Method, apparatus and computer program

Abstract

There is provided a method, computer program, and apparatus for causing a user device to perform: receiving power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; performing a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjusting a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.

Description

METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FIELD[1] The present application relates to an apparatus, method and computerprogram. In particular, but not exclusively, the present application relates to adjustinga measurement based on received power scaling information that is to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing (SBFD) slot of one or more SBFD slots. BACKGROUND[2] A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communicationsessions between two or more entities such as user terminals, base stations and / or other nodes by providing carriers between the various entities involved in the communications path. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, video, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and / or content data and so on. Non-limiting examples of services provided comprise two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services and access to a data network system, such as the Internet.[3] The communication system and associated devices typically operate inaccordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and / or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. One example of a communications system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio- access technology and so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks. NR is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).[4] 3GPP has described a flexible duplex slot (known as subband full duplex(SBFD) slot) which comprises resources for both uplink and downlink transmission opportunities within the same time slot. Stated differently, SBFD slots implement frequency division duplex communication within a single carrier bandwidth in which transmissions in uplink and downlink simultaneously occur within different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidthSUMMARY[5] According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at leastone processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause a user device at least to: receive power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; perform a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.[6] According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprisingmeans for causing a user device to perform: receiving power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; performing a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.[7] According to a third aspect, there is provided a method for causing a userdevice to perform: receiving power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; performing a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.[8] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable mediumcomprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause a user device to perform at least the following: receiving power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; performing a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.[9] In any of the first to fourth aspects, the user device may be caused to perform:receiving radio resource information configuring the one or more SBFD slots including the at least one SBFD slot.

[0010] In any of the first to fourth aspects, the measurement may include at least oneof: a layer 1, L1, reference signal receive power, RSRP, measurement; a channel status information, CSI, based RSRP measurement; a synchronization signal, SS, based RSRP measurement; a layer 3, L3, RSRP measurement; or a radio resource measurement, RRM, measurement.

[0011] In any of the first to fourth aspects, the measurement is used to determine adownlink pathloss.

[0012] In any of the first to fourth aspects, the user device may be caused to perform:transmitting a report including at least one of the result of the measurement or the adjusted result of the measurement.

[0013] In any of the first to fourth aspects, the user device may be caused to perform:receiving an indicator indicative of an activation or an inactivation of a power scaling on the at least one SBFD slot.

[0014] In any of the first to fourth aspects, the result of the measurement may beadjusted by scaling a downlink received power of at least one of reference signals received in the at least one SBFD slot.

[0015] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at leastone processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause a network node at least to: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

[0016] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising meansfor causing a network node at least to perform: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

[0017] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a method for causing anetwork node at least to perform: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

[0018] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer readable mediumcomprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause a network node to perform at least the following: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

[0019] In any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the network node may be caused to perform:signal radio resource information for configuring the one or more SBFD slots including the at least one SBFD slot.

[0020] In any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the network node may be caused to perform:receive a report including at least one of a result of a measurement or an adjusted result of a measurement made based on the power scaling information.

[0021] In any of the fifth to eighth aspects, the network node may be caused to perform:signal an indicator indicative of an activation or an inactivation of a power scaling on the at least one SBFD slot.

[0022] In any of the above first to eight aspects, the power scaling information mayinclude: at least one identifier information of the at least one SBFD slot; and at least one power scaling value corresponding to the at least one identifier.

[0023] In any of the above first to eight aspects, the power scaling information may besignalled via a radio resource control, RRC, message or a RRC information element.

[0024] In any of the above first to eight aspects, the power scaling information may besignalled via downlink control information, DCI, and the power scaling information may indicate whether a power scaling is applied or not at the at least one SBFD slot. The power scaling information may include information indicative of one of power scaling values to be applied to adjust the result of the measurement. A type of the DCI may be a group common DCI or a cell specific DCI format.

[0025] In any of the above first to eight aspects, the power scaling information mayinclude pattern information indicating location of the at least one SBFD slot.

[0026] According to an aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readablemedium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of the preceding aspects.

[0027] In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should beappreciated that further embodiments may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the embodiments described above. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0028] Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference tothe accompanying Figures in which:

[0029] Figure 1 shows a representation of a network system according to someexample embodiments;

[0030] Figure 2 shows a representation of a control apparatus according to someexample embodiments;

[0031] Figure 3 shows a representation of an apparatus according to some exampleembodiments;

[0032] Figure 4 shows a representation of downlink, uplink, and SBFD slots;

[0033] Figure 5 shows a representation of a frame format;

[0034] Figure 6 illustrates power control offsets used for non-SBFD slots;

[0035] Figures 7 to 8 illustrate operations that may be performed by apparatusdescribed herein;

[0036] Figures 9A to 9B illustrate example signalling that may be performed betweenapparatus described herein; and

[0037] Figures 10 and 11 illustrate operations that may be performed by apparatusdescribed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The following describes operations that may be performed in relation tosignalling between a network node and a user device during SBFD slots for applying transmit power control during downlink transmissions opportunities.

[0039] More specifically, the following describes operations in which a network nodeapplies transmit power reductions (relative to a nominal downlink transmission power) for its downlink transmissions in SBFD slots to reduce the likelihood of cross-link- interference arising on uplink (UL) transmissions from downlink (DL) transmissions. The network node is described herein as providing power control information to a user device that provides information about the transmit power reduction applied during the SBFD slot (e.g., when the downlink transmit power reduction will be applied, and / or a value for the downlink transmit power reduction). The user device may choose to take this information into consideration when measuring a reference signal received power by using reference signals received from the network node during an SBFD slot inwhich the downlink transmit power reduction power is to be applied. For example, theuser device may upscale a measurement result obtained during the SBFD slots by thevalue of the downlink transmit power reduction to obtain an upscaled measurement result. The user device may provide the upscaled measurement result or the non- upscaled measurement result to the network node.

[0040] At least one of the network node or the user device may use the upscaledmeasurement result to determine whether at least one radio resource management mechanism may be deployed (e.g., uplink transmission power control, handover, and / or scheduling a resource allocation for transmissions between the user device and the network node). When it is determined to deploy the radio resource management mechanism, the radio resource management mechanism is deployed.

[0041] In the following certain embodiments are explained with reference to mobilecommunication devices capable of communication via a wireless cellular system and mobile communication systems serving such mobile communication devices. Before explaining in detail the exemplifying embodiments, certain general principles of a wireless communication system, access systems thereof, and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which exampleembodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0043] Figure 1 shows an example communication environment 100 in which exampleembodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0044] In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices,comprising user devices 110 and 115 (also referred to herein as a “terminal” or “terminal device”) and a network device 120 (also referred to herein as a “network node”), can communicate with each other. The network device 120 may serve a coverage area, called a cell 125. The user device 110 may have access to a communication network via the cell 125. In some example embodiments, both the user device 110 and the network device 120 may be configured to implement a beamforming technique and communicate with each other via a plurality of beams.

