CN113473549B

CN113473549B - Measurement gap configuration method and device

Info

Publication number: CN113473549B
Application number: CN202010241706.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵辰; 徐波; 刘海义; 师江伟
Original assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-31
Filing date: 2020-03-31
Publication date: 2022-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-31
Also published as: CN113473549A; WO2021196965A1

Abstract

The application discloses a method and a device for configuring a measurement gap, so that a terminal can measure reference signals of more adjacent cells in the measurement gap. The method comprises the following steps: a terminal receives configuration information from a network device, wherein the configuration information includes an interval of a measurement gap, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period of sending a reference signal by an adjacent cell of a serving cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer; and the terminal receives the reference signal from the adjacent cell in the measurement gap according to the configuration information.

Description

Measurement gap configuration method and device

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a method and a device for configuring a measurement gap.

Background

In mobile communication systems, measurement is a common and important process. For example, when the terminal is in an idle state, the terminal determines whether to reselect to a neighboring cell by measuring the signal quality of the serving cell and the neighboring cell; for another example, when the terminal is in a connected state, the terminal measures the signal quality of the serving cell and the signal quality of the neighboring cell and reports the measured values to the network device, and the network device determines and triggers the terminal to switch to the neighboring cell according to the measured values of the cells reported by the terminal. When a terminal in a connected state performs measurement on a neighbor cell of an inter-frequency or inter-system, a measurement gap (measurement gap) may need to be configured. And in the configured measurement gap, the terminal receives signals of adjacent cells of different frequencies or different systems to finish the measurement process. The network device will typically configure the terminal with parameters of the measurement gap, such as the length of the measurement gap, the period of the measurement gap, etc. The length of the measurement gap cannot be too long, typically 6 milliseconds.

In an existing fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) new wireless (new radio, NR) communication system, Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS), and Physical Broadcast Channels (PBCH) are called synchronization signals/PBCH blocks (SS/PBCH blocks). For convenience of description, the SS/PBCH block is referred to as SSB. The NR cell sends a plurality of SSBs in one cycle, each SSB covering a certain area, and each SSB sends at a candidate SSB (candidates) position defined by the protocol. All SSB candidates are located within one half-frame (5 ms). If the terminal is to be able to accurately measure the SSBs of the neighboring cells, the time domain positions of the SSBs need to fall within the configured measurement gaps.

However, SSBs may be transmitted in half frames at different locations for different cells, i.e., the locations of the SSBs transmitted by different cells in the time domain may not be aligned. In this case, the terminal may not be able to measure the SSBs of all neighboring cells in the measurement gap, and thus, reselection or handover may not be correctly achieved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for configuring a measurement gap, so as to solve the problem that a terminal may not be able to measure SSBs of all neighboring cells in the measurement gap.

In a first aspect, a method for configuring a measurement gap is provided, which may be implemented by: a terminal acquires configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises an interval of a measurement gap, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period of sending reference signals by an adjacent cell of a service cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer; and the terminal receives the reference signal from the adjacent cell in the measurement gap according to the configuration information. By configuring the interval of the measurement gap, the terminal can measure the reference signal of the neighboring cell once every other interval, so that compared with the prior art that only one measurement gap is configured in the period of one measurement gap, the embodiment of the application can receive more reference signals of the neighboring cell. Because M and N are relatively prime, after a certain number of intervals, the reference signals of all cells can be measured, and therefore the performance of measuring the adjacent cells is improved.

The terminal may obtain the configuration information, and may also obtain stored or preconfigured configuration information by receiving the configuration information from the network device.

Optionally, the measurement gap is used for the terminal to measure a reference signal sent by a neighboring cell of the serving cell where the terminal is located, and the time for the terminal to actually receive the reference signal sent by the neighboring cell may occupy part or all of the time domain position of the measurement gap.

In one possible design, the configuration information further includes any one or more of: a period of the measurement gap, a length of the measurement gap, or a number of measurement gaps included in one period of the measurement gap.

In one possible design, the number of measurement gaps is no less than N. By setting the number of the measurement gaps to be not less than N, the reference signals of all the adjacent cells can be received in the period of one measurement gap. Of course, in the embodiment of the present application, it is only necessary to set the number of the measurement gaps to be greater than 1, so that reference signals of more neighboring cells can be measured compared with only one measurement gap in a period of one measurement time slot.

Optionally, the number of the measurement gaps is an integer multiple of N. Therefore, each adjacent cell can obtain a plurality of measurement results, and the measurement precision of the adjacent cell can be improved by combining the plurality of measurement results.

In one possible design, the length of the measurement gap is not less than the sum of the length of a half frame and the transmission duration of a reference signal. Therefore, the situation that an incomplete reference signal is received in a measurement gap can be avoided, for example, one part of the reference signal falls in the previous measurement gap, the other part of the reference signal falls in the next measurement gap or falls in a non-measurement gap, so that the terminal cannot acquire the complete reference signal, and the terminal can receive the whole reference signal block transmitted in a field by setting the length of the measurement gap to be not less than the sum of the transmission time of the field and a reference signal and increasing the transmission time of the reference signal on the basis of the field.

