User equipment, network node and methods performed therein

Abstract

Embodiments herein may relate to a method performed by a network node (110) for handling communications. The network node (110) to a UE (112) indicates with an indication in DCI carried by a PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates 5 whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

Description

[0001] P110732W001

[0002] 1

[0003] USER EQUIPMENT, NETWORK NODE AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

[0004] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0005] Embodiments herein relate to a User Equipment (UE), a network node, and methods performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to physical layer procedures in the management and scheduling of measurement gap occasions.

[0006] BACKGROUND

[0007] In a typical wireless communication network, UEs, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network comprising a Radio Access Network (RAN) part and a Core Network (CN) part. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a WiFi access point, a Base Station (BS) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a Base Station (BS), a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNodeB (gNB) as denoted in Fifth Generation (5G) telecommunications. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on a radio frequency with the wireless devices within the range of the radio network node.

[0008] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the standardization body for specifying the standards for the cellular system evolution, e.g., including 3G, 4G, 5G and the future evolutions. Specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP. In 4G also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, EPS is core network and E-UTRA is radio access network. In 5G, 5G Core (5GC) is core network, NR is radio access network. As a continued network evolution, the new release of 3GPP specifies a 5G network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR) and 5GC.

[0009] Frequency bands for 5G NR are being separated into two different frequency ranges, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). FR1 comprises sub-6P110732W001

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[0011] GHz frequency bands. Some of these bands are bands traditionally used by legacy standards but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2 comprises frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Bands in this millimeter wave range have shorter range but higher available bandwidth than bands in the FR1.

[0012] Multi-antenna techniques may significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. For a wireless connection between a single user, such as a UE, and a base station (BS), the performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. This may be referred to as Single-User (SU)-MIMO. In the scenario where MIMO techniques is used for the wireless connection between multiple users and the base station, MIMO enables the users to communicate with the base station simultaneously using the same time-frequency resources by spatially separating the users, which increases further the cell capacity. This may be referred to as Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. Note that MU-MIMO may benefit when each UE only has one antenna. The cell capacity can be increased linearly with respect to the number of antennas at the BS side. Due to that, more and more antennas are employed in BS. Such systems and / or related techniques are commonly referred to as massive MIMO.

[0013] In the ongoing Rel-18 study item on extended Reality (XR), several enhancements are being proposed to increase XR capacity of 5G-Advanced systems.

[0014] XR includes services provided by computer technologies and wearables that allow for human-machine interaction in real / virtual mixed environments. XR includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Cloud Gaming, and the areas interpolated among them. As such, XR is usually considered a mixed enhanced Mobile broadband (eMBB) / ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC) service; as reported in Table 1, XR traffic is a mixture of heterogeneous UL / DL data flows, including video, audio, and control traffic.

[0015] Table 1. XR traffic characteristics and requirements identified by 3GPP.

[0016]

[0017] P110732W001

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[0019] Table 1 highlights thatXR traffic flows have different characteristics, e.g., packet rate in frame per second (fps) and bit rate in bit per second (bps)) and requirements in terms of packet delay budget (PDB) [ms] also referred to as application PDB. Among XR flows, DL video and UL scene traffic are periodic, with possible jitter particularly in DL, and have variable large-sized application packets.

[0020] Handover is a key functionality in a radio network which enables the UE to move from being served by one source cell to be served by another target cell. The handover can be of different degrees of complexity depending on:

[0021] • If the network nodes that serve the two cells are the same or different network node, e.g., a gNB that have multiple Transmission / Reception Points s (TRP) each serving a cell

[0022] • If the cells operate on same or different carrier frequency

[0023] • If the cells operate of different carrier frequencies, but if the carrier frequencies are on same or different frequency band, e.g., source cell operate on FR1 while target cell operate on FR2.

[0024] • If the cells have same or different Radio Access Technology (RAT) Generally, handover is performed when a target cell becomes stronger than the source cell. To determine the strength of a cell, the UE performs measurements on reference signals transmitted by the gNBs serving the cells and the UE transmits to its serving gNB a measurement report. The reference signals related to mobility on which UE performs measurements in NR are:

[0025] • Synchronization Signal Block (SSB): Consists of Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS ), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)

[0026] o In NR the SSB can be configured with periodicities 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms.

[0027] • Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS): The CSI-RS in NR replaces the Common Reference Signal (CRS ) in LTE. The CSI-RS can be used for link adaptation purposes, i.e. , UE reports suggested number of layers, pre-coder and Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS ), and for mobility purposes wherein the UE reports the signal strength of the CSI-RS.

[0028] Especially when the UE would need to perform inter-frequency measurement, i.e., perform measurement on SSB and / or CSI-RS on a different carrier frequency than the UE currently operating on, the UE may not be capable to simultaneously receive nor transmitP110732W001

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[0030] on its serving cell. Measurement gaps are defined or configured, time locations where the UE can perform measurements without being required to receive nor transmit. The UE may need measurement gaps to perform inter-frequency measurements but may also require measurement gaps for intra-frequency measurements. Besides measurement gaps for SSB and / or CSI-RS measurements, the UE may also need measurement gaps for other purposes, such as:

[0031] • Positioning measurement gap

[0032] o Measurement gap to perform measurements on positioning reference signals

[0033] • Multi-Universal Subscriber Identity Module (MUSIM) measurement gap

[0034] o Measurement gap for MUSIM purposes such as cell identification and measurement, paging monitoring, system information block (SIB) acquisition, and / or on-demand System Information (SI) request of the target cell in the target network

[0035] • UL gap for Transmission (Tx) power management

[0036] All measurement gaps are similar in the sense that they all have a gap length. The gap length is a time duration where the UE does preparations and measure. MUSIM measurement gap can be a-periodic in the sense that the measurement gap occurs at a specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) configured starting System Frame Number (SFN ) and starting subframe. A MUSIM measurement gap can also be configured as periodic with a gap repetition period. All other measurement gaps are periodic. All measurement gaps except positioning measurement gap are configured via RRC. Positioning measurement gaps can be pre-configured via RRC and then activated and de-activated by Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) signaling.

[0037] Section 9.1.2, 3GPP TS 38.133 v.18.4.0 reads:

[0038] If the UE requires measurement gaps to identify and measure intra-frequency cells and / or inter-frequency cells and / or inter-RAT E-UTRAN cells, and the UE does not support independent measurement gap patterns for different frequency ranges as specified in Table 5.1-1 in 3GPP TS 38.101 v.18.4.0, in order for the requirements in the following clauses to apply the network must provide a single per-UE measurement gap pattern for concurrent monitoring of all frequency layers.

[0039] If the UE requires measurement gaps to identify and measure intra-frequency cells and / or inter-frequency cells and / or inter-RAT E-UTRAN cells, and the UE supports independent measurement gap patterns for different frequency ranges as specified in Table 5.1-1, in order for the requirements in the following clauses to apply the networkP110732WG01

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[0041] must provide either per-frequency range (FR) measurement gap patterns for frequency range where UE requires per-FR measurement gap for concurrent monitoring of all frequency layers of each frequency range independently, or a single per-UE measurement gap pattern for concurrent monitoring of all frequency layers of all frequency ranges.

[0042] If the UE is configured via LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)

[0034] to measure Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) for any Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), PRS-Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and UE Reception (Rx)-Tx time difference measurement defined in 3GPP TS 38.215 v.18.1.0, in order for the requirements in clauses 9.9.2, 9.9.3, and 9.9.4 to apply, the network must provide

[0043] a single per-UE measurement gap pattern for concurrent monitoring of all positioning frequency layers and intra-frequency, inter-frequency and / or inter-RAT frequency layers of all frequency ranges, or

[0044] for measurement gap patterns other than #24 and #25, if UE supports independent measurement gap patterns for different frequency ranges for PRS measurement, per-FR measurement gap pattern for the frequency range for concurrent monitoring of all positioning frequency layers and intra- frequency, inter-frequency cells and / or inter-RAT frequency layers in the corresponding frequency range.