[0045] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable ofwireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a mobile device, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage andplayback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment(LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), amachine-type communications (MTC) device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, awatch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user device”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0046] As used herein, the term “network device” is used interchangeably with“network node”, and refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0047] In some example embodiments, a link from the network device 120 to the userdevice 110 or 115 is referred to as a DL, while a link from the user device 110 or 115 to the network device 120 is referred to as a UL. In DL, the network device 120 is a Tx device (or a transmitter), and the user device 110 or 115 is a Rx device (or a receiver). In UL, the user device 110 or 115 is a Tx device (or a transmitter), and the network device 120 is a Rx device (or a receiver). A link between the user device 110 andanother user device (not shown) is referred to as a sidelink (SL). In SL, one of the user devices is a Tx device (or a transmitter), and the other of the user devices is a Rx device (or a receiver).

[0048] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implementedaccording to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0049] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a control apparatus 200 for causing a networkdevice 120 (such as the network device described in Figure 1) to perform its operations. The control apparatus may comprise at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least on read only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213 and an input / output interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 215. The software code 215 may for example allow to perform one or more steps to perform one or more of the present aspects. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b. The control apparatus 200 may be interconnected with another control apparatus 200 controlling another function of the network device. In some embodiments, each function of the network device comprises a control apparatus 200. In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus 200 may be implemented at the network device 120 or may be the network device 120.

[0050] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a terminal 300, such as the user device 110,115 illustrated on Figure 1. The terminal 300 may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals, such as the user device described herein. Theterminal 300 may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications. The communications may be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia, data, machine data and so on.

[0051] The terminal 300 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 307 viaappropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 3 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 306. The transceiver apparatus 306 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

[0052] The terminal 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301, at least onememory ROM 302a, at least one RAM 302b and other possible components 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems (such as a network access system provided by the network device described above in relation to Figures 1 and 2) and other communication devices. The at least one processor 301 is coupled to the RAM 302b and the ROM 302a. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 308. The software code 308 may for example allow to perform one or more of the present aspects. The software code 308 may be stored in the ROM 302a.

[0053] The processor, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be providedon an appropriate circuit board and / or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 304. The device may optionally have a user interface such as key pad 305, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. Optionally one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided depending on the type of the device.

[0054] In some exemplary embodiments, the terminal 300 may be an apparatuscomprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause a user device 110, 115 to perform examples or embodiments described in this document.

[0055] As mentioned above, flexible duplexing relates to the use of different slotformats that comprise concurrent transmission opportunities for both uplink and downlink in the same channel.3GPP considered Flexible duplexing in 5G-Advanced Release-18, and in 3GPP TR 38.858. A transmission opportunity may be consideredto be a time-frequency resource that is available for a radio transmission or reception. Therefore, an uplink transmission opportunity may be considered to be a time- frequency resource that is available for uplink transmission, and a downlink transmission opportunity may be considered to be a time-frequency resource that is available for downlink transmission. A channel may be considered to comprise a logical or physical connection over a transmission medium. Example channels defined in 3GPP comprise at least a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), etc.

[0056] One of the new flexible duplexing slot formats introduced for both downlink (DL)and uplink (UL) transmission opportunities between a network node and a user device is a sub-band non-overlapping full duplexing (SBFD) slot format. Time slots that comprise an SBFD slot format comprise a mixture of uplink and downlink resources (e.g., time-frequency resources that may be used for transmission and / or reception, depending on whether the resource is for uplink or downlink).

[0057] There are a range of different types of SBFD slots that reflect different makeupsof uplink and downlink transmission opportunities. For example, an SBFD slot may comprise a mixture of uplink and downlink transmission opportunities. Further, where there is a mixture of uplink and downlink transmission opportunities, an SBFD slot may comprise uplink resources near a central frequency portion of the slot (e.g., sandwiched between downlink resources for downlink transmission resources), or at an extreme of the range of frequencies of the slot (e.g., at the lowest frequency of the slot, or at a highest frequency of the slot). In both cases, the uplink resources may be separated from the downlink resources by a guard band. A guard band may be considered as being a narrow range of frequencies that separates two ranges of wider frequency (e.g., carrier frequencies respectively associated with uplink and downlink resources) that is unused for transmission opportunities in either uplink or downlink directions.

[0058] A Flexible Duplexing frame structure that includes SBFD slots is illustrated withrespect to Figure 4.

[0059] Figure 4 illustrates an example of an enhanced radio frame configuration thatcomprises three DL slots 401 followed by five SBFD slots 402, and two UL slots 403. Each SBFD slot in Figure 4 is illustrated as comprising resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) for DL transmission, guard band (e.g., unused resources that may denotea boundary between uplink and downlink transmissions, represented in Figure 4 as gaps 404 between UL and DL resources), and UL resources in the middle.

[0060] Each slot in Figure 4 illustrates a time duration considered to compriseconcurrent transmissions. For example, each of the SBFD slots comprise both UL and DL transmission opportunities on respective frequency carriers that are performed simultaneously. The SBFD slot formats with concurrent DL and UL transmission opportunities are occasionally labelled “X-slots”.

[0061] As SBFD slots comprise contemporaneous UL and DL transmissionopportunities, cross link interference may arise. For example, the cross link interference may arise as a result of intra-network node transmissions (e.g., as a result of DL transmissions made by a network node on UL transmissions to be received by that network node), and / or as a result of inter-network node transmissions (e.g., as a result of DL transmissions made by a network node on UL transmissions to be received by another network node).

[0062] To reduce the likelihood of cross link interference on UL transmissions in anSBFD slot, the following proposes to reduce the transmission power for DL transmissions within such slots. This is illustrated with respect to Figure 5, which illustrates DL transmission power controlled being performed on a per-slot basis.

[0063] Figure 5 illustrates 10 time slots: The first and sixth time slots are downlink slots501 (e.g., time slots for downlink transmission opportunities), the fifth and tenth time slots are uplink slots 502 (e.g., time slots for uplink transmission opportunities), and the second to fourth and seventh to ninth time slots are for SBFD time slots 503 (e.g., time slots for SBFD transmission opportunities). In Figure 5, the third and eighth time slots (which are both SBFD time slots) may be both configured to have reference signals transmitted therein. The reference signals may comprise, for example, a synchronization signal block (SSB). The reference signals may comprise, for example, a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS). However, in the present example, downlink transmission opportunities in the third time slot are transmittedusing a “reduced” power while downlink transmission opportunities in the eighth timeslot are transmitted using a preconfigured power. The reduced power is reduced relative to the preconfigured power. The SBFD power reduction illustrated in the third time slot Figure 5 applies to all downlink transmissions made during the third time slot (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, PDCCH and PDSCH transmissions) and is not restricted to a type of signal within a time slot.

