CN112771909A

CN112771909A - Neighbor cell measurement and reporting

Info

Publication number: CN112771909A
Application number: CN201880097963.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: S·赛瓦加纳帕西; J-P·科斯基南; 李海涛; R·拉塔萨克
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Oyj
Priority date: 2018-08-10
Filing date: 2018-08-10
Publication date: 2021-05-07
Anticipated expiration: 2038-08-10
Also published as: WO2020029218A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for neighbor cell measurement and reporting. In an example embodiment, a method implemented at a terminal device is provided. The method includes receiving a configuration from a network device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode. The network device provides at least a serving cell and a first neighboring cell. The method also includes determining whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device based on the configuration. The method also includes measuring a signal quality of the first neighbor cell during the idle mode in response to determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device. Additionally, the method includes transmitting results of the neighbor cell measurements to the network device. The result includes a cell identification and a measured signal quality of the first neighboring cell. In this way, the functionality of a self-organizing network (SON) may be supported in narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) without increasing the energy consumption and complexity of the IoT devices.

Description

Neighbor cell measurement and reporting

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and, in particular, to methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for neighbor cell measurement and reporting.

Background

Automatic configuration of a neighbor cell list, a so-called Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) function, is one of the self-organizing network (SON) functions deployed in a communication network. Traditionally, for example, in Long Term Evolution (LTE), a terminal device (e.g., User Equipment (UE)) in connected mode measures neighbor cells and reports Physical Cell Identities (PCIs) of the neighbor cells to a network device (e.g., evolved nodeb (enb)). The terminal device then determines and reports a Cell Global Identity (CGI) of the selected neighbor cell (e.g., the neighbor cell with the selected PCI). The network device may create a neighbor relation table for each neighboring cell based on the reports.

Once the neighbor relation table is created, the network device can refer to the PCI to obtain mobility for any connection mode. If a failure is reported for a PCI and indicates a PCI confusion problem, the network device may tag the PCI for a CGI report. For example, if another terminal device enters connected mode and reports the PCI, the network device may instruct the other terminal device to report the CGI for the PCI. To determine and report the CGI, another terminal device may need to synchronize with the target neighbor cell, read the specific system information of the neighbor cell, and return to the serving cell in connected mode. This mechanism will take additional time and require the terminal device to switch between different cells.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods, devices, and computer-readable storage media for neighbor cell measurement and reporting.

In a first aspect, a terminal device is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to receive a configuration from a network device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode. The network device provides at least a serving cell and a first neighboring cell. The terminal device is also caused to determine whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device based on the configuration. The terminal device is further caused to measure a signal quality of the first neighbor cell during the idle mode in response to determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device. The terminal device is also caused to transmit results of the neighbor cell measurements to the network device. The result includes the cell identity and the measured signal quality of the first neighboring cell.

In a second aspect, a network device is provided that includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device to transmit a configuration to the terminal device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode. The network device provides at least a serving cell and a first neighboring cell. The network device is also caused to receive results of the neighbor cell measurements from the terminal device. The result comprises at least the cell identity and the signal quality of the first neighboring cell.

In a third aspect, a method implemented at a terminal device is provided. The method includes receiving a configuration from a network device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode. The network device provides at least a serving cell and a first neighboring cell. The method also includes determining whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device based on the configuration. The method also includes measuring a signal quality of the first neighbor cell during the idle mode in response to determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device. Additionally, the method includes transmitting results of the neighbor cell measurements to the network device. The result includes a cell identification and a measured signal quality of the first neighboring cell.

In a fourth aspect, a method implemented at a network device is provided. The method comprises transmitting to the terminal device a configuration for performing neighbour cell measurements during idle mode. The network device provides at least a serving cell and a first neighboring cell. The method further comprises receiving from the terminal device a result of the neighbour cell measurement, the result comprising at least a cell identity and a signal quality of the first neighbour cell.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing the steps of the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon is provided. The computer program, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the third or fourth aspect.

It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following more detailed description of some embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example process for neighbor cell measurement, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example process for CGI reporting, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for neighbor cell measurement in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for CGI reporting, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for neighbor cell measurement in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for CGI reporting, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these examples are described for illustrative purposes only and to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and enabling the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

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

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

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element may be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

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

As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) a purely hardware circuit implementation (such as an implementation in analog and/or digital circuitry only); and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and

(ii) any portion of a hardware processor having software (including a digital signal processor), software and memory that work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions; and

(c) hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation but may not be present when software is not required for operation.

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

As used herein, the term "wireless communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable wireless communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and the like. The "wireless communication network" may also be referred to as a "wireless communication system". Further, communication between network devices, between a network device and a terminal device, or between terminal devices in a wireless communication network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to global system for mobile communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), New Radio (NR), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standards, and/or any other suitable wireless communication standard currently known or developed in the future.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to any suitable device on the network side of a communication network. The network equipment may comprise any suitable equipment in an access network of a communication network, including, for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a New Radio (NR) NB (also known as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, a low power node (such as a femto node, a pico node, etc.), depending on the terminology and technology applied.