In one possible design, receiving updated configuration information from the network device, where the updated configuration information may include an updated measurement gap interval, and the terminal receives a reference signal from the neighboring cell in the measurement gap every other updated measurement gap interval according to the updated configuration information. By updating the configuration information, parameters in the configuration information can be optimized, for example, the measurement gaps, the periods of the measurement gaps, the lengths of the measurement gaps, or the number of measurement gaps included in one period of the measurement gap can be optimized, and the measurement efficiency and performance of the neighboring cell are further improved.

In one possible design, the reference signal includes a synchronization signal/broadcast signal block SSB.

In a second aspect, a method for configuring a measurement gap is provided, which may include the steps of: the network equipment generates configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises an interval of a measurement gap, the measurement gap is used for a terminal to measure a reference signal of an adjacent cell of a service cell where the terminal is located, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period of sending the reference signal by the adjacent cell is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are prime, and M, N is a positive integer; and the network equipment sends the configuration information to the terminal. By configuring the interval of the measurement gap, the terminal can measure the reference signal of the neighboring cell once every other interval, so that compared with the prior art that only one measurement gap is configured in the period of one measurement gap, the embodiment of the application can receive more reference signals of the neighboring cell. Because M and N are relatively prime, after a certain number of intervals, the reference signals of all cells can be measured, and therefore the performance of measuring the adjacent cells is improved.

In one possible design, the configuration information further includes any one or more of: the period of the measurement gap, the length of the measurement gap, or the number of measurement gaps included in one period of the measurement gap.

In one possible design, the number of measurement gaps is not less than N. By setting the number of the measurement gaps to be not less than N, the reference signals of all the adjacent cells can be received in the period of one measurement gap. Of course, in the embodiment of the present application, it is only necessary to set the number of the measurement gaps to be greater than 1, so that reference signals of more neighboring cells can be measured compared with only one measurement gap in a period of one measurement time slot.

Optionally, the number of the measurement gaps is an integer multiple of N. Therefore, each adjacent cell can obtain a plurality of measurement results, and the measurement precision of the adjacent cell can be improved by combining a plurality of measurement results.

In one possible design, the length of the measurement gap is no less than the sum of a half frame and a reference signal transmission time. Therefore, incomplete reference signals can be prevented from being received in a measurement gap, for example, one part of one reference signal falls in the previous measurement gap, the other part of the reference signal falls in the next measurement gap or falls in a non-measurement gap, so that the terminal cannot acquire the complete reference signal, and the terminal can receive the whole reference signal block transmitted in a field by setting the length of the measurement gap to be not less than the sum of the transmission time of the field and one reference signal and increasing the transmission time of the reference signal on the basis of the field.

In one possible design, the network device updates the configuration information, and parameters in the configuration information can be optimized through updating of the configuration information, for example, a measurement gap, a period of the measurement gap, a length of the measurement gap, or the number of measurement gaps included in one period of the measurement gap can be optimized, the network device sends the updated configuration information to the terminal, and the terminal receives a reference signal of a neighboring cell by using the updated configuration information, so that measurement efficiency and performance of the neighboring cell can be improved.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal, a device (e.g., a chip or a system of chips or a circuit) in the terminal, or a device capable of being used with the terminal. In one design, the communication apparatus may include a module performing one-to-one correspondence of the method/operation/step/action described in the first aspect, where the module may be implemented by hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In one design, the communication device may include a processing module and a communication module. The processing module is used for calling the communication module to execute the receiving and/or sending functions. Exemplarily, the following steps are carried out:

the processing module is configured to obtain the configuration information, for example, the processing module is configured to receive the configuration information from the network device through the communication module. The configuration information includes an interval of a measurement gap, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period of sending a reference signal by a neighboring cell of a serving cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the neighboring cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer; the communication module is used for receiving the reference signal from the adjacent cell in the measurement gap according to the configuration information.

In one possible design, when the configuration information is updated, the communication module is further configured to receive a reference signal from the neighboring cell according to the updated configuration information.

The third aspect or possible advantageous effects of the design may refer to the effects of the corresponding parts of the first aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal, or a device (e.g., a chip or a system of chips or a circuit) in the terminal, or a device capable of being used with the terminal. In one design, the communication device may include a module corresponding to one or more of the methods/operations/steps/actions described in the first aspect, where the module may be implemented by hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In one design, the communication device may include a processing module and a communication module. The processing module is used for calling the communication module to execute the receiving and/or sending functions. Exemplarily, the following steps are carried out:

a processing module, configured to generate configuration information, where the configuration information includes an interval of a measurement gap, the measurement gap is used for a terminal to measure a reference signal of an adjacent cell of a serving cell where the terminal is located, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period in which the adjacent cell sends the reference signal is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer;

and the communication module is used for sending the configuration information to the terminal.

