Method and apparatus of multiple carriers management in atg

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and devices in an air-to-ground (ATG) radio connection environment. There is provided a method performed by a radio device radio-connected or connectable to a network node, the method comprising: receiving, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message. The configuration message is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS OF MULTIPLE CARRIERS MANAGEMENT IN ATGTechnical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to methods and devices in an air-to-ground (ATG) radio connection environment, and more specifically, to a method for a radio device radio-connected or connectable to a network node, to a related method for a network node, to a radio device configured to communicate with a network node, to a network node, and related computer program products.Background

[0002] Recently, mobile communication technologies have gone through a longer period of disruption based on new communication technologies, rapidly changing customer requirements and decreasing growth opportunities in the B2C market. However, the telecom industry may now be positioned to benefit from the fast-growing B2B data volume growth. For this, increasing virtualization, artificial intelligence, strongly growing cyber security requirements and vertical industry specific developments drive the need for higher mobile bandwidth whenever and wherever a user may use its mobile device.

[0003] One aspect for the growth opportunities lies in air-to-ground (ATG) networks. ATG is a method of in-flight connectivity that uses ground-based cell towers (ATG BS) to send signals to an aircraft's onboard ATG terminal (ATG UE). As the aircraft travels through different airspace regions, the onboard ATG terminal automatically connects to the cell tower, providing the strongest signal, similar to how a mobile phone connects to the best signal on the ground. This system creates a direct radio link between the ground-based base station (BS) and the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) type of user equipment (UE) installed in the aircraft. By integrating 5G technologies into the ATG network, onboard users can achieve data rates, similar to those of terrestrial networks, allowing for normal online activities such as browsing, conference calls, real-time entertainment, and data transmission between cabin areas to enhance flight safety.

[0004] The ATG BS has a significantly larger coverage range compared to traditional terrestrial BS, extending up to 200 km, while legacy terrestrial BS typically covers only hundreds of meters. Additionally, the ATGBS can support aircraft speeds of up to 1,200 km / h, exceeding the speed of high-speed trains.

[0005] Unlike satellite systems, which need dedicated channels for service, the ATG system can be deployed in co-channel operation with terrestrial networks, making better use of the existing spectrum. Moreover, the ATG system offers higher data rates compared to satellite systems due to the shorter distance between the base station / network node and user equipment. The high gain of the antenna arrays installed on airplanes also increases performance.

[0006] Support for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), including satellite components, has been outlined in the 3GPP specifications since Release 17. The NTN specifications encompass Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) systems, and they are designed to be compatible with High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) and ATG scenarios. While satellite links aim to provide connectivity across all regions, including over the oceans, ATG links focus on providing high-quality data services in all available service areas, such as inland and coastal regions.

[0007] Given the benefits of high throughput, minimal propagation delay, and costeffectiveness, operators and the aviation industry are in strong demand for the deployment of ATG. In May 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology allocated a trial spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band to China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC) for ATG technical testing.

[0008] Carrier aggregation (CA) is a vital feature of 5GNR (New Radio in the context of 5G radio networks) that allows operators to combine multiple frequency bands or carriers. This combination enhances data throughput, capacity, and spectral efficiency. CA is especially advantageous for applications like ATG communication, which offers network coverage for aircraft.

[0009] By improving throughput and making optimal use of fragmented spectrum, CA can elevate ATG performance and address the increasing demands for enhanced capacity. As the need for in-flight connectivity becomes more data-intensive, CA acts as a scalable solution to boost the overall capacity of ATG networks by aggregating multiple carriers. This strategy ensures that the growing demand for higher capacity and data rates is effectively met, ultimately improving the user experience during flights.

[0010] In Release 19 of the communication standard developments, the emphasis is on further advancing throughput and ensuring effective spectrum usage for ATG networks. These improvements build on the foundation established in Release 18, which primarily concentrated on FR1 (frequency range) single-carrier scenarios. With the implementation of CA in fragmented spectrum environments, Release 19 aims to provide operators with the essential tools to fully leverage their available spectrum while fulfilling the rising capacity needs of ATG networks.

[0011] However, there are also issues and problems with the already existing technology. In Release 19 of WID (work item document) for ATG CA, it is assumed that the PCell (primary cell using a primary carrier) and SCell (secondary cell using a secondary carrier) are assumed to be co-located. However, even though the PCell and SCell may be in the same proximity, their coverage ranges can differ, as illustrated in Figure 5 A and 5B. In such case, the network control signals need to actively activate and / or deactivate the SCell(s). Under line-of-sight (LOS) propagation conditions and co-located CA deployment, the PCell and SCell coverage areas can be relatively stable. In such situations, utilizing legacy SCell activation might lead to unnecessary overhead and unnecessary interruptions caused by SCell measurements.

[0012] Accordingly, there is a need for a technique overcoming these limitations, streamline the radio management signals and allow increased throughput in ATG scenarios.Summary

[0013] According to a first aspect, a radio device comprising a memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions may be provided. This way the radio device may be operable to receive, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message. The configuration message may be indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0014] According to a second aspect, a network node serving a radio device, the network node comprising memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operableto execute the instructions may be provided. This way, the network node may be operable to transmit, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message may be indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0015] As to a third aspect, a method performed by a radio device radio-connected or connectable to a network node may be provided. The method may comprise receiving, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message. The configuration message may be indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0016] According to a fourth aspect, a method performed by a network node serving a radio device may be provided. The method may comprise transmitting, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message. The configuration message may be indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device (100) depending on at least one condition.

[0017] Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of a related computer program product, accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium that provides program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any apparatus that may contain means for storing, communicating, propagating or transporting the program for use by or in connection, with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer program product may also be provided for download, e.g., via the radio network, the RAN, the Internet and / or the host computer. Alternatively, or in addition, the method may be encoded in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and / or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the functionality may be provided for download by means of a hardware description language.

[0018] The method aspects, as well as the device aspects - in particular the radio device and the network node - may be implemented alone or in combination with any one of the embodiments mentioned as part of this document.

[0019] Without limitation, for example in a 3GPP implementation, any "radio device" may be a user equipment (UE). Any one of the method aspects may be embodied by a method of establishing a UE relaying connection with a desired QoS.

[0020] Alternatively, or in addition, in a first method embodiment of any method aspect,

[0021] The technique may be applied in the context of 3 GPP New Radio (NR), in particular, in ATG scenarios allowing a higher bandwidth if compared to using only the primary carrier. The improved bandwidth relies on a usage of the configurable and network assisted conditional SCell activation of the radio device. Hence, at least some embodiments of the newly used technique can ensure that the improved connection reliability with a better bandwidth is selected.

[0022] The technique may be implemented in accordance with a 3GPP specification, e.g., for 3GPP release 19. The technique may be implemented for 3GPP LTE or 3GPP NR according to a modification of the 3 GPP document TS 38.133, version 18.8.0 or for 3 GPP NR or 3GPP TSG-RAN WG4 meeting #114 (RP-2502591) and / or 3GPP TSG-RAN WG4 meeting #103 (RP-240839).

[0023] The communication system may further include the radio device. Alternatively, or in addition, the cellular network may further include one or more base stations / network nodes configured for radio communication with the UE and / or to provide a data link between the radio device and the host computer using the first and / or second method aspects.

[0024] The processing circuitry of the host computer may be configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the first and / or second data and / or any host computer functionality described herein. Alternatively, or in addition, the processing circuitry of the UE may be configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0025] Any one of the devices, the radio device, the network node, the communication system or any node or station for embodying the technique may further include any feature disclosed in the context of the method aspect, and vice versa.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0026] Further details of embodiments of the technique will be described with reference to the enclosed drawings.Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a radio device for receiving a configuration message being indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier.Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a network node for transmitting a configuration message being indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier.Fig. 3 shows an exemplary flowchart for a method for receiving a configuration message being indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier, where the method may be implementable by the device according to Fig. 1.Fig. 4 shows an exemplary flowchart for a method for transmitting a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier, where the method may be implementable by the device of Fig. 2.Fig. 5A shows a diagram of a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) in a radio access network (RAN) environment for an ATG scenario.Fig. 5B illustrates schematically a second example of a primary carrier beam and a narrower second carrier beam of a radio network having different reach.Fig. 6 illustrates schematically a network node and a radio device in configuration message exchange regarding a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier.Fig. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of a network node and a remote radio device.Fig. 8 shown a lock diagram of an embodiment of a communication system comprising a telecommunication network, which comprises an access network and a core network.Detailed Description

[0027] In the following a detailed description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as a specific network environment in order to provide a thorough understanding of the technique disclosed herein. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the technique may be applied in other embodiments that deviate from these specific details. Moreover, while the following embodiments are primarily described for a New Radio (NR) or 5G implementation, it is readily apparent that the technique described herein may also be implemented for any other radio communication technique, including a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) implementation according to the standard family IEEE 802.11, 3GPP LTE (e.g., LTE-Advanced or a related radio access technique such as MulteFire), for Bluetooth according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), particularly Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh Networking and Bluetooth broadcasting, for Z-Wave according to the Z-Wave Alliance or for ZigBee based on IEEE 802.15.4.

[0028] Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions, steps, units and modules explained herein may be implemented using software functioning in conjunction with a programmed microprocessor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or a general-purpose computer, e.g., including an Advanced RISC Machine (ARM). It will also be appreciated that, while the following embodiments are primarily described in context with methods and devices, the invention may also be embodied in a computer program product as well as in a system comprising at least one computer processor and memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory is encoded with one or more programs that may perform the functions and steps or implement the units and modules disclosed herein.

[0029] Additionally, in the context of this description, the following technical conventions, terms and / or expressions shall be used:

[0030] Any radio device may be a user equipment (UE), e.g., according to a 3 GPP specification. The relay radio device may also be referred to as a relay UE (or briefly: relay). Alternatively, or in addition, the remote radio device may also be referred to as aremote UE. Alternatively, or in addition, the further radio device may also be referred to as a further UE.

[0031] The radio device and the RAN may be wirelessly connected in an uplink (UL) and / or a downlink (DL) through a Uu interface.