[0064] Therefore, Figure 5 illustrates different reference signal transmissions beingtransmitted on different downlink transmission opportunities using respective (different) transmission powers. This is because the downlink transmission power control is being applied on a per-slot basis. This is different to how downlink transmission power control has previously been performed for downlink transmission opportunities, which may be now described below (in Figure 6) with reference to three different RRC parameters. These three RRC parameters mentioned in connection with Figure 6 all relate to setting a transmission power of a type of signal being transmitted (e.g., CSI-RS), and not to the slot where the signal is transmitted.

[0065] 3GPP specifications currently specify instances and mechanisms during whicha network node’s nominal transmission power of reference signal changes. This is illustrated with respect to Figure 6.

[0066] Figure 6 illustrates a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) 601, a referencesignal 602, and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) 603.

[0067] As illustrated in Figure 6, in current NR specifications, the network nodenominal transmit power of the reference signals (used for RSRP-based measurements) is provided to the user device in a hierarchical manner, where the RRC parameter ss-PBCH-BlockPower indicates the average Energy per Resource Element (EPRE, in dBm) of the SSB blocks, while the EPRE of the reference signalreference signal is provided via the powerControlOffsetSS power as an offset relativeto the SSB blocks (e.g., in dB). A third RRC parameter powerControlOffset [dB] is used to indicate relative power differences between power used for transmissionopportunities on the reference signal and power used for transmission opportunitieson the PDSCH. The value of this third RRC parameter is used by user device for determining and reporting PDSCH channel state information (CSI) to the network node.

[0068] These RRC parameters are used for power control over a plurality of time slotsand, as mentioned above, apply to specific types of signals. The RRC parameters are transmitted by the network node 200 to the user device 300. The use of these RRC parameters is useful for standard cases in which a network node transmit power of the reference signal is not changed over time on a slot resolution. However, for cases where some SBFD slots are having power reductions (e.g., 10 dB reduction in the third time slot of Figure 5), the user device would naturally measure an RSRP of 10 dB lessthan the RSRP measured when the reference signal appears in the eighth time slot, such as the example of Figure 5.

[0069] Although applying downlink power control within an SBFD slot is generallybeneficial for the user device (as the cross link interference may be avoided or otherwise mitigated), the present application recognizes that at least some user device functions may be impacted by reducing transmission power for downlink transmissions within SBFD slots.

[0070] In particular, the present application recognizes that the downlink transmissionsmade within SBFD slots from a network node to a user device comprise a range of types of downlink transmissions, including transmissions that are used by the user device to quantify a level of signal degradation between the network node and the user device (e.g., to quantify a level of pathloss). Changing the transmission power of the downlink signals used for quantifying a level of signal degradation changes the determined value associated with the level of signal degradation. The quantified level of signal degradation can be used to trigger events and / or determine a communication configuration for use by the user device and / or the network node for transmission and / or reception therebetween. Consequently, changing the transmission power for transmitting the downlink signals can alter communication configurations of thecommunicating entities.

[0071] For example, the likelihood inter-user device cross link interference (e.g., theinterference resulting from uplink transmissions made by a user device on downlink reception at another user device) may be increased, the user device may be more likely to handed over to another cell, and / or the efficiency with which networkresources are used may be negatively affected. These are illustrated in more detail inthe following paragraphs.

[0072] First, the increased likelihood of inter-user device cross link interference isconsidered.

[0073] 3GPP user devices are currently configured to perform open loop transmitpower control (TPC). Under open loop transmit power control, user devices scale their transmission power linearly using a measured value of pathloss associated with transmissions from a network node serving the user device and the user device. The user device may obtain a pathloss estimate for this pathloss by measuring a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) on a Channel State Information-Reference Signal(CSI-RS) to determine an average RSRP, and comparing this average RSRP value to a network node’s known nominal transmit power.

[0074] For example, clause 7.1.1 in 3GPP TS 38.213 describes how a user devicecalculates its uplink transmission power. In more detail, if the user device transmits a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signal on an active UL bandwidth part(BWP), b, of carrier frequency, f, of serving cell, c, using a parameter set configurationwith index j and PUSCH power control adjustment state with index l, the user devicedetermines the PUSCH transmission power PPUSCH,^,^,^(i, j, q^ , l) in PUSCHtransmission occasion i aswhere PL^,^,^(q^) is a downlink pathloss estimate in dB calculated by the user device usingreference signal, and (RS) index q^for the active DL BWP, as described in clause 12 of TS 3GPP 38.213.

[0075] However, as disclosed herein, when the user device is unaware that thenetwork node has reduced the network node’s transmission power, the user device will determine that there is a higher pathloss currently being experienced. Forexample, when the network node reduces the downlink transmission power by 10dB,the user device will determine the pathloss as being 10dB smaller than it would have been without this reduction. The user device will subsequently increase its uplink transmission power proportionately to this measured pathloss (e.g., by Alpha times (PL_withoutpowerReduction + 10dB) for this example). This is undesirable, as the user device should preferably operate with its normal transmission power regardless of whether the network node reduces its downlink transmission power in some SBFD slots. Further, operating at such high (and unnecessary) user device transmission power increases the likelihood of the user device’s uplink transmission having an adverse effect on nearby user device. Stated differently, increasing the user device uplink transmission power can affect downlink reception of nearby user devices as a result of increased crosslink interference between the user devices..

[0076] Second, an increased likelihood of handovers will be considered.

[0077] The above-mentioned reference signal RSRP measurements performed by theuser device are also used to trigger handover (HO) decisions. For example, CSI-RS RSRP measurements are used to determine when to trigger a radio resource control (RRC) A3 event. RRC A3 events are currently defined in Section 5.5.4.4 of 3GPP TS 38.331. When the value of the measured RSRP is reduced as a direct result of SBFD power reductions for cross link interference mitigation, the reduction in RSRP’s value might cause A3 events to be triggered earlier. This effectively shrinks cell coverage area of the network node that is applying the SBFD slot-based power reduction. This is clearly not desirable as the purpose of SBFD power reduction is to reduce CLI, and not to reduce cell size.

[0078] Third, the efficiency with which network resources are used will be considered.In this third example, it is noted that CSI reports are also affected by the decrease of power of the reference signal transmitted by the network node during reduced power SBFD slots. When the user device is unaware of such power change, the user device would report a more pessimistic CSI report to the serving network nodes than is merited by the deliberate reduction in transmission power. For example, the CSI report may comprise at least one of an RSRP measurement value, or a channel quality indicator (CQI) value (which is impacted by a lower downlink transmission power), depending on what information the user device is configured to report. This more pessimistic CSI report will affect future network node scheduling decisions, as the network node will over-protect the PDSCH transmissions with higher coding rate, lower modulation index and / or lower Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) layers for antenna usage. The network node scheduling decisions may result in an unnecessarily lower spectral efficiency, which could compromise quality of service provisions for at least one application.