In one possible design, the processing module is further configured to update the configuration information; and the communication module is also used for sending the updated configuration information to the terminal.

The advantageous effects of the fourth aspect or the possible design may refer to the effects of the corresponding parts of the second aspect, which are not described herein again.

In combination with the third or fourth aspects described above, embodiments of the present application provide some alternative implementations or possible designs, as described below.

In one possible design, the number of measurement gaps is no less than N. By setting the number of the measurement gaps to be not less than N, the reference signals of all the adjacent cells can be received in the period of one measurement gap. Of course, in the embodiment of the present application, it is sufficient that the number of the measurement gaps is set to be greater than 1, so that reference signals of more neighboring cells can be measured compared with only one measurement gap in a period of one measurement time slot.

Optionally, the number of the measurement gaps is an integral multiple of N. Therefore, each adjacent cell can obtain a plurality of measurement results, and the measurement precision of the adjacent cell can be improved by combining the plurality of measurement results.

In one possible design, the length of the measurement gap is not less than the sum of a half frame and a reference signal transmission time. Therefore, incomplete reference signals can be prevented from being received in a measurement gap, for example, one part of one reference signal falls in the previous measurement gap, the other part of the reference signal falls in the next measurement gap or falls in a non-measurement gap, so that the terminal cannot acquire the complete reference signal, and the terminal can receive the whole reference signal block transmitted in a field by setting the length of the measurement gap to be not less than the sum of the transmission time of the field and one reference signal and increasing the transmission time of the reference signal on the basis of the field.

In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a communication interface and a processor, wherein the communication interface is used for the communication apparatus to communicate with other devices, such as to receive and transmit data or signals. Illustratively, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, and the other device may be a network device. The processor is arranged to invoke a set of programs, instructions or data to perform the method described in the first aspect above. The communication device may also include a memory for storing programs, instructions or data called by the processor. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor, when executing instructions or data stored in the memory, may implement the method described in the first aspect above.

In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a communication interface and a processor, wherein the communication interface is used for the communication apparatus to communicate with other devices, such as data or signal transceiving. The communication interface may illustratively be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface, and the other device may be a terminal. The processor is arranged to call a set of programs, instructions or data to perform the method described in the second aspect above. The communication device may also include a memory for storing programs, instructions or data called by the processor. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor, when executing instructions or data stored in the memory, may implement the method described in the second aspect above.

In a seventh aspect, this embodiment also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-readable instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect to be performed.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor and may further include a memory, and is configured to implement the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible design of the first aspect, or any possible design of the second aspect. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including a first terminal and a network device, where the first terminal is configured to perform the method as set forth in the first aspect or any one of the possible designs of the first aspect; and/or the network device is adapted to perform the method as described in the second aspect or any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect, the second aspect, any of the possible designs of the first aspect, or any of the possible designs of the second aspect described above.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relation between a measurement gap and an SSB when time domains of neighboring SSBs are not aligned in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for configuring measurement gaps according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for updating measurement gap intervals according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a second schematic structural diagram of a communication device in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for configuring a measurement gap, so as to solve the problem that a terminal may not be able to measure SSBs of all neighboring cells in the measurement gap. The method and the device are based on the same technical conception, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not repeated.

In the description of the embodiment of the present application, "and/or" describes an association relationship of associated objects, which means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. At least one of the embodiments referred to in this application means one or more; plural means two or more. In addition, it should be understood that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description of the embodiments of the present application are used for distinguishing between descriptions and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order, or for indicating or implying a relative importance.

The configuration method for measurement gaps provided in this embodiment of the present application may be applied to a fourth generation (4G) communication system, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), or may be applied to a fifth generation (5G) communication system, such as a New Radio (NR) of 5G, or may be applied to various future communication systems.

Embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows an architecture of a possible communication system to which the method for configuring a measurement gap provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied, and referring to fig. 1, a communication system 100 includes: a network device 101 and one or more terminals 102. When communication system 100 includes a core network, network device 101 may also be connected to the core network. The network device 101 provides services to terminals 102 within a coverage area. For example, referring to fig. 1, a network device 101 provides wireless access to one or more terminals 102 within the coverage area of the network device 101. In addition, there may be areas of overlapping coverage between network devices, such as network device 101 and network device 101'. The network devices may also communicate with each other, for example, network device 101 may communicate with network device 101'.

The network device 101 is a node in a Radio Access Network (RAN), which may also be referred to as a base station and may also be referred to as a RAN node (or device). Currently, some examples of network devices 101 are: next generation base station (gNB), next generation evolved Node B (Ng-eNB), Transmission Reception Point (TRP), evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved Node B, or home Node B, HNB), Base Band Unit (BBU), or wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point (access point, AP), network device 101 may also be a satellite, and satellite may also be referred to as an aerial platform, an aerial vehicle, or a satellite high altitude base station. Network device 101 may also be other network device enabled devices, for example, network device 101 may also be a device that serves network device functionality in D2D communications. The network device 101 may also be a network device in a future possible communication system.

