CN113039830A

CN113039830A - Apparatus and method for controlling measurement operation in wireless communication system

Info

Publication number: CN113039830A
Application number: CN201980071328.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郑钟弼; 金汉锡; 金东淑
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-31
Filing date: 2019-10-31
Publication date: 2021-06-25
Also published as: EP3861787A1; KR20200049545A; EP3861787A4

Abstract

Methods and apparatus relate to a fifth generation (5G) or pre-5G communication system, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), for supporting higher data rates following a fourth generation (4G) communication system. A method for controlling a measurement operation in a wireless communication system and an apparatus therefor are provided. The method includes an operation method of a terminal including receiving a message for controlling a measurement operation from a base station, and controlling the measurement operation based on the message. The message includes information indicating an object of the application for the controlled measurement operation.

Description

Apparatus and method for controlling measurement operation in wireless communication system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a measurement operation in a wireless communication system.

Background

In order to meet the increasing demand for wireless data traffic after the commercialization of fourth generation (4G) communication systems, efforts are being made to develop improved fifth generation (5G) communication systems or pre-5G communication systems. For this reason, the 5G communication system or the pre-5G communication system is referred to as a super 4G network communication system or a post Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.

In order to achieve a high data transmission rate, a 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in an ultra high frequency (mmWave) band (e.g., 60 gigahertz (GHz) band). In order to mitigate path loss of ultra-high frequency band radio waves and increase propagation distance of radio waves, 5G communication systems are discussing beamforming, massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), full-dimensional-MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna techniques.

Furthermore, to improve system networks, 5G communication systems are implementing the development of technologies such as evolved small cells, advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (cloud RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device communication (D2D), wireless backhaul, mobile networks, cooperative communication, coordinated multipoint (CoMP), reception interference cancellation, and the like.

In addition to this, 5G systems are developing Advanced Coding Modulation (ACM) schemes such as hybrid frequency shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation (FQAM) and Sliding Window Superposition Coding (SWSC), and advanced connection techniques such as filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA), etc.

As various new technologies such as this are introduced into the 5G system, base stations of existing 4G systems (e.g., LTE-a) and base stations of the 5G system may coexist in the early days. Therefore, various scenarios using a plurality of connections by using all of the 4G systems and the 5G systems have appeared. In this case, it is necessary to effectively control the connection with each system.

The above information is provided merely as background information to aid in understanding the present disclosure. No determination is made as to whether any of the above can be applied as prior art to the present disclosure, nor is an assertion made.

Disclosure of Invention

Solution to the problem

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to solving at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to providing at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for controlling a measurement operation of a terminal with respect to a base station in a wireless communication system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently controlling a plurality of connections in a wireless communication system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently controlling a plurality of connections based on mutually different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) in a wireless communication system.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an operation method of a terminal in a wireless communication system. The operating method includes receiving a message for controlling a measurement operation from a base station, and controlling the measurement operation based on the message. The message includes information indicating an object of the application for the controlled measurement operation.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an operating method of a base station in a wireless communication system. The operation method includes providing a message for controlling a measurement operation of the terminal, and transmitting the message to the terminal. The message includes information indicating an object of the application for the controlled measurement operation.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal in a wireless communication system is provided. The terminal includes a transceiver and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to control the transceiver to receive a message for controlling a measurement operation from a base station and to control the measurement operation based on the message. The message includes information indicating an object of the application for the controlled measurement operation.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station in a wireless communication system is provided. The base station includes a transceiver and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to provide a message for controlling a measurement operation of the terminal and to control the transceiver to transmit the message to the terminal. The message includes information indicating an object of the application for the controlled measurement operation.

The apparatus and method of various embodiments of the present disclosure can reduce the battery consumption amount of a terminal more effectively than a conventional terminal through its own battery consumption amount reduction operation because a base station intervenes and controls the battery consumption amount.

Other aspects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the invention.

Drawings

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 illustrates a construction of a base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a configuration of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows a configuration of a communication unit in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of measurement control of a base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 illustrates a flowchart of measurement control of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 illustrates a handshake for recovering measurements according to movement of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 illustrates a handshake for resuming measurement according to expiration of a timer in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a measurement control operation for resuming a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 illustrates an example of a Dual Connectivity (DC) operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 illustrates a handshake for DC setup in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 illustrates a variation in battery consumption depending on a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 13 illustrates a functional structure of a terminal for DC operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 14 shows a flowchart for controlling a secondary base station in a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 15 illustrates a signal exchange for connection release and measurement suspension of a secondary base station by control of a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 16 illustrates a handshake for measurement suspension of a secondary base station by control of a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 17 shows a change in the amount of battery consumption caused by control of a measurement operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 18 illustrates a signal exchange for resuming measurement for a secondary base station by control of a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are used to describe the same or similar elements, features and structures.