[0045] During the per-UE measurement gaps the UE:

[0046] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding E-UTRAN Primary cell (PCell), E-UTRAN Secondary cells (SCell) and NR serving cells for E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (DC) except the reception of signals used for Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0047] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding NR serving cells for standalone (SA), with single carrier or Carrier Aggregation (CA) configured, except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s), PRS measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0048] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding PCell, SCell(s) and E-UTRAN serving cells for NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s), PRSP110732WG01

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[0050] measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0051] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding NR serving cells for NR-Dual Connectivity (DC) except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s), PRS measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0052] During the per-FR measurement gaps the UE:

[0053] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding E-UTRAN PCell, E-UTRAN SCell(s) and NR serving cells in the corresponding frequency range for E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0054] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding NR serving cells in the corresponding frequency range for SA, with single carrier or CA configured, except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s), PRS measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0055] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding PCell, SCell(s) and E-UTRAN serving cells in the corresponding frequency range for NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s), PRS measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0056] is not required to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding NR serving cells in the corresponding frequency range for NR-DC except the reception of signals used for RRM measurement(s), PRS measurement(s) and the signals used for random access procedure according to 3GPP TS 38.321 v.18.0.0.

[0057] UEs shall support the measurement gap patterns listed in Table 9.1.2-1 based on the applicability specified in table 9.1.2-2 and 9.1.2-3. The UE determines measurement gap timing based on gap offset configuration and measurement gap timing advance configuration provided by higher layer signalling as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 v.18.0.0 and 3GPP TS 36.331 v.18.0.0.P110732W001

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[0059] Table 9.1.2-1: Gap Pattern Configurations

[0060]

[0061] Table 9.1.2-2: Applicability for Gap Pattern Configurations supported by the E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity UE or NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity UE

[0062]

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[0065]

[0066] Measurement gap configuration

[0067] Measurement gaps is provided to UE via RRC, see Section 6.3.2, 3GPP TS 38.331 v.18.0.0:

[0068] The IE MeasGapConfig specifies the measurement gap configuration and controls setup and / or release of measurement gaps.P110732W001

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[0070] MeasGapConfig information element

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[0073]

[0074] P110732W001

[0075] 10

[0076]

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[0085] P110732W001

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[0087] P110732WG01

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[0089] Scheduling restriction during measurement without gaps.

[0090] There are scenarios in which the UE can perform measurement without gaps. Examples of such measurements are SSB based intra-frequency or inter-frequency measurements without measurement gaps when the reference signals, e.g., SSB, used for measurements are fully within the bandwidth of the active bandwidth part (BWP) of the UE. In another example, intra-frequency, inter-frequency or inter-RAT measurements can be performed without gaps if the UE has an extra or spare receiver chain which in turn can be used for measurements. However, during the resources containing the reference signals, e.g. SSB, CSI-RS etc., used for measurements there can be scheduling restrictions. A scheduling restriction implies that at least during the resources containing the reference signals used for measurements the UE may be not expected to transmit or receive any signal in the serving cell based on some specific conditions. For example, the received data and measured SSB are mix numerology in FR1 or received data and measured SSB are intra-frequency or inter-frequency with Common Beam Management (CBM). In some scenarios, the UE is not even expected to transmit or receive any signal in the serving cell during the resources containing the reference signals used for measurements as well X1 number of symbols before and X2 number of symbols after these measurement resources.

[0091] Scheduling restrictions may apply also for SS / PBCH Block Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) which are time locations where UE may perform SSB measurement. The SMTC may be configured without measurement gaps (MG).

[0092] SUMMARY

[0093] As part of developing embodiments herein, one or more issues have been identified.

[0094] For latency-sensitive services such as XR, measurement gap makes it challenging for gNB to serve UEs such that latency requirements are fulfilled. For example, with a 10 ms PDB a, e.g., 3 ms or 6 ms, gap length can in a worse case scenario mean that an XR frame that arrives just before the gap will have to be served within only 7 ms or 4 ms. This means that measurement gap can have a big impact on XR capacity as shown in Fig. 1, illustrating that fraction of satisfied XR users, e.g., 60 frames / sec, with or without measurement gap configured and activated. The reliability requirement for XR users is 99% which means that 99% of the XR frames shall be correctly delivered within the PDB = 10 ms. For ‘noGap’, no user has measurement gap, while for ‘3 ms gap length’ and ‘6P110732W001

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[0096] ms gap length’ all users have measurement gap configured and activated with 3 ms or 6 ms gap length and 80 ms gap repetition period.

[0097] In the simulation, a measurement gap is configured to be aligned with SSB locations where the SSBs are transmitted with a 20 ms periodicity. To avoid all UEs to have measurement gap at the same time the UEs are randomly assigned to one of four measurement gap group, where group i has measurement gap with a starting time Ttin ms:

[0098] Tt(mod 80) = i ■ 20

[0099] It should also be noted that the 3ms or 6ms gap length specifies the minimum achievable gap. In practice there are often other scheduling restrictions that increases the gap length, i.e. the effective gap length is longer than the gap length signaled to the UE. For example, for DL transmission, the UE cannot be scheduled X slots before the gap because the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Acknowledgement (ACK) and / or negative or non- acknowledgement (NACK) feedback transmission will fall into the measurement gap. Likewise, for uplink transmissions, the UE cannot be scheduled Y slots after the measurement gap because the downlink control information (DCI) carrying the UL grant would fall into the measurement gap.

[0100] One problem is that existing semi-static measurement gap configuration will prevent the urgent scheduling of XR traffic which lead to extra delay if the XR traffic arrival collides with the configured measurement gap.

[0101] Thus, an object of embodiments herein is to provide a mechanism that handles communication in an efficient manner.

[0102] According to an aspect the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a network node for handling communications. The network node indicates to a UE with an indication in DCI, carried by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

[0103] The method may be performed by a base station in communication with a UE for handling communications such as physical layer procedures for dynamically cancelling or activating one or more measurement occasions (MO) associated with scheduling restrictions. The method may comprise one or more out of:

[0104] • Transmitting explicit, implicit or combined explicit and implicit indication using DCI carried by PDCCH.

[0105] • Identifying (referencing) MO to dynamically cancelled / activatedP110732W001

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[0107] o E.g., indicated MOs has a starting symbol after the start of the PDCCH that carries the dynamic indication.

[0108] • Timeline aspects or rules for activation or cancelling or partial activation or cancelling.

[0109] • Rules for repeated referencing of a MO.

[0110] For example, a MO activated, or deactivated, by RRC may be deactivated, or activated, by a first indication may not be allowed to be activated, or deactivated, by a second indication after the first indication.

[0111] According to another aspect the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a UE for handling communications. The UE receives from a network node an indication in DOI carried by a PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated. The method may be performed by a UE in communication with a network node for handling communications such as physical layer procedures for dynamically cancelling or activating one or more MOs associated with scheduling restrictions. The method may comprise one or more out of:

[0112] • Receiving explicit, implicit or combined explicit and implicit indication using DCI carried by PDCCH.

[0113] • Rules for repeated referencing of a MO.

[0114] According to another aspect the object is achieved by providing a network node and a UE configured to perform the methods herein.

[0115] According to an aspect the object is achieved by providing a network node for handling communications. The network node is configured to indicate to a UE with an indication in DCI carried by a PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

[0116] According to another aspect the object is achieved by providing a UE for handling communications. The UE is configured to receive from a network node an indication in DCI carried by a PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

[0117] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE and the network node, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE and the network node, respectively.P110732WG01

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[0119] Embodiments herein may provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0120] The enablement of the network node to dynamically decide prioritization between measurement needs and data scheduling. Further benefits are improved performance for latency-sensitive traffic with minimized impact on UE measurement needs.

[0121] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0122] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

[0123] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the impact of a measurement gap on XR capacity; Fig. 2 is an illustration of MO periodicity;

[0124] Fig. 3a shows a flowchart depicting a method performed by a network node according to embodiments herein;

[0125] Fig. 3b shows a flowchart depicting a method performed by a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0126] Fig. 4 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;

[0127] Fig. 5 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;

[0128] Fig. 6 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;

[0129] Fig. 7 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;

[0130] Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a network node, Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a UE,

[0131] Fig. 10 shows a dynamic indication of a MG cancellation according to some embodiments herein;

[0132] Fig. 11 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;

[0133] Fig. 12 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;

[0134] Fig. 13 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein; and Fig. 14 is an illustration depicting an overview of some embodiments herein.

