Apparatus and method for controlling scheduling

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for controlling scheduling in a communication system are disclosed. The method comprises determining (300) that a terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled; where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled channel measurement occasion, and transmitting (302) to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SCHEDULING

[0002] Field

[0003] The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of the invention relate generally to wireless communication systems. Embodiments of the invention relate especially to apparatuses and methods in wireless communication networks.

[0004] Background

[0005] Wireless communication systems are in constant development. New services and applications are developed. Some services and applications are such that they require minimum delay in communication. The delay critical services may comprise required extended Reality, XR, virtual reality or other services where delays may severely compromise the required quality of service.

[0006] Summary

[0007] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key / critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that is presented later.

[0008] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus in a communication system, comprising a processor; and a memory including instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: determine that a terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled; where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled channel measurement occasion, and transmit to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

[0009] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus in a communication system, comprising: a processor; and a memory including instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: receive from a network element a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement time occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled, where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method in an apparatus in a communication system comprising the steps of: determining that a terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled; where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled channel measurement occasion, and transmitting to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

[0011] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method in an apparatus in a communication system comprising the steps of: receiving from a network element a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled, where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0012] In an embodiment, there is provided apparatus in a communication system, comprising means for determining that a terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled; where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled channel measurement occasion, and means for transmitting to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

[0013] In an embodiment, there is provided apparatus in a communication system, comprising means for receiving from a network element a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled, where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0014] One or more examples of implementations are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. The embodiments and / or examples 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 invention.

[0015] List of drawings

[0016] Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0017] Figures 1 and 2 illustrate examples of simplified system architecture of a communication system;

[0018] Figures 3A and 3B are flowcharts illustrating some embodiments;

[0019] Figure 4 illustrates an example of communication between the gNodeB and a terminal device;

[0020] Figure 5 is a signalling diagram illustrating an embodiment;

[0021] Figure 6 illustrates an example of communication between the gNodeB and a terminal device;

[0022] Figures 7A, 7B and 7C illustrate simplified examples of apparatuses applying some embodiments of the invention.

[0023] Description of some embodiments

[0024] Fig. 1 shows devices 100 and 102. The devices 100 and 102 may, for example, be user devices or user terminals. The devices 100 and 102 are configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels with a node 104. The node 104 is further connected to a core network 106. In one example, the node 104 may be an access node, such as (e / g)NodeB, serving devices in a cell. In one example, the node 104 may be a non-3GPP access node. The physical link from a device to a (e / g)NodeB is called uplink or reverse link and the physical link from the (e / g)NodeB to the device is called downlink or forward link. It should be appreciated that (e / g)NodeBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entity suitable for such a usage.

[0025] A communications system typically comprises more than one (e / g)NodeB in which case the (e / g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with one another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose. These links may be used for signalling purposes. The (e / g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of communication system it is coupled to. The NodeB may also be referred to as a base station, an access point or any other type of interfacing device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. The (e / g)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the (e / g)NodeB, a connection is provided to an antenna unit that establishes bi-directional radio links to devices. The antenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements. The (e / g)NodeB is further connected to the core network 106 (CN or next generation core NGC).

[0026] The device (also called a subscriber unit, user device, user equipment (UE), user terminal, terminal device, etc.) illustrates one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface are allocated and assigned, and thus any feature described herein with a device may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node. An example of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhauling relay) towards the base station.

[0027] The device typically refers to a device ( e.g. a portable or non-portable computing device) that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without an universal subscriber identification module (USIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and / or touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device. It should be appreciated that a device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. A device may also be a device having capability to operate in Internet of Things (loT) network which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, e.g. to be used in smart power grids and connected vehicles. The device may also utilise cloud. In some applications, a device may comprise a user portable device with radio parts (such as a watch, earphones or eyeglasses) and the computation is carried out in the cloud. The device (or in some embodiments a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of user equipment functionalities.

[0028] Various techniques described herein may also be applied to a cyberphysical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computational elements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable the implementation and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnected information and communications technology, ICT, devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals.