Detailed Description

The following description is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. The following description includes various specific details to assist understanding, but these are considered exemplary only. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following specification and claims are not limited to bibliographic meanings, but are used only by the inventors to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are provided for illustration only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

In the various embodiments of the present disclosure described below, the hardware access method is explained as an example. However, various embodiments of the present disclosure include techniques that use all hardware and software, and thus, various embodiments of the present disclosure do not preclude software-based access methods.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a measurement operation in a wireless communication system. In particular, the present disclosure describes a technique for limiting or allowing a measurement operation according to a state or operation of a terminal in a wireless communication system.

Terms representing signals, terms representing channels, terms representing control information, terms representing network entities, terms representing device components, and the like, which are used in the following description, are exemplified for convenience of description. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described later, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may be used.

In the following description, physical channels and signals may be used interchangeably with data or control signals. For example, a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is a term representing a physical channel on which data is transmitted, but the PDSCH may even be used to represent data. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmitting a physical channel" may be interpreted to be equivalent to the expression "transmitting data or signals through a physical channel".

In the following disclosure, the upper layer signaling denotes a signal forwarding method for forwarding from a base station to a terminal by using a downlink data channel of a physical layer or forwarding from a terminal to a base station by using an uplink data channel of a physical layer. The upper layer signaling may be understood as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

Further, in the present disclosure, in order to identify whether a specific condition is satisfied or achieved, the expression "more than" or "less than" has been used, but this is merely a reference for expressing an example, and does not exclude a reference to "equal to or more than" or "equal to or less than". A condition mentioned as "equal to or greater than" may be replaced with "exceeding", and a condition mentioned as "equal to or less than" may be replaced with "less than", and a condition mentioned as "equal to or greater than and less than" may be replaced with "exceeding and equal to or less than".

Further, the present disclosure explains various embodiments by using terms used in some communication standards (e.g., third generation partnership project (3GPP)), but these are only examples for explanation. Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be easily modified and applied even in other communication systems.

Fig. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 illustrates a base station 110, a terminal 120, and a terminal 130 as some nodes using a wireless channel in a wireless communication system. Fig. 1 shows only one base station, but may also include another base station that is the same as or similar to base station 110.

Base station 110 is the network infrastructure that provides wireless connectivity to

terminals

120 and 130. The base station 110 has a coverage area defined as a predetermined geographical area based on a distance over which signals can be transmitted. In addition to the base station, the base station 110 may be represented as an "Access Point (AP)", "enodeb (enb)", "fifth generation (5G) node", "next generation node b (gnb)", "wireless point", "transmission/reception point (TRP)" or other terms having technical meanings equivalent to these.

Each of the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 is a device used by a user, and performs communication with the base station 110 through a wireless channel. According to circumstances, at least one of the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 may be managed without user participation. That is, at least one of the

terminals

120 and 130 is a device performing Machine Type Communication (MTC) and may not be carried by a user. In addition to the terminals, each of the

terminals

120 and 130 may be denoted as "User Equipment (UE)", "mobile station", "subscriber station", "remote terminal", "wireless terminal", or "user equipment" or other terms having technical meanings equivalent to these.

Base station 110, terminal 120, and terminal 130 may transmit and receive radio signals in mmWave segments (e.g., 28GHz, 30GHz, 38GHz, and 60 GHz). At this time, in order to improve channel gain, the base station 110, the terminal 120, and the terminal 130 may perform beamforming. Here, the beamforming may include transmit beamforming and receive beamforming. That is, the base station 110, the terminal 120, and the terminal 130 may grant directivity to a transmitted signal or a received signal. To this end, the base station 110 and the

terminals

120 and 130 may select the serving

beams

112, 113, 121, and 131 through a beam search or a beam management procedure. After selecting the service beams 112, 113, 121, and 131, future communications may be performed through resources that are in a quasi co-located (QCL) relationship with the resources transmitting the service beams 112, 113, 121, and 131.

In response to inferring a large-scale (large-scale) characteristic of a channel over which symbols are forwarded on the first antenna port from a channel over which symbols are forwarded on the second antenna port, the first antenna port and the second antenna port may be estimated to be in a QCL relationship. For example, the large scale characteristics may include at least one of delay spread, doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and spatial receiver parameters.

Fig. 2 illustrates a configuration of a base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The configuration illustrated in fig. 2 may be understood as the configuration of the base station 110. The terms "unit", "device", etc. used below denote a unit that handles at least one function or operation. This may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Referring to fig. 2, the base station includes a wireless communication unit 210, a backhaul communication unit 220, a storage unit 230, and a control unit 240.

The wireless communication unit 210 performs a function for transceiving signals through a wireless channel. For example, the wireless communication unit 210 performs a conversion function between a baseband signal and a bit stream according to a physical layer standard of the system. For example, at the time of data transmission, the wireless communication unit 210 provides complex symbols by encoding and modulating a transmission bit stream. Also, at the time of data reception, the wireless communication unit 210 restores a reception bit stream by demodulating and decoding a baseband signal.