[0135] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0136] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.P110732W001

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[0138] • Below embodiments can be applied to licensed, unlicensed, Time Division Duplex (TDD), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), shared spectrum, any spectrum types, existing like FR1, FR2 or new regions, such as beyond FR2, or high-bands, or THZ frequencies which are likely to be used in 6G, or any combination.

[0139] • Below embodiments are described using llu interface nodes example, where gNB transmits SSBs and UE monitors / measures them, however, the same embodiments can be extended to PC5 interface. It means, a UE transmits SSB and another UE monitors / measures it. Note, during extension, the signaling can be revised as per the interface applicability. For e.g., instead of DCI, UE will transmit Sidelink Control Information (SCI), so on.

[0140] • Below embodiments are primarily focusing on measurement gap due to SSB measurements, but it should be obvious for a person skilled in the art that such embodiments can be extended to any reason for having a measurement gap. One example of such measurement gap or simple gap is using it for body proximity detection. Another example of such measurement gap or simple gap is using it for sensing purpose e.g. detection of a passive object. For example, the UE may create periodic gaps for transmitting signals to and / or receiving signals from an object e.g. human body, objects such as vehicles etc. Another example of such measurement gap or simple gap is using it for retuning the UE transceiver e.g. changing the center frequency of its local oscillator, changing the bandwidth. The advantage is that the retuning causes interruption on such type of gap, which is known to the network.P110732W001

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[0142] • In embodiments, a Measurement Occasion (MO) is referred to as a time occasion with a start time and time duration, or length. The MO can be a measurement gap occasion configured by NW or a scheduling restriction occasion / window predefined in spec. TS38.133. For example, the MOs may have a 20 ms periodicity aligned with the time locations for reference signal (RS) transmission occasion, e.g., SSB transmissions, as illustrated in Fig. 2. A MO can be further activated or deactivated. When a MO is activated, UE is not expected to transmit uplink signals, such as Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) / Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) / Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) or receive downlink signals such as PDCCH / Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) / T racking Reference Signal (TRS) / CSI-RS during the MO. When a MO is deactivated, UE is expected to conduct reception / transmission from / to the corresponding serving cells during the MO. An MO may also be referred to as Measurement Gap Occasion or just Measurement Gap (MG)(MGO).

[0143] • In embodiments the term transceiving may be used to indicate a transmission or reception of transmission and / or reception related to data and / or control data, e.g. PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH transmissions but also reference signal transmissions / receptions of SRS, CSI- RS / Interference Measurement (IM), etc. The term transceiving can include all transmissions or a subset of transmissions and / or receptions.

[0144] • In embodiments, an MG Modification Indicator (MGMI) is an indicator indicating a modification of MG. The modification can be one or more out of:

[0145] ■ A next earliest MO indicated to be a MGO, e.g. a disabled MG or deactivated MO, indicated to be enabled, or activated, or enabled MG to be still activated

[0146] ■ A next earliest MGO indicated to be a MO, e.g. the enabled MG, or activated MO, indicated to be disabled, or deactivated, or a disabled MG to still be disabled

[0147] Future MO(s) indicated to be MGOs, e.g. future disabled MGs, or deactivated MOs, indicated to be enabled, or activated, or enabled MGs to be still activatedP110732WG01

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[0149] Future MGO(s) indicated to be MOs, e.g. future enabled MGs, or activated MOs, indicated to be disabled, or deactivated, or disabled MGs to still be disabled

[0150] • The terminology used herein activated / enabled and deactivated / disabled is taking the viewpoint when scheduling restrictions apply. It is clearly possible to take the viewpoint when scheduling restrictions do not apply, wherein the terminology would be reversed.

[0151] • Terminology herein may interchangeable use enabled / disabled MG or activated / deactivated MO.

[0152] • The embodiments herein focus on modification of MG (disabling / enabling) where scheduling restrictions applies. For a person skilled in the art should realize that the invention can applied for other cases where scheduling restrictions apply. For example, in NR the network provides UE with timing of neighbor cell SSBs using SMTC. For SMTC scheduling restrictions may apply although UE is not provided with MG forthose occasions, wherein a person skilled in the art should realize that the methods in the invention can also be applied for SMTC. For example, an MO for an MG can be replaced with an MO for an SMTC. Hence, an MO may be an occasion where scheduling restrictions applies.

[0153] « In one embodiment, a value T (or ‘0’) for MGMI means activated MO while a value ‘0’ (or T) for MGMI means deactivated MO.

[0154] The method actions performed by a network node 110 for handling communications according to embodiments will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 3a. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Dashed boxes indicate optional features Action 301. The network node 110 may identify a measurement gap occasion to be activated or deactivated being the measurement gap occasion with a starting symbol after the start, e.g., an offset after the start, of the PDCCH that carries the indication. Alternatively, or additionally, the measurement gap occasion to be activated or deactivated may be identified based on one or more timeline aspects or rules for activation or deactivation.

[0155] Action 302. The network node 110 indicates, such as transmits or signals, to the UE 112 with an indication in DCI carried by a PDCCH, wherein the indication indicatesP110732WG01

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[0157] whether the measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated. The measurement gap occasion may be defined as a measurement occasion (MO) associated with scheduling restrictions.

[0158] The PDCCH with the indication may be sent, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before a start of the measurement gap occasion. The activation or deactivation may be for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

[0159] The scheduling in the PDCCH may be on a first carrier while a transceiving, by the UE 112, in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated is on a second carrier. A timeline may depend on a numerology of the first and the second carrier.

[0160] It should be noted that the measurement gap occasion may be activated or deactivated using a physical layer procedure for dynamically deactivating or activating one or more measurement gap occasions associated with scheduling restrictions.

[0161] The measurement gap occasion may be deactivated by the indication and the measurement gap occasion may not be allowed to be activated by a second indication after the first indication. The indication may comprise a MGMI field indicating deactivation of the measurement gap occasion, and wherein the PDDCH comprises a DCI format configured with the MGMI field and the PDDCH ends before a cancellation timeline associated with the measurement gap occasion.

[0162] The method actions performed by a UE 112 for handling communications according to embodiments will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 3b. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Dashed boxes indicate optional features

[0163] Action 311. The UE 112 receives from the network node 110, the indication in the DCI carried by the PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether the measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated. The PDCCH with the indication may be received, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before the start of the measurement gap occasion. The indication may be explicit as a field in a DCI format. The activation or deactivation may be for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

[0164] The measurement gap occasion may be deactivated by the indication and the measurement gap occasion may not be allowed to be activated by a second indication after the first indication.P110732W001

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[0166] The scheduling in the PDCCH may on the first carrier while a transceiving, by the UE 112, in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated is on the second carrier. A timeline may depend on the numerology of the first and the second carrier.

[0167] The measurement gap occasion that is deactivated by the indication may not be allowed to be activated by the second indication after the first indication

[0168] It should be noted that the measurement gap occasion may be activated or deactivated using a physical layer procedure for dynamically deactivating or activating one or more measurement gap occasions associated with scheduling restrictions.

[0169] Action 312. The UE 112 may further use the indication when performing transmission or reception of data.

[0170] In one embodiment, the DCI carried by PDCCH comprises the MGMI bit field referencing one or more MOs wherein a value T (or ‘0’) indicates that a corresponding MO shall be changed from activated to deactivated or deactivated to activated, while a value ‘0’ (or T) would indicate no change.

[0171] In some embodiments, a value change of the MGMI indicator indicates a change from activated MO to deactivated MO or deactivated MO to activated MO, or referred toas measurement gap (MG). In such embodiments, the UE 112 may assume an initial state for the indicator, e.g. ‘O’. If first DCI carries T then the UE 112 may assume “change” while ‘0’ would indicate “no change”. This enables robustness towards decoding errors of the DCIs carrying the indication or indicator. If the network node 110 may want to change, for example, changing from activated MO to deactivated MO or deactivated MO to activated MO, the network node 110 may send multiple DCIs all indicating T wherein if the UE 112 is able to correctly decode at least one the desired change will be achieved.

[0172] Fig. 4 shows UE 112 fails to decode the first two PDDCH and at the third PDDCH the UE 112 performs a correct decoding and reads MGMI as T and skips the MG.

[0173] In another embodiment, to enable robust reception of the PDCCH indicating MO adaptation, several different solutions may be applied.