In some deployments, a network device may include Centralized Units (CUs) and Distributed Units (DUs). The network device may also include an Active Antenna Unit (AAU). The CU implements part of functions of the network device, and the DU implements part of functions of the network device, for example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implements functions of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a packet data convergence layer (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing a physical layer protocol and a real-time service, and implements functions of a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The AAU implements part of the physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing and active antenna related functions. Since the information of the RRC layer eventually becomes or is converted from the information of the PHY layer, the higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered as being transmitted by the DU or by the DU + AAU under this architecture. It is to be understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

A terminal 102, also referred to as User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc., is a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. For example, the terminal 102 includes a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, or the like having a wireless connection function. Currently, the terminal 102 may be: mobile phone (mobile phone), tablet computer, notebook computer, palm computer, Mobile Internet Device (MID), wearable device (e.g. smart watch, smart bracelet, pedometer, etc.), vehicle-mounted device (e.g. car, bicycle, electric car, airplane, ship, train, high-speed rail, etc.), Virtual Reality (VR) device, Augmented Reality (AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), smart home device (e.g. refrigerator, television, air conditioner, electric meter, etc.), smart robot, workshop device, wireless terminal in self drive (driving), wireless terminal in remote surgery (remote medical supply), wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), wireless terminal in smart city (city), or a wireless terminal in a smart home (smart home), a flying device (e.g., a smart robot, a hot air balloon, a drone, an airplane), etc. The terminal 102 may also be other terminal-capable devices, for example, the terminal 102 may also be a terminal that serves a terminal function in D2D communication.

First, it should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the serving cell sends a signal to the terminal, which means that the network device where the serving cell is located sends a signal to the terminal. The neighboring cell sends a signal to the terminal, which means that the network device in which the neighboring cell is located sends a signal to the terminal.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal needs to measure the cells adjacent to the serving cell. For convenience of description, a cell adjacent to a serving cell where the terminal is located may be referred to as a neighbor cell or a neighboring cell. The serving cell in which the terminal is located may have one or more neighbor cells. When the terminal is located at the edge of the serving cell, it needs to measure the neighboring cell and may trigger reselection, cell handover, or other actions.

When a terminal measures a neighboring cell, it may receive a reference signal from the neighboring cell, and the quality of the reference signal may be used to determine whether to trigger reselection or cell handover. For example, the terminal reports the quality of the reference signal of the neighboring cell to the network device, and the network device determines whether the terminal needs cell switching according to the content reported by the terminal. The quality of the reference signal may include any one or more of: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), SINR, and the like.

In NR, the reference signal may be generally SSB. Of course, the method of the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the reference signal can also be other types of signals. For example, the reference signal may be a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). In the embodiment of the present application, the reference signal is taken as an SSB for example, and when the reference signal is applied to other types of reference signals, the scheme of the SSB may be replaced by the scheme of the other types of reference signals.

In some scenarios, a terminal needs a measurement gap to measure a reference signal of a neighboring cell. For example, when the serving cell and the neighboring cell of the terminal are in a scenario of inter-frequency/inter-system. In this scenario, when the terminal is in an RRC CONNECTED (RRC _ CONNECTED) state, the terminal needs to always keep a frequency point where a radio frequency channel operates in a serving cell. If the terminal does not have an extra radio frequency channel to work on the frequency point of the different-frequency/different-system cell, the terminal cannot receive the signal of the service cell and the signal of the different-frequency/different-system cell at the same time, and a period of measurement gap is needed. In the measurement gap, the terminal can stop receiving signals on the serving cell, adjust the radio frequency channel to work at the frequency point of the pilot frequency/different system cell, receive the signals of the pilot frequency/different system cell, and complete the measurement of the neighboring cell. The application scenario is only an example, and the embodiment of the application is not limited to be applied to the application scenario. Any scene may be used as long as the gap needs to be measured.

In general, a periodic transmission method is adopted when the neighbor cell transmits the reference signal. The reference signal is transmitted for a period of time within one period. And, the times of transmitting reference signals of different neighboring cells may not be aligned. When the terminal measures the reference signal of the neighboring cell, the terminal can receive the reference signal of the neighboring cell only if the time for sending the reference signal of the neighboring cell falls within the measurement gap of the terminal, or if the time for sending the reference signal of the neighboring cell intersects with the measurement gap of the terminal. However, as described above, the time for transmitting the reference signals by the neighboring cells may not be aligned, and thus, the terminal may not receive the reference signals of all the neighboring cells in the measurement time slot, and even if the measurement gap cannot contain the reference signal transmission area of any neighboring cell, the terminal may not receive the reference signal of any neighboring cell in the measurement time slot.

In the examples of the present application, the reference signal is illustrated by using SSB as an example.

