WO2013104129A1

WO2013104129A1 - Methods and devices for inter-frequency measurement by terminal apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2013104129A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/070297
Authority: WO
Inventors: Deshan Miao; Lei Du; Yi Zhang; Benoist Pierre Sebire
Original assignee: Nokia Siemens Networks Oy
Priority date: 2012-01-12
Filing date: 2012-01-12
Publication date: 2013-07-18

Abstract

The present invention proposes a device, configured to communicate on and measure a plurality of frequency bands, detect an interference situation for the plurality of frequency bands, and issue a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to the detected interference situation. Likewise, it encompasses a device configured to receive a request for inter-frequency measurement from a terminal apparatus capable of communicating on the plurality of frequency bands, and send instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on a measurement configuration. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also envisaged.

Description

METHODS AND DEVICES FOR INTER-FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT

BY TERMINAL APPARATUS

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to methods and devices for inter-frequency measurement by a terminal apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to such methods and devices applicable in IDC scenarios (In-Device-Coexistance).

Background

Mobile data transmission and data services are constantly making progress. With the increasing penetration of such services, a terminal apparatus such as a user equipment UE (or mobile station MS, or the like; different names may apply for respective different standards) is capable of communicating using multiple frequencies or frequency bands, or even using multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In an example scenario, each RAT is operated on a respective frequency or frequency band, though in practice, each RAT relies on multiple frequencies/bands. Moreover, nowadays frequencies may also be reused, so that - at least at different times and/or in different locations/sites - the same frequency or frequency band may be used by different RAT's.

Typically, a RAT may also denote a respective service accessible to the terminal apparatus, whether via the intermediary of a network, e.g. in an LTE or LTE-A, or UMTS network environment, or a WLAN /WiFi™ environment, or directly, e.g. in a device-to-device, D2D, operation mode such as in connection with Bluetooth™. Notwithstanding this, different services may still rely on the same RAT.

Thus, as regards terminal apparatuses, in order to allow users to access various networks and services ubiquitously, an increasing number of terminal apparatuses such as UEs are equipped with multiple radio transceivers. For example, a UE may be equipped with LTE, WLAN or WiFi™, and Bluetooth™, and/or Zigbee™ transceivers, and/or GNSS receivers. Examples of such GNSS receivers are GPS receivers or Galileo receivers. One resulting challenge in such IDC scenarios (in which various RATs coexist within one apparatus) resides in trying to avoid coexistence interference between those collocated radio transceivers.

Figure 1 shows an example of coexistence interference as also used in document "R2-1 12648, Study on signaling and procedure for interference avoidance for in-device coexistence; (Release 10)".

As shown in Fig. 1 which originates from that document, a terminal apparatus is equipped with antennas Ant#1 , #2 and #3, each designated for a respective RAT and/or frequency (band) such as LTE, GPS {as an example of a GNSS) and Bluetooth (BT) / WiFi (WLAN, broadband transmission). A respective antenna is connected to the associated radio frequency, RF, part, which in turn is connected to the associated baseband part.

Due to extreme proximity of multiple radio transceivers within the same UE apparatus, the transmit power of one transmitter (e.g. LTE) may be much higher than the received power level of another receiver (e.g. GPS). By means of filter technologies and sufficient frequency separation, a significant interference caused by the transmit signal may be prevented. However, for some coexistence scenarios, e.g. different radio technologies within the same UE that are operating on adjacent frequencies, current state-of-the-art filter technology might not provide sufficient rejection, thus causing interference. Therefore, solving the interference problem by a single generic RF design may not always be possible, so that alternative methods need to be considered.