[0029] Additionally, although the apparatuses have been depicted as single entities, different units, processors and / or memory units (not all shown in Fig. 1 ) may be implemented.

[0030] 5G or NR (New Radio) enables using multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the Long Term Evolution, LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and / or spectrum available. 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications (such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, e.g. below 6GHz or above 24 GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and also being integrable with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE. Integration with the LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to the LTE. In other words, 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, 6 or above 24 GHz - cmWave and mmWave). One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

[0031] The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. The low latency applications and services in 5G require to bring the content close to the radio which leads to local break out and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud / fog computing and grid / mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and / or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0032] The communication system is also able to communicate with other networks 112, such as a public switched telephone network, or a VoIP network, or the Internet, or a private network, or utilize services provided by them. The communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in Fig. 1 by “cloud” 1 14). The communication system may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providing facilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for example in spectrum sharing.

[0033] The technology of Edge cloud may be brought into a radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN). Using the technology of edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station comprising radio parts. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts. Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functions being carried out at or close to a remote antenna site (in a distributed unit, DU 108) and non-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (in a centralized unit, CU 110).

[0034] It should also be understood that the distribution of labour between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent. Some other technology advancements probably to be used are Big Data and all-IP, which may change the way networks are being constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and the base station or nodeB (gNB). It should be appreciated that MEC can be applied in 4G networks as well.

[0035] 5G may also utilize satellite communication 1 16 to enhance or complement the coverage of 5G service, for example by providing backhauling. Possible use cases are providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway / maritime / aeronautical communications. Satellite communication may utilise geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular mega-constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano)satellites are deployed). Each satellite in the megaconstellation may cover several satellite-enabled network entities that create on- ground cells. The on-ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node or by a gNodeB located on-ground or in a satellite.

[0036] It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system and in practice, the system may comprise a plurality of (e / g)NodeBs, the device may have an access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise also other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (e / g)NodeBs or may be a Home(e / g)NodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio communication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells. The (e / g)NodeBs of Fig. 1 may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayer network including several kinds of cells. Typically, in multilayer networks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thus a plurality of (e / g)NodeBs are required to provide such a network structure.

[0037] For fulfilling the need for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of “plug-and-play” (e / g)NodeBs has been introduced. Typically, a network which is able to use “plug-and-play” (e / g)Node Bs, includes, in addition to Home (e / g)NodeBs (H(e / g)NodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in Fig. 1 ). A HNB Gateway (HNB-GW), which is typically installed within an operator’s network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.

[0038] Fig.2 illustrates an example of a communication system based on 5G network components. A user terminal or user equipment 100 communicating via a 5G network 202 with a data network 112. The user terminal 100 is connected to a Radio Access Network RAN node, such as (e / g)NodeB 206 which provides the user terminal a connection to the network 112 via one or more User Plane Functions 208. The user terminal 100 is further connected to Core Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF 210, which is a control plane core connector for (radio) access network and can be seen from this perspective as the 5G version of Mobility Management Entity, MME, in LTE. The 5G network further comprises Session Management Function, SMF 212, which is responsible for subscriber sessions, such as session establishment, modify and release, and a Policy Control Function 214 which is configured to govern network behavior by providing policy rules to control plane functions.

[0039] The (e / g)NodeB 206 may serve the terminal devices in its coverage are by utilising a beamforming technique, where it transmits signals to the terminal devices via one or more beams. The beams may have at least partly different coverage areas. In an embodiment, a terminal device may receive a signal via more than one beam. Typically, transmission on each beam comprises a beam index. Thus, the terminal device may know which beam it is receiving.

[0040] 6G networks are expected to adopt flexible decentralized and / or distributed computing systems and architecture and ubiquitous computing, with local spectrum licensing, spectrum sharing, infrastructure sharing, and intelligent automated management underpinned by mobile edge computing, artificial intelligence, short-packet communication and blockchain technologies. Key features of 6G will include intelligent connected management and control functions, programmability, integrated sensing and communication, reduction of energy footprint, trustworthy infrastructure, scalability and affordability. In addition to these, 6G is also targeting new use cases covering the integration of localization and sensing capabilities into system definition to unifying user experience across physical and digital worlds.

