Event-triggered reporting based on pre-activated transmission configuration indicator state of a candidate cell

Abstract

A communication device can determine (540) that a triggering condition is met based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement The first measurement can be associated with a first layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility ("LTM") candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator ("TCI") state. The second measurement is associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated. Responsive to determining that the triggering condition is met, the communication device can transmit (550) a LTM lower layer measurement report.

Description

EVENT- TRIGGERED REPORTING BASED ON PRE-ACTIVATED TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION INDICATOR STATE OF A CANDIDATE CELLTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure is related to wireless communication systems and more particularly to event triggered layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility (“LTM”) reporting based on pre-activated transmission configuration indicator (“TCI”) state of an LTM candidate cell.BACKGROUND

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a new radio (“NR”) network (e.g., a 5th Generation (“5G”) network) including a 5G core (“5GC”) network 130, network nodes 120a-b (e.g., 5G base station (“gNB”)), multiple communication devices 110 (also referred to as user equipment (“UE”)).

[0003] Layer 1 (“Ll”) / Layer 2 (“L2”)-Triggered Mobility (“LTM”) can be defined as a Primary Cell (“PCell”) (or primary secondary cell (“PSCell”)) cell switch procedure, consequently with Cell Group change (e.g., Master Cell Group (“MCG”) or Secondary Cell Group (“SCG”) that the network triggers via media access control (“MAC”) Control Element (“CE”) based on LI measurements. In that procedure, a gNodeB (“gNB”) receives the LI measurement report(s) from the UE, and on their basis the gNB changes UE’s serving cell by a cell switch command signaled via a MAC CE. The cell switch command indicates an LTM candidate cell configuration that the gNB previously prepared and provided to the UE through RRC signaling. Then the UE switches to the target cell according to the cell switch command.

[0004] When configured by the network, it is possible to activate Transmission Configuration Indicator (“TCI”) states of one or multiple cells that are different from the current serving cell, which may be called LTM candidate cells. For instance, the TCI states of the LTM candidate cells can be activated in advance before any of those cells become the serving cell (e.g., by reception of a MAC CE indicating an LTM candidate and a TCI state of the indicated LTM candidate). This allows the UE to be downlink (“DL”) synchronized with those indicated cells, thereby facilitating a faster cell switch to one of those cells when cell switch is triggered.SUMMARY

[0005] According to some embodiments, a method of operating a communication device is provided. The method includes determining that a triggering condition is met based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the secondmeasurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated. The method further includes, responsive to determining that the triggering condition is met, transmitting a LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0006] According to other embodiments, a method of operating a network node is provided. The method includes transmitting an indication of configuration information to a communication device, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit a layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, lower layer report in response to fulfillment of a triggering condition, the triggering condition being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated. The method further includes receiving the LTM lower layer report from the communication device.

[0007] According to other embodiments, a communication device, a network node, a computer program, computer program product, non-transitory computer readable medium, host, or system is provided to perform one of the above methods.

[0008] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. Some embodiments provide savings in terms of UE power consumption and UL resources on the network side, because unnecessary transmissions, as in periodic reports, would not be performed when the UE only transmits the LI report for LTM when the condition is fulfilled i.e. when there is an SSB in the LTM candidate cell, associated to a candidate TCI state which is deactivated, which becomes an offset better than the SSB in the LTM candidate cell, associated to a candidate TCI state which is activated, which indicates to the network the need to switch the TCI state to be activated.

[0009] In other words, the UE only transmits the LI report for LTM when a beam in the LTM candidate cell for which the UE is not DL synchronized, becomes an offset better than a beam in the LTM candidate cell for which the UE is DL synchronized, which indicates to the network the need to switch the beam to be synchronized with.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a 5thgeneration (“5G”) network;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of a LTM procedure;

[0013] FIG. 3 illustrate examples of problems with periodic LTM lower layer reporting;

[0014] FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of LTM lower layer reporting in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations performed by a communication device in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations performed by a communication device in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0022] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] 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, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present / used in another embodiment.

[0024] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an overall procedure for LTM.

[0025] At block 210, the UE sends a MeasurementReport message to the gNB. The gNB decides to configure LTM and initiates candidate cell(s) preparation.

[0026] At block 220, the gNB transmits an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE including the LTM candidate cell configurations of one or multiple candidate cells.

[0027] At block 230, the UE stores the LTM candidate cell configurations and transmits an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the gNB.

[0028] At block 240a, the UE performs DL synchronization with the candidate cell(s) before receiving the cell switch command.

[0029] At block 240b, the UE performs UL synchronization with the candidate cell(s) before receiving the cell switch command.

[0030] At block 250, the UE performs LI measurements on the configured candidate cell(s) and transmits LI measurement reports to the gNB. LI measurement should be performed as long as RRC reconfiguration (at block 220) is applicable.

[0031] At block 260, the gNB decides to execute cell switch to a target cell and transmits a MAC CE triggering cell switch by including the candidate configuration index of the target cell. The UE switches to the target cell and applies the configuration indicated by candidate configuration index.

[0032] At block 270, the UE performs the random access procedure towards the target cell, if UE does not have valid Timing Advance (“TA”) of the target cell. The UE performs Contention Free Random Access (“CFRA”) if the LTM cell switch command MAC CE contains information for CFRA.

[0033] At block 280, the UE completes the LTM cell switch procedure by sending RRCReconfigurationComplete message to target cell. If the UE has performed a RA procedure (at block 270) the UE considers that LTM cell switch execution is successfully completed when the random access procedure is successfully completed. For RACH-less LTM, the UE considers that LTM cell switch execution is successfully completed when the UE determines that the network has successfully received its first UL data. The UE determines successful reception of its first UL data by receiving a PDCCH addressing the UE’s C-RNTI in the target cell, which schedules a new transmission following the first UL data. The PDCCH carries either a DL assignment or an UL grant addressing the same HARQ process as the first UL data.

[0034] There currently exist certain challenges. In the LTM functionality specified in Rel- 18, before an LTM Cell Switch is triggered, the UE configured with an LTM candidate cell may receive a lower layer command (e.g. Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE) including an indication of an LTM candidate cell (e.g. Candidate Cell ID) and an indication of a TCI state of that LTM candidate cell which is to be activated (TCI state ID), in response to which the UE activates the indicated TCI state of the indicated LTM candidate cell. This TCI state action of a candidate cell may also be called DL synchronization, or pre -synchronization (since it occurs before an LTM cell switch), or activation of a Candidate TCI state, or preactivation of a TCI state.

[0035] After a TCI state of an LTM candidate is pre -activated, it is expected that this LTM candidate cell also becomes the target cell in an LTM cell switch. It is also expected that the activated TCI state (or sometimes called pre-activated TCI state of an LTM candidate cell or a Candidate cell TCI state) also becomes the TCI state indicated in the LTM cell switch command, to be considered as the activated TCI state when the UE changes to the target cell in the LTM cell switch.

[0036] Despite such expectation, a first situation which may happen is that after the TCI state (e.g. TCI state whose TCI state ID=X1) of the LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell X) is preactivated, the radio conditions quickly change before the UE receives an LTM cell switch command (e.g. LTM Cell Switch MAC CE) and, so when it is the moment to trigger the LTM cell switch, that may not any longer be the optimal choice of TCI state to be activated in the LTM candidate cell which becomes the target cell. The UE may be configured to transmit lower layer reports, possibly including Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) measurements (e.g.Ll RSRP, SS-RSRP as defined in TS 38.215) for that LTM candidate cell periodically (associated to a reporting configuration and a resource configuration associated to that LTM candidate cell), so that the network has a chance to: i) modify the TCI state to be pre-activated, e.g., by deactivating that TCI state (TCI state ID=X1) and activating another TCI state of that LTM candidate cell (e.g. TCI state ID=X2); or ii) send an LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE indicating that LTM candidate cell, but with a different TCI state to be activated (e.g. TCI state ID=X2).

[0037] This becomes more critical when the number of TCI states the UE can activate simultaneously is limited by the UE capability e.g. a single TCI state for a given LTM candidate cell.

[0038] Such deactivation of a candidate TCI state (TCI state ID=X1) and the activation of a new candidate TCI state of an LTM candidate cell (TCI state ID=X2), which may be called in this document a “candidate TCI state switching”, requires the periodic transmission of lower layer reports by the UE, which would consume significant power from the UE and consume significant amount of Uplink (UL) resources. Aperiodic reports were also standardized, but it is not clear when the network would trigger these to be transmitted, after a TCI state had been activated,

[0039] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the switching of a candidate TCI state for an LTM candidate cell can require periodic transmission of lower layer reports (LI reports) after the TCI state activation, consuming significant power from the UE and consume significant amount of UL resources.

[0040] Another situation which may occur is that after the TCI state (e.g. TCI state whose TCI state ID=X1) of the LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell X) is pre-activated, the radio conditions changes before the UE receives an LTM cell switch and, when it is time to trigger the LTM cell switch, that LTM candidate cell may not any longer be the optimal choice (and consequently the activated TCI state of that previously activated LTM candidate cell). As in the previous case, the UE may also be configured to transmit lower layer reports, possibly including SSB measurements (e.g.Ll RSRP, SS-RSRP as defined in TS 38.215) for the pre-activated LTM candidate cell but also other LTM candidate cells, in a periodic fashion, so that the network has a chance to: i) modify the LTM candidate cell and its associated TCI state to be activated e.g. by deactivating TCI state (whose TCI state ID=X1) of cell X and activating another TCI state of another LTM candidate cell (e.g. LTM candidate cell Y whose TCI state ID=Y2); ii) or to send an LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE indicating the other LTM candidate cell (cell Y) with a different TCI state to be activated (e.g. TCI state ID=Y2).

[0041] As before, this becomes more critical when the number of LTM candidate cells and associated TCI states the UE can activate simultaneously is limited by the UE capability e.g. a single LTM candidate cell may have an activated TCI state.