[0032] The radio device and / or the RAN may form, or may be part of, a radio network, e.g., according to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) or according to the standard family IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi). The first method aspect, the second method aspect and third method aspect may be performed by one or more embodiments of the remote radio device, the relay radio device and the RAN (e.g., a base station or network node) or the further remote radio device, respectively.

[0033] The RAN may comprise one or more radio devices and / or network nodes, e.g., performing the third and / or fourth method aspect. Alternatively, or in addition, the radio network may be a vehicular, ad hoc and / or mesh network comprising two or more radio devices, e.g., acting as the remote radio device and / or the relay radio device and / or the further remote radio device.

[0034] Any of the radio devices may be a 3GPP user equipment (UE or radio device) or a Wi-Fi station (STA). The radio device may be a mobile or portable station, a device for machine-type communication (MTC), a device for narrowband Internet of Things (NB-loT) or a combination thereof. Examples for the radio devices and the mobile station include a mobile phone, a tablet computer and a self-driving vehicle. Examples for the portable station include a laptop computer and a television set. Examples for the MTC device or the NB-IoT device include robots, sensors and / or actuators, e.g., in manufacturing, automotive communication and home automation. The MTC device or the NB-IoT device may be implemented in a manufacturing plant, household appliances and consumer electronics.

[0035] Whenever referring to the RAN, the RAN may be implemented by one or more base stations or network nodes.

[0036] The base station may encompass any station that is configured to provide radio access to any of the radio devices. The base stations may also be referred to as cell, transmission and reception point (TRP), radio access node or access point (AP). The base station and / or the relay radio device may provide a data link to a host computer providing the user data to the remote radio device or gathering user data from the remote radiodevice. Examples for the base stations may include a 3G base station or Node B, 4G base station or eNodeB, a 5G base station or gNodeB, a Wi-Fi AP and a network controller (e.g., according to Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave).

[0037] The RAN may be implemented according to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 3 GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or 3 GPP New Radio (NR).

[0038] Any aspect of the technique may be implemented on a Physical Layer (PHY), a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and / or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack for the radio communication.

[0039] Herein, reference to a protocol of a layer may also refer to the corresponding layer in the protocol stack. Conversely, a reference to a layer of the protocol stack may also refer to the corresponding protocol of the layer. Any protocol may be implemented by a corresponding method.

[0040] Last but not least, the term “ATG” may denote here a two-way radio link between a ground station, like a base station of a mobile network (e.g., eNB) and a mobile radio device in a flying object like an airplane. A dedicated radio device installed in the airplane may function as a relay station between individual user equipment (UE) systems and the ground station.

[0041] The proposed inventive concept may offer multiple advantages, technical effects, contributions and / or improvements:

[0042] Because the radio device may obtain a configuration specifying a condition for a secondary-carrier management, the radio device can autonomously coordinate activation or deactivation of additional carriers, thereby minimizing overhead in both downlink and uplink signaling.

[0043] Hence, the proposed concept is advantageous over legacy SCell activation because this newly proposed network-assisted conditional serving the measurement / activation / deactivation - i.e., based on at least one secondary carrier - is situation-dependent so that the activation of the second carrier happens condition-based, whereby an L3 measurement for SCell edition and / or activation can be reduced. Therefore,the measurement for the SCell / secondary carrier addition and / or activation may be omitted or optimized to only the serving cell. Thereby, the impact of scheduling restrictions and / or interruptions due to a neighboring cell measurement of the candidate SCC can be relieved to improve the serving cell’s throughput and - if disabled - to save energy and potential interruptions at the same time.

[0044] Consequently, the radio network management overhead can be reduced, and at the same time, the network bandwidth - i.e., the net throughput - may be increased. This cannot be achieved by the legacy SCell activation.

[0045] Before turning to the description of the figures, the overall technical considerations and implementation options shall be described:

[0046] Generally, the embodiments relate to air-to-ground scenario, in which a radio device, here also referred to as UE - in a flying object - e.g., an airplane - is connected or is connectable to a network node, i.e., base station of a mobile network.

[0047] Firstly, it should be looked at la: The network node configures conditional SCell activation to the radio device.

[0048] In one embodiment, the radio device is provided by the network node managing the serving cells PCell, PSCell or spCell) with communication services. The primary cell and secondary cell may also be referred to as primary carrier and secondary carrier. It may also be assumed that the term ‘condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition4may be denoted a conditional SCell activation in an abbreviated fashion.

[0049] The radio device may receive the conditional SCell activation signaling as part of a configuration message. This may be performed in a plurality of ways.

[0050] In one example, the conditional SCell activation can be indicated by a network node flag to enable or disable the conditional SCell activation. The flag can be applied to single SCell or multiple SCell, or all the additional SCells configured by the network.

[0051] In another embodiment, the conditional SCell activation configuration can be used to skip the neighbour cell measurement in SCell frequency.

[0052] Alternatively, the network node can indicate the candidate SCell list to apply the conditional SCell activation for the serving cells in the list. After that, optionally, The network can indicate the flag to enable or disable the condition SCell activation for the candidate cells in the list.

[0053] The detail embodiments can be as follow. In one example, the conditional SCell activation signaling may be an RRC signaling, which is provided together by SCell addition signaling / command. It may be extended by the CellGroupConfig included in RRCReconfiguration message for SCell addition purpose, whose presence could be as below (where the new part is indicated by underlined font and yellow highlighting), (based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 18.2.0). Where CondsCellActivation-rl9 IE is used to indicate the single SCell activation to be added shall be a conditional activation of SCell, i.e., the SCell shall be activated when one or more condition is met, or a legacy SCell, i.e., the SCell shall be activated in a legacy way. Therefore, the configuration message described herein may be the RRCReconfiguration message.

[0054] A relating exemplary CellGroupConfiguration information element may look like this:- ASN1 START- TAG-CELLGROUPCONFIG-START— Configuration of one Cell-Group:CellGroupConfig ::= SEQUENCE {cellGroupId CellGroupId,rl c-B earerT o AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF RLC- BearerConfig OPTIONAL, -NeedNrl c-B earerT oRel easeLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OFLogi cal Channel Identity OPTIONAL, -NeedNmac-CellGroupConfig MAC-CellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MphysicalCellGroupConfig PhysicalCellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MspCellConfig SpCellConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MsCellTo AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCellConfig OPTIONAL, - NeedNsCellToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCelllndex OPTIONAL, - Need N[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Cond BWP-Reconfig]],[[bap-Address-rl6 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))OPTIONAL, -NeedMbh-RLC-ChannelToAddModList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l ..maxBH-RLC- ChannelID-rl6)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelConfig-rl6 OPTIONAL, - Need Nbh-RLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxBH-RLC- ChannelID-rl6)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelID-rl6 OPTIONAL, - Need Nflc-TransferPath-rl6 ENUMERATED {Ite, nr, both}OPTIONAL, -NeedMsimultaneousTCI-UpdateListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R uplinkTxSwitchingOption-rl6 ENUMERATED {switchedUL, dualUL} OPTIONAL, — NeedRuplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL - Need R]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentTwoCarrier-rl6 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[flc-TransferPathNRDC-rl7 ENUMERATED {mcg, scg, both} OPTIONAL, -NeedMuplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2TxuplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState-rl7 ENUMERATED {oneT, twoT} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2Txuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToAddModList-r 17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu- RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelConfig-rl7OPTIONAL, -NeedNuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7OPTIONAL, -NeedNsimultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need RsimultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (l..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R rlc-BearerToReleaseListExt-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF Logi cal Channel Identity Ext-r 17 OPTIONAL, — NeedNiab-ResourceConfigToAddModList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfig-rl7 OPTIONAL, - - Need Niab-ResourceConfigToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfigID-rl7 OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 ReportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 OPTIONAL —NeedN ]],[[prioSCellPRACH-OverSP-PeriodicSRS-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL — Need R]],[[ncr-FwdConfig-rl8 SetupRelease { NCR-FwdConfig-rl8 } OPTIONAL, - Cond NCRautonomousDenialParameters-r 18 SetupRelease{ AutonomousDenialParameters-r 18 } OPTIONAL, -Need M nonCollocatedTypeMRDC-r 18 ENUMERATED { true }OPTIONAL, -Need RnonCollocatedTypeNR-C A-r 18 ENUMERATED { true }OPTIONAL, -Need RuplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl8 SetupRelease { UplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl8 } OPTIONAL - Need M]]}— Serving cell specific MAC and PHY parameters for a SpCell:SpCellConfig ::= SEQUENCE }ServCelllndex ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Cond SCGreconfigurationWithSync ReconfigurationWithSyncOPTIONAL, — Cond ReconfWithSyncrlf-TimersAndConstants SetupRelease { RLF-TimersAndConstants } OPTIONAL, -Need MsimultaneousSpatial-UpdatedListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need RuplinkTxSwitchingOption-rl6 ENUMERATED {switchedUL, dualUL} OPTIONAL, — NeedRuplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL - Need R]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentTwoCarrier-rl6 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[flc-TransferPathNRDC-rl7 ENUMERATED {mcg, scg, both} OPTIONAL, — NeedMuplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2TxuplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState-rl7 ENUMERATED {oneT, twoT} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2Txuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToAddModList-r 17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu- RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelConfig-rl7OPTIONAL, - NeedNuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu-RelayRLC- ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7OPTIONAL, -NeedNsimultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR rlc-BearerToReleaseListExt-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF Logi cal Channel Identity Ext-r 17 OPTIONAL, —NeedNiab-ResourceConfigToAddModList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfig-rl7 OPTIONAL, - - Need Niab-ResourceConfigToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfigID-rl7 OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 ReportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 OPTIONAL — NeedN ]],[[prioSCellPRACH-OverSP-PeriodicSRS-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL -NeedR]],[[ncr-FwdConfig-rl8 SetupRelease { NCR-FwdConfig-rl8 } OPTIONAL, - Cond NCRautonomousDenialParameters-r 18 SetupRelease{ AutonomousDenialParameters-r 18 } OPTIONAL, -Need M nonCollocatedTypeMRDC-r 18 ENUMERATED { true }OPTIONAL, — Need RnonCollocatedTypeNR-C A-r 18 ENUMERATED { true }OPTIONAL, -Need RuplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl 8 SetupRelease { UplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl8 } OPTIONAL - Need M]]}— Serving cell specific MAC and PHY parameters for a SpCell:SpCellConfig ::= SEQUENCE )servCelllndex ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Cond SCGreconfigurationWithSync ReconfigurationWithSyncOPTIONAL, — Cond ReconfWithSyncrlf-TimersAndConstants SetupRelease { RLF-TimersAndConstants } OPTIONAL, -Need M[[sCellState-rl6 ENUMERATED {activated}OPTIONAL, — Cond ScellAddSyncCondsCellActivation-rl9 _ ENUMERATED (true)OPTIONAL,secondary DRX-GroupConfig-r 16 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need S]],[[preConfGapStatus-rl7 BIT STRING (SIZE (maxNrofGapId-rl7)) OPTIONAL, - Cond PreConfigMGgoodServingCellEvaluationBFD-rl7 GoodServingCellEvaluation-rl7 OPTIONAL, -Need RsCellSIB20-rl7 SetupRelease { SCellSIB20-rl7 }OPTIONAL - Need M]],[[plmn-IdentityInfoList-rl7 SetupRelease {PLMN-IdentitylnfoList} OPTIONAL, - Cond SCellSIB20-Optnpn-IdentitylnfoList-r 17 SetupRelease {NPN-IdentitylnfoList-rl 6} OPTIONAL - Cond SCellSIB20-Opt]]}