A study item is ongoing in 3GPP (cf.: "RP-100671 : New study item proposal: Signaling and procedure for in-device interference avoidance") which studies the signaling and procedure for interference avoidance for in-device coexistence. Up to now, some solutions have been identified including frequency division multiplex FDM, time division multiplex, TDM, power control etc. In particular, when a FDM solution is applied, the UE informs the E-UTRAN (evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) when transmission/reception of LTE or other radio signal would benefit or would no longer benefit from a situation in which the LTE does not use certain carriers or frequency resources. Such UE judgment is taken as a baseline approach for the FDM solution, i.e. the UE will indicate which frequencies are usable/unusable due to in-device coexistence {and associated interference) (see also R2-1 12648). The E-UTRAN is represented by a network transceiver station such as a NodeB or evolved NodeB, eNB, when referring e.g. to LTE. Note that while for explanatory purposes only reference is made to LTE; other telecommunication standards may equally be applicable in the framework of the present invention; thus terminology used herein with reference to LTE serves as a mere example only and is not intended to limit the applicability of the present invention to other environments, in which LTE is e.g. replaced by UMTS, LTE-A, etc.

Meanwhile, four typical scenarios are identified as main application scenarios of IDC, and those are shown in Table 1. Scenario 1 and 3 are assumed as prioritized scenarios in 3GPP.

Table 1 :

In order to indicate usable/unusable frequencies to an eNB, the UE should perform inter-frequency/inter-RAT measurements. For such measurements, the measurement gap is to be configured by the eNB. In Release 10 (R10), two measurement gap patterns for mobility purposes are specified (cf. 3GPP TS36.133 V10.3.0, Requirement for support of radio resource management). Those are cited as below in the subsequent table.

During the measurement gap, the UE shall not transmit any data, and is not expected to tune its receiver on the E-UTRAN (e.g. LTE) serving carrier frequency.

Note that a graphical representation of GapPattern I DO mentioned in the table below is graphically represented as an example in Fig. 3a (as "prior art"). Similar pattern will apply for GapPatternlDI , but is omitted for reasons of keeping the drawings complexity low. Although Fig. 3 indicated 480ms in Fig.3a, it is to be noted that "480ms" is a requirement which says at least 60ms measurement gap is needed within 480ms, but not that there is a termination of an inter-f/RAT measurement upon the 480 ms having passed.

Table 2:

Gap Measurement Measurement Minimum available Measure-ment

Pattern Gap Length Gap Repetition time for Purpose

Id (MGL, ms) Period inter-frequency

(MGRP, ms) and inter-RAT

measurements

during 480ms

period

(Tinte , ms)

0 6 40 60 Inter-Frequency

E-UTRAN FDD and TDD,

UTRAN FDD,

GERAN, LCR

TDD, HRPD,

CDMA2000 1x

1 6 80 30 Inter-Frequency

E-UTRAN FDD and TDD,

UTRAN FDD,

GERAN, LCR

TDD, HRPD,

CDMA2000 1x

!n the IDC scenarios, each UE needs to perform inter-frequency measurement so as to indicate usable/unusable frequencies to its (serving) eNB. However, based on current inter-frequency measurement mechanism, some problems are unavoidable:

1 ) Inter-frequency measurements are not triggered timely and flexibly

Current inter-frequency measurement is not mandatory to be configured after a UE enters the network (of the eNB) and may not be enabled when the RSRP (reference signal received power) of the serving cell is good enough.

According to 3GPP TS36.331 V10.1.0, Radio Resource Control , only if a parameter named "s-Measure" is not configured, or that parameter "s- easure" is configured and the serving cell RSRP is lower than the threshold value, the UE would perform corresponding measurements on the frequencies and RATs indicated in the measurement configuration.

(Note that "s-Measure" is configured via RRC ConnectionReconfiguration message (RRC= Radio Resource Control). The definition of "s-Measure" as given in 3GPP TS 36.331 is as follows: PCell (Primary Cell) quality threshold, controlling whether or not the UE is required to perform measurements of intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-RAT neighboring cells. Value "0" indicates to disable s-Measure." That is to say if a PCell's RSRP is lower than the threshold indicated by s-Measure, then the UE shall start to perform measurements of intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-RAT neighboring cells. The definition of Tinterl (referenced in the table above) is given in 3GPP TS36.133 and is that "the Minimum available time for inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements during 480ms period", and it refers to the minimum required measurement time during 480ms.) In case that inter-frequency measurement is not configured or not enabled, the UE cannot evaluate the inter-frequency carriers at all, and therefore can not indicate complete usable/unusable frequencies so as to trigger a FDM solution to avoid IDC problems.