[0079] To address at least one of the above-mentioned issues, the following disclosesmechanisms by which a network node can inform a user device being served by the network node of when the network node intends to reduce the downlink transmission power of some, or all, of the network node’s SBFD slots. Stated differently, the user device may be provided with an indication that at least one downlink transmission opportunity in an SBFD slot will be associated with a transmission power offset (e.g., the user device is provided with an indication that at least one downlink transmission opportunity in an SBFD slot will be transmitted using a reduced power, the reduced power being a power that is offset from a nominal transmission power of the networknode). The transmission power offset indicates a value by which a transmission power of the network node will be offset from a nominal downlink transmission power during said at least one downlink transmission opportunity.

[0080] The indication may comprise a value for the power offset. Stated differently, theindication may include information of how many dBs the power reduction equals.

[0081] The user device may use the indicated information to compensate for anymeasured downlink transmission power that was measured during the SBFD slots when the downlink transmission power was expected to be reduced. For example, the user device may upscale the measured downlink transmission power by an amount that corresponds to the amount of power reduction applied by the network node within those slots. The user device may use the compensated (e.g., upscaled) power to determine whether to cause at least one i radio resource management mechanism to be performed.

[0082] For example, when the upscaled RSRP measurements are used by the userdevice when estimating the pathloss to the serving cell for open loop transmission power control, the upscaled physical layer RSRP measurements are delivered as input to the Layer-3 filter as defined in the RRC specifications (3GPP TS 38.331, clause 5.5.3.2). The user device TPC measure may be performed (as described above andas defined in clause 7.1.1 in 3GPP TS 38.213) using these upscaled RSRPmeasurements.

[0083] Similarly, when the user device is configured to upscale its RSRPmeasurements as described above, those filtered upscaled RSRP measurement may also be used for radio resource management (RRM) measurement reporting event condition evaluations (as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331, clause 5.5.4), which are used when determining whether to trigger intra-frequency NR handovers between cells.

[0084] Figures 7 and 8 illustrate two examples of the form in which the indication mayindicate to the user device which SBFD slots will be affected by a power reduction for downlink transmissions.

[0085] Figure 7 relates to an example in which the user device (such as the user devicedescribed above in relation to Figure 1 or 3) is provided with an indication that a downlink transmission power offset is to be applied in respect of all SBFD slots. This indication may comprise a value of the power offset. This indication may comprise an index value that indicates a power offset value preconfigured on the user device. The user device is configured to determine whether a reference signal received power(RSRP) measurement was performed on at least one SBFD slot of one or more SBFD slots that have been configured to the user device.

[0086] The compensation value may be specific for SBFD slots. Stated differently, thepower offset value used for downlink transmissions made during SBFD slots may be different to any power offset value used for downlink transmissions made during fully downlink slots (e.g., time slots comprising only downlink transmission opportunities).

[0087] When the user device determines that a RSRP measurement was performedduring at least one SBFD slot, the user device applies the power offset value to the measured value obtained for the CSI RSRP measurement to increase the measured value by the power offset value. When the user device determines that a RSRP measurement is performed during a non-SBFD slot, the user device does not apply the power offset value to any measured value obtained for the CSI RSRP measurement that is performed at the non-SBFD slot.

[0088] Aspects of the above operations are represented by 701 to 703 in Figure 7.

[0089] During 701, the user device receives information on downlink transmissionpower scaling that will be used by a network node for performing downlink transmissions. This information is specific for SBFD resources of the at least one SBFD slot.

[0090] During 702, the user device may determine whether a current radio resource(e.g., time slot) is an SBFD slot of the at least one SBFD slot. The user device may be configured by the network device the time and frequency resources that will be used by SBFD slots. The user device may be configured with the resource of the SBFD slots via signalling from the network node.

[0091] During 703, the user device scales a measured downlink received power of areference signal when it is determined that the current radio resource is an SBFD resource based on the received information at 701 on downlink transmission power scaling applied for SBFD resources.

[0092] Figure 8 illustrates another example to the form of the information provided tothe user device (such as the user device described above with reference to Figure 1 or 3) for assisting the user device in determining when to apply a power offset value to a measured value obtained for a reference signal received power measurement.

[0093] In the example of Figure 8, the user device is preconfigured with a pattern (e.g.,a sequence) that can be used by the user device for identifying which time slots (out of a plurality of time slots) will be used by a network node for performing downlinktransmissions using a reduced power level relative to a nominal transmission power of the network node. The pattern may be applied to only some of the SBFD slots or all of the SBFD slots. The pattern may be applied to both SBFD slots and non-SBFD slots.

[0094] The user device may use this pattern to identify time slots in which the networknode will transmit at reduced power compared to a nominal transmission power. The user device may, when the user device determines that a reference signal received power measurement has been made within at least one of the identified time slots, apply the power offset value to the measured value obtained for the reference signal received power measurement to increase the measured value by the power offset value. When the user device determines that a RSRP measurement was performed during a time slot that was not identified by the pattern as being an identified time slot, the user device does not apply the power offset value to any RSRP measurement value obtained at the time slot.

[0095] Stated differently, in the example of Figure 8, a time pattern is provided to theuser device (e.g. one value per slot in a time division duplex (TDD) UL-DL frame configuration or as an extension of the slot format indicator (SFI), discussed further below). The user device subsequently applies the power scaling depending on the time of reception of a DL reference signal with respect to the indicated time pattern.

[0096] Aspects of the example of Figure 8 are illustrated with reference to 801 to 802.

[0097] During 801, the user device receives a time pattern (e.g., sequence) indicatingDL transmission power scaling on one or more resource indices.

[0098] During 802, the user device scales the downlink received power of at least onereference signal (e.g., the CSI-RS or SSB) received in a resource index according to the indicated DL transmission power scaling in the resource index.

[0099] The information provided to the user device in the examples of Figures 7 and 8can be provided to the user device using any of a plurality of different mechanisms. For example, radio resource control signalling may be used to provide the user device with this information. As another example, downlink control information signalling may be used to provide the user device with this information. These different examples are illustrated hereunder.

[0100] First, signalling the information via radio resource control (RRC) layer signallingwill be considered.

