CN115152318B

CN115152318B - Event-triggered measurement for channel state information

Info

Publication number: CN115152318B
Application number: CN202080097309.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: L·达尔斯加德; 杜蕾
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: 2020-02-24
Filing date: 2020-02-24
Publication date: 2024-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-24
Also published as: CN115152318A; WO2021168603A1

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatuses, methods, devices, and computer-readable storage media for event-triggered measurement of CSI. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a message from a second device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device; determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell; and in accordance with a determination that at least one event is triggered, performing one of: a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device is initiated and stopped. In this way, the UE may measure CSI-RS for mobility only when needed, which may minimize UE measurement effort and also save power consumption of the UE. At the same time, network overhead can also be reduced.

Description

Event-triggered measurement for channel state information

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications and, more particularly, relate to an apparatus, method, device, and computer readable medium for event triggered measurement of Channel State Information (CSI).

Background

In New Radio (NR) release 15, the 3 rd generation partnership project (3 GPP) has defined frame work (frame work) for CSI-reference signals (CSI-RS) for beam management and mobility management. CSI-RS based mobility plays an important role in mobility and network deployment and optimization. Compared to Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) based Radio Resource (RRM) measurements, CSI-RS based RRM measurements are more accurate and flexible in terms of resource usage, mobility enhancement and handover reliability.

The network may configure a User Equipment (UE) to perform RRM measurements based on SSBs and/or CSI-RSs. Unlike SSB-based measurements, in which SSBs are continuously and periodically broadcast from the network, CSI-RS is configured via signaling (e.g., rrcrecon configuration message) of each UE.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for event-triggered measurement of CSI-RS.

In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes at least one processor; at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: receiving a message from a second device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device; determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell; and in accordance with a determination that at least one event is triggered, performing one of: initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from a second cell associated with the first device, and stopping the second measurement.

In a second aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes at least one processor; at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: transmitting a message to the first device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell, the at least one first cell being associated with the first device, to cause the first device to: determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell, and determining whether at least one event is triggered and stopping the second measurement based on the first measurement.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a message from a second device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device; determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell; and in accordance with a determination that at least one event is triggered, performing one of: a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device is initiated and stopped.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes transmitting a message to a first device including at least one quality of service related at least one first cell, the at least one first cell being associated with the first device, to cause the first device to: determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell, and determining whether at least one event is triggered and stopping the second measurement based on the first measurement.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving from a second device at least one event message comprising information about a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device; means for determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell; and means for performing one of the following in accordance with a determination that at least one event is triggered: a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device is initiated and stopped.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for sending a message to the first device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device, to cause the first device to: determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell, and determining whether at least one event is triggered based on the first measurement and stopping the second measurement.

In a seventh aspect, a computer readable medium is provided, comprising a computer program for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer readable medium is provided, comprising a computer program for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

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

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

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

fig. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram for event triggered measurement of CSI according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second device, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing some other embodiments of the present disclosure; and

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

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements.

Detailed Description

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in a variety of 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. Furthermore, 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 effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first" and "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 between the functionality of the 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," "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) Combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and

(ii) Any portion of the hardware processor(s) having software, including the 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 part of microprocessor(s) that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but the software may not exist when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including all uses in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses hardware-only circuitry or a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of hardware circuitry or a processor and its (or their) implementation in conjunction with software and/or firmware. For example and where applicable to the elements of the specific claims, the term circuitry also encompasses a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term "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. Furthermore, communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation 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 in various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communications, there will of course also be future types of communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. The scope of the invention should not be considered limited to only the system described above.