Also, the wireless communication unit 210 up-converts a baseband signal into a Radio Frequency (RF) band signal, then transmits the RF band signal through an antenna, and down-converts the RF band signal received through the antenna into a baseband signal. To this end, the wireless communication unit 210 may include a transmission filter, a reception filter, an amplifier, a mixer, an oscillator, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and the like. In addition, the wireless communication unit 210 may include a plurality of transceiving paths. Further, the wireless communication unit 210 may include at least one antenna array composed of a plurality of antenna elements.

In terms of hardware, the wireless communication unit 210 may be composed of a digital unit and an analog unit. The analog unit may be composed of a plurality of sub-units according to an operation power, an operation frequency, and the like. The digital unit may be implemented as at least one processor, such as a Digital Signal Processor (DSP).

The wireless communication unit 210 transmits and receives signals as described above. Accordingly, all or part of the wireless communication unit 210 may be denoted as a "transmitter", "receiver", or "transceiver". Further, in the following description, transmission and reception performed through a wireless channel are used as meaning including the aforementioned processing performed by the wireless communication unit 210.

The backhaul communication unit 220 provides an interface for performing communication with other nodes in the network. That is, the backhaul communication unit 220 converts a bit stream transmitted from the base station to another node (e.g., another connection node, another base station, an upper node, a core network, etc.) into a physical signal, and converts a physical signal received from another node into a bit stream.

The storage unit 230 stores data such as basic programs for the operation of the base station, application programs, setting information, and the like. The storage unit 230 may be composed of a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, or a combination of a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. And, the storage unit 230 provides the stored data in response to a request of the control unit 240.

The control unit 240 controls the general operation of the base station. For example, the control unit 240 may transmit and receive signals through the wireless communication unit 210 or the backhaul communication unit 220. Further, the control unit 240 records data in the storage unit 230, and reads data from the storage unit 230. Also, the control unit 240 may perform functions of a protocol stack required in a communication standard. According to another implementation example, a protocol stack may be included in the wireless communication unit 210. To this end, the control unit 240 may include at least one processor. According to various embodiments, the control unit 240 may control the base station to perform operations of various embodiments described later.

Fig. 3 illustrates a configuration of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The configuration illustrated in fig. 3 may be understood as the configuration of the terminal 120. The terms "unit", "device", etc. used below denote a unit that handles at least one function or operation. This may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Referring to fig. 3, the terminal includes a communication unit 310, a storage unit 320, and a control unit 330.

The communication unit 310 performs a function for transceiving signals through a wireless channel. For example, the communication unit 310 performs a conversion function between a baseband signal and a bit stream according to a physical layer standard of the system. For example, at the time of data transmission, the communication unit 310 provides complex symbols by encoding and modulating a transmission bit stream. Also, at the time of data reception, the communication unit 310 restores a reception bit stream by demodulating and decoding a baseband signal. Also, the communication unit 310 up-converts a baseband signal into an RF band signal, then transmits the RF band signal through an antenna, and down-converts the RF band signal received through the antenna into a baseband signal. Further, the communication unit 310 may include a transmission filter, a reception filter, an amplifier, a mixer, an oscillator, a DAC, an ADC, and the like.

Further, the communication unit 310 may include a plurality of transceiving paths. Further, the communication unit 310 may comprise at least one antenna array consisting of a plurality of antenna elements. In terms of hardware, the communication unit 310 may be composed of a digital circuit and an analog circuit (e.g., a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC)). Here, the digital circuit and the analog circuit may be implemented as one package. Further, the communication unit 310 may include a plurality of RF chains. Further, the communication unit 310 may perform beamforming.

Further, the communication unit 310 may include communication modules different from each other in order to process signals of frequency bands different from each other. Further, the communication unit 310 may include a plurality of communication modules in order to support a plurality of wireless connection technologies different from each other. For example, mutually different wireless connection technologies may include Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi gigabytes (WiGig), cellular networks (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, NR), and so on. Further, the mutually different frequency bands may include an ultra high frequency (SHF) (e.g., 2.5GHz, 5GHz) frequency band, and/or a millimeter (mm) wave (e.g., 60GHz) frequency band.

The communication unit 310 transmits and receives signals as described above. Accordingly, all or part of the communication unit 310 may be denoted as a "transmitter", "receiver" or "transceiver". Further, in the following description, transmission and reception performed through a wireless channel are used as meaning including the above-described processing performed by the communication unit 310.

The storage unit 320 stores data such as basic programs, application programs, setting information, and the like for the operation of the terminal. The storage unit 320 may be composed of a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, or a combination of a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. And, the storage unit 320 provides the stored data in response to a request of the control unit 330.