[0101] RRC layer signalling may be used for semi-static signalling of power reductionsapplied for downlink transmissions in at least one SBFD slot of one or more SBFDslots. In this example, the RRC layer signalling may comprise information indicatingthe SBFD power reduction in an RRC message that also informs the user device of the radio frame configuration. For example, the RRC signalling may comprise a mask that can be used with a resource grid indicating time and / or frequency resources to identify which SBFD slots in a radio frame are subject to the power reduction. This mask (or some other signalling comprised in the RRC signalling) may further indicate a value of the power reduction level being applied in the indicated slots. For example, when 2 bits are used to indicate a value of the power reduction level being applied for downlink transmissions in the indicated slots, the following bit values may indicate a value of a power reduction level (e.g., a power offset value from a nominal transmission value of the network node): 00=no power reduction, 01=a first power reduction (e.g., 3dB power reduction), 10=a second power reduction (e.g., 6dB power reduction), and 11=a third power reduction (e.g., 9 dB power reduction). It is understood that the actual power reduction values (e.g., power offsets) may depend on a preconfiguration of the user device that receives this RRC layer signalling.

[0102] In an example, the RRC configuration can provide more detailed indication tothe user device on what measurements to scale or not to scale. For example, in some cases the network node may actually want the CSI reports to take the power reduction into account (i.e. are not scaled) such that the network node can use the non-scaled CSI reports for PDSCH link adaptation on SBFD slots.

[0103] As a second example, physical layer signalling of the power offset informationis described. This type of signalling may be especially useful for dynamic signalling of the power offset information. The physical layer signalling may be performed, for example, through downlink control information (DCI) signalling. This may be achieved, for example, by either adapting an existing DCI format, or by introducing a new DCI format. These are described further below. In both examples, the signalling may be broadcast within a cell, and / or be signalled to a specific user device and / or a specific group of user device.

[0104] An example of how an existing DCI format may be adapted to comprise thepower offset information, DCI format 2 is considered. DCI format 2_0 appears in 3GPP TS 38.212, clause 7.3, and comprises a slot format indication (SFI). The SFI could be adapted or enhanced to comprise the power reduction (e.g., power offset) indication.The SFI points to a larger table (and parameters) that is configured by RRC signalling (as described in more detail in 3GPP TS 38.331). As one example, this SFI signalling and table may be extended to include power reduction information. For example, the SFI may comprise a single bit that expresses whether power reduction is applied, while the actual value of the power reduction is configured by a RRC signalling when signalling parameter values of power reduce level for the table. As another example, the DCI signalling may be adapted to comprise one or more bits that express the value of the power reduction (analogous to the example described above in relation to RRC signalling).

[0105] An example of how the power reduction may be indicated using DCI signallingwhen the value of the power reduction is configured using RRC signalling is indicated below. In this example, the SBFD power reduction indicator may indicate if power reduction is applied for this slot or not. Field Bits ReferenceSBFD power reduction1 0 – power reduction isindicator not applied 1– power reduction isapplied

[0106] An example of how the power reduction may be indicated using DCI signallingwhen the value of the power reduction is configured using DCI signalling is indicated below. Field Bits ReferenceSBFD power reduction1 0 – power reduction isindicator not applied 1– power reduction isapplied Value of power2 00: no power reductionreduction (optional) 01: 3dB 10: 6dB 11: 9dB

[0107] As mentioned above, a new DCI format could be defined that carries onlyinformation on SBFD network node power reduction. When this new DCI format is not sent, the user device assumes that the network node is transmitting at the network node’s nominal transmission rate during SBFD slots and does not apply any power offset compensation factor to any reference signal received power that was measured during an SBFD slot. When the new DCI format is sent, the user device assumes that the network node is transmitting at a reduced power (relative to the network node’s nominal transmission power), and applies a power offset compensation factor to any reference signal received power that was measured during at least one SBFD slot. The new DCI format may further comprise an indication that expresses the level of power reduction (e.g., one of 0, 3, 6, or 9dB). The use of a new DCI format may be beneficial over adapting the DCI format 2, as DCI format 2 comprises additional information that does not always need to be signaled every time a new SBFD power reduction value needs to be signaled.

[0108] Examples of how this may be signalled are now provided.

[0109] DCI scrambled with new radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

[0110] Before receiving these described new DCI, no power reduction factor is appliedto a measured RSRP value by a user device. After receiving these described new DCI, a power reduction factor is applied by the user device to measured RSRP values.

[0111] In an example of the new DCI, a per-slot indication is provided in which the newDCI is decoded to obtain a value of power reduction, and the user device is configured to apply the power reduction value for this slot. The new DCI may therefore comprise the following information. Field Bits ReferenceValue of power2 00: 3dBreduction or 01: 6dB 10: 9dB

[0112] In another example of the new DCI, the DCI is decoded by the user device toobtain a value of power reduction comprised therein, and the user device is configured to apply the power reduction value on all upcoming SBFD slots from a specified SBFD slot (e.g., a current SBFD slot, or from an SBFD slot that is x slots away from the current SBFD slots, where x may be preconfigured in the user device and / or signalled to the user device using RRC-layer signalling).Field Bits ReferenceValue of power2 00: 3dBreduction (optional) 01: 6dB 10: 9dB

[0113] In another example of the new DCI, there is provided a bit that indicates whetherthe SBFD power reduction is activated or deactivated. The power reduction value may be derived based on the RRC configuration if the power reduction is activated instead of being provided in the new DCI. In this example, in response to receiving the DCI indicating activation of SBFD power reduction, the user device starts applying the derived power reduction value for SBFD slots. The UE continues to apply this power reduction value for measured RSRP values from reference signals in the SBFD slots until a new DCI is received that deactivates the application of the power reductionfactor. When receiving the DCI indicating deactivation of SBFD power reduction, theuser device assumes the power reduction is not applied for RSRP measurements made in subsequently scheduled SBFD slots. This may be indicated as described below. Field Bits ReferenceSBFD power reduction1 0 – activatedactivation indicator1– deactivated

[0114] As another example of a new DCI, there may be provided a bit that indicateswhether the SBFD power reduction is activated or deactivated, and the power reduction value may be derived from another bit comprised in the DCI for each configured SBFD slot.

[0115] In this example, when receiving the DCI indicating activation of SBFD powerreduction, the user device starts applying the derived power reduction value in respect of RSRP measurements made in SBFD slots. After this SBFD power reduction is activated, UE keeps continues to apply the derived power reduction value before another DCI is received. When receiving the DCI indicating deactivation of SBFD power reduction, the user device assumes the power reduction is no longer to be applied for SBFD slots. This may be indicated as described below. Field Bits ReferenceSBFD power reduction1 0 – activatedactivation indicator1 – deactivatedSBFD power reduction2 00: no power reductionpower for first SBFD 01: 3dB slot in a frame (present 10: 6dB only when SBFD power 11: 9dB reduction is activated) SBFD power reduction2 00: no power reductionpower for second 01: 3dB SBFD slot in a frame 10: 6dB (present only when 11: 9dB SBFD power reduction is activated) … SBFD power reduction2 00: no power reductionpower for nth SBFD applied slot in a frame (present 01: 3dB only when SBFD power 10: 6dB reduction is activated) 11: 9dB

[0116] With reference to the example of Figure 7, the DCI-based signalling optiondescribed above may be especially useful (compared to the RRC-based signalling option) as it is expected that the network node changes the power reduction offset in a relatively frequent (and / or dynamic) manner (e.g. on a slot / subframe or frame basis).