[0042] In summary, this second problem is that the activation of a different TCI state for an LTM candidate cell in an LTM cell switch, which is not necessarily the TCI state previously activated or the previously activated LTM candidate cell, requires periodic transmission of lower layer reports (LI reports) after the TCI state activation, consuming significant power from the UE and consume significant amount of UL resources.

[0043] Various embodiments herein address some of these challenges by a UE triggering the transmission of an LTM lower layer measurement report upon fulfillment of a triggering condition as illustrated in EIG. 4. In some embodiments, the triggering condition includes a first measurement associated to a first LTM candidate cell, wherein the first LTM candidate cell does not have any candidate TCI state being activated (i.e. all TCI states of that cell are deactivated) becomes an offset better than a second measurement associated to a second LTM candidate cell for which a candidate TCI state is activated (i.e., at least one TCI state of the candidate cell), and transmitting the LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0044] In response to the LTM lower layer measurement report, the UE receives a command indicating the switching of the TCI state (e.g. LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE or a Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE) which is to be activated in the LTM candidate cell e.g. indicating the UE to deactivate the TCI which is activated, and activating one of the TCI states in the LTM candidate cell which were deactivated. Lor example,the TCI state to be activate is associated to an SSB which has the highest measurement among other SSBs of the LTM candidate cell e.g. highest Ll-RSRP.

[0045] In some embodiments, a UE triggers transmission of a lower layer measurement report when, for an LTM candidate cell (with an activated TCI state), a measurement associated to a beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the highest measurement of the beam or RS of the LTM candidate cell (i.e. a change in the best beam for the LTM candidate cell with an activated TCI state). In some examples, this enables the network to trigger a switching of TCI state for an LTM candidate cell which the UE is DL synchronized with. Here the beam to which the offset is compared against can be the beam which TCI state is already activated. Alternatively, the beam to which the offset is compared against can be the beam with the highest measurement done in a previous occasion, or anyway before doing the comparison with the offset.

[0046] In additional or alternative embodiments, a UE triggers transmission of a lower layer report when a measurement associated to a beam (or RS) of an LTM candidate cell which does not have an activated TCI state becomes an offset better than the highest measurement associated to a beam (or RS) of an LTM candidate cell which has an activated TCI state. In some examples, this enables the network to trigger a switching of LTM candidate cell to be DL synchronized with.

[0047] Some embodiments herein refer to the term “L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility” as used in the Work Item Description in 3GPP, though it interchangeably also uses the terms L1 / L2 mobility, LI -mobility, LI based mobility, L1 / L2 -centric inter-cell mobility, L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility L1 / L2 -Triggered Mobility, Lower-layer triggered Mobility or LTM. The basic principle is that the UE receives a lower layer signaling from the network indicating to the UE a change (or switch or activation) of its serving cell (e.g. change of PCell, from a source to a target Pcell), wherein a lower layer signaling is a message / signaling of a lower layer protocol, which may be referred as a L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility execution command or LTM cell switch command. The change of serving cell (e.g. change of Pcell) may also lead to a change in Scell(s) for the same cell group e.g. in case the command triggers the UE to change to another cell group configuration of the same type (e.g. another MCG configuration). Before the UE receives the LTM cell switch command, the UE is configured by the network with one or more LTM candidate cell configurations (e.g. reception of an RRC Reconfiguration message, with at least one LTM candidate cell configuration) A LTM candidate cell configuration may include parameters in the IE CellGroupConfig per candidate cell and / or an embedded RRC Reconfiguration per LTM candidate cell.

[0048] Some embodiments herein refer to the term LTM cell switch procedure refers to the process of a UE switching (or changing) its cell from a source cell to a target cell (which may be called here an LTM candidate cell or a neighbour cell), using L1 / L2 -triggered mobility (aLTM). In the context of Ll / L2-triggered mobility (LTM), an LTM cell switch procedure may sometimes also be known as L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility execution, LTM execution, dynamic switch, LTM switch, (LTM) cell switch, (LTM) serving cell change or (LTM) cell change. In the context of the invention, switching to the LTM candidate cell configuration comprises the UE considering that an LTM candidate cell becomes its new special cell (SpCell) e.g. Pee 11 in case of LTM being configured for a Master Cell Group (MCG) and / or PSCell in case of LTM being configured for a Secondary Cell Group (SCG); or, changing its SpCell from the current Pcell to an LTM candidate cell.

[0049] Even if the term change of cell is used, that may comprise a change of a whole cell group configuration, which includes a change in the SpCell (e.g. change of Pcell, or change of PSCell) and a change in Scells of the cell group (e.g. addition, modification and / or release of one or more Scells).

[0050] An LTM cell switch procedure may be triggered in the UE by reception of a LTM cell switch command, or alternatively, triggered by some other event, such as a condition, e,g, a triggering condition used for conditional configuration, such as conditional handover, being fulfilled, as a result of recovery from radio link failure or handover failure.

[0051] Some embodiments herein refer to a LTM candidate cell, which is a cell the UE is configured with when configured with L1 / L2 -triggered mobility. That is a cell the UE can move to in a LTM cell switch procedure, upon reception of a LTM cell switch command. These cells may also be called candidate cell(s), candidates, mobility candidates, non-serving cells, additional cells, target candidate cell, target candidate, etc. A LTM candidate cell is a cell the UE perform measurements on (e.g. CSI measurements) so that the UE reports these measurements and network may take educated decision on which beam (e.g. TCI state) and / or cell the UE is to be switched to. An LTM candidate cell may be a candidate to be a target Pcell or PSCell, or an Scell of a cell group (e.g. MCG Scell).

[0052] Some embodiments herein refer to at least one LTM candidate cell configuration and that the UE has received at least one LTM candidate cell configuration. This is also sometimes referred to as a configuration of a LTM candidate cell, which may be an RRC configuration, such as encapsulated in an RRC Reconfiguration message, that the UE receives when being configured with L1 / L2 -Triggered Mobility. A LTM candidate cell configuration comprises the configuration Ih the UE needs to start to operate accordingly when it performs an LTM cell switch procedure to that LTM candidate cell e.g. upon reception of the LTM cellswitch command indicating the UE to perform a LTM cell switch procedure to that LTM candidate cell, which becomes the target cell and the current (new) SpCell, or an SCell in a serving frequency. The LTM candidate cell configuration comprises parameters of a serving cell (or multiple serving cells, such as a cell group), comprising one or more of the groups of parameters, such as an RRCReconfiguration message an IE CellGroupConfig or an IE SpCellConfig (or the IE SCellConfig, in the case of a Secondary Cell). A LTM candidate cell configuration may in one example comprise one or more of: i) the PCell configuration and one or more SCell configuration(s) of a Master Cell Group (MCG); i) the PSCell configuration and one or more SCell configuration(s) of a secondary Cell Group (SCG). The terms (LTM) candidate configuration, LTM configuration, (LTM) candidate target cell configuration, (LTM) target candidate (cell) configuration may be used interchangeably when referring to LTM candidate cell configuration. An LTM candidate cell configuration is associated with an identifier which is used in the signaling when referring to a certain LTM candidate cell configuration, such as when the UE receives the LTM candidate cell configuration and when the UE receives an LTM cell switch command indicating the UE to perform a LTM cell switch procedure to that LTM candidate cell. This identifier is sometimes known as the LTM candidate cell configuration identity or LTM candidate configuration index (or similar).

[0053] The actual LTM candidate cell configuration and its exact content and / or structure of this IE and / or embedded message may be called an RRC model for the candidate configuration, or simply RRC model. An LTM candidate cell configuration comprises the configuration which the UE needs to operate accordingly when it performs (executes) L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility execution to a LTM candidate cell, upon reception of the lower layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to a LTM candidate cell (which becomes the target cell and the current (new) PCell, or an SCell in a serving frequency), or upon reception of the lower layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to a LTM candidate cell configuration indicated with a candidate configuration index (sometimes also denoted candidate configuration ID). The UE may be configured with multiple LTM candidate cell configurations, so a Candidate DU generates and sends to the CU multiple configuration(s). The actual LTM candidate cell configuration the UE receives during the LTM configuration may be a delta signaling to be applied on top of a reference configuration, so that the actual configuration the UE is to use in the candidate cell upon LTM cell switch is the combination of the LTM candidate cell configuration and the reference configuration (e.g. separately signaled by the network to the UE).

[0054] Some embodiments herein refer to that the UE has a stored LTM candidate cell configuration for an LTM candidate cell. A stored LTM candidate cell configuration for anLTM candidate cell may have been received when being configured with L1 / L2 -Triggered Mobility, e.g. in an RRC Reconfiguration message which includes an LTM candidate cell configuration. The stored LTM candidate cell configuration may be a combination of a received LTM candidate cell configuration (which uses delta signaling) and the reference configuration (e.g. separately signaled by the network to the UE). The stored LTM candidate cell configuration may alternatively be obtained by the UE by other means, e.g. preconfigured, a default or specified configuration, restored after exiting idle mode or a UE power saving state such as transition from RRC INACTIVE to RRC CONNECTED state, read from a memory card or by other means been provided out-of-band outside of 3GPP specified interfaces or as user data.

[0055] Some embodiments herein refer to a report triggered by the UE upon fulfillment of a triggering condition which the UE is evaluating, the report including the measurement results that is sent by the UE to the network, called a LI report for LTM, LTM CSI measurement report, or CSI report for Ll / L2-triggered Mobility (LTM). In one option, the report includes at least one or more measurement which were used as input to the triggering conditions which have been fulfilled and triggered the UE to transmit report. In one option for the LTM measurement report, the UE includes a list of identifiers (e.g. resource identifiers or resource indications, or SSB identifiers) each one of them pointing to one or more SSBs and LTM candidate cells where e.g., ID1, is the first element of the list of LTM candidate cell and first element of the list of SSB. When the network receives the report, it means that the report SSB is the one identified by the first element of the list of SSB and belongs to the LTM candidate cell identified by the first element of the list of LTM candidate cells. This may also be called a resource identifier or indicator, such as an SSB resource Identifier (SSBRI), in the case of an RS being an SSB.

