CN113079534A - Control of search and/or measurement procedures based on frequency range preferences - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to control of search and/or measurement procedures based on frequency range preferences. A User Equipment (UE) supports communication in a first (lower) frequency range and a second (higher) frequency range. The UE determines a preference degree of the second frequency range with respect to the first frequency range, for example, based on one or more of: a sensor measurement; a physical channel measurement value; battery condition; weather conditions; voice call activity; indoor/outdoor/in-vehicle status; a learned relationship between previous location-time conditions and performance over a second frequency range; and so on. The UE device may control the search activity and/or the measurement activity on the second frequency range based on the preference degree, for example by controlling a repetition rate of the search and/or the measurement on the second frequency range, or by adding a measurement bias to a measurement reporting threshold, or by adding a delay to a measurement reporting time of the measurement, or by disabling the search and the measurement on the second frequency range.

Description

Control of search and/or measurement procedures based on frequency range preferences

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to mechanisms for determining a preference of one frequency range relative to another and employing the preference to control measurement and/or search processes.

Background

A User Equipment (UE) device may be configured to communicate with a wireless network using a first frequency range and a second frequency range, wherein the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range. (e.g., the first frequency range may be a frequency range defined by 3GPP LTE or a FR1 frequency range defined by 5G NR. the second frequency range may be a FR2 frequency range defined by 5G NR.) the second frequency range may include one or more frequency bands in the millimeter wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thus, communications by the UE in the second frequency range may be prone to significant propagation LOSs and signal LOSs when the UE does not have a clear line of sight (LOS) to the base station. If the channel conditions are not favorable over the second frequency range, the power that the UE puts into the search and measurement frequencies within the second frequency range may be wasted. Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that is capable of controlling processes such as searching and/or measuring on frequencies within the second frequency range.

Disclosure of Invention

A User Equipment (UE) device may need to search (or scan) and measure frequencies. The term "measurement" refers to a measurement of the energy of a cell in one or more frequency ranges. The term "search" refers to a frequency scan performed by the UE device while not camped on the network or during a measurement gap instance. Scanning may be limited to scanning a particular frequency or group of frequencies supported by the UE device. (different brands and models of UE devices may support different frequency groups.)

In one set of embodiments, a UE device may be configured to support communication in a first frequency range and a second frequency range, where the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range. For example, the first frequency range may be a frequency range defined by 3GPP long term evolution or an FR1 frequency range defined by a 5G New Radio (NR). The second frequency range may be the FR2 frequency range defined by 5G NR. The UE device may determine a preference degree of the second frequency range relative to the first frequency range, for example, based on one or more of: measurements from one or more sensors; measurements from a physical communication channel; a learned relationship between previous location-time conditions and communication performance over a second frequency range. The UE device may control the search activity and/or the measurement activity on the second frequency range based on the degree of preference, for example by controlling a repetition rate of the search and the measurement on the second frequency range, or by adding a measurement bias to a measurement reporting threshold, or by adding a delay to a measurement reporting time of the FR2 measurement, or by disabling the search and the measurement on the second frequency range.

In some embodiments, the degree of preference may be determined based on one or more of the following: the degree of UE motion; the degree of doppler shift relative to the base station; the condition of the UE battery; a handover rate associated with the second frequency range; weather conditions in a geographic region of the UE device; whether the UE is in an active voice call (e.g., a NR-based voice call); whether the UE is in an idle state or a connected state; the average transmit power within the most recent measurement sample; indoor/outdoor status of the UE device; whether the UE device is located in a car.

This patent discloses various mechanisms for deriving the degree of preference of FR2 using sensing assistance information. This degree of preference can be used to adjust (inter-frequency/inter-RAT) search and measurement priorities, for example for FR2 system selection in a 5G NR independent (SA) or non-independent (NSA) context. (RAT is an acronym for radio access technology.) these mechanisms may save battery power for the UE and improve link reliability. When FR2 is not preferred, the UE device may slow down or even stop the search and/or measurement activity on FR2, e.g., to save power. With the help from one or more sensors (such as motion sensors, doppler shift sensors, etc.), the priority of FR2 may be lowered for better link reliability and performance improvement. The UE device may avoid FR2 selection failure when FR2 quality is unstable or poor.

Drawings

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtained when the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings.

Fig. 1-2 illustrate examples of wireless communication systems according to some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a base station in communication with user equipment devices, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a user equipment device according to some embodiments.

Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates an example of a user equipment device 600 according to some embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a base station 700 according to some embodiments. The base station 700 may be used to communicate with the user equipment 600 of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 illustrates a coverage area over the FR2 frequency range of a 5G NR according to some embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates three different versions of a mechanism for determining a degree of preference for a higher frequency range relative to a lower frequency range, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example of non-standalone (NSA) deployment of 5G NRs according to some embodiments. (gNB is a base station of 5G NR. eNB is a base station of 3GPP Long term evolution.)

Fig. 11 illustrates an example of stand-alone (SA) deployment of 5G NRs according to some embodiments.

Fig. 12 depicts two different preference states for the second (higher) frequency range relative to the first (lower) frequency range according to some embodiments.

Fig. 13 illustrates possible states of preference indicators and corresponding values of search periods and measurement periods, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 14 and 15 show examples of algorithms for controlling the search and measurement process based on inputs such as battery condition, average transmission power, and connection status with the network, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 16 illustrates an example of a method for structuring measurement gap information to be transmitted to a user equipment device, wherein the measurement gap information defines measurement gaps for one or more frequency ranges supported by a UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 17 illustrates an example of a data structure of configuration information to be transmitted to a user equipment device, enabling a network to configure measurement gaps for one or more frequency ranges supported by a UE, in accordance with some embodiments.

Fig. 18 shows an example of an algorithm to control measurements over the FR2 frequency range of the 5G NR based on one or more conditions such as UE mobility and measured signal strength, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 19 shows an example of a method for determining a preference degree for FR2 frequency ranges of 5G NR and employing the determined preference degree to control a search and/or measurement process over FR2 frequency ranges, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a possible implementation of the input to the method of FIG. 19, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 21 illustrates examples of three versions of a method for determining a level of preference for a high frequency range (including one or more millimeter-wave bands), according to some embodiments.

Figure 22 illustrates an example of an algorithm for determining a preference level for a high frequency range (including one or more millimeter-wave bands) based on mobility information and doppler shift, according to some embodiments.

Fig. 23 illustrates an example of a method for controlling search activity and/or measurement activity over a high frequency range (including one or more millimeter-wave bands), according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

Detailed Description

Acronyms

The following acronyms are used in this disclosure:

3 GPP: third generation partnership project

3GPP 2: third generation partnership project 2

5G NR: fifth generation new radio part

BW: bandwidth of

BWP: bandwidth part

CA: carrier aggregation

CQI: channel quality indicator

CSI: channel state information

DC: dual connection

DCI: downlink control information

DL: downlink link

eNB (or eNodeB): evolved node B, base station of 3GPP LTE

The eUICC: embedded UICC

gNB (or gnnodeb): base stations for next generation node Bs, i.e. 5G NRs

GSM: global mobile communication system

HARQ: hybrid ARQ

LTE: long term evolution

LTE-A: LTE-advanced

MAC: media access control

MAC-CE: MAC control element

NR: new radio

NR-DC: NR double connection

NW: network

PDCCH: physical downlink control channel

PDSCH: physical downlink shared channel

PUCCH: physical uplink control channel

PUSCH: physical uplink shared channel

RACH: random access channel

RAT (RAT): radio access technology

RLC: radio link control

RLM: radio link monitoring

RRC: radio resource control

RRM: radio resource management

And RS: reference signal

SR: scheduling requests

SRS: sounding reference signal

And (3) SSB: synchronous signal block

UCI: uplink control information

UE: user equipment

UL: uplink link

UMTS: universal mobile telecommunications system

Term(s) for

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

memory medium-any of various types of memory devices or storage devices. The term "storage medium" is intended to include mounting media, such as CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape devices; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media, e.g., a hard disk drive or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may also include other types of memory, or combinations thereof. Further, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system executing the program, or may be located in a different second computer system connected to the first computer system through a network such as the internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term "memory medium" may include two or more memory media that may reside at different locations in different computer systems, e.g., connected by a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as a computer program) that are executable by one or more processors.