[0041] Generally, the development of wireless communication systems has made it possible to create a wide range of new services for the users. As mentioned, some of the services and applications are of timer -critical nature in that they require low latency from the communication. An example of such services includes extended Reality, XR, services, which in turn may comprise Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) services. Delays or latencies in these services would reduce the Quality of Service, QoS, below what is required.

[0042] On the other hand, communication networks require knowledge of conditions of the channel(s) between a terminal device and transmission point, TP, such as a base station or (e / g)NodeB. Therefore, terminal devices of the system may be configured to perform measurements of the channel(s) even when they are actively communicating with the TP. This a part of Radio Resource Management, RRM, of the communication networks. For example, in 5G the terminal devices are configured by the network to perform measurements during given time windows that define measurement opportunities or measurement occasions. Examples of such measurement opportunities are the Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, measurement timing configuration, SMTC, and Measurement Gap, MG. Thus, there may occur a situation where a terminal device needs to perform measurements due to a measurement occasion, while at the same time when there would be delay-critical data to be received or transmitted, the measurements would cause unacceptable latencies that could in many cases violate the Packet Delay Budget, PDB, constraint of XR traffic, for example.

[0043] To be more exact, taking an example of 5G or NR, according to the current NR specifications, the network configures terminal devices when to measure Reference Signal Received Power, RSRP, from SSBs (for example) by means of Radio Resource Control, RRC, signalling of the SSB Measurement Timing Configuration, SMTC. The time-resolution of SMTC is on subframe level, corresponding to 1 ms intervals. It may be noted that the SMTC only configured the terminal device when (in time domain) it should measure RSRP, while it is left for terminal device implementation exactly when to measure, and which antenna panel to be used for conducting such measurement during those measurement opportunities.

[0044] Scheduling restrictions that may apply to the terminal device during time intervals where it may be performing RSRP measurements as per the SMTC configuration are defined in the specifications, where it states for Frequency Range 2 and L1 -RSRP on SSB specifically that “The UE is not expected to transmit PUCCH / PUSCH / SRS or receive PDCCH / PDSCH / CSI- RS....”. Here PUCCH stands for Physical uplink control channel, PUSCH stands for Physical uplink shared channel, SRS stands for Sounding Reference Signal. PDCCH stands for Physical downlink control channel, PDSCH stands for Physical downlink shared channel and CSI-RS stands for Channel State Information - Reference Signal.

[0045] A typical network configuration may use a setting with SMTC windows of 5 ms every 20 ms, meaning that 25% of the time the terminal device cannot be scheduled, and its data transmissions may get delayed by up to 5ms, which corresponds to half the time of the packet delay budget, PDB, of AR / VR services. This poses serious scheduling restrictions that likely challenge the networks capability to efficiently schedule and serve its XR users according to their QoS constraint, severely limiting the XR capacity if such scheduling restrictions are valid.

[0046] Thus, it would be highly advantageous if channel measurements and corresponding scheduling restrictions could be skipped, deprioritized or relaxed or prioritizing activities other than the intended measurements, especially with minimum signalling load between the terminal device and network. In following, the term skipped is used but any of the following terms or their equivalents could be used as well, as one skilled in the art is aware: postponed, ignored, bypassed, canceled, deprioritized, relaxed, loosened, anticipated, moved in time. If channel measurements are skipped, reception and transmission are prioritized over channel measurements, then the terminal device can be considered available for scheduling (or not unavailable).

[0047] The flowchart of Fig. 3A illustrates an embodiment. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be a network element. The apparatus may be a base station or (e / g)NodeB or part of a base station or (e / g)NodeB , for example. The apparatus may also be realised as a cloud function, i.e., divided to more than one physical entities. In step 300, the apparatus is configured to determine that a terminal device may skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

[0048] The at least one given condition may be related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0049] In step 302, the apparatus is configured to transmit to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

[0050] In an embodiment, the apparatus is configured to transmit the message comprising configuration information during connection setup with the terminal device.