[0056] An LTM candidate cell may also be an LTM candidate cell in a 5G Radio access technology, such as NR, or a 6G Radio Access Technology.

[0057] Also, in the different embodiments, the co-called RS of an LTM candidate cell comprises an SSB and / or an RS transmitted in a beam or spatial direction, and / or a Mobility Reference Signal (MRS), a Channel State Information - RS (CSI-RS), or a RS defined for a 6G radio interface.

[0058] Various embodiments herein describe a UE triggering the transmission of an LTM lower layer measurement report upon fulfillment of a triggering condition, wherein the triggering condition consists of a first measurement associated to a first LTM candidate cell without any candidate TCI state being activated (i.e. all TCI states are deactivated) becomes an offset better than a second measurement associated to a second LTM candidate cell for which a candidate TCI state is activated, and transmitting the LTM lower layer report.

[0059] In some embodiments, the transmission of an LTM lower layer measurement report may further include at least one of: sending an indication to NW node indicating that an event mentioned above is met; Receiving request for transmission of measurement report; Receiving UL grant for transmission of measurement report; and Transmitting LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0060] In additional or alternative embodiments, in response to the LTM lower layer measurement report, the UE receives a command indicating the switching of the TCI state (e.g. LTM Cell Switch Command MAC CE or a Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE) which is to be activated in the LTM candidate cell e.g. indicating the UE to deactivate the TCI which is activated, and activating one of the TCI states in the LTM candidate cell which were deactivated. For example, the TCI state to be activated is associated to an SSB which has the highest measurement among other SSBs of the LTM candidate cell e.g. highest Ll-RSRP.

[0061] In additional or alternative embodiments, the condition (or triggering condition for transmitting an LTM lower layer measurement report) “a first measurement associated to a first LTM candidate cell without any candidate TCI state being activated (i.e. all TCI states are deactivated) becomes an offset better than a second measurement associated to a second LTM candidate cell for which a candidate TCI state was activated (i.e., at least one of the TCI state corresponding to the cell)”, may also be characterized as an event the UE is configured by network. Thus, the fulfillment of the condition may correspond to the fulfillment of the event, or the entry condition of the event.

[0062] Embodiments associated with switching of TCI state(s) of the same LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (at least one activated TCI state) are described below.

[0063] In some embodiments, the UE triggers an LTM lower layer measurement report when, for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. has at least one preactivated TCI state), a measurement associated to a beam (or RS) of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than a highest measurement of the beam or RS of the LTM candidate cell (i.e. a change in the best beam for the LTM candidate cell with an activated TCI state). The report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the “best” beam or RS of the LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with has changed, which enables the network to trigger a switching of TCI state for an LTM candidate cell which the UE is DL synchronized with. In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when the best beam of an activated LTM candidate cell changes, the UE only triggers the report when that happens. An RS in this context may be an SSB, CSI-RS, MRS or any other RS defined for 5G, 6G, etc.

[0064] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers the report for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with, while configured with LTM and before an LTM cell Switch command is received. Thus, the DL synchronization status of an LTM candidate cell determines whether that is an applicable cell i.e. a cell for which measurements are to be considered as input to a condition (e.g. entry condition) associated to an event for triggering the transmission of an LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0065] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers an LTM lower layer measurement report when, for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. has at least one pre-activated TCI state), the Layer 1 (LI) RSRP of an S SB of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of SSB (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell with highest LI RSRP (i.e. a change in the best beam in terms of Ll-RSRP for the LTM candidate cell with an activated TCI state). The report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the “best” beam or RS of the LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with has changed, which enables the network to trigger a switching of TCI state for an LTM candidate cell which the UE is DL synchronized with. In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when the best beam of an activated LTM candidate cell changes, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0066] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers an LTM lower layer measurement report when, for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. has at least one pre-activated TCI state), the LI RSRP of an SSB of the LTM candidate cell, which is configured as Quasi-Co-Location (QCL) source of a deactivated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of the SSB (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell configured as QCL source of the activated TCI state (i.e. a change in the best beam in terms of Ll-RSRP for the LTM candidate cell with an activated TCI state). The report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the “best” beam or RS of the LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with has changed, which enables the network to trigger a switching of TCI state for an LTM candidate cell which the UE is DL synchronized with. In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when the best beam of an activated LTM candidate cell becomes another beam, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0067] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may maintain a “state” information to consider what is the SSB with highest Ll-RSRP at a given some point in time. Lor example, while an LTM candidate cell does not have an activated TCI state, there is no best SSB considered, but when the UE receives a command to pre-activate a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, the UE considers the SSB with highest Ll-RSRP as the SSB configured as QCLsource of that TCI state being pre -activated. Thus, when the event define above is configured, the UE has a reference for the best beam which the other beams are compared with.

[0068] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for that event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the UE is DL synchronized with the cell.

[0069] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may evaluate the fulfillment of the triggering condition (e.g. entry condition of the event) for transmitting the LTM lower layer measurement report for an LTM candidate cell the UE is synchronized with e.g. an LTM candidate cell for which at least one TCI state is pre-activated. In other words, the UE could evaluate the event when the LTM candidate cell is a cell the UE becomes DL synchronized with upon reception of a command from the network for TCI state pre -activation. One could consider that the reception of the command from the network for pre -activating a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell which does not have any activated TCI state (e.g. reception of a “Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE MAC CE”) leads the UE to initiate the evaluating of the fulfillment of the condition.

[0070] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated.

[0071] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is deactivated.

[0072] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one of measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell are above a threshold.

[0073] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell are above a threshold.

[0074] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell are above a threshold within a certain time windows.

[0075] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the average of all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell is above a threshold.

[0076] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the average of all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell is above a threshold within a certain time windows.

[0077] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated, and at least one TCI state is deactivated i.e. the LTM candidate cell has multiple candidate TCI states, one is activated, and the UE indicates when another one should be activated instead e.g. in case the UE is capable to have a single activated TCI state for a candidate.

[0078] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may receive an RRC message for configuring one or more parameter associated to the event defined as above. The RRC message (e.g. RRC Reconfiguration) may include a reporting configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI- ReportConfig) and an association resource configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig).

[0079] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration may indicate an identifier (e.g. event ID) so that when the UE receives the configuration the UE determines that the configuration is for the event whose condition is defined as above i.e. “for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. has at least one pre-activated TCI state), the LI RSRP of an SSB of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of SSB (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell with highest LI RSRP, or, for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. has at least one pre-activated TCI state), the LI RSRP of an SSB of the LTM candidate cell, which is configured as QCL source of a deactivated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of the SSB (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell configured as QCL source of the activated TCI state (i.e. a change in the best beam in terms of Ll-RSRP for the LTM candidate cell with an activated TCI state).

[0080] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration may indicate an identifier of a resource configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI-ReportConfigld, included in the reporting configuration), which indicates one or more SSB(s) per one or more associated LTM Candidate cell(s), to be possibly considered as input for the condition associated to the event.Thus, the UE determines the SSB(s) within the resource configuration to be considered as input to the event(s) as the SSB(s) in the resource configuration which are associated to the activated LTM candidate cell which is also in the resource configuration.

[0081] For example, assume an instance of the IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig-rl8 (having an associated identifier e.g. ltm-CSI-ResourceConfigId-rl8) and being grouped in as a resource set (e.g. in the IE LTM-CSI-SSB-ResourceSet-rl8), wherein the resource set may be structure as a first and a second list, wherein the first list comprises one or more SSB indexes and the second list comprises one or more LTM candidate cell identifiers (IDs), wherein the position in the list is associated to an LTM CSI resource in that LTM CSI resource configuration e.g. the instance of the IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig includes the following lists ltm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-rl8 and ltm-CandidateIdList-rl8:Itm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r 18 Itm-CandidateldList-r 18 [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]

[0082] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration is associated to an LTM candidate ID, and no explicitly SSB list is provided in a resource configuration. The UE determines the SSBs associated to the LTM Candidate ID which may be considered as input to the event / triggering condition by obtaining the TCI state configuration. The SSBs considered as possible input are the SSBs configured as QCL source(s) in the Candidate TCI state configuration associated to the LTM candidate cell.

[0083] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE further receives a Candidate TCI State Activation command (e.g. Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE) from the network for pre-activating a TCI state of the LTM Candidate cell ID 2. In response to it, the UE considers the SSBs of the LTM Candidate Cell ID 2 as the SSBs considered as input to the triggering conditions: [SSB1], [SSB2], [SSB3], [SSB4] and [SSB5] of LTM Candidate Cell ID 2.

[0084] In additional or alternative embodiments, the best SSB, to which the other SSBs are compared with in the trigger condition, is the SSB with the highest Ll-RSRP e.g. [SSB3], which is likely the SSB configured as QCL source of TCI State ID 3 which is activated by the command. Thus, the UE triggers the report when “for LTM candidate cell ID 2, the LI RSRP of an SSB of the LTM candidate cell ([SSB1], or [SSB2], or [SSB4], or [SSB5]) becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of SSB 3 (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell.

[0085] In additional or alternative embodiments, when the pre-activated TCI state of the LTM Candidate cell ID 2 is associated to one of the SSBs, that is considered as the best SSB, to which the other SSBs are compared with in the trigger condition. Lor example, assuming that TCI state ID 3 is activated (and [SSB4] is the associated SSB e.g. configured as QCL source of TCI State ID 3), the UE triggers the report when “for LTM candidate cell ID 2, the LI RSRP of an SSB of the LTM candidate cell ([SSB1], or [SSB2], or [SSB4], or [SSB5]) becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of SSB 3 (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell.