[0055] It may be noted that the line setting the relevant flag (i.e., true) has marked with bold and underlined characters.

[0056] In another embodiment, the conditional SCell activation signaling may also be a RRC (radio resource control) signaling, the difference other than the first example is CondsCellActivation-rl9 IE is applied for Multiple SCells - i.e., secondary carriers - to be added, whose presence could be indicated as below (where the new portion is indicated by underlined font and bold highlighting).- ASN1 START- TAG-CELLGROUPCONFIG-START— Configuration of one Cell-Group:CellGroupConfig ::= SEQUENCE {cellGroupId CellGroupId,rl c-B earerT o AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF RLC- BearerConfig OPTIONAL, -NeedNrl c-B earerT oRel easeLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OFLogi cal Channel Identity OPTIONAL, -NeedNmac-CellGroupConfig MAC-CellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MphysicalCellGroupConfig PhysicalCellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MspCellConfig SpCellConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MsCellTo AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCellConfig OPTIONAL, - NeedNCondsCell Activation-r 19 _ ENUMERATED (true!OPTIONAL,sCellToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCelllndex OPTIONAL, - Need N

[0057] In again another embodiment, the conditional SCell activation - i.e., the at least one secondary carrier - signaling can be provided in a lower layer signaling, e.g., MAC CE or DCI. Taking MAC CE as a reference, for SCells configured for the MAC entity with SCelllndex I as specified in TS 38.331 and an indication to indicate each SCell, which shall be a conditional SCell activation or a legacy SCell activation.

[0058] As another alternative, the conditional SCell activation signaling is provided in a lower layer signaling, e.g., in MAC CE or DCI, but only one flag is required to indicate all SCells may be a conditional activation SCells or legacy SCells.

[0059] The conditional SCell activation signaling may be applied to direct SCell Addition procedure after handover works.

[0060] The conditional SCell activation signaling further comprises or is associated with one or more than one condition configurations. To serve the intended purpose, one or more than one condition shall be set as follows:(i) Condition based on received signal strength from the serving cell (it may be PCell, PSCell or spCell or another SCell which provides reference signal transmission):(1.1) In one embodiment, the UE fulfills the condition if its measured signal strength of the serving cell is not lower than a power-Threshold.Otherwise, UE fails to meet the condition. As another example, the UE fulfills the condition if its measured signal strength of the serving cell is lower than power-Threshold. Otherwise, UE fails to meet the condition.(1.2) In another embodiment, the power-Threshold is derived by the offset between received signal strength from serving cell and received signal strength from another cell (e.g., another serving cell or a neighbor cell).(ii) Condition based on radio device position / area:(11.1) In one example, distanceThreshFromReference is a threshold of distance between radio device position and a pre-defined reference location. In an example, the radio device fulfills the condition if it determines the distance to reference location is higher than distanceThreshFromReference. Otherwise, radio device fails to meet the condition. As another example, the radio device fulfills the condition if it determines the distance to reference location is lower than distanceThreshFromReference. Otherwise, the radio device fails to meet the condition.(11.2) In another example, the distanceThreshFromReference! and distanceThreshFromReference2 defines a range of distance between the radio device position and a pre-defined reference location, the radio device fulfills the condition if it determines the distance to referencelocation is between distanceThreshFromReferencel and distanceThreshFromReference2. Otherwise, the radio device fails to meet the condition.(iii)Condition based on time / timer:(iii.l) In one embodiment, timeThreshold is a threshold of time difference between the current time and the reference time, the UE fulfills the condition if the measured time difference between the current time and the reference time is higher or lower than timeThreshold. Otherwise, the radio device fails to meet the condition.(ii.2) In another embodiment, timeThreshold is an absolute time (e.g., UTC time timestamp). The UE fulfils the condition if the current time reaches / equal to timeThreshold. Otherwise, the UE fails to meet the condition.(111.3) In another embodiment, timeThreshold is a threshold of time offset to a pre-defined reference time. The UE fulfils the condition if the current time reaches / equal to the reference time plus timeThreshold. Otherwise, UE fails to meet the condition.(111.4) In another example, timeThreshold is a threshold of time offset to an operation or a procedure, e.g. the finish time of beam management, handover, RA and etc. In an example, the UE fulfils the condition if the time has elapsed for at least timeThreshold since the operation or the procedure has completed. Otherwise, UE fails to meet the condition. In another example, the UE fulfils the condition if the time elapsed since the operation or procedure has completed is less than timeThreshold. Otherwise, UE fails to meet the condition.(111.5) In another example, timeThreshold 1 and timeThreshold2 set a range of reference time or a timer; a UE fulfills the condition if its current time is between timeThreshold 1 and timeThreshold2, e.g., in a windowdefined by Thresholdl and timeThreshold2. Otherwise, UE fails to meet the condition.

[0061] One or more than one aforenoted conditions can be configured by the NW, in a standalone way or in a combined way, in different scenarios.

[0062] In one embodiment, if at least one of the conditions isn’t blank, the radio device does not expect further RRC signaling or DCI command, or MAC CE message for activating the SCell, and the UE shall activate the SCell immediately upon fulfilling the condition.

[0063] In another embodiment, if all conditions are blank, UE shall apply the legacy way and don’t activate the SCell. In an alternative, it indicates that the radio device is activating the SCell without any condition, and the UE behavior is similar to setting sCellState-rl6activated.

[0064] In one embodiment, the conditional SCell activation signaling and the condition are provided to the UE in a single signaling.(i) n one option, the conditional SCell activation signaling is comprised of SCell addition signaling / command (as listed below).(ii) In one option, the conditional SCell activation signaling is sent prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command.

[0065] In another embodiment, the conditional SCell activation signaling and the condition provided to the UE are separated signals.(i) In one optional embodiment, the conditional SCell activation signaling is comprised in SCell addition signaling / command (as listed in the below), but the condition is provided in another signaling prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command, which may be a new information element or may be added in an existing information element, e.g., ReportConfigNR.(ii) In a further optional embodiment, the conditional SCell activation signaling is sent prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command which may be a new information element. The condition is provided in another signaling prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command, which may be a new information element or can be added in an existing information element, e.g., ReportConfigNR.

[0066] In another embodiment, the condition SCell activation signaling is applied to skip / suspend / drop the neighbor cell measurement in deactivated SCell. The radio device can receive the data at the same time as the deactivated SCell measurement.

[0067] Now turning to the case lb in which the network node configures a conditional SCell deactivation signaling to the radio device.

[0068] In one embodiment, the UE is provided by the NW node managing the serving cell (e.g., PCell, PSCell or spCell) of one or one set of conditional SCell deactivation signaling comprising / being associated with one or more than one condition configuration.

[0069] The conditional SCell deactivation signaling may be provided in variants of ways.

[0070] In a further example, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling may be a RRC signaling, which is provided together by SCell addition signaling / command. It may be extended by the CellGroupConfig included in RRCReconfiguration message for SCell addition purpose, whose presence could be as below (where the new part is indicated by underlined and bold font; based on the ASN.l code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 18.2.0). Where, CondsCellDeactivation-rl9 IE is used to indicate the SCell to be added shall be a conditional deactivation SCell, i.e., the SCell shall be deactivated by when one or more condition is met, or a legacy SCell, i.e., the SCell shall be deactivated in a legacy way.