The control unit 330 controls the general operation of the terminal. For example, the control unit 330 transmits and receives signals through the communication unit 310. Further, the control unit 330 records data in the storage unit 320 and reads signals from the storage unit 320. Also, the control unit 330 may perform functions of a protocol stack required in a communication standard. To this end, the control unit 330 may comprise at least one processor or microprocessor, or be part of a processor. Also, portions of the communication unit 310 and the control unit 330 may be denoted as a Communication Processor (CP). According to various embodiments, the control unit 330 may control the terminal to perform operations of various embodiments described later.

Fig. 4 shows a configuration of a communication unit in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 4 shows an example of a detailed configuration of the wireless communication unit 210 of fig. 2 or the communication unit 310 of fig. 3. In particular, fig. 4 illustrates constituent elements for performing beamforming as part of the wireless communication unit 210 of fig. 2 or the communication unit 310 of fig. 3.

Referring to fig. 4, the wireless communication unit 210 or the communication unit 310 includes a coding and modulation unit 402, a digital beam forming unit 404, a plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N, and an analog beam forming unit 408.

The coding and modulation unit 402 performs channel coding. For channel coding, at least one of a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code, a convolutional code, and a polar code may be used. By performing constellation mapping, the coding and modulation unit 402 provides modulation symbols.

The digital beamforming unit 404 performs beamforming on the digital signal (e.g., modulation symbol). To this end, the digital beamforming unit 404 multiplies the modulation symbols by beamforming weights. Here, the beamforming weights are used to change the amplitude and phase of the signals, and may be represented as a "precoding matrix", "precoder", or the like. The digital beamforming unit 404 outputs the digitally beamformed modulation symbols to a plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N. At this time, modulation symbols may be multiplexed or the same modulation symbol may be provided to a plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N according to a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission technique.

The plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N convert the digital beamformed digital signals to analog signals. To this end, each of the plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N may include an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) operation unit, a Cyclic Prefix (CP) insertion unit, a DAC, and an up-conversion unit. The CP insertion unit is for an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) scheme and may be excluded in response to another physical layer scheme (e.g., filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC)) being applied. That is, the multiple transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N provide independent signal processing for multiple streams provided by digital beamforming. However, depending on the implementation, some of the constituent elements of the multiple transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N may be used in common.

The analog beamforming unit 408 performs beamforming on the analog signal. For this, the analog beamforming unit 408 multiplies the analog signal by beamforming weights. Here, the beamforming weights are used to change the amplitude and phase of the signal. Specifically, the analog beamforming unit 408 may be variously constructed according to the coupling structure between the plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N and the antenna. For example, each of the plurality of transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N may be coupled with an antenna array. As another example, multiple transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N may be coupled with one antenna array. For example, multiple transmission paths 406-1 to 406-N may be adaptively coupled with one antenna array, or with two or more antenna arrays.

Fig. 5 shows a flow chart 500 of measurement control of a base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Fig. 5 illustrates an operation method of the base station 110.

Referring to fig. 5, a base station obtains information on a state of a terminal in operation 501. For example, the information on the state of the terminal may include information related to traffic or data amount of the terminal, data amount stored in a buffer of the terminal, service provided to the terminal, mobility of the terminal, or a battery of the terminal. According to an embodiment, the base station may obtain information on the state of the terminal from a message received from the terminal. According to another embodiment, the base station may obtain information on the state of the terminal from information obtained through another path, instead of obtaining information on the state of the terminal from terminal signaling.

In operation 503, the base station transmits a signal for controlling a measurement operation of the terminal. Here, the measurement may include Radio Resource Measurement (RRM) measurement. For example, the signal may be an RRC message or a MAC CE. According to an embodiment, the signal may indicate or request that the measurement operation be restricted. According to another embodiment, the signal may indicate or request that the measurement operation is allowed.

Fig. 6 shows a flow chart 600 of measurement control for a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Fig. 6 illustrates an operation method of the terminal 120.

Referring to fig. 6, a terminal receives a signal for controlling a measurement operation of the terminal in operation 601. For example, the signal may be an RRC message or a MAC CE. According to an embodiment, the signal may indicate or request that the measurement operation be restricted. According to another embodiment, the signal may indicate or request that the measurement operation is allowed.

In operation 603, the terminal controls a measurement operation according to the signal. The terminal may control (e.g., pause/resume, cycle (cycle) adjustment, interval adjustment, etc.) the measurement operation based on the signal received in operation 601. For example, the terminal may suspend or resume measurement operations for the base station. As another example, the terminal may increase or decrease the measurement operation period for the base station.

As in the embodiments explained with reference to fig. 5 and 6, a signal for restricting the measurement operation may be transmitted from the base station to the terminal. Here, restricting the measurement operation means disabling the measurement, suspending the measurement, or reducing the number of measurements. That is, the signal may indicate that the measurement is disabled or suspended, or cause a reduction in the number of measurements. To indicate a deactivation or pause of the measurement, the signal may comprise a value corresponding to the deactivation or pause. To cause a reduction in the number of measurements, the signal may include information for increasing the measurement period (e.g., an increased period value or an incremental value) or information for changing the measurement execution condition (e.g., changing to a stricter condition).