[0086] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE transmits an LTM lower layer measurement report when the triggering condition is fulfilled i.e. when for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. has at least one pre-activated TCI state), the Ll-RSRP of an SSB of the LTM candidate cell becomes an offset better than the LI RSRP of SSB (e.g. SS-RSRP) of the LTM candidate cell with highest LI RSRP (i.e. a change in the best beam in terms of Ll-RSRP for the LTM candidate cell with an activated TCI state), wherein the UE includes one or more of the following in the LTM lower layer measurement report (before transmission):- Information about an SSB which has triggered the event (e.g. so-called triggered SSB) such as: o Ll-RSRP o Differential LI RSRP (e.g. relative to a reference value o An SSB identifier e.g. SSB index o Beam identifier o RS identifier o SSB Resource index- Information about the “best” SSB i.e. the SSB of the LTM candidate cell with the highest Ll-RSRP right before the moment in which the vent is triggered (wherein the LTM candidate cell is the cell the UE is DL synchronized with) and / or the SSB configured as QCL source of the activated TCI of the LTM candidate cell o Ll-RSRP o Differential LI RSRP (e.g. relative to a reference value o An SSB identifier e.g. SSB index o Beam identifier o RS identifier o SSB Resource index- Information about the LTM candidate cell associated to the “best” SSB and / or the triggered SSB o LTM Candidate ID- An identifier associated to the measurement which is being triggered e.g. a reporting configuration identifier, and / or a resource configuration identifier, or another identifier associated to the reporting configuration identifier

[0087] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE transmits the LTM lower layer measurement report e.g. by transmitting a MAC Control Element, and / or a report over PUSCH and / or PUCCH. The fulfillment of the triggering condition may be expressed in terms of measurements on RS(s) (e.g. SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) associated to pre-activated TCI states of an LTM candidate cell, and measurements on RS(s) (e.g. SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) associated to deactivated TCI states of that LTM candidate cell, as follows.

[0088] Embodiments associated with switching of (candidate) TCI state(s) of different LTM candidate cells are described below.

[0089] In some embodiments, the UE triggers an LTM lower layer measurement report when, a measurement associated to a first LTM candidate cell which the UE is not DL synchronized with (e.g. does not have an activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than a measurement of a second LTM candidate cell the UE is synchronized with (e.g. has an activated TCI state), i.e. a change in LTM candidate cell to be synchronized with. The report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized is not any longer the “best” cell to be synchronized with, because another LTM candidate cell has better measurements, and, consequently, is a more likely LTM candidate cell to be a target cell in an LTM cell switch. In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when the best LTM candidate cell to be activated changes, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0090] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers the report for an LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with, while configured with LTM and before an LTM cell Switch command is received. Thus, the DL synchronization status of an LTM candidate cell determines whether that is an applicable cell i.e. a cell for which measurements are to be considered as input to a condition (e.g. entry condition) associated to an event for triggering the transmission of an LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0091] In additional or alternative embodiments, for this second variant, the UE triggers the transmission of the LTM lower layer measurement report based on the comparison of cell-based measurements of different LTM candidate cells.

[0092] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may UE trigger an LTM lower layer measurement report when the cell -level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than the cell-level measurement of the second LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR, etc.), wherein the second LTM candidate cell is a cell which the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. a cell for which a TCI state has been pre -activated). The report aimsto indicate to the network, for example, that the LTM candidate cell the UE should be synchronized with has changed, which enables the network to trigger a switching the LTM candidate cell the UE is to be DL synchronized with. In terms of TCI state, the UE may deactivate the TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell and activate the TCI state of the first LTM candidate cell. In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when another LTM candidate cell became the “best” (in terms of measurements) to be activated, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0093] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers an LTM lower layer measurement report when, the cell-level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than the celllevel measurement of the second LTM candidate cell which is the “best” cell among the LTM candidate cells, wherein being the “best” means that the second cell had the highest RSRP measurement before the triggering of the event. The report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the “best” LTM candidate cell has changed, which enables the network to trigger a change in the LTM candidate cell the UE is to be synchronized with: in other words, it enables the network to deactivate the TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell (not the best any longer) and activate the TCI state of the first LTM candidate cell. In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when the best LTM candidate cell is not any longer the previously best, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0094] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may maintain a “state” information to consider what is the “best” LTM candidate cell e.g. the cell with highest measurement at given some point in time. Lor example, while an LTM candidate cell does not have an activated TCI state, there is no best SSB considered, but when the UE receives a command to pre-activate a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, the UE considers that cell as the best cell. Or, alternatively, the “best” LTM candidate cell is the LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with, and / or the LTM candidate cell for which at least one TCI state is activated, and / or the LTM candidate cell with the highest cell-level measurement. Thus, when the event define above is configured, the UE has a reference for the best cell which the other cells are compared with.

[0095] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for that event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the UE is DL synchronized with the cell, when that is the second cell. And, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable forthat event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering conditionassociated to the event) when the UE is not DL synchronized with the cell e.g. when that is the first cell (UE may not compare cells when both are cells with all deactivated TCI states).

[0096] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may evaluate the fulfillment of the triggering condition (e.g. entry condition of the event) for transmitting the LTM lower layer measurement report when at least one of the LTM candidate cells the UE is configured with has at least one activated TCI state. In other words, the UE could evaluate the event when at least one LTM candidate cell is a cell the UE becomes DL synchronized with, upon reception of a command from the network for TCI state pre -activation, so that the UE compares the cell-level measurement of other LTM candidate cells with the cell-level measurements of that cell the UE is DL synchronized with. One could consider that the reception of the command from the network for pre-activating a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell which does not have any activated TCI state (e.g. reception of a “Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE MAC CE”) leads the UE to initiate the evaluating of the fulfillment of the condition.

[0097] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated. That may be considered as the second cell (i.e. the best cell) in the event evaluation.

[0098] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is deactivated. That may be considered as the first cell, to be compared with the second cell.

[0099] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one of measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell are above a threshold.

[0100] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell are above a threshold.

[0101] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell are above a threshold within a certain time windows.

[0102] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the average of all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell is above a threshold.

[0103] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the average of all the measurement(s) on this LTM candidate cell is above a threshold within a certain time windows.

[0104] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated, and the UE is configured with at least another cell for which no TCI state is activated.

[0105] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may receive an RRC message for configuring one or more parameter associated to the event defined as above. The RRC message (e.g. RRC Reconfiguration) may include a reporting configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI- ReportConfig) and an association resource configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig).

[0106] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration may indicate an identifier (e.g. event ID) so that when the UE receives the configuration the UE determines that the configuration is for the event whose condition is defined as“the cell-level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell basedRSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than the cell-level measurement of the second LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR, etc.), wherein the second LTM candidate cell is a cell which the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. a cell for which a TCI state has been pre-activated), or, alternatively, the cell-level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell basedRSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than the cell-level measurement of the second LTM candidate cell which is the “best” cell among the LTM candidate cells, wherein being the “best” means that the second cell had the highest RSRP measurement before the triggering of the event.

[0107] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration may indicate an identifier of a resource configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI-ReportConfigld, included in the reporting configuration), which indicates one or more RS(s), e.g. SSB(s), per one or more associated LTM Candidate cell(s), to be possibly considered as input for the condition associated to the event.

[0108] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may consider the RS(s) per LTM candidate cell in the resource configuration for performing cell level measurements. For example, the UE considers the cell level measurement of an LTM candidate cell as the highest measurement of an RS of the LTM candidate cell, or performing an average of the configured RS(s) e.g. SSBs, or an average of the SSBs with highest measurement and others above a threshold. In other words, even if a given LTM candidate cell has other SSBs associated to it which may be detected by the UE, these are not considered as SSB for cell measurements (or are excluded from the cell quality derivation calculation).

[0109] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may start to evaluate an event, configured in a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, when the UE receives a command to activate a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell indicated in the resource configuration, and there is at least another LTM candidate cell without any activated TCI states. In other words, when the resource configuration does not indicate an LTM candidate which has an activated TCI state, the UE does not evaluate the triggering conditions of the event, since the UE compare LTM candidate cells indicated in the resource configuration.

[0110] For example, let us assume an instance of the IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig-r 18 (having an associated identifier e.g. ltm-CSI-ResourceConfigId-rl8) and being grouped in as a resource set (e.g. in the IE LTM-CSI-SSB-ResourceSet-rl8), wherein the resource set may be structure as a first and a second list, wherein the first list comprises one or more SSB indexes and the second list comprises one or more LTM candidate cell identifiers (IDs), wherein the position in the list is associated to an LTM CSI resource in that LTM CSI resource configuration e.g. the instance of the IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig includes the following lists Itm-CSI-SSB- ResourceList-rl8 and ltm-CandidateIdList-rl8:Itm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r 18 Itm-CandidateldList-r 18• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1]• [SSB 1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2]• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]

[0111] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration is associated to an LTM candidate ID, and no explicitly SSB list is provided in a resource configuration. The UE determines the SSBs to be considered as input for cell level measurements, as the SSBs associated to the LTM Candidate ID which may be considered as input to the event / triggering condition by obtaining the TCI state configuration. The SSBs considered as possible input for cell quality / measurement derivation are the SSBs configured as QCL source(s) in the Candidate TCI state configuration associated to the LTM candidate cell.

[0112] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE further receives a Candidate TCI State Activation command (e.g. Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE) from the network for pre-activating a TCI state of the LTM Candidate cell ID 2. In response to it, the UE may start evaluating the event when the UE receives the command for activated a TCI state of an LTM Candidate e.g. LTM candidate ID 2, so that the UE starts to compare the cell level measurement of the other LTM candidate cells configured in that associated resourceconfiguration (e.g. LTM candidate ID1, LTM Candidate ID 3, LTM Candidate ID 4, LTM Candidate ID 5) with the LTM Candidate ID 2.

[0113] In additional or alternative embodiments, the best LTM candidate cell, to which the other LTM candidate cells are compared with in the trigger condition, is the LTM candidate cell with the highest cell level measurement, among the LTM candidate cells configured in the resource configuration. That cell is likely the one the UE is DL synchronized with, i.e., with an activated TCI state by the received command from the network. Thus, the UE triggers the report when “the RSRP of LTM candidate cell ID X (ID 1 and / or ID 3, and / or ID 4, and / or ID 5) becomes an offset better than the RSRP of the LTM candidate cell ID2.