[0051] The flowchart of Fig. 3B illustrates an embodiment. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be a terminal device or user equipment or a part of terminal device or user equipment, for example.

[0052] In step 310, the apparatus is configured to receive from the network element a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

[0053] The at least one given condition may be related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0054] In an embodiment, the at least one given condition may be related to a first time interval between a control message comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception and the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0055] In an embodiment, the at least one given condition may be related to the number of control messages within a second time interval before the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

[0056] Thus, the proposed solution discloses a method for implicit skipping of scheduling restrictions during scheduled measurement occasions, such as MG or SMTC windows in 5G, for example. The network may determine one or more skipping conditions, and when at least one condition is fulfilled, the terminal device is configured to prioritize data transmission / reception, such as PDCCH / PDSCH decoding and PUCCH / PUSCH transmission over channel measurements. The base station or (e / g)NodeB and the terminal device are both aware of the conditions and when the conditions are fulfilled.

[0057] In an embodiment, the network is in charge of deciding and configuring whether a certain terminal device is configured to skip measurements if at least one condition is fulfilled. Thus, when a terminal device is to act accordingly, the base station or (e / g)NodeB connected to the terminal device may transmit a control message to the terminal device indicating that the terminal device may skip measurements if at least one condition is fulfilled. In an embodiment, the control message may be realized by using RRC signaling for example from the gNodeB to the terminal device.

[0058] In following we assume the communication system is 5G or NR or 6G. The embodiments can however be applied also to other systems, as one skilled in the art is well aware. Thus, the measurement occasion is denoted as a MG / SMTC window. Further, the control information comprising resources for data transmission or reception is denoted as Downlink Control Information, DCI, transmitted by the base station or (e / g)NodeB.

[0059] In an embodiment, the at least one condition is based on a time interval between the DCI message and the beginning of a next MG / SMTC window. The condition is fulfilled is the time interval is smaller than a first time interval T 1 . The time interval T 1 can be defined in milliseconds (ms), number of frames, slots or symbols. While the first instant that defines the time interval T1 can be naturally defined as the first slot (or subframe) of the MG / SMTC window (or, more generally, as the nth slot or subframe prior to the first slot or subframe of the MG / SMTC window), the second time instant can be defined in multiple ways including (but not limited to):

[0060] - the first or last symbol of the slot where the scheduling DCI is transmitted;

[0061] - the first or last symbol of physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, transmission that includes the scheduling DCI;

[0062] - the first or last symbol (or slot) of physical downlink shared channel PDSCH, transmission(s) scheduled by the scheduling DCI.

[0063] Thus, when the time between the reception (or transmission) of the scheduling DCI and the beginning of the next MG / SMTC window is smaller than T1 , the scheduling restrictions in the next MG / SMTC window are skipped / relaxed. In an embodiment, value of T1 may be selected taking into account the gNodeB and UE processing times at gNodeB and terminal device, which times are all known at the gNodeB-side. In another possible implementation, the value of T1 may be fixed in specifications.

[0064] Fig. 4 illustrates this embodiment. The figure illustrates an example of communication between the gNodeB and a terminal device. The terminal device has a MG / SMTC window 400, when it is unavailable for data communication. The gNodeB transmits DCI 402 to the terminal device, where the DCI comprises information on resources for data reception. In this example, the DCI occurs at a time instant T before the beginning of the MG / SMTC window 400. The gNodeB has specified a value T1 . In this example case T > T1 . Thus, the MG / SMTC window 400 is not skipped and the terminal device may perform measurements during the MG / SMTC window 400 and be unavailable for data communication. The gNodeB can transmit data 404 to the terminal device which can in turn transmit acknowledgement message 406 before the MG / SMTC window. In contrast, if T < T1 , the MG / SMTC window 400 would be skipped and the terminal device may be available for data communication.