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, User Equipment (UE), Subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The end devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable end devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture end devices such as digital cameras, gaming end devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless end devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, notebook embedded equipment (LEE), notebook installation equipment (LME), USB dongle, smart devices, wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), and the like. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

As yet another example, in an internet of things (IOT) scenario, a terminal device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another terminal device and/or network device. In this case, the terminal device may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device in the 3GPP context. As one particular example, the terminal device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or household or personal devices, e.g. refrigerators, televisions, personal wearable devices such as watches. In other cases, the terminal device may represent a vehicle or other device capable of monitoring and/or reporting its operational status or other functionality associated with its operation.

As described above, in LTE, the ANR function operates based on: the UE in connected mode measures and reports the PCIs of the neighboring cells, followed by the UE reporting the CGIs of the selected PCIs. This mechanism will take additional time and require the UE to switch between different cells.

In NB-IoT networks, not all SON functions are required because the network characteristics are different from LTE networks. For example, connection mode mobility is not supported in NB-IoT networks, and thus any SON function to improve the performance of connection mode mobility may not be needed. Only certain SON functions are required for improving performance during idle mode. For example, a neighbor relation table containing the correct set of PCIs may be required as it enables the terminal device to have the best performance in terms of cell reselection. Without such a table, the terminal device must blindly detect all possible PCIs during cell reselection, which will increase power consumption and delay. With additional information about the neighbors known in advance, the terminal device can make the right decision to move to the appropriate cell during cell reselection. Mechanisms for avoiding PCI confusion may also be needed during idle mode mobility. Without such a mechanism for avoiding PCI confusion, session transfer may fail during idle mode mobility.

Neighbor cell measurements and CGI reporting are required if the NB-IoT network requires ANR functionality. However, neighbor cell measurements and CGI reports by terminal devices in connected mode in LTE may not be suitable for NB-IoT networks. This is because measuring neighboring cells in connected mode will increase the device complexity and power consumption of the IoT device. Therefore, for ANR functions in NB-IoT networks, neighbor cell measurements need to be performed by terminal devices in idle mode. However, triggering neighbor cell measurements from all terminal devices in idle mode may not be optimal, as this may lead to redundant measurements and a huge load on the network equipment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a solution for neighbor cell measurement and CGI reporting is proposed. In this solution, terminal devices for neighbor cell measurements and reporting in idle mode may be selected to reduce the impact of additional measurements from all terminal devices in idle mode. The results of the neighbor cell measurements may be aligned with Discontinuous Reception (DRX) occasions in order to allocate uplink transmissions from multiple terminal devices. Dynamic control of neighbor cell measurements and reporting by paging occasions may be enabled, thereby avoiding redundant measurements by multiple terminal devices and avoiding unnecessary transmissions from multiple terminal devices for sending similar measurement results. For CGI reporting, the network device may redirect the terminal device to idle mode to measure the CGI of the selected PCI along with additional information to enable CGI reporting in a power-saving manner. Furthermore, since the network device knows that a terminal device is expected to return for CGI reporting, pre-allocation of random access preambles and payload sizes for such reporting can be enabled, further improving the efficiency of transmission of CGI reports.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which implementations of the present disclosure may be implemented. Communication network 100 includes network device 120 and terminal devices 110-1, 110-2, … …, and 110-N (which may be collectively referred to as "terminal devices" 110). Network 100 may provide one or more cells 102 to serve terminal devices 110. It should be understood that the number of network devices, terminal devices, and/or cells are given for illustrative purposes and do not imply any limitations on the present disclosure. Communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices, terminal devices, and/or cells suitable for implementing implementations of the present disclosure.

Communications in communication system 100 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), and fifth-generation (5G), etc. cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.11, etc., and/or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. Further, the communication may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and/or any other technique now known or later developed.

Fig. 2 shows an exemplary process of an example process 200 for neighbor cell measurement according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Process 200 may involve network device 120 and terminal device 110 being served by network device 120.

As shown in fig. 2, network device 120 transmits 210 to terminal device 110 a configuration for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode. Network device 120 may provide a serving cell and one or more neighboring cells to serve terminal device 110. In response to receiving the configuration from network device 120, terminal device 110 determines 220 whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by terminal device 110 based on the configuration.

In some embodiments, the configuration may include an RSRP threshold used to trigger neighbor cell measurements for ANR purposes. For example, the RSRP threshold may be broadcast by network device 120 via a System Information Block (SIB). In this case, the terminal device 110 may measure RSRP of the serving cell. Terminal device 110 may determine that neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by itself if the measured RSRP of the serving cell is below the RSRP threshold. That is, if RSRP-based neighbor cell measurements are configured to terminal device 110, terminal device 110 may attempt to check against the RSRP threshold whenever terminal device 110 measures the serving cell as part of a Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement.

Alternatively or additionally, network device 120 may also configure terminal device 110 with a periodicity for neighbor cell measurements. In this case, the terminal device 110 may check the RSRP of the serving cell against the RSRP threshold for the neighbor cell measurement at least once over a period of time.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the configuration may include a criterion to be met by an Identification (ID) of the terminal device that is to perform the neighbor cell measurement. In this case, terminal device 110 may check whether its ID meets a criterion (e.g., whether the ID of terminal device 110 modulo 9 is equal to 1, or whether terminal device 110 belongs to a certain subscription service). In response to the ID of terminal device 110 satisfying the criterion, terminal device 110 may determine that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by itself. For example, terminal device 110 may perform neighbor cell measurements within a measurement occasion without checking RSRP thresholds.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the configuration may include control information regarding neighbor cell measurements (hereinafter also referred to as idle mode measurement control information (IMCI)). For example, the configuration including the IMCI may be dynamically transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 on paging occasions, thereby enabling dynamic control of neighbor cell measurements and reporting. In this case, it may be determined whether the terminal device 110 needs to perform neighbor cell measurements during the measurement occasion based on the IMCI received on the earlier paging occasion.