In the time domain, one SSB contains four Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. The terminal determines an SSB block index (block index) through different demodulation reference symbol (DMRS) sequences and an index (index) transmitted in the PBCH, and is used to identify different SSBs. The specific method for determining the block index of the SSB is well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail. In NR, a synchronization signal is transmitted by beam scanning. The network device sends a plurality of SSBs in one cycle, each SSB covers a certain area, and each SSB sends at a candidate SSB (candidates) position defined by the protocol. All SSBs candidates are located in one half-frame (5 ms), and SSBs sent in one half-frame collectively form one SSB cluster set (SSB burst set). In the present application, the SSB candidates position refers to a symbol position in the time domain, and is not described in detail below.

The SSB sent by the neighboring cell may be repeated periodically, and the period size may be configured, and possible values of the SSB period may be: 5 milliseconds (ms), 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160 ms. For SSB for terminal access, a typical value for the periodicity is 20 ms.

As shown in fig. 2, the serving cell in which the terminal is located has two neighboring cells, namely, neighboring cell 1 and neighboring cell 2. The SSB periods of neighbor cell 1 and neighbor cell 2 are both 20 ms. Neighbor cell 1 and neighbor cell 2 send different positions of the half-frame of the SSB in the time domain. The period of the measurement gap of the terminal is 40 ms. The measurement gap of the terminal can only cover the half frame of the adjacent cell 2 for sending the SSB, but does not cover the half frame of the adjacent cell 1 for sending the SSB, so that the terminal cannot measure the SSB of the adjacent cell 1 in the measurement gap, and can only measure the SSB of the adjacent cell 2.

The following describes in detail the procedure of the configuration method of the measurement gap provided in the embodiment of the present application. The method provided by the application aims to ensure that the terminal can measure the reference signals of all the adjacent cells or ensure that the terminal can measure the reference signals of more adjacent cells as much as possible.

As shown in fig. 3, a method for configuring a measurement gap according to an embodiment of the present application is as follows.

S301, the network equipment sends configuration information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the configuration information from the network equipment.

The configuration information is a relevant parameter for configuring the measurement gap. It is understood here that the serving cell sends configuration information to the terminal, which receives the configuration information from the serving cell.

The configuration information may include an interval of a measurement gap, which is an interval of the measurement gap after one measurement and is used for continuing the next measurement. Each measurement takes place within a measurement gap.

The method and the device aim at the gap-interval (gap-interval) of the measurement gap, and the terminal can measure the reference signals of more adjacent areas through the design expectation. Assuming that the period of sending the reference signal by the neighboring cell of the serving cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of a period of time, and the reference signal sent by the neighboring cell in the first period is concentrated in the period of time, that is, the reference signal is not sent in other periods of the first period except the period of time. For example, the reference signal is an SSB, and SSB transmissions are concentrated within a half frame. The first period is N times the field. The first cycle is the SSB cycle (SSB-period). SSB period 5 × N milliseconds. The SSB period may be 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and then alternative values for N include 1,2,4,8,16, 32.

The interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, and M and N satisfy the following relation: m is coprime to N. According to the value of N, M is considered to be an odd number and M is larger than 1. For example, the values of M may include: 3. 5, 7, 9, 11 … …. I.e., alternative values for the interval of the measurement gap, include 15ms,25ms,35ms,45ms,55ms ….

S302, the terminal receives the reference signal from the adjacent cell according to the configuration information.

The terminal performs measurement every other "interval", which is the interval of the measurement gap, according to the configuration information. And the terminal receives the reference signal of the adjacent region in the measurement gap during each measurement. The terminal may receive reference signals from different neighboring cells in different measurement processes.

Since M is relatively prime to N, the reference signals of all cells can always be measured after a certain number of intervals. Assuming that there are 4 neighbor cells of the serving cell where the terminal is located, the SSB periods of the 4 neighbor cells are 20ms, and one SSB period of 20ms may include 4 half frames, that is, N is 4. Suppose that the neighboring cell a sends the SSB in the first field, the neighboring cell B sends the SSB in the second field, the neighboring cell C sends the SSB in the third field, and the neighboring cell D sends the SSB in the fourth field. The terminal can measure the SSBs of all 4 neighbor cells at least after 4 intervals.

The following continues with a description of some alternative implementations of embodiments of the present application.

The configuration information may further include a period (gap-period) of the measurement gap. The period of the measurement gap may also be referred to as a measurement period. The terminal periodically receives the reference signal of the neighboring cell, or the terminal periodically measures the reference signal of the neighboring cell. And in a measurement period, measuring the reference signal of the adjacent region once or more times according to the interval of the measurement gap. Specifically, the measurement is performed several times, and optionally, the number of measurement gaps (gap-num) may also be set in the configuration information. For example, if the number of the measurement gaps is G, the terminal performs G measurements on the reference signal of the neighboring cell according to the interval of the measurement gap in one measurement gap period. The spacing of adjacent measurement gaps between each two measurements. Each measurement is sent within a measurement gap.