As in the embodiments explained with reference to fig. 5 and 6, a signal for allowing a measurement operation may be transmitted from the base station to the terminal. Here, allowing the measurement operation means activating measurement, resuming measurement, or increasing the number of measurements. That is, the signal may indicate that a measurement is activated or resumed, or cause an increase in the number of measurements. To indicate an activation or recovery measurement, the signal may include a value corresponding to activation or recovery. To cause an increase in the number of measurements, the signal may include information for reducing the measurement period (e.g., a reduced period value or a reduced amount value) or information for changing the measurement execution condition (e.g., changing to a more relaxed condition).

According to the embodiments explained with reference to fig. 5 and 6, the measurement operation of the terminal may be controlled. At this time, according to the embodiment, the controlled measurement operation may be a measurement operation for a base station transmitting a signal or a measurement operation for another at least one base station. In this case, according to the embodiment, the signal transmitted from the base station to the terminal may further include information on at least one base station that is an object of the measurement operation. For example, the another at least one base station may be one of remaining at least one base station except for a base station transmitting a signal among a plurality of base stations forming a dual connection (dual connection) connection. The base station related to the controlled measurement operation may be indicated by one of identification information of the base station, a type of the base station, and an index used in a given base station set.

Furthermore, according to another embodiment, the controlled measurement operations may be specified by a unit of a Radio Access Technology (RAT) rather than a unit of a base station. In this case, in response to supporting multiple RATs in one base station, measurements for the respective base stations may be partially allowed or restricted. For example, the objects to be controlled may be specified differently, such as 5G, 4G, LTE-a, non-3 GPP, and so on.

Further, according to another embodiment, the measurement object to be controlled may be specified by a unit of a bandwidth or bandwidth part (BWP). Here, the controlled band or BWP may be indicated by a frequency value, a band number defined in a standard, and an index configured for the terminal.

As described above, the measurement operation of the terminal may be controlled according to signaling with the base station. At this time, the measurement operation controlled according to the indication of the base station can be resumed as needed. The event or condition for resuming the measurement operation may be predefined or configured by the base station. Next, an embodiment of resuming the measurement operation according to the implementation of the condition is described.

Fig. 7 illustrates a handshake for recovering a measurement according to a movement of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 7 illustrates the exchange of signals between a base station 110 and a terminal 120.

Referring to fig. 7, a base station 110 transmits a measurement suspension command to a terminal 120 in operation 701. For example, in response to a measurement suspend command indicating that measurement for the base station 110 is suspended, the terminal 120 operates in a non-measurement state for the base station 110. As another example, in response to a measurement suspend command indicating that measurements for a particular RAT (e.g., 5G) are suspended, the terminal 120 operates in a non-measurement state for a 5G cell. In operation 703, the terminal 120 transmits a message notifying the start of measurement. The suspended measurement operation may be resumed again by the movement of the terminal 120. However, according to another embodiment, the message informing of the start of measurement may be omitted.

As shown in fig. 7, the terminal 120 may not perform a measurement operation before moving, thereby saving a battery. To this end, the measurement suspend command transmitted in operation 701 may include information informing of a measurement resume condition. In fig. 7, for example, the measurement suspension command may include information explicitly or implicitly indicating movement as information notifying the measurement resumption condition.

Fig. 8 illustrates a handshake for resuming measurement according to expiration of a timer in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 8 illustrates the exchange of signals between a base station 110 and a terminal 120.

Referring to fig. 8, the base station 110 transmits a measurement suspension command to the terminal 120 in operation 801. For example, in response to a measurement suspend command indicating that measurement for the base station 110 is suspended, the terminal 120 operates in a non-measurement state for the base station 110. As another example, in response to a measurement suspend command indicating that measurements for a particular RAT (e.g., 5G) are suspended, the terminal 120 operates in a non-measurement state for a 5G cell. In operation 803, the terminal 120 transmits a message notifying the start of measurement. After a predetermined time delay (lapse), the suspended measurement operation can resume again. However, according to another embodiment, the message informing of the start of measurement may be omitted.

As shown in fig. 8, the terminal 120 does not perform the measurement operation until the delay of the predetermined time, thereby saving the battery. For this, the measurement pause command transmitted in operation 801 may include information informing of a predetermined time. In the case of fig. 8, for example, the measurement pause command may include information explicitly or implicitly indicating a duration value or a timer value as information notifying the time of measurement resumption.

Fig. 9 shows a flow diagram 900 of measurement control operations for recovering terminals in a wireless communication system, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 9 illustrates an operation method of the terminal 120. Fig. 9 shows an embodiment considering all the moving conditions explained with reference to fig. 7 and the time delay conditions explained with reference to fig. 8.