In some embodiments, the IMCI may be transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message on a paging occasion. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the IMCI may be transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 via Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a paging occasion. Alternatively, in some embodiments, some or all of the IMCIs may be transmitted as additional information in a paging message that is scheduled on a paging occasion.

In some embodiments, the IMCI transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may indicate at least one of: whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by terminal device 110; whether the results of the neighbor cell measurements will be transmitted to network device 120; timing information regarding neighbor cell measurements (e.g., time interval or period information regarding neighbor cell measurements); modification of RSRP thresholds used to trigger neighbor cell measurements, and so on.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by terminal device 110 in response to the IMCI received from network device 120 indicating that neighbor cell measurements are to be performed. For example, the IMCI may indicate whether the terminal device 110 should check against the RSRP threshold during the next RRM measurement occasion. If the IMCI indicates that the terminal device 110 should check against the RSRP threshold during the next RRM measurement occasion, the terminal device 110 will measure the RSRP of the serving cell against the RSRP threshold for the neighbor cell measurement. In response to the RSRP of the serving cell being below the RSRP threshold of the neighbor cell measurement, the neighbor cell measurement will be triggered. For example, the IMCI may also indicate to the terminal device 110 a modification to the RSRP threshold, which enables the terminal device 110 to dynamically change the RSRP threshold without changing system information. In this case, terminal device 110 may update the RSRP threshold based on the IMCI received from network device 120 and use the updated RSRP threshold to determine whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed.

As shown in fig. 2, in response to determining that neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by terminal device 110, terminal device 110 measures 230 respective signal qualities of one or more neighbor cells during idle mode. In some embodiments, the signal quality measured for one or more neighboring cells may include at least one of: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), or Relative Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). For discussion purposes, some embodiments will be described below with reference to RSRP as an example of signal quality. It should be understood, however, that this is for illustrative purposes only and does not set forth any limitations on the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, as described above, if the RSRP threshold used to trigger the neighbor cell measurement is configured to terminal device 110, terminal device 110 may attempt to check against the RSRP threshold whenever terminal device 110 measures the RSRP of the serving cell. Once terminal device 110 determines that the measured RSRP of the serving cell is below the RSRP threshold, it may measure the respective signal qualities of one or more neighboring cells during idle mode.

In some embodiments, terminal device 110 may be configured with a periodicity for neighbor cell measurements. The terminal device 110 may check the RSRP of the serving cell against the RSRP threshold for the neighbor cell measurement at least once over a period of time. Once terminal device 110 determines that the measured RSRP of the serving cell is below the RSRP threshold, it may measure the respective signal qualities of one or more neighboring cells during idle mode.

In some embodiments, as described above, if terminal device 110 is selected for neighbor cell measurement based on its identity, it may measure the respective signal quality of one or more neighbor cells within a measurement occasion without checking the RSRP threshold.

In some embodiments, as described above, the IMCI dynamically transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may indicate timing information regarding neighbor cell measurements (e.g., time interval or periodicity information regarding neighbor cell measurements). In this case, for example, terminal device 110 may measure respective signal qualities of one or more neighboring cells based on timing information indicated by the IMCI received from network device 120.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the results of the neighbor cell measurements may be stored at terminal device 110 prior to being transmitted to network device 120.

As shown in fig. 2, process 200 proceeds to 240, where terminal device 110 transmits 240 the results of the neighbor cell measurements to network device 120.

In some embodiments, the results may include cell identifications and measured signal qualities of neighboring cells (also referred to as "first neighboring cells") included in the one or more neighboring cells. Additionally, in some embodiments, the first neighboring cell may be associated with a best signal quality in one or more neighboring cells. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the results may include respective cell identities and signal qualities of some or all of the one or more neighboring cells, depending on the configuration. In some embodiments, the cell identity included in the result may include at least one of a Physical Cell Identity (PCI) and a Cell Global Identity (CGI). For discussion purposes, some embodiments will be described below with reference to PCI as an example of cell identification. It should be understood, however, that this is for illustrative purposes only and does not set forth any limitations on the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, network device 120 may configure terminal device 110 with a timer to wait for an uplink transmission opportunity at which results of neighbor cell measurements are to be transmitted. For example, if the timer expires, terminal device 110 may attempt to transmit the results of the neighbor cell measurements at an uplink transmission opportunity. For example, network device 120 may configure terminal device 110 with a timer for aligning the transmission of results with paging occasions within the DRX cycle.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, terminal device 110 may have been configured with relaxed RRM measurements. In this case, for example, terminal device 110 may not report the results of neighbor cell measurements unless the signal quality of the neighbor cells changes by more than a predetermined threshold. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the results of neighbor cell measurements may be transmitted via early data transmission if the neighbor cell with the best signal quality is not included in the whitelist broadcast via the SIB.