[0071] The associated CellGroupConfig information element can look like the following:- ASN1 START- TAG-CELLGROUPCONFIG-START— Configuration of one Cell-Group:CellGroupConfig ::= SEQUENCE {cellGroupId CellGroupId,rl c-B earerT o AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF RLC- BearerConfig OPTIONAL, -NeedNrl c-B earerT oRel easeLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF Logi cal Channel Identity OPTIONAL, -NeedNmac-CellGroupConfig MAC-CellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -NeedMphysicalCellGroupConfig PhysicalCellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -NeedMspCellConfig SpCellConfigOPTIONAL, -NeedMsCellTo AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCellConfig OPTIONAL, -NeedNsCellToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCelllndex OPTIONAL, - Need N[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Cond BWP-Reconfig]],[[bap-Address-rl6 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))OPTIONAL, -NeedMbh-RLC-ChannelToAddModList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxBH-RLC- ChannelID-rl6)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelConfig-rl6 OPTIONAL, - Need Nbh-RLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxBH-RLC- ChannelID-rl6)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelID-rl6 OPTIONAL, - Need Nflc-TransferPath-rl6 ENUMERATED {Ite, nr, both} OPTIONAL, -NeedMsimultaneousTCI-UpdateListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R uplinkTxSwitchingOption-rl6 ENUMERATED {switchedUL, dualUL} OPTIONAL, — NeedRuplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL - Need R]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentTwoCarrier-rl6 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[flc-TransferPathNRDC-rl7 ENUMERATED {mcg, scg, both} OPTIONAL, — NeedMuplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2TxuplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState-rl7 ENUMERATED {oneT, twoT} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2Txuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToAddModList-r 17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu- RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelConfig-rl7OPTIONAL, -NeedNuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7OPTIONAL, -NeedNsimultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R rlc-BearerToReleaseListExt-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF Logi cal Channel Identity Ext-r 17 OPTIONAL, —NeedNiab-ResourceConfigToAddModList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfig-rl7 OPTIONAL, -- Need Niab-ResourceConfigToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfigID-rl7 OPTIONAL - Need N]],reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 ReportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 OPTIONAL -NeedN[[prioSCellPRACH-OverSP-PeriodicSRS-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL -Need R[[ncr-FwdConfig-rl8 SetupRelease { NCR-FwdConfig-rl8 } OPTIONAL, — CondNCRautonomousDenialParameters-r 18 SetupRelease{ AutonomousDenialParameters-r 18 } OPTIONAL, -Need M nonCollocatedTypeMRDC-r 18 ENUMERATED { true } OPTIONAL, — Need RnonCollocatedTypeNR-C A-r 18 ENUMERATED { true } OPTIONAL, -Need RuplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl8 SetupRelease{ UplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl8 } OPTIONAL - Need M]]bh-RLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxBH-RLC- ChannelID-rl6)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelID-rl6 OPTIONAL, -NeedNflc-TransferPath-rl6 ENUMERATED {Ite, nr, both} OPTIONAL, -Need MsimultaneousTCI-UpdateListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedListl-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2-rl6 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, — Need RuplinkTxSwitchingOption-rl6 ENUMERATED {switchedUL, dualUL} OPTIONAL, — NeedRuplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting-rl6 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL - Need R]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentTwoCarrier-rl6 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[flc-TransferPathNRDC-rl7 ENUMERATED {mcg, scg, both} OPTIONAL, — NeedMuplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2TxuplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState-rl7 ENUMERATED {oneT, twoT} OPTIONAL, — Cond 2Txuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToAddModList-r 17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu- RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelConfig-rl7OPTIONAL, - NeedNuu-RelayRLC-ChannelToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu-RelayRLC- ChannelID-rl7)) OF Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-rl7OPTIONAL, -NeedNsimultaneousU-TCI-UpdateListl-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-rl6)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r 16)) OF ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, —NeedR rlc-BearerToReleaseListExt-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF Logi cal Channel Identity Ext-r 17 OPTIONAL, —NeedNiab-ResourceConfigToAddModList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfig-rl7 OPTIONAL, - - Need Niab-ResourceConfigToReleaseList-rl7 SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-rl7)) OF IAB-ResourceConfigID-rl7 OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 ReportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-rl7 OPTIONAL — NeedN ]],[[prioSCellPRACH-OverSP-PeriodicSRS-rl7 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL -NeedR]],[[ncr-FwdConfig-rl8 SetupRelease { NCR-FwdConfig-rl8 } OPTIONAL, - Cond NCRautonomousDenialParameters-r 18 SetupRelease{ AutonomousDenialParameters-r 18 } OPTIONAL, -Need M nonCollocatedTypeMRDC-r 18 ENUMERATED { true }OPTIONAL, — Need RnonCollocatedTypeNR-C A-r 18 ENUMERATED { true }OPTIONAL, -Need RuplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl 8 SetupRelease { UplinkTxSwitchingMoreBands-rl8 } OPTIONAL - Need M]]}— Serving cell specific MAC and PHY parameters for a SpCell:SpCellConfig ::= SEQUENCE {servCelllndex ServCelllndex OPTIONAL, - Cond SCGreconfigurationWithSync ReconfigurationWithSyncOPTIONAL, — Cond ReconfWithSyncrlf-TimersAndConstants SetupRelease { RLF-TimersAndConstants } OPTIONAL, -Need MrlmlnSyncOutOfSyncThreshold ENUMERATED {nl}OPTIONAL, -Need SspCellConfigDedicated ServingCellConfigOPTIONAL, -Need M[[lowMobilityEvaluationConnected-rl7 SEQUENCE {s-SearchDeltaP-Connected-rl7 ENUMERATED {dB3, dB6, dB9, dB12, dB15, spare3, spare2, sparel},t-SearchDeltaP-Connected-rl7 ENUMERATED {s5, slO, s20, s30, s60, sl20, si 80, s240, s300, spare7, spared, spared,spared, spare3, spare2, sparel}} OPTIONAL, - Need R goodServingCellEvaluationRLM-rl7 GoodServingCellEvaluation-rl7 OPTIONAL, -Need RgoodServingCellEvaluationBFD-rl7 GoodServingCellEvaluation-rl7 OPTIONAL, -Need RdeactivatedSCG-Config-rl7 SetupRelease { DeactivatedSCG-Config-rl7 } OPTIONAL - Cond SCG-Opt]]}ReconfigurationWithSync ::= SEQUENCE {spCellConfigCommon ServingCellConfigCommonOPTIONAL, — Need MnewUE-Identity RNTL Value,t304 ENUMERATED {ms50, mslOO, msl50, ms200, ms500, mslOOO, ms2000, mslOOOO},rach-ConfigDedicated CHOICE {uplink RACH-ConfigDedicated,supplementaryUplink RACH-ConfigDedicated} OPTIONAL, - Need N[[smtc SSB-MTC OPTIONAL - Need S]],[[daps-UplinkPowerConfig-rl6 DAPS-UplinkPowerConfig-rl6OPTIONAL - Need N]],[[sl-PathSwitchConfig-rl7 SL-PathSwitchConfig-rl7OPTIONAL — Cond DirectToIndirect-PathSwitch]],[[rach-LessHO-rl8 RACH-LessHO-rl8OPTIONAL, — NeedNsl-IndirectPathMaintain-rl 8 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Cond MP]]}DAPS-UplinkPowerConfig-rl6 ::= SEQUENCE {p-DAPS-Source-rl6 P-Max,p-DAPS-Target-rl6 P-Max,uplinkPowerSharingDAPS-Mode-rl6 ENUMERATED {semi-static-model, semi-static-mode2, dynamic }}SCellConfig ::= SEQUENCE {sCelllndex SCelllndex,sCellConfigCommon ServingCellConfigCommonOPTIONAL, - Cond SCellAddsCellConfigDedicated ServingCellConfigOPTIONAL, - Cond SCellAddMod[[smtc SSB-MTC OPTIONAL - Need S]],[[sCellState-rl6 ENUMERATED {activated}OPTIONAL, — Cond ScellAddSyncCondsCellDeactivation-r 19 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL,secondary DRX-GroupConfig-r 16 ENUMERATED {true}OPTIONAL - Need S]],[[preConfGapStatus-rl7 BIT STRING (SIZE (maxNrofGapId-rl7)) OPTIONAL, - Cond PreConfigMGgoodServingCellEvaluationBFD-rl7 GoodServingCellEvaluation-rl7 OPTIONAL, — NeedRsCellSIB20-rl7 SetupRelease { SCellSIB20-rl7 }OPTIONAL - Need M]],[[plmn-IdentityInfoList-rl7 SetupRelease {PLMN-IdentitylnfoList} OPTIONAL, - Cond SCellSIB20-Optnpn-IdentitylnfoList-r 17 SetupRelease {NPN-IdentitylnfoList-rl 6} OPTIONAL - Cond SCellSIB20-Opt]]}

[0072] In just another embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling may also be a RRC signaling, the difference other than the first example is CondsCelldeactivation-rl9 IE is applied for all SCells to be added, whose presence could be as below (where the new part is indicated by underlined font and yellow highlighting).

[0073] In this case, the CellGroupConfig information element can look like this:- ANSI START- TAG-CELLGROUPCONFIG-START— Configuration of one Cell-Group:CellGroupConfig ::= SEQUENCE )cellGroupId CellGroupId,rl c-B earerT o AddModLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF RLC- BearerConfig OPTIONAL, -NeedNrl c-B earerT oRel easeLi st SEQUENCE (SIZE(L.maxLC-ID)) OF Logi cal Channel Identity OPTIONAL, -NeedNmac-CellGroupConfig MAC-CellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MphysicalCellGroupConfig PhysicalCellGroupConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MspCellConfig SpCellConfigOPTIONAL, -Need MsCellToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSCells)) OF SCellConfig OPTIONAL, - Need NCondsCellDeactivation-r 19 ENUMERATED (true!OPTIONAL,sCellToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE (L.maxNrofSCells)) OF SCelllndex OPTIONAL, - Need N

[0074] In another embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling is provided in a lower layer signaling, e.g., MAC CE or DCI. Taking MAC CE as reference, for SCells configured for the MAC entity with SCelllndex i as specified in TS 38.331 and a bit of the bitmap to indicate the each SCell which shall be a conditional deactivation SCell or a legacy SCell.

[0075] And, in an alternative embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling is provided in a lower layer signaling, e.g., MAC CE or DCI, but only one signaling may indicate all SCells being conditional deactivation SCells or legacy SCells.

[0076] The conditional SCell deactivation signaling further comprises or is associated with one or more than one condition configuration. To serve the intended purpose, one or more than one condition shall be set as follows, which are same as the activation condition but with different corresponding threshold values:(i) Condition based on received signal strength from the serving cell (it may be PCell, PSCell or spCell or another SCell or the SCell to be deactivated which provides reference signal transmission);(ii) Condition based on UE position / area; and(iii) Condition based on time / timer.

[0077] The one or more than one aforenoted conditions can be configured by the NW, in a standalone way or in a combined way, in different scenarios.

[0078] In an embodiment, if at the least one of the conditions aren’t blank, the radio device doesn’t expect further RRC signaling or DCI command or MAC CE message fordeactivating the SCell, the radio device shall deactivate the SCell upon fulfilling the condition.

