CN114342452A

CN114342452A - Radio resource management measurement relaxation and cell reselection

Info

Publication number: CN114342452A
Application number: CN202080010830.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: J-P·科斯基南; S·图尔蒂南; J·凯科南; 吴春丽
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2020-07-24
Filing date: 2020-07-24
Publication date: 2022-04-12
Also published as: WO2022016493A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement relaxation and cell reselection. The method comprises obtaining configuration information associated with RRM measurements from a second device; detecting at least one listen before talk, LBT, failure occurring at the second device; and performing operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure. In this way, RRM measurement relaxation may be applied to NR-U and the power savings of the terminal device is optimized to allow RRM measurement relaxation when the channel is not busy with NR-U.

Description

Radio resource management measurement relaxation and cell reselection

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and, in particular, to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurement relaxation and cell reselection.

Background

In general, RRM in New Radios (NR) is based on measurements of Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) or channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS).

For example, due to a Listen Before Talk (LBT) failure, the network device may not be able to always send SSBs, which may affect the measurements of cell reselection and RRM relaxation to be performed at the terminal device. Similarly, paging information and system information may not always be transmitted.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection.

In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: obtaining configuration information associated with RRM measurements from a second device; detecting at least one listen before talk, LBT, failure occurring at the second device; and performing operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

In a second aspect, a second apparatus is provided. The second device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: transmitting configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements to a first device; and performing at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause the first device to perform RRM measurement-related operations based on the configuration information and at least one LBT failure occurring at the second device.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: obtaining configuration information associated with RRM measurements from a second device; detecting at least one listen before talk, LBT, failure occurring at the second device; and performing operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements to a first device; and performing at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause the first device to perform operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and at least one LBT failure occurring at the second device.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for obtaining configuration information associated with RRM measurements from a second device; means for detecting a failure of at least one listen before talk, LBT, occurring at a second device; and means for performing operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for transmitting configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements to a first device; and means for performing at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause the first device to perform operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and at least one LBT failure occurring at the second device.

In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

Other features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of embodiments of the disclosure.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure are presented by way of example and their advantages are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 3 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a procedure for RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method of RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

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

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and are presented to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and enabling the present disclosure without suggesting any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

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

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

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the functionality of various elements. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

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

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

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only) and

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

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware; and

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

(c) hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may not be present when it is not required for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including all uses in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also encompasses an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. By way of example, and where applicable to particular claim elements, the term circuitry also encompasses baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as a fifth generation (5G) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and so forth. Further, communication between the terminal device and the network device may be performed in the communication network according to any suitable generational communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will of course also be future types of communication techniques and systems that may embody the present disclosure. And should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the above-described systems.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g., a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR next generation NodeB (gnb), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, a low power node (such as femto, pico, etc.), depending on the terminology and technology applied. The RAN split architecture includes a gbb-CU (centralized unit, carrying RRC, SDAP, and PDCP) that controls multiple gbb-DUs (distributed units, carrying RLC, MAC, and PHY). The relay node may correspond to the DU portion of the IAB node.

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, User Equipment (UE), Subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablet computers, wearable terminals, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminals (such as digital cameras), gaming terminals, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminals, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop installed devices (LMEs), USB dongle, smart devices, wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), internet of things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in industrial and/or automated processing chain environments), Consumer electronics devices, devices operating in commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Terminal (MT) part of an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, also known as a relay node. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

While the functionality described herein may be performed in various example embodiments in fixed and/or wireless network nodes, in other example embodiments, the functionality may be implemented in a user equipment device (such as a cellular phone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device). The user equipment device may for example be suitably equipped with the corresponding capabilities described in connection with the fixed and/or radio network node(s). The user equipment device may be a user equipment, such as a chipset or processor, and/or a control device configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functionality include a bootstrapping server function and/or a home subscriber server, which from the point of view of these functions/nodes may be implemented in a user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to execute.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in fig. 1, communication network 100 includes a terminal device 110 (hereinafter also referred to as a first device 110 or UE 110) and a network device 120 (hereinafter also referred to as a second device 120 or gNB 120). Terminal device 110 may communicate with network device 120. It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in fig. 1 is given for illustrative purposes and no limitation is suggested. Communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

Depending on the communication technology, network 100 may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, or any other network. The communications discussed in network 100 may conform to any suitable standard including, but not limited to, new radio access (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE evolution, LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA2000, and global system for mobile communications (GSM), among others. Further, the communication may be performed according to any generational communication protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, and fifth generation (5G) communication protocols. The techniques described herein may be used for the above-mentioned wireless networks and radio technologies as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the technology are described below for LTE, and LTE terminology is used in many of the descriptions below.

