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, and various other computing devices.

[0009] This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it should be understood that the above features are merely examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, the drawings, and the claims.

[0010] A better understanding of the present subject matter may be obtained from the following detailed description of various embodiments when considered in conjunction with the following drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system according to some embodiments.

[0012] [Figure 2] 1 illustrates an exemplary base station in communication with an exemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device, according to some embodiments.

[0013] [Figure 3] 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments.

[0014] [Figure 4] 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a base station, according to some embodiments.

[0015] [Figure 5] 1 is a communication flow diagram illustrating aspects of an example possible method for performing inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system, according to some embodiments.

[0016] While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present subject matter as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] acronym

[0018] Various acronyms are used throughout this disclosure. Definitions of the most prominently used acronyms that may appear throughout this disclosure are provided below. UE: User Equipment RF: Radio Frequency ·BS: Base station GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications ·UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System LTE: Long Term Evolution ·NR: New radio ·TX: Send / Send RX: Receive / Receive RAT: Radio Access Technology TRP: Transmit / Receive Point DCI: Downlink Control Information CORESET: Control resource set QCL: Quasi-collocation or pseudo-colocation CSI: Channel State Information CSI-RS: Channel State Information Reference Signal CSI-IM: Channel State Information Interference Management CMR: Channel Measurement Resource IMR: Interferometric Resource ZP: Zero Power NZP: Non-zero power CQI: Channel Quality Indicator PMI: Precoding Matrix Indicator ·RI: Rank Indicator ·CSSF: Carrier-specific scaling factor term Below is a description of terms that may appear in this disclosure.

[0019] Memory medium—any of various types of non-transitory memory or storage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include, for example, installation media such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or tape drives; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM; non-volatile memory such as magnetic media such as flash, hard drives, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements. Memory media may also include other types of non-transitory memory, or combinations thereof. In addition, a memory medium may be located in a first computer system on which a program is executed, or in a second, different computer system connected to the first computer system via a network such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system can provide the first computer system with program instructions for execution. The term “memory medium” may also include two or more memory media that can reside in different locations, for example, in different computer systems connected via a network. A memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0020] Carrier Medium - memory media as described above, as well as physical transmission media such as buses, networks, and / or other physical transmission media that carry signals, such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

[0021] Computer system (or computer) - any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), a mainframe computer system, a workstation, a network device, an Internet appliance, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a television system, a grid computing system, or any other device or combination of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

[0022] User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") - Any of various types of computer systems or devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smartphones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), tablet computers (e.g., iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, automobiles and / or motor vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and / or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is easily carried by a user and capable of wireless communications.

[0023] Wireless Device—Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform wireless communications. A wireless device can be portable (or mobile) or may be stationary or fixed to a location. A UE is an example of a wireless device.

[0024] Communications Device - Any of various types of computer systems or devices that perform communications, which may be wired or wireless. A communications device may be portable (or mobile), or may be stationary or fixed to a particular location. A wireless device is one example of a communications device. A UE is another example of a communications device.

[0025] Base Station (BS) - The term "base station" has all of its ordinary meanings and includes at least a wireless communication station that is installed at a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless telephone system or wireless system.

[0026] Processing Element (or Processor)—refers to various elements or combinations of elements capable of performing functions within a device, e.g., within a user equipment device or within a cellular network device. A processing element may include, for example, a processor and associated memory, a portion or circuitry of an individual processor core, an entire processor core, a processor array, a circuit such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a programmable hardware element such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and various combinations of the above.

[0027] Wi-Fi - The term "Wi-Fi" has the full scope of its ordinary meaning and includes at least a wireless communication network or RAT that is served by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and provides connectivity to the Internet through those access points. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on the IEEE 802.11 standard and are marketed under the name "Wi-Fi." Wi-Fi (WLAN) networks are distinct from cellular networks.

[0028] Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., a circuit, programmable hardware element, ASIC, etc.) without user input directly specifying or executing the action or operation. Thus, the term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation that is manually performed or specified by a user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiated by input provided by a user, but the subsequent actions performed “automatically” are not specified by the user; that is, they are not performed “manually,” with the user specifying each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting checkboxes, selecting radio selections, etc.) is considered manually filling out the form, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user actions. A form may also be automatically filled out by a computer system, where the computer system (e.g., software executed on the computer system) analyzes the form's fields and fills out the form without user input specifying answers to the fields. As noted above, a user can invoke automatic form filling but is not involved in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers in fields, but rather the answers are completed automatically). This specification provides various examples of actions that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

[0029] Configured to—Various components may be described as being “configured to” perform a task. In this context, “configured to” is a broad description that generally means “having a structure” to perform a task or tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently performing the task (e.g., a set of conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad description of a structure that generally means “having circuitry” to perform a task or tasks during operation. Thus, a component may be configured to perform a task even when the component is not currently on. Generally, the circuitry forming the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuitry.

[0030] In the description herein, for convenience, various components may be described as performing a task or tasks. Such descriptions should be construed to include the phrase "configured to." It is expressly intended that a description of a component as being configured to perform one or more tasks does not apply to the interpretation of that component under 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph. Figures 1 and 2 - Exemplary Communication System

[0031] 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication system in which aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented, according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the system of FIG. 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and that embodiments may be implemented in a variety of systems, as desired.

[0032] As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102 that communicates with one or more (e.g., any number) user devices 106A, 106B, etc. through 106N over a transmission medium. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE) or a UE device. Accordingly, the user devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

[0033] The base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site and may include hardware and / or software that enables wireless communication with the UEs 106A-106N. If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB." If the base station 102 is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB." The base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with the network 100 (e.g., a cellular service provider's core network, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, the base station 102 may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between the user devices and the network 100. The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell." Also, as used herein, from the perspective of a UE, the base station may be considered to represent the network as far as the UE's uplink and downlink communications are concerned. Thus, a UE that communicates with one or more base stations in a network may be interpreted as a UE that communicates with the network.

[0034] The base stations 102 and user devices may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA / LTE-U, 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, etc.

[0035] Thus, base station 102 and similar other base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may be provided as one or more networks of cells that may provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0036] It should be noted that the UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of the 3GPP cellular communication standard or the 3GPP2 cellular communication standard. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system, for example, in accordance with various methods described herein. The UE 106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using WLAN, BLUETOOTH™, one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and / or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H), etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including three or more wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0037] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A-106N) in communication with a base station 102, according to some embodiments. The UE 106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, a computer or tablet, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an unmanned aircraft controller (UAC), or virtually any type of wireless device. The UE 106 may include a processor (processing element) configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 106 may include a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an integrated circuit, and / or any of various other possible hardware components configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein (e.g., individually or in combination). The UE 106 may be configured to communicate using any of a number of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are possible.