Carrier medium-a memory medium as described above, and a physical transmission medium such as a bus, a network, and/or other physical transmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable hardware element — includes various hardware devices that include a plurality of programmable functional blocks connected via programmable interconnects. Examples include FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays), PLDs (programmable logic devices), FPOAs (field programmable object arrays), and CPLDs (complex PLDs). Programmable function blocks can range from fine grained (combinatorial logic units or look-up tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). The programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "configurable logic components".

Computer system-any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, internet appliance, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), personal communication device, smart phone, television system, grid computing system, or other device or combination of devices. In general, the term "computer system" may be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or "UE device") -any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (e.g., iphones)^TMBased on Android^TMTelephone), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS)^TM、PlayStation Portable^TM、Gameboy Advance^TM、iPhone^TM) Wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses), laptops, PDAs, portable network devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, etc. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" may be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) that is convenient for a user to transport and is capable of wireless communication.

Base station-the term "base station" has its full scope in its ordinary sense and includes at least a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.

Processing element-refers to any of various elements or combinations of elements. The processing elements include, for example, circuitry such as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), portions or circuits of various processor cores, an entire processor core, various processors, a programmable hardware device such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and/or a larger portion of a system including multiple processors.

Auto-refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by a computer system) or device (e.g., circuit, programmable hardware element, ASIC, etc.) without user input directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thus, the term "automatically" is in contrast to a user manually performing or specifying an operation, wherein the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic process may be initiated by input provided by a user, but subsequent actions performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed "manually," where the user specifies each action to be performed. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting a check box, radio selection, etc.) is manually filling out the form even though the computer system must update the form in response to user actions. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system, wherein the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user entering answers specifying the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke automatic filling of the form, but not participate in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user does not manually specify answers to the fields but they are done automatically). This specification provides various examples of operations that are automatically performed in response to actions that have been taken by a user.

Fig. 1 to 3-communication system

Fig. 1 and 2 illustrate exemplary (and simplified) wireless communication systems. It is noted that the systems of fig. 1 and 2 are merely examples of some possible systems, and that various embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety of ways, as desired.

The wireless communication system of fig. 1 includes a base station 102A that communicates with one or more User Equipment (UE) devices 106A, 106B, etc. to 106N over a transmission medium. Each of the user equipment devices may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE). In the wireless communication system of fig. 2, in addition to base station 102A, base station 102B communicates with UE devices 106A, 106B, etc. to 106N over a transmission medium (e.g., simultaneously or concurrently).

The base stations 102A and 102B may be Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) or cell sites and may include hardware to enable wireless communication with the user equipment 106A to 106N. Each base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with a core network 100 (e.g., base station 102A may be coupled to core network 100A and base station 102B may be coupled to core network 100B), which may be the core network of a cellular service provider. Each core network 100 may also be coupled to one or more external networks, such as external network 108, which may include the internet, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or any other network. Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communication between user equipment and/or between user equipment and the network 100A; in the system of fig. 2, the base station 102B may facilitate communication between user equipment and/or between user equipment and the network 100B.

Base stations 102A and 102B and user devices may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), 5G NR, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX, etc.

For example, the base station 102A and the core network 100A may operate according to a first cellular communication standard (e.g., 5G NR), while the base station 102B and the core network 100B operate according to a second (e.g., different) cellular communication standard (e.g., LTE, GSM, UMTS, and/or one or more CDMA2000 cellular communication standards). The two networks may be controlled by the same network operator (e.g., a cellular service provider or "operator") or different network operators. Additionally, the two networks may operate independently of each other (e.g., if they operate according to different cellular communication standards), or may operate in a somewhat coupled or tightly coupled manner.

It is also noted that although two different networks may be used to support two different cellular communication technologies as shown in the network configuration shown in fig. 2, other network configurations implementing multiple cellular communication technologies are possible. As one example, base stations 102A and 102B may operate according to different cellular communication standards but are coupled to the same core network. As another example, a multi-mode base station capable of simultaneously supporting different cellular communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR, LTE, CDMA 1xRTT, GSM, and UMTS, or any other combination of cellular communication technologies) may be coupled to a core network that also supports these different cellular communication technologies. Any other variety of network deployment scenarios are also possible.

As another possibility, base station 102A and base station 102B may also operate according to the same wireless communication technology (or a set of overlapping wireless communication technologies). For example, base station 102A and core network 100A may be operated by one cellular service provider independently of base station 102B and core network 100B, and base station 102B and core network 100B may be operated by different (e.g., competing) cellular service providers. Thus, in this case, the UE devices 106A-106N may communicate independently with the base stations 102A-102B, possibly by utilizing separate user identities to communicate with different operator networks, despite using similar and possibly compatible cellular communication technologies.

The UE106 is capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using either or both of a 3GPP cellular communication standard (such as 5G NR, LTE) and/or a 3GPP2 cellular communication standard (such as a cellular communication standard of the CDMA2000 family of cellular communication standards). As another example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using different 3GPP cellular communication standards, such as two or more of GSM, UMTS, LTE-a, and 5G NR. Thus, as described above, the UE106 may be configured to communicate with the base station 102A (and/or other base stations) in accordance with a first cellular communication standard (e.g., 5G NR), and may also be configured to communicate with the base station 102B (and/or other base stations) in accordance with a second cellular communication standard (e.g., LTE, one or more CDMA2000 cellular communication standards, UMTS, GSM, etc.).

Base stations 102A and 102B, and other base stations operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards, may thus be provided as one or more cell networks that may provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-106N and similar devices over a wide geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

The UE106 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using WLAN, Bluetooth, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one and/or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or the like. Other combinations of wireless communication standards, including more than two wireless communication standards, are also possible.

Fig. 3 shows a user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A-106N) in communication with a base station 102 (e.g., one of base stations 102A or 102B). The UE106 may be a device with wireless network connectivity, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a computer or tablet, a wearable device, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The UE may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, the UE may comprise programmable hardware elements such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

The UE106 may be configured to communicate using any of a number of wireless communication protocols. For example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using two or more of GSM, UMTS (W-DCMA, TD-SCDMA, etc.), CDMA2000(1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD, etc.), LTE-A, 5G NR, WLAN, or GNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are possible.

The UE106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols. Within the UE106, one or more portions of the receive and/or transmit chain may be shared among multiple wireless communication standards; for example, the UE106 may be configured to communicate using a single shared radio using one (or both) of GSM or LTE. The shared radio may include a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communications (e.g., for MIMO or beamforming). MIMO is an acronym for multiple input, multiple output.

FIG. 4-exemplary block diagram of a UE

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary block diagram of the UE 106. As shown, the UE106 may include a System On Chip (SOC)300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may include a processor 302 that may execute program instructions for UE106 and display circuitry 304 that may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to display 345. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU)340, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, Read Only Memory (ROM)350, NAND flash memory 310), and/or other circuits or devices, such as the display circuit 304, radio 330, connector I/F320, and/or display 345. MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protections and page table translations or settings. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE 106. For example, the UE106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including flash memory 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for coupling to a computer system, docking station, charging station, etc.), a display 345, and a radio 330.

Radio 330 may include one or more RF chains. Each RF chain may include a transmit chain, a receive chain, or both. For example, radio 330 may include two RF chains to support dual connectivity with two base stations (or two cells). The radio may be configured to support wireless communications according to one or more wireless communication standards (e.g., one or more of GSM, UMTS, LTE-a, 5G NR, WCDMA, CDMA2000, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.).

The radio 330 is coupled to an antenna subsystem 335 that includes one or more antennas. For example, antenna subsystem 335 may include multiple antennas to support applications such as dual connectivity or MIMO or beamforming. The antenna subsystem 335 transmits and receives radio signals to/from one or more base stations or devices through a radio propagation medium, typically the atmosphere.

In some embodiments, processor 302 may include a baseband processor to generate uplink baseband signals and/or process downlink baseband signals. The processor 302 may be configured to perform data processing in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards (e.g., one or more of GSM, UMTS, LTE-a, 5G NR, WCDMA, CDMA2000, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.).