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. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), such as a node B (node B or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a NR next generation node B (gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, a low power node such as a femto, pico, etc. The RAN split architecture includes a gNB-CU (centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP, and PDCP) that controls multiple gNB-DUs (distributed units, hosting 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, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless Customer Premise 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 an industrial and/or automated processing chain environment), consumer electronic devices, devices operating in a commercial and/or industrial wireless network, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Terminal (MT) portion 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 in various example embodiments, the functionality described herein may be performed in a fixed and/or wireless network node, in other example embodiments, the functionality may be implemented in a user equipment device, such as a cellular telephone or tablet or laptop or desktop or mobile or fixed device. The user equipment device may, for example, suitably be 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 and/or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, 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 may be implemented in the user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to execute from the point of view of these functions/nodes.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in fig. 1, the communication network 100 includes a terminal device 110 (hereinafter also referred to as a first device 110 or UE 110) and network devices 120-1 and 120-2 (hereinafter also referred to as a second device 120-1 and a third device 120-2, respectively). Terminal device 110 may communicate with network devices 120-1 and 120-2. Network devices 120-1 and 120-2 may communicate with each other. The service area of network device 120-1 is referred to as cell 102 and the service area of network device 120-2 is referred to as cell 104. It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in fig. 1 are given for illustrative purposes and do not imply any limitation. 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, global system for mobile communications (GSM), and the like. Further, the communication may be performed according to any generation 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, fifth generation (5G) communication protocols. The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above and other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the technology are described below for LTE, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below.

As mentioned above, in NR release 15, 3GPP has defined the framework work of CSI-RS for beam management and mobility management. CSI-RS based mobility plays an important role and can be considered as an important factor in mobility and network deployment and optimization. Compared to SSB-based RRM measurements, CSI-RS-based RRM measurements are more accurate and flexible in terms of resource usage, mobility enhancement, and handover reliability.

The network may configure the UE to perform RRM measurements based on SSB and/or CSI-RS. Unlike SSB-based measurements, in which SSBs are continuously and periodically broadcast from the network, CSI-RS is configured via per-UE signaling (e.g., rrcrecon configuration messages).

CSI-RS based measurements for mobility are configured via signaling "CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility". For each neighbor cell measured for a Measurement Object (MO) to be measured, the UE may be configured to measure a list of CSI-RS resources with a specific time/frequency location.

As shown in fig. 1, UEs 110 in cell 102 are configured to measure CSI-RS in neighboring cell 104. The CSI-RS resources for neighbor cell measurements 104 are notified to UE 110 by cell 102 (network device 120-1) via an Xn message between network device 120-1 and network device 120-2 so that cell 104 (network device 120-2) can configure CSI-RS resources to be measured accordingly to UE 110 via serving cell 102. That is, CSI-RS is transmitted from cell 104, while measurement configuration is generated from cell 102.

For this reason, network device 120-2 does not have information about whether and when UE 110 is actually able or needed to measure CSI-RS of cell 104. Network device 120-2 will have to continuously keep sending CSI-RSs so that they can be measured by UE 110 when needed. While CSI-RS measurements may be intended to provide finer information about resource usage or for beam refinement purposes, transmitting CSI-RS resources consumes radio resources and thus introduces a large overhead to the network.

On the other hand, SSB is at least forced to be transmitted on the initial downlink bandwidth part (DL BWP) and configured, and SSB-based measurements have been implemented as basic RRM measurements for mobility. When CSI-RS based measurements are introduced, they can be configured together with SSB based measurements to provide finer measurement granularity, to assist e.g. beam selection during handover, i.e. to set SSB-configmotity (SSB configuration mobility) and CSI-rsResroceconfigy mobility (CSI-RS resource configuration mobility) in the measurement configuration.

Referring back to fig. 1, for example, network device 120-1 may configure UE 110 as rrc_connected via Measconfig to perform measurements according to the measurement configuration and potentially report the measurement results to the network. The measurement configuration may include parameters such as a Measurement Object (MO), a reporting configuration, a measurement identity, a quantity configuration, and a measurement gap, wherein SSB-based measurement and CSI-RS-based measurement are configured separately. However, there is no definition of how to configure the two measurements to ensure correct UE behaviour and to provide meaningful results to the network.

Accordingly, the present disclosure proposes a solution for initiating or stopping CSI-RS measurements by a UE according to SSB-based measurements, which may direct the UE to perform CSI-RS measurements when SSB-based events are triggered. Further, when the UE performs CSI-RS measurement, the network may inform the cell to be measured such that the cell to be measured does not have to continuously keep transmitting CSI-RS all the time. In this way, the UE may measure CSI-RS for mobility only when needed, which may minimize UE measurement effort and also save power consumption of the UE. At the same time, network overhead can also be reduced.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 2 through 4. Fig. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram for event-triggered measurements of CSI-RS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Process 200 may involve first device 110, second device 120-1, and third device 120-2 as illustrated in fig. 1. It should be appreciated that although the process 200 has been described in the communication network 100 of fig. 1, the process may be equally applicable to other communication scenarios.