[0038] The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RAT standards. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive chain and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication standards. A shared radio may include a single antenna or may include multiple antennas (e.g., in the case of multiple-input multiple-power, or "MIMO") to perform wireless communication. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, a radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the above hardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one or more portions of a receive and / or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those described above.

[0039] In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to transmit and / or receive directional wireless signals (e.g., beams) using the antennas. Similarly, the BS 102 may include any number of antennas and may be configured to transmit and / or receive directional wireless signals (e.g., beams) using the antennas. To receive and / or transmit such directional signals, the antennas of the UE 106 and / or the BS 102 may be configured to apply different "weights" to different antennas. The process of applying these different weights may be referred to as "precoding."

[0040] In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include a separate transmit and / or receive chain (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol over which the UE 106 is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radios shared among multiple wireless communication protocols and one or more radios used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include a shared radio for communicating using either LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT (or LTE or NR or LTE or GSM) and a separate radio for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH™. Other configurations are possible. Figure 3 - Block diagram of an exemplary UE device

[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary UE 106, according to some embodiments. As illustrated, the UE 106 may include a system-on-chip (SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor(s) 302, which may execute program instructions for the UE 106, and a display circuit 304, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The SOC 300 may also include a sensor circuit 370, which may include components for sensing or measuring any of a variety of possible characteristics or parameters of the UE 106. For example, the sensor circuit 370 may include a motion sensing circuit configured to detect movement of the UE 106, e.g., using a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and / or any of a variety of other motion sensing components. As another possibility, the sensor circuit 370 may include one or more temperature sensing components, e.g., for measuring the temperature of one or more antenna panels and / or each of the other components of the UE 106. Any of a variety of other possible types of sensor circuitry may additionally or alternatively be included in the UE 106, as desired. The processor(s) 302 may be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340, which receives addresses from the processor(s) 302 and translates those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310), and / or the processor(s) 302 may be configured to couple to other circuits or devices, such as a display circuit 304, a radio 330, a connector I / F 320, and / or a display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor(s) 302.

[0042] As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (including, e.g., NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, dock, charging station, etc.), a display 360, and wireless communication circuitry 330 (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH™, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.). The UE device 106 may include or be coupled to at least one antenna (e.g., 335a) and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., exemplified by antennas 335a and 335b) for performing wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. Antennas 335a and 335b are shown by way of example, and the UE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Generally, the one or more antennas are collectively referred to as antenna 335. For example, the UE device 106 may use an antenna 335 to perform wireless communications using radio circuitry 330. The communications circuitry may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration. As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communications standards.

[0043] The UE 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing methods for the UE 106 to perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system, as described further below. The processor(s) 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to perform some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor(s) 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Furthermore, the processor 302 may be coupled to and / or interoperate with other components, as illustrated in FIG. 3, to perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system in accordance with various embodiments disclosed herein. The processor(s) 302 may also implement various other applications and / or end-user applications operating on the UE 106.

[0044] In some embodiments, the radio 330 may include separate controllers dedicated to controlling communications for each of the various RAT standards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , the radio 330 may include a Wi-Fi controller 352, a cellular controller (e.g., an LTE and / or LTE-A controller) 354, and a BLUETOOTH™ controller 356, where, in at least some embodiments, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented as respective integrated circuits (ICs or chips, for short) that communicate with each other and with the SOC 300 (more specifically, with the processor(s) 302). For example, the Wi-Fi controller 352 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cellular-ISM link or WCI interface, and / or the BLUETOOTH™ controller 356 may communicate with the cellular controller 354 via a cellular-ISM link, etc. Although three separate controllers are shown within the radio 330, other embodiments have fewer or more similar controllers for the various different RATs that may be implemented in the UE device 106.

[0045] Further, embodiments are contemplated in which the controller is capable of performing functions related to multiple radio access technologies. For example, according to some embodiments, the cellular controller 354 may include hardware and / or software components for performing one or more Wi-Fi related activities, such as Wi-Fi preamble detection and / or Wi-Fi physical layer preamble signal generation and transmission, in addition to hardware and / or software components for performing cellular communications. Figure 4 - Block diagram of an exemplary base station

[0046] 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102, according to some embodiments. Note that the base station of FIG. 4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include processor(s) 404 capable of executing program instructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450) or other circuits or devices.

[0047] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide devices, such as the UE device 106, with access to the telephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2. The network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also, or alternatively, be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as, for example, a cellular service provider's core network. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to devices, such as the UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to the telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., to and from other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0048] In some embodiments, the base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB." In such embodiments, the base station 102 may be connected to a conventional evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or an NR core (NRC) network. In addition, the base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs in one or more gNBs.

[0049] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possibly multiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via a radio 430. The antenna(s) 434 communicate with the radio 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio 430 may be designed to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR, 5G NR SAT, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0050] The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, the base station 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, in one possibility, the base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communications according to LTE and a 5G NR radio for performing communications according to 5G NR. In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. In another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multimode radio, which may perform communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, 5G NR SAT and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0051] As described further herein below, the BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of features described herein. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement and / or support some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a combination thereof. For a given RAT, e.g., Wi-Fi, the base station 102 may be designed as an access point (AP), in which case the network port 470 may be implemented to provide access to a wide area network and / or local area network(s) and may include, for example, at least one Ethernet port, and the radio 430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard.

[0052] Additionally, as described herein, the processor(s) 404 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, the processor(s) 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 404. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 404.

[0053] Further, as described herein, radio 430 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of radio 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio 430. Reference Signal

[0054] A wireless device, such as a user equipment, may be configured to perform various tasks, including using reference signals (RSs) provided by one or more cellular base stations. For example, initial access and beam measurements by a wireless device may be performed based at least in part on synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) provided by one or more cells served by one or more cellular base stations within the communication range of the wireless device. Another type of reference signal commonly provided in a cellular communication system may include channel state information (CSI) RSs. Various types of CSI-RSs may be provided for tracking (e.g., time and frequency offset tracking), beam management (e.g., with iterations configured to assist in determining one or more beams to use for uplink and / or downlink communications), and / or channel measurement (e.g., a CSI-RS configured in a resource set to measure the quality of a downlink channel and report information related to this quality measurement to a base station), among other possibilities. For example, in the case of a CSI-RS for CSI acquisition, a UE may periodically perform channel measurements and periodically transmit channel state information (CSI) to a BS. The base station can then receive and use this channel state information to determine adjustments to various parameters during communication with the wireless device. In particular, the BS can use the received channel state information to adjust the coding of downlink transmissions to improve downlink channel quality.