Because a period of a reference signal includes N fields, in a period of a reference signal, at most N neighboring cells may transmit reference signals at different positions two by two. If it is desired to ensure that the terminal can receive the reference signals of all the neighboring cells within a period of one measurement gap, the number of the measurement gaps may be set to be not less than N. Of course, in the embodiment of the present application, it is only necessary to set the number of the measurement gaps to be greater than 1, so that reference signals of more neighboring cells can be measured compared with only one measurement gap in a period of one measurement time slot.

The duration that the terminal actually receives the reference signal in the measurement gap may be less than or equal to the measurement gap. That is, the terminal may occupy the entire measurement gap within the measurement gap and may also occupy a portion of the measurement gap to receive the reference signal.

The time length for the terminal to actually receive the reference signal of the adjacent cell in the measurement gap is not less than the sum of the transmission time of the half frame and the reference signal. For example, one SSB transmission time is 4 OFDM symbols (4sym), and the 4 OFDM symbols occupy 1ms, so that the duration for the terminal to actually receive the neighbor reference signal in the measurement gap is not less than 6 ms. Assuming that the terminal occupies the whole measurement gap in the measurement gap to receive the reference signal, the duration of the measurement gap can be considered to be not less than the sum of the transmission time of the half frame and the reference signal.

It is understood that the period of one measurement gap in the embodiment of the present application needs to be not less than the product of the interval of the measurement gaps and the number of measurement gaps. Namely, gap-period > is gap-interval.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal measures a signal of a frequency point in a period of a measurement gap, and one or more adjacent cells on the frequency point can send reference signals. The frequency point may be the same as or different from the frequency point where the serving cell is located. Generally, when the frequency point of the neighboring cell is different from the frequency point of the serving cell, the configuration of the measurement gap is needed. However, the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

After S302, S303 is also included.

S303, the terminal may also report the measurement result of the received reference signal, such as RSRP, RSRQ, or signal-to-noise ratio of the reference signal, to the network device. And the network equipment receives the measurement result of the reference signal reported by the terminal.

The measurement result can represent the signal quality of the neighbor cell. The network device may perform subsequent processing according to the measurement result of the received reference signal, for example, the network device determines whether to trigger cell handover of the terminal.

In one possible design, after S303, S304 may also be included.

S304, the network device may update the configuration of the measurement gap according to the received measurement result. The network equipment sends updated configuration information to the terminal, the terminal receives the updated configuration information from the network equipment, and the terminal receives the reference signal of the adjacent region according to the updated configuration information.

Updating the configuration information may be updating any one or more parameters in the configuration information. For example, the interval of the measurement gaps is updated, the length of the measurement gaps is updated, or the number of measurement gaps is updated. Therefore, the network equipment can update the configuration information according to the measurement result of the adjacent cell reported by the terminal, and the terminal can measure according to the updated configuration information, so that the method is more effective and more energy-saving. For example, as shown in fig. 4, the interval of the measurement gaps in the updated configuration information is shown on the basis of the step shown in fig. 3, and the interval of the measurement gaps after the update is larger than that before the update. After receiving the configuration information of the measurement gap of the network device in S301, the terminal measures the neighboring cell according to the interval of the measurement gap. After the terminal receives the updated configuration information of the network device in S304, the terminal measures the neighboring cell according to the updated interval of the measurement gap. As can be seen from fig. 4, the interval between every two measurement gaps in the measurement gaps 1 to n is smaller than the interval between every two measurement gaps after updating, that is, after the configuration information is updated, the terminal measures the neighboring cell according to a larger interval. If the terminal measures the reference signals according to larger intervals, the effect of measuring more or even all the reference signals of the adjacent regions can be achieved, and the energy consumption of the terminal can be saved. Of course, the network device may also configure smaller intervals according to the received measurement results.

Alternatively, possible expressions of the configuration information are as follows:

wherein, GapConfig is the configuration information of the measurement gap; ENUMERATED identifies the enumeration type. mgl represents the length of the measurement gap, ms1dot5 represents 1.5 milliseconds; mgrp represents the period of the measurement gap, and enumerated values include 40ms, 80ms, and so on; mgnum represents the number of measurement gaps included in one measurement gap period; mginterval denotes the interval of the measurement gap; mgta represents the measurement gap advance, and enumerated values include 0 msec, 0.25 msec, and 0.5 msec.

It can be seen that the configuration information of the measurement gap does not include a gap offset value (gapoffset), and the conventional configuration information can determine the starting position of the measurement gap through the gapoffset, but only one measurement can be realized in one cycle through the parameter. The embodiment of the application can have a plurality of measurement gaps in one period, so that the configuration of the plurality of measurement gaps can be realized through the intervals of the measurement gaps. Typically, the first measurement gap is at the start of a period, e.g., 0 slot of 0 subframe in 0 frame.

In conjunction with the above-described method, the following compares, by way of example, the differences between the conventional configuration method and the configuration method of the present application.