As shown in fig. 2, network device 120-1 sends 205 a message to terminal device 110. The message may comprise, for example, at least one event associated with a quality of service of at least one cell associated with terminal device 110. In this context, the term "cell" may refer to a cell serving the terminal device 110, i.e. the cell 102 shown in fig. 1. In this context, the term "cell" may refer to any neighboring cell of the serving cell of the terminal device 110, such as the cell 104 shown in fig. 1.

Herein, the term "event" may refer to an SSB-based event. For example, an event may be represented as "the serving cell becomes better than the threshold" or "the neighboring cell becomes better than the serving cell's threshold". Each event may be identified with an index in the reporting configuration, namely reportconfigID (reporting configuration ID). It should be appreciated that the message may also include further events. The index of events and their corresponding descriptions may be known on both sides of the network device and the terminal device via reporting configurations sent from the network device to the terminal device.

Herein, quality of service may refer to a level/value typically characterizing the quality of the first reference signal, such as synchronization signal-reference signal received power, SS-RSRP, synchronization signal-reference signal received quality, SS-RSRQ, synchronization signal-to-interference and noise ratio, SS-SINR, synchronization signal-received signal strength indicator, SS-RSSI, or similar measured measurements.

The message may also indicate that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are implicitly or explicitly initiated or stopped based on the event being triggered. For example, it may be preconfigured that when a certain event is triggered, the terminal device 110 may initiate or stop CSI-RS based RRM measurements, which may not require any change of signaling. As another option, the message may include an indication that the CSI-RS based RRM measurement is initiated at the terminal device 110 when a specific event is triggered and/or stopped at the terminal device 110 when a specific event is triggered. The message may also include a measurement configuration for both SSB-based measurements and CSI-RSL 3-based measurements in one MO.

Referring back to fig. 2, terminal device 110 may determine 210 whether the event indicated in the message is triggered. For example, terminal device 110 may perform SSB-based RRM measurements on reference signals received from network device 120-1 to determine whether an event is triggered. Alternatively, depending on the measurement object associated with the event, terminal device 110 may also perform SSB-based RRM measurements on reference signals received from network devices 120-1 and/or 120-2 to determine whether the event is triggered. If the terminal device 110 determines that the condition indicated by the event is satisfied according to the result of the SSB-based RRM measurement, the terminal device 110 may determine that the event is triggered.

If the event is triggered, the terminal device 110 may initiate CSI-RS based RRM measurements. That is, the terminal device 110 may perform CSI-RS based measurements on reference signals from the serving cell and/or other cells. Alternatively, if the event is triggered, the terminal device 110 may stop the CSI-RS based RRM measurement. If terminal device 110 performs SSB-based RRM measurements on reference signals from cell 102, terminal device 110 may initiate/stop CSI-RS-based RRM measurements on reference signals from serving cell 102 or one or more neighboring cells 104. If terminal device 110 performs SSB-based RRM measurements on reference signals from cell 104, terminal device 110 may initiate/stop CSI-RS-based RRM measurements on reference signals from cell 102 and/or cell 104.

In case the message indicates that the CSI-RS based RRM measurement is to be implicitly initiated/stopped (i.e. in case an additional indication for initiating or stopping the CSI-RS based RRM measurement is not included in the message), the terminal device 110 may initiate or stop the CSI-RS based RRM measurement based on pre-configured information such as: what type of event may initiate or stop CSI-RS based RRM measurements. Thus, the preconfigured information may indicate, for example, that event A2 "serving cell becomes worse than a threshold" may initiate CSI-RS based RRM measurements, or event A1 "serving cell becomes better than a threshold" may stop CSI-RS based RRM measurements. In this case, the terminal device 110 may determine an operation for CSI-RS based RRM measurement based on the preconfigured information. That is, the relationship between the event and the operation to be performed can be known on both sides of the network device and the terminal device.