[0055] In many cellular communication systems, a base station may periodically transmit some or all such reference signals (or pilot signals), such as SSB and / or CSI-RS. In some cases, aperiodic reference signals (e.g., for aperiodic CSI reporting) may also or alternatively be provided.

[0056] As a detailed example, in the 3GPP NR cellular communication standard, according to at least some embodiments, the channel state information fed back from the UE based on the CSI-RS for CSI acquisition may include one or more of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), a SS / PBCH resource block indicator (SSBRI), and a layer indicator (LI).

[0057] The channel quality information may be provided to the base station for link adaptation, for example, to provide guidance on which modulation and coding scheme (MCS) the base station should use when transmitting data. For example, when it is determined that the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is high, the UE may feedback a high CQI value, thereby allowing the base station to transmit data using a relatively high modulation order and / or a low channel coding rate. As another example, when it is determined that the downlink channel communication quality between the base station and the UE is low, the UE may feedback a low CQI value, thereby allowing the base station to transmit data using a relatively low modulation order and / or a high channel coding rate.

[0058] The PMI feedback may include preferred precoding matrix information that can be provided to the base station to indicate which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should use. In other words, the UE may measure the quality of a downlink MIMO channel between the base station and the UE based on a received pilot signal on the channel and recommend, through PMI feedback, which MIMO precoding scheme the base station should apply. In some cellular systems, the PMI configuration is expressed in a matrix format that provides linear MIMO precoding. The base station and the UE may share a codebook consisting of multiple precoding matrices, and each MIMO precoding matrix in the codebook may have a unique index. Thus, as part of the channel state information fed back by the UE, the PMI may include an index (or possibly multiple indexes) corresponding to the most preferred MIMO precoding matrix(ies) in the codebook. This allows the UE to minimize the amount of feedback information. Thus, the PMI, according to at least some embodiments, can indicate which precoding matrix from the codebook should be used for transmission to the UE.

[0059] The rank indicator information (RI feedback) may indicate, for example, the number of transmission layers that the UE has determined can be supported by the channel when the base station and UE have multiple antennas that may enable multi-layer transmission through spatial multiplexing. Collectively, the RI and PMI may allow the base station to know, for example, which precoding needs to be applied to which layer depending on the number of transmission layers.

[0060] In some cellular systems, the PMI codebook is defined according to the number of transmission layers. In other words, for an R-layer transmission, there are N N t A × R matrix may be defined (e.g., R represents the number of layers, and N trepresents the number of transmitter antenna ports, and N represents the size of the codebook). In such a scenario, the number of transmission layers (R) is proportional to the number of precoding matrices (N t × R matrix), and thus in this context R can be referred to as the "rank indicator (RI)."

[0061] Thus, the channel state information may include an assigned rank (e.g., a rank indicator, or RI). For example, a MIMO-capable UE communicating with a BS may include four receiver chains, e.g., four antennas. The BS may also include four or more antennas to enable MIMO communication (e.g., 4x4 MIMO). Thus, the UE may be able to simultaneously receive up to four (or more) signals (e.g., layers) from the BS. Layer to antenna mapping may be applied, e.g., each layer may be mapped to any number of antenna ports (e.g., antennas). Each antenna port may transmit and / or receive information associated with one or more layers. The rank may include multiple bits and may indicate the number of signals the BS may transmit to the UE in the next time period (e.g., during the upcoming transmission time interval or TTI). For example, a rank 4 indication may indicate that the BS will transmit four signals to the UE. One possibility is that the RI may be two bits in length (e.g., because two bits are sufficient to distinguish four different rank values). It should be noted that other numbers and / or configurations of antennas (e.g., at either or both the UE or BS) and / or other numbers of data layers are possible according to various embodiments. Figure 5 - Inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps

[0062] Cellular communication technologies may provide support for wireless devices to perform measurements on other cells operating according to different radio access technologies. However, such inter-radio access technology or "inter-RAT" measurements generally always require the use of "measurement gaps," which are periods during which a wireless device's communication with a serving cell is interrupted to allow the wireless device to perform neighbor cell measurements, at least according to current 3GPP standard specifications.

[0063] As wireless device capabilities increase, including potentially supporting device designs that can include multiple transmit and / or receive chains, it may be possible that, at least in some circumstances, a wireless device may be able to perform inter-RAT measurements without using measurement gaps, e.g., by using one communication chain to perform inter-RAT measurements and another communication chain to communicate with the serving cell. However, to support such capabilities, it may be important to provide a clear signaling mechanism between the wireless device and the serving cell, e.g., for the cell to know when a measurement gap is needed for the wireless device and when a measurement gap is not needed, and to configure (or not configure) a measurement gap for the wireless device accordingly.

[0064] Therefore, in accordance with at least some embodiments, it may be beneficial to specify techniques for supporting performing inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps. To illustrate one such set of possible techniques, Figure 5 is a flow chart diagram illustrating a method, in accordance with at least some embodiments, for performing inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps in a wireless communication system.

[0065] 5 may be implemented by a wireless device in conjunction with one or more cellular base stations, such as UE 106 and BS 102, illustrated in and described with respect to the various figures herein, or more generally, in conjunction with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components shown in the aforementioned figures, among other devices, as desired. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the method elements shown in the figures and / or other method elements.

[0066] It should be noted that, although at least some elements of the method of FIG. 5 are described as relating to the use of communication technologies and / or features associated with 3GPP, LTE, and / or NR standard documents, such description is not intended to limit the disclosure, and aspects of the method of FIG. 5 may be used in any suitable wireless communication system, as desired. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shown in the figures may be performed simultaneously, may be performed in a different order than shown in the figures, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted, as desired. Additional method elements may be performed, as shown. As illustrated, the method of FIG. 5 may operate as follows.

[0067] At 502, the wireless device may establish a wireless link with a cellular base station. According to some embodiments, the wireless link may include a 5G NR cellular link. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with an AMF entity of the cellular network via one or more gNBs that provide wireless access to the cellular network. As another possibility, the wireless link may include an LTE cellular link. For example, the wireless device may establish a session with a mobility management entity of the cellular network via an eNB that provides wireless access to the cellular network. Other types of cellular links are possible, and the cellular network may additionally or alternatively operate according to another cellular communication technology (e.g., UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, etc.) according to various embodiments.