For example, in some embodiments, the results of the neighbor cell measurements may be transmitted to network device 120 via an RRC message. For example, the results may be transmitted to network device 120 via an RRC message (also referred to herein as a "first RRC message") in message 3(MSG3) of the random access procedure. Examples of the first RRC message may include, but are not limited to, an RRC connection request message, an RRC connection re-establishment request message, or an RRC connection restoration request message. As another example, the results may be transmitted to network device 120 via an RRC message (also referred to herein as a "second RRC message") in message 5(MSG5) of the random access procedure. Examples of the second RRC message may include, but are not limited to, an RRC connection setup complete message, an RRC connection re-establishment complete message, or an RRC connection recovery complete message. As yet another example, the results may be transmitted to network device 120 via an RRC message (also referred to herein as a "third RRC message") following MSG5 of the random access procedure. That is, the terminal device 110 may transmit the results of the neighbor cell measurement after the random access procedure is completed.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the transmission of the results of the neighbor cell measurements may be triggered by IMCI. In some embodiments, for example, if no uplink transmission is scheduled and the results of the measurements have been stored at the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 may wait for an IMCI to trigger transmission of the results. As described above, an IMCI dynamically received on a paging occasion may indicate whether results of neighbor cell measurements are to be transmitted in that occasion. In response to the IMCI indicating that the results of the neighbor cell measurements are to be transmitted, the terminal device 110 may transmit the results of the neighbor cell measurements as part of the paging occasion.

It can be seen that dynamic control of neighbor cell measurements and reporting (such as via IMCI) can avoid redundant measurements by multiple terminal devices and can avoid unnecessary transmissions from multiple terminal devices for sending similar measurement results. For example, the network device 120 may analyze measurement results from some terminal devices and then decide whether neighbor cell measurements and reports from other terminal devices are needed. On the other hand, if the number of measurements is insufficient, more neighbor cell measurements and reporting can be achieved by dynamically changing the RSRP threshold without modifying the system information.

As mentioned above, neighbor cell measurement and reporting during idle mode has been discussed. The mechanism enables network control of a large number of terminal devices for neighbor cell measurements and PCI reporting during idle mode, thereby supporting SON functions in NB-IoT without increasing the energy consumption and complexity of the terminal devices.

In some cases, for example, when network device 120 receives PCIs measured and reported by one or more terminal devices 110, network device 120 may also indicate whether CGI reporting for the one or more PCIs is needed. Alternatively, in other cases, if network device 120 does not know the CGIs of the neighboring cells, network device 120 may indicate to terminal device 110 that the neighboring cells require CGI reporting.

Fig. 3 shows an illustrative process of an example process 300 for CGI reporting, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Process 300 may involve network device 120 and terminal device 110 being served by network device 120. For example, process 300 may be performed after or in parallel with process 200.

As shown in fig. 3, network device 120 transmits 310 a message to terminal device 110 requesting a Cell Global Identity (CGI) of a second neighboring cell. For example, the message includes the PCI of the second neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, the second neighboring cell may be the neighboring cell indicated in the results of the neighboring cell measurements reported by terminal device 110 at 240 of process 200. For example, the second neighboring cell may be the same as the first neighboring cell indicated in the results of the neighboring cell measurements. If the network device 120 receives the result of the neighbor cell measurement including the PCI of the first neighbor cell from the terminal device 110 and wants to know the CGI of the first neighbor cell, the network device 120 may transmit a message including the PCI of the first neighbor cell to the terminal device 110. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the second neighboring cell for which the CGI is requested may not be from the results reported by terminal device 110 at 240 of process 200. For example, if terminal device 110 sends an RRC connection re-establishment message that includes the PCI of the second neighboring cell whose CGI is unknown to network device 120, network device 120 may send a new RRC message requesting terminal device 110 to report the CGI of the second neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, the message transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 requesting the CGI of the second neighboring cell may be one of: an RRC connection release message, and an RRC message (also referred to herein as a "fourth RRC message") in message 4(MSG4) of the random access procedure. For example, assume that the second neighboring cell is the neighboring cell indicated in the results of the neighboring cell measurements reported by terminal device 110 at 240 of process 200. The message requesting the CGI of the second neighbor cell transmitted from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 may be an RRC connection release message if the PCI of the second neighbor cell (e.g., included in the results of neighbor cell measurements) is transmitted from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 via an RRC message in the MSG3 of the random access procedure. Alternatively, in some embodiments, if the PCI of the second neighboring cell (e.g., included in the results of the neighboring cell measurements) is transmitted from terminal device 110 to network device 120 via an RRC message in MSG3 of random access, the message requesting the CGI of the second neighboring cell transmitted from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may be a fourth RRC message in MSG4 of the random access procedure.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the message requesting the CGI of the second neighboring cell transmitted from the network device 120 may include a dedicated random access preamble for transmission of the CGI report.

As shown in fig. 3, terminal device 110 may obtain 320CGI information from a second neighboring cell in response to receiving a message from network device 120 requesting a CGI of the second neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, to obtain information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, terminal device 110 may enter an idle mode to synchronize with the second neighboring cell and measure the CGI of the second neighboring cell during the idle mode. Terminal device 110 may then return to the serving cell to report the CGI information.

Terminal device 110 may transmit 330 the dedicated random access preamble to network device 120. Upon detecting the dedicated random access preamble, the network device 120 allocates resources for transmitting information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell. For example, the network device 120 may determine a Transport Block Size (TBS) to be allocated for transmission of information regarding the CGI of the second neighboring cell. For example, since a smaller size is needed to report the PCI-CGI mapping, a 32-bit TBS may be allocated for transmitting information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell. Network device 120 may then indicate 340 the allocated resources to terminal device 110.