[0079] In another embodiment, if all conditions are blank, UE shall apply the legacy way and don’t deactivate the SCell.

[0080] In one embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling and the condition are provided to the UE in a single signaling.(i) In one optional embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling is comprised in SCell addition signaling / command (as listed in the above).(ii) In another optional embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling is sent prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command.In another exemplary implementation, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling and the condition are provided to the UE are separated signals.(i) In one optional embodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling is comprised in SCell addition signaling / command (as listed in the above), but the condition is provided in another signaling prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command, which may be a new information element or may be added in an existing information element, e.g., ReportConfigNR.(ii) In one another optional ambodiment, the conditional SCell deactivation signaling is sent prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command which may be a new information element. The condition is provided in another signaling prior to or later than SCell addition signaling / command, which may be a new information element or can be added in an existing information element, e.g., ReportConfigNR.

[0081] In another example, the conditional SCell activation signaling and the associated activation condition and the conditional SCell deactivation signaling and the associated deactivation condition are contained in a single signaling or are contained in different signalings provided by the NW.

[0082] It’s worth noted that all under 1 A and IB can be applied in a combined way or only one of them is applied by NW with respect to different configurations.(i) In one embodiment, only activities described under 1 A are applied, then the UE shall conduct conditional SCell activation but deactivate / release the SCell by the legacy procedure.(ii) In one example, only described under IB is applied, then the UE shall conduct the legacy SCell addition / activation procedure but deactivate / release the SCell by conditional SCell deactivation.

[0083] Turning now to II: The radio device activates / measures SCell upon meeting condition for conditional SCell activation:

[0084] In one optional embodiment, the UE shall activate / measure the SCell upon meeting the conditions below one or more than one for conditional SCell activation, but not limited to. The activation may have variants as follows:(i) In one embodiment, the UE is able to apply the SCell directly without further cell identification, search, measurement, and time / frequency synchronization operations and procedures by receiving CSI-RS and being able to send a CSI report to the NW.(ii) In another embodiment, the UE can apply the SCell directly in the legacy way, i.e., the same as the activation procedure activated by the SCell activation command by the NW.(iii) In a further embodiment, the UE is able to apply the deactivated SCell measurement only on SCell and suspends / skips / drops the neighbor cell measurement at the same frequency.

[0085] In again another embodiment, the UE shall take Time-to-trigger (TTT) and / or hysteresis into account before activating the SCell upon meeting the above one or more than one condition for conditional SCell activation if Time-to-trigger (TTT) and / or hysteresis for the activation condition is configured by the NW. Wherein,(i) ConditionsThe condition may include but is not limited to the condition can be link quality, distance, height, data buffer status, or timer-based;(ii) Time-to-trigger (TTT)If the condition is met, the TTT timer starts.If the condition remains valid for the entire TTT duration, the SCell is activated. If the condition is not maintained for the full TTT period, the timer is reset, and no SCell activation occurs.Typical TTT values may be 0 ms, 40 ms, 64 ms, 80 ms, 100 ms, 128 ms, 160 ms, 256 ms, 320 ms; and(iii) HysteresisThe additional offset applied to the threshold applied to the condition.

[0086] In one embodiment, the UE may initiate a timer, Timer 1, upon the UE receiving the conditional SCell activation signaling from the NW. If the UE doesn’t meet the condition and activate the SCell before the expiry of Timer 1, the UE may stop / skip / abandon the conditional SCell activation signaling and determine / declare the failure of conditional SCell activation possibly with cause of the failure.

[0087] In the same way, on the other hand, after providing the conditional SCell activation signaling to the UE, the NW shall monitor the possible report by the UE regarding SCell activation with a Timer, Timer 1. After Timer expires, the NW shall assume the UE fails to complete the conditional SCell activation.

[0088] In an embodiment of the above procedures, the network configures the UE with a list of SCell for legacy and / or conditional activation. In one option, UE checks the condition for all configured conditional SCell activation configurations and activates those SCells that fulfill the conditions. For example, the condition could be time and RSRP, or distance and RSRP, or time and height and RSRP. In another option, UE checks one SCell at a time during a timer whether the condition is fulfilled, and after checking on SCell, it checks the next SCell. The order may be preconfigured or distance-based if UE knows the SCell location and a reference location or compares them to its location. Or it could be upto UE implementation to choose the SCell to be considered.

[0089] Turning now to III: The radio device reports SCell activation status / SCell measurement results to the network node.

[0090] The SCell activation status may have at least two statuses: success or failure.

[0091] The SCell measurement report may include only SCell measurement results and / or indicate the neighbour cell measurement results are skipped.

[0092] In one embodiment, after the UE activates the SCell, the UE may transmit the SCell activation completion report to the NW according to one or more of the following:(i) An LI or MAC measurement report (e.g., a valid CSI report or similar for LTM measurement reporting, which is also for prediction report). Alternatively, any CSI report transmitted by the UE could be regarded as an implicit report to the NW indicating SCell activation successfully.(ii) An RRC Measurement Report (e.g., MeasurementReport message). In an alternative, any RRC Measurement report transmitted by the UE could be regarded as an implicit report to the NW indicating SCell activation successfully.(iii) A report transmitted on PUCCH or PUSCH, it may be RRC signaling, MAC CE or DCI.(iv) A UE assistant information (UAI) report.(v) A UE response message(vi) Buffer status MAC CE(vii) Scheduling request (SR)(viii) UL WUS

[0093] In another embodiment, UE sends SCell activation (i.e., the report described above) and starts a secondary timer 2. If the UE does not receive any SCell activation completion ACK from the Network or data on activated SCell and the timer expires, then UE considers this a conditional SCell activation failure and resets all relevant timers and restarts the conditional SCell activation procedure or possibly switches to the legacy SCell activation procedure.

[0094] In one option, the UE reports SCell activation status to the NW on a serving cell other than the SCell being activated, e.g., PCell, PSCell, spCell, dedicate / specific SCell, etc.

[0095] In another option, the UE reports SCell activation status to the NW on the SCell being activated.

[0096] In one embodiment, the UE may send a report to the NW regarding the failure of conditional SCell activation, and optionally, the UE may contain the reason(s) of failure, e.g., received signal quantity lower than threshold, after expiry of Timer 1. The UE may also report the preference for SCell activation, another conditional SCell activation, or a legacy SCell activation procedure.

[0097] In this case, the UE reports Scell activation status to the NW on a serving cell other than the SCell being activated, e.g., PCell, PSCell, spCell, SCell, etc.

[0098] Turning now to IV: UE monitors data / control on SCell.

[0099] In one embodiment, the UE determines and monitors DL data / control on the SCell and / or transmits UL data if available.Timer based

[0100] If no DL / UL transmission is available, the UE shall start an activation timer; below steps describe the detailed procedure for the purpose:(i) Monitoring Downlink and Uplink Transmissions: The UE monitors downlink (DL) control information and data transmissions on the SCell. If uplink (UL) data are available, the UE transmits the data via the SCell.(ii) Initiation of the Activation Timer: Upon detecting the last DL data / control reception or the last UL transmission, the UE initiates an activation timer.(iii) Maintaining SCell Activation: During the activation timer, the UE maintains the SCell in an activated state, allowing it to receive further DL transmissions or transmit UL data when required.(iv) SCell Deactivation: If no DL / UL transmission activity is detected before the expiration of the activation timer, the UE deactivates the SCell autonomously without command / signaling by the NW. In an alternative way, the UE may send a request to the NW requesting deactivating the SCell.(v) Reactivation of the SCell: If, before the expiration of the activation timer, the UE detects new DL data reception or UL transmission demand, the activation timer is reset, and the SCell remains activated.

[0101] The length of the activation timer is pre-defined or configurable; examples of typical candidates could be 10 ms, 20 ms, 50 ms, 100 ms, 200 ms, 500 ms, and so on. If set to infinity or absent, the SCell remains activated until explicitly deactivated by the gNB.Distance-based

[0102] In another example, the UE shall detect the distance condition. The distance may be measured between SCell center point and UE location, potentially including height.Distance measure may also be the distance UE moves, e.g., between the UE’s location when the SCell was activated and UE’s current location. If both distance conditions are met and no DL / UL transmission is available, UE will deactivate the SCell accordingly.

[0103] Turning now to V: UE deactivates SCell upon meeting the condition for conditional SCell deactivation.

[0104] In one option, the UE shall deactivate the SCell upon meeting one or more than the conditions set by the network for conditional SCell deactivation; no downlink data and / or control is expected to be received on the SCell.

[0105] In another option, the UE shall take Time-to-trigger (TTT) and / or hysteresis into account before deactivating the SCell upon meeting the above one or more than on condition for conditional SCell deactivation if Time-to-trigger (TTT) and / or hysteresis forthe deactivation condition is configured by the NW. Wherein,(i) Conditions- The conditions may include but are not limited to the condition can be link quality, distance, height, data buffer status, or timer based;(ii) Time-to-trigger (TTT)- If the condition is met, the TTT timer starts.- If the condition remains valid for the entire TTT duration, the SCell is activated. - If the condition is not maintained for the full TTT period, the timer is reset,and no SCell activation occurs.- Typical TTT values may be 0 ms, 40 ms, 64 ms, 80 ms, 100 ms, 128 ms, 160 ms, 256 ms, 320 ms;(iii) Hysteresis- The additional offset applied to the threshold applied to the condition.

[0106] In terms of the conditional SCell deactivation siganlling, the UE may deactivate each SCell separately based on per SCell signaling, or the UE may deactivate all SCells at same time based on non-per SCell (e.g., for all SCells) signaling.

[0107] In one option, the UE may deactivate the SCell upon meeting condition for conditional SCell deactivation, but still keep SCell addition.

[0108] In another option, the UE may deactivate the SCell and release the SCell upon meeting condition for conditional SCell deactivation. In one option, the UE may deactivate the SCell upon meeting condition for conditional SCell deactivation, and the UE ignores / skip the sCellDeactivationTimer timer even sCellDeactivationTimer is configured.

