Radio resource management measurement enhancement

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to radio resource management (RRM) measurement enhancement. A method comprises: receiving, by a first apparatus from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

Description

RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MEASUREMENT ENHANCEMENTRELATED APPPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority to FI Application No. 20245902 filed July 18, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for radio resource management (RRM) measurement enhancement.BACKGROUND

[0003] Due to the great success of artificial intelligence (Al) / machine learning (ML) technologies, the AI / ML study item, which may refer to UE-sided model and network (NW) sided model, has been discussed in 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). For example, potential benefits and gains of AI / ML aided mobility for network triggered L3 -based handover has been studied.SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: receive, from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit, to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and determine that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, by a first apparatus from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, from a second apparatus to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and determining that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; means for in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurementresuming procedure.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and means for determining that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

[0010] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0011] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0012] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0015] FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate diagrams of a system-level simulation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIGS. 4A-4B illustrate diagrams for prediction triggering for different Measurement Gap Repetition Period (MGRP) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a generalized binary classification AI / ML model for prediction according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 7 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 8 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 10 illustrates a signaling chart of communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 13 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0027] FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to someexample embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0030] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0031] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0032] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0033] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0034] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0035] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0036] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0037] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0038] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution(LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0039] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0040] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearableterminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0041] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may comprise a first apparatus 110 which may be a transmitter, for example, a terminal device. In some example embodiments, the terminal device may also be discussed as a UE.

[0043] The communication network 100 may further comprise a second apparatus 120, which may be a receiver, for example, a network device. In some example embodiments,the network device may be discussed as a BS, a gNB, or an eNB.

[0044] A serving area provided by the second apparatus 120 is called a cell. The first apparatus 110 may communicate with the second apparatus 120 within the cell 102. The cell currently serving the first apparatus 110 may be considered as a serving cell 102.

[0045] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0046] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and second apparatus 120 is a network device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) apparatus (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) apparatus (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX apparatus (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX apparatus (or a receiver).

[0047] It is to be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0048] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO),Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0049] A study on Artificial Intelligence (Al) / Machine Learning (ML) for mobility in NR has been discussed in 3GPP RAN work group. The main objectives of this study item are as follows:Table 1

[0050] Now UEs may perform RRM measurements with scheduling restrictions, either due to inter-frequency or intra-frequency RRM measurements, or additional configured measurement gaps.

[0051] For example, the network may configure the UE with Synchronization Signal Block Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) window, when UE can measure Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) from e.g., Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs). The time-resolution of SMTC is on subframe level, corresponding to 1ms intervals. It should be noted that the SMTC only instruct the UE when (in time domain) it could / should measure e.g. RSRP from SSB, while it is left completely open for UE implementation exactly when it will actually measure, and which antenna panel to be used for conducting such measurement during those “SMTC measurement windows”.

[0052] Scheduling restrictions can apply for the UEs during time-intervals where it may be performing SSB based measurements as per the SMTC configuration. In particular for Frequency Range 2 (FR2) and L3 / Layer 1 (Ll)-RSRP on SSB, “The UE is not expected to transmit Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) / Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) / Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) or receive Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) / Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) / Channel State Information-Resource Indicator (CSI-RS)...”.

[0053] The determination of the SMTC occasion may be defined as follows:Table 2

[0054] A UE has to measure the neighboring cells signal and other carrier components. Having a single Radio Frequency (RF) module to control the mobile manufacturing cost and form factor, UE has to perform all these measurements, transmission and reception of data using single RF module.

[0055] The UE may measure the neighbor signal transmitting on the same frequency very easy while simultaneously transmitting and receiving data from the serving cell. While for measuring cell operating at different frequency (Inter frequency neighbors) and other RAT (LTE is other RAT for 5G NR) the UE has to suspended communication (Tx / Rx) with serving cell and needs to tune RF module to configured frequencies (configured MeasObjects) and resume connection with serving cell after some duration. The time duration during which UE suspends it communication with serving cell to measure inter frequency neighbor or other Radio Access Technology (RAT) neighbor is known as Measurement Gap (Meas Gap).

[0056] In LTE system, the Measurement Gap Length (MGL) is fixed, such that at least one Sync Signals (PSS, SSS) is included within one gap. LTE Sync Signals are transmitted at 5ms periodicity, so the MGL of LTE is 6ms, allowing 0.5ms for RF module re-tuning at the beginning and end of the Meas Gap. Terminals detect the Sync Signalwithin the Meas Gap, identify the PCI and reception timing, and there after terminals perform measurements with Cell specific Reference Signals (CRS).

[0057] For NR, Measurement Gap Lengths (MGL) may be 1.5ms, 3ms, 3.5ms, 4ms, 5.5ms and 6ms and the MGRP may be 20ms, 40ms, 80ms and 160ms.