Suppose there are 4 neighboring cells of the serving cell where the terminal is located, which are cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4. The SSB periods of the 4 neighboring cells are 20ms, and 4 half frames may be included in one SSB period of 20ms, that is, N is 4. Suppose cell 1 sends the SSB on the first half frame, cell 2 on the second half frame, cell 3 on the third half frame, and cell 4 on the fourth half frame.

In tables 1 and 2 below, one trellis represents one field, 1 represents that the corresponding cell transmits the SSB on the field, and 0 represents that the corresponding cell does not transmit the SSB on the field.

As shown in table 1, in a conventional manner, assuming that the period of the measurement gap is 40ms, the terminal can receive only the SSB of cell 1 in each period. And no matter how the period of the measurement gap is set, the terminal can receive the SSB of only one cell in each period. The black undertone indicates that the terminal can receive the SSB of the corresponding cell over the field.

TABLE 1

As shown in table 2, it is assumed that the period of the measurement gap is 160ms, the interval of the measurement gap is 15ms, and the number of measurement gaps included in one measurement gap period is 8. The interval between this measurement and the next measurement is 15 ms. The terminal can measure the SSBs of 4 neighbor cells in a shortest time within 50ms (including 4 measurement gaps). In addition, in a period of a measurement gap, the same neighbor cell can be measured for many times, so that the measurement is more accurate. The terminal can also receive the reference signals of all the neighboring cells only once in a period of a measurement gap, which is beneficial to saving the energy consumption of the terminal.

TABLE 2

It should be noted that the examples in the application scenarios in the present application only show some possible implementations, and are for better understanding and description of the method in the present application. Those skilled in the art can obtain some examples of evolution forms according to the sidelink communication method provided by the application.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is introduced from the perspective of a terminal, the perspective of a network device, and the perspective of interaction between the terminal and the network device. In order to implement the functions in the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the terminal or the network device may include a hardware structure and/or a software module, and implement the functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure and a software module. Whether any of the above functions is implemented as a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution.

As shown in fig. 5, based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus 500, where the communication apparatus 500 may be a terminal or a network device, or an apparatus in the terminal or the network device, or an apparatus capable of being used in cooperation with the terminal or the network device. In one design, the communication apparatus 500 may include a module corresponding to one to perform the method/operation/step/action performed by the terminal in the foregoing method embodiment, where the module may be a hardware circuit, or may be software, or may be implemented by combining a hardware circuit and software. In one design, the communications apparatus 500 may include a processing module 501 and a communications module 502. The processing module 501 is used to invoke the communication module 502 to perform the receiving and/or transmitting functions.

When the communication apparatus 500 is used to perform operations performed by a terminal:

the processing module 501 is configured to obtain configuration information, for example, the processing module is configured to receive the configuration information from the network device through the communication module. The configuration information includes an interval of a measurement gap, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period of sending a reference signal by a neighboring cell of a serving cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the neighboring cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer.

The communication module 502 is configured to receive a reference signal from the neighboring cell in the measurement gap according to the configuration information.

When the communication apparatus 500 is used to perform operations performed by a network device:

a processing module 501, configured to generate configuration information, where the configuration information includes a measurement gap interval, the measurement gap is used for a terminal to measure a reference signal of an adjacent cell of a serving cell where the terminal is located, the measurement gap interval is M times of a half frame, a period in which the adjacent cell sends the reference signal is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M is prime with N, and M, N is a positive integer;

a communication module 502, configured to send the configuration information to the terminal.

The communication module 502 is also used for executing other receiving or transmitting steps or operations executed by the terminal or the network device in the above method embodiments. The processing module 501 may also be configured to execute other corresponding steps or operations, except for transceiving, executed by the terminal or the network device in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

The division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, or may exist alone physically, or two or more modules are integrated in one module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode.

Fig. 6 shows a communication apparatus 600 according to an embodiment of the present application, configured to implement the functions of the terminal or the network device in the foregoing method. The communication device may be a terminal or a network device, or may be a device in the terminal or the network device, or may be a device capable of being used with the terminal or the network device. The communication device 600 may be a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices. The communication apparatus 600 includes at least one processor 620, which is configured to implement the functions of the terminal or the network device in the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application. Communications device 600 may also include a communications interface 610. In embodiments of the present application, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface for communicating with other devices over a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 610 provides a means for the communications apparatus 600 to communicate with other devices.

Illustratively, when the communications apparatus 600 is used to perform operations performed by a terminal:

the processor 620 is configured to acquire configuration information by using the communication interface 610, where the configuration information includes an interval of a measurement gap, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, a period of sending a reference signal by a neighboring cell of a serving cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of a half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the neighboring cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer; the processor 620 is further configured to receive, by using the communication interface 610, a reference signal from the neighboring cell within the measurement gap according to the configuration information.