In case the message indicates that the CSI-RS based RRM measurement is to be initiated/stopped, the terminal device 110 may obtain an indication from the message indicating which operation is to be performed if the event is triggered or when the CSI-RS based RRM measurement should be initiated/stopped. One example of an "associtedssb" (associated SSB) IE that includes the indication is shown below.

Table 1: examples of "associatedSSB" IE

In this IE, the field "associated ssbits_start" (associated SSB event START) may directly indicate the event type, i.e. using reportconfigID (reporting configuration ID), or may be a bit mask indicating which of the events that have been configured for associated SSB-based measurements will be used to trigger the CSI-RS-based RRM measurement. Similarly, the field "associated ssbits_stop" (associated SSB event stopped) may be configured to indicate an event that will STOP CSI-RS based measurements.

In case of performing SSB-based RRM measurement on a reference signal from the cell 102, the terminal device 110 may Start or continue performing SSB-based measurement after receiving the measurement configuration, and if there is "associated ssbits_start", suspend (pend) the CSI-RS-based RRM measurement. When an event corresponding to associted ssbits_start is triggered, terminal device 110 may begin measuring reference signals from cell 102 of network device 120-1 or cell 104 of network device 120-2, or both.

In the case of performing SSB-based RRM measurements on reference signals from cell 104, terminal device 110 may begin measuring reference signals from either cell 102 of network device 120-1 or cell 104 of network device 120-2, or both, when an event corresponding to associted ssbevents_start is triggered.

Similarly, if there is an associatedssbits_stop, the terminal device 110 may Stop CSI-RS based measurements if an event corresponding to the associatedssbits_stop is triggered.

It should be understood that the examples in table 1 are shown for illustrative purposes only and to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the invention and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the invention. Any other suitable form of message may also be considered part of the present disclosure. For example, when reporting events are defined for SSB-based measurements, the indication may also be included in other IEs, such as reportConfigNR (reporting configuration NR).

Thus, if an event is triggered, terminal device 110 may initiate/stop CSI-RS based RRM measurements based on explicit or implicit indications in the message.

If terminal device 110 determines to initiate CSI-RS based RRM measurements. As an option, terminal device 110 may send 215 a measurement report to network device 120-1 based on the result of the RRM measurement of SSB. If network device 120-1 receives the measurement report, network device 120-1 may determine to initiate CSI-RS based RRM measurements at terminal device 110. In some example embodiments, network device 120-1 may inform 220 network device 120-2 that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are initiated such that network device 120-2 may send 225 reference signals supporting CSI-RS based RRM measurements of neighboring cells by terminal device 110. Additionally, network device 120-1 may initiate 227 transmission of a reference signal for enabling CSI-RS based measurements of the serving cell by terminal device 110. Terminal device 110 may perform 230 CSI-RS based RRM measurements on reference signals received from at least one of network device 120-2 and network device 102-1.

In this case, the terminal device 110 may perform the CSI-RS based RRM measurement after transmitting the measurement report of the SSB based RRM measurement to the network device 120-1. Accordingly, network device 120-1 may be aware of the start of CSI-RS based RRM measurements at terminal device 110 and control the transmission of reference signals provided from at least one of network device 120-2 and network device 102-1.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may also start performing CSI-RS based RRM measurements after a certain period of time. The length of the period may be determined by considering the transmission time of the measurement report and the reaction time of at least one of the network device 120-1 or the network device 120-2 to transmit the reference signal.

As another option, if terminal device 110 determines that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are to be initiated, terminal device 110 may perform 230 CSI-RS based RRM measurements on reference signals received from at least one of network device 120-1 and network device 120-2 without sending a measurement report to network device 120-1.

After completing the measurement of the reference signal of at least one of network device 120-2 and network device 102-1, terminal device 110 may send 235 a measurement report based on the RRM measurement of CSI-RS to network device 120-1.

A similar procedure may be performed for the case where the terminal device 110 determines that the CSI-RS based RRM measurement is to be stopped.