[0117] With reference to the example of Figure 8, the RRC-based signalling option (orat least an option that comprises configuration via RRC-based signalling) may be especially useful (relative to the DCI-based signalling option) as the RRC signalling may provide additional information that indicates for which reference signals the power offset applies (e.g.1 bit for SSB, 1 bit for CSI-RS, etc.). This may be useful when the network node is configured to transmit only a portion of Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) using its nominal transmission power.

[0118] Any network node that is configured to make downlink transmissions duringSBFD slots may be configured to determine whether to use transmit power reductions for downlink transmissions made during its SBFD slots. Such a network node may also monitor the performance of uplink transmissions made to the network node during itsSBFD slots in order to determine whether the uplink transmissions performed during an SBFD slot are being affected by CLI from concurrent downlink transmissions made within the same time slot. When it is determined that the uplink transmissions are affected by more than a threshold amount, the network node may start to lower the DL transmit power used by the network node during the SBFD slots.

[0119] Figures 9A to 9B illustrate various combinations of the above-mentionedfeatures using example signalling diagrams between apparatus mentioned herein. It is understood that these examples are not exhaustive of the present disclosure, but are instead intended to showcase how at least some of the presently described techniques may be implemented.

[0120] Figure 9A illustrates signalling that may be performed between a user device901 and a network node 902. The user device 901 may be as described in reference to the user device of Figure 1 or 3. The network node 902 may be as described in reference to the network device of Figure 1 or 2.

[0121] During 9001, the network node 902 signals the user device 901.

[0122] This signalling 9001 may comprise radio resource information (e.g., SBFD slotinformation). The radio resource information configures one or more SBFD slots in one or more radio frames. The radio resource information may indicate a slot number and / or a time pattern and / or slot sequence.

[0123] This signalling 9001 may comprise power scaling information. The powerscaling information is to be applied to at least one SBFD slot of the one or more SBFD slots. The power scaling information may be considered as comprising an activation indication that informs the user device that the network node will perform power scaling during the at least one SBFD slot. Stated differently, the power scaling information may comprise an indication that the network node will perform downlink transmissions at a reduced power during the at least one SBFD slot.

[0124] The power scaling information may include at least one identifier information ofthe at least one SBFD slots and / or at least one power scaling value corresponding to the at least one identifier of the at least one SBFD slots.

[0125] The at least one identifier information may be as discussed above withreference to signalling options for identifying which SBFD slots are to be affected by the power scaling operation. For example, the at least one identifier information of the at least one SBFD slot may specify (e.g., identify) the at least one SBFD slot out of a plurality of available SBFD slots (e.g., using a pattern, as discussed further above). Asanother example, the at least one identifier information of the at least one SBFD slot may indicate that all SBFD slots will be affected by the at least one power scaling value.

[0126] The power scaling information may comprise, for example, a value of a poweroffset (or an indication of a value of the power offset) that will be used by the network node, such as the examples described above. The signalling of 9001 may be provided using, for example, RRC signalling and / or DCI signalling. The RRC signalling is done by a RRC message or a RRC information element.

[0127] During 9002, the user device 901 performs a measurement based on the powerscaling information. For example, the user device 901 determines a reference signal received power of at least one reference signal transmitted during the at least one SBFD slot. The measurement may be performed on CSI-RSs and / or SSBs.

[0128] During 9003, the user device 901 upscales the value of the measurementobtained during 9002 by the value of the power offset (or, by the power scaling value) to obtain an upscaled value of the measurement.

[0129] During 9004, the user device 901 may transmit a report comprising at least oneof the upscaled value of the measurement and the result of the measurements to the network node. The report may be a CSI report or a radio resource management (RRM) report.

[0130] During 9005, the network node 902 uses the reported upscaled value toperform a radio resource management mechanism. For example, the network node 902 uses the reported upscaled value to allocate (e.g., schedule) transmission resources for the user device. As another example, the network node 902 may determine whether to cause the user device to be handed over from a cell currently serving the user device to another cell. As another example, the user device 901 may determine whether to perform a handover from a current cell to another cell based on a result of the measurement of 9002 and a result of the adjustment done during 9003.

[0131] Figure 9B illustrates signalling that may be performed between a user device901’ and a network node 902’.

[0132] During 9001’, the network node 902’ signals the user device 901. This signallingmay comprise radio resource information (e.g., SBFD slot information) configuring one or more SBFD slots in one or more radio frames. The radio resource information may indicate a slot number and / or a time pattern and / or slot sequence of the one or moreSBFD slots. The signalling of 9001 may be provided using, for example, a RRC message or a RRC IE.

[0133] During 9002’, the network node 902’ signals the user device 901’. Thissignalling may comprise power scaling information. The power scaling information is to be applied to at least one SBFD slot of the one or more SBFD slots. The power scaling information may include at least one identifier information of the at least one SBFD slots and / or at least one power scaling value corresponding to the at least one identifier of the at least one SBFD slots. The power scaling information may comprise, for example, an indication that the network node will perform downlink transmissions during at least one SBFD slot. The power scaling information may comprise, for example, a value of a power offset (or an indication of a value of the power offset) that will be used by the network node, such as described above examples. The signalling of 9002’ may be received via DCI.

[0134] During 9003’, the user device 901’ performs a measurement based on thepower scaling information. For example, the user device 901’ determines a reference signal received power of a reference signal transmitted during the at least one SBFD slot. The measurement may be performed on a CSI-RS signal. The measurement may be performed on an SSB signal.

[0135] During 9004’, the user device 901’ upscales the value of the measurementobtained during 9002’ by the value of the power offset (or, by the power scaling value) to obtain an upscaled value of the measurement.

[0136] During 9005’, the user device 901’ may transmit a report comprising at leastone of the upscaled value of the measurement or the result of the measurement to the network node. The report may be a CSI report or a RRM report.

[0137] During 9006’, the network node 902’ uses the reported upscaled value toperform a radio resource management mechanism. For example, the network node 902 uses the reported upscaled value to allocate (e.g., schedule) transmission resources for the user device. As another example, the network node 902 may determine whether to cause the user device to be handed over from a cell currently serving the user device to another cell. As another example, the user device 901’ may determine whether to perform a handover from a current cell to another cell based on a result of the measurement of 9003’ and a result of the adjustment done during 9004’.

[0138] Some of the features illustrated in the above examples are discussed belowwith reference to Figures 10 and 11. It is therefore understood that the abovedescription may provide further description and context in relation to the following mentioned features.

[0139] Figure 10 illustrates operations that may be performed by a user device (e.g.,a user equipment and / or terminal).