In some embodiments, network device 120 may set a timer to determine the timing advance needed for CGI reporting. For example, if terminal device 110 can complete CGI measurements and return to the serving cell before the timer expires, the timing advance required for CGI reporting may be 0. In this case, the dedicated random access preamble can be considered as a scheduling request for CGI reporting. Network device 120 may directly transmit DCI indicating the allocated resources for CGI reporting. Otherwise, if the terminal device 110 completes CGI measurements and returns to the serving cell after the timer expires, the timing advance required for CGI reporting may be greater than 0. In this case, network device 120 may transmit a random access response to terminal device 110 indicating information about the timing advance and the uplink resource allocation.

As shown in fig. 3, process 300 proceeds to 350, where terminal device 110 transmits 350 information regarding the CGI of the second neighboring cell to network device 120 based on the allocated resources.

In some embodiments, in response to receiving DCI indicating an uplink grant for transmitting information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell, terminal device 110 may transmit information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell based on the uplink grant. Alternatively, in some embodiments, in response to receiving a random access response indicating the uplink resource allocation and the information on the timing advance, terminal device 110 may transmit information on the CGI of the second neighboring cell based on the allocated resources and the timing advance information.

The above mechanism enables CGI reporting in a power-saving manner. This is because whenever a CGI report for a selected PCI is required, the terminal device will be redirected to idle mode to measure the CGI of the PCI. Furthermore, since the network device knows that terminal device return is expected for CGI reporting, pre-allocation of payload sizes for such reporting can be enabled, further improving the efficiency of transmission of CGI reports.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 400 for neighbor cell measurement in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 400 may be implemented at terminal device 110 as shown in fig. 1. It should be understood that method 400 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some of the blocks shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At block 410, a terminal device receives a configuration for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode from a network device that provides at least a serving cell and a first neighbor cell.

At block 420, the terminal device determines whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device based on the configuration;

in some embodiments, the configuration comprises an RSRP threshold for triggering neighbor cell measurements. In some embodiments, the terminal device determines whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device by: measuring a RSRP of a serving cell; and in response to the measured RSRP of the serving cell being below the RSRP threshold, determining that a neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the configuration comprises criteria to be met by respective identities of a group of terminal devices for performing neighbour cell measurements. In some embodiments, the terminal device determines whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device by: in response to the identity of the terminal device satisfying the criterion, it is determined that neighbour cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the configuration includes control information regarding neighbor cell measurements. The control information on the neighbor cell measurement indicates at least one of: whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed; whether to transmit a result of the neighbor cell measurement; timing information on neighbor cell measurements; and modification of RSRP thresholds used to trigger neighbor cell measurements.

In some embodiments, the configuration including control information regarding neighbor cell measurements is received from the network device via any one of: a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message transmitted on a paging occasion; and Downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted on the paging occasion.

In some embodiments, the terminal device determines whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device by: in response to the control information on the neighbor cell measurement indicating that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed, determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device.

At block 430, in response to determining that neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device, the terminal device measures a signal quality of the first neighbor cell during idle mode.

In some embodiments, the terminal device measures the signal quality of the first neighbouring cell by: in response to the control information indicating timing information regarding neighbor cell measurements, signal quality of the first neighbor cell is measured based on the timing information.

In some embodiments, the signal quality measured for the first neighboring cell comprises at least one of: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and Relative Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

At block 440, the terminal device transmits a result of the neighbor cell measurement to the network device, the result including the cell identity and the measured signal quality of the first neighbor cell.

In some embodiments, the terminal device transmits the results of the neighbor cell measurements by: transmitting the results of the neighbor cell measurements to the network device in response to the control information on the neighbor cell measurements indicating that the results of the neighbor cell measurements are to be transmitted.

In some embodiments, the cell identification comprises at least one of: PCI; and a CGI.

In some embodiments, the cell identity is a PCI and terminal device 110 transmits the results of the neighbor cell measurements via RRC messages.

In some embodiments, the RRC message includes one of: a first RRC message in MSG3 of a random access procedure; a second RRC message in MSG5 of the random access procedure; and a third RRC message following MSG5 of the random access procedure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 500 for CGI reporting, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 500 may be implemented at terminal device 110 as shown in fig. 1. For example, method 500 may be implemented after or in parallel with method 400. It should be understood that method 500 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some of the blocks shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At block 510, in response to receiving a message from a network device requesting a Cell Global Identity (CGI) of a second neighboring cell provided by the network device, the terminal device obtains information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, the message including a PCI of the second neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, the terminal device obtains information about a CGI of the second neighboring cell by: entering an idle mode to synchronize with a second neighboring cell; obtaining information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell during idle mode; and returns to the serving cell.

In some embodiments, the message received from the network device comprises one of: an RRC connection release message; and a fourth RRC message in MSG4 of the random access procedure.

At block 520, the terminal device transmits information regarding a CGI of a second neighboring cell to the network device.

In some embodiments, the message received from the network device includes a random access preamble for transmitting information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell. The terminal device transmits information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell by: transmitting a random access preamble to a network device; and in response to receiving DCI indicating a resource for transmitting information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell, transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell based on the resource.