[0114] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE transmits an LTM lower layer measurement report when the triggering condition is fulfilled i.e. when . . . wherein the UE includes one or more of the following in the LTM lower layer measurement report (before transmission):- Information about one or more LTM candidate cells which has triggered the event (e.g. so-called triggered LTM candidate cell) such as: oLl-RSRP o Differential LI RSRP (e.g. relative to a reference value o An SSB identifier e.g. SSB index o Beam identifier o RS identifier o SSB Resource index o LTM Candidate ID o In one option, the UE includes the cell level measurement which triggers the event oln one option, the UE includes the SSB level measurements for SSBs of the LTM Candidate cell which triggers the event. That may be included e.g. based on a parameter in the reporting configuration in which the event is configured.- Information about the “best” cell i.e. the LTM candidate cell with the highest measurement (e.g. RSRP) before the moment in which the event is triggered (wherein the LTM candidate cell is the cell the UE is DL synchronized with) oLl-RSRP o Differential LI RSRP (e.g. relative to a reference value o An SSB identifier e.g. SSB index o Beam identifiero RS identifier o SSB Resource index o In one option, the UE includes the cell level measurement which triggers the event oln one option, the UE includes the SSB level measurements for SSBs of the LTM Candidate cell which triggers the event. That may be included e.g. based on a parameter in the reporting configuration in which the event is configured. o LTM Candidate ID- An identifier associated to the measurement which is being triggered e.g. a reporting configuration identifier, and / or a resource configuration identifier, or another identifier associated to the reporting configuration identifier

[0115] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE transmits the LTM lower layer measurement report e.g. by transmitting a MAC Control Element, and / or a report over PUSCH and / or PUCCH.

[0116] In additional or alternative embodiments, the fulfillment of the triggering condition may be expressed in terms of measurements on RS(s) (e.g. SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) associated to pre-activated TCI states of an LTM candidate cell, and measurements on RS(s) (e.g. SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) associated to deactivated TCI states of that LTM candidate cell, as follows.

[0117] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers the transmission of the LTM lower layer measurement report based on the comparison of beam -based measurements of different LTM candidate cells.

[0118] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may UE trigger an LTM lower layer measurement report when a beam -level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than a second beam-level measurement of the second LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR, etc.), wherein the second LTM candidate cell is a cell which the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. a cell for which a TCI state has been pre-activated). In one option, the second beam-level measurement of the second LTM candidate cell, corresponds to the highest measurement of a beam of that second LTM candidate cell e.g. highest SS-RSRP of an SSB among other SSBs of the second LTM candidate cell which the UE is DL synchronized with. And the first beam-level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell, corresponds to the highest measurement of a beam of that first LTM candidate cell e.g. highest SS-RSRP of an SSB among other SSBs of the first LTM candidate cell.

[0119] In additional or alternative embodiments, the report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the LTM candidate cell the UE should be synchronized with has changed, bycomparing the best beam of the different LTM candidate cells which are not synchronized with the best beam of the LTM candidate cell the UE is synchronized with. This enables the network to trigger a switching the LTM candidate cell the UE is to be DL synchronized with, and, change the beam and LTM candidate cell to be in sync. In terms of TCI state, the UE may deactivate the TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell (associated to the second beam / RS e.g. SSB configured as QCL source of that TCI state) and activate the TCI state of the first LTM candidate cell (associated to the first beam / RS e.g. SSB configured as QCL source of that TCI state). In other words, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when another LTM candidate cell became the “best” (in terms of measurements) to be activated, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0120] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE triggers an LTM lower layer measurement report when, the highest beam-level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than the beam-level measurement of the “best” beam of the second LTM candidate cell, wherein the “best” beam is associated to a RS (e.g. SSB) associate dto the TCI state which is activated. Lor example, the “best” beam (e.g. best SSB) is the SSB configured as QCL source of the TCI state which is activated for the second LTM candidate cell. The report aims to indicate to the network, for example, that the “best” beam among the different LTM candidate cell(s) the UE is configured with (e.g. among the LTM candidate cell sand / or beams configured in the resource configuration associated to the reporting configuration) has changed, which enables the network to trigger a change in the TCI state that is to be activated (among the TCI states of the different LTM candidate cells): in other words, it enables the network to deactivate the TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell (not the best any longer) and activate the TCI state of the first LTM candidate cell. Thus, instead of sending periodic reports to the network so the network detects when the best beam among beams of the multiple LTM candidate cells is not any longer the previously best, the UE only triggers the report when that happens.

[0121] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may maintain a “state” information to consider what is the “best” beam (e.g. “best” RS, best SSB) among the beams of multiple LTM candidate cells e.g. the beam with highest measurement at given some point in time. Lor example, while an LTM candidate cell does not have an activated TCI state, there is no best SSB considered, but when the UE receives a command to pre-activate a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, the UE considers the beam / RS associated to that TCI state as the best beam. Or, alternatively, the “best” beam is the beam of the LTM candidate cell the UE is DL synchronized with, associated to the TCI state which is activated, and / or the beam of the LTM candidate cellwith activated TCI having the highest beam-level measurement (e.g. highest SS-RSRP, Ll- RSRP) . Thus, when the event define above is configured, the UE has a reference for the best beam which the beam(s) of other cells are to be compared with.

[0122] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for that event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the UE is DL synchronized with the cell, when that is the second cell. And, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for that event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the UE is not DL synchronized with the cell e.g. when that is the first cell (UE may not compare cells when both are cells with all deactivated TCI states).

[0123] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may evaluate the fulfillment of the triggering condition (e.g. entry condition of the event) for transmitting the LTM lower layer measurement report when at least one of the LTM candidate cells the UE is configured with has at least one activated TCI state. In other words, the UE could evaluate the event when at least one LTM candidate cell is a cell the UE becomes DL synchronized with, upon reception of a command from the network for TCI state pre -activation, so that the UE compares the beam -level measurement of other LTM candidate cells with the beam-level measurements of that cell the UE is DL synchronized with (e.g. the beam level measurement associated to the activated TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell). One could consider that the reception of the command from the network for pre-activating a TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell which does not have any activated TCI state (e.g. reception of a “Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE MAC CE”) leads the UE to initiate the evaluating of the fulfillment of the condition.

[0124] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated. That may be considered as the second cell (i.e. the best cell) in the event evaluation. In one option, the UE considers a beam (or RS, e.g., SSB) as an applicable beam for an event (i.e. a beam-level measurements are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the beam is associate to a TCI state which is activated e.g. the SSB is applicable when that SSB is configured as QCL source of an activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell).

[0125] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a beam-level measurement of that cell is to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidatecell is deactivated. That may be considered as the first cell, to be compared with the second cell.In one option, the UE considers a beam (or RS, e.g., SSB) as an applicable beam for an event (i.e. a beam-level measurements are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the beam is associate to a TCI state which is deactivated e.g. the SSB is applicable when that SSB is configured as QCL source of an activated TCI state of the LTM candidate cell).

[0126] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as an applicable cell for an event when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated, and the UE is configured with at least another cell for which no TCI state is activated.

[0127] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may receive an RRC message for configuring one or more parameter associated to the event defined as above. The RRC message (e.g. RRC Reconfiguration) may include a reporting configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI- ReportConfig) and an association resource configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig).

[0128] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration may indicate an identifier (e.g. event ID) so that when the UE receives the configuration the UE determines that the configuration is for the event whose condition is defined as“a beam-level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. SS-RSRP, SS- RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than a second beam-level measurement of the second LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR, etc.), wherein the second LTM candidate cell is a cell which the UE is DL synchronized with (i.e. a cell for which a TCI state has been pre-activated) or, alternatively, the highest beam -level measurement of the first LTM candidate cell (e.g. cell based RSRP, cell based RSRQ, cell based SINR of the LTM candidate cell) the UE is not DL synchronized (i.e. does not have a pre-activated TCI state) becomes an offset better than the beam-level measurement of the “best” beam of the second LTM candidate cell, wherein the “best” beam is associated to a RS (e.g. SSB) associate dto the TCI state which is activated.

[0129] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration may indicate an identifier of a resource configuration (e.g. LTM-CSI-ReportConfigld, included in the reporting configuration), which indicates one or more RS(s), e.g. SSB(s), per one or more associated LTM Candidate cell(s), to be possibly considered as input for the condition associated to the event.

[0130] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may consider the RS(s), e.g., SSB, per LTM candidate cell in the resource configuration for performing beam level measurements.In other words, even if a given LTM candidate cell has other SSBs associated to it which may be detected by the UE, these are not considered as SSB for beam level measurements to be used as input for the event evaluation.

[0131] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may start to evaluate an event, configured in a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, when the UE receives a command to activate a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell indicated in the resource configuration, for a beam (RS e.g. SSB) in the resource configuration, SSB).

[0132] In additional or alternative embodiments, there is at least another LTM candidate cell without any activated TCI states. In other words, when the resource configuration does not indicate an LTM candidate which has an activated TCI state, or an RS (e.g. SSB) associated to the activated TCI state, the UE does not evaluate the triggering conditions of the event, since the UE compare beams (RSs e.g. SSBs) of LTM candidate cells indicated in the resource configuration.