[0140] During 1001, the user device receives power scaling information to be appliedto at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots. The power scaling information may be received from a network node, such as the network node of Figure 11.

[0141] During 1002, the user device performs a measurement on the at least oneSBFD slot. The measurement may comprise a measurement indicating a power of a received downlink reference signal during the at least one SBFD slot. The type of reference signal may be as described above.

[0142] The measurement may comprise at least one of: a layer 1 (e.g., physical layer),L1, reference signal receive power, RSRP, measurement, a channel status information, CSI, based RSRP measurement, a synchronization signal, SS, based RSRP measurement, a layer 3 (e.g., RRC), L3, RSRP measurement, or a radio resource measurement, RRM, measurement.

[0143] During 1003, the user device adjusts a result of the measurement based on thepower scaling information. The result of the measurement may comprise a value obtained as a result of the measurement of 1002 being performed.

[0144] The user device may receive radio resource information configuring the one ormore SBFD slots. As the at least one SBFD slot is of the one or more SBFD slots, the radio resource information may configure the at least one SBFD slot. The radio resource information may be received via, for example, a radio resource control message and / or RRC information element. The radio resource information configuring the one or more SBFD slots (including the at least one SBFD slot) may comprise any information for configuring the one or more SBFD slots, including, for example, time and / or frequency resources that are to be used for SBFD slots.

[0145] The measurement may be used to determine a downlink pathloss. Thedetermined downlink pathloss may be used by the user device to control an uplink transmit power. For example, the user device may control an increase its uplink transmission power based on this determined pathloss (e.g., by Alpha times (PL_withoutpowerReduction + [determined path loss]) for this example), where thedetermined pathloss has compensated for a downlink power reduction, as discussedabove.

[0146] The user device may be caused to transmit a report including at least one ofthe result of the measurement or the adjusted result of the measurement. The actual measurement result transmitted may be determined according to a current user device configuration configured by the network node. For example, the network node may configure the user device to transmit, to the network node, a report that includes the result of the measurement performed during 1002. The network node may configure the user device to transmit, to the network node, a report that includes the adjusted result of the measurement.

[0147] The user device may receive, from the network node, an indicator indicative ofan activation or an inactivation of a power scaling on the at least one SBFD slot. For example, when the user device receives, from the network node, an indication that power scaling is to be activated, the user device may perform 1003. When the user device receives, from the network node, an indication that power scaling is to be deactivated (e.g., an inactivation of the power scaling), 1003 is no longer performed by the user device unless and until an indicator indicative of the activation is later received.

[0148] The result of the measurement may be adjusted by scaling a downlink receivedpower of at least one of reference signals received in the at least one SBFD slot.

[0149] Figure 11 illustrates operations that may be performed by a network node. Thenetwork node may be the network node of Figure 10.

[0150] During 1101, the network node signals, to a user device, power scalinginformation to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots.

[0151] During 1102, the network node applies said power scaling to the at least oneSBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions. Stated differently, the network node reduces the power used for transmitting downlink in the at least one SBFD slot relative to the nominal power. For example, during 1102, the network node is configured to determine a nominal power for transmitting downlink during SBFD slots (e.g., to determine a power used for transmitting downlink during previous SBFD slots), and to transmit downlink during the at least one SBFD slot using a reduced power relative to the nominal power. The reduced power may be calculated by subtracting a poweroffset value from the value of the nominal power. The downlink transmissions may be to the user device.

[0152] The network node may signal, to the user device, radio resource informationfor configuring the one or more SBFD slots. As the at least one SBFD slot is of the one or more SBFD slots, the radio resource information may configure the at least one SBFD slot. The radio resource information may be received via, for example, a radio resource control message and / or RRC information element. The radio resource information configuring the one or more SBFD slots (including the at least one SBFD slot) may comprise any information for configuring the one or more SBFD slots, including, for example, time and / or frequency resources that are to be used for SBFD slots.

[0153] The network node may receive, from the user device, a report including at leastone of a result of a measurement or an adjusted result of a measurement made based on the power scaling information. The actual measurement result received may be determined according to a current user device configuration that was configured by the network node. For example, the network node may configure the user device to transmit, to the network node, a report that includes the result of the measurement performed during 1002. The network node may configure the user device to transmit, to the network node, a report that includes the adjusted result of the measurement.

[0154] The network node may signal an indicator indicative of an activation or aninactivation of a power scaling on the at least one SBFD slot. For example, when the network node signals, to the user device, an indication that power scaling is to be activated, the user device may perform 1003. When the network node signals to the user device, an indication that power scaling is to be deactivated (e.g., an inactivation of the power scaling), 1003 is no longer performed by the user device unless and until an indicator indicative of the activation is later received.

[0155] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the power scaling information mayinclude (e.g., comprise) at least one identifier information of the at least one SBFD slot. In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the power scaling information may include (e.g., comprise) at least one power scaling value corresponding to the at least one identifier. Stated differently, the power scaling information may comprise an identifier of the at least one SBFD slot in which the network node will transmit at a reduced power (e.g., perform the signalling of 1102) and / or an indication of the amount by which the downlink transmission power will be reduced during the at least one SBFDslot. The amount by which the downlink transmission power will be reduced during the at least one SBFD slot may be indicated using a power offset value (or an indication, such as an index value thereof). The power offset value may indicate a value by which the downlink transmission power will be reduced during the at least one SBFD slot relative to the nominal transmission power.

[0156] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the power scaling information may besignalled via a radio resource control, RRC, message and / or a RRC information element.

[0157] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the power scaling information may besignalled via downlink control information, DCI.

[0158] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the power scaling information mayindicate whether a power scaling is applied or not at the at least one SBFD slot. The power scaling information may comprise information indicative of one of power scaling values (e.g., information of one of power offset values) to be applied to adjust the result of the measurement. The power scaling values may be preconfigured at the user device, such that information indicative of one of the power scaling values selects one of these preconfigured values. The information indicative of the one of power scaling values may comprise an index value, such as described above.

[0159] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, a type of the DCI may comprise a groupcommon DCI or a cell specific DCI format.

[0160] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the power scaling information mayinclude pattern information indicating location of the at least one SBFD slot. Stated differently, the power scaling information may comprise information that may be used for identifying the at least one SBFD slot out of the one or more SBFD slots previouslyconfigured at the user device. For example, the pattern information may indicate thelocation and / or SBFD slot indexes in which the power scaling of 1102 will be applied.

[0161] In the examples of Figures 10 and 11, the termination of the power reductionmay be signalled to the user device applied in a plurality of different ways. For example, the user device may be provided with an indication of a slot in which the power reduction will stop being applied (as per 1102) during the signalling of 1101. As another example, the user device may be provided with an indication of a slot in which the power reduction will stop being applied during later signalling to the signalling of 1101. As another example, the user device may be provided with an indication of atime duration for which the power reduction of 1102 will be applied during a configuration of the user device (e.g., via RRC signalling).