[0174] One simple solution is the network node 110 may configure a higher aggregation level for that PDCCH if it includes an indication for the MO adaptation. In another solution, the PDCCH for the MO adaptation triggers the UE feedback to confirm the reception of the PDCCH before the MO starts. The feedback may be in PUCCH using HARQ feedback format or preconfigured PUSCH, such as a configured grant. The feedback will be prioritized over any other data if it is transmitted in PUSCH. In another solution, if there is sufficient time to send HARQ ACK / NACK feedback after transmitting PDCCH for the MOP110732WG01

[0175] 21

[0176] adaptation, a network may consider the UE 112 to also successfully receive the MGMI. If the PDCCH is for PLISCH data, the network node 110 may consider the UE 112 to also successfully receive the MGMI when the network node 110 receives the uplink data in the indicated time by the PDCCH. The network node 110 may also further configure a time line for this. For example, the PDCCH with MGMI should be sent at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before the start of the next MO. If the network node 110 does not receive the HARQ feedback or PUSCH data, the network node 110 assumes that the MGMI is not received, and the network node 110 may send any grants to use remaining resource in the indicated MO.

[0177] The UE 112 may be configured with measurement gap patterns or perform measurement with scheduling restrictions. The default behavior is to use a MO for the purpose of measurement or not expecting any scheduled transmission and / or reception during the MO, where the MO is believed as always activated. In the following text, the UE 112 may use a measurement gap as an example. The UE 112 may be configured to receive a DCI format on a serving cell where a MGMI field is configured in the DCI format. The examples of the DCI format are the scheduling DCIs as DCI formats 0_1 / 1_1 or 0_2 / 1_2. In this case, one or more of the following may be applicable:

[0178] • When a PDCCH with a DCI format configured with a MGMI field indicates cancellation of a measurement gap, the measurement gap is assumed cancelled unless it is indicated otherwise by another PDCCH with a DCI format configured with a MGMI field.

[0179] • A PDDCH with a DCI format configured with a MGMI field indicates cancellation of a measurement gap ends before the cancellation timeline associated to the measurement gap.

[0180] • A PDDCH with a DCI format without MGMI field ends before the cancellation timeline associated to a measurement gap:

[0181] o implies a measurement gap is remained cancelled if indicated as such by a previously received DCI.

[0182] o implies a measurement gap is not cancelled if indicated as such by a previously received DCI.

[0183] o implies a measurement gap is not cancelled if such information is not provided by a previously received DCI, i.e. , assume the default behavior.

[0184] • A PDCCH with a DCI format indicates cancellation of a measurement gap and schedules a PDSCH, the PDSCH ends before the cancellation timeline associated to the measurement.P110732W001

[0185] 22

[0186] • The DCI format indicates cancellation of a measurement gap and schedules a PDSCH and the PLICCH carrying the corresponding HARQ-ACK ends before the cancellation timeline. In this case, a follow-up PDCCH with a DCI format configured with MGMI field that is received after the end of the PLICCH and after the cancellation timeline and before the measurement gap, can indicate the cancellation of the measurement gap. This DCI format can schedule a transmission and / or reception during the measurement gap.

[0187] • The DCI format indicates cancellation of a measurement gap and schedules a PLISCH that ends before the cancellation timeline. In this case, a follow-up PDCCH with a DCI format configured with MGMI field that is received after the end of the PLISCH and after the cancellation timeline and before the measurement gap, can indicate the cancellation of the measurement. This DCI format can schedule a transmission / reception during the measurement gap.

[0188] • The DCI format indicates cancellation of a measurement gap and schedules a PDSCH and the PLICCH carrying the corresponding HARQ-ACK ends before the cancellation timeline. In this case, a follow-up PDCCH with a DCI format without MGMI field that is received after the end of the PLICCH and after the cancellation timeline and before the measurement gap. This DCI format can schedule a transmission and / or reception during the measurement gap.

[0189] • The DCI format indicates cancellation of a measurement gap and schedules a PLISCH that ends before the cancellation timeline. In this case, a follow-up PDCCH with a DCI format without MGMI field that is received after the end of the PLISCH and after the cancellation timeline and before the measurement gap. This DCI format can schedule a transmission and / or reception during the measurement gap.

[0190] In one embodiment, an MO activated, or deactivated, by RRC configuration and then deactivated, or activated, by a first DCI in a first PDCCH may not be allowed to be activated, or deactivated, by a second DCI in second PDCCH transmitted after the first PDCCH. In some embodiments, the UE 112 may be configured with two or more configurations of MOs. For example, the UE 112 may be configured with a first set of MOs and a second set of MOs. Then the DCI may have a two-bit field for the MGMI. In one example, the first bit is associated with the indication for the first set of MGOs while the second bit is associated with the indication for the second set of MOs. In another example, the first bit for the indicator reference the MO that has an earliest starting time, e.g., after the PDCCH that carries the DCI, and so on. In some such examples, a MOP110732W001

[0191] 23

[0192] associated with a first configuration may overlap a MO associated with a second configuration wherein the first configuration and second configuration are configured with a priority, e.g. gapPriority-r17 introduced in NR Rel-17. The bits for the indicator may in such examples be with regards to MO start order and then with regards to priority. Thus, if two MO start at the same time, the bit associated with the MO with higher (or lower) priority is before the bit associated with the MO with lower (or higher) priority.

[0193] In some embodiments, the UE 112 may be configured with two or more configurations of MOs wherein the MGMI comprises one or more bits, where the bits reference MOs in order of one or more out of:

[0194] • MO start symbol;

[0195] • MO length, such as MG length;

[0196] • gapPriority; and

[0197] • MG configuration limitation by RRC configuration, e.g. some MG configurations are configured to be excluded from being dynamically indicated to be activated and / or deactivated.

[0198] For example, a first bit references the MO, irrespective of MG configuration among those configured to be dynamically indicate, with earliest start symbol after the last symbol of the PDCCH, a second bit references the MO, irrespective of MG configuration among those configured to be dynamically indicate, with second earliest start symbol, and so on. If two MO have same start symbol, they may be referenced in order of gapPriority, such as highest-first or lowest-first.

[0199] In one example of the above embodiment, the UE 112 may be configured with a first MG configuration associated with deactivated MOs and further with a second MG configuration associated with enabled MOs wherein the UE 112 is further configured with a MGMI where only MOs of the first MG configuration is referenced by the MGMI.

[0200] In one embodiment, the MGMI may indicate that future deactivated, or activated, MOs will be activated MOs, or deactivated MOs. In some such embodiments, the MGMI may indicate a number N of future deactivated, or activated, MOs to be activated, or deactivated, MOs. For example, if MGMI indicates N = 2, then the next 2 deactivated, or activated, MOs will be activated, or deactivated, MOs while 3rd, 4thetc shall be deactivated, or activated, MOs. In some embodiments, the UE 112 may trigger a MAC CE confirming the MG modification, such as deactivated MOs — > activated MOs or activated MOs^ deactivated MOs. In some examples, the indication of number N of future MOs may explicitly be included in the MGMI while in other examples N is a configurationP110732W001

[0201] 24

[0202] parameter, e.g. RRC configured. For example, the MGMI may comprise one bit for MG modification indication, such as deactivated MO — > activated MO or activated MO — > deactivated MO, and one bit for indication of N, e.g. ’O’: a first value of N, T: a second value of N, where first and second values may be RRC configured. A number N of future MOs may equivalently be formulated using a timer or number of slots, symbols, milliseconds etc.

[0203] In one embodiment, the MGMI may be associated with a timeline, also referred to as time offset, and the referenced one or more deactivated, or activated, MOs is relative to the timeline. For example, if MGMI is transmitted in slot n the referenced one or more deactivated, or activated, MOs starts after n + k, where k is the timeline restriction. The timeline unit may comprise slot, symbol, milli-second etc. The timeline may depend on numerology.