[0133] Lor example, let us assume an instance of the IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig-rl8 (having an associated identifier e.g. ltm-CSI-ResourceConfigId-rl8) and being grouped in as a resource set (e.g. in the IE LTM-CSI-SSB-ResourceSet-rl8), wherein the resource set may be structure as a first and a second list, wherein the first list comprises one or more SSB indexes and the second list comprises one or more LTM candidate cell identifiers (IDs), wherein the position in the list is associated to an LTM CSI resource in that LTM CSI resource configuration e.g. the instance of the IE LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig includes the following lists Itm-CSI-SSB- ResourceList-rl8 and ltm-CandidateIdList-rl8:Itm-CSI-SSB-ResourceList-r 18 Itm-CandidateldList-r 18 [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 1][SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 2][SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3][SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 3]• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 4]• [SSB1] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB2] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB3] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB4] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]• [SSB5] [LTM Candidate cell ID 5]

[0134] In some examples, the UE may consider SSB1, SSB2, SSB3, SSB4, SSB5 per LTM candidate cell in the resource configuration for performing beam level measurements. In other words, even if a given LTM candidate cell has other SSBs associated to it (e.g. SSB7, SSB8) which may be detected by the UE, these are not considered as SSB for beam level measurements to be used as input for the event evaluation.

[0135] In additional or alternative examples, the UE may start to evaluate an event, configured in a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, when the UE receives a command to activate a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell ID 2 indicated in the resource configuration, for a beam (RS) in the resource configuration (e.g. SSB2), and there is at least another LTM candidate cell without any activated TCI states.

[0136] In additional or alternative embodiments, the reporting configuration is associated to an LTM candidate ID, and no explicitly SSB list is provided in a resource configuration. The UE determines the SSBs to be considered as input for cell level measurements, as the SSBs associated to the LTM Candidate ID which may be considered as input to the event / triggering condition by obtaining the TCI state configuration. The SSBs considered as possible input are the SSBs configured as QCL source(s) in the Candidate TCI state configuration associated to the LTM candidate cell.

[0137] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE further receives a Candidate TCI State Activation command (e.g. Candidate Cell TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE) from the network for pre-activating a TCI state of the LTM Candidate cell ID 2. In response to it, the UE may start evaluating the event when the UE receives the command for activated a TCI state of an LTM Candidate e.g. LTM candidate ID 2, so that the UE starts to compare the highest beam level measurement of the other LTM candidate cells configured in that associated resource configuration (e.g. LTM candidate ID1, LTM Candidate ID 3, LTM Candidate ID 4, LTM Candidate ID 5) with the beam measurement of LTM Candidate ID 2 associated to the activated TCI state e.g. the SSB measurement of the SSB configured as QCL source of the activated TCI state of the LTM Candidate ID 2.

[0138] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE transmits an LTM lower layer measurement report when the triggering condition is fulfilled i.e. when . . . wherein the UE includes one or more of the following in the LTM lower layer measurement report (before transmission):- Information about one or more SSBs which has triggered the event (e.g. so-called triggered SSBs) such as: oLl-RSRP o Differential LI RSRP (e.g. relative to a reference value o An SSB identifier e.g. SSB index o Beam identifier o RS identifier o SSB Resource index o LTM Candidate ID o In one option, the UE includes the cell level measurement which triggers the event oln one option, the UE includes the SSB level measurements for SSBs of the LTM Candidate cell which triggers the event. That may be included e.g. based on a parameter in the reporting configuration in which the event is configured.- Information about the “best” SSB associated with the activated TCI state of the second LTM candidate cell oLl-RSRP o Differential LI RSRP (e.g. relative to a reference value o An SSB identifier e.g. SSB index o Beam identifiero RS identifier o SSB Resource index o In one option, the UE includes the cell level measurement which triggers the event oln one option, the UE includes the SSB level measurements for SSBs of the LTM Candidate cell which triggers the event. That may be included e.g. based on a parameter in the reporting configuration in which the event is configured. o LTM Candidate ID- An identifier associated to the measurement which is being triggered e.g. a reporting configuration identifier, and / or a resource configuration identifier, or another identifier associated to the reporting configuration identifier

[0139] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE transmits the LTM lower layer measurement report e.g. by transmitting a MAC Control Element, and / or a report over PUSCH and / or PUCCH.

[0140] In additional or alternative embodiments, the fulfillment of the triggering condition may be expressed in terms of measurements on RS(s) (e.g. SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) associated to pre-activated TCI states of an LTM candidate cell, and measurements on RS(s) (e.g. SSB, CSI-RS, MRS, etc.) associated to deactivated TCI states of that LTM candidate cell, as follows.

[0141] In additional or alternative embodiments, it is described that a measurement (e.g. cell level, beam level) becomes an offset better another measurement (e.g. cell level, beam level). In that context, a measurement may be associated to a measurement quantity, such as one of the following:Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ)Signal-to-noise and Interference Ratio (SINR)

[0142] The measurement quantity may be associated to a parameter in the reporting configuration, which configures the event.

[0143] For example, the measurement which is compared with another may be a comparison of a beam level RSRP with another beam level RSRP. In the case the comparison is for measurements of individual SSBs, a measurement is associated to a measurement quantity, such as:SS reference signal received power (SS-RSRP)SS reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ)SS signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SS-SINR)

[0144] In the case the comparison is for measurements of individual CSI-RS resources, a measurement is associated to a measurement quantity, such asCSI-RS reference signal received power (CSI-RSRP)CSI-RS reference signal received quality (CSI-RSRQ)CSI-RS signal-to-noise and interference ratio (CSI-SINR)

[0145] In additional or alternative embodiments, the measurement is LI filtered. For example, in the case the measurement is an RSRP, this may be a LI filtered RSRP (Ll-RSRP) which is used as input to the event.

[0146] In additional or alternative embodiments, the measurement is L2 filtered e.g. as a MAC layer configuration. For example, in the case the measurement is an RSRP, this may be a L2 filtered RSRP (L2-RSRP) which is used as input to the event.

[0147] In additional or alternative embodiments, a first measurement becoming an offset better than a second measurement may be expressed as follows:First measurement > Second measurement + OffsetThe variables in the formula are defined as follows:First measurement is the measurement result of the LTM candidate cell (e.g. beam level), not taking into account any offsets.Second measurement is the measurement result of the LTM candidate cell which has an acticate TCI state, not taking into account any offsets.Offset is the offset parameter for this event (e.g. defined within the reporting configuration for LTM reporting)First measurement, Second measurement are expressed in dBm in case of RSRP, or in dB in case of RSRQ and RS-SINR.

[0148] In some embodiments, the UE triggers the transmission of the LTM lower layer measurement report based on the comparison of beam-based measurements of different LTM candidate cells. Beam-based measurements in this context comprises measurements on

[0149] Even if cells are different this does not preclude the usage of best beam measurements per LTM candidate cell e.g. SSB with highest SS-RSRP compared to SSB of activated TCI state.

[0150] In additional or alternative embodiments, an LTM CSI measurement report (which may also be called e.g. LTM lower layer measurement report, a CSI report, or CSI report for L1 / L2 -triggered mobility, or LI measurement report, or lower layer report for LTM) comprises measurement information associated to an LTM CSI resource which is included in the LTM CSI measurement report, for example, measurement information associated to an SSB Resource Indicator (SSBRI), such as one or more of the following:Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (Ll-RSRP)Differential Ll-RSRPLayer 1 reference signal received quality (Ll-RSRQ)Differential Ll-RSRQ- Layer 1 SINR (LI -SINR)Differential LI -SINRSS reference signal received power (SS-RSRP)SS reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ)SS signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SS-SINR)

[0151] In additional or alternative embodiments, for Ll-RSRP reporting, when the higher layer parameters [noOfReportedCells] and [noOfReportedRSPerCell] are both configured to be one, the reported Ll-RSRP value is defined by a 7-bit value in the range [-140, -44] dBm with IdB step size, or if any of the higher layer parameters [noOfReportedCells] and [noOfReportedRSPerCell] is configured to be larger than one, the UE uses differential Ll-RSRP based reporting for the LTM CSI resources whichathe UE selects to be included in the LTM CSI measurement report, where the largest measured value of Ll-RSRP is quantized to a 7-bit value in the range [-140, -44] dBm with IdB step size, and the differential Ll-RSRP is quantized to a 4-bit value. The differential Ll-RSRP value is computed with 2 dB step size with a reference to the largest measured Ll-RSRP value which is part of the same Ll-RSRP reporting instance.

[0152] In additional or alternative embodiments, SS reference signal received power (SS- RSRP), for example, may be be defined as the linear average over the power contributions (in [W]) of the resource elements that carry secondary synchronization signals. The measurement time resource(s) for SS-RSRP are confined within SS / PBCH Block Measurement Time Configuration (SMTC) window duration. If SS-RSRP is used for Ll-RSRP as configured by reporting configurations as defined in TS 38.214, the measurement time resources(s) restriction by SMTC window duration is not applicable.

[0153] In additional or alternative embodiments, For SS-RSRP determination demodulation reference signals for physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and, if indicated by higher layers, CSI reference signals in addition to secondary synchronization signals may be used. SS-RSRP using demodulation reference signal for PBCH or CSI reference signal shall be measured by linear averaging over the power contributions of the resource elements that carry corresponding reference signals taking into account power scaling for the reference signals as defined in TS38.213. If SS-RSRP is not used for Ll-RSRP, the additional use of CSI reference signals for SS- RSRP determination is not applicable.

[0154] In additional or alternative embodiments, SS-RSRP shall be measured only among the reference signals corresponding to SS / PBCH blocks with the same SS / PBCH block index and the same physical-layer cell identity.

[0155] In additional or alternative embodiments, if SS-RSRP is not used for Ll-RSRP and higher-layers indicate certain SS / PBCH blocks for performing SS-RSRP measurements, then SS-RSRP is measured only from the indicated set of SS / PBCH block(s).

[0156] In additional or alternative embodiments, for frequency range 1, the reference point for the SS-RSRP shall be the antenna connector of the UE. For frequency range 2, SS-RSRP shall be measured based on the combined signal from antenna elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. For frequency range 1 and 2, if receiver diversity is in use by the UE, the reported SS-RSRP value shall not be lower than the corresponding SS-RSRP of any of the individual receiver branches.

[0157] In additional or alternative embodiments, the number of resource elements within the measurement period that are used by the UE to determine SS-RSRP is left up to the UE implementation with the limitation that corresponding measurement accuracy requirements have to be fulfilled.