When the communication apparatus 600 is used to perform operations performed by a network device:

a processing module 601, configured to generate configuration information; the configuration information comprises the interval of a measurement gap, the measurement gap is used for a terminal to measure a reference signal of an adjacent cell of a service cell where the terminal is located, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, the period of sending the reference signal by the adjacent cell is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by the adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer.

A communication module 602, configured to send the configuration information to the terminal.

The processor 620 and the communication interface 610 may also be configured to perform other corresponding steps or operations performed by the terminal or the network device according to the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

The communications apparatus 600 can also include at least one memory 630 for storing program instructions and/or data. The memory 630 is coupled to the processor 620. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or a communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be an electrical, mechanical or other form for information interaction between the devices, units or modules. The processor 620 may operate in conjunction with the memory 630. Processor 620 may execute program instructions stored in memory 630. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

The specific connection medium among the communication interface 610, the processor 620 and the memory 630 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In fig. 6, the memory 630, the processor 620, and the communication interface 610 are connected by a bus 650, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 6, and the connection manner between other components is merely illustrative and not limited. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 6, but that does not indicate only one bus or one type of bus.

When the communication device 500 and the communication device 600 are specifically chips or chip systems, the output or the reception of the communication module 502 and the communication interface 610 may be baseband signals. When the apparatus 500 and the apparatus 600 are embodied as devices, the communication module 1202 and the communication interface 610 may output or receive radio frequency signals.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 630 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory (RAM), for example, a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of performing a storage function for storing program instructions and/or data.

Some or all of the operations and functions performed by the terminal described in the above method embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a chip or an integrated circuit.

In order to implement the functions of the communication apparatus described in fig. 5 or fig. 6, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and is configured to support the communication apparatus to implement the functions related to the terminal in the foregoing method embodiment. In one possible design, the chip is connected to or includes a memory for storing the necessary program instructions and data of the communication device.

The embodiment of the application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, wherein the computer program comprises instructions for executing the method embodiment.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the above-described method embodiments.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the application.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made in the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to encompass such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a measurement gap, comprising:

a terminal receives configuration information from network equipment, wherein the configuration information comprises an interval of a measurement gap and the number of the measurement gaps included in a period of the measurement gap, the measurement gap is used for the terminal to measure a reference signal sent by an adjacent cell of a service cell where the terminal is located, the interval of the measurement gap is M times of a half frame, the period of the reference signal sent by the adjacent cell of the service cell where the terminal is located is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all reference signals sent by each adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are prime, and M, N is a positive integer; the number of the measurement gaps included in the period of one measurement gap is not less than N;

and the terminal receives the reference signal from the adjacent cell in one measurement gap at intervals of the measurement gap according to the configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises any one or more of: a period of the measurement gap, a length of the measurement gap.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of measurement gaps is an integer multiple of N.

4. A method according to any one of claims 2 or 3, wherein the length of the measurement gap is not less than the sum of the length of a field and the transmission duration of a reference signal.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

the terminal receives updated configuration information from the network equipment, wherein the updated configuration information comprises an updated interval of the measurement gap;

and the terminal receives the reference signal from the adjacent cell in a measurement gap at intervals of the updated measurement gap according to the updated configuration information.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal/broadcast signal block (SSB).

7. A method of configuring a measurement gap, comprising:

the network equipment generates configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises the interval of measurement gaps and the number of the measurement gaps included in the period of one measurement gap, the measurement gaps are used for a terminal to measure reference signals sent by an adjacent cell of a service cell where the terminal is located, the interval of the measurement gaps is M times of a half frame, the period of the adjacent cell sending the reference signals is a first period, the first period is N times of the half frame, candidate positions of all the reference signals sent by each adjacent cell are located in one half frame of the first period, M and N are relatively prime, and M, N is a positive integer; the number of the measurement gaps included in the period of one measurement gap is not less than N;

and the network equipment sends the configuration information to the terminal.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration information further comprises any one or more of: a period of the measurement gap, a length of the measurement gap.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the number of measurement gaps is an integer multiple of N.

10. The method according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the length of the measurement gap is not less than the sum of the length of a field and the transmission duration of a reference signal.

11. The method of any one of claims 7 to 10, further comprising:

the network equipment updates the configuration information, wherein the updated configuration information comprises an updated interval of the measurement gap;

and the network equipment sends the updated configuration information to the terminal.

12. The method of any of claims 7 to 11, wherein the reference signal comprises a synchronization signal/broadcast signal block (SSB).

13. A communication device, characterized in that the device is adapted to perform the method according to any of claims 1-6.

14. A communication apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus is adapted to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 12.

15. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor coupled with a memory, the memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1-6.

16. A communications apparatus, comprising: a processor coupled to a memory, the memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 7-12.

17. A communication system comprising a communication apparatus according to claim 13 and a communication apparatus according to claim 14; or

Comprising a communication device according to claim 15 and a communication device according to claim 16.

18. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed on a communication device, cause the method of any of claims 1-6 to be performed or cause the method of any of claims 7-12 to be performed.