User Apparatus SFTD Measurement in Dual Connectivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
In NR-NR dual connectivity or NR-LTE dual connectivity, the user apparatus faces challenges in measuring the frame difference, slot difference, or symbol timing difference between master and secondary nodes, as this information is unknown, and the measurement procedure is not well-defined.
Innovation Solution
A user apparatus is designed with a communication unit to interact with both master and secondary base station nodes, a reception unit to receive instructions for measuring the system frame number and frame timing difference (SFTD), a control unit to perform the SFTD measurement, and a transmission unit to report the measurement results back to the master node.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a user apparatus performs measurement of frame difference, slot difference, or symbol timing difference in asynchronous dual connectivity, then timing synchronization between master node and secondary node is improved, but the measurement procedure becomes complex and undefined
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the timing difference measurement functionality into a dedicated measurement procedure. The user apparatus separately measures the frame timing difference (SFTD) between the master node and secondary node by isolating the timing measurement from other radio resource measurements, thereby simplifying the overall measurement process while achieving precise timing synchronization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary timing measurement by having the user apparatus measure the system frame number and frame timing difference before actual data transmission begins. This preliminary measurement allows the network to pre-configure appropriate timing parameters for asynchronous dual connectivity operation.
2Loss of information
If a user apparatus measures system frame number and frame timing difference between master node and secondary node, then timing difference information becomes available for network configuration, but the measurement and reporting overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the user apparatus measures the system frame number and frame timing difference, then reports these measurements back to the master node. The master node uses this feedback information to determine appropriate timing configurations for the secondary node, creating a closed-loop system that optimizes timing synchronization while minimizing unnecessary measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The user apparatus performs self-measurement of the timing difference between master and secondary nodes using its own reception capabilities. Rather than requiring the network to provide timing information, the user apparatus autonomously measures and reports the timing difference, reducing network signaling overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A user apparatus includes a communication unit configured to communicate with a first base station apparatus and a second base station apparatus, wherein the first base station apparatus is a master node in a New Radio (NR) radio communication system and the second base station apparatus is a secondary node in the NR radio communication system; a reception unit configured to receive from the first base station apparatus an instruction to measure a system frame number and frame timing difference (SFTD) representing a system frame number and frame timing difference between cells; a control unit configured to measure SFTD between a cell of the first base station apparatus and a cell of the second base station apparatus based on the instruction to measure SFTD; and a transmission unit configured to transmit to the first base station apparatus a measurement result including the measured SFTD.