In some embodiments, the message received from the network device includes a random access preamble for transmitting information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell. The terminal device transmits information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell by: transmitting a random access preamble to a network device; in response to receiving a random access response indicating a resource and a timing advance command for transmitting information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell, transmitting information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell based on the resource and the timing advance command.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 600 for neighbor cell measurement in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 may be implemented at network device 120 as shown in fig. 1. It should be understood that method 600 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some of the blocks shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At block 610, a network device transmits a configuration to a terminal device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode, the network device providing at least a serving cell and a first neighbor cell.

In some embodiments, the configuration comprises an RSRP threshold for triggering neighbor cell measurements.

In some embodiments, the configuration comprises criteria to be met by respective identities of a group of terminal devices for performing neighbour cell measurements.

In some embodiments, the configuration includes control information regarding neighbor cell measurements, and the control information regarding neighbor cell measurements indicates at least one of: whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed; whether to transmit a result of the neighbor cell measurement; timing information on neighbor cell measurements; and modification of RSRP thresholds used to trigger neighbor cell measurements.

In some embodiments, the configuration comprising control information regarding neighbour cell measurements is transmitted to the terminal device via any of: a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message transmitted on a paging occasion; and Downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted on the paging occasion.

At block 620, the network device receives a result of the neighbor cell measurement from the terminal device, the result including at least a cell identity and a signal quality of the first neighbor cell.

In some embodiments, the signal quality of the first neighboring cell comprises at least one of: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), and Relative Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

In some embodiments, the cell identity is a PCI and the results of the neighbor cell measurements are received from the terminal device via an RRC message.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 700 for CGI reporting, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 700 may be implemented at network device 120 as shown in fig. 1. For example, method 700 may be implemented after or in parallel with method 600. It should be understood that method 700 may include additional blocks not shown and/or may omit some of the blocks shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At block 710, the network device transmits a message to the terminal device requesting a Cell Global Identity (CGI) of a second neighboring cell, the message including a PCI of the second neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, the message transmitted to the terminal device comprises one of: an RRC connection release message; and a fourth RRC message in MSG4 of the random access procedure.

In some embodiments, the network device transmits the message requesting the CGI of the second neighboring cell by: including in the message a random access preamble for transmitting information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell; and transmitting the message to the terminal device.

At block 720, the network device receives information from the terminal device regarding a CGI of a second neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, the network device receives information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell by: allocating, in response to receiving a random access preamble from the terminal device, a resource for transmitting information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell; indicating the resource to the terminal device; and receiving information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell from the terminal device based on the resource.

In some embodiments, the network device indicates the resource to the terminal device by: transmitting the DCI indicating the resource to the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the network device indicates the resource to the terminal device by: a random access response is transmitted to the terminal device indicating the resource and the timing advance command.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for neighbor cell measurement and CGI reporting. In this solution, terminal devices for neighbor cell measurements and reporting in idle mode may be selected to reduce the impact of additional measurements from all terminal devices in idle mode. The results of the neighbor cell measurements may be aligned with Discontinuous Reception (DRX) occasions in order to allocate uplink transmissions from multiple terminal devices. Dynamic control of neighbor cell measurements and reporting by paging occasions may be enabled, thereby avoiding redundant measurements by multiple terminal devices and avoiding unnecessary transmissions from multiple terminal devices for sending similar measurement results. For CGI reporting, the network device may redirect the terminal device to idle mode to measure the CGI of the selected PCI along with additional information to enable CGI reporting in a power-saving manner. Furthermore, since the network device knows that terminal device return is expected for CGI reporting, pre-allocation of payload sizes for such reporting can be enabled, further improving the efficiency of transmission of CGI reports.

In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing

methods

400, 500, 600, and/or 700 may include means for performing the respective steps of

methods

400, 500, 600, and/or 700. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in circuitry or software modules.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., terminal device 110) capable of performing method 400 includes: means for receiving a configuration for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode from a network device, the network device providing at least a serving cell and a first neighbor cell; means for determining whether neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the apparatus based on the configuration; means for measuring a signal quality of a first neighbor cell during idle mode in response to determining that neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the apparatus; and means for transmitting to the network device a result of the neighbor cell measurement, the result comprising the cell identity of the first neighbor cell and the measured signal quality.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., terminal device 110) capable of performing method 500 includes: means for obtaining information about a CGI of a second neighboring cell provided by the network device in response to receiving a message requesting the CGI of the second neighboring cell, the message including a PCI of the second neighboring cell; and means for transmitting information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell to the network device.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., network device 120) capable of performing method 600 includes: means for transmitting to a terminal device a configuration for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode, the apparatus providing at least a serving cell and a first neighbor cell; and means for receiving a result of the neighbor cell measurement from the terminal device, the result including at least the cell identity and the signal quality of the first neighbor cell.

In some embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., network device 120) capable of performing method 700 comprises: means for transmitting a message to the terminal device requesting a CGI of a second neighboring cell provided by the apparatus, the message including a PCI of the second neighboring cell; and means for receiving information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell from the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus.

Fig. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 800 may be considered an example implementation of network device 120 or terminal device 110 as shown in fig. 1. Accordingly, device 800 may be implemented at or as part of network device 120 or terminal device 110.

As shown, device 800 includes a processor 810, a memory 820 coupled to processor 810, a suitable Transmitter (TX) and Receiver (RX)840 coupled to processor 810, and a communication interface coupled to TX/RX 840. Memory 820 stores at least a portion of program 830. TX/RX 840 is used for bi-directional communication. TX/RX 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice, the access nodes referred to in this application may have multiple antennas. A communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.