[0058] The determination of the of the measurement gaps occasion is defined as follows:Table 3

[0059] Based on the above discussion, the scheduling restrictions occur for both intrafrequency RRM measurement when SMTC window is configured and inter-frequency RRM measurement when measurement gap is configured. Under these conditions, UE will not be able to perform the DL / UL data transmission but enforced to perform the RRM measurement within the SMTC window or measurement gaps. Therefore, how to efficiently manage the measurement gap or SMTC configuration under AI / ML field to balance the RRM measurements for mobility robustness and data transmission for throughput enhancements remain open.

[0060] Owing to the existence of these scheduling restrictions, the communication link via data channel is suspended within the gap period, which affects the Quality of Service (QoS) performance, e.g., user throughput in both DL and UL.

[0061] There are unnecessary measurement activities conducted during the measurement gap and / or SMTC period if the candidate target cells are predictable or inter-frequency measurements can be inferred through intra-frequency measurements with AIML assistance.

[0062] No signaling mechanism, control algorithm, and feedback loops are available to trigger the skipping of unnecessary measurement gaps or the switching between different measurement gaps by taking into account the tradeoff between throughput and mobility performance.

[0063] To further highlight the above problem statements due to the existence of measurement gap, the system-level simulation results that account for various system KPIs vs different measurement gap configurations, i.e., MGL (in ms) are present in FIGS. 2A-2B. FIG. 2A illustrates system-level simulation for User throughput (DL+UL) [kbps] vs different Measurement Gap Length values, Measurement Gap Repetition Period is20ms, and FIG. 2B illustrates system-level simulation of Radio link problem and Mean Time of Outage (ToO) vs different Measurement Gap Length values, Measurement Gap Repetition Period is 20ms. It can be observed that without robust control mechanism by reusing an RRC reconfiguration, the mobility performance in terms of Time of Outage (ToO) and user throughput may be affected.

[0064] It is observed that for a certain MGRD, e.g., 20ms in the simulation scenario, increase in the value of MGL will negatively affect the user throughput in both DL and UL. This is mainly because the UE will prioritize the measurement activities in the configured gap duration while suspending the data transmission of the serving cell. However, the different trends of mobility performance in terms of radio link problem and ToO are presented. In particular, it is observed that there is a considerable drop of radio link problem when the gap length is 10ms as compared with the case for 6ms. This confirms that the longer measurement period will lead to more accurate measurement activities for handover and mobility management.

[0065] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for RRM measurement enhancement. In this solution, the first apparatus 110 may receive, from a second apparatus 120, a RRM measurement configuration comprising at least one parameter for supporting an intra-frequency and / or inter-frequency RRM measurement. If the an indication of a prediction triggering is received from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 may perform a prediction operation based at least on the received RRM measurement configuration and transmit, to the second apparatus 120 based on a result of the prediction operation, a request for skipping at least one RRM measurement time window of the first apparatus 120.

[0066] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0067] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which shows a signaling chart 300 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the signaling chart 300 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 300.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 3, the second apparatus 120 may perform capability exchange with the first apparatus 110. For example, the second apparatus 120 may send (302), tothe first apparatus 110, a capability enquiry to the first apparatus 110, especially for a capability of performing the AI / ME based inter- and inter-frequency frequency RRM measurement management procedure, e.g., via an RRC signaling.

[0069] Then the first apparatus 110 may send (304), to the second apparatus 120, a capability of the first apparatus for supporting the intra-frequency and inter-frequency RRM measurement, which may comprise capability information with the corresponding requirement for performing the AL / ML based inter- and inter-frequency frequency RRM measurement management procedure, e.g., via an RRC signaling. For example, the capability information may comprise supported measurement management mechanism, e.g., measurement gap or SMTC skipping, an RRM measurement resuming capability and / or other AIML related prediction capabilities. The capability information may be included in one or more RRC information element (IE) as a new capability information.

[0070] As per capability information indication, the second apparatus 120 may prepare (306) the resulting configuration parameters to execute the new type of intra- and interfrequency measurement management framework for L3 mobility.

[0071] Then the second apparatus 120 may send (308) to the first apparatus 110, an RRM measurement configuration comprising at least one parameter for supporting an intra- frequency and / or inter-frequency RRM measurement. For example, the second apparatus 120 may send the RRM measurement configuration via an RRC (re)configuration message with the new configuration parameters to support the intra- and inter- frequency measurement management framework, e.g., measurement gap skipping.