[0204] When the UE 112 receives a DCI format on a serving cell where a MGMI field with deactivation the MOs is configured in the DCI format in time slot n, the UE 112 may be expected to start to disable the MOs from the time slot n+k1, where k1 is UE’s processing time to prepare the MG / Scheduling restriction cancellation and start to receive / transmit signals during the MO. The UE’s processing time may include the HARQ processing time and UE re-schedule the MO scheduling time etc. Once the start point of the latest MO is earlier than the slot n+k1, the UE 112 may be expected to continue the measurement in the MO. The earliest deactivated MO may be assumed starting from the next MO after slot n+k1. In other words, the UE 112 may be assumed to start to receive and / or transmit signals from the MO after slot n+k1, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

[0205] When the UE 112 receives a DCI format on a serving cell where a MGMI field with activation the MOs is configured in the DCI format in time slot n, the UE 112 may be expected to start to enable the MOs from the time slot n+k2, where k2 is UE’s processing time to prepare the MG / Scheduling restriction to perform measurement during the MO. Once the start point of the latest deactivated MO is earlier than the slot n+k2, the UE may be expected to continue the transmission / reception in the MO. The earliest re-activated MO may be assumed starting from the next MO after slot n+k2. In other words, the UE 112 is assumed to re-start to perform measurement from the MO after slot n+k2, as illustrated in Fig. 6.

[0206] In one embodiment, a PDCCH that schedules a transmission or reception to be performed by the UE 112 indicates a canceling or interruption of a MG. The indication can be explicit as a field in a DCI format, e.g. DCI Format x_1 , x_2, where x = 0, 1, 2. In some examples, the fallback DCI formats 0_0 and 1_1 may not include an explicit indicator. ThisP110732W001

[0207] 25

[0208] may be configurable, i.e., an implicit indication may be applied by fallback DCIs while explicit indication may be applied by regular DCI, and which of them that should be used. For implicit indication, the indication can be one or more out of:

[0209] • A transceiving of the UE 112, scheduled by the PDCCH, starts during an activated MO.

[0210] • A transceiving of the UE 112, scheduled by the PDCCH, ends later than the start of the activated MO minus an offset X, where X is a parameter fixed but specification or configurable parameter. The X may further be determined based on the numerology. For example, X = Y x 2^, where = 0,1, ... is the numerology and Y is fixed or RRC configured parameter.

[0211] In some examples, cancelling and / or interruption of an activated MO may be triggered by all or a first subset of transceivings that starts during the activated MO while only a second subset of transceivings triggers cancelling and / or interruption of activated MO if the second subset end later than start of the MG minus an offset X.

[0212] In some examples, the DCI comprises a 1-bit field, where T (or ‘0’) would indicate cancelling and / or interruption of one or more MG which fulfills:

[0213] • A transceiving scheduled by the PDCCH starts during the activated MO.

[0214] • A transceiving scheduled by the PDCCH ends later than the start of the activated MO minus an offset X, where X is a parameter fixed but specification or configurable parameter. The X may further be determined based on the numerology. For example, X = Y x 2^, where

[0215]

[0216] = 0,1, ... is the numerology and Y is fixed or RRC configured parameter.

[0217] In some examples, cancelling and / or interruption of an activated MO may be triggered by all or a first subset of transceivings that starts during the activated MO while only a second subset of transceivings triggers cancelling / interruption of activated MO if the second subset end later than start of the activated MO minus an offset X.

[0218] In some embodiments, the MGMI is associated with a priority index of the transceiving. For example, the MGMI may implicitly, no explicit field in DCI, indicate activated MO — > deactivated MO and the transceiving is a PUSCH of high priority index then the UE 112 may consider the MO as deactivated while if the PUSCH is of low priority index the UE 112 may consider the MO to still be activated. In such embodiments, the MG configuration may include a “skipMgForHighPrioritylndex”.

[0219] In one embodiment, if the PDCCH carrying MGMI fulfills a first timeline the timelines restrictions for PDSCH / PUSCH / Search Space Resource Configuration (SRC) / PUCCH follows legacy procedures.P110732W001

[0220] 26

[0221] In one embodiment, if the PDCCH carrying MGMI fulfills a second, such as interruption, timeline an activated MO, or MGO, is interrupted, or partially cancelled, and transceiving may occur after the interruption of the MO as illustrated in Fig. 7.

[0222] In one embodiment, a deactivated MO can be partially, wherein some example embodiments include a partial activation timeline wherein no scheduling restrictions apply before the time the MO is activated. The timeline may be same or different from the first timeline. In other examples, there is no partial activation timeline, and it is up to UE implementation when the UE 112 may partially activate the MO. In such examples, the UE 112 may expect that scheduling restrictions to apply for the whole MO.

[0223] In some embodiments, the scheduling PDCCH is on a first carrier while that transceiving is on a second carrier wherein the timeline (first and / or second) depends on the numerology of first and second carrier,

[0224] The network node 110 may configure the UE 112 to perform activation and / or deactivation of the MOs in a DL RRC message, such as the RRCReconfigurationMessage.

[0225] In another embodiment, the UE 112 may indicate to the network node 110 about the bands in which the UE 112 may perform the activation and / or deactivation of the MOs. This would indicate to the network node 110 that in some bands, the network node 110 may not perform dynamic activation and / or deactivation of the MOs depending on the UE capability. The indication to the network node 110 may be a per-band indication with a single bit, e.g., 1 indicating support and 0 indicating no support, indicating whether it can support or not support dynamic activation and / or deactivation.

[0226] The network node 110 in response to the UE 112 indicating a per-band preference may configure only the supported bands with the activation and / or deactivation procedure. In another aspect, the network node 110 may configure some or all the bands with the activation and / or deactivation procedure independent of the UE preference.

[0227] In another embodiment, the timeline configurations as discussed in the previous embodiments may be configured by the network node 110 in an DL RRC message, e.g., an RRCReconfigurationMessage, to the UE 112.

[0228] In another aspect, the UE 112 may also indicate the preference for the processing timeline in a UL RRC message, e.g., using the UEAssistancelnformation message.

[0229] The network node 110 may also configure the UE 112 with more than one timeline configurations as described in the embodiments above. The network node 110 may then signal to the UE 112 which timeline is to be used, for example, in a DCI where the bits may indicate the corresponding timeline or where the timeline configuration may beP110732W001

[0230] 27

[0231] associated to an index and a MAC CE may be used to indicate which index is to be used. In another embodiment, the UE 112 may signal the importance of future MOs to the network node 110. Such signal may comprise any of the following examples: a new MAC CE, new uplink control information (UCI) type, or a special scheduling request (SR) configuration. The signal may explicitly indicate if the UE 112 thinks the coming MO is of high or low importance, i.e. high importance would mean to provide information to the network node 110 that the coming MO preferably should not be cancelled, while a low importance indication would inform the network node 110 that a coming MO may as well be cancelled. The signal could contain multiple bits to inform about specific multiple MOs or alternatively a time range. In another option the signal may also provide indication of where the UE 112 thinks the future MO should be applied, if such preference exists, such that the network could try to assign the MOs accordingly.

[0232] Embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as the processor 810 of a processing circuitry in the network node 110 depicted in Fig. 8, and processor 910 of a processing circuitry in the UE 112 depicted in Fig. 9 together with respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the respective network node 110 and UE 112. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the respective network node 110 and UE 112.

[0233] It is herein disclosed the network node 110 for handling communications.

[0234] The network node and / or the processor 810 is configured to indicate to the UE 112 with the indication in DCI carried by the PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether the measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

[0235] The PDCCH with the indication may be sent, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before the start of the measurement gap occasion.

[0236] The indication may be explicit as a field in a DCI format.

[0237] The network node and / or the processor 810 may be configured to identify the measurement gap occasion to be activated or deactivated being the measurement gap occasion with a starting symbol after the start of the PDCCH that carries the indication.P110732WG01

[0238] 28

[0239] The network node and / or the processor 810 may be configured to identify the measurement gap occasion to be activated or deactivated based on the one or more time line aspects or rules for activation or deactivation.

[0240] The activation or deactivation may be for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

[0241] The scheduling in the PDCCH may be on the first carrier while a transceiving, by the UE, in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated is on the second carrier.

[0242] The indication may comprise the MGMI field, indicating deactivation of the measurement gap occasion, and wherein the PDDCH comprises the DCI format configured with the MGMI field and the PDDCH ends before a cancellation timeline associated with the measurement gap occasion.

[0243] It is herein disclosed the UE 112 for handling communications.

[0244] The UE 112 and / or the processor 910 is configured to receive from the network node 110, the indication in the DCI carried by the PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether the measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

[0245] The PDCCH with the indication may be received, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before the start of the measurement gap occasion.