The UE106 may also include one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of a variety of elements such as a display 345 (which may be a touch screen display), a keyboard (which may be a discrete keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touch screen display), a mouse, a microphone and/or a speaker, one or more cameras, one or more sensors, one or more buttons, sliders and/or dials, and/or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user inputs.

As shown, the UE106 may also include one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) 360. Each of the one or more SIMs may be implemented as an embedded SIM (esim), in which case the SIM may be implemented in device hardware and/or software. For example, in some embodiments, the UE106 may include an embedded uicc (euicc), e.g., a device that is built into the UE106 and is not removable. The eUICC can be programmable such that one or more esims can be implemented on the eUICC. In other embodiments, the eSIM may be installed in the UE106 software, for example, as program instructions stored on a storage medium (such as the memory 306 or Flash 310) executing on a processor (such as the processor 302) in the UE 106. As one example, the SIM 360 may be an application executing on a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). Alternatively or additionally, one or more of the SIMs 360 may be implemented as removable SIM cards.

The processor 302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be configured as or include: programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays); or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit); or a combination thereof.

FIG. 5-example of a base station

Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of the base station 102. It is noted that the base station of fig. 5 is only one example of a possible base station. As shown, base station 102 may include a processor 404 that may execute program instructions for base station 102. Processor 404 may also be coupled to a Memory Management Unit (MMU)440 or other circuit or device that may be configured to receive addresses from processor 404 and translate the addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and Read Only Memory (ROM) 450).

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network (to multiple devices such as the UE device 106) such as described above in fig. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and/or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via a core network, and/or the core network may provide the telephone network (e.g., in other UE devices served by a cellular service provider).

Base station 102 may include a radio 430 with one or more RF chains. Each RF chain may include a transmit chain, a receive chain, or both. (e.g., base station 102 may include at least one RF chain per sector or cell). The radio 430 is coupled to an antenna subsystem 434 that includes one or more antennas. For example, multiple antennas are needed to support applications such as MIMO or beamforming. The antenna subsystem 434 transmits and receives radio signals to/from the UE through a radio propagation medium, typically the atmosphere.

In some embodiments, processor 404 may include a baseband processor to generate downlink baseband signals and/or process uplink baseband signals. The baseband processor 430 may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more wireless telecommunication standards including, but not limited to, GSM, LTE-a, 5G NR, WCDMA, CDMA2000, etc.

The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement a portion or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). In some embodiments, processor 404 may include: programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays); or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit); or a combination thereof.

Wireless user equipment device 600

In some embodiments, a wireless User Equipment (UE) device 600 may be configured as shown in fig. 6. The UE device 600 may include: a radio subsystem 605 for performing wireless communication; and a processing element 610 operatively coupled to the radio subsystem. (the UE device 600 may also include any subset of the UE features described above, e.g., in connection with fig. 1-4).

Radio subsystem 605 may include one or more RF chains, e.g., as variously described above. Each RF chain may be configured to receive signals from and/or transmit signals onto a radio propagation channel. Thus, each RF chain may include a transmit chain and/or a receive chain. The radio subsystem 605 may be coupled to one or more antennas (or antenna arrays) to facilitate signal transmission and reception. Each RF chain (or some RF chains) may be tuned to a desired frequency, allowing the RF chains to receive or transmit at different frequencies at different times.

Radio subsystem 605 may be coupled to one or more antenna panels (or antenna arrays), e.g., to support beamforming of received downlink signals and/or transmitted uplink signals.

The processing element 610 may be coupled to a radio subsystem and may be configured as variously described above. (e.g., the processing elements may be implemented by the processor 302). The processing element may be configured to control the state of each RF chain in the radio subsystem.

In some embodiments, the processing elements may include one or more baseband processors to (a) generate baseband signals to be transmitted by the radio subsystem and/or (b) process baseband signals provided by the radio subsystem.

In various embodiments described herein, when a processing element of a wireless user equipment device is described as transmitting information to and/or receiving information from a wireless base station (or transmission reception point), it is understood that such transmission and/or reception is made with a radio subsystem such as radio subsystem 605. The sending may involve submitting signals and/or data to the radio subsystem and the receiving may involve the act of receiving signals and/or data from the radio subsystem.

In some embodiments, UE device 600 may include beamforming circuitry. The beamforming circuitry may be configured to receive downlink signals from respective antennas of an antenna array of the UE device and to apply receive beamforming to the downlink signals. For example, the beamforming circuitry may apply weights (e.g., complex weights) to the respective downlink signals and then combine the weighted downlink signals to obtain beam signals, where the weights define the receive beams. The beamforming circuitry may be further configured to apply weights to the respective copies of the uplink signals, and transmit the weighted uplink signals via respective antennas of an antenna array of the UE device, wherein the weights define the transmit beams. In some embodiments, beamforming may be applied to Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmissions.

In some embodiments, beamforming circuitry may be implemented by (or included in) processing element 610. In other embodiments, the beamforming circuitry may be included in the radio subsystem 605.

In some embodiments, UE device 600 (e.g., processing element 610) may be configured to receive a configuration message from a base station. The configuration message may instruct the UE device to set parameters to control the behavior of the UE device, such as controlling searching, measurements and reporting of measurements to the base station, etc. The configuration message may request any of various types of reports, such as periodic reports, semi-static reports, aperiodic reports, and the like. The configuration message may indicate any of various types of measurements, such as signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), any of various types of Channel Quality Information (CQI), Reference Signal Receiver Power (RSRP), and so on.

In some embodiments, the radio subsystem 605 may be configured to transmit and receive over one or more frequency ranges. For example, the frequency range may include a lower frequency range and a higher frequency range. The higher frequency range may include one or more of these frequency bands in millimeter wave conditions of the electromagnetic spectrum, where the effects of propagation loss and signal shadowing may be significant.

In some embodiments, the UE 600 (e.g., a processing element) may support carrier aggregation. Carrier Aggregation (CA) involves the concatenation of multiple Component Carriers (CCs), which increases the bandwidth and data rate to and from UE 600. When carrier aggregation is employed, the timing of the frames may be aligned between the cells participating in the aggregation. Different embodiments may support different maximum bandwidths and numbers of component carriers. In some embodiments, the UE 600 may concatenate component carriers from two or more base stations of the same or different radio access technologies. (e.g., in some embodiments, the UE may perform carrier aggregation with 3GG LTE eNB and 5G NR gNB). In some embodiments, the UE 600 may support both continuous and non-continuous carriers.

In some embodiments, in a dual connectivity mode of operation, the processing element may instruct the first RF chain to communicate with the first base station using a first radio access technology and instruct the second RF chain to communicate with the second base station using a second radio access technology. For example, a first RF chain may communicate with an LTE eNB and a second RF chain may communicate with a gbb of a 5G New Radio (NR). A link with an LTE eNB may be referred to as an LTE branch. The link with the gNB may be referred to as an NR branch. In some embodiments, the processing element may include a first sub-circuit that implements baseband processing with respect to the LTE branch and a second sub-circuit that implements baseband processing with respect to the NR branch.

The processing element 610 may be further configured as variously described in the following sections.

Radio base station 700

In some embodiments, a wireless base station 700 of a wireless network (not shown) may be configured as shown in fig. 7. The radio base station may include: a radio subsystem 705 for performing wireless communication through a radio propagation channel; and a processing element 710 operatively coupled to the radio subsystem. (a wireless base station may also include any subset of the features of the base station described above, e.g., the features described above in connection with fig. 5).

Radio subsystem 710 may include one or more RF chains. Each RF chain may be tuned to a desired frequency, allowing the RF chains to receive or transmit at different frequencies at different times.

The processing element 710 may be implemented as variously described above. For example, in one embodiment, processing element 710 may be implemented by processor 404. In some embodiments, the processing elements may include one or more baseband processors to: (a) generate baseband signals to be transmitted by the radio subsystem, and/or (b) process baseband signals provided by the radio subsystem.

In some embodiments, base station 700 may include beamforming circuitry. The beamforming circuitry may be configured to receive uplink signals from respective antennas of an antenna array of a base station and to apply receive beamforming to the uplink signals. For example, the beamforming circuitry may apply weights (e.g., complex weights) to the respective uplink signals, and then combine the weighted uplink signals to obtain beam signals, where the weights define the receive beams. Different receive beams may be used for reception from different UE devices. The beamforming circuitry may be further configured to apply weights to the respective copies of the downlink signals, and to transmit the weighted downlink signals via respective antennas of an antenna array of the base station, wherein the weights define the transmit beams. Different transmit beams may be used to transmit to different UE devices.