[0072] In some example embodiments, the at least one parameter may comprise the number of upcoming RRM measurement time windows to be monitored, such as the number of upcoming measurement gaps / SMTC windows to be monitored, e.g., N >= 1. The second apparatus 120 may also configure this value based on the MGRP and / or SMTC window periodicity.

[0073] As another example, the at least one parameter may comprise monitoring criteria, i.e., whether the monitoring is periodic, rule-based or event triggered mechanism. For rule-based or event triggered mechanism, specific measurement event, e.g., Event-Al or Event-A2, may be used, an RSRP threshold to capture the coupling gain between serving and strongest neighbor cell may be defined and / or the T310 timer may start to indicate radio link problem.

[0074] As still another example, the at least one parameter may comprise monitoring action, for example, which may indicate whether the next N gaps may be skipped or maintained. Other actions are not precluded such as scaling the current configuration with a float variable, and request for RRC reconfiguration.

[0075] The at least one parameter may further comprise prediction triggering and output time horizon.

[0076] For a periodic prediction triggering, a reference time instance T_start_predict before the start of each (or every N) measurement gap / SMTC window is used to trigger periodic prediction and monitoring.

[0077] For a rule-based or an event-triggered prediction triggering, a specific measurement event may be reused to trigger the prediction. Alternatively, some other negative mobility-based event triggers can also be used such as radio link problem triggers, i.e., a start of T310 timer.

[0078] The prediction output time horizon in ms, denoted with T_predict, may specify input window for data collection and output window to indicate how long the prediction should last. For example, if T_predict is 100ms, then it means the prediction may cover future 100ms time window and decide if measurement gaps within future 100ms is skippable or not. For N = 1, T_predict = T_start_predict + MGL + MGRP. For N > 1, T_predict = T_start_predict + N*MGL + (N - 1)*MGRP.

[0079] The at least one parameter may further comprise monitoring indication signal format, e.g., measurement gap / SMTC window management indication signal format. For example, N bits compact information is generated and derived from the prediction outcome. The first apparatus 110 may use the N bits signal to monitor the upcoming consecutive N measurement gaps or SMTC windows.

[0080] FIGS. 4 A and 4B shows examples of periodic prediction cases to trigger the AI / ML prediction for monitoring the next (N) measurement gap(s). FIG. 4A shows an example per gap periodic prediction and measurement gap monitoring for long MGRP occasion, while FIG. 4A shows an example per N gap periodic prediction and measurement gap monitoring for short MGRP occasion.

[0081] As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, depending on the configuration of MGRP, long or short, the prediction is executed for each single gap or each N group of gaps. Asshown in FIG. 4A, the ML prediction is performed every single gap because the MGRP is rather long. For example, the prediction output time T_predict 401 may be used for a prediction executed for the gap 411. The bits “1”, “0”, “0”, “1” may indicate whether the gaps 411, 412, 413 and 414 may be monitored or skipped.

[0082] As shown in FIG. 4B, the ML prediction is not performed every single gap because the MGRP is rather short. As shown, the prediction output time T_predict 421 may be used for a prediction executed for a group of the gaps 431-434 and the the prediction output time T_predict 422 may be used for a prediction executed for a group of the gaps 435-438.

[0083] The at least one parameter may further comprise a support of RRM measurement resuming, e.g., by a Boolean variable, which may indicate whether to perform RRM measurement resuming procedure when measurement accuracy or skipping error performance needs to be verified. If this variable is enabled, UE and NW can perform monitoring procedures for RRM measurement resuming.

[0084] It is to be understood that other AI / ML specific hyper parameters and time steps may also be transferred to the first apparatus 110 at this step. For instance, if random forest is used for classification, the corresponding hyper-parameters are: number of trees in the forest, max number of features considered for splitting a node, max number of levels in each decision tree, min number of data points placed in a node before the node is split, min number of data points allowed in a leaf node, method for sampling data points, etc.

[0085] Upon receiving the RRM measurement configuration, the first apparatus 110 may perform (310) L1 / L3 measurement procedures and collect the measurement data.

[0086] Then the second apparatus 120 may trigger the first apparatus 110 to perform AI / ML prediction with an indication signal. For example, the second apparatus 120 may send (312) an indication of a prediction triggering to the first apparatus 110. The triggering configuration has described above. Depending on the configuration, the triggering can be periodic, event-based, or other legacy rule-based mechanisms.

[0087] In some embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may trigger the first apparatus 110 to perform AI / ML prediction via L1 / L2 signaling, e.g., Medium Access Control- Control Element (MAC CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI). In some otherembodiments, the second apparatus 120 may trigger the first apparatus 110 to perform AI / ML prediction via a higher layer signaling, such as an RRC signaling.