Referring to fig. 9, in operation 901, a terminal identifies whether a command for measurement is received. That is, even before the measurement resumption condition is satisfied, the terminal can resume the suspended measurement operation in response to the occurrence of the command for measurement. In response to receiving the command for measurement, the terminal proceeds to operation 907 below.

On the other hand, in response to not receiving the command for measurement, the terminal identifies whether movement of the terminal is sensed in operation 903. For example, the movement may be recognized based on at least one of signal strength of the base station and a sensing value obtained by a sensor installed in the terminal. In response to sensing the movement, the terminal proceeds to operation 907 below.

In another aspect, in response to no movement being sensed, the terminal identifies whether a specific time has elapsed in operation 905. For example, a delay of a particular time may be identified based on the expiration of a timer. In response to the specific time not having elapsed, the terminal returns to operation 901.

On the other hand, in response to the lapse of a certain time, the terminal performs measurement for the corresponding base station in operation 907. In other words, the terminal can resume the suspended measurement operation. Accordingly, the terminal may perform measurement for the corresponding base station and transmit a measurement report including the measurement result. According to another embodiment, the terminal may perform measurements for the respective RAT and/or the respective frequency band.

The operations for controlling the measurement operations of the various embodiments described above may be as shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

As described above, the terminal can resume the measurement operation according to the implementation of the configuration condition or an instruction from the base station. At this time, at the time of resuming the measurement, the configuration for the measurement (e.g., measurement items, report cycle, report items, etc.) may be the same as before the pause or may be different from before the pause. In response to a different from before the pause, the terminal may use the configuration defined as default or follow a separately provided configuration. For example, the separately provided configuration may be provided while the measurement is suspended, or after the measurement is resumed.

According to the various embodiments described above, the measurement operation for a specific object can be controlled. The above embodiments are premised on the terminal having a single connection, but even cases where the terminal has multiple connections (e.g., DC) can be considered. DC using multiple connections is given in fig. 10 below.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example of DC operation in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 10, a terminal 120 has a connection with each of a first base station 110a and a second base station 110 b. And, the first base station 110a is connected with an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 1050. For example, the first base station 110a may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station using a 700MHz frequency band, and the second base station 110b may be a 5G base station using a 28GHz frequency band. This form of DC may be referred to as long term evolution-new radio dual connectivity (EN-DC). EN-DC is a technology connected to both LTE and 5G to support high-capacity and high-speed data transmission of users.

In fig. 10, the second base station 110b does not have a connection to the core network. That is, fig. 10 illustrates EN-DC in a non-stand alone (NSA) environment. Thus, the first base station 110a operates as a master base station, and the second base station 110b operates as a secondary base station. After the first base station 110a, which is a main base station, or the second base station 110b, which is a secondary base station, is connected with the terminal 120, the use state of each base station is checked on a point-to-point basis to operate the terminal 120 in a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mode, so that it is possible to reduce battery consumption of the terminal 120. Fig. 11 below illustrates a process of operating DRX in an EN-DC environment.

Fig. 11 illustrates a handshake for DC setup in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 11 illustrates the exchange of signals between a first base station 110a, a second base station 110b and a terminal 120.

Referring to fig. 11, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G measurement command to the terminal 120 in operation 1101. Accordingly, in operation 1103, the terminal 120 performs measurement for the second base station 110b, which is a 5G base station, and transmits a 5G measurement report including the measurement result. Based on the measurement results, the first base station 110a identifies the addition of the secondary base station. Accordingly, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G addition preparation message to the terminal 120 in operation 1105. Further, in operation 1107, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G addition preparation message to the second base station 110 b. In operation 1109, the terminal 120 and the second base station 110b perform a procedure for establishing a connection. Thereafter, the terminal 120 performs a DRX operation for each of the first and

second base stations

110a and 110b according to 4G traffic or 5G traffic in operation 1111 and operation 1113.

Fig. 12 illustrates a variation in battery consumption depending on DRX operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 12, a DRX operation of the terminal 120 is independently performed for each of the first and

second base stations

110a and 110 b. That is, the DRX operation may be performed in a point-to-point relationship and provide a predetermined battery saving effect.

With EN-DC as a technology to maintain multiple connections, battery consumption can be large because the terminal uses two radio circuits. Furthermore, conventional functions such as DRX to reduce battery consumption operate separately in each of the 4G and 5G connections and do not affect each other. Accordingly, the present disclosure explains embodiments for saving terminal batteries in an EN-DC environment. In the following description, EN-DC is explained as an example, but the embodiments described later may be applied to various cases of multiple connections using different heterogeneous RATs.

According to the embodiment, when 4G dedicated traffic is in an active state (e.g., voice over LTE (VoLTE)) and no or less traffic is transceived through the 5G system, or when 4G dedicated traffic is configured to release a connection even if traffic exists in the 5G system, the base station temporarily releases the connection with the 5G base station and even suppresses measurement for the 5G system, thereby enabling reduction of battery consumption caused by a circuit (e.g., a 5G module) for a terminal communicating with the 5G base station.