[0158] In additional or alternative embodiments, the power per resource element is determined from the energy received during the useful part of the symbol, excluding the CP.

[0159] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the UE is DL synchronized with the cell.

[0160] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement(s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is activated.

[0161] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurement s) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when the UE is not DL synchronized with the cell.

[0162] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE considers an LTM candidate cell as applicable for an event (i.e. a cell whose measurements) are to be used as input to the triggering condition associated to the event) when at least one TCI state of the LTM candidate cell is deactivated.

[0163] Operations of a communication device 800 (implemented using the structure of Figure 8) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 5 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 810 of Figure 8, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective communication device processing circuitry 802, communication device 800 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0164] At block 510, processing circuitry 802 receives, via communication interface 812, an indication of configuration information. In some embodiments, the configuration information configures the communication device to transmit the LTM lower layer report in response to the triggering condition being met.

[0165] In additional or alternative embodiments, receiving the indication of the configuration information includes receiving a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, the resource configuration indicating at least one resource to be measured and used as input to the triggering condition.

[0166] At block 520, processing circuitry 802 determines a first measurement.

[0167] At block 530, processing circuitry 802 determines a second measurement.

[0168] At block 540, processing circuitry 802 determines that a triggering condition is met.

[0169] In some embodiments, determining that the triggering condition is met includes determining a triggering condition is met based on a difference between the first measurement and the second measurement. The first measurement can be associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate TCI state. The second measurement can associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated.

[0170] In some examples, the first LTM candidate cell does not have any activated candidate TCI state.

[0171] In additional or alternative examples, determining that the triggering condition is met includes determining that the first measurement is an offset better than the second measurement.

[0172] In additional or alternative examples, the first measurement includes a beam measurement of a first beam of the first LTM candidate cell. The first measurement can include an indication of a best beam of the first LTM candidate cell.

[0173] In additional or alternative examples, the second measurement can include a beam measurement of a second beam of the second LTM candidate cell. The second measurement can include an indication of a best beam of the second LTM candidate cell.

[0174] At block 550, processing circuitry 802 transmits, via communication interface 812, a LTM lower layer measurement report. In some embodiments, transmitting the LTM lower layermeasurement report includes transmitting at least one of: an indication of the first measurement; an indication of the second measurement; an indication of the first LTM candidate cell associated with the first measurement; an indication of the second LGM candidate cell associated with the second measurement; and an indication of a reporting configuration associated with the LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0175] At block 560, processing circuitry 802 receives, via communication interface 812, a command. In some embodiments, the TCI state activated within the second LTM candidate cell is a second TCI state. The command can be received in response to transmitting the LTM lower layer report and can indicate an activation of a first TCI state within the first LTM candidate cell. In some examples, the command further indicates a deactivation of the second TCI state within the second LTM candidate cell.

[0176] In additional or alternative embodiments, receiving the command includes receiving a LTM cell switching command, wherein the first TCI state is different than the second TCI state.

[0177] In additional or alternative embodiments, receiving the command includes receiving a TCI state activation command or a TCI state deactivation command.

[0178] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 5 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of communication devices and related methods.

[0179] Operations of a network node 800 (implemented using the structure of Figure 9) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 6 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 904 of Figure 9, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective network node processing circuitry 902, network node 900 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0180] At block 610, processing circuitry 902 transmits, via communication interface 906, an indication of configuration information. In some embodiments, transmitting the indication of the configuration information includes transmitting the indication of the configuration information to a communication device, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit a layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, lower layer report in response to fulfillment of a triggering condition, the triggering condition being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated.

[0181] In some examples, the first LTM candidate cell does not have any activated candidate TCI state.

[0182] At block 620, processing circuitry 902 receives, via communication interface 906, aLTM lower layer measurement report. In some embodiments, receiving the LTM lower layer measurement report includes receiving at least one of: an indication of the first measurement; an indication of the second measurement; an indication of the first LTM candidate cell associated with the first measurement; an indication of the second LGM candidate cell associated with the second measurement; and an indication of a reporting configuration associated with the LTM lower layer measurement report.

[0183] In additional or alternative embodiments, transmitting the indication of the configuration information to the communication device includes transmitting an indication that the communication device transmit the LTM lower layer report in response to the first measurement being an offset better than the second measurement.

[0184] In additional or alternative embodiments, transmitting the indication of the configuration information to the communication device comprises transmitting an indication that the communication device transmit the LTM lower layer report in response to the second measurement being an offset better than the first measurement.

[0185] In some examples, the first measurement comprises a beam measurement of a first beam of the first LTM candidate cell. The first measurement can include an indication of a best beam of the first LTM candidate cell.

[0186] In additional or alternative examples, the second measurement comprises a beam measurement of a second beam of the second LTM candidate cell. The second measurement can include an indication of a best beam of the second LTM candidate cell.

[0187] In additional or alternative embodiments, transmitting the indication of the configuration information includes transmitting a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, the resource configuration indicating at least one resource to be measured and used as input to the triggering condition.

[0188] At block 630, processing circuitry 902 transmits, via communication interface 906, a command. In some embodiments, the TCI state activated within the second LTM candidate cell is a second TCI state. Transmitting the command can include, responsive to receiving the LTM lower layer report, transmitting a command indicating an activation of a first TCI state within the first LTM candidate cell. In some examples, the command further indicates a deactivation of the second TCI state within the second LTM candidate cell.

[0189] In additional or alternative embodiments, transmitting the command comprises transmitting a LTM cell switching command, wherein the first TCI state is different than the second TCI state.

[0190] In additional or alternative embodiments, transmitting the command includes transmitting a TCI state activation command or a TCI state deactivation command.

[0191] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 6 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of communication devices and related methods.

[0192] FIG. 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0193] In the example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunication network 702 that includes an access network 704, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 706, which includes one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 710a and 710b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the network nodes 710 are not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that the network nodes 710 may include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 702 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 702, including one or more network nodes 710 and / or core network nodes 708.

[0194] 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 or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time RAN control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time RAN automation application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Intents and content-aware notifications described herein may be communicated from a 3GPP network node or an ORANnetwork node over 3GPP-defmed interfaces (e.g., N2, N3) and / or ORAN Alliance-defined interfaces (e.g., Al, 01). Moreover, an ORAN network 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 0-RAN Alliance. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting wireless devices 712a, 712b, 712c, and 712d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 712a, 712b, 712c, and 712d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0195] 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 communication system 700 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 communication system 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0196] The UEs 712 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 702 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 702.

[0197] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects the network nodes 710 to one or more hosts, such as host 716. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 706 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / orhosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 708. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0198] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunication network 702, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0199] As a whole, the communication system 700 of FIG. 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0200] In some examples, the telecommunication network 702 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 702. For example, the telecommunications network 702 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0201] In some examples, the UEs 712 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 704. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi -standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved- UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0202] In the example, the hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 710b). In some examples, the hub 714 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 714 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 714. As another example, the hub 714 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 714 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0203] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710b. The hub 714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 714 and UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d), and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 714 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 710 while still connected via the hub 714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 714 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 710b. In other embodiments,the hub 714 may be a non -dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 710b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0204] FIG. 8 shows a UE 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE 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-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-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0205] 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).

[0206] The UE 800 includes processing circuitry 802 that is operatively coupled via a bus 804 to an input / output interface 806, a power source 808, a memory 810, a communication interface 812, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in FIG. 8. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0207] The processing circuitry 802 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 810. The processing circuitry 802 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 802 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0208] In the example, the input / output interface 806 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 800. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0209] In some embodiments, the power source 808 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 808 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 808 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 800 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 808. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 808 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 800 to which power is supplied.

[0210] The memory 810 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 810 includes one or more application programs 814, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine,or other application, and corresponding data 816. The memory 810 may store, for use by the UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0211] The memory 810 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini -dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 810 may allow the UE 800 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 810, which may be or comprise a device -readable storage medium.

[0212] The processing circuitry 802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 812. The communication interface 812 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 822. The communication interface 812 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 818 and / or a receiver 820 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 818 and receiver 820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 822) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0213] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 812 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such asIEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / intemet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0214] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 812, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0215] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0216] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non -limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 800 shown in FIG. 8.

[0217] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0218] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0219] FIG. 9 shows a network node 900 in accordance with some embodiments. 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), NRNodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes, or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., intelligent controller, O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0220] 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 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).

[0221] 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 transceiverstations (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).

[0222] The network node 900 includes a processing circuitry 902, a memory 904, a communication interface 906, and a power source 908. The network node 900 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 900 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 900 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 904 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 900 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 900, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 900.

[0223] The processing circuitry 902 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 900 components, such as the memory 904, to provide network node 900 functionality.

[0224] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and the baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0225] The memory 904 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 902. The memory 904 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 902 and utilized by the network node 900. The memory 904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 906. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 and memory 904 is integrated.

[0226] The communication interface 906 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 906 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 916 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 906 also includes radio front-end circuitry 918 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 910. Radio front-end circuitry 918 comprises filters 920 and amplifiers 922. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may be connected to an antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 920 and / or amplifiers 922. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 910. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 910 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 918. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 902. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0227] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 900 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 918, instead, the processing circuitry 902 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 912 is part of the communication interface 906. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 906 includes one or more ports or terminals 916, theradio front-end circuitry 918, and the RF transceiver circuitry 912, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 906 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 914, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0228] The antenna 910 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 910 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 918 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 910 is separate from the network node 900 and connectable to the network node 900 through an interface or port.

[0229] The antenna 910, communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 910, the communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0230] The power source 908 provides power to the various components of network node 900 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 908 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 900 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 900 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 908. As a further example, the power source 908 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0231] Embodiments of the network node 900 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 9 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 900 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 900 and to allow output of information from the network node 900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 900.

[0232] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a host 1000, which may be an embodiment of the host 716 of FIG. 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1000 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1000 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0233] The host 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a network interface 1008, a power source 1010, and a memory 1012. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as FIGS. 8 and 9, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1000.