[0109] In another option, the UE may start sCellDeactivationTimer timer upon meeting the condition for conditional SCell deactivation provided sCellDeactivationTimer is configured,(i) if sCellDeactivationTimer expires without any data transmission on the SCell, the UE may deactivate the SCell;(ii) if there is data transmission during sCellDeactivationTimer, the UE keeps the SCell activated until data transmission is completed, then the UE reexamine the deactivation condition and start sCellDeactivationTimer again.

[0110] Turning not to VI: UE reports SCell deactivation status to NW

[0111] In one embodiment, after the UE deactivates the SCell, the UE may transmit the SCell deactivation competition report to the UE according to one or more than one of the following:(i) A report transmitted on PUCCH or PUSCH; it may be RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI. (ii) A UAI report.

[0112] In one optional embodiment, the UE reports SCell deactivation status to the NW on a serving cell other than the SCell being deactivated, e.g., PCell, PSCell, spCell, SCell, and so on.

[0113] In another optional embodiment, the UE reports the SCell deactivation status to the NW on the SCell being deactivated.

[0114] In summary, the majority of possible embodiments may be described as follows:

[0115] A fundamental embodiment comprises a method performed by a radio device radioconnected or connectable to a network node. Thereby, the method comprises receiving, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier - also understood as conditional SCell - other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0116] In one word, the technical effect here is that because the radio device obtains a configuration specifying a condition for secondary-carrier management, the radio devicecan autonomously coordinate activation or deactivation of additional carriers, thereby minimizing overhead in both downlink and uplink signaling.

[0117] The radio device may be a user-side communication unit that can wirelessly access a radio access network (RAN), for example a user equipment (UE) or a mobile station (MS). The network node may be an infrastructure-side communication unit, for example a base station, that provides radio resource configurations and / or radio access to the radio device.

[0118] The condition-based carrier configuration may comprise a set of one or more parameters or indications provided by the network node that define a rule or set of rules for secondary-carrier activating and / or deactivation the secondary carrier.

[0119] The secondary carrier may encompass one or more radio carriers or component carriers (CC), e.g. which supplement a primary carrier for increased data throughput or capacity or reliability.

[0120] Herein, any carrier may encompass a component carrier, a cell or a beam or any other (e.g., spatial) radio resource of a radio access network, e.g., for carrier aggregation (CA) and / or dual connectivity (DC).

[0121] According to another embodiment, the method may further comprise, upon fulfillment of the at least one condition, autonomously activating the at least one secondary carrier, optionally without requiring a further message or command from the network node.

[0122] Here, the term “autonomously activating” may denote enabling and using the secondary carrier for data transmission and / or reception based solely on the preconfigured condition without waiting for an additional explicit activation message.

[0123] Thereby, the autonomous carrier activation streamlines multi-carrier operation and can reduce control signaling latency, and thus, improving throughput for the radio device.

[0124] According to another embodiment of the method, the primary carrier can relate to a primary cell of network node and the secondary carrier relates to a secondary cell of thenetwork node, and / or the primary carrier and the secondary carrier can be component carriers of a carrier aggregation, CA, of the network node.

[0125] Here, it should be understood that the network node supporting the primary cell and the secondary cell is the same network node with associated antenna systems. This may form the basis for the carrier aggregation and thus the bandwidth for increasing without any significant additional resource management.

[0126] According to a further embodiment of the method, it is assumed that a carrier frequency or center frequency of the secondary carrier is higher than a carrier frequency or center frequency of the primary carrier. Additionally, a primary coverage region covered by the primary carrier is greater - i.e., spends a larger territory - than or fully comprises a secondary coverage region covered by the secondary carrier.

[0127] With other words, the coverage area of the primary carrier (PCell) and the secondary carrier may overlap, whereby the coverage area of the secondary carrier (i.e., SCell) would typically be smaller than those of the primary carrier.

[0128] Hence, over the ground area were both coverage areas overlap, a higher bandwidth can be expected due to a parallel usage of different carriers

[0129] According to another embodiment the method further comprises skipping or suspending neighboring measurement on the frequency of at least one secondary carrier until the at least one condition is met.

[0130] Thereby, “skipping or suspending neighboring measurement” may denote avoiding the usual measurement tasks on candidate cells or carriers, which might otherwise interrupt data reception or transmission.

[0131] The technical effect here is to reduce neighbor measurements to avoid unnecessary measurement gaps thereby improving the overall throughput and lowering power consumption.

[0132] According to another embodiment of the method, the condition-based carrier configuration can comprise a threshold value associated with a link-quality measurement for a serving carrier. Thereby, the method comprises further monitoring the link-quality measurement for the serving carrier and determining that the threshold value is reached or exceeded if the link-quality measurement of the serving carrier is above or below the threshold value, as specified by the condition-based carrier configuration.

[0133] Here, the term “threshold associated with a link-quality measurement” may denote a value or offset used to compare measured parameters (e.g., reference signal strength or signal-to-interference ratio) to decide whether a condition is met.

[0134] The additional technical effect is to adapt the secondary carrier control to the measured link quality. This ensures that the radio device activates or deactivates the secondary carrier under optimal signal conditions, thereby improving reliability and efficiency.

[0135] According to another embodiment, the method may further comprise applying a time-to-trigger mechanism to the at least one condition, such that the radio device activates or deactivates the at least one secondary carrier only if the at least one condition remains fulfilled over a defined triggering duration.

[0136] Thereby, the term “time-to-trigger mechanism” may denote a timer-based approach where a measurement or threshold must remain valid for a specified interval before the radio device finalizes a carrier activation or deactivation decision.

[0137] The technical effect can here be seen as ensuring that the condition persists for a certain time interval throttles excessive carrier switching, providing stable multi-carrier operation and preventing oscillations.

[0138] According to another embodiment of the method, the at least one condition may further comprise a distance condition indicating that the radio device only activates or deactivates the at least one secondary carrier if its location satisfies a distance criterion relative to a reference point configured by the network node.

[0139] Thereby the term “distance condition” shall be understood as a rule specifying that functionality only proceeds if the radio device’s position with respect to a configured geometric reference (including altitude, lateral distance, or both) meets or fails a locationbased threshold.

[0140] This may cause the technical effect that by using distance or location information, the radio device can preemptively activate or release a secondary carrier, improving throughput in wide-coverage or high-mobility scenarios and reducing unneeded carrier usage.

[0141] According to another embodiment, the method may further comprise: after activating the at least one secondary carrier, monitoring data transmissions on each activated secondary carrier, and deactivating the respective secondary carrier upon expiry of an inactivity timer if no data transmission occurs within a predefined time period of the indicating timer. I.e., a related radio device may be configured to deactivate the related SCell if the radio device did not receive any of the DL / UL scheduling with the predefined timer period.

[0142] Thereby, the term “monitoring data transmissions” may denote continuously or periodically checking for incoming or outgoing data on a carrier; and “inactivity timer” should be understood as a counter that triggers deactivation after a specified period during which no traffic is visible on the respective carrier.

[0143] The achieved technical effect can hence be seen in that the timer-based deactivation may optimize the carrier utilization and power consumption by automatically releasing carriers when they are underutilized, thus freeing resources and energy.

[0144] According to another embodiment, the method may further comprise transmitting a carrier-status report to the network node upon completing either activation or deactivation of the at least one secondary carrier; thereby, the carrier-status report may indicate success or failure and optionally including a reason for failure if applicable.

[0145] Here, the term “carrier-status report” may denote a message or indication that informs the network node of which secondary carriers have been activated or deactivated, and whether any error conditions have occurred.

[0146] This supports the technical effect of providing status feedback and enables the network node to maintain an accurate overview of the ongoing multi-carrier usage and promptly adapt resource allocation, leading to improved management of network capacity.

[0147]

[0148] According to another embodiment of the method the transmitted carrier-status report may be transmitted via a plurality of ways: (i) on the primary carrier, the at least one secondary carrier, or a carrier other than the primary and secondary carriers, optionally a common control carrier, (ii) within a valid channel state information reporting, (iii) within a buffer status media access control element, (iv) within a scheduling request, and / or (v) within an uplink wakeup signal.

[0149] This embodiment shows a wide spectrum of different implementation options for the carrier-status to be transmitted to the ground-based network node in an ATG scenario.

[0150] According to another embodiment, the method may further comprise storing and updating, in a local memory of the radio device, the condition-based carrier configuration for each individual secondary carrier, and also sequentially verifying each configuration entry in accordance with a defined priority schedule before proceeding to activate or deactivate a subsequent secondary carrier.

[0151] Thereby, the term “local memory” shall denote an internal storage resource on the radio device where configurations, timers, and states are kept for reference during ongoing multi-carrier operations; and the term “priority schedule” should be understood as an ordering mechanism dictating which secondary carrier’s conditions are evaluated first if multiple carriers are configured simultaneously.

[0152] Hereby, it is achieved that a structured, prioritized approach to multi-carrier operations may ensures a systematic fulfillment of all conditions and thus avoids a confusion or race conditions if multiple secondary carriers are managed concurrently.

[0153] According to another embodiment of the method, the condition-based carrier configuration received may comprise multiple condition entries, each specifying a distinct rule for one or more secondary carriers. Additionally, the method may also comprise applying each condition entry independently to manage carrier activation or deactivation.

[0154] Here, the term “multiple condition entries” may denote a set of rules or thresholds, each governing activation or deactivation of a specific carrier or group of carriers; and the term “independently” should be understood to mean that the condition for one secondary carrier should not block or override the condition for another unless specifically configured.

[0155] In terms of technical implications, fine-grained condition entries may allow the radio device to handle different carriers or groups of carriers separately, thereby adapting strategies such as location-based activation or timer-based deactivation to the unique requirements of each carrier.

[0156] According to another embodiment of the method, the configuration message may be, or comprise, a flag configured to enable a conditional carrier measurement, activation and / or deactivation by a radio resource controller, a media access controller, and / or a downlink controller.

[0157] The “flag” can be understood as a one-bit information being set or reset in the CellGroupConfig information element, as described above.

[0158] This may represent the smallest possible overhead in RRC management and demonstrates underlines the low implementation requirements for this inventive approach, which leads to significant throughput improvements.