[0065] Fig. 5 is a signalling diagram illustrating an embodiment. The figure illustrates an example of communication between the gNodeB 500 and a terminal device 502. The figure illustrates an example of an embodiment where the skipping of the measurement occasion (the MG / SMTC window) is caused by a scheduling DCI being sent shortly before the next MG / SMTC window.

[0066] The network and the terminal device agree 504 on the skipping configuration. The network may configure the skipping behavior of the terminal device via RRC signalling by transmitting a control message with a configuration information.

[0067] In an embodiment, the configuration information comprises parameters like the maximum time between the scheduling DCI and the beginning of the next MG / SMTC window that triggers the skipping behavior and relaxation of the corresponding scheduling restrictions. An example of parameters is the time interval T1. Additional parameters may include the number of consecutive MG / SMTC window(s) after the scheduling DCI that can be skipped.

[0068] In this example, an XR frame k is ready to be delivered to the terminal device 506. The network transmits a DCI 508 indicating resources for downlink transmission. Thus, the gNodeB has data to be transmitted to the terminal device. In this example, the DCI message 508 arrives at the terminal device such that the time interval T to the next MG / SMTC window is smaller than the given time interval T1 , thus T<T1. According to the configuration information transmitted by the gNodeB, the terminal device determines 510 that it will skip the next MG / SMTC window as T<T1 and prioritize PDCCH / PDSCH decoding over measurements in the next MG / SMTC window. Thus, it will be available for data scheduling 512 and the network can schedule the downlink data transmission 514 without waiting for the end of the MG / SMTC window. The gNodeB is aware of the configuration parameters and the determination made by the terminal device. The terminal device may transmit hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, acknowledgement 516.

[0069] In this example, in the next XR frame 528, the gNodeB transmits a DCI 520 at such a time instant T before the next measurement occasion that T > T1. Thus, the condition to skip the measurement occasion is not fulfilled. Therefore, in contrast to the previous frame, the scheduling restrictions and RRM measurements in the second MG / SMTC window 526 are not skipped. In this example, the data transmission 522 and acknowledgement 524 may happen before the MG / SMTC window 526. The terminal device is unavailable 528 for scheduling during the MG / SMTC window.

[0070] In an embodiment, the proposed skipping behaviour of the terminal device may be defined in a more general form as follows:

[0071] If the terminal device receives at least N1 scheduling DCIs up to T1 time units (e.g., symbols) before the start of a MG / SMTC window, then both the terminal device and the gNodeB assume that the terminal device will prioritize decoding PDCCH / PDSCH, or PUSCH / PUCCH transmission in that MG / SMTC window instead of performing measurements.

[0072] If the condition does not fulfil the terminal device will follow the standard procedure when entering the MG / SMTC window to prioritize RRM measurements over PDCCH decoding, PDSCH reception and PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS transmission as per current NR 3GPP specifications. Accordingly, the gNodeB will consider the UE unavailable for scheduling during the MG / SMTC window and postpone the transmission of the uplink grant in the DCI over PDCCH after the MG / SMTC window.

[0073] There are various ways the configuration information transmitted by the gNodeB may control the skipping behaviour of the terminal device. Above, in the example embodiments illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the time interval between the arrival of the DCI scheduling resources and the beginning of MG / SMTC window indicates whether to skip the window or not. In additional embodiments, the skipping may also be based on the number of scheduling DCI received within a given time interval prior to the start of the MG / SMTC window, or the sum of the transport block sizes scheduled within a period prior to the start of the MG / SMTC window.

[0074] The configuration parameters may be included in the configuration information transmitted by the gNodeB. The configuration parameters may include, for example, the following:

[0075] - a maximum time interval T1 between the scheduling DCI (or the corresponding scheduled transmission) and the beginning of the next MG / SMTC window,

[0076] - a minimum number of DCI commands N1 sent prior to the beginning of the next MG / SMTC window and a maximum time window T2 to count the DCI commands, and

[0077] - a minimum sum of the transport block sizes B1 scheduled within a period prior to the start of the next MG / SMTC window and a maximum time window T3 to count the scheduled transport block sizes.