The program 830 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 810, enable the device 800 to operate in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to fig. 2-7. Implementations herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 810 of the device 800, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 810 may be configured to implement various implementations of the present disclosure. Further, the combination of processor 810 and memory 820 may form a processing component 850 suitable for implementing various implementations of the present disclosure.

The memory 820 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as non-transitory computer readable storage media, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. Although only one memory 820 is shown in device 800, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in device 800. The processor 810 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 800 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

The components included in the apparatus and/or devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the units may be implemented using software and/or firmware, e.g., machine executable instructions stored on a storage medium. Some or all of the elements in an apparatus and/or device may be implemented, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components in addition to or in place of machine-executable instructions. By way of example, and not limitation, illustrative types of hardware logic components that may be used include Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), system on a Chip Systems (SOCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and the like.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the method 400 described above with reference to fig. 4, the method 500 described above with reference to fig. 5, the method 600 described above with reference to fig. 6, or the method 700 described above with reference to fig. 7. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data types, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

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

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

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

For purposes of the present disclosure as described herein above, it should be noted,

method steps (as examples of devices, apparatuses and/or modules thereof, or as examples of entities including apparatuses and/or modules) that may be implemented as software code portions and run using a processor at a network element or terminal are independent of the software code and may be specified using any known or future developed programming language as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved;

in general, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the invention in terms of the functions implemented;

method steps and/or devices, units or modules likely to be implemented as hardware components at the above defined apparatus or any modules thereof (e.g. a device performing the functions of an apparatus according to embodiments as described above, eNode-B, etc. as described above) are hardware independent and may be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any mix of these technologies (such as MOS (metal oxide semiconductor), CMOS (complementary MOS), BiMOS (bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (bipolar CMOS), ECL (emitter coupled logic), TTL (transistor logic), etc.) using e.g. ASIC (application specific IC (integrated circuit)) components, FPGA (field programmable gate array) components, CPLD (complex programmable logic device) components, or DSP (digital signal processor) components;

a device, unit or component (e.g. any of the means defined above or their respective components) may be implemented as an individual device, unit or component, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed manner throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device, unit or component is preserved;

an apparatus may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chip set or a (hardware) module comprising such a chip or chip set; however, this does not exclude the possibility of: the functionality of the apparatus or module is not implemented in hardware, but as software in a (software) module, such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/running on a processor;

an apparatus may be considered to be a device or an assembly of more than one device, whether functionally cooperating or functionally independent of each other, for example.

Note that the above-described embodiments and examples are provided for illustrative purposes only, and are in no way intended to limit the present invention thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while the above discussion contains several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

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

Various embodiments of the techniques have been described. In addition to, or in the alternative to, the above, the following examples are described. The functionality described in any of the examples below may be used with any of the other examples described herein.

Claims

1. A method implemented at a terminal device, comprising:

receiving a configuration from a network device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode, the network device providing at least a serving cell and a first neighbor cell;

determining whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device based on the configuration;

measuring a signal quality of the first neighbor cell during the idle mode in response to determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device; and

transmitting a result of the neighbor cell measurement to the network device, the result including the cell identification of the first neighbor cell and the measured signal quality.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration comprises a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold used to trigger the neighbor cell measurement, and wherein determining whether the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device comprises:

measuring the RSRP of the serving cell; and

determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device in response to the measured RSRP of the serving cell being below the RSRP threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration comprises criteria to be met by respective identities of a set of terminal devices used to perform the neighbor cell measurements, and wherein determining whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device comprises:

determining that the neighbour cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device in response to the identity of the terminal device meeting the criterion.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration comprises control information regarding the neighbor cell measurements, and the control information regarding the neighbor cell measurements indicates at least one of:

whether the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed;

whether to transmit the result of the neighbor cell measurement;

timing information regarding the neighbor cell measurements; and

modification of RSRP thresholds used to trigger the neighbor cell measurements.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the configuration comprising the control information regarding the neighbor cell measurements is received from the network device via any one of:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message transmitted on a paging occasion; and

downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted on a paging occasion.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the terminal device comprises:

determining that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed by the terminal device in response to the control information regarding the neighbor cell measurement indicating that the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein measuring the signal quality of the first neighboring cell comprises:

measuring the signal quality of the first neighbor cell based on the timing information in response to the control information indicating the timing information measured with respect to the neighbor cell.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein transmitting the results of the neighbor cell measurements comprises:

transmitting the result of the neighbor cell measurement to the network device in response to the control information regarding the neighbor cell measurement indicating that the result of the neighbor cell measurement is to be transmitted.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal quality measured for the first neighboring cell comprises at least one of:

reference Signal Received Power (RSRP);

a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ); and

relative Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the cell identification comprises at least one of:

physical Cell Identity (PCI); and

cell Global Identity (CGI).

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the cell identity is a Physical Cell Identity (PCI), and wherein transmitting the results of the neighbor cell measurements comprises:

transmitting the result of the neighbor cell measurement via an RRC message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the RRC message comprises one of:

a first RRC message in message 3(MSG3) of the random access procedure;

a second RRC message in message 5(MSG5) of the random access procedure; and

a third RRC message following the MSG5 of the random access procedure.