According to another embodiment, the base station suppresses measurement for the 5G system even if connection has not been established with the 4G base station and the 5G base station, so that battery consumption caused by the 5G module of the terminal can be reduced.

For example, when both 4G and 5G are below 6GHz, battery usage is large because the terminals allocate and use uplink power for 4G and 5G, but VoLTE with high 4G usage does not need to specifically maintain the connection provided to the unused 5G system.

As shown in fig. 13 below, the terminal has a structure supporting an EN-DC function simultaneously connected to an LTE base station as a main base station and a 5G base station as a secondary base station.

Fig. 13 illustrates a functional structure of a terminal for DC operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 13, the terminal 120 includes a battery 1310, a 4G connection module 1320, and a 5G connection module 1330. The battery 1310 may be built-in or attachable. The 4G connection module 1320 provides an interface of the 4G standard, and the 5G connection module 1330 provides an interface of the 5G standard. Accordingly, the terminal 120 may perform communication with the first base station 110a by using the 4G connection module 1320, and perform communication with the second base station 110b by using the 5G connection module 1330.

Fig. 14 shows a flowchart for controlling a secondary base station in a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 14 illustrates an operation method of the first base station 110a as a main base station.

Referring to fig. 14, in operation 1401, a first base station recognizes whether a terminal is using a main base station-dominated service. Here, the main base station-dominated service means a service based on a RAT for communicating with the main base station. For example, in response to the first base station being a 4G base station, the primary base station dominant service may be VoLTE.

In response to the terminal being using the main base station-dominated service, the first base station identifies whether a data usage amount by the secondary base station is equal to or less than a threshold in operation 1403. In response to the data usage amount by the secondary base station being equal to or less than the threshold, the first base station controls to release the connection with the secondary base station in operation 1405. In operation 1407, the first base station transmits a measurement restriction command for the secondary base station. Here, the connection release of operation 1405 and the measurement limit command of operation 1407 may be indicated by transmission of a single message or by separate messages.

In the embodiment explained with reference to fig. 14, the first base station may release the connection with the secondary base station based on the data usage amount of the secondary base station. According to another embodiment, the first base station may also take into account the data usage by the master base station. For example, the first base station may confirm a first data usage amount for a terminal of the first base station as a main base station and a second data usage amount for a terminal of the second base station as a secondary base station, and identify whether the first data usage amount is equal to or greater than a first threshold and the second data usage amount is equal to or less than a second threshold.

As explained with reference to fig. 14, in response to the LTE base station being heavily used (e.g., VoLTE is being used), and the amount of data usage by the 5G system is not equal to or slightly equal to or less than a threshold, the base station may release the 5G connection of the terminal and control not to perform measurement for the 5G system.

In response to having established a connection with the 5G base station as the secondary base station, the connection is released and the 4G base station as the primary base station may instruct the terminal not to perform the measurement.

Fig. 15 illustrates handshaking for connection release and measurement suspension by a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 15, in operation 1501, the first base station 110a learns that the terminal 120 is using the 4G-dominated service. At this time, the terminal 120 is in a state of maintaining connection with the second base station 110 b. Accordingly, in operation 1503, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G release command to the terminal 120. In operation 1505, the terminal 120 disconnects from the second base station 110 b. In operation 1507, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G measurement suspend command to the terminal 120.

Unlike the example of fig. 15, the 4G base station as the main base station may instruct the terminal not to perform measurement in response to the connection with the 5G base station as the secondary base station not having been established.

Fig. 16 illustrates handshaking for measurement suspension of a secondary base station through control of a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 16, in operation 1601, the first base station 110a learns that the terminal 120 is using the 4G-dominated service. At this time, the terminal 120 is in a state of not maintaining the connection with the second base station 110 b. Accordingly, in operation 1603, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G measurement suspend command to the terminal 120.

The detailed description of connection release and measurement suspension follows.

-5G ligation Release

1) In response to the presence of a split Data Radio Bearer (DRB) using both 4G and 5G as DC (non-VoLTE bearer), the terminal may change the split DRB to Master Cell Group (MCG) -DRB and release the Secondary Cell Group (SCG).

2) In response to the presence of the SCG-DRB using only 5G, the terminal may change the SCG-DRB to the MCG-DRB.

For the above operation, at least one message (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) message) between the main base station and the terminal may be transmitted and received. For example, RRC reconfiguration messages may be sent and received.

-5G measurement pause/limit

As shown in table 2 below, when the base station transmits the RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal, the base station may use measurement object list information about 5G in the measurement configuration information. For example, the base station may eliminate the measurement object list information or display a value indicating measurement suspension/restriction (e.g., removal). The terminal receives measObjectToRemoveList.

TABLE 2

According to the above-described embodiments, the base station can reduce battery consumption of the terminal even in an environment where one to two or more connections are established.