[0088] Upon receiving the indication of a prediction triggering from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 may perform (314) AI / ML prediction by using a binary classification model for monitoring the next (N) measurement gap(s) or SMTC window(s). Depending on the network configuration, the prediction can be done for each upcoming gap or upcoming N gaps, which has described with FIGS. 4A and 4B.

[0089] FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a generalized binary classification AI / ML model for prediction according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The example model structure 500 shown in FIG. 5 where the input frame 510 can be sequence of beam / cell level L1 / L3-RSRP measurement samples (intra- and / or inter- frequency measurements) and flatten the input matrix from all the measured cells / beams before feeding into a ML model.

[0090] Furthermore, the input frames 510 are fed into a random forest classifier 520 to obtain the binary classification output 530. Depending on whether the prediction will be performed per single gap or per consecutive N gaps, the output of the model is the decision flow whether the next (N) gap(s) can be skipped or not.

[0091] The main benefit of this model is that it allows to deliver direct information sequence for gNB or UE to make the decision. Training data is collected from the past 1 second time window when prediction is triggered periodically (T_start_predict).

[0092] Within the past measurement window, the L1 / L3-RSRP samples are collected from all the measured beams / cells, the classification output False (gap is not skippable) will be given for the output window T_predict if at least one of the following conditions are hold true: 1) serving RSRP < s-measureConfig threshold, 2) the entering condition of Event A* is met, 3) radio link problem for the serving cell is detected (e.g. out of sync indication has been received from lower layers), 4) T310 for RLF detection is running, 5) UE is at high speed (from mobility state estimation), etc.

[0093] Otherwise, if at least one of the following conditions are hold true, e.g., 1) serving RSRP>s-measureConfig threshold, 2) accumulated BFI < threshold, 3) UE is in low speed (from mobility state estimation), 4) leaving condition of event A* is met, 5) timer T310 has stopped, etc., the classification output is True (gap is skippable).

[0094] Based on the result of the prediction, the first apparatus 110 may send (316) the request or indication to the second apparatus 120 for performing the measurement gap / SMTC window skipping actions. For example, the request or indication message may simply convey the prediction results that can be encoded in an explicit bitmap from the classification model output.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the request or indication may comprise one or more bits for indicating whether the at least one RRM measurement time window is expected to be skipped. For example, the request or indication may comprise 1 bit information. In this case, the prediction may only aim at monitoring the next single gap when longer MGRP is configured, the first apparatus 110 may send the message 1 or 0 to indicate whether the upcoming gap is eligible to be skipped or not.

[0096] As another option, the request or indication may comprise N bits information. In this case, a generalized N bits sequence indication can be used if the prediction aims at monitoring the next N gaps when shorter MGRP is configured.

[0097] In some embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may send the request or indication to the second apparatus 120 via L1 / L2 signaling, e.g., MAC CE or Uplink Control Information (UCI). In some other embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may send the request or indication to the second apparatus 120 via a higher layer signaling, such as an RRC signaling.

[0098] In addition, the associated prediction metric, e.g., accuracy, Fl score, confusion matrix information can also be included in this request or indication. It is also possible that the associated prediction metric may be covered in UE capability information.

[0099] The second apparatus 120 may make the decision whether to grant the first apparatus 110 the acknowledgement to perform the measurement gap / SMTC window skipping actions. The decision-making policy can simply be based on the reported AI / ML metrics of the first apparatus 110 for handling the classification tasks. For example, network may have the preferred accuracy acceptance radio (or threshold) in order to guarantee the minimum skipping errors.

[0100] It is also possible that the second apparatus 120 may perform the prediction accuracy verifications that refers to the model monitoring procedure.

[0101] For a model-based monitoring, in a case where UE monitors UE sided model,NW may configure UE a monitoring timer so that UE can perform the monitoring steps and send the feedback to the NW. The feedback signal can be explicit or implicit. If explicit indication is used, then 1 bit / N bits indication as discussed above can be reused. Alternatively, if implicit indication is used, UE may not need to send anything to the NW as long as the monitoring outcome is positive, or accuracy is high enough to perform the measurement skipping. NW can sense the skipping outcome due to the missed measurement in measurement report. In a case where NW monitors UE sided model, no additional configuration parameters required.

[0102] For a functionality-based monitoring, the monitoring procedure may always be controlled by the NW.

[0103] In some example embodiments, if the second apparatus 120 determines that at least one measurement gap / SMTC window is allowed to be skipped, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (320), to the first apparatus, an acknowledgement (ACK) for skipping the at least one measurement gap / SMTC window, so that the scheduling and data transmission will be prioritized.