13. The method of any of claims 1 to 12, further comprising:

in response to receiving a message from the network device requesting a Cell Global Identity (CGI) of a second neighboring cell provided by the network device, obtaining information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, the message including a PCI of the second neighboring cell; and

transmitting the information regarding the CGI of the second neighboring cell to the network device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein obtaining the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell comprises:

entering the idle mode to synchronize with the second neighboring cell;

obtaining the information regarding the CGI of the second neighboring cell during the idle mode; and

and returning to the serving cell.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the message received from the network device comprises one of:

an RRC connection release message; and

the fourth RRC message in message 4(MSG4) of the random access procedure.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the message received from the network device comprises a random access preamble for transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, and wherein transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell comprises:

transmitting the random access preamble to the network device; and

in response to receiving DCI indicating resources for transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell based on the resources.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the message received from the network device comprises a random access preamble for transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, and wherein transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell comprises:

transmitting the random access preamble to the network device; and

in response to receiving a random access response indicating resources and a timing advance command for transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell, transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell based on the resources and the timing advance command.

18. A method implemented at a network device, comprising:

transmitting to a terminal device a configuration for performing neighbour cell measurements during idle mode, the network device providing at least a serving cell and a first neighbour cell; and

receiving a result of the neighbor cell measurement from the terminal device, the result including at least a cell identity and a signal quality of the first neighbor cell.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the configuration comprises a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold used to trigger the neighbor cell measurements.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the configuration comprises criteria to be met by respective identities of a set of terminal devices used to perform the neighbor cell measurements.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the configuration comprises control information regarding the neighbor cell measurements, and wherein the control information regarding the neighbor cell measurements indicates at least one of:

whether the neighbor cell measurement is to be performed;

whether to transmit the result of the neighbor cell measurement;

timing information regarding the neighbor cell measurements; and

modification of RSRP thresholds used to trigger the neighbor cell measurements.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the configuration comprising the control information on the neighbor cell measurements is transmitted to the terminal device via any of:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message transmitted on a paging occasion; and

downlink Control Information (DCI) transmitted on a paging occasion.

23. The method of any of claims 18, wherein the cell identification comprises at least one of:

physical Cell Identity (PCI); and

cell Global Identity (CGI).

24. The method of any of claims 18, wherein the signal quality of the first neighboring cell comprises at least one of:

reference Signal Received Power (RSRP);

a Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ); and

relative Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

25. The method of claim 18, wherein the cell identity is a Physical Cell Identity (PCI), and wherein receiving the results of the neighbor cell measurements comprises:

receiving the result of the neighbor cell measurement from the terminal device via an RRC message.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the RRC message comprises one of:

a first RRC message in message 3(MSG3) of the random access procedure;

a second RRC message in message 5(MSG5) of the random access procedure; and

a third RRC message following the MSG5 of the random access procedure.

27. The method of any of claims 18 to 26, further comprising:

transmitting, to the terminal device, a message requesting a Cell Global Identity (CGI) of a second neighboring cell provided by the network device, the message including a PCI of the second neighboring cell; and

receiving the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell from the terminal device.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the message transmitted to the terminal device comprises one of:

an RRC connection release message; and

the fourth RRC message in message 4(MSG4) of the random access procedure.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein transmitting the message requesting the CGI of the second neighboring cell comprises:

including in the message a random access preamble for transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell; and

and transmitting the message to the terminal equipment.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein receiving the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell comprises:

allocating resources for transmitting the information about the CGI of the second neighbor cell in response to receiving the random access preamble from the terminal device;

indicating the resource to the terminal device; and

receiving the information about the CGI of the second neighboring cell from the terminal device based on the resources.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein indicating the resources to the terminal device comprises:

transmitting DCI indicating the resources to the terminal device.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein indicating the resources to the terminal device comprises:

transmitting a random access response to the terminal device indicating the resources and timing advance command.

33. A terminal device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to perform the method of any of claims 1-17.

34. A network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the network device to perform the method of any of claims 18-32.

35. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving a configuration from a network device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode, the network device providing at least a serving cell and a neighbor cell;

means for determining whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the apparatus based on the configuration;

means for measuring signal quality of the neighboring cell during the idle mode in response to determining that the neighboring cell measurement is to be performed by the apparatus; and

means for transmitting results of the neighbor cell measurements to the network device, the results including cell identities of the neighbor cells and the measured signal qualities.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means comprises:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus.

37. An apparatus, comprising:

means for transmitting to a terminal device a configuration for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode, the apparatus providing at least a serving cell and neighbor cells; and

means for receiving results of the neighbor cell measurements from the terminal device, the results including at least cell identities and signal qualities of the neighbor cells.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the means comprises:

at least one processor; and

39. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to:

receiving a configuration from a network device for performing neighbor cell measurements during idle mode, the network device providing at least a serving cell and neighbor cells;

determining whether the neighbor cell measurements are to be performed by the device based on the configuration;

measuring a signal quality of the neighboring cell during the idle mode in response to determining that the neighboring cell measurement is to be performed by the device; and

transmitting a result of the neighbor cell measurement to the network device, the result including a cell identification of the neighbor cell and the measured signal quality.

40. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to:

transmitting to a terminal device a configuration for performing neighbour cell measurements during idle mode, the device providing at least a serving cell and a neighbour cell; and

receiving a result of the neighbor cell measurement from the terminal device, the result including at least a cell identity and a signal quality of the neighbor cell.