[0068] Establishing the radio link may include, according to at least some embodiments, establishing an RRC connection with a serving cellular base station. Establishing the RRC connection may include configuring various parameters for communication between the wireless device and the cellular base station, establishing context information for the wireless device, and / or any of various other possible features related to, for example, establishing an air interface for the wireless device to perform cellular communication with a cellular network associated with the cellular base station. After establishing the RRC connection, the wireless device may operate in an RRC connected state. In some instances, the RRC connection may also be released (e.g., after a certain inactivity period with respect to data communication), in which case the wireless device may operate in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. In some instances, the wireless device may perform a handover (e.g., while in an RRC connected mode) or perform cell reselection to a new serving cell (e.g., in an RRC idle or RRC inactive mode) due to wireless device mobility and / or any of various other possible reasons that change wireless medium conditions.

[0069] According to at least some embodiments, a wireless device may establish multiple radio links with, for example, multiple TRPs of a cellular network according to a multi-TRP configuration. In such a scenario, the wireless device may be configured (e.g., via RRC signaling) with one or more transmission control indicators (TCIs) that may correspond to, for example, different beams that may be used to communicate with the TRPs. Furthermore, one or more configured TCI states may be activated by a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) of the wireless device at a particular time.

[0070] In at least some instances, establishing a wireless link(s) may include the wireless device providing wireless device capability information. Such capability information may include information related to any of various types of wireless device functionality. In some cases, capability information about the wireless device may additionally or alternatively be provided after the wireless link is established.

[0071] At 504, the cellular base station may configure the wireless device to perform one or more inter-RAT measurements, which may include at least a "first" inter-RAT measurement. For example, the wireless link may operate in accordance with LTE and the first measurement may be for an NR carrier frequency, or the wireless link may operate in accordance with NR and the first measurement may be for an LTE carrier frequency. The cellular base station may, at least in some instances, configure the inter-RAT measurement(s) by, for example, providing a measurement object (MO) to the wireless device to indicate which measurements to perform.

[0072] It should be noted that, according to at least some embodiments, the target frequency for the first inter-RAT measurement may be a non-serving cell frequency (e.g., may not be associated with the same cellular base station currently serving the wireless device, as may potentially be the case if the cellular base station is a multi-mode cellular base station capable of providing both NR and LTE cells).

[0073] At 506, the wireless device may determine whether the wireless device has the capability to perform any or all of the inter-RAT measurement(s) without a measurement gap. Determining whether the wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap may be based on any of a variety of considerations, according to various embodiments. As one possible consideration, the wireless device may determine whether the wireless device has the capability to perform each configured inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap based at least in part on whether the measurement frequency is included within a current active bandwidth portion (BWP) for the wireless device. For example, in some instances, the wireless device may be able to perform inter-RAT measurements whose measurement frequency is included within a current active BWP for the wireless device without a measurement gap, but may not be able to perform inter-RAT measurements whose measurement frequency is not included within a current active BWP for the wireless device without a measurement gap. It may also be possible that a wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements whose measurement frequency is not included in the current active BWP for the wireless device without a measurement gap, but cannot perform inter-RAT measurements whose measurement frequency is included in the current active BWP for the wireless device without a measurement gap, or that the wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap regardless of whether the measurement frequency is included in the current active BWP for the wireless device. In some cases, the number of inter-RAT measurements whose measurement frequency is not included in the current active BWP for the wireless device that can be performed without a measurement gap (or, in some cases, the number of bands on which such inter-RAT measurements can be performed) may be limited by the hardware capabilities of the wireless device (e.g., the number of communication chains).

[0074] In some embodiments, the measurement frequency for each configured inter-RAT measurement may depend on the type of measurement or other measurement parameters. For example, the center measurement bandwidth for LTE measurements where wideband reference signal received quality (RSRQ) is not configured may be determined (e.g., as 1.4 MHz or 6 LTE physical resource blocks (PRBs)) to be different from LTE measurements where wideband RSRQ is configured (e.g., as configured using the allowedMeasBandwidth parameter as defined in 3GPP TS 36.331 v.16.6.0). For NR measurements, the center measurement bandwidth may be determined as the SSB bandwidth or the L3 CSI-RS measurement bandwidth, according to at least some embodiments. Which reference signal is used for such measurements may be configured by the network for mobility purposes.

[0075] According to at least some embodiments, the wireless device may determine that it can perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap. In some instances, the wireless device may determine that it can perform multiple configured inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap.

[0076] At 508, the wireless device may provide capability information indicating whether the wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap. The capability information may include, as one possibility, information indicating whether the wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap. Additionally or alternatively, the capability information may include information indicating whether the wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements outside the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap. As yet another possibility, the capability information may include information indicating whether the wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap regardless of whether the wireless device is inside or outside the current active bandwidth portion. In some instances, the capability information may indicate, for each individual inter-RAT measurement indicated by the cellular base station, whether the wireless device can perform the individual inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0077] It should be noted that capability information for a wireless device may be provided during initial configuration or in response to configuration of measurement objects, including one or more inter-RAT measurements, among other possibilities. For example, in some cases, if the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps, the wireless device may be able to indicate such capability during initial configuration. According to at least some embodiments, the cellular base station may respond to such capability indication by providing a flag indication from the network to the wireless device to indicate whether to perform inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps. Thus, the wireless device may generally be configured to perform inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps, potentially without further signaling to negotiate whether to use measurement gaps for such inter-RAT measurements, based on such signaling design. Additionally or alternatively, the cellular network may be able to update the wireless device (e.g., using RRC reconfiguration signaling) regarding whether to perform inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps after initially configuring the wireless device differently. For example, the cellular base station may provide a flag indication to first indicate that inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion should not be made without a measurement gap, and then to indicate that inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion should be made without a measurement gap, or vice versa.

[0078] As another example, in some cases, if a wireless device can perform inter-RAT measurements outside the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap but is limited by device hardware capabilities regarding which bands and / or how many bands such inter-RAT measurements can be performed by the wireless device without a measurement gap, the wireless device may provide capability information indicating its capability for performing inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap in response to being configured to perform one or more inter-RAT measurements outside the current active BWP for the wireless device. For example, in such a scenario, the wireless device may provide capability information indicating that the wireless device can generally perform inter-RAT measurements outside the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap, and further, specifically, for each configured inter-RAT measurement, whether the wireless device can perform the inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap. In at least some cases, the cellular base station may determine whether to configure measurement gaps for some or all of the inter-RAT measurements configured in the measurement object based at least in part on such capability information received from the wireless device in response to the measurement object configuration.