[0159] According to another embodiment of the method, the configuration message may be dependent on a link quality, a distance between the radio device and the network node, a height above ground of the radio device, a data buffer status of the radio device, and / or a times condition.

[0160] Hence, a multi-conditional framework may become available used as part of the newly proposed concept of the network node supported, conditional carrier / SCell activation. This may increase the independence in decision making of radio devices, e.g. like UEs and related devices.

[0161] Now turning to a method performed by a network node serving a radio device, the embodiment relating to this method may comprise transmitting, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0162] The skilled person understands that this embodiment mirrors respective functions of the radio device embodiment. In this way, the radio device system and the network node system can work in conjunction with each other to achieve the proposed benefits.

[0163] According to another embodiment of the “network node” the method may further comprise determining that the radio device may enter or will enter a region covered by the at least one secondary carrier, optionally other than the primary carrier currently used for serving the radio device. Thereby, the configuration message is transmitted in response to the determination.

[0164] This way, the management functions of the network node may always be informed about the current status of the radio device in respect to the primary and secondary carrier. As a consequence, the radio resource management functions can or cannot use the additional capacity available through the secondary carrier.

[0165] In the following, a detailed description of the figures will be given. All instructions in the figures are schematic. Firstly, a block diagram of an embodiment of the inventive computer-implemented method for runtime optimization for a database hosting system is given. Afterwards, further embodiments, as well as embodiments of the system for a database management system for runtime optimization for a database hosting system, will be described.

[0166] Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a radio device 100 comprising a memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable toexecute the instructions. Thereby, the radio device 100 is operable to receive, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message - in particular, using a configuration reception module 102 - that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition. This last activity may optionally be implemented using a carrier activation module 104.

[0167] Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a corresponding network node 200 for transmitting a configuration message being indicative of a conditionbased carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier. The network node 200 serving a radio device (compare, Fig. 1, 100), comprises memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the network node 200 is operable to transmit - in particular, using a configuration transmission module 202 - on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0168] Additionally, the network node 200 may optionally also comprise a determination module 201 adapted for a determination whether the radio device enters or will enter a region covered by the secondary carrier.

[0169] Associated with these devices are respective methods. Accordingly, Fig. 3 shows an exemplary flowchart for a method 300 for receiving 302 a configuration message being indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier. Thereby, the secondary carrier differs from the primary carrier for the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0170] Optionally, method 300 also comprises autonomously activating 304 the at least one secondary carrier. Also optionally, this can be performed without requiring a further message or command from the network node.

[0171] Fig. 4 shows an exemplary flowchart for a method 400 for transmitting 402 a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier. This method 400 can be implemented by theradio device according to Fig. 2. Again, the secondary carrier may be different from the primary carrier of the radio device, depending on at least one condition.

[0172] Optionally, this method 400 can also comprise a determination 401 that the radio device enters or will enter a region covered by the secondary carrier, optionally other than the primary carrier currently used for serving the radio device. Thereby, the configuration message (compare, Fig. 6, 602) is transmitted responsive to the determination 401.

[0173] Fig. 5 A shows a diagram of a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) for the method 300 und 400 of Fig. 3 and 4 in a radio access network (RAN) 500 environment for an ATG scenario. The network node 200 serves a primary cell with the indicated coverage area 510. The radio device 100 - indicated by a wide small square - can be installed in the flying object, like the illustrated airplanes.

[0174] Additionally, the network node 200 may also be the source of the co-located secondary cell which expands over the coverage area 520 of the SCell. And the SCell configuration here shows essentially the same 3D expansion, but may not reach as far as the PCell. Because of the line-of-sight (LOS) propagation conditions and co-located CA deployment, the PCell and SCell coverage areas are relatively stable.

[0175] This is different in the RAN environment 500 of Fig. 5B illustrating schematically a first example of a primary carrier beam and a second carrier beam of a radio network having different reach. The coverage area of the primary carrier 510 corresponds to the PCell coverage of Fig. 5 A. However, the coverage of a secondary carrier 520 is significantly smaller than the coverage area of the PCell, and due to a narrower radio beam. Again, the inventive radio device 100 may be mounted within the flying object, here an airplane.

[0176] It may also be mentioned that the plurality of user equipment devices (not shown) may connect to the radio device 100 using known short distance communication methods and may thus use the radio device 100 as relay station to be connected to the network node 200.

[0177] Fig. 6 illustrates schematically the network node 200 and the radio device 100 in configuration message 602 exchange regarding a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier. The network node 200 can execute the method 400, and in particular, the transmitting, 402, on the primary carrier to a radio device 100, aconfiguration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier. The conditionbased carrier configuration may comprise an indication, or flag, that instructs the radio device to stop / skip / abandon neighbor cell measurements on the frequency of the at least one secondary carrier based on whether the at least one condition is satisfied. The network node may have a step of transmitting, as part of the condition-based carrier configuration, an instruction to the radio device to skip neighbor cell measurement on the frequency of the at least one secondary carrier based on whether the at least one condition is satisfied.

[0178] In a mirrored manner, the radio device 100 may perform the method 300 and in particular the reception 302 of the primary carrier of a network node 200, and the configuration message 602, indicating a state-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier that is different from the primary carrier.

[0179] Last but not least the radio device 100 may also be referred to as, or may be embodied by, the transmitting station (or briefly: transmitter). The transmitting station 100 and the receiving station may be in direct radio communication, e.g., at least for the multilayer transmission from the transmitting station 100 to the receiving station. The receiving station - in particular, a network node - may be embodied by the device 200.

[0180] Both the radio device 100 and the network node 200 may be a radio device or a base station. Herein, any radio device may be a mobile or portable station and / or any radio device wirelessly connectable to a base station or RAN, or to another radio device. For example, the radio device may be a user equipment (UE), a device for machine-type communication (MTC) or a device for (e.g., narrowband) Internet of Things (loT). Two or more radio devices may be configured to wirelessly connect to each other, e.g., in an ad hoc radio network or via a 3 GPP SL connection. Furthermore, each network node may be a station providing radio access, be part of a radio access network (RAN), and / or be a node connected to the RAN to control radio access. For example, the base station may be an access point, for example a Wi-Fi access point.

[0181] Fig. 7 shows a schematic block diagram 700 of a remote radio device (compare Fig.1 100) and a network node 200 according to the equivalent system of Fig. 1 and 2. In terms of its radio capabilities they differ only in size. However, both are configured to send and receive radio signal to / from each other. Therefore, the general internal components are only explained in the context of the network node 100 although they may also apply to the radio device 100 which may be installed in, e.g., an airplane for ATG usage.

[0182] The respective system, e.g., the radio device - comprises a processor 702 and amemory 704, communicatively coupled to the processor 702. The memory 704 stores program code portions that when executed, enable the processor 702, to receive - in particular using a configuration reception module - on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message. The configuration message may be indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0183] Additionally, the processor, i.e., of the radio device, is enabled to autonomously activate - in particular, using the carrier activation module 104 - the at least one secondary carrier, optionally without requiring a further message or command from the network node, upon fulfillment of the at least one condition.

[0184] If- on the other side - the system is the network node (compare Fig. 2, 200) serving a radio device, the processor 702 is enabled to transmit - in particular, using the configuration transmission module 202 - on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.

[0185] In this case, the processor 702 is also enabled to determine - in particular, using the determination module 201 - that the radio device enters or will enter a region covered by the at least one secondary carrier, optionally other than the primary carrier currently used for serving the radio device. Thereby, the configuration message is transmitted responsive to the determination.

[0186] With reference to Fig. 8, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system 800 includes a telecommunication network 810, such as a 3 GPP -type cellular network, which comprises an access network 811, such as a radio access network, and a core network 814. The access network 811 comprises a plurality of base stations or network nodes 812a, 812b, 812c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 813a, 813b, 813c. Each base station 812a, 812b, 812c is connectable to the core network 814 over a wired or wireless connection 815. A first user equipment (UE) 891 located in coverage area 813c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 812c. A second UE 892 in coverage area 813a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding basestation 812a. While a plurality of UEs 891, 892 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 812.

[0187] Any of the base stations 812 and the UEs 891, 892 may embody the device 100.

[0188] The telecommunication network 810 is itself connected to a host computer 830, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 830 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 821, 822 between the telecommunication network 810 and the host computer 830 may extend directly from the core network 814 to the host computer 830 or may go via an optional intermediate network 820. The intermediate network 820 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 820, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 820 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0189] The communication system 800 of Fig. 8 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 891, 892 and the host computer 830. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 850. The host computer 830 and the connected UEs 891, 892 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 850, using the access network 811, the core network 814, any intermediate network 820 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 850 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 850 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station 812 need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 830 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 891. Similarly, the base station 812 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 891 towards the host computer 830.

[0190] By virtue of the methods 100 and / or 200 being performed by any one of the UEs 891 or 892 and / or any one of the network nodes 812, a usage of the condition-based secondary carrier is enabled or disabled in an ATG context.