Fig. 17 shows a change in the amount of battery consumption caused by control of a measurement operation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 17, while maintaining a plurality of connections with a first base station 110a and a second base station 110b to perform communication (as shown in 1710), a terminal 120 releases the connection with the second base station 110b as a 5G base station and suspends measurement for the second base station 110b (as shown in 1720), thereby reducing the amount of battery consumption.

Fig. 18 illustrates a signal exchange for resuming measurement for a secondary base station by control of a primary base station in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 18 illustrates the exchange of signals between the terminal 120, the first base station 110a and the second base station 110 b.

Referring to fig. 18, the terminal 120 operates in a 5G non-measurement state during a predetermined duration. That is, the terminal 120 can save the battery by not performing the measurement during the predetermined duration. During the non-measurement state, the first base station 110a transmits a 5G measurement command to the terminal 120 in operation 1801. Accordingly, the terminal 120 can transition to the normal state and perform measurement for the second base station 110b, which is a 5G base station.

As explained with reference to fig. 18, the main base station may control the terminal to resume the suspended measurement operation for the secondary base station. Here, the measurement operation for the secondary base station can be recovered by various situation changes. For example, the change in condition may be associated with the primary base station, or with the secondary base station, or with both the primary and secondary base stations. According to an embodiment, in response to an intention to allocate traffic to a secondary base station due to a decrease in available resources of a primary base station, the primary base station may control a terminal to resume a measurement operation for the secondary base station in order to reestablish a connection between the secondary base station and the terminal. According to another embodiment, the master base station may control the terminal to resume the measurement operation for the secondary base station in order to re-establish the connection between the secondary base station and the terminal in response to the terminal requesting a service requiring high throughput.

The methods of the embodiments mentioned in the claims or the specification of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

In the case of implementation by software, a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (i.e., software modules) may be provided. The one or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium are configured to be executable by one or more processors of the electronic device. The one or more programs include instructions for enabling the electronic device to perform the methods of the embodiments set forth in the claims or the specification of the present disclosure.

These programs (i.e., software modules, software) may be stored in Random Access Memory (RAM), non-volatile memory including flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (eeprom), magnetic disk storage devices, compact disk-ROM (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Disks (DVD), another form of optical storage device, and/or a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, the program may be stored in a memory configured by a combination of some or all of them. In addition, the memory of each configuration may also be included in a plural form.

Further, the program may be stored in an attachable storage device that is accessible over a communication network, such as the internet, an intranet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a wireless LAN (wlan), or a Storage Area Network (SAN), or a combination thereof. The storage device may access a device executing an embodiment of the present disclosure through an external port. Furthermore, a separate storage device on a communication network may also access a device that performs embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, constituent elements included in the present disclosure have been represented in the singular or plural according to the proposed embodiments. However, for convenience of description, expressions in the singular or plural are selected to be suitable for a given case, and the present disclosure is not limited to constituent elements in the singular or plural. Even a constituent element expressed in the plural number may be constructed in the singular number, or even a constituent element expressed in the singular number may be constructed in the plural number.

While the present disclosure has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, it is needless to say that various modifications are available without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to and defined by the illustrated embodiments, but should be defined not only by the scope of the appended claims, but also by equivalents of the scope of these claims.

Claims

1. A method for operating a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a message for controlling a measurement operation from a base station; and

controlling a measurement operation based on the message,

wherein the message comprises information indicating an object of an application for a controlled measurement operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, in response to receipt of the message, the measurement operation is controlled to:

is either suspended or is resumed and,

according to an increasing period, or

According to a reduced cycle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the object for the application comprises at least one of:

the base station that sent the message may,

at least one other base station providing dual connectivity for the terminal with the base station, or

At least one base station providing a specified Radio Access Technology (RAT).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the RAT is indicated by the message.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the RAT is specified as 5G (fifth generation).

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

resuming the measurement operation based on the message in response to a condition previously defined or configured by the base station being satisfied.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the condition comprises at least one of a movement of the terminal or a delay of a specified time.

8. A method for operating a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

generating a message for controlling a measurement operation of a terminal; and

-sending said message to said terminal in a message,

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, in response to receipt of the message, the measurement operation is controlled to:

is either suspended or is resumed and,

according to an increasing period, or

According to a reduced cycle.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the object for the application comprises at least one of:

the base station that sent the message may,

At least one base station providing a specified Radio Access Technology (RAT).

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the condition comprises at least one of a movement of the terminal or a delay of a specified time.

13. A terminal in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising:

a transceiver; and

at least one processor coupled with the transceiver and configured to:

controlling the transceiver to receive a message for controlling a measurement operation from a base station, an

Controlling a measurement operation based on the message,

14. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the measurement operation in response to receipt of the message:

is either suspended or is resumed and,

according to an increasing period, or

According to a reduced cycle.

15. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the object for the application comprises at least one of:

the base station that sent the message may,

At least one base station providing a specified Radio Access Technology (RAT).