[0079] It should be noted that, according to at least some embodiments, for wireless devices that support only single carrier capabilities (e.g., without carrier aggregation or dual connectivity capabilities), inter-RAT measurements may always be performed within measurement gaps.

[0080] At 510, the wireless device may perform inter-RAT measurement(s) without a measurement gap. According to some embodiments, inter-RAT measurements performed without a measurement gap may include any measurements, such as measurements that the wireless device has determined it can perform without a measurement gap, measurements that the wireless device has reported its ability to perform without a measurement gap to a cellular base station, and possibly measurements that the cellular base station has indicated to the wireless device to perform without a measurement gap. For example, according to at least some embodiments, the wireless device may perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0081] Note that when measurement gaps are not used in a wireless device to perform inter-RAT measurements, the wireless device may determine a carrier-specific scaling factor (CSSF) based at least in part on inter-RAT measurements performed without measurement gaps. For example, when measurement gaps are not used in a wireless device to perform inter-RAT measurements, only NR carriers are counted for CSSF, and LTE carriers are not counted, and any LTE detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurement window for gapless NR measurements. In some cases, whether an LTE carrier is counted for CSSF may depend at least in part on the NR SMTC measurement window frequency. For example, when measurement gaps are not used in a wireless device to perform inter-RAT measurements, if the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is greater than a certain threshold, only NR carriers are counted for CSSF, and LTE carriers are not counted, and any LTE detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements. If the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is below a threshold, both NR and LTE carriers may be counted for CSSF purposes, and any LTE detection / measurement may be performed either inside or outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements.

[0082] It may also be useful to provide techniques for handling scenarios in which the radio link and the configured inter-RAT measurements are associated with different subcarrier spacings and the wireless device does not support mixed numerology. One possible option for handling such a scenario may be for the cellular base station to restrict scheduling of communications over the radio link with the wireless device during the inter-RAT measurements, based at least in part on the fact that the radio link with the cellular base station and the inter-RAT measurements are associated with different subcarrier spacings and that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology. Another possible option for handling such a scenario may be for the wireless device to disable or suspend communications over the radio link with the cellular base station during such inter-RAT measurements, based at least in part on the fact that the radio link with the cellular base station and the inter-RAT measurements are associated with different subcarrier spacings and that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology. Alternatively, if the wireless device can support mixed numerology, such scheduling restrictions or communication suspensions may not be applied by either the cellular base station or the wireless device, according to at least some embodiments.

[0083] Thus, in accordance with at least some embodiments, the method of FIG. 5 may be used to provide a framework by which a wireless device can perform inter-radio access technology measurements without measurement gaps and, therefore, in at least some instances, continue to communicate with the serving cell in a potentially uninterrupted manner while performing inter-radio access technology measurements. Additional Information

[0084] The following additional information sets forth further aspects that may be used, if desired, in conjunction with the method of Figure 5. However, it should be noted that the exemplary details set forth in the following sections are not intended to limit the disclosure as a whole, and that numerous variations and alternatives to the details provided herein below are possible and should be considered within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0085] Currently, inter-RAT measurements in 3GPP cellular communication technologies are always associated with measurement gaps, as specified, for example, in TS 38.133 v.17.3.0 Section 9.4.2. However, there may be some scenarios in which, at least in some cases, inter-RAT measurements may be possible to perform without using measurement gaps. Therefore, it may be useful to provide techniques for identifying when such scenarios are occurring and to provide a signaling mechanism for communicating capability and configuration information between a wireless device and a cellular network to support potential inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps.

[0086] Some possible scenarios in which a wireless device may be able to perform inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap may occur when an NR cell configures the UE to perform inter-RAT measurements on a target non-serving LTE frequency carrier. In some scenarios, the center measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency carrier may be within the current active bandwidth portion (BWP) for the UE, while in other scenarios, the center measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency carrier may not be completely contained within the current active BWP for the UE.

[0087] When an LTE cell configures a UE to perform inter-RAT measurements on a target non-serving NR frequency carrier, scenarios are also possible in which the wireless device may be able to perform inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap. In some scenarios, the center measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency carrier may be within the current active BWP for the UE, while in other scenarios, the center measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency carrier may not be completely contained within the current active BWP for the UE.

[0088] To provide support for performing inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps in such scenarios, new signaling design aspects may be introduced, potentially including signaling capability information from the wireless device to the network (e.g., to indicate when the wireless device can perform one or more inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps) and / or signaling flag information from the network to the wireless device (e.g., to indicate whether to perform those inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps).

[0089] In some embodiments, specific UE behavior related to potentially performing inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps may also be provided, which may relate to UE behavior with single carrier capabilities (e.g., no carrier aggregation / dual connectivity capable), carrier specific scaling factors (CSSFs) for measurement period determination when measurement gaps are not used, and / or design considerations for scheduling restrictions or communication interruption design when inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps are used, among other possibilities.

[0090] It should be noted that when the UE is configured to monitor multiple measurement objects, the CSSF may scale the measurement delay requirements, e.g., as further described in 3GPP TS 38.133 v.17.3.0 Sections 9.2, 9.2A, 9.3, 9.3A, 9.4; NR PRS-based positioning measurements, e.g., as further described in 3GPP TS 38.133 v.17.3.0 Section 9.9; and / or CSI-RS-based L3 measurements, e.g., as further described in 3GPP TS 38.133 v.17.3.0 Section 9.10.

[0091] Note that to determine whether the center measurement bandwidth for the target cell is within the current active BWP for the UE, for the target LTE frequency carrier, if wideband RSRQ measurements are not configured, the minimum measurement bandwidth for PSS / SSS / CRS detection and measurement (e.g., 1.4 MHz or 6 LTE physical resource blocks (PRBs)) may be used as the center measurement bandwidth. Otherwise, if wideband RSRQ measurements are configured for the target LTE frequency carrier, the measurement bandwidth configured for wideband RSRQ (e.g., allowedMeasBandwidth in 3GPP TS 36.331 v.16.6.0) may be used as the center measurement bandwidth. For the target NR frequency carrier, the SSB bandwidth or L3 CSI-RS measurement bandwidth may be used, and which reference signal is used for such measurements may be configurable by the network for mobility purposes.