[0078] In an embodiment, the decision to skip the next measurement occasion may be based on the number of DCIs (RRC parameter N1 ) received within a time window (RRC parameter T2) preceding the start of the next measurement occasion. It may be noted that the example embodiment described in connection with Figs. 4 and 5 is a special case of this generalized embodiment where N1 =1 and T2=T1.

[0079] In an embodiment, the decision to skip the next measurement occasion may be based on the sum of the transport block sizes (RRC parameter B1 ) that have been scheduled within a time window (RRC parameter T3) preceding the start of the next measurement occasion.

[0080] In an embodiment, the proposed parameters N1 , B1 , T2 and T3 introduce additional flexibility in the skipping behavior. For example, N1 can be interpreted as the minimum number of scheduling DCIs to be received in the time window T2 in order to trigger the skipping of the next MG / SMTC window. In this way, if data transmissions are rare (i.e., the scheduling rate is smaller than )’ measurements are never skipped. In a similar way, B1 can be interpreted as the minimum number of bits scheduled in the past time window T3 in order to trigger the skipping of the next MG / SMTC window.

[0081] In an embodiment, the gNodeB may include in the configuration information only parameters N1 , B1 , and T1. Thus, parameters T2 and T3 are neither specified nor signalled (i.e. T1 =T2=T3). An example of this implementation is illustrated in Fig. 6, where N1 =2 and T2=T1 =7.5ms.

[0082] Fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment. The figure illustrates an example of communication between the gNodeB and a terminal device. The terminal device has a MG / SMTC window 600, when it is scheduled to be unavailable for data communication. The gNodeB transmits two DCIs 600, 602 to the terminal device, where the DCI comprises information on resources for data reception.

[0083] In this example, the two DCIs are received within a time window T<T2 prior to the next MG / SMTC window 600. Thus, according to configuration information received from the gNodeB, the terminal device prioritizes PDCCH / PDSCH decoding over RRM measurements in the next MG / SMTC window and the network relaxes the corresponding scheduling restrictions. Thus, i.e., the terminal device is always available for scheduling in the next MG / SMTC window 600.

[0084] In an embodiment, the proposed scheme is equally applicable to cases where the first downlink data transmission is either a dynamically scheduled downlink transmission (such as a PDSCH transmission scheduled by DCI command transmitted on the PDCCH) or a downlink semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) based PDSCH transmission as well. In particular, when preallocated SPS resources collide in time with scheduling restrictions caused by MG / SMTC windows, the terminal device may prioritize PDSCH decoding over RRM measurement.

[0085] In an embodiment, the maximum time T1 to trigger the skipping condition may be measured between the first symbol of the first slot of the SPS allocation and the beginning of the MG / SMTC window.

[0086] In an embodiment, the proposed scheme may also apply to scheduled and / or semi-persistent uplink transmissions, such as uplink configured grant transmissions.

[0087] Figs. 7A, 7B and 7C illustrate embodiments. The figures illustrate simplified examples of apparatuses applying embodiments of the invention. It should be understood that the apparatuses are depicted herein as examples illustrating some embodiments. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the apparatuses may also comprise other functions and / or structures and not all described functions and structures are required. Although the apparatuses have been depicted as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities. Fig. 7A illustrates an example of an apparatus which may be a terminal device or a part of a terminal device.

[0088] The apparatus of the example includes a control circuitry 700 configured to control at least part of the operation of the apparatus.

[0089] The apparatus may comprise a memory 702 for storing data. Furthermore, the memory may store software 704 executable by the control circuitry 700. The memory may be integrated in the control circuitry.

[0090] The apparatus may comprise one or more interface circuitries 706, 708. The interface circuitries are operationally connected to the control circuitry 700. An interface circuitry 706 may be a set of transceivers configured to communicate wirelessly with terminal devices or user equipment of a wireless communication network. The interface circuitry may be connected to an antenna arrangement (not shown). The apparatus may also comprise a connection to a transmitter instead of a transceiver. The apparatus may further comprise a user interface 708.