[0191] As has become apparent from above description, at least some embodiments of the technique allow for

[0192] Many advantages of the present invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the units and devices without departing from the scope of the invention and / or without sacrificing all of its advantages. Since the invention can be varied in many ways, it will be recognized that the invention should be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

[0193] Embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein also include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:Group A embodiments1. A method performed by a radio device radio-connected or connectable to a network node, the method comprising- receiving, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.2. The method according to embodiment 1, further comprising- upon fulfillment of the at least one condition, autonomously activating the at least one secondary carrier, optionally without requiring a further message or command from the network node.3. The method of any one of embodiments 1 or 2,wherein the primary carrier relates to a primary cell of network node and the secondary carrier relates to a secondary cell of the network node; and / or wherein the primary carrier and the secondary carrier are component carriers of a carrier aggregation, CA, of the network node.4. The method of any one of the preceding embodiments,wherein a carrier frequency or center frequency of the secondary carrier is greater than a carrier frequency or center frequency of the primary carrier; and / orwherein a primary coverage region covered by the primary carrier is greater than or fully comprises a secondary coverage region covered by the secondary carrier.5. The method of any one of the preceding embodiments, further comprising- skipping or suspending neighboring measurement on the frequency of at least one secondary carrier until the at least one condition is met.6. The method of any preceding embodiment,wherein the condition-based carrier configuration comprises a threshold value associated with a link-quality measurement for a serving carrier, wherein the method further comprises- monitoring the link-quality measurement for the serving carrier; and- determining that the threshold value is reached or exceeded if thelink-quality measurement of the serving carrier is above or below the threshold value as specified by the condition-based carrier configuration.7. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising- applying a time-to-trigger mechanism to the at least one condition, such that the radio device activates or deactivates the at least one secondary carrier only if the at least one condition remains fulfilled over a defined triggering duration.8. The method of any preceding embodiment,wherein the at least one condition further comprises a distance condition indicating that the radio device only activates or deactivates the at least one secondary carrier if its location satisfies a distance criterion relative to a reference point configured by the network node.9. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising,after activating the at least one secondary carrier, monitoring data transmissions on each activated secondary carrier, and deactivating the respective secondary carrier upon expiry of an inactivity timer if no data transmission occurs within a predefined time period of the indicating timer.10. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising transmitting a carrier-status report to the network node upon completing either activation or deactivation of the at least one secondary carrier, the carrier-status report indicating success or failure and optionally including a reason for failure if applicable.11. The method of embodiment 10, wherein the transmitted carrier-status report is transmittable- within the primary carrier, the at least one secondary carrier, or a carrier other than the primary and secondary carriers, optionally a common control carrier,- within a valid channel state information reporting,- within a buffer status media access control element,- within a scheduling request, and / or- within an uplink wakeup signal.12. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising storing and updating, in a local memory of the radio device, the condition-based carrier configuration for each individual secondary carrier, and sequentially verifying each configuration entry in accordance with a defined priority schedule before proceeding to activate or deactivate a subsequent secondary carrier.13. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the condition-based carrier configuration received comprises multiple condition entries, each specifying a distinct rule for one or more secondary carriers, and the method further comprises applying each condition entry independently to manage carrier activation or deactivation.14. The method of any preceding embodiment,wherein the configuration message is a flag configured to enable a conditional carrier measurement, activation and / or deactivation by a radio resource controller, a media access controller, and / or a downlink controller.15. The method of any preceding embodiment,wherein the configuration message is dependent on a link quality, a distance between the radio device and the network node, a height above ground of the radio device, a data buffer status of the radio device, and / or a times condition.Group B embodiments16. A method performed by a network node serving a radio device, the method comprising:- transmitting , on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.17. The method of embodiment 16, further comprising:determining that the radio device enters or will enter a region covered by the at least one secondary carrier, optionally other than the primary carrier currently used for serving the radio device,wherein the configuration message is transmitted responsive to the determination .18. The method of embodiment 16 or 17, further comprising any of the activities of any one of embodiments 3 to 15.Group C embodiments19. A computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any one of the embodiments 1 to 15 or 16 to 18 when the computer program product is executed on one or more computing devices, optionally stored on a computer-readable recording medium.20. A radio device comprising a memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the radio device is operable to:- receive, on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition21. The radio device of embodiment 20, further operable to perform the activities of any one of embodiments 2 to 14.22. A network node serving a radio device, the network node comprising memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the network node is operable to:- transmit , on a primary carrier of the network node, a configuration message that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device depending on at least one condition.23. The network node of embodiment 22, further operable to perform any one of the activities of any one of embodiments 16 to 18.

[0194] While various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

[0195] Additionally, while the processes described above and illustrated in the drawings are shown as a sequence of steps, this was done solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is contemplated that some steps may be added, some steps may be omitted, the order of the steps may be re-arranged, and some steps may be performed in parallel.

[0196] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step,etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step.

[0197] Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0198] In general, the usage of “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth”, and / or “fifth” herein may be understood to be an arbitrary way to denote different elements or entities, and may be understood to not confer a cumulative or chronological character to the nouns they modify, unless otherwise noted, based on context.

[0199] Several embodiments are comprised herein. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments

[0200] The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the embodiments. A feature from one embodiment may be combined with one or more features of any other embodiment.

[0201] The term “at least one of A and B” should be understood to mean “only A, only B, or both A and B ”, where A and B are any parameter, number, indication used herein etc. It should be emphasized that the term “comprises / comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. It should also be noted that the words “a” or “an” preceding an element do not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The term “configured to” used herein may also be referred to as“arranged to”, “adapted to”, “capable of’ or “operative to”.

[0202] It should also be emphasized that the steps of the methods may, without departing from the embodiments herein, be performed in another order than the order in which they appear herein.

Claims

1. ClaimsWhat is claimed is:

1. A method (300) performed by a radio device (100, 891; 892) radio-connected or connectable to a network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c), the method (300) comprising:- receiving (302), on a primary carrier of the network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c), a configuration message (602) that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device (100) depending on at least one condition.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:skipping a neighbor cell measurement on the frequency of the at least one secondary carrier, using the condition-based carrier configuration.

3. The method (300) according to claims 1 or 2, further comprising- upon fulfillment of the at least one condition, autonomously activating (304) the at least one secondary carrier, optionally without requiring a further message or command from the network node (200; 812a: 812b; 812c).

4. The method (300) of any one of claims 1 to 3,wherein the primary carrier relates to a primary cell of network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c) and the secondary carrier relates to a secondary cell of the network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c); and / orwherein the primary carrier and the secondary carrier are component carriers of a carrier aggregation, CA, of the network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c).

5. The method (300) of any one of the preceding claims,wherein a carrier frequency or center frequency of the secondary carrier is greater than a carrier frequency or center frequency of the primary carrier; and / or wherein a primary coverage region covered by the primary carrier is greater than or fully comprises a secondary coverage region covered by the secondary carrier.

6. The method (300) of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising- skipping or suspending neighboring measurement on the frequency of at least one secondary carrier until the at least one condition is met.

7. The method (300) of any preceding claim,wherein the condition-based carrier configuration comprises a threshold value associated with a link-quality measurement for a serving carrier, wherein the method further comprises- monitoring the link-quality measurement for the serving carrier; and - determining that the threshold value is reached or exceeded if the link-quality measurement of the serving carrier is above or below the threshold value as specified by the condition-based carrier configuration.

8. The method (300) of any preceding claim, further comprising- applying a time-to-trigger mechanism to the at least one condition, such that the radio device activates or deactivates the at least one secondary carrier only if the at least one condition remains fulfilled over a defined triggering duration.

9. The method (300) of any preceding claim,wherein the at least one condition further comprises a distance condition indicating that the radio device only activates or deactivates the at least one secondary carrier if its location satisfies a distance criterion relative to a reference point configured by the network node.

10. The method (300) of any preceding claim, further comprising,after activating the at least one secondary carrier, monitoring data transmissions on each activated secondary carrier, and deactivating the respective secondary carrier upon expiry of an inactivity timer if no data transmission occurs within a predefined time period of the indicating timer.

11. The method (300) of any preceding claim, further comprising transmitting a carrierstatus report to the network node upon completing either activation or deactivation of the at least one secondary carrier, the carrier-status report indicating success orfailure and optionally including a reason for failure if applicable.

12. The method (300) of claim 11, wherein the transmitted carrier-status report is transmittable within:- the primary carrier, the at least one secondary carrier, or a carrier other than the primary and secondary carriers, optionally a common control carrier; and / or - within a valid channel state information reporting; and / or- within a buffer status media access control element: and / or- within a scheduling request; and / or- within an uplink wakeup signal.

13. The method (300) of any preceding claim, further comprising storing and updating, in a local memory of the radio device, the condition-based carrier configuration for each individual secondary carrier, and sequentially verifying each configuration entry in accordance with a defined priority schedule before proceeding to activate or deactivate a subsequent secondary carrier.

14. The method (300) of any preceding claim, wherein the condition-based carrier configuration received comprises multiple condition entries, each specifying a distinct rule for one or more secondary carriers, and the method further comprises applying each condition entry independently to manage carrier activation or deactivation.

15. The method (300) of any preceding claim,wherein the configuration message comprises a flag configured to enable a conditional carrier measurement, activation and / or deactivation by a radio resource controller, a media access controller, and / or a downlink controller.

16. The method (300) of any preceding claim,wherein the configuration message is dependent on a link quality, a distance between the radio device and the network node, a height above ground of the radio device, a data buffer status of the radio device, and / or a times condition.

17. A method (400) performed by a network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c) serving aradio device (100; 891; 892), the method (400) comprising:- transmitting (402), on a primary carrier of the network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c), a configuration message (602) that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device (100; 891; 892) depending on at least one condition.

18. The method (400) of claim 17, further comprising:determining (401) that the radio device (100; 891; 892) enters or will enter a region covered by the at least one secondary carrier, optionally other than the primary carrier currently used for serving the radio device (100; 891; 892),wherein the configuration message (602) is transmitted (402) responsive to the determination (401).

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the condition based carrier configuration is configured to be used to determine whether a neighbor cell measurement on the frequency of the at least one secondary carrier should be skipped.

20. The method (400) of claim 17 or 19, further comprising any of the activities of any one of claims 2, or 4 to 16.

21. A computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any one of the claims 1 to 16 or 17 to 20 when the computer program product is executed on one or more computing devices, optionally stored on a computer-readable recording medium.

22. A radio device (100; 891; 892) comprising a memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the radio device (100; 891; 892) is operable to:- receive (302), on a primary carrier of the network node (200), a configuration message (602) that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device (100; 891; 892) depending on at least one condition23. The radio device (100; 891; 892) of claim 22, further operable to perform the activities of any one of claims 2 to 16.

24. A network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c) serving a radio device (100; 891; 892), the network node comprising memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the network node (200) is operable to:- transmit (402), on a primary carrier of the network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c), a configuration message (602) that is indicative of a condition-based carrier configuration for controlling at least one secondary carrier other than the primary carrier at the radio device (100; 891; 892) depending on at least one condition.

25. The network node (200; 812a; 812b; 812c) of claim 24, further operable to perform any one of the activities of any one of claims 17 to 20.

Images