As mentioned above, RRM in NR is based on measurement of SSB or channel CSI-RS. As shown in fig. 1, in the SSB-based RRM measurement for the unlicensed band scenario (NR-U), the network device 120 may not always transmit the SSB. For example, when the LBT procedure performed at network device 120 is unsuccessful (i.e., network device 120 cannot obtain the channel), then no DL SSB transmission will occur at all. Similarly, paging information and system information may not always be transmitted. DL transmission failures caused by LBT failures may affect measurements for cell reselection and RRM relaxation to be performed at terminal device 110.

Accordingly, the present disclosure proposes a solution for a terminal device to determine whether to initiate cell reselection or to allow RRM measurement relaxation based on the detection of LBT failure. In this way, RRM measurement relaxation may be applied to NR-U and the power savings of the terminal device is optimized to allow RRM measurement relaxation when the channel is not busy with NR-U.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 2-4.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 200 of RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 200 may be implemented at the UE110 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

As shown in fig. 2, at 210, UE110 obtains configuration information associated with RRM measurements from gNB 120.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information may include various parameters associated with RRM measurements. For example, the configuration information may include a relaxed RRM measurement configuration, such as a criterion for performing RRM measurement relaxation, which may indicate in which scenario or under what conditions the UE110 may perform RRM measurement relaxation. Further, for example, the relaxed RRM measurement configuration may include a time interval of RRM measurements in the relaxed RRM measurement mode and a condition for stopping the RRM measurement relaxation.

Further, the configuration information associated with RRM measurements may also include DL SSB transmission configuration. With the aid of the DL SSB transmission configuration, the UE110 may be configured with a discovery burst transmission window within which the UE monitors SBBs.

As mentioned above, in NR, the gNB 120 may not always be able to perform DL transmission. For example, when the LBT procedure performed at network device 120 is unsuccessful, DL transmission does not occur at all, which may be referred to as DL transmission failure. UE110 may not be able to receive any DL data even though DL transmission has been performed at the gNB 120.

As shown in fig. 2, at 220, UE110 detects at least one LBT failure occurring at the gNB 120. In addition to DL SSB transmissions, as mentioned above, UE110 may also detect LBT failures for paging information and/or system information in DL transmissions.

For example, in the case where UE110 detects an LBT failure in a DL SSB transmission, UE11O may know the reception time window for the DL SSB transmission. As described above, the UE110 may be configured with a discovery burst transmission window within which the UE monitors SBBs. UE110 may assume that the SSB is transmitted in a half frame within the discovery burst transmission window, starting with the first symbol of the first slot in the half frame. The duration of the discovery burst transmission window may be provided by discover burst-WindowLength-r 16. If discovery burst-WindowLength-r16 is not provided, UE110 may assume that the duration of the burst transmission window is found to be half a frame (5 ms).

Maximum number of SSBs L (which can be sent in a field)_maxIs 8, and the number of candidate positions for SSB

Depending on the subcarrier spacing of the SSBs. For a 15kHz SCS (of SSB),

and for30kHz SCS (of SSB),

for the serving cell, UE110 may assume that the periodicity of the discovery burst transmission window is the same as the periodicity of the received half-frame for the SSB in the serving cell.

UE110 may assume that one or more SSBs indicated by SSB-positioninburst may be transmitted within the discovery burst transmission window and have candidate SSB indices corresponding to the SSB indices provided by SSB-positioninburst. If the Most Significant Bit (MSB) k of SSB-PositionInBurst (k ≧ 1) is set to 1, the UE can assume that SSB finding candidate SSB index(s) within the burst transmission window corresponding to an SSB index equal to k-1 can be sent. If MSB k is set to 0, UE110 assumes that SSB is not being sent.

If it is not

Is the same between SSBs, the UE may assume that the SSBs in the serving cell are quasi co-located, i.e., from duplicate versions of the same source/beam, across or within the same discovery burst transmission window.

Is an index of the DM-RS sequence transmitted in the PBCH of the corresponding SSB.

Provided by ssb-PositionQCL-r16, or, if ssb-PositionQCL-r16 is not provided, obtained from a Master Information Block (MIB) based on the table shown below:

table 1: combination of the Least Significant Bits (LSBs) of subCrierSpacingCommon and ssb-SubcarrierOffset to

To be mapped between

UE110 may assume that: the number of SS/PBCH blocks transmitted on the serving cell is no greater than within the discovery burst transmission window

And the number of transmitted SSBs having the same SSB index is not greater than 1.