[0092] In a scenario where the NR serving cell configures the UE to perform inter-RAT measurements on a target non-serving LTE frequency carrier and the central measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency is within the UE's current active BWP, a new UE capability indication, sometimes referred to as "InterRATMeas-NoGap," "InterRATMeas-NoGap-E-UTRAN," or according to any of various other possible naming conventions, may be introduced. The UE capability indication may indicate whether the UE can perform inter-RAT LTE measurements without a measurement gap when the central measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency carrier is fully contained in the UE's active BWP. A new flag indication from the network to the UE, sometimes referred to as "InterRATConfig-NoGap," "InterRATConfig-NoGap-E-UTRAN," or according to any of various other possible naming conventions, may also be introduced. If this field is set to true, the UE may be configured to perform inter-RAT LTE measurements without a measurement gap when the LTE central measurement bandwidth is fully contained in the UE's active BWP. Otherwise, inter-RAT LTE measurements may be performed within a measurement gap.

[0093] Note that, according to at least some embodiments, if the UE supports only single-carrier capability (e.g., the UE does not have CA / DC capability), inter-RAT LTE measurements may always be performed within measurement gaps. For CSSF scaling when measurement gaps are not used in the UE for inter-RAT LTE measurements, CSSF is counted only for NR carriers and not for LTE carriers, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurements may be performed outside the NR SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurement window for gapless NR measurements. As another option, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is greater than a configured threshold (e.g., “X” ms, where X=5, 20, or any of various other possible values), CSSF may be counted only for the NR carrier and not for the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements; however, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is equal to or less than the configured threshold, CSSF may be counted for both the NR carrier and the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed inside and outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements.

[0094] If the NR serving cell's data / control channels differ from the target LTE PSS / SSS / CSR subcarrier spacing (SCS) (e.g., 15 kHz) and the UE cannot support mixed numerology, the network may impose scheduling restrictions to prevent the NR serving cell's data / control channels from colliding with LTE PSS / SSS / CSR symbols, potentially including margin symbols before and after the LTE PSS / SSS / CSR symbols. Additionally or alternatively, in such a scenario, the UE may disable reception / transmission or create interruptions for the NR serving cell's data / control channels to prevent collision with LTE PSS / SSS / CSR symbols, potentially including margin symbols before and after the LTE PSS / SSS / CRS symbols. Alternatively, if the UE can support mixed numerology, such scheduling restrictions or interruptions may not apply.

[0095] In scenarios where the NR serving cell configures the UE to perform inter-RAT measurements on a target non-serving LTE frequency carrier and the central measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency carrier is not within the UE's current active BWP, a new UE capability indication, sometimes referred to as "NeedForGapsInterRAT," "NeedForGapsE-UTRAN," or according to any of various other possible naming conventions, may be introduced. The UE capability indication may indicate whether the UE can perform inter-RAT LTE measurements without measurement gaps when the central measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency carrier is not within the UE's current active BWP, or possibly regardless of whether the central measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency carrier is within the UE's current active BWP. The following is one possible example of such a UE capability indication: NeedForGapsBandlistE-UTRAN::=SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxBands))OF NeedForGapsE-UTRAN NeedForGapsE-UTRAN::=SEQUENCE{ bandE-UTRAN FreqBandIndicatorE-UTRAN, gapIndicationInterRAT ENUMERATED{gap,no-gap} }

[0096] In such scenarios, if the UE only supports single-carrier capability (e.g., the UE does not have CA / DC capability), such as in scenarios where the center measurement bandwidth of the target LTE frequency is within the UE's current active BWP, inter-RAT LTE measurements may always be performed within the measurement gap. For CSSF scaling when measurement gaps are not used in the UE for inter-RAT LTE measurements, CSSF is counted only for NR carriers and not for LTE carriers, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurements may be performed outside the NR SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurement window for gapless NR measurements. As another option, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is greater than a configured threshold (e.g., “X” ms, where X=5, 20, or any of various other possible values), CSSF may be counted only for the NR carrier and not for the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements; however, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is equal to or less than the configured threshold, CSSF may be counted for both the NR carrier and the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed inside and outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements.

[0097] If the NR serving cell's data / control channels differ from the target LTE PSS / SSS / CSR subcarrier spacing (SCS) (e.g., 15 kHz) and the UE cannot support mixed numerology, the network may impose scheduling restrictions to prevent the NR serving cell's data / control channels from colliding with LTE PSS / SSS / CSR symbols, potentially including margin symbols before and after the LTE PSS / SSS / CSR symbols. Additionally or alternatively, in such a scenario, the UE may disable reception / transmission or create interruptions for the NR serving cell's data / control channels to prevent collision with LTE PSS / SSS / CSR symbols, potentially including margin symbols before and after the LTE PSS / SSS / CRS symbols. Alternatively, if the UE can support mixed numerology, such scheduling restrictions or interruptions may not apply.

[0098] In a scenario where the LTE serving cell configures the UE to perform inter-RAT measurements on a target non-serving NR frequency carrier and the central measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency is within the UE's current active BWP, a new UE capability indication, sometimes referred to as "InterRATMeas-NoGap," "InterRATMeas-NoGap-NR," or according to any of various other possible naming conventions, may be introduced. The UE capability indication may indicate whether the UE can perform inter-RAT NR measurements without a measurement gap when the central measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency carrier is completely contained in the UE's active BWP. A new flag indication from the network to the UE, sometimes referred to as "InterRATConfig-NoGap," "InterRATConfig-NoGap-NR," or according to any of various other possible naming conventions, may also be introduced. If this field is set to true, the UE may be configured to perform inter-RAT LTE measurements without a measurement gap when the NR central measurement bandwidth is completely contained in the UE's active BWP. Otherwise, inter-RAT NR measurements may be performed within a measurement gap.

[0099] Note that, according to at least some embodiments, if the UE supports only single-carrier capability (e.g., the UE does not have CA / DC capability), inter-RAT NR measurements may always be performed within a measurement gap. For CSSF scaling when measurement gaps are not used in the UE for inter-RAT NR measurements, CSSF is counted only for the NR carrier and not for the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements. As another option, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is greater than a configured threshold (e.g., “X” ms, where X=5, 20, or any of various other possible values), CSSF may be counted only for the NR carrier and not for the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements; however, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is equal to or less than the configured threshold, CSSF may be counted for both the NR carrier and the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed inside and outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements.