In some embodiments, beamforming circuitry may be implemented by (or included in) processing element 710. In other embodiments, the beamforming circuitry may be included in the radio subsystem 705.

Processing element 710 may be configured to perform any of the base station method embodiments described herein.

Sense-assisted search/measurement priority for FR2 system selection

The 5G New Radio (NR) framework supports both FR1 and FR2 frequency ranges, and supports legacy LTE via EN-DC or carrier aggregation. (LTE is an acronym for Long term evolution EN-DC is an acronym for E-UTRAN New radio-Dual connectivity E-UTRAN is an acronym for evolved UMTS terrestrial radio Access network UMTS is an acronym for Universal Mobile Telecommunications service.)

Since FR2 includes one or more frequency bands in millimeter wave conditions, transmission over FR2 may enjoy wider bandwidth and greater beamforming gain, and thus FR2 is directed to high throughput applications, but with stability and power issues. Typical applications of FR2 include video streaming, video gaming, traffic offloading, etc. Power consumption is an issue due to the complex beamforming architecture in FR 2. Stability of FR2 communication is also an issue due to various shadowing effects.

Consider network deployments employing below 6GHz (4G LTE or 5G NR FR1) and FR2 millimeter waves (mmWave). One naturally asks whether FR2 mm wave communication is currently preferred over communication below 6GHz (as in LTE or NR FR 1).

As one example, FR2 mmwave may be preferred for applications requiring high throughput and/or stationary or low mobility channel environments.

Fig. 8 shows the coverage area of a base station 810 (e.g., a gNB of a 5G NR) operating on FR2 in an area that is mostly residential. The boundary 820 of the coverage area extends further along an unobstructed path than along a path obstructed by an object such as a building, tree, vehicle, etc. For example, in some cases, the line-of-sight distance (LOS) from the base station to the boundary may be about three times the non-LOS distance from the boundary.

From the UE perspective, FR2 preferences (i.e., the degree of preference of FR2 with respect to FR1 or LTE frequency ranges) may be derived from the sensing information, as it may be highly correlated with various types of sensing information (mobility, location, application type, etc.).

FR2 stability problems are caused by occlusion effects, which can be sensed via one or more UE sensors.

This patent presents a number of ways to utilize sensed information to assist in the derivation of FR2 preferences. FR2 preferences may be used to adjust search and/or measurement priorities for FR2 system selection.

Fig. 9 shows three versions of a mechanism for determining the degree of preference of FR 2. In a basic version, a UE may employ a motion sensor (sensing translational and/or rotational motion of the UE) to identify a current motion pattern of the UE among a set of possibilities, such as, for example, possibilities such as stationary, low mobility, high mobility. In advanced releases, the UE may employ one or more of the following: location information (such as GPS location); indicator of the type of environment in which the UE is located: indoor, outdoor, in-car, etc. In more advanced versions, the UE may learn from the prior experience of FR2 performance as a function of location and/or time. The pattern obtained from such learning may be used to control the current determination of FR2 preferences as a function of location and/or time.

FR2 System selection

To illustrate the FR2 system selection, two typical FR2 deployment types may be considered: co-located and non-co-located enbs and gbbs. (eNB is a base station for 3GPP Long term evolution. gNB is a base station for 5G NR.)

FIG. 10 shows the case of co-located gNB and eNB, e.g. non-independence (N) of 5G NRSA) deployment. In other words, eNB 1010 and gNB 1020 transmit and receive from approximately the same location. eNB in LTE frequency Range FR_LTEInternal operation, and gNB is higher than FR in spectrum_LTEOperates in the frequency range FR 2. The eNB has a coverage area 1015, and the gNB has a coverage area 1025. These coverage areas may be populated with UEs, with UE1 and UE2 intended as representatives.

In NSA type FR2 deployments (with LTE as the anchor carrier), the following algorithm may be employed to perform FR2 system selection. The UE may first connect to the LTE carrier via eNB 1010. The network may then use the FR2 frequency channel to configure the UE. The UE may then periodically search for FR2 frequency channels. For a detected FR2 cell (e.g., a cell hosted by the gNB 1020), the UE may periodically measure its signal strength, e.g., RSRP strength. (RSRP is an acronym for reference signal received power.) when the conditions for measurement reporting are met, the UE may send a B1/B2 measurement report to the network, e.g., as defined in 3GPP TS 36.331, sections 5.5.4.7 and 5.5.4.8, v.15.7.0 or 3GPP TS 38.331, sections 5.5.4.8 and 5.5.4.9, v.15.7.0. (TS is an acronym for technical specification.) based on measurement reporting, the network may configure the UE to add an FR2 carrier (e.g., as a secondary carrier).

Fig. 11 shows a non-co-located deployment, for example, a stand-alone (SA) deployment according to 5G NR. The first base station 1010 may be configured for the LTE Frequency Range (FR)_LTE) LTE on FR1 or 5G NR on FR 1. The second base station 1020 may be configured for spectrum above FR_LTEAnd 5G NR on FR2 of FR 1. The first base station 1110 has a coverage area 1115 ("LTE/NR FR1 coverage") and the second base station 1120 has a coverage area 1125 ("FR 2 coverage").

In a non-co-located deployment, the UE may first connect to the LTE or NR FR1 carrier via base station 1110. The network may then configure the UE to monitor the FR2 frequency channel. The UE may employ inter-frequency/inter-RAT search and measurements to detect FR2 cells. When the condition for measurement reporting is satisfied, the UE may send the measurement report to base station 1110 (e.g., the gNB). Based on the measurement reports, the network may trigger a cell addition or handover procedure to select an FR2 cell as part of the UE's carrier group. (note that there may not be a direct correlation between LTE and FR2 cell measurements in general.)

Search/measurement activity during FR2 system selection

FR2 system selection typically involves inter-frequency/inter-RAT search and measurement activities (at the FR2 frequency channel). The scheduling of such search and measurement events may be controlled by the UE itself. From the UE perspective, such UE control may be based on FR2 preference information.

FIG. 12 shows FR2 (vs FR1 or FR)_LTE) Two preference states, corresponding UE actions and corresponding targets. In the FR2 preference state, which represents an expectation of stable quality and high throughput on FR2, the UE may employ a fast repetition rate of (inter-frequency/inter-RAT) searches/measurements on the FR2 frequency channel, and the goal is to select a stable FR2 frequency channel quickly (e.g., as soon as possible). (RAT is an acronym for radio access technology.)

In the FR2 defect state, which represents an expectation of unstable quality (due to mobility and/or shadowing) on FR2, the UE may: slow repetition rate with (inter-frequency/inter-RAT) search/measurement on FR2 frequency channel; and optionally adding an offset to the measurement report value of the FR2 measurement and/or adding a delay to the measurement report timing. The goal of such actions may be to avoid unnecessary search/measurement activities and avoid FR2 selection failures.

Search/measurement priority (for FR2 System selection)

In some embodiments, search/measurement priority (for FR2 system selection) may be expressed in terms of actions such as one or more of the following. The UE may adjust the periodicity of the search and/or measurement operations. The UE may add an artificial bias to the measurement report value (making it easier or more difficult to trigger the transmission of the measurement report) and/or an artificial delay in the measurement report timing.

Taking search/measurement periodicity as an example, the UE may include multiple periodicity options with fast/slow repetition rates of search/measurement. Based on FR2 preferences, the UE may select periodicity for search activity and measurement activity during FR2 system selection. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 13, FR2 preference indicator may have four states: fast, normal, slightly normal and slow. Each of these states corresponds to a respective value of the search period (src _ period _ k) and a respective value of the measurement period (meas _ period _ k), wherein

srch_period_k<srch_period_(k+1)

meas_period_k<meas_period_(k+1)。

In other cases, the values of the search period and the measurement period increase as the state of FR2 preference proceeds from fast to slow.

5G NR search/measurement optimization with sensor input

In some embodiments, the 5G NR search and measurement process may be optimized based on input from one or more sensors of the UE. For example, the UE may adjust the process of FR2 measurement based on the condition of the UE's battery.