In some example embodiments, in a discovery burst transmission window for an SSB, if UE110 detects that an SSB has been received earlier with good quality but begins to disappear, UE110 may determine that the DL SSB was not transmitted due to an LBT failure.

In some example embodiments, the UE110 may obtain a reference reception level for at least one previous DL SSB transmission in a previous reception time window and determine a current reception level for the at least one DL SSB transmission in a current reception time window. UE110 may compare the reference reception level to the current reception level. If UE110 determines that the difference between the reference receive level and the current receive level exceeds a threshold difference, UE110 may determine that an LBT failure is detected.

In some example embodiments, the UE110 may detect LBT failure in DL SSB transmissions based on the presence of SSBs and/or changes in observed SSB locations among the candidate locations. For example, UE110 may determine a candidate location for receiving at least one DL SSB transmission. UE110 may determine that an LBT failure is detected if UE110 determines that the current received location of at least one SSB deviates from the candidate location.

Referring back to fig. 2, at 230, UE110 may perform operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

In some example embodiments, when the UE monitors for a failure of DL transmissions, the UE110 may determine whether to perform a cell reselection procedure. For example, if the number of failures for DL transmission reaches a threshold number, the UE110 may determine that the current serving cell is too busy or of poor quality of service. If UE110 is in the relaxed RRM measurement mode, when UE110 monitors for failure of DL transmission, UE110 may reevaluate whether to stop the relaxed RRM measurement.

In some example embodiments, if UE110 determines that at least one LBT failure is detected, UE110 may determine a cell selection receive level value (Srxlev) based on a successfully performed DL transmission. UE110 may obtain a reference cell selection receive level value (SrxlevRef) and compare Srxlev to SrxlevRef. Based on the comparison, UE110 may determine an operation related to RRM measurements to be performed at UE 110.

For example, if UE110 determines that Srxlev is below SrxlevRef, the UE may perform a cell reselection procedure. Alternatively, UE110 may also bar the current serving cell for a period of time. The period of time may be statically specified or may be configurable.

Further, if UE110 is currently configured with relaxed RRM measurements, UE110 may stop the RRM measurement relaxation. For example, UE110 may start measuring neighbor cells earlier or have more frequent sampling to detect the problem of the camped cell earlier and find another suitable cell faster. Alternatively, UE110 may also re-evaluate the conditions for RRM measurement relaxation to determine whether UE110 should continue to perform RRM measurement relaxation. The UE110 may also start more RRM measurements, e.g. intra/inter frequency, RAT, (un) licensed, etc.

In some example embodiments, if UE110 determines that at least one LBT failure is detected, UE110 may perform at least one of operations related to RRM measurements, such as a cell reselection procedure, a serving cell barring of the first device for a period of time, a termination of RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, and a re-evaluation of availability for RRM measurement relaxation. UE110 may also start more RRM measurements, e.g. intra/inter frequency, RAT, (un) licensed, etc.

As another option, the UE110 may be configured with an "SSB failure" threshold/counter to count SSB failures due to LBT failures. In some example embodiments, if UE110 determines that at least one LBT failure is detected, UE110 may increment a count value of LBT failures detected in the receive time window. If the UE determines that the count value exceeds the threshold, which may be indicated in the condition for stopping RRM measurement relaxation, UE110 may perform at least one of the above operations related to RRM measurement.

For example, the threshold/counter configured for the UE may be single SSB occasion-specific or "SSB set" specific. For a single SSB occasion, the counter may be incremented each time the UE detects a DL LBT failure for the SSB. For the "SSB set" case, the counter may be incremented if the UE detects LBT failure from all "SSB set" occasions.

In some example embodiments, the UE decrements the counter value in the event that the UE correctly receives the SSB.

In some example embodiments, the counter may be determined by SSB or based on receipt of any SSB in the discovery burst window.

In this way, RRM measurement relaxation may be adapted to NR-U and the power saving of the terminal device is optimized to allow RRM measurement relaxation when the channel is not busy with NR-U.

Fig. 3 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a procedure for RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Process 300 may involve UE110 and gNB 120 shown in fig. 1. Referring to fig. 3, an example procedure for determining operations related to RRM measurements based on counters configured at UE110 for LBT failures may be explained in further detail.

As shown in fig. 3, the gNB 120 may send 302 configuration information associated with RRM measurements to the UE 110. The configuration information may indicate under which conditions the UE may perform RRM measurement relaxation. The configuration information may indicate under what conditions RRM measurement relaxation is to be stopped.