[0100] If the LTE serving cell's data / control channels are different from the target NR SSB or CSI-RS SCS and the UE cannot support mixed numerology, the network may impose scheduling restrictions to prevent the LTE serving cell's data / control channels from colliding with NR SSB or CSI-RS symbols that potentially include margin symbols before and after the SSB or CSI-RS symbols. Additionally or alternatively, in such a scenario, the UE may disable reception / transmission or create interruptions for the LTE serving cell's data / control channels to prevent collision with NR SSB or CSI-RS symbols that potentially include margin symbols before and after the NR SSB or CSI-RS symbols. Alternatively, if the UE can support mixed numerology, such scheduling restrictions or interruptions may not apply.

[0101] In a scenario where an LTE serving cell configures a UE to perform inter-RAT measurements on a target non-serving NR frequency carrier and the central measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency is not within the UE's current active BWP, a new UE capability indication, sometimes referred to as "NeedForGapsInterRAT," "NeedForGapsNR," or according to any of various other possible naming conventions, may be introduced. The UE capability indication may indicate whether the UE can perform inter-RAT NR measurements without measurement gaps when the central measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency carrier is not within the UE's current active BWP, or possibly regardless of whether the central measurement bandwidth of the target NR frequency carrier is within the UE's current active BWP. The following is one possible example of such a UE capability indication: NeedForGapsBandlistNR::=SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxBands))OF NeedForGapsNR NeedForGapsNR::=SEQUENCE{ bandNR FreqBandIndicatorNR, gapIndicationInterRAT ENUMERATED{gap,no-gap} }

[0102] Note that, according to at least some embodiments, if the UE supports only single-carrier capability (e.g., the UE does not have CA / DC capability), inter-RAT NR measurements may always be performed within a measurement gap. For CSSF scaling when measurement gaps are not used in the UE for inter-RAT NR measurements, CSSF is counted only for the NR carrier and not for the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements. As another option, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is greater than a configured threshold (e.g., “X” ms, where X=5, 20, or any of various other possible values), CSSF may be counted only for the NR carrier and not for the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements; however, when the periodicity of the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements is equal to or less than the configured threshold, CSSF may be counted for both the NR carrier and the LTE carrier, and LTE PSS / SSS / CRS detection / measurement may be performed inside and outside the NR SMTC measurement window for gapless NR measurements.

[0103] If the LTE serving cell's data / control channels are different from the target NR SSB or CSI-RS SCS and the UE cannot support mixed numerology, the network may impose scheduling restrictions to prevent the LTE serving cell's data / control channels from colliding with NR SSB or CSI-RS symbols that potentially include margin symbols before and after the SSB or CSI-RS symbols. Additionally or alternatively, in such a scenario, the UE may disable reception / transmission or create interruptions for the LTE serving cell's data / control channels to prevent collision with NR SSB or CSI-RS symbols that potentially include margin symbols before and after the NR SSB or CSI-RS symbols. Alternatively, if the UE can support mixed numerology, such scheduling restrictions or interruptions may not apply.

[0104] Further exemplary embodiments are provided below.

[0105] A set of embodiments may include a method, including: establishing, by a wireless device, a wireless link with a cellular base station according to a first radio access technology (RAT); receiving an instruction from the cellular base station to perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement; determining that the wireless device is capable of performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap; providing capability information to the cellular base station indicating that the wireless device is capable of performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap; and performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0106] According to some embodiments, the method further includes determining whether the first inter-RAT measurement is within a current active bandwidth portion for the wireless device, and determining that the wireless device can perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap is based at least in part on whether the first inter-RAT measurement is within a current active bandwidth portion for the wireless device.

[0107] According to some embodiments, the capability information indicates that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps.

[0108] According to some embodiments, the capability information indicates that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements outside the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps.

[0109] According to some embodiments, the capability information indicates, for each individual inter-RAT measurement indicated by the cellular base station, whether the wireless device is capable of performing the individual inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0110] According to some embodiments, the method further includes receiving an instruction from the cellular base station to perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0111] According to some embodiments, the method further includes determining a carrier specific scaling factor (CSSF) based at least in part on the first inter-RAT measurement being performed without a measurement gap.

[0112] According to some embodiments, the CSSF is further determined based at least in part on an NR synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurement window periodicity.

[0113] According to some embodiments, the method further includes determining that the radio link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurement are associated with different subcarrier spacings, determining that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology, and disabling one or more of the data or control communications on the radio link with the cellular base station while performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap based at least in part on the fact that the one or more of the data or control communications on the radio link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurement are associated with different subcarrier spacings and the wireless device does not support mixed numerology.

[0114] According to some embodiments, the first RAT is LTE and the first inter-RAT measurement is an NR measurement.

[0115] According to some embodiments, the first RAT is NR and the first inter-RAT measurement is an LTE measurement.

[0116] Another set of embodiments may include a wireless device comprising one or more processors and a memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform the method steps of any of the preceding examples.

[0117] Yet another set of embodiments may include a computer program product comprising computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the method steps of any of the preceding examples.

[0118] Yet another set of embodiments may include a method, the method including: establishing, by a cellular base station, a radio link with a wireless device according to a first radio access technology (RAT); providing instructions to the wireless device to perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement; and receiving capability information from the wireless device indicating that the wireless device is capable of performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0119] According to some embodiments, the capability information indicates one or more of: that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap; that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements outside all current active bandwidth portions without a measurement gap; or that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap regardless of whether the inter-RAT measurements are inside the current active bandwidth portion or outside all active bandwidth portions.

[0120] According to some embodiments, the capability information indicates, for each individual inter-RAT measurement indicated by the cellular base station, whether the wireless device is capable of performing the individual inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0121] According to some embodiments, the method further includes providing an instruction to the wireless device to perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

[0122] According to some embodiments, the method further includes determining that the wireless link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurement are associated with different subcarrier spacings, determining that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology, and restricting scheduling of communications on the wireless link with the wireless device during the first inter-RAT measurement based at least in part on the wireless link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurement being associated with different subcarrier spacings and the wireless device not supporting mixed numerology.

[0123] A further set of embodiments may include a cellular base station, wherein the wireless device comprises one or more processors and a memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform the method steps of any of the preceding examples.

[0124] Yet another set of embodiments may include a computer program product comprising computer instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform the method steps of any of the preceding examples.

[0125] Further exemplary embodiments may include methods, the methods including performing, by a wireless device, any or all portions of the above-described examples.

[0126] Another example embodiment may include a device comprising an antenna, a radio coupled to the antenna, and a processing element operably coupled to the radio, the device configured to implement any or all portions of the foregoing examples.