In some embodiments, FR2 measurement adjustment may involve an algorithm, referred to herein as algorithm LP 1. If the UE is pre-empted to 5G-NR FR1, and the UE is in a low power mode and/or the UE battery is left less than BP_LOWPower, the UE may determine whether the UE is in 5GMM-IDLE (5GMM-IDLE) mode. (threshold BP)_LOWAny of a wide variety of values may be used. For example, in one embodiment, BP_LOWMay be equal to 18% or 20% or 22%. The 5GMM is an acronym for 5G mobility management. )

If the UE is in 5GMM-Idle mode, the UE may perform the following operations to save power. The UE may disable all (or alternatively some) FR2 measurements in 5GMM-idle mode; sending a Tracking Area Update (TAU) to the network and enabling the following information elements: "NG-RAN radio capability update is needed". The network may then request UE capability information. In response to the request, the UE may send updated UE capabilities with FR2 disabled and 4 x 4MIMO support in FR1 disabled.

If the UE is not in 5GMM-Idle mode, the UE may perform the following operations to save power. The UE may refrain from sending FR2 measurements in the measurement report; locally releasing the RRC connection; and transitions to 5GMM-idle mode. (RRC is an acronym for radio resource protocol). The UE may then disable all (or alternatively, a subset) of FR2 measurements in 5GMM-idle mode; and sending the tracking area update to the network and enabling the following information elements: "NG-RAN radio capability update is needed". The network may then request UE capability information. In response to the request, the UE may send updated UE capabilities with FR2 disabled and 4 x 4MIMO support in FR1 disabled.

In some embodiments, FR2 measurement adjustment may involve an algorithm, referred to herein as algorithm TP. When the UE is camped on 5G-NR FR2, the UE may determine whether the average transmit power over the last n measurement samples is greater than TXP₁Wherein n is an integer greater than 1. (the measurement samples are samples of the power used by the UE to transmit data to the gNB₁Any of a wide variety of values may be employed, depending, for example, on the application scenario. In one embodiment, TXP₁May be equal to, for example, 22 dBm. ) If so, the UE may disable the higher range FR2 frequencies (e.g., 39GHz and above). Further, the UE may determine whether the average transmission power over the last n measurement samples is greater than a Maximum Transmission Power Level (MTPL). (MTPL greater than threshold TXP₁And can be configured by the network. ) If so, the UE may disable FR2 entirely and disable 4 x 4MIMO capability in FR 1.

In some embodiments, the UE may perform the power saving step of algorithm LP1 described above if the following conditions are met at any time during execution of algorithm TP. The conditions may include a first condition that the low power mode is on, and that the power remaining in the battery of the UE is less than BP_LOWThe second condition of (1). (in some embodiments, only a subset of these conditions need be met to invoke the power saving step.)

In some embodiments, the UE may enable FR1 and/or FR2 based on the condition of the UE's battery, for example, according to the following algorithm (referred to herein as algorithm HP). If the UE determines that the low power mode is disabled or the UE is connected to a charger, the UE may determine whether the remaining power level in the battery of the UE is above BP₂. (threshold of Battery Power)BP₂Any of a wide variety of values may be employed, depending, for example, on the application scenario. In one embodiment, BP₂May be equal to 38% or 40% or 42%. BP (Back propagation) of₂Greater than BP_LOW. ) If so, the UE may enable FR2 measurements in idle mode; disabling reselection of FR 2; and sending tracking area updates to the network and enabling the following IEs: "NG-RAN radio capability update is needed". The network may then request UE capability information. In response to the request, the UE may send updated UE capabilities to enable 4 x 4MIMO support in FR 1.

Furthermore, if at least T_minThe remaining power level of the battery of the UE in a time unit is higher than BP₃Or a neighboring FR2 cell (a cell operating in FR2) has better RSRP than P_minThen the UE may send a tracking area update to the network and enable the following IEs: "NG-RAN radio capability update is needed". (Battery Power threshold BP₃Any of a wide variety of values may be used, such as 60% in one embodiment. BP (Back propagation) of₃Can be greater than BP₂. Threshold value P_minAny of a wide variety of values may be used, such as-90 dBm in one embodiment. Duration T_minAny of a wide variety of values may be used, such as 3 minutes in one embodiment. RSRP is an acronym for reference signal received power. ) The network may then request UE capability information. In response to the request, the UE may send updated UE capabilities with FR2 enabled.

In some embodiments, the method for controlling FR2 measurements by a UE may include the operations shown in fig. 14 and 15 or a subset of these operations as desired. As shown at 1402, the method may be performed by a UE having 5G NR capability (i.e., equipped to operate in accordance with the 3GPP 5G NR specification). At 1404, the UE may determine whether it is camped on NR FR1 or FR 2.

In response to determining that the UE is camped on FR2, the UE may determine whether the average transmission power over the last n measurement samples is greater than TXP₁As indicated at 1406. If so, the UE may disable the higher range FR2 frequencies (e.g., 39GHz and above), as indicated at 1408. (if not, the UE may proceed to the followingOperation 1414 is described. ) At 1410, the UE may determine whether the average transmission power over the last n measurement samples is greater than a Maximum Transmission Power Level (MTPL), which is greater than a threshold TXP₁. If so, the UE may proceed with operation 1420. If not, the UE may continue to measure operations and continue to monitor transmission power according to the current limits, as indicated at 1412. At 1420, the UE may refrain from sending measurement reports for FR2 measurements; locally releasing the RRC connection; and transitions to an idle state.

At 1414, the UE may determine whether one or more of the following conditions are satisfied: (a) enabling a low power mode in the UE; (b) battery power of UE less than BP_LOW. If not, power optimization is not required, as indicated at 1416. If so, the UE may proceed to step 1418.

At 1418, the UE may determine whether it is in 5GMM idle mode. (5GMM is an acronym for 5G mobility management.) if so, the UE may proceed to 1422. If not, the UE may proceed to 1420, as described above.

At 1422, the UE may disable all (or a subset) of FR2 measurements in 5GMM idle mode; and sending tracking area updates to the network and enabling the following IEs: "NG-RAN radio capability update is needed". The network may then request UE capability information. In response to the request, the UE may send the updated UE capabilities with FR2 disabled and 4 x 4MMO support in FR1 disabled. The UE may then proceed to 1502 in fig. 15, as indicated by virtual node a connecting fig. 14 and fig. 15.

At 1502, the UE may determine whether the low power mode is disabled or the UE is connected to a charger? If so, the UE may proceed to 1506. If not, the UE may continue to use the same UE capabilities as previously limited (i.e., FR2 is disabled and 4 x 4MIMO support in FR1 is disabled), as indicated at 1504.

At 1506, the UE may determine whether the battery level of the UE is above a battery power threshold BP₂. If so, the UE may proceed to 1508. If not, the UE may continue to monitor FR2 cells with improved RF conditions, as indicated at 1514, and then proceed to 1516 described below.

At 1510, the UE may determine whether the battery level of the UE is above a battery power threshold BP₃. If so, the UE may proceed to 1512. If not, the UE may proceed to 1506.

At 1512, the UE may send a tracking area update to the network and enable the following IEs: "NG-RAN radio capability update is needed". The network may then request UE capability information. In response to the request, the UE may send updated UE capabilities with FR2 enabled.

At 1516, the UE may determine whether the FR2 cell RSRP measurement value is at least T_minGreater than P in consecutive time units_min. If so, the UE may proceed to 1512. If not, the UE may continue to use the same UE capabilities as previously limited (i.e., using the capability indicating FR2 is disabled).

In some embodiments, the UE may enable FR2 measurements if any of the following conditions are met: battery power level greater than low power threshold BP_LOW(ii) a The UE is connected to a power supply, for example via a charger.

Adaptive FR2 measurement based on mobility conditions

In some embodiments, the UE device may adjust the FR2 measurement procedure based on mobility conditions, e.g., based on a measurement of UE motion. When the UE is not in line of sight (LOS), the millimeter wave (mmWave) band suffers from high attenuation. When the UE crosses the street, FR2 signal strength may drop, for example, up to 50 dBm. This change in signal strength can be attributed to the building obstructing the line of sight between the gNB and the UE. Thus, when the UE is in a mobility condition (e.g., medium mobility or high mobility), the UE may disable FR2 measurements to provide a better user experience.