[0246] The indication may be explicit as a field in a DCI format.

[0247] The activation or deactivation may be for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

[0248] The scheduling in the PDCCH may be on the first carrier while the UE is configured to transceive in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated may be on the second carrier.

[0249] The measurement gap occasion that is deactivated by the indication may not be allowed to be activated by a second indication after the first indication.

[0250] The network node 110 and UE 112 may further comprise a respective memory 820 and memory 920 comprising one or more memory units. The respective memory 820 and memory 920 comprises instructions executable by the processor in the respective network node 110 and UE 112. The respective memory 820 and memory 920 are arranged to be used to store e.g., media functions, indications, tags, information, data, configurations, communication data, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the respective network node 110 and UE 112.

[0251] In some embodiments, a respective computer program 830 and computer program 930 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least oneP110732W001

[0252] 29

[0253] processor 810 and processor 910, cause the at least one processor of respective network node 110 and UE 112 to perform the actions above.

[0254] In some embodiments, a respective carrier 840 and carrier 940 comprises the respective computer program 830 and computer program 940, wherein the respective carrier 840 and carrier 940 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0255] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that units in the respective network node 110 and UE 112 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and / or one or more processors configured with software and / or firmware, e.g. stored in the respective network node 110 and UE 112, that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry ASIC, or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0256] Examples of the UE 112 include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0257] In some embodiments, the network node 110 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the wireless communication network that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network, including one or more network nodes 110 and / or core network nodes.

[0258] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time orP110732W001

[0259] 30

[0260] non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node 110 may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0261] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the wireless communication network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The wireless communication network may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0262] As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., 0-Rll, 0-Dll, O-CU).

[0263] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g.,P110732W001

[0264] 31

[0265] in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0266] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0267] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0268] As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0269] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g.,P110732W001

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[0271] in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0272] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0273] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0274] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitoryP110732W001

[0275] 33

[0276] computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0277] When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

[0278] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

[0279] Abbreviations

[0280] MGL Measurement Gap Length

[0281] MGP Measurement Gap Pattern

[0282] MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period

[0283] MGTA Measurement Gap Timing Advance

[0284] MGTO Measurement Gap Timing Offset

[0285] Embodiments:

[0286] An embodiment may disclose a method performed by a network node in communication with a User Equipment, UE, the method comprising one or more out of:

[0287] • transmitting explicit, implicit or combined explicit and implicit indication using Downlink Control Channel Information, DCI, carried by the Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH,

[0288] • identifying, or referencing, an MO to be dynamically cancelled or activated, e.g. indicated MOs has a starting symbol after the start of the PDCCH that carries the dynamic indication,P110732W001

[0289] 34

[0290] • using timeline aspects or rules for activation or cancelling or partial activation or cancelling of MOs,

[0291] • using rules for repeated referencing of an MO.

[0292] An embodiment may disclose a method performed by a User Equipment, UE, for handling communication, the method comprising one or more out of:

[0293] • receiving explicit, implicit or combined explicit and implicit indication using Downlink Control Channel Information, DCI, carried by the Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, and

[0294] • rules for repeated referencing of an MO.P110732W001

[0295] 35

[0296] ANNEX:

[0297] 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting #116 R1 -2400677 Athens, Greece, February 26th- March 1st, 2024

[0298] Agenda Item: 9.10.1

[0299] Source: Ericsson

[0300] Title: RRM measurement gap and scheduling restriction enhancements for TX / RX of XR traffic

[0301] Document for: Discussion, Decision

[0302] 1 1 Introduction

[0303] In RAN plenary 102 [1], a new Wl for Rel-19 on extended reality (XR) was agreed [1], with an objective involving WG RAN1 as the following:

[0304] Specify enhancements to enable transmission / reception in gaps / restrictions that are caused by RRM measurements (from inter-frequency RRM measurement gaps, or intra-frequency measurements, or other scheduling restrictions etc). [RAN1 , RAN2, RAN4]

[0305] • Specify the corresponding measurement gap and scheduling restriction to enable the identified enhancements with RRM performance impact taken into consideration, work being triggered by LS. [RAN4] In this contribution we discuss our view on the expected normative work to support the above feature.

[0306] 2 2 Discussion

[0307] 2.1 2.1 Background and Scope

[0308] Measurement Gaps (MGs) are provided to a UE to perform inter-frequency or intra-frequency RRM measurements. The RRM measurements are primarily used by the network for mobility related procedures to enable e.g., handover or beam switching, or for addition of new cells. The measurement gaps may also be provided for other purposes such as positioning, MllSIM (Multi-Universal Subscriber Identity Module) and UL gap for Tx power management.

[0309] Within measurement gaps scheduling restrictions apply where the UE is not expected to transmit or receive signals except those used for measurement purposes. Furthermore, there are cases that scheduling restrictions may apply without configured MG, e.g. due to SMTC for inter-cell measurements in FR2 and on resources for SSB / CSI-RS measurement in serving cell.

[0310] MGs are configured with a periodicity {20, 40, 80, 160} ms and length {1.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 5.5, 6, 10, 20} ms. Different factors contribute on proper set-up of MG length and periodicity. For example, MG length for measurements on FR2 can be at least 5.5 ms due to beamforming while operation on FR1 without beamforming can benefit a shorter length MG. For latency sensitive traffic such as XR, short MG length is crucial since a large portion of the Packet Delay Budget (PDB) may be consumed by MG. MG periodicity is also important since periodicity determine how frequent XR traffic is affected. ClearlyP110732W001

[0311] 36

[0312] optimizing the configuration of measurement gaps for serving XR traffic may impact other functionality such as mobility. Consequently, the objective is to design enhancements for utilization of MGs that improve the XR performance without risking the fundamental functionalities such as mobility that the MGs are primarily intended for.

[0313] The functionalities and requirements of MGs are extensively specified in specifications where the corresponding expertise lie in other WGs than RAN1. A glimpse on content of TS38.133 [2] proves the point. As the normative work starts first in RAN1 , proper cooperation between different WGs is essential.

[0314] In our view, RAN1 can start the design aspect of the feature to enhance the utilization of the MGs. However, the design decision on applicable configurations of MGs should be deferred to RAN2 / RAN4 or at least carefully consulted. In this way, the work in RAN1 can properly progress.

[0315] Observation 1 The normative work in RAN1 can start the design aspect of the feature to enhance the utilization of “MGs” for transmission / receptions (other than measurement signal). However, the design decisions on “applicable” MGs for the enhancement should be deferred to RAN2 / RAN4 or at least carefully consulted with RAN2 / RAN4.

[0316] Note that for convenience, when it is stated that a MG or a MG occasion is canceled, it implies that the MG or the MG occasion is available for transmission / reception of signals other than signals used for measurement purposes.

[0317] Observation 2 Note that for convenience in discussion, when it is stated that a MG or a MG occasion is "canceled”, it implies that the MG or the MG occasion is available for transmission / reception of signals other than signals used for measurement purposes.

[0318] 2.2 2.2 Design principals

[0319] In the following, first we share our view on the underlying principles to consider for the design of the feature.

[0320] Network controlled operation

[0321] Since the gNB is responsible to serve all the UEs in the network we strongly believe that the gNB should take the decision if data transmission / reception should occur over a MG assigned to a UE in the network although the UE may have better understanding of its measurement need. The fundamental reason is that the gNB has knowledge about radio conditions and service needs for all the lies in the network. Hence, based on the available information, the gNB can properly decide whether to instruct the UE to receive / transmit within a measurement gap.

[0322] Dynamic operation

[0323] We believe that a solution for dynamically indicate availability of MG occasions for transmissions / receptions (other than reference signals for measurement purposes) provides the highest flexibility at a relatively small specification impact.

[0324] Timeline-based operation

[0325] In our view, when the gNB dynamically informs the UE on expectations regarding the transmissions / receptions within a MG, the gNB should provide such information in a time that the expected actions could be executed the UE. This can be facilitated by accommodating a timeline in relation to the MG for this purpose.

[0326] These principals are summarized in the proposal below.

[0327] Proposal 1 Consider the following principals for designing the measurement gap enhancements feature:

[0328] Network controlled cancellation

[0329] Dynamic cancellation

[0330] Timeline based cancellation.P110732W001

[0331] 37

[0332] 2.3 2.3 Design aspects

[0333] In this section, we discuss in more details the design aspects.