[0104] In this case, the first apparatus 110 may skip (322) the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window and / or a monitoring of the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows. The second apparatus 120 then may perform (324) the scheduling algorithm for data transmission for the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0105] In some example embodiments, if the second apparatus 120 determines that at least one measurement gap / SMTC window is not allowed to be skipped, the second apparatus 120 may send (326) a response NACK for the measurement gap / SMTC window skipping to the first apparatus 110, so that the RRM measurement activities may be prioritized.

[0106] In this case, the first apparatus 110 may maintain (328) the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window and / or maintain a monitoring of the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows. The second apparatus 120 may suspend (330) the scheduling algorithm for data transmission for the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0107] Then the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer (332) theRRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics for future reference.

[0108] As described above, the prediction operation may be performed at the first apparatus 110. It is also possible that the second apparatus 120 may perform the prediction operation as well, i.e., an AI / ML model may be sided at NW. This scenario will be described with reference to FIG. 6 in detail as below.

[0109] Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which shows a signaling chart 600 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the signaling chart 600 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 600.

[0110] As shown in FIG. 6, the second apparatus 120 may perform (615) capability exchange with the first apparatus 110. For example, the second apparatus 120 may send, to the first apparatus 110, a capability enquiry to the first apparatus 110, especially for a capability of performing the AI / ML based inter- and inter-frequency frequency RRM measurement management procedure, e.g., via an RRC signaling.

[0111] Then the first apparatus 110 may send, to the second apparatus 120, a capability of the first apparatus for supporting the intra-frequency and inter-frequency RRM measurement, which may comprise capability information with the corresponding requirement for performing the AL / ML based inter- and inter-frequency frequency RRM measurement management procedure, e.g., via an RRC signaling. For example, the capability information may comprise supported measurement management mechanism, e.g., measurement gap or SMTC skipping, an RRM measurement resuming capability and / or other AIML related prediction capabilities. The capability information may be included in one or more RRC information element (IE) as a new capability information.

[0112] As per capability information indication, the second apparatus 120 may prepare (306) the resulting configuration parameters to execute the new type of intra- and interfrequency measurement management framework for L3 mobility.

[0113] Then the second apparatus 120 may send (308) to the first apparatus 110, an RRM measurement configuration comprising at least one parameter for supporting an intra- frequency and / or inter-frequency RRM measurement. For example, the secondapparatus 120 may send the RRM measurement configuration via an RRC (re)configuration message with the new configuration parameters to support the intra- and inter- frequency measurement management framework, e.g., measurement gap skipping.

[0114] The at least one parameter configured by the second apparatus 120 for supporting an intra-frequency and / or inter-frequency RRM measurement of the first apparatus 110 has been described with reference to FIG. 3, FIGS. 4A and 4B, which will be omitted here.

[0115] Upon receiving the RRM measurement configuration, the first apparatus 110 may perform (620) L1 / L3 measurement procedures and collect the measurement data.

[0116] Then the first apparatus 110 may send the measurement report of at least one RRM measurement to the second apparatus 120 for ML model training and inference by using the measurement reporting framework. In this situation, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (625), to the second apparatus 120, the measurement report of at least one RRM measurement including assistance information at least associated with a model training for a prediction operation at the second apparatus 120, e.g., labeling information for NW sided model training. In this way, the amount of measurement report may be reduced. The labeling information may require lower value of bitstring as compared to the L3 measurement report. In some embodiment, the labeling report used herein may also be extended as UE Assistance Information (UAI) to support NW sided model training, inference and monitoring.

[0117] The second apparatus 120 may then perform (630) AI / ML prediction by using a binary classification model for monitoring the next (N) measurement gap(s) or SMTC window(s). Depending on the network configuration, the prediction can be done for each upcoming gap or upcoming N gaps. The process of AI / ML prediction performed at the NW may be similar or same with the process described with reference to FIG. 5, which will be omitted here.

[0118] The second apparatus 120 may make (635) the decision whether to grant the first apparatus 110 the acknowledgement to perform the measurement gap / SMTC window skipping actions. The decision-making policy can simply be based on the AI / ML metrics for handling the classification tasks. For example, network may have the preferred accuracy acceptance radio (or threshold) in order to guarantee the minimum skipping errors.

[0119] It is also possible that the second apparatus 120 may perform the prediction accuracy verifications that refers to the model monitoring procedure.

[0120] For a model-based monitoring, in a case where UE monitors UE sided model, NW may configure UE a monitoring timer so that UE can perform the monitoring steps and send the feedback to the NW. The feedback signal can be explicit or implicit. If explicit indication is used, then 1 bit / N bits indication as discussed above can be reused. Alternatively, if implicit indication is used, UE may not need to send anything to the NW as long as the monitoring outcome is positive, or accuracy is high enough to perform the measurement skipping. NW can sense the skipping outcome due to the missed measurement in measurement report. In a case where NW monitors UE sided model, no additional configuration parameters required.