In some embodiments, the UE device may adjust FR2 measurements as follows. In response to determining that the UE is in a state of medium or high mobility, the UE may disable FR2 measurements if the UE is in RRC IDLE (RRC-IDLE) or RRC Inactive (RRC-Inactive) and conditionally disable FR2 measurements if the UE is in RRC Connected (RRC Connected) state. For example, in RRC connected state, if the number of FR2 related handovers within X minutes is higher than threshold N_minFor example FR2 surpasses in 1 minuteAfter 10 handovers, the UE may disable FR2 measurements. Although 10 handovers and 1 minute are given here as an example, the number of handovers threshold N_minAnd the time interval length X may take any of a variety of value combinations, depending, for example, on the application scenario.

In some embodiments, the UE device may adjust FR2 measurements as follows. If the UE is in RRC Idle or RRC Inactive state and stationary (based on motion sensor), the UE can determine if the RF conditions in FR2 are better than the RF conditions in FR1 (or close to the RF conditions in FR1, or no lower than the RF conditions in FR1 by more than 5 dB), and the RSRP in FR2 is greater than P-_ThreshThe UE may prioritize FR2 measurements (relative to FR1 measurements) for better performance, e.g., higher bandwidth and/or data rate. (threshold value P_ThreshAny of a wide variety of values may be used, such as-110 dBm in one embodiment. ) The UE may prioritize FR2 measurements by shortening the measurement period and/or the search period. If the UE is in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state and moves and the conditions for normal mobility reselection are met, the UE may enable FR2 measurements. According to 3GPP TS 38.304, v.15.5.0, section 5.2.4.3.0, the condition corresponding to normal mobility reselection is "if time period T_CRmaxDuring which the number of cell reselections is less than N_{CR_M}", where T_CRmax、N_{CR_H}、N_{CR_M}And T_CRmaxHystIs a speed-related reselection parameter broadcast in the system information of the serving cell. T is_CRmaxA duration for evaluating an allowed amount of cell reselection is specified. N is a radical of_{CR_M}A maximum number of cell reselections is specified to enter a medium mobility state. N is a radical of_{CR_H}A maximum number of cell reselections is specified to enter the high mobility state. T is_CRmaxHystAn additional time period before the UE can enter the normal mobility state is specified.

If the UE is in RRC connected state and moving, the UE may enable FR2 measurements and monitor the number of handovers. If the number of handovers in X minutes is higher than the threshold N_minThen the UE may disable FR2 measurements.

Adaptive FR2 measurement during measurement gaps

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to make FR1 measurements and/or FR2 measurements during measurement gaps, e.g., as determined by a measurement gap configuration transmitted by the network via a base station (e.g., eNB of 3GPP LTE or gNB of 5G NR). The measurement gap configuration may be provided by the network as part of a data structure that includes parameters such as gap length, offset, repetition and timing advance. As shown in fig. 16, measurement gap configuration 1602 may include a per-UE gap configuration 1604 or a per-FR gap configuration 1606. A per UE gap configuration may define one gap to measure frequencies in FR1 and FR 2; may be provided by the Master Node (MN) in an NSA scenario. (NSA is a non-independent acronym.) the UE may determine how to apply the gap. Each FR slot configuration 1606 may include a configuration 1608 defining FR1 slots and a configuration 1610 defining FR2 slots. FR1 gap configuration 1608 can be defined for FR1 or FR_LTEAnd may be provided by the master node in the NSA scenario. The FR2 gap configuration 1610 may define a gap for measurements on FR2 and may be provided by a Secondary Node (SN) in an NSA scenario.

In some embodiments, in an EN-DC scenario, a UE may be configured with a single (common) gap or two separate gaps-a first gap for FR1 (configured by E-UTRA RRC) and a second gap for FR2 (configured by NR RRC). RRC is an acronym for radio resource control.

In some embodiments, during the per-UE measurement gap, the UE: no reception/transmission from/to the corresponding EUTRAN PCell, E-UTRAN SCell, and NR serving cell of the NSA is required, except for the reception of signals used for RRM measurements; and reception/transmission from/to the corresponding NR serving cell of the SA need not be performed except for reception of signals for RRM measurements. (PCell is an acronym for primary cell SCell is an acronym for secondary cell RRM is an acronym for radio resource management.)

In some embodiments, during each FR measurement gap, the UE: no reception/transmission from/to the corresponding EUTRAN PCell, E-UTRAN SCell, and NR serving cell within the corresponding frequency range of the NSA is required, except for the reception of signals used for RRM measurements; and reception/transmission from/to the corresponding NR serving cell within the corresponding frequency range of the SA need not be performed except for reception of signals for RRM measurements.

In some embodiments, the data structure for the measurement gap configuration message may be defined as shown in fig. 17. The field parameters for the data structure may be defined as follows.

The field gapFR1 indicates a measurement gap configuration that applies only to FR 1. In the case of EN-DC, gapFR1 is preferably not set by NR RRC (i.e., LTE RRC configures FR1 gaps). gapFR1 is preferably not configured with gapUE. The applicability of the measurement gap may be according to table 9.1.2-2 in 3GPP TS 38.133, v.15.7.0.

The field gapFR2 indicates a measurement gap configuration that applies only to FR 2. gapFR2 is preferably not configured with gapUE. The applicability of the measurement gap may be according to tables 9.1.2-1 and 9.1.2-2 in 3GPP TS 38.133, v.15.7.0.

The field gapUE indicates a measurement gap configuration applied to all frequencies (FR1 and FR 2). In the case of EN-DC, gapUE is preferably not set by NR RRC (i.e., LTE RRC configures per UE gaps). In some embodiments, if gapUE is configured, neither gapFR1 nor gapFR2 is configured. The applicability of the measurement gap may be according to table 9.1.2-2 in 3GPP TS 38.133, v.15.7.0.

The value gapOffset is the gap offset for the gap pattern, where MGRP is indicated in field MGRP. The gapOffset may have a value ranging from 0 to mgrp-1.

The value mgl is the measurement gap length of the measurement gap, for example in milliseconds. The applicability of the measurement gap may be according to tables 9.1.2-1 and 9.1.2-2 in 3GPP TS 38.133, v.15.7.0. The value ms1dot5 corresponds to 1.5 ms; ms3 corresponds to 3 ms; and so on. The given set of possible values for mgl is exemplary and may vary in different contexts and application scenarios.

The value mgrp is the measurement gap repetition period in (ms) of the measurement gap. The applicability of the measurement gap may be according to tables 9.1.2-1 and 9.1.2-2 in 3GPP TS 38.133, v.15.7.0. The given set of possible values for mgrp is exemplary and may vary in different contexts and application scenarios.

The value mgta is the measurement gap timing advance in milliseconds (ms). The applicability of the measurement gap timing advance may be in accordance with TS 38.133, clause 9.1.2 of v.15.7.0. The value ms0 corresponds to 0 ms; ms0dot25 corresponds to 0.25 ms; and ms0dot5 corresponds to 0.5 ms. For FR2, the network is configured for only 0 and 0.25 ms. The given set of possible values for mgta is exemplary and may vary in different contexts and application scenarios.

In some embodiments, the UE may employ the following algorithm to control the measurements. In response to determining that the UE is in a low power mode and that the battery of the UE remains less than BP_LOWPower and the UE is in motion, the UE may determine whether to configure per-UE measurement gaps or whether to configure per-FR measurement gap information. (Battery Power threshold BP_LowAny of a wide variety of values may be used, such as 20% in one embodiment. ) If per-UE measurement gaps are configured, the UE may scan only E-UTRA frequencies and/or FR1 frequencies during the measurement gaps and refrain from scanning FR2 during the measurement gaps. If per FR measurement gaps are configured, the UE may refrain from scanning for FR2 during FR2 measurement gaps if FR2 measurement gaps are configured, and scan for FR1 or FR in accordance with measurement configuration parameters received from the network if FR1 measurement gaps are configured_LTEThe measurement is performed.