[0091] In an embodiment, the software 704 may comprise a computer program comprising program code means adapted to cause the control circuitry 700 of the apparatus to realise at least some of the embodiments described above.

[0092] Fig. 7B illustrates an example of an apparatus which may be a base station, (e / g)NodeB or a part of base station or (e / g)NodeB.

[0093] The apparatus of the example includes a control circuitry 710 configured to control at least part of the operation of the apparatus.

[0094] The apparatus may comprise a memory 712 for storing data. Furthermore, the memory may store software 714 executable by the control circuitry 710. The memory may be integrated in the control circuitry.

[0095] The apparatus may comprise one or more interface circuitries 716, 718. The interface circuitries are operationally connected to the control circuitry 710. An interface circuitry 716 may be a set of transceivers configured to communicate wirelessly with terminal devices or user equipment of a wireless communication network. The interface circuitry may be connected to an antenna arrangement (not shown). The apparatus may also comprise a connection to a transmitter instead of a transceiver. The apparatus may further comprise an interface 718 configured to communicate with other network elements such a core network or other corresponding apparatuses, for example a user interface.

[0096] In an embodiment, the software 714 may comprise a computer program comprising program code means adapted to cause the control circuitry 710 of the apparatus to realise at least some of the embodiments described above.

[0097] In an embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7C, at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus of Fig. 7BA may be shared between two physically separate devices, forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separated devices for executing at least some of the described processes. Thus, the apparatus of Fig. 7C, utilizing such shared architecture, may comprise a remote control unit RCU 720, such as a host computer or a server computer, operatively coupled (e.g. via a wireless or wired network) to a remote distributed unit RDU 722 located in the (e / g)NodeB. In an embodiment, at least some of the described processes may be performed by the RCU 720. In an embodiment, the execution of at least some of the described processes may be shared among the RDU 722 and the RCU 720.

[0098] In an embodiment, the RCU 720 may generate a virtual network through which the RCU 720 communicates with the RDU 722. In general, virtual networking may involve a process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization may involve platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization may be categorized as external virtual networking which combines many networks, or parts of networks, into the server computer or the host computer (e.g. to the RCU). External network virtualization is targeted to optimized network sharing. Another category is internal virtual networking which provides network-like functionality to the software containers on a single system. Virtual networking may also be used for testing the terminal device.

[0099] In an embodiment, the virtual network may provide flexible distribution of operations between the RDU and the RCU. In practice, any digital signal processing task may be performed in either the RDU or the RCU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the RDU and the RCU may be selected according to implementation.

[0100] In an embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7C, at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus of Fig. 7B may be shared between two physically separate devices, forming one operational entity. The baseband parts of the apparatus may be located in a baseband unit 720 and radio frequency units may be located in a remote radio head RRH 722 which may be located near the antennas the apparatus uses in transmission.

[0101] The steps and related functions described in the above and attached figures are in no absolute chronological order, and some of the steps may be performed simultaneously or in an order differing from the given one. Other functions can also be executed between the steps or within the steps. Some of the steps can also be left out or replaced with a corresponding step.

[0102] The apparatuses or controllers able to perform the above-described steps may be implemented as an electronic digital computer, processing system or a circuitry which may comprise a working memory (random access memory, RAM), a central processing unit (CPU), and a system clock. The CPU may comprise a set of registers, an arithmetic logic unit, and a controller. The processing system, controller or the circuitry is controlled by a sequence of program instructions transferred to the CPU from the RAM. The controller may contain a number of microinstructions for basic operations. The implementation of microinstructions may vary depending on the CPU design. The program instructions may be coded by a programming language, which may be a high- level programming language, such as C, Java, etc., or a low-level programming language, such as a machine language, or an assembler. The electronic digital computer may also have an operating system, which may provide system services to a computer program written with the program instructions.

[0103] As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and / or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s) / software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

[0104] This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device.