[0121] For a functionality-based monitoring, the monitoring procedure may always be controlled by the NW.

[0122] The second apparatus 120 may send an indication (640, 655) to the first apparatus 110 for performing the measurement gap / SMTC window skipping actions as per prediction outcome. This message may simply convey the prediction results that can be encoded in a bitmap from the classification model output.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the indication may comprise one or more bits for indicating whether the at least one RRM measurement time window is expected to be skipped. For example, the indication may comprise 1 bit information. In this case, the prediction may only aim at monitoring the next single gap when longer MGRP is configured, the second apparatus 120 may send the message 1 or 0 to indicate whether the upcoming gap is eligible to be skipped or not.

[0124] As another option, the indication may comprise N bits information. In this case, a generalized N bits sequence indication can be used if the prediction aims at monitoring the next N gaps when shorter MGRP is configured.

[0125] In some embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may send the indication to the first apparatus 110 via L1 / L2 signaling, e.g., MAC CE or Uplink Control Information (UCI). In some other embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may send the request or indication to the first apparatus 110 via a higher layer signaling, such as an RRC signaling.

[0126] The second apparatus 120 may transmit to the first apparatus 110 an indicationof a skipping of at least one RRM measurement time window.

[0127] In some example embodiments, if the indication indicates the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window and / or a monitoring of the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows is to be skipped, the first apparatus 110 may skip (645) the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or monitor the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0128] In this case, the second apparatus 120 may perform (650) the scheduling algorithm for data transmission for the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0129] In some example embodiments, if the indication indicates the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window and / or maintain a monitoring of the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows is to be maintained, the first apparatus 110 may maintain (660) the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or monitor the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0130] In this case, the second apparatus 120 may suspend (665) the scheduling algorithm for data transmission for the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0131] Then the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer (670) the RRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics for future reference.

[0132] As mentioned above, the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may have capabilities for resuming the RRM measurement, e.g., if the measurement skipping error is detected. The first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer the RRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics for more advanced measurement management procedures, e.g., if RRM measurement resuming procedure is applied. The measurement skipping statistics or ML data logging procedures may be done at both NW side (e.g., the second apparatus 120) or UE side (e.g., the first apparatus 110). Some embodiments for the RRM measurement resuming procedure will be described as below.

[0133] Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which shows a signaling chart 700 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 7, the signaling chart 700 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 700.

[0134] The first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer (715) the RRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics, which may also refer to action 332 in the signaling chart 300 and action 670 in the signaling chart 600.

[0135] After receiving (720) an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 may perform (725) a measurement skipping error estimation to determine whether the measurement skipping error is detected. For example, for the skipping error statistics, the first apparatus 110 may compare a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus 120, which may be obtained from the RRM measurement resuming configuration. If the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, the first apparatus 110 may determine that the measurement skipping error is detected.

[0136] In some embodiments, if the measurement skipping error is detected, the first apparatus 110 may transmit (730), to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure. If a response ACK for the request is received (735) from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 may perform (740) the RRM measurement resuming procedure. For example, the first apparatus 110 may resume next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows. In this case, the second apparatus 120 may suspend (745) the scheduling algorithm for data transmission for the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0137] Due to the measurement skipping error, the request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure transmitted from the first apparatus 110 may not be received by the second apparatus 120. FIG. 8 shows a signaling chart 800 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, the signaling chart 800 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 800.

[0138] Similarly, the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer (815) the RRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics, which may also refer to action 332 in the signaling chart 300 and action 670 in the signaling chart600.

[0139] After receiving (820) an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 may perform (825) a measurement skipping error estimation to determine whether the measurement skipping error is detected. For example, for the skipping error statistics, the first apparatus 110 may compare a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus 120, which may be obtained from the RRM measurement resuming configuration. If the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, the first apparatus 110 may determine that the measurement skipping error is detected and send a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure and send (835) a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0140] In this case, after sending the request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure, if no response for the request is received from the second apparatus 120 after a predetermine period, the first apparatus 110 may perform (830) the RRM measurement resuming procedure. For example, the first apparatus 110 may resume next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0141] Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which shows a signaling chart 900 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the signaling chart 900 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 900.

[0142] Similarly, the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer (815) the RRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics, which may also refer to action 332 in the signaling chart 300 and action 670 in the signaling chart 600.

[0143] After receiving (920) an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window from the second apparatus 120, the first apparatus 110 may perform (925) a measurement skipping error estimation to determine whether the measurement skipping error is detected.