In some embodiments, the determining is in response to determining that the battery of the UE remains above BP_LOWPower or UE connected to power supply, the UE may employ the algorithm of fig. 18 to control the measurements. At 1802, the UE may determine whether the UE is stationary (not moving, or moving less than a threshold amount). If so, the UE may proceed to 1804. If not, the UE may proceed to 1810.

At 1804, the UE may determine whether measurement gaps are configured per UE or per FR. If so, the UE may prioritize FR2 measurements for better performance (e.g., higher bandwidth and data rate), as indicated at 1806.

If the UE is in motion (i.e., not stationary), the UE may determine whether a per-UE measurement gap or FR2 measurement gap is configured, as indicated at 1810. If so, the UE may scan FR2 in the current measurement gap, as indicated at 1812.

At 1814, the UE may then determine whether the measured FR2 cell is stronger than P_ThreshAnd is the best available channel. (Note, Power threshold P_ThreshAny of a wide variety of values may be used, such as-110 dBm in one embodiment. ) If so, the UE may continue to scan for FR2 for a time-to-trigger (TTT), as indicated at 1816. (as its signal strength remains greater than P for a continuous duration of TTT milliseconds_ThreshThe UE may send a measurement report for the FR2 cell. The network may respond by sending a handover command HO. ) If not, the UE may disable scanning of FR2 from subsequent measurement gaps (i.e., gaps subsequent to the current gap), as indicated at 1818.

Disabling FR2 measurements based on weather conditions

The millimeter wave (mmWave) band suffers from high attenuation when shielded by any of various objects. Water also significantly attenuates millimeter wave signal strength. Thus, when the UE is located in an area that is raining and/or snowing, the UE may disable FR2 measurements (or reduce the priority of FR2 measurements) to improve the user experience.

In some embodiments, the UE may determine whether the UE is in a geographic area experiencing heavy rain or snowfall, for example, by querying a weather service provider. In another alternative embodiment, a base station (e.g., eNB or gNB) may provide local weather information to the UE.) if the UE is in a geographic area that is experiencing heavy rain or snow, the UE may disable FR2 measurements and cause the UE to camp on the SA or FR in NSA mode_LTEFR1 in (1). If the UE is not in such a geographic area, the UE may enable both FR1 and FR2 measurements.

FR2 preference derivation based on sensed information

In some embodiments, derivation of FR2 preferences may be based on sensed information or a combination of sensed information and other inputs. For example, as shown in fig. 19, the UE may determine the degree to which FR2 prefers 1920 based on one or more of the following inputs (relative to FR1 or FR1)_LTE): sensing information 1905, Physical (PHY) channel information 1910 (from the LTE frequency range or NR FR2), and legacy information 1915 (e.g., historical information). FR2 preference values 1920 may be used to control search priority 1925 and/or measurement priority 1930, e.g., as variously described herein.

Fig. 20 shows examples of sensed information 1905, physical channel information 1910, and legacy experiences 1915. The sensing information 1905 may include one or more of: a mobility pattern (or mobility degree indicator) from a motion sensor; location information (e.g., GPS location); an indication of whether the UE is in an indoor environment or an outdoor environment; an indication of whether the UE is in a car; an indication of a type of application executing on the UE; an indication of bandwidth and/or stability requirements of an application executing on the UE. Physical channel information 1910 may include doppler shift, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), and so on. Legacy experience 1915 may include past FR2 performance under similar location and time conditions as the current location and time conditions.

In some embodiments, a mechanism for deriving a degree of preference for FR2 based on input information may be implemented as variously described in fig. 21.

In a basic version of this mechanism, the UE may use a motion sensor to identify the motion pattern of the UE (stationary, low mobility, high mobility). FR2 may be more preferred in stationary conditions or low mobility conditions.

In advanced versions of this mechanism, the UE may use location information (e.g., GPS location), indoor/outdoor/in-vehicle information, or application type to determine the extent of FR2 preference. FR2 deployment/quality is typically correlated with location information. FR2 may be more preferred for applications with high throughput requirements. In some embodiments, the UE may determine that it is in an indoor environment by any of various means, such as by determining whether it is connected to an indoor WiFi or indoor smart speaker (home-pod) or whether its current location is within a geographic boundary of a known indoor environment. In some implementations, the UE may determine that it is within the in-vehicle environment by determining whether it is connected to a car bluetooth modem.

In a more advanced version of this mechanism, the UE may learn from pre-existing experience the relationship between measured conditions (such as location and time) and the degree of performance of FR 2. For example, in one embodiment, time may be expressed as a vector < year, month, date of the month, time of day >) may use learned relationships to predict FR2 quality or FR2 preference under current conditions (e.g., current location and time).

In some embodiments, the UE may determine a pattern of FR2 search and/or measurement based on mobility information 702 and doppler shift information 704, e.g., as shown in fig. 22. The UE may determine the mobility state based on the mobility information. Mobility may have at least three possible states: a high mobility state 2210, a low mobility state 2215, and a stationary state 2220. The UE may employ doppler shift information from physical channel measurements within the LTE frequency range or NR FR1 to determine whether the stationary state 2220 corresponds to the high channel doppler state 2230 or the low channel doppler state 2235. The UE may then assign a high mobility state to the slow mode 2245, a low mobility state 2215 to the mild normal mode 2250, a high channel doppler state 2230 to the normal mode 2255, and a low channel doppler state 2235 to the fast mode 2260. These patterns may correspond to respective values of the search period and respective values of the measurement period, as shown in fig. 13, for example. The UE accesses a search period and a measurement period corresponding to the currently determined mode, and implements a search and measurement procedure on FR2 based on the accessed periods. Thus, in this embodiment, the degree of preference of FR2 is expressed in terms of FR2 search and measurement rates, where higher rates (smaller periods) correspond to relative FR_LTEOr a higher FR2 preference of FR 1.

Disabling FR2 measurements based on IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) support

The millimeter wave range of the electromagnetic spectrum is easily blocked and shadowed. For example, in some cases, when crossing streets in a city, the signal strength in the FR2 frequency range of the 5G NR may drop by as much as 50dB, for example due to a building entering the line of sight between the gNB and the UE. Thus, in some embodiments, in response to determining that a voice call is active (or is to be initiated), the UE may disable FR2 measurements. Disabling of FR2 measurements may provide a better experience for the user, such as less connection loss or call quality degradation.

In some embodiments, the UE may determine whether voice over NR (VoNR) support is available only in FR 1. If so, the UE may disable FR2 measurements while the voice call is active. Alternatively, in response to determining that VoNR is supported in FR1 and FR2, the UE may determine whether the UE is in a motion state and whether a voice call is active. If both conditions are met, the UE may disable FR2 measurements.

In some embodiments, a method 2300 for operating a wireless User Equipment (UE) device may include the operations shown in fig. 23. (the method 2300 may also include any subset of the elements, embodiments, and features described above in connection with fig. 1-22.) the wireless UE device may be configured for various uses as described above, for example, as described in connection with the user equipment 600 of fig. 6. The UE device may be configured to support communication in a first frequency range and a second frequency range, where the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range. In some embodiments, the first frequency range may be a frequency range as defined by 3GPP LTE or a frequency range FR1 defined by 5G NR; and the second frequency range may be the frequency range FR2 defined by 5G NR. Method 2300 may be performed by a processing element of a UE device.

At 2310, the processing element may determine a degree of preference of the second frequency range relative to the first frequency range, e.g., as variously described above.

At 2320, the processing element may control the search activity and/or the measurement activity over the second frequency range based on the degree of preference, e.g., as variously described above.

In some embodiments, the controlling may include adjusting a period of the search activity on the second frequency range based on the degree of preference, wherein the period is a decreasing function of the degree of preference, e.g., as variously described above.

In some embodiments, the controlling may comprise adding the measurement deviation to a minimum threshold value for triggering reporting of measurements on the second frequency range to the network. The measured deviation may be a decreasing function of the degree of preference.

In some embodiments, the controlling may comprise adding a delay to the reporting time of the measurement over the second frequency range. The delay may be a decreasing function of the preference level.

In some embodiments, the preference level has two or more possible values (or states).

In some embodiments, the preference level may be determined based at least on one or more indicators of a condition of a battery of the UE, e.g., as variously described above.

In some embodiments, the degree of preference may be determined based at least on whether the UE device is in an idle mode or in a connected mode with respect to the wireless communication network.