If terminal device 110 determines that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are to be stopped, terminal device 110 may send 240 a measurement report of the result of SSB based RRM measurements to network device 120-1 as an option. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may transmit 240 a measurement report based on the result of the RRM measurement of the CSI-RS, or a measurement report based on the result of both the RRM measurement of the SSB and the RRM measurement of the CSI-RS. If network device 120-1 receives the measurement report, network device 120-1 may determine that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are stopped at terminal device 110. In some example embodiments, network device 120-1 may inform 245 network device 120-2 that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are stopped, such that (possibly in addition to device 120-1) network device 120-2 may stop sending reference signals to terminal device 110 for CSI-RS based RRM measurements. In addition, network device 120-1 may cease transmitting the reference signal to terminal device 110. Terminal device 110 may cease 250 CSI-RS based RRM measurements of reference signals received from at least one of network device 120-2 and network device 102-1.

In this case, after a measurement report of the SSB-based RRM measurement and/or the CSI-RS-based RRM measurement is transmitted to the network device 120-1, the terminal device 110 may stop the CSI-RS-based RRM measurement. Thus, network device 120-1 and possibly device 120-2 may be aware of the cessation of CSI-RS based RRM measurements at terminal device 110.

As another option, if terminal device 110 determines that CSI-RS based RRM measurements are to be stopped, terminal device 110 may stop 250 CSI-RS based RRM measurements of reference signals received from at least one of network device 120-2 and network device 102-1 without sending a measurement report to network device 120-1.

In this way, in order to initiate CSI-RS based measurements, the terminal device measures CSI-RS for mobility only when certain SSB-based events are triggered, and in order to stop CSI-RS based measurements, the terminal device measures CSI-RS for mobility only when certain SSB-based events or CSI-RS-based events are triggered. Therefore, a cell to be measured for CSI-RS based measurement is a qualified candidate target cell, and thus measurement work of the terminal device can be minimized, and power consumption of the terminal device can also be saved. Furthermore, it is beneficial that the network device is not required to always transmit CSI-RS, but rather the transmission of CSI-RS can be started and stopped based on measurement reports from the terminal device.

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 for service management in a communication system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 may be implemented at a first device 110 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

As shown in fig. 3, at 310, the first device 110 receives a message from the second device 120-1 that includes at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device 110.

In some example embodiments, the quality of service includes a level of at least one of: synchronization signal-reference signal received power, SS-RSRP, synchronization signal-reference signal received quality, SS-RSRQ, synchronization signal-to-interference and noise ratio, SS-SINR, synchronization signal-to-received signal strength indicator, SS-RSSI, or similar measurement metrics.

In some example embodiments, the at least one first cell comprises at least one of: the serving cell of the first device and a neighbor cell of the serving cell.

In some example embodiments, the at least one second cell comprises at least one of: the serving cell of the first device and a neighbor cell of the serving cell.

In some example embodiments, the message further includes one of: an indication that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, or an indication that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event.

At 320, the first device 110 determines whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may obtain a set of configuration parameters associated with the at least one event from the first message and perform the first measurement based on the set of configuration parameters. The first device 110 may determine that the at least one event is triggered if the first device 110 determines that the result of the first measurement satisfies a condition indicated by the at least one event.

At 330, if the first device 110 determines that at least one event is triggered, the first device 110 performs one of the following operations: a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device is initiated and stopped.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may obtain configuration information from the message for reporting a result of at least one of the first measurement and the second measurement; and determining at least one event from the configuration information by at least one of: an index of the configuration information, and a bit mask associated with at least one event indicated in the configuration information.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that at least one event is triggered, the first device 110 may send the result of at least the first measurement to the second device.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the message indicates that a second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the first device 110 may perform the second measurement after the transmission of the result of the first measurement.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the message indicates that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the first device 110 may stop the second measurement after the transmission of the result of the at least first measurement.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the message indicates that a second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the first device 110 may perform the second measurement without sending the result of the first measurement to the second device.

In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 determines that the message indicates that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the first device 110 may stop the second measurement without sending the result of at least the first measurement to the second device.

In some example embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 for service management in a communication system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 400 may be implemented at the second device 120-1 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

As shown in fig. 4, at 410, the second device 120-1 sends a message to the first device 110 of at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device 110 to cause the first device to: determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell, and determining whether at least one event is triggered and stopping the second measurement based on the first measurement.