[0144] In this case, if the first apparatus 110 determines the measurement skipping error is detected based on a result of the skipping error statistics, the first apparatus 110 mayperform (930) the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously. After that, the first apparatus 110 may transmit (935), to the second apparatus 120, an indication of the resuming of the RRM measurement.

[0145] As another option, the measurement skipping error estimation may also be performed by the second apparatus 120. FIG. 10 shows a signaling chart 1000 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the signaling chart 1000 involves the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 1000.

[0146] In this case, the first apparatus 110 and the second apparatus 120 may buffer (1015) the RRM measurement statistics and measurement skipping error statistics, which may also refer to action 332 in the signaling chart 300 and action 670 in the signaling chart 600.

[0147] During the skipping of at least one measurement time window, i.e., the decision of a skipping of at least one measurement time window has been made (1020) by the second apparatus 120, the second apparatus 120 may perform (1025) a measurement skipping error estimation to determine whether the measurement skipping error is detected. For example, for the skipping error statistics, the second apparatus 120 may compare a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level, which may be configured by the second apparatus 120. If the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, the second apparatus 120 may determine that the measurement skipping error is detected.

[0148] If the measurement skipping error is detected, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (1030), to first apparatus 110, an indication for resuming an RRM measurement. After that, the first apparatus 110 may perform (1035) the RRM measurement resuming procedure. For example, the may resume next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows. In this case, the second apparatus 120 may suspend (1040) the scheduling algorithm for data transmission for the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows.

[0149] Based on the embodiments described as above, UE- and network-based solutions can be proposed for predicting, using AI / ML models, whether at least one of the upcoming measurement gap(s) / SMTC window(s) can be skipped.

[0150] In case of positive prediction, the UE will skip performing measurements carried within the measurement gaps / SMTC windows and the network will schedule user data to the UE. On the other hand, if the prediction outcomes recommend not to skip the measurement gaps / SMTC windows, the UE will perform the RRM measurements in these measurement gaps / SMTC windows and the network will refrain from scheduling user data.

[0151] In this solution, RRM measurement related RRC configuration IES may be enhanced and extended, e.g., measurement gap configuration, measurement timing configuration, for performing AI / ML based RRM measurement management.

[0152] signaling procedures and exchanged control messages between gNB and UE may be enhanced for dynamically monitoring the intra- and inter- frequency RRM measurements by using AI / ML solution. Depending on the host entity at the UE or NW, we propose the two separate signaling procedures that correspond to UE-sided embodiment and NW-sided embodiment.

[0153] AI / ML method can be used to predict whether the next upcoming measurement gap / SMTC window or the next N consecutive measurement gaps / SMTC windows can be monitored or skipped and the RRM measurement management may also be improved by introducing an RRM measurement resuming mechanisms.

[0154] FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1100 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0155] At block 1110, the first apparatus 110 receives, from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement.

[0156] At block 1120, in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, at block 1130, the first apparatus 110 performs an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0157] In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: exchanging, with the second apparatus, a capability of an RRM measurement resuming for supportingan intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency RRM measurement; and obtaining, from the second apparatus, an RRM measurement resuming configuration including at least one RRM measurement error metrics.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: determining skipping error statistics at least based on the RRM measurement resuming configuration; comparing a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, determining that the measurement skipping error is detected.

[0159] In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, transmitting to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure; and in accordance with a determination that an acknowledgement for the request is received from the second apparatus, performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, transmitting to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure; and in accordance with a determination that no response for the request is received from the second apparatus after a predetermine period, performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously.

[0161] In some example embodiments, the method 1100 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously; and transmitting, to the second apparatus, an indication of the resuming of the RRM measurement.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0163] FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of an example method 1200 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1200 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0164] At block 1210, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement.

[0165] At block 1220, the second apparatus 120 determines that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus has a capability of an RRM measurement resuming for supporting an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency RRM measurement, transmitting to the first apparatus, an RRM measurement resuming configuration including at least one RRM measurement error metrics.

[0167] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 further comprises: determining skipping error statistics at least based on at least one RRM measurement error metrics; comparing a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus; in accordance with a determination that the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, determining that the measurement skipping error is detected; and indicating, to the first apparatus, that the RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure is received from the first apparatus, transmitting an acknowledgement for the request as the indication for resuming the RRM measurement.

[0169] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0170] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1100 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1100. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0171] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; means for in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0172] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for exchanging, with the second apparatus, a capability of an RRM measurement resuming for supporting an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency RRM measurement; and means for obtaining, from the second apparatus, an RRM measurement resuming configuration including at least one RRM measurement error metrics.

[0173] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining skipping error statistics at least based on the RRM measurement resuming configuration; means for comparing a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus; and means for in accordance with a determination that the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, determining that the measurement skipping error is detected.