[0334] 2.3.1 2.3.1 Design components for dynamic cancellation indication

[0335] In our view, the best approach for dynamic cancellation of MGs is a DCI-based solution as compared to other dynamic solutions. This is achieved by a configuring the DCI with a field that the content of the bit-field in the DCI indicates the status of a MG. For example, a 1 -bit field in the DCI indicates whether the next MG is cancelled or not. To be specific, the bit in the DCI field is associated to the earliest MG starting after the ending symbol of the PDCCH carrying the bit-field.

[0336] It is also important from our view that decouple this field with the other functionalities enabled by the DCI. For example, a DCI format 0_1 can be configured with this bit field and indicate that a next measurement gap that occurs in 10 ms is cancelled while simultaneously providing the UE with an UL grant to transmit a PLISCH after 2 ms. This property increases the robustness of the feature in case of misdetection at the UE and avoids complicated dependencies while resulting in a lean design.

[0337] We further believe it is sufficient to only have the new field in non-fallback scheduling DCIs and it sufficient to limit the new field to DCI formats x_1, x_2 and x_3.

[0338] Another important property from our perspective is that consistency in the information provided by the bit-field indication in the DCI. That means that when a MG occasion is indicated cancelled, it should be remained cancelled.

[0339] As discussed earlier, indication of cancellation of a MG should satisfy a timeline for the UE to be prepared to transmit / receive during the MG. The reference for the timeline can be when the indicated MG starts.

[0340] See Fig. 10 that illustrates the design aspects discussed above.

[0341] Figure 10: Illustration of dynamic indication of a MG cancellation. The indication is performed by a field in DCI where in this example, 1 -bit is used to indicate the status of next MG (‘07’1’ corresponding to ‘not cancelled’ / ’cancelled’). The timeline is shown by Tm. Case 1 illustrates the basic operation without any cancellation. Case 2 illustrates the cancellation of upcoming MG. Case 3 illustrates the consistency in cancellation indication where reserving a cancellation is not allowed.

[0342] The properties above outline the design baseline and are summarized in the proposal. Proposal 2 Support dynamic indication of cancellation of a MG occasion by a bit-field in a DCI format carried by PDCCH as the baseline design.

[0343] • A bit(s) in the cancellation field is associated to a MG occasion(s) starting after the last symbol of the PDCCH carrying the DCI format and indicates whether the MG occasion(s) is cancelled.

[0344] • When a MG occasion is indicated cancelled, it should be remained cancelled.

[0345] • The first cancellation indication should satisfy a timeline with respect to the cancelled MG occasion(s).

[0346] • DCI X_1, X_2 and X_3 can be configured with the cancellation indication field.

[0347] In the following, we discuss few aspects for the baseline design.P110732WG01

[0348] 38

[0349] 2.3.2 2.3.2 Type of DL / LIL transmissions within a cancelled MG

[0350] With respect to the scheduled DL / LIL transmissions, our assumption is that the scheduled DL / LIL transmission as well as PDCCH reception in monitoring occasions should be allowed. Moreover, once a MG occasion is indicated cancelled given that the corresponding timeline requirement is fulfilled, a transmission / reception is allowed during the measurement gap which can be scheduled by any DCI, including a DCI without a configured cancelation indication field as shown in Fig. 11.

[0351] With respect to configured DL / LIL transmissions (except PDDCH reception), we can discuss further whether to extend the applicability to configured transmissions / receptions. In our view, any DCI and its scheduled reception / transmission and any non-scheduled reception / transmissions (e.g., CG / SPS) can be allowed inside a cancelled MG. Our initial assessment is that inclusion of these cases can be accommodated without additional complexity which is beneficial for overall performance.

[0352] Figure 11: Example to illustrate that once a MG occasion is indicated cancelled, a DCI without a cancelation indication field can schedule a transmission with the MG occasion.

[0353] We summarize the discussion by the following proposal.

[0354] Proposal 3 Once a MG occasion is indicated cancelled given that the corresponding timeline requirement is fulfilled:

[0355] • Scheduled UL / DL transmission(s) by a DCI and PDCCH reception in monitoring occasions within the cancelled MG are allowed.

[0356] • Note: The DCI is not necessarily configured with MG cancellation indication field.

[0357] • Configured UL / DL transmission(s) within the cancelled MG can be discussed to be allowed (preferably allow).

[0358] 2.3.3 2.3.3 Timeline cancellations limits and applicability

[0359] With respect to timeline, it is important to discuss few aspects.

[0360] Firstly, calculation of the duration of timeline needs proper discussion.

[0361] Secondly, the reference point where the timeline starts needs to be determined. In our view, the baseline for the reference point should be the start of the measurement gap subject to indication as we have illustrated in the previous figures.

[0362] Thirdly, it is important to discuss the exact limitations that are imposed on PDCCH transmission by the cancellation timeline. In our view, the cancellation timeline should be fulfilled for the first PDCCH that indicates cancellation of a MG. However, once the UE has received this PDCCH given that the cancellation timeline is fulfilled, the follow-up PDCCHs can be received after the cancellation timeline and before the MG or within the MG as shown in Fig. 12. Clearly, proper operation requires alignment between gNB and UE that can be handled by gNB implementation.

[0363] Finally, it is beneficial to discuss the possibility of partial cancellation of a MG as shown in Fig. 13. The motivation for partial cancellation is supporting cases when serving the traffic cannot be delayed after the MG but the gNB has not been able to provide the cancellation indication before the cancellation timeline. For partial cancellation the reference point for the cancellation timeline is advanced within the MG and the duration of timeline is potentially different than the one for baseline cancellation.

[0364] We summarize the discussion by the following proposal.

[0365] Proposal 4 For dynamic indication for cancellation of a MG, support at least the following with respect to the cancellation timeline:P110732W001

[0366] 39

[0367] • The cancellation timeline should only be satisfied for the first indication of a cancelled MG.

[0368] • The reference for the cancellation timeline is the start of the cancelled MG as the baseline.

[0369] • Discuss further how to calculate the duration of the cancellation timeline.

[0370] • Discuss further partial cancellation and corresponding timeline (i.e., reference and duration)

[0371] Figure 12: Cancellation timeline is applicable to the first cancellation indication. Once a MG is indicated cancelled by PDDCH1, PDCCH2 with cancellation indication can be received after the timeline and before the cancelled MG, see top of Fig. 12 or within the cancelled MG, see lower part of Fig. 12. This PDCCH can schedule a transmission within the cancelled MG.

[0372] Figure 13: Illustration of partial cancellation of a MG, see lower part of Fig. 13, as compared to baseline cancellation, see upper part of Fig. 13. In case of partial cancellation, the reference point, Tp, for the cancellation timeline is advanced within the MG with a duration potentially different than the one, Tm, for baseline cancellation.

[0373] 2.3.4 2.3.4 Modes of operation

[0374] In the previous section, we discussed our view on the baseline approach for enabling dynamic indication for cancellation of MGs. We would like to discuss in this section additional considerations with respect to practical operations that could be beneficial for overall design of the feature.

[0375] When a UE is configured with MGs, depends on the conditions the UE experiences, the UE may not need to perform measurement and report the corresponding results. For example, as shown in Fig. 14, the MGs for UEs in cell center quite often end up being under-utilized as opposed to the cell edge UEs. In other words, we can roughly observe two modes of operations:

[0376] • Mode 1 : Higher rate of utilization of MGs for RRM measurements

[0377] • Mode 2: Lower rate of utilization of MGs for RRM measurements

[0378] This observation hints that for operation scenarios similar to Mode 1 , it is reasonable to assume that the configured MGs are generally used for RRM purposes and can be occasionally cancelled to serve traffic, as we previously discussed as the baseline approach.

[0379] However, the UE can experience scenarios similar to Mode 2, or due to mobility or changes in channel conditions the UE can experience a transition from Mode 1 to Mode 2. In this case, it is reasonable to assume that the configured MGs are generally used to serve the traffic and can occasionally be used for RRM purposes. This is accomplished by cancelling the MGs (as a default assumption by configuration or MAC CE command similar of the positioning MG framework) and utilizing the dynamic indication for activation of MGs.