In some example embodiments, the message further includes one of: an indication indicating that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, or an indication indicating that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event.

In some example embodiments, the second device 120-1 may send the second reference signal to the first device if the second device receives an additional indication from the first device to initiate or stop sending the second reference signal from the second device to the first device.

In some example embodiments, the second device 120-1 may receive results of the first measurement of the first reference signal from the first device. If the second device 120-1 determines to trigger the at least one event based on the result, the second device 120-1 may generate a further indication to initiate or cease transmission of the second reference signal from the at least one second cell to the first device based on the message and transmit the further indication to the at least one second cell.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 300 (e.g., implemented at the terminal device 110) may include means for performing the respective steps of the method 300. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit or software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for receiving at least one event message from a second device related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with a first device; means for determining whether at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from at least one first cell; and means for performing one of the following in accordance with a determination that at least one event is triggered: a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device is initiated and stopped.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 400 (e.g., implemented at the network device 120-1) may include means for performing the respective 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 software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for transmitting to a first device at least one event message comprising information related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device; and means for transmitting a first reference signal to the first device to cause the first device to perform one of: determining whether at least one event is triggered based on the first measurement of the first reference signal and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on the first measurement of the first reference signal and stopping the second measurement of the second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, initiating the second measurement of the first reference signal and stopping the second measurement of the first reference signal.

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

TX/RX 540 is used for two-way 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.

Processor 510 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock that is synchronized to the master 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, hard disks, compact Disks (CD), digital Video Disks (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM) 522 and other volatile memory that does not last for the duration of the power outage.

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

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

In some embodiments, program 530 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in device 500 (such as in memory 520) or other storage device accessible to device 500. Device 500 may load program 530 from a 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, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Fig. 7 shows an example of a computer readable medium 700 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 these 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 300 and 400 as described above with reference to fig. 3-4. 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 of program modules may be executed within a local device or within a distributed device. In distributed devices, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program code 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 code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. 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 this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable an apparatus, device or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carrier waves include signals, computer readable media, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The 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 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.

Moreover, although the operations are described in a particular order, this should not be construed 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. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features 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 for communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

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

receiving a message from a second device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device;

determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from the at least one first cell;

in accordance with a determination that the at least one event is triggered, one of the following is performed: initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device, and ceasing the second measurement; and

Transmitting a measurement report to the second device for stopping transmission of the second reference signal, wherein the measurement report is based on at least one of the results of the first measurement and the results of the second measurement.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the quality of service comprises a level of at least one of:

synchronization signal-reference signal received power SS-RSRP,

synchronization signal-reference signal received quality SS-RSRQ,

synchronous signal-to-signal interference and noise ratio SS-SINR

Synchronization signal-received signal strength indicator SS-RSSI.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one first cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one second cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message further comprises one of:

an indication indicating that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, or

An indication indicating that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to determine whether the at least one event is triggered by:

obtaining a set of configuration parameters associated with the at least one event from the message;

performing the first measurement based on the set of configuration parameters; and

in accordance with a determination that the result of the first measurement satisfies a condition indicated by the at least one event, it is determined that the at least one event is triggered.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:

obtaining configuration information from the message for reporting a result of at least one of the first measurement and the second measurement; and

determining the at least one event from the configuration information by at least one of:

index of the configuration information

A bit mask associated with the at least one event indicated in the configuration information.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:

In accordance with a determination that the at least one event is triggered, a result of at least the first measurement is transmitted to the second device.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the first device is caused to perform one of the operations by:

in accordance with a determination that the message indicates that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the second measurement is initiated after the sending of the result of the first measurement.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the first device is caused to perform one of the operations by:

in accordance with a determination that the message indicates that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the second measurement is stopped after at least the sending of the result of the first measurement.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to perform one of the operations by:

in accordance with a determination that the message indicates that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the second measurement is performed without sending a result of the first measurement to the second device.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to perform one of the operations by:

in accordance with a determination that the message indicates that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the triggering of the at least one event, the second measurement is stopped without sending a result of at least the first measurement to the second device.