[0174] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, transmitting to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure; and means for in accordance with a determination that an acknowledgement for the request is received from the second apparatus, performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure.

[0175] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, transmitting to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure; and means for in accordance with a determination that no response for the request is received from the second apparatus after a predetermine period, performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously.

[0176] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected,performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously; and means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, an indication of the resuming of the RRM measurement.

[0177] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0178] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1200 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0179] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and means for determining that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

[0180] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus has a capability of an RRM measurement resuming for supporting an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency RRM measurement, transmitting to the first apparatus, an RRM measurement resuming configuration including at least one RRM measurement error metrics.

[0181] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for determining skipping error statistics at least based on at least one RRM measurement error metrics; means for comparing a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus; means for in accordance with a determination that the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, determining that the measurement skipping error is detected; and means for indicating, to the first apparatus, that the RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: meansfor in accordance with a determination that a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure is received from the first apparatus, transmitting an acknowledgement for the request as the indication for resuming the RRM measurement.

[0183] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

[0184] FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1300 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1300 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1300 includes one or more processors 1310, one or more memories 1320 coupled to the processor 1310, and one or more communication modules 1340 coupled to the processor 1310.

[0185] The communication module 1340 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1340 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1340 may include at least one antenna.

[0186] The processor 1310 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1300 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0187] The memory 1320 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1324, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a randomaccess memory (RAM) 1322 and other volatile memories that will not last in the powerdown duration.

[0188] A computer program 1330 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1310. The instructions of the program 1330 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1330 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1324. The processor 1310 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1330 into the RAM 1322.

[0189] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1330 so that the device 1300 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 12. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0190] In some example embodiments, the program 1330 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1300 (such as in the memory 1320) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1300. The device 1300 may load the program 1330 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1322 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0191] FIG. 14 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1400 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1400 has the program 1330 stored thereon.

[0192] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware orcontroller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0193] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0194] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0195] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0196] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc readonly memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0197] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Eikewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0198] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: receive, from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: exchange, with the second apparatus, a capability of an RRM measurement resuming for supporting the intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency RRM measurement; and obtain, from the second apparatus, an RRM measurement resuming configuration including at least one RRM measurement error metrics.

3. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine skipping error statistics at least based on the RRM measurement resuming configuration; compare a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus; and in accordance with a determination that the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, determine that the measurement skipping error is detected.

4. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error isdetected, transmit, to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure; and in accordance with a determination that an acknowledgement for the request is received from the second apparatus, perform the RRM measurement resuming procedure.

5. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, transmit, to the second apparatus, a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure; and in accordance with a determination that no response for the request is received from the second apparatus after a predetermine period, perform the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the measurement skipping error is detected, perform the RRM measurement resuming procedure autonomously; and transmit, to the second apparatus, an indication of the resuming of the RRM measurement.

7. The first apparatus of any of claims 1-6, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

8. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmit, to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and determine that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the firstapparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

9. The second apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus has a capability of an RRM measurement resuming for supporting the intra-frequency and / or an interfrequency RRM measurement, transmit, to the first apparatus, an RRM measurement resuming configuration including at least one RRM measurement error metrics.

10. The second apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: determine skipping error statistics at least based on at least one RRM measurement error metrics; compare a result of the skipping error statistics with a threshold level configured by the second apparatus; in accordance with a determination that the result of the skipping error statistics exceeds the threshold level, determine that the measurement skipping error is detected; and indicate, to the first apparatus, that the RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed.

11. The second apparatus of any of claims 8-10, wherein the second apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a request for performing the RRM measurement resuming procedure is received from the first apparatus, transmit, an acknowledgement for the request as the indication for resuming the RRM measurement.

12. The second apparatus of any of claims 8-11, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device and the second apparatus comprises a network device.

13. A method comprising: receiving, by a first apparatus from a second apparatus, an indication of askipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, oring a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

14. A method comprising: transmitting, from a second apparatus to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and determining that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

15. A first apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a second apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an interfrequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and means for in accordance with a determination that a measurement skipping error is detected during or after the at least one measurement time window, or a further indication for resuming an RRM measurement is received from the second apparatus, perform an RRM measurement resuming procedure.

16. A second apparatus comprising: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, an indication of a skipping of at least one measurement time window for an intra-frequency and / or an inter-frequency radio resource management, RRM, measurement; and means for determining that an RRM measurement of the first apparatus is to be resumed based on an indication for resuming the RRM measurement received from the first apparatus or a detection of a measurement skipping error during or after the at least one measurement time window.

17. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 13 or the method of claim 14.

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