In some implementations, the degree of preference may be determined based at least on whether the average transmit power over the n most recent measurement samples is greater than one or more power thresholds, e.g., as variously described above. The value n is a positive integer and any of a wide variety of values may be employed.

In some embodiments, the preference level may be determined based at least on a level of motion (e.g., translational motion and/or rotational motion) of the UE device.

In some implementations, the degree of preference may be based at least on the number of handovers relating to the second frequency range that have occurred within a given amount of time (e.g., the last X time units as described above). The given amount of time may be determined by configuration information received from a base station (e.g., eNB of 3GPP LTE or gNB of 5G NR).

In some implementations, the degree of preference can be based at least on a result of a comparison of RF conditions over the second frequency range to RF conditions over the first frequency range. RF conditions may be measured in any of various ways in different implementations, such as by measurement of RSRP (reference signal receiver power).

In some embodiments, the processing element may also receive a configuration message from the base station, wherein the configuration message includes information indicating a measurement gap for measurements on the second frequency range. Act 2315 of controlling search activity and/or measurement activity may include avoiding the search activity on the second frequency range during a measurement gap in response to determining that the UE device is in a motion state and/or in a low battery power state, e.g., as variously described above.

In some embodiments, the processing element may also receive a configuration message from the base station, wherein the configuration message includes information indicating a common measurement gap for the first frequency range and the second frequency range. Act 2315 may include searching for a first frequency range and refraining from (or disabling) searching on a second frequency range during a measurement gap in response to determining that the UE device is in a motion state and/or in a low battery power state, e.g., as variously described above.

In some embodiments, act 2315 may include prioritizing measurements on the second frequency range over measurements on the first frequency range during the measurement gap in response to determining that the UE device is in a stationary state and not in a low battery power state, e.g., as variously described above.

In some embodiments, act 2315 may include, in response to determining that the UE device is in a motion state and not in a low battery power state: (a) scanning a second frequency range during the current measurement gap to determine signal conditions over the second frequency range; and (b) in response to determining that the signal conditions on the second frequency range satisfy the one or more quality conditions, continue scanning the second frequency range for a time-to-trigger (TTT) for the network to send a handover command.

In some embodiments, the degree of preference may be determined based at least on an indication of one or more weather conditions (e.g., an indication that the UE is located in a geographic area experiencing heavy rain or snowfall).

In some embodiments, the preference level is determined based at least on sensed information acquired by the UE device, wherein the sensed information includes one or more of: a degree of motion of the UE device; a location of the UE device; an indication of an indoor/outdoor status of the UE device; an indication of whether the UE device is in an automobile; an indication of a type of application executing on the UE device; a degree of Doppler shift of the UE device relative to a base station; a measure of signal quality over the second frequency range and/or the first frequency range; a history of past performance of the second frequency range under location-time conditions similar to the current location-time conditions.

In some embodiments, the degree of preference may be determined based at least on whether a voice call is active on the UE device (e.g., a NR-based voice call as described above).

In some embodiments, the second frequency range includes one or more millimeter wave frequency bands.

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to support communication over a first frequency range using a first radio access technology (such as 3GPP LTE) and communication over a second frequency range using a second radio access technology (such as 5G NR) different from the first radio access technology.

In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to support communication over the first frequency range and the second frequency range using the same radio access technology (e.g., 5G NR).

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of various forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more custom designed hardware devices, such as ASICs. Other embodiments may be implemented using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium may be configured such that it stores program instructions and/or data, wherein the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a computer system may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherein the memory medium stores program instructions, wherein the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of such subsets). The computer system may be implemented in any of various forms. For example, the computer system may be a personal computer (in any of its various implementations), a workstation, a computer on a card, a special purpose computer in a box, a server computer, a client computer, a handheld device, a User Equipment (UE) appliance, a tablet computer, a wearable computer, a computer implanted in a living organism, and so on.

It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be explicitly stated to the user.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims (20)

1. A method for operating a user equipment, UE, device configured to support communication over a first frequency range and a second frequency range, wherein the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range, the method comprising:

determining a degree of preference of the second frequency range relative to the first frequency range; and

controlling search activity and/or measurement activity on the second frequency range based on the preference degree.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling comprises adjusting a period of the search activity on the second frequency range based on the preference degree, wherein the period is a decreasing function of the preference degree.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling comprises adding a measurement bias to a minimum threshold for triggering reporting of measurements on the second frequency range to a network, wherein the measurement bias is a decreasing function of the preference level.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling comprises adding a delay to a measured reporting time over the second frequency range, wherein the delay is a decreasing function of the preference level.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference level is determined based at least on one or more indicators of a condition of a battery of the UE device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the preference level is determined based at least on whether the UE device is in an idle mode or a connected mode with respect to a wireless communication network.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the preference level is determined based on at least:

whether the average transmission power of the n most recent measurement samples is greater than one or more power thresholds; or

A degree of motion of the UE device; or

A number of handovers relating to the second frequency range that have occurred within a given amount of time; or

A result of a comparison of RF conditions over the second frequency range with RF conditions over the first frequency range.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising receiving a configuration message from a base station, wherein the configuration message includes information indicating a measurement gap for measurements on the second frequency range, wherein the controlling comprises avoiding the search activity on the second frequency range during the measurement gap in response to determining that the UE device is in a motion state and/or in a low battery power state.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a configuration message from a base station, wherein the configuration message includes information indicating a common measurement gap for the first frequency range and the second frequency range, wherein the controlling includes searching for the first frequency range and avoiding searching on the second frequency range during the measurement gap in response to determining that the UE device is in a motion state and/or in a low battery power state.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling comprises prioritizing measurements on the second frequency range over measurements on the first frequency range during measurement gaps in response to determining that the UE device is in a stationary state and not in a low battery power state.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling comprises, in response to determining that the UE device is in a motion state and not in a low battery power state:

scanning the second frequency range during a current measurement gap to determine signal conditions on the second frequency range;

continuing to scan the second frequency range for the network to send a handover command for a time-to-trigger, TTT, in response to determining that signal conditions on the second frequency range satisfy one or more quality conditions.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference level is determined based at least on an indication of one or more weather conditions.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference level is determined based at least on sensed information acquired by the UE device, wherein the sensed information includes one or more of:

a degree of motion of the UE device;

a location of the UE device;

an indication of an indoor/outdoor status of the UE device;

an indication of whether the UE device is in an automobile;

an indication of a type of application being executed on the UE device;

a degree of Doppler shift of the UE device relative to a base station;

a measure of signal quality over the second frequency range and/or the first frequency range;

a history of past performance of the second frequency range under location-time conditions similar to the current location-time conditions.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference level is determined based at least on whether a voice call is active on the UE device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the second frequency range includes one or more millimeter wave frequency bands, wherein the UE device is configured to support communication over the first frequency range using a first radio access technology and communication over the second frequency range using a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the second frequency range includes one or more millimeter wave frequency bands, wherein the UE device is configured to support communication over the first frequency range and the second frequency range using a same radio access technology.

17. A user equipment, UE, device configured to support communication over a first frequency range and a second frequency range, wherein the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range, wherein the UE device comprises:

a processing element configured to perform operations comprising:

determining a degree of preference of the second frequency range relative to the first frequency range; and

controlling search activity and/or measurement activity on the second frequency range based on the preference degree.

18. The UE device of claim 17, wherein the second frequency range comprises one or more millimeter wave frequency bands, wherein the UE device is configured to support communication over the first frequency range using a first radio access technology and communication over the second frequency range using a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology.

19. The UE device of claim 1, wherein the second frequency range comprises one or more millimeter wave frequency bands, wherein the UE device is configured to support communication over the first frequency range and the second frequency range using a same radio access technology.

20. A non-transitory memory medium for a user equipment, UE, device, the non-transitory memory medium storing program instructions, wherein the UE device is configured to support communication over a first frequency range and a second frequency range, wherein the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range, wherein the program instructions, when executed by a processing element, cause the processing element to implement:

determining a degree of preference of the second frequency range with respect to a first frequency range associated with the second frequency range, wherein the second frequency range is higher in frequency than the first frequency range; and

controlling search activity and/or measurement activity on the second frequency range based on the preference degree.

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