[0380] In other words, two approaches for DCI-based dynamically controlled MG can be summarized as follow.

[0381] • Approach 1 (baseline): Configured MGs are assumed enabled by default. DCI indication can cancel a MG occasion(s).

[0382] • Approach 2: Configured are assumed canceled by default or MAC CE command. DCI indication can activate a MG occasion(s).

[0383] In our view, it is beneficial to investigate both approaches and operations based on potential transition between them for efficient operation.

[0384] We summarize the discussion by the following proposal.P110732W001

[0385] 40

[0386] Proposal 5 Consider investigating both approaches below and potential transition between them for efficient operation.

[0387] • Approach 1 (baseline): Configured MGs are assumed enabled by default. DCI indication can cancel a MG occasion(s).

[0388] • Approach 2: Configured are assumed canceled by default or MAC CE command. DCI indication can activate a MG occasion(s).

[0389] Figure 14 Illustration of usability of MGs for RRM purposes based on UEs locations in the cell.

[0390] 3 Conclusion

[0391] In the previous sections we made the following observations: Observation 1 The normative work in RAN1 can start the design aspect of the feature to enhance the utilization of “MGs” for transmission / receptions (other than measurement signal). However, the design decisions on “applicable” MGs for the enhancement should be deferred to RAN2 / RAN4 or at least carefully consulted with RAN2 / RAN4.

[0392] Observation 2 Note that for convenience in discussion, when it is stated that a MG or a MG occasion is "canceled”, it implies that the MG or the MG occasion is available for transmission / reception of signals other than signals used for measurement purposes.

[0393] Based on the discussion in the previous sections we propose the following:

[0394] Proposal 1 Consider the following principals for designing the measurement gap enhancements feature:

[0395] • Network controlled cancellation

[0396] • Dynamic cancellation

[0397] • Timeline based cancellation.

[0398] Proposal 2 Support dynamic indication of cancellation of a MG occasion by a bitfield in a DCI format carried by PDCCH as the baseline design.

[0399] • A bit(s) in the cancellation field is associated to a MG occasion(s) starting after the last symbol of the PDCCH carrying the DCI format and indicates whether the MG occasion(s) is cancelled.

[0400] • When a MG occasion is indicated cancelled, it should be remained cancelled.

[0401] • The first cancellation indication should satisfy a timeline with respect to the cancelled MG occasion(s).P110732W001

[0402] 41

[0403] • DCI X_1, X_2 and X_3 can be configured with the cancellation indication field.

[0404] Proposal 3 Once a MG occasion is indicated cancelled given that the corresponding timeline requirement is fulfilled:

[0405] • Scheduled UL / DL transmission(s) by a DCI and PDCCH reception in monitoring occasions within the cancelled MG are allowed.

[0406] • Note: The DCI is not necessarily configured with MG cancellation indication field.

[0407] • Configured UL / DL transmission(s) within the cancelled MG can be discussed to be allowed (preferably allow).

[0408] Proposal 4 For dynamic indication for cancellation of a MG, support at least the following with respect to the cancellation timeline:

[0409] • The cancellation timeline should only be satisfied for the first indication of a cancelled MG.

[0410] • The reference for the cancellation timeline is the start of the cancelled MG as the baseline.

[0411] • Discuss further how to calculate the duration of the cancellation timeline.

[0412] • Discuss further partial cancellation and corresponding timeline (i.e., reference and duration)

[0413] Proposal 5 Consider investigating both approaches below and potential transition between them for efficient operation.

[0414] • Approach 1 (baseline): Configured MGs are assumed enabled by default. DCI indication can cancel a MG occasion(s).

[0415] • Approach 2: Configured are assumed canceled by default or MAC CE command. DCI indication can activate a MG occasion(s).

[0416] 4 References

[0417] [1] RP-234080, New WID: XR (extended Reality) for NR Phase 3; Rapporteurs (Nokia, Qualcomm)

[0418] [2] 3GPP TS 38.133 v.18.4.0: “NR; Requirements for support of radio resource managements”

Claims

P110732WG0142CLAIMS1. A method performed by a network node (110) for handling communications, the method comprising:- indicating (302) to a user equipment, UE, (112), with an indication in downlink control information, DCI, carried by a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the PDCCH with the indication is sent, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before a start of the measurement gap occasion.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein the indication is explicit as a field in a DCI format.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, further comprising:identifying (301) the measurement gap occasion to be activated or deactivated based on one or more time line aspects or rules for activation or deactivation.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the activation or deactivation is for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein the scheduling in the PDCCH is on a first carrier while a transceiving, by the UE (112), in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated is on a second carrier.

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein the indication comprises a measurement gap modification indicator, MGMI, field, indicating deactivation of the measurement gap occasion, and wherein the PDDCH comprises a DCI format configured with the MGMI field and the PDDCH ends before a cancellation timeline associated with the measurement gap occasion.P110732WG01438. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (112) for handling communications, the method comprising:receiving (411) from a network node (110), an indication in a downlink control information, DCI, carried by a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the PDCCH with the indication is received, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before a start of the measurement gap occasion.

10. The method according to any of the claims 8-9, wherein the indication is explicit as a field in a DCI format.

11. The method according to any of the claims 8-10, wherein the activation or deactivation is for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

12. The method according to any of the claims 8-11 , wherein scheduling in the PDCCH is on a first carrier while a transceiving, by the UE (112), in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated is on a second carrier.

13. The method according to any of the claims 8-12, wherein the measurement gap occasion is deactivated by the indication is not allowed to be activated by a second indication after the first indication.

14. The method according to any of the claims 8-13, wherein the indication comprises a measurement gap modification indicator, MGMI, field, indicating deactivation of the measurement gap occasion, and wherein the PDDCH comprises a DCI format configured with the MGMI field and the PDDCH ends before a cancellation timeline associated with the measurement gap occasion.

15. A network node (110) for handling communications, wherein the network node is configured to:indicate to a user equipment, UE, (112), with an indication in downlink control information, DCI, carried by a physical downlink control channel,P110732WG0144PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.

16. The network node (110) according to claim 15, wherein the PDCCH with the indication is sent, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before a start of the measurement gap occasion.

17. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 15-16, wherein the indication is explicit as a field in a DCI format.

18. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 15-17, wherein the network node is configured to:identify the measurement gap occasion to be activated or deactivated based on one or more time line aspects or rules for activation or deactivation.

19. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 15-18, wherein the activation or deactivation is for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

20. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 15-19, wherein the scheduling in the PDCCH is on a first carrier while a transceiving, by the UE (112), in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated is on a second carrier.

21. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 15-20, wherein the indication comprises a measurement gap modification indicator, MGMI, field, indicating deactivation of the measurement gap occasion, and wherein the PDDCH comprises a DCI format configured with the MGMI field and the PDDCH ends before a cancellation timeline associated with the measurement gap occasion.

22. A user equipment, UE, (112) for handling communications, wherein the UE (112) is configured to:receive from a network node (110), an indication in a downlink control information, DCI, carried by a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, wherein the indication indicates whether a measurement gap occasion is activated or deactivated.P110732WG014523. The UE (112) according to claim 22, wherein the PDCCH with the indication is received, or ends, at least X ms, symbols, or subframes before a start of the measurement gap occasion.

24. The UE (112) according to any of the claims 22-23, wherein the indication is explicit as a field in a DCI format.

25. The UE (112) according to any of the claims 22-24, wherein the activation or deactivation is for the full measurement gap occasion or a part of the measurement gap occasion.

26. The UE (112) according to any of the claims 22-25, wherein scheduling in the PDCCH is on a first carrier while the UE (112) is configured to transceive in the measurement gap occasion that is deactivated on a second carrier.

27. The UE (112) according to any of the claims 22-26, wherein the measurement gap occasion is deactivated by the indication is not allowed to be activated by a second indication after the first indication.

28. The UE (112) according to any of the claims 22-27, wherein the indication comprises a measurement gap modification indicator, MGMI, field, indicating deactivation of the measurement gap occasion, and wherein the PDDCH comprises a DCI format configured with the MGMI field and the PDDCH ends before a cancellation timeline associated with the measurement gap occasion.

29. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-14, as performed by the UE (112) and the network node (110), respectively.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-14, as performed by the UE (112) and the network node (110), respectively.

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