[0127] A further exemplary set of embodiments can include a non-transitory computer-accessible memory medium containing program instructions that, when executed on a device, cause the device to perform any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0128] A still further exemplary set of embodiments may include a computer program including instructions for carrying out any or all portions of any of the foregoing examples.

[0129] Yet another exemplary set of embodiments can include an apparatus comprising means for performing any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0130] A further example set of embodiments may include an apparatus comprising a processing element configured to cause a wireless device to perform any or all of the elements of any of the preceding examples.

[0131] It is understood that use of personally identifiable information should comply with generally recognized privacy policies and practices that meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintended or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of permitted uses should be clearly indicated to users.

[0132] Any of the methods described herein for operating a user equipment (UE) may be the basis for a corresponding method for operating a base station by interpreting each message / signal X received by the UE on the downlink as a message / signal X transmitted by the base station, and each message / signal Y transmitted by the UE on the uplink as a message / signal Y received by the base station.

[0133] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of forms. For example, in some embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable storage medium, or a computer system. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more custom-designed hardware devices, such as an ASIC. In other embodiments, the subject matter may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA.

[0134] In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory memory element) may store program instructions and / or data that, when executed by a computer system, may cause the computer system to perform a method, such as any of the method embodiments described herein, or a combination of the method embodiments described herein, or a subset of the method embodiments described herein, or a combination of such subsets.

[0135] In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include a processor (or set of processors) and a memory medium (or memory elements), where the memory medium stores program instructions and the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, and the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The device may be embodied in any of a variety of forms.

[0136] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated, and it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. 1. A method comprising: By wireless devices, establishing a wireless link with a cellular base station according to a first radio access technology (RAT); receiving, at a first timing, a first flag indication from the cellular base station that the wireless device will not perform inter-RAT measurements within a current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap; receiving, at a second timing different from the first timing, a second flag indication from the cellular base station that the wireless device performs the inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps; receiving an instruction from the cellular base station to perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement; determining that the wireless device can perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap; providing capability information to the cellular base station indicating that the wireless device is capable of performing the first inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap; performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap; A method comprising:

2. The method comprises: determining whether the first inter-RAT measurement is within a current active bandwidth portion for the wireless device; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the wireless device can perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap is based at least in part on whether the first inter-RAT measurement is within the current active bandwidth portion for the wireless device.

3. the capability information being that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements within a current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps; The method of claim 1 , wherein:

4. the capability information being that the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements outside of all active bandwidth portions without measurement gaps; The method of claim 1 , wherein:

5. the capability information being that the wireless device can perform the inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps, regardless of whether the inter-RAT measurements are inside or outside a current active bandwidth portion; The method of claim 1 , wherein:

6. the capability information indicates, for each individual inter-RAT measurement indicated by the cellular base station, whether the wireless device can perform the individual inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap; The method of claim 1.

7. The method comprises: The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving an instruction from the cellular base station to perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

8. The method comprises: determining a carrier-specific scaling factor (CSSF) based at least in part on the first inter-RAT measurement being performed without a measurement gap; 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the CSSF is further determined based at least in part on an NR synchronization signal block-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) measurement window periodicity.

9. The method comprises: determining that one or more of data or control communications on the wireless link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurement are associated with different subcarrier spacings; determining that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology; Disabling one or more of data communications or control communications on the wireless link with the cellular base station while performing the first inter-RAT measurements without a measurement gap based at least in part on the fact that the one or more of data communications or control communications on the wireless link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurements are associated with different subcarrier spacings and that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

10. The first RAT is LTE, and the first inter-RAT measurement is an NR measurement. The method of claim 1.

11. The first RAT is NR, and the first inter-RAT measurement is LTE measurement. The method of claim 1.

12. 1. An apparatus comprising one or more processors and a memory, the memory being configured to: causing the device to receive, at a first timing, a first flag indication from a cellular base station that the device will not perform inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) measurements within a current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap; receiving, at a second timing different from the first timing, a second flag indication from the cellular base station that the device performs the inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap; receiving an instruction from a cellular base station to perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement; determining that the first inter-RAT measurement can be performed without a measurement gap; generating capability information configured for provision to the cellular base station, the capability information indicating that the first inter-RAT measurement can be performed without a measurement gap.

13. The capability information is Inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion can be performed without measurement gaps; Inter-RAT measurements outside all active bandwidth portions can be performed without measurement gaps, or that the inter-RAT measurements can be performed without a measurement gap, regardless of whether the inter-RAT measurements are inside the current active bandwidth portion or outside all active bandwidth portions.

14. the capability information indicates, for each individual inter-RAT measurement indicated by the cellular base station, whether the individual inter-RAT measurement can be performed without a measurement gap; 13. The apparatus of claim 12.

15. The first inter-RAT measurement is one of an NR measurement or an LTE measurement.

13. The apparatus of claim 12.

16. A cellular base station, one or more processors; and a memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the cellular base station to: establishing a wireless link with the wireless device according to a first radio access technology (RAT); causing the wireless device to transmit, at a first timing, a first flag indication that the wireless device will not perform inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap; causing the wireless device to transmit, at a second timing different from the first timing, a second flag indication that the wireless device will perform the inter-RAT measurements within the current active bandwidth portion without a measurement gap; causing the wireless device to provide instructions to perform at least a first inter-RAT measurement; a cellular base station configured to receive capability information from the wireless device indicating that the wireless device is capable of performing the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap;

17. The capability information is the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements within a current active bandwidth portion without measurement gaps; the wireless device is capable of performing inter-RAT measurements outside all active bandwidth portions without measurement gaps, or the wireless device is capable of performing the inter-RAT measurements without measurement gaps, regardless of whether the inter-RAT measurements are inside the current active bandwidth portion or outside all active bandwidth portions; 17. The cellular base station of claim 16.

18. the capability information indicates, for each individual inter-RAT measurement indicated by the cellular base station, whether the wireless device can perform the individual inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap; 17. The cellular base station of claim 16.

19. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions further cause the cellular base station to: The cellular base station of claim 16 , configured to cause the wireless device to provide instructions to perform the first inter-RAT measurement without a measurement gap.

20. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions further cause the cellular base station to: determining that one or more of data or control communications over the wireless link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurement are associated with different subcarrier spacings; determining that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology; causing restriction of one or more of data communications or control communications on the wireless link with the wireless device during the first inter-RAT measurements based at least in part on the fact that one or more of data communications or control communications on the wireless link with the cellular base station and the first inter-RAT measurements are associated with different subcarrier spacings and that the wireless device does not support mixed numerology; 17. The cellular base station of claim 16.

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