[0105] An embodiment provides a computer program embodied on a distribution medium, comprising program instructions which, when loaded into an electronic apparatus, are configured to control the apparatus to execute the embodiments described above.

[0106] The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, and a software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst several computers.

[0107] The apparatus may also be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as application-specific integrated circuits ASIC. Other hardware embodiments are also feasible, such as a circuit built of separate logic components. A hybrid of these different implementations is also feasible. When selecting the method of implementation, a person skilled in the art will consider the requirements set for the size and power consumption of the apparatus, the necessary processing capacity, production costs, and production volumes, for example.

[0108] It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

Claims1 . An apparatus in a communication system, comprising: a processor; and a memory including instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: determine that a terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled; where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled channel measurement occasion, and transmit to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus further to: transmit to the terminal device control information message comprising resources for data transmission or reception; determine that the terminal device will skip one or more measurement occasions for performing the data transmission or reception; receive data from or transmit data to the terminal device utilising the resources.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus further to: determine that the terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions based on quality of service associated with the data transmission to or from the terminal device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus further to: transmit the message comprising configuration information during connection setup with the terminal device.

5. An apparatus in a communication system, comprising:a processor; and a memory including instructions, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to: receive from a network element a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled, where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus further to: receive from the network element control information message comprising resources for data transmission or reception; determine whether the at least one given condition is fulfilled; skip, based on the determination, one or more measurement occasions for performing the data transmission or reception; receive data from or transmit data to the network element utilising the resources.

7. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein a condition of the at least one condition is that time interval between the control message comprising resources for data transmission or reception and the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion is smaller than a first time interval T 1 .

8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein a condition of at least one condition is that the number of control messages comprising resources for data transmission or reception within the second time interval T2 prior to the next scheduled measurement occasion is larger than a first threshold N1 .

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein a condition of at least one condition is that the sum of transport block sizes, scheduled in the control messages comprising resources for data transmission or reception within a third time interval T3 prior to the start of next scheduled measurement occasion is larger than a second threshold B1 .

10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the configuration information comprises the first, second and third timer intervals and the first and second thresholds.1 1. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the first, second and third timer intervals and the first and second thresholds are system parameters.

12. A method in an apparatus in a communication system comprising the steps of: determining that a terminal device may skip one or more channel measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled; where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information on resources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled channel measurement occasion, and transmitting to the terminal device a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: transmitting to the terminal device control information message comprising resources for data transmission or reception; determining that the terminal device will skip one or more measurement occasions for performing the data transmission or reception; receiving data from or transmit data to the terminal device utilising the resources.

14. A method in an apparatus in a communication system comprising the steps of: receiving from a network element a message comprising configuration information to skip one or more measurement occasions if at least one given condition is fulfilled, where the at least one given condition is related to the timing, number or content of a control message or messages comprising information onresources for data transmission or reception in relation to the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receive from the network element control information message comprising resources for data transmission or reception; determine whether the at least one given condition is fulfilled; skip, based on the determination, one or more measurement occasions for performing the data transmission or reception; receive data from or transmit data to the network element utilising the resources.

16. The method of any preceding claim 12 to 15, wherein a condition of the at least one condition is that time interval between the control message comprising resources for data transmission or reception and the beginning of a next scheduled measurement occasion is smaller than a first time interval T 1 .

17. The method of any preceding claim 12 to 16, wherein a condition of at least one condition is that the number of control messages comprising resources for data transmission or reception within the second time interval T2 prior to the next scheduled measurement occasion is larger than a first threshold N1.

18. The method of any preceding claim 12 to 17, wherein a condition of at least one condition is that the sum of transport block sizes, scheduled in the control messages comprising resources for data transmission or reception within a third time interval T3 prior to the start of next scheduled measurement occasion is larger than a second threshold B1 .

19. The method of any preceding claim 12 to 18, wherein the configuration information comprises the first, second and third timer intervals and the first and second thresholds.

20. A computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 12 to 19.

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