[0234] The memory 1012 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1014 and data 1016, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1000 or data generated by the host 1000 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1000 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1014 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1014 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1000 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1014 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0235] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented asvirtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1100 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1100 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0236] Applications 1102 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0237] Hardware 1104 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108a and 1108b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0238] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1108, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0239] In the context of NFV, a VM 1108 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1108, and that part of hardware 1104 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to the application 1102.

[0240] Hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1104 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0241] FIG. 12 shows a communication diagram of a host 1202 communicating via a network node 1204 with a UE 1206 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 712a of FIG. 7 and / or UE 800 of FIG. 8), network node (such as network node 710a of FIG. 7 and / or network node 900 of FIG. 9), and host (such as host 716 of FIG. 7 and / or host 1000 of FIG. 10) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 12.

[0242] Like host 1000, embodiments of host 1202 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1202 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1202 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1206 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1250 extending between the UE 1206 and host 1202. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1250.

[0243] The network node 1204 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1202 and UE 1206. The connection 1260 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 706 of FIG. 7) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0244] The UE 1206 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1206 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a clientapplication, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1206 with the support of the host 1202. In the host 1202, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1250 terminating at the UE 1206 and host 1202. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1250 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1250.

[0245] The OTT connection 1250 may extend via a connection 1260 between the host 1202 and the network node 1204 and via a wireless connection 1270 between the network node 1204 and the UE 1206 to provide the connection between the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 and wireless connection 1270, over which the OTT connection 1250 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 via the network node 1204, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0246] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1250, in step 1208, the host 1202 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1206. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1206 that shares data with the host 1202 without explicit human interaction. In step 1210, the host 1202 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1206. The host 1202 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1206. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1206 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1206. The transmission may pass via the network node 1204, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1212, the network node 1204 transmits to the UE 1206 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1202 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1214, the UE 1206 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1206 associated with the host application executed by the host 1202.

[0247] In some examples, the UE 1206 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1202. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1202. Accordingly, in step 1216, the UE 1206 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interfaceof the UE 1206. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1206 initiates, in step 1218, transmission of the user data towards the host 1202 via the network node 1204. In step 1220, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1204 receives user data from the UE 1206 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1202. In step 1222, the host 1202 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1206.

[0248] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1206 using the OTT connection 1250, in which the wireless connection 1270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may enable savings in terms of UE power consumption and UL resources on the network side, because unnecessary transmissions, as in periodic reports, would not be performed when the UE only transmits the LI report for LTM when the condition is fulfilled i.e. when there is an SSB in the LTM candidate cell, associated to a candidate TCI state which is deactivated, which becomes an offset better than the SSB in the LTM candidate cell, associated to a candidate TCI state which is activated, which indicates to the network the need to switch the TCI state to be activated.

[0249] In other words, the UE only transmits the LI report for LTM when a beam in the LTM candidate cell for which the UE is not DL synchronized, becomes an offset better than a beam in the LTM candidate cell for which the UE is DL synchronized, which indicates to the network the need to switch the beam to be synchronized with.

[0250] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1202. As another example, the host 1202 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1202 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1202 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1202 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1202 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0251] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1250 between the host 1202 and UE 1206, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTTconnection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1202 and / or UE 1206. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1250 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1204. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1202. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1250 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0252] 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.

[0253] 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-transitory 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.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a communication device, the method comprising: determining (540) that a triggering condition is met based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and responsive to determining that the triggering condition is met, transmitting (550) a LTM lower layer measurement report.

2. The method of Claim 1, further comprising: determining (520) the first measurement; and determining (530) the second measurement.

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, wherein the first LTM candidate cell does not have any activated candidate TCI state.

4. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein transmitting the LTM lower layer measurement report includes transmitting at least one of: an indication of the first measurement; an indication of the second measurement; an indication of the first LTM candidate cell associated with the first measurement; an indication of the second LGM candidate cell associated with the second measurement; and an indication of a reporting configuration associated with the LTM lower layer measurement report.

5. The method of any of Claims 1-4, wherein determining that the triggering condition is met comprises determining that the first measurement is an offset better than the second measurement.

6. The method of any of Claims 1-4, wherein determining that the triggering condition is metcomprises determining that the second measurement is an offset better than the first measurement.

7. The method of any of Claims 1-6, wherein the first measurement comprises a beam measurement of a first beam of the first LTM candidate cell, and wherein the second measurement comprises a beam measurement of a second beam of the second LTM candidate cell.

8. The method of Claims 7, wherein the first measurement comprises an indication of a best beam of the first LTM candidate cell.

9. The method of Claim 7, wherein the second measurement comprises an indication of a best beam of the second LTM candidate cell.

10. The method of any of Claims 1-9, wherein the TCI state activated within the second LTM candidate cell is a second TCI state, the method further comprising: responsive to transmitting the LTM lower layer report, receiving (560) a command indicating an activation of a first TCI state within the first LTM candidate cell.

11. The method of Claim 10, wherein the command further indicates a deactivation of the second TCI state within the second LTM candidate cell.

12. The method of any of Claims 10-11, wherein receiving the command comprises receiving a LTM cell switching command, wherein the first TCI state is different than the second TCI state.

13. The method of any of Claims 10-11, wherein receiving the command comprises receiving a TCI state activation command or a TCI state deactivation command.

14. The method of any of Claims 1-13, further comprising: receiving (510) an indication of configuration information from a network node, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit the LTM lower layer report in response to the triggering condition being met.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein receiving the indication of the configuration information comprises receiving a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, the resource configuration indicating at least one resource to be measured and used as input to the triggering condition.

16. A method of operating a network node, the method comprising: transmitting (610) an indication of configuration information to a communication device, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit a layer 1 / layer 2 -triggered mobility, LTM, lower layer report in response to fulfillment of a triggering condition, the triggering condition being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and receiving (620) the LTM lower layer report from the communication device.

17. The method of Claims 16 wherein, the first LTM candidate cell does not have any activated candidate TCI state.

18. The method of any of Claims 16-17, wherein receiving the LTM lower layer measurement report includes receiving at least one of: an indication of the first measurement; an indication of the second measurement; an indication of the first LTM candidate cell associated with the first measurement; an indication of the second LGM candidate cell associated with the second measurement; and an indication of a reporting configuration associated with the LTM lower layer measurement report.

19. The method of Claim 18, wherein transmitting the indication of the configuration information to the communication device comprises transmitting an indication that the communication device transmit the LTM lower layer report in response to the first measurement being an offset better than the second measurement.

20. The method of Claim 18, wherein transmitting the indication of the configurationinformation to the communication device comprises transmitting an indication that the communication device transmit the LTM lower layer report in response to the second measurement being an offset better than the first measurement.

21. The method of any of Claims 18-20, wherein the first measurement comprises a beam measurement of a first beam of the first LTM candidate cell, and wherein the second measurement comprises a beam measurement of a second beam of the second LTM candidate cell.

22. The method of Claims 21, wherein the first measurement comprises an indication of a best beam of the first LTM candidate cell.

23. The method of Claim 21, wherein the second measurement comprises an indication of a best beam of the second LTM candidate cell.

24. The method of any of Claims 18-23, wherein the TCI state activated within the second LTM candidate cell is a second TCI state, the method further comprising: responsive to receiving the LTM lower layer report, transmitting (630) a command indicating an activation of a first TCI state within the first LTM candidate cell.

25. The method of Claim 24, wherein the command further indicates a deactivation of the second TCI state within the second LTM candidate cell.

26. The method of any of Claims 24-25, wherein transmitting the command comprises transmitting a LTM cell switching command, wherein the first TCI state is different than the second TCI state.

27. The method of any of Claims 24-25, wherein transmitting the command comprises transmitting a TCI state activation command or a TCI state deactivation command.

28. The method of any of Claims 16-27, wherein transmitting the indication of the configuration information comprises transmitting a reporting configuration associated to a resource configuration, the resource configuration indicating at least one resource to be measured and used as input to the triggering condition.

29. A communication device (800) adapted to perform operations comprising: determining (540) that a triggering condition is met based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and responsive to determining that the triggering condition is met, transmitting (550) a LTM lower layer measurement report.

30. The communication device of Claim 29, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 2-15.

31. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (802) of a communication device (800), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device to perform operations comprising: determining (540) that a triggering condition is met based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and responsive to determining that the triggering condition is met, transmitting (550) a LTM lower layer measurement report.

32. The computer program of Claim 31, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 2-15.

33. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (810) including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (802) of a communication device (800), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device to perform operations comprising: determining (540) that a triggering condition is met based on a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associatedwith a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and responsive to determining that the triggering condition is met, transmitting (550) a LTM lower layer measurement report.

34. The computer program product of Claim 33, further comprising any of the operations of Claims 2-15.

35. A network node (900) adapted to perform operations comprising: transmitting (610) an indication of configuration information to a communication device, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit a layer 1 / layer 2 -triggered mobility, LTM, lower layer report in response to fulfillment of a triggering condition, the triggering condition being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and receiving (620) the LTM lower layer report from the communication device.

36. The network node of Claim 35, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 16-28.

37. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (902) of a network node (900), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations comprising: transmitting (610) an indication of configuration information to a communication device, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit a layer 1 / layer 2 -triggered mobility, LTM, lower layer report in response to fulfillment of a triggering condition, the triggering condition being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and receiving (620) the LTM lower layer report from the communication device.

38. The computer program of Claim 37, further comprising any of the operations of Claims39. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (904) including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (902) of a network node (900), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations comprising: transmitting (610) an indication of configuration information to a communication device, the configuration information configuring the communication device to transmit a layer 1 / layer 2-triggered mobility, LTM, lower layer report in response to fulfillment of a triggering condition, the triggering condition being associated with a difference between a first measurement and a second measurement, the first measurement being associated with a first LTM candidate cell that does not have an activated candidate transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, and the second measurement being associated with a second LTM candidate cell for which a TCI state is activated; and receiving (620) the LTM lower layer report from the communication device.

40. The computer program product of Claim 39, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 16-28.

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