[0162] The above-described network node-to-user device signaling of the SBFDpower reductions may be standardized by 3GPP. This standardization may affect the RRC specifications when the semi-static (e.g., RRC) signalling option is performed, and / or the PHY specifications if pursuing the dynamic (e.g., DCI-based) option. The following discusses changes that may be made to such specifications, and illustrates how the presently described techniques may be reflected therein.

[0163] Once the user device receives instructions of the SBFD power reduction incertain, or all, SBFD slots, performs the following. When performing Layer-1 RSRP measurements in SBFD slots where the network node applies X dB power reduction, the user device upscales its RSRP measurements by X dB before it is forwarded to Layer-3 filtering. This will impact the PHY layer measurement specifications in 3GPPTS 38.215. For the specific case of RSRP measurements on CSI-RS (denoted CSI-RSRP), this appears in clause 5.1.2 of 38.215. The presently described modification is indicated the Table below, and is high-lighted below in bold.

[0164] At the user device side, the terminal may upscale its Layer-1 RSRP samples inthe SBFD slots by X dB, for those where the network node applies X dB Tx power reduction. By doing so, the RSRP measurements will be unaffected by the network node Tx power reduction in SBFD slots, and hence, the user device will still estimate the correct pathloss value that it uses for its open loop TPC. Secondly, as the RSRP will remain unaffected by the X dB power reduction in the SBFD slots, the user device will not trigger unnecessary early handovers.

[0165] A similar procedure to that described above and in the following in reference toCSI-RS may also be applied to Layer-1 RSRP measurements performed on synchronization signals (denoted SS-RSRP). These measurements are described in clause 5.1.1 in 3GPP TS 38.215. Similarly, CSI-RS measurements for L1-SINR and CSI feedback may be upscaled as well.Definition CSI reference signal received power (CSI-RSRP), is defined as the linearaverage over the power contributions (in [W]) of the resource elements of the antenna port(s) that carry CSI reference signals configured for RSRP measurements within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth in the configured CSI-RS occasions. For CSI-RSRP determination CSI reference signals transmitted on antenna port 3000 according to TS 38.211 [4] shall be used. If CSI-RSRP is used forL1-RSRP, CSI reference signals transmitted on antenna ports 3000, 3001 can be used for CSI-RSRP determination. For intra-frequency CSI-RSRP measurements, if the measurement gap is not configured, user device is not expected to measure the CSI-RS resource(s) outside of the active downlink bandwidth part. For frequency range 1, the reference point for the CSI-RSRP shall be the antenna connector of the user device. For frequency range 2, CSI-RSRP shall be measured based on the combined signal from antenna elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. For frequency range 1 and 2, if receiver diversity is in use by the user device, the reported CSI-RSRP value shall not be lower than the corresponding CSI-RSRP of any of the individual receiver branches. If the user device has received information from the network node of SBFD power reduction of X dB in the slot where the CSI-RSRP is measured, the measurement shall be upscaled by X dB. Applicable If CSI-RSRP is used for L1-RSRP, for RRC_CONNECTED intra-frequency. Otherwise, RRC_CONNECTED intra-frequency, RRC_CONNECTED inter-frequency

[0166] It should be understood that the apparatuses described in the above examples(or embodiments) may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and / or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

[0167] It is noted that whilst some embodiments have been described in relation to 5Gnetworks, similar principles can be applied in relation to other networks and communication systems. Therefore, although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

[0168] It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments,there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0169] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ”and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0170] In general, the various examples (e.g., embodiments) may be implemented inhardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0171] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or allof the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in onlyanalog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(c) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) withsoftware / firmware and (d) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digitalsignal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (e) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) ora portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0172] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application,including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0173] The embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented by computer softwareexecutable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and / or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computer-executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it.

[0174] Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as inthe Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media.

[0175] The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself(i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0176] The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment andmay be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and maycomprise one or more of general-purpose computers, special purpose computers,microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

[0177] Embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in various components suchas integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[0178] The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the disclosure is setout by the independent claims. The embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0179] The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a fulland informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this disclosure will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed, there is a further embodiment comprising a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

Claims 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause a user device at least to: receive power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; perform a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus causes the user device to: receive radio resource information configuring the one or more SBFD slots including the at least one SBFD slot.

3. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the measurement includes at least one of: a layer 1, L1, reference signal receive power, RSRP, measurement; a channel status information, CSI, based RSRP measurement; a synchronization signal, SS, based RSRP measurement; a layer 3, L3, RSRP measurement; or a radio resource measurement, RRM, measurement.

4. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the measurement is used to determine a downlink pathloss.

5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus causes the user device to: transmit a report including at least one of the result of the measurementor the adjusted result of the measurement.

6. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus causes the user device to:receive an indicator indicative of an activation or an inactivation of a power scaling on the at least one SBFD slot.

7. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the result of the measurement is adjusted by scaling a downlink received power of at least one of reference signals received in the at least one SBFD slot.

8. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause a network node at least to: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus causes the network node to: signal radio resource information for configuring the one or more SBFD slots including the at least one SBFD slot.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 8 to 9, wherein the apparatus causes the network node to: receive a report including at least one of a result of a measurement or an adjusted result of a measurement made based on the power scaling information.

11. The apparatus of any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the apparatus causes the network node to: signal an indicator indicative of an activation or an inactivation of a power scaling on the at least one SBFD slot.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power scaling information includes: at least one identifier information of the at least one SBFD slot; and at least one power scaling value corresponding to the at least one identifier.

13. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power scaling informationis received via a radio resource control, RRC, message or a RRC informationelement.

14. The apparatus of claims 1 to 13, wherein the power scaling information isreceived via downlink control information, DCI, and the power scaling informationindicates whether a power scaling is applied or not at the at least one SBFD slot.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein a type of the DCI is a group common DCI or a cell specific DCI format.

16. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power scaling information includes information indicative of one of power scaling values to be applied to adjust the result of the measurement.

17. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power scaling information includes pattern information indicating location of the at least one SBFD slot.

18. A method for causing a user device at least to: receive power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; perform a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.

19. A method for causing a network node at least to:signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

20. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the programis executed by a computer, cause the computer to cause a user device at least to: receive power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; perform a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.

21. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the programis executed by a computer, cause the computer to cause a network node at least to: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising programinstructions for causing an apparatus for a user device to perform: receive power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; perform a measurement on the at least one SBFD slot; and adjust a result of the measurement based on the power scaling information.

23. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising programinstructions for causing an apparatus for a network to perform: signal power scaling information to be applied to at least one sub-band full duplexing, SBFD, slot of one or more SBFD slots; and apply said power scaling to the at least one SBFD slot for performing downlink transmissions.

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