UE110 may determine 304 whether RRM measurement relaxation may be performed based on the configuration information. If so, UE110 may begin performing RRM measurement relaxation.

The gNB 120 may continue to send SSBs to the UE 110. UE110 may monitor DL transmissions from gNB 120, e.g., SSB transmissions in a particular discovery burst transmission window. For example, if the gNB 120 successfully sends 306, 308 SSBs to the UE, the UE110 may continue with relaxed RRM measurements.

UE110 may then detect 310 a DL LBT failure from the SSB occasion, which may be determined based on the configuration information. If UE110 determines that a DL LBT failure is detected, the UE may increment a counter for the DL LBT failure by 1.

Then, the gNB 120 may again SSB successfully send 312 to the UE 110. In some example embodiments, the counter for DL LBT failure may be configured to decrement the count value upon receipt of the SSB. In this case, UE110 may decrement 314 the counter by one, and thus the counter is now set to zero.

UE110 may continue to detect DL LBT failure. The counter for DL LBT failure will be incremented by 1 each time the UE detects a DL LBT failure. The UE may monitor 316 whether the counter reaches a threshold. The threshold may be indicated on the condition that RRM measurement relaxation is to be stopped. When UE110 determines that the count value of the counter reaches the threshold, UE110 may stop RRM measurement relaxation.

It should be understood that the process 300 shown in fig. 3 illustrates only an example of RRM measurement relaxation. UE110 may determine whether RRM measurement relaxation should be stopped based on other measurement conditions. In addition to ceasing RRM measurement relaxation, UE110 may also perform other operations related to RRM measurements, such as cell reselection, and the like.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 400 of RRM measurement relaxation and cell reselection, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 400 may be implemented at a gNB 120 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

At 410, the gNB 120-2 sends configuration information associated with the RRM measurements to the UE 110.

At 420, gNB 120-2 performs at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause UE110 to perform operations related to RRM measurements from UE110 based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure occurring at gNB 120-2.

In some example embodiments, the operation includes at least one of: a cell reselection procedure, a serving cell barring of the first device for a period of time, a termination of RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, and a re-evaluation of availability for the RRM measurement relaxation.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., implemented at first device 110) capable of performing method 200 may include means for performing the various steps of method 200. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for obtaining configuration information associated with RRM measurements from a second device; means for detecting at least one listen before talk, LBT, failure occurring at a second device; and means for performing operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information indicates at least one of a condition for performing RRM measurement relaxation and a condition for stopping RRM measurement relaxation.

In some example embodiments, the means for detecting the at least one LBT failure comprises means for detecting at least one of transmission of a synchronization signal block, transmission of paging information, transmission of system information, and transmission of a reference signal.

In some example embodiments, the means for detecting at least one LBT failure comprises: means for determining candidate locations for receiving at least one synchronization signal block, SSB, transmission from the second device to the first device in a reception time window; and means for determining that an LBT failure is detected if the current received location of the at least one SSB is determined to deviate from the candidate location.

In some example embodiments, the means for detecting at least one LBT failure comprises means for obtaining a reference reception level for at least one previous synchronization signal block, SSB, transmission from the second device to the first device in a previous reception time window; means for determining a current reception level of at least one SSB transmission in a current reception time window; and means for determining that an LBT failure is detected if it is determined that the difference between the reference reception level and the current reception level exceeds a threshold difference.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the operation comprises: means for determining a current value of a cell selection reception level based on at least one transmission from the second device to the first device if it is determined that at least one LBT failure is detected; means for obtaining a reference value for a cell selection reception level from the configuration information; and means for performing at least one of the following if it is determined that the actual value is lower than the reference value: a cell reselection procedure, a serving cell barring of the first device for a period of time, a termination of RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, and a re-evaluation of availability for the RRM measurement relaxation.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the operation comprises: means for incrementing a count value of LBT failures detected in a receive time window if it is determined that at least one LBT failure is detected; and means for performing at least one of the following if it is determined that the count value exceeds a threshold value indicated by the condition: a cell reselection procedure, a serving cell barring of the first device for a period of time, a termination of RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, and a re-evaluation of availability for the RRM measurement relaxation.