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

14. A second device for communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

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

transmitting a message to a first device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device to cause the first device to perform one of:

determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of the at least one first reference signal from the at least one first cell, and

Initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell, an

Determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on at least the first measurement and stopping the second measurement;

receiving a measurement report from the first device for stopping transmission of the second reference signal, wherein the measurement report is based on at least one of the first measurement and the second measurement; and

and transmitting a notification to stop transmission of the second reference signal to a third device transmitting the second reference signal.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the quality of service comprises a level of at least one of:

synchronization signal-reference signal received power SS-RSRP,

synchronization signal-reference signal received quality SS-RSRQ,

synchronous signal-to-signal interference and noise ratio SS-SINR

Synchronization signal-received signal strength indicator SS-RSSI.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one first cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one second cell comprises at least one of:

Serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

18. The device of claim 14, wherein the message further comprises an indication that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the trigger of the at least one event or that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the trigger of the at least one event.

19. The device of claim 14, wherein the second device is caused to transmit the first reference signal by:

the first reference signal is transmitted to the first device in response to receiving a further indication from the first device to initiate or stop transmitting the first reference signal from the second device to the first device.

20. The device of claim 14, wherein the second device is further caused to:

receiving results of a first measurement of the first reference signal from the first device;

in accordance with a determination that the at least one event is triggered based on the result, generating, based on the message, a further indication to initiate or cease transmission of the second reference signal from the at least one second cell to the first device; and

The further indication is sent to the at least one second cell.

21. The device of claim 14, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

22. A method for communication, comprising:

transmitting a measurement report to the second device for stopping transmission of the second reference signal, wherein the measurement report is based on at least one of the first measurement and the second measurement.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the quality of service comprises a level of at least one of:

Synchronization signal-reference signal received power SS-RSRP,

synchronization signal-reference signal received quality SS-RSRQ,

synchronous signal-to-signal interference and noise ratio SS-SINR

Synchronization signal-received signal strength indicator SS-RSSI.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one first cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one second cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the message further comprises one of:

27. The method of claim 22, wherein determining whether the at least one event is triggered comprises:

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

index of the configuration information

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

30. The method of claim 29, wherein performing one of the operations comprises:

31. The method of claim 29, wherein performing one of the operations comprises:

32. The method of claim 22, wherein performing one of the operations comprises:

33. The method of claim 22, wherein performing one of the operations comprises:

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

35. A method for communication, comprising:

transmitting, from a second device to a first device, a message comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device to cause the first device to perform one of:

determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from the at least one first cell, and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell,

determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on the first measurement and stopping the second measurement; and

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the quality of service comprises a level of at least one of:

synchronization signal-reference signal received power SS-RSRP,

Synchronization signal-reference signal received quality SS-RSRQ,

synchronous signal-to-signal interference and noise ratio SS-SINR

Synchronization signal-received signal strength indicator SS-RSSI.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the at least one first cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the at least one second cell comprises at least one of:

serving cell of the first device

And the adjacent cells of the service cell.

39. The method of claim 35, wherein the message further comprises an indication that the second measurement is to be initiated at the first device based on the trigger of the at least one event or that the second measurement is to be stopped at the first device based on the trigger of the at least one event.

40. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

41. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

the further indication is sent to the at least one second cell.

42. The method of claim 35, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

43. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for receiving a message from a second device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device;

means for determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from the at least one first cell;

means for, in accordance with a determination that the at least one event is triggered, performing one of: initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell associated with the first device, and ceasing the second measurement; and

44. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for sending a message to a first device comprising at least one event related to a quality of service of at least one first cell associated with the first device to cause the first device to one of:

determining whether the at least one event is triggered based on a first measurement of a first reference signal from the at least one first cell and initiating a second measurement of a second reference signal from at least one second cell, an

Determining, based on the first measurement, whether the at least one event is triggered and stopping the second measurement;

means for receiving a measurement report from the first device for stopping transmission of the second reference signal, wherein the measurement report is based on at least one of the first measurement and the second measurement; and

means for transmitting a notification to a third device transmitting the second reference signal to stop transmission of the second reference signal.

45. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 22-34.

46. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 35-42.