In some example embodiments, the means for performing the operation comprises: means for performing at least one of the following if it is determined that at least one LBT failure is detected: a cell reselection procedure, a serving cell barring of the first device for a period of time, a termination of RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, and a re-evaluation of availability for the RRM measurement relaxation.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., implemented at the second device 120) capable of performing the method 400 may include means for performing the various steps of the method 400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for transmitting configuration information associated with RRM measurements to a first device; and means for performing at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause the first device to perform operations related to RRM measurements based on the configuration information and at least one LBT failure occurring at the second device.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 500 may be provided to implement communication devices such as terminal device 110 and network device 120 as shown in fig. 1. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 540 coupled to the processors 510, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX)540 coupled to the processors 510.

TX/RX 540 is used for bi-directional communication. TX/RX 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements.

The processor 510 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is time dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

Memory 520 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM)524, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disk (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM)522 and other volatile memory that will not persist for the duration of the power loss.

The computer programs 530 include computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 510. The program 530 may be stored in the ROM 520. Processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading programs 530 into RAM 520.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by way of program 530 to enable device 500 to perform any of the processes of the present disclosure discussed with reference to fig. 2-4. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 500 (such as in the memory 520) or in other storage devices accessible to the device 500. Device 500 may load program 530 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 522 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard disk, a CD, a DVD, etc. Fig. 6 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 600 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has a program 530 stored thereon.

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

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the

methods

200 and 400 described above with reference to fig. 2 and 4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local device or within a distributed device. In a distributed facility, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

1. A first device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:

obtaining configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements from a second device;

detecting at least one listen before talk, LBT, failure occurring at the second device; and

performing operations related to the RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of:

conditions for performing RRM measurement relaxation, an

A condition for stopping the RRM measurement relaxation.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to detect the at least one LBT failure by:

detecting at least one of:

the transmission of the block of synchronization signals,

the transmission of the paging information is carried out,

transmission of system information, and

and (4) transmission of a reference signal.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to detect the at least one LBT failure by:

determining a candidate location for receiving at least one synchronization signal block, SSB, transmission from the second device to the first device in a reception time window; and

determining that the LBT failure is detected if it is determined that the current reception location of the at least one SSB deviates from the candidate location.

5. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to detect the at least one LBT failure by:

obtaining a reference reception level for at least one previous synchronization signal block, SSB, transmission from the second device to the first device in a previous reception time window;

determining a current receive level for at least one SSB transmission in a current receive time window; and

determining that the LBT failure is detected if it is determined that a difference between the reference reception level and the current reception level exceeds a threshold difference.

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to perform the operation by:

determining a current value of a cell selection reception level based on at least one transmission from the second device to the first device if it is determined that the at least one LBT failure is detected;

obtaining a reference value of the cell selection reception level from the configuration information; and

if it is determined that the actual value is lower than the reference value, performing at least one of:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

7. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to perform the operation by:

incrementing a count value of LBT failures detected in a receive time window if it is determined that at least one LBT failure is detected; and

performing at least one of the following if it is determined that the count value exceeds a threshold value indicated by the condition:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

8. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to perform the operation by:

performing at least one of the following if it is determined that at least one LBT failure is detected:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

9. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

10. A second device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:

transmitting configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements to a first device; and

performing at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause the first device to perform operations related to the RRM measurements based on the configuration information and at least one LBT failure occurring at the second device.

11. The second device of claim 10, wherein the operations comprise at least one of:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

12. The second device of claim 10, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

13. A method, comprising:

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of:

conditions for performing RRM measurement relaxation, an

A condition for stopping the RRM measurement relaxation.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein detecting the at least one LBT failure comprises:

detecting at least one of:

the transmission of the block of synchronization signals,

the transmission of the paging information is carried out,

transmission of system information, and

and (4) transmission of a reference signal.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein detecting the at least one LBT failure comprises:

17. The method of claim 13, wherein detecting the at least one LBT failure comprises:

18. The method of claim 13, wherein performing the operation comprises:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein performing the operation comprises:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein performing the operation comprises:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

22. A method, comprising:

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the operation comprises at least one of:

the process of cell reselection is carried out,

disabling a serving cell of the first device for a period of time,

terminating the RRM measurement relaxation at the first device, an

Re-evaluation of the relaxed availability for the RRM measurement.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

25. An apparatus, comprising:

means for obtaining configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements from a second device;

means for detecting at least one listen before talk, LBT, fault occurring at the second device; and

means for performing operations related to the RRM measurements based on the configuration information and the at least one LBT failure.

26. An apparatus, comprising:

means for transmitting configuration information associated with radio resource management, RRM, measurements to a first device; and

means for performing at least one listen before talk, LBT, procedure to cause the first device to perform operations related to the RRM measurements based on the configuration information and at least one LBT failure occurring at the second device.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 13-21.

28. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to any one of claims 22 to 24.