As a consequence, timely interference detection in scenario 3 is not guaranteed. Such situation may thus cause the UE to either suffer from severe IDC interference without notice or to prevent it from indicating usable/unusable frequency before the IDC interference problem is intolerable.

2) Improper measurement gap configuration

According to Release 10, the measurement gap occurs periodically once being configured by the eNB. And the UE shall monitor the inter-frequency carrier only on (or during) the configured gap periods. Since the eNB has no information about the IDC situation at UE side, it is iike!y that the gap periods during which the UE monitors frequencies/RATs happen to be free of IDC interference when e.g. ISM transmission (transmission on the Industrial Scientific Medical band) is not expanding over the whole time scale.

As a consequence, in this case, the inter-frequency measurement is not properly reflecting the IDC interference. On the other hand, when the gap periods coincide with the moments that IDC interference happens, the evaluation on the inter-frequency measurement is not accurate and IDC problem indication may be triggered unnecessarily. 3) Another drawback of current inter-frequency measurement gap is possibiy redundant for IDC interference measurement. As seen from the table 2 above, the UE needs 6ms every 40/80ms to measure one inter-frequency carrier. Thus, to measure multiple inter-frequency carriers i.e. N, the UE needs N*6ms to complete all inter-frequency measurement which decreases the time that the UE is served by its serving cell.

In terms of inter-frequency measurement, current LTE system has specified a measurement mechanism for CSG scenario (closed subscriber group). This measurement configuration is mainly for the purpose of CSG mobility.

A more detailed procedure thereof is as follows:

A source eNB configures the UE with proximity indication control. Then the UE sends an "entering" proximity indication when it determines that it may be near a cell (based on autonomous search procedures) whose CSG ID (ID=identity) is in the UE's CSG whitelist (containing "allowed" CSGs). The proximity indication includes the RAT and frequency of the cell. The eNB configures the UE with relevant measurement configuration including measurement gaps, and the UE sends a measurement report after finishing the measurement. This solution has a drawback in that it reuses a current measurement gap set by the eNB and set by the eNB for all UEs in the cell and/or in the same or similar condition within the cell, and is thus not flexible.

For 3GPP proposals for IDC interference measurement, two typical solutions are listed below:

1 ) In a contribution by ZTE (R2-1 15767, ZTE, Discussion on general signaling and procedure for IDC) it is proposed that after an un-usable frequencies report of the UE, the eNB may configure some inter-frequency measurement on the usabie frequencies. The UE performs measurement on those configured inter-frequencies and reports measurement results. As mentioned in above, even such method can not trigger an IDC measurement timely in all cases.

2) In an Alcatal Lucent contribution (R2-1 16186), it is proposed that inter-frequency measurement for IDC could be trigged upon measurement reporting on on-going interference of serving frequency and measurement gap is reusing the existing pattern as defined in Release 10. This solution is similar as ZTE's, in which triggering of inter-frequency measurement and measurement pattern as such both are static, thus not flexible.

In total, above outlined pre-existing solutions are not fully suitable for IDC Interference scenarios.

Thus, there is still a need to further improve such systems in relation to inter-frequency/RAT measurement in an IDC scenario.

Summary

Various aspects of examples of the invention are set out in the claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device, configured to communicate on and measure a plurality of frequency bands, detect an interference situation for the plurality of frequency bands, and issue a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to the detected interference situation, as well as a device configured to receive a request for inter-frequency measurement from a terminal apparatus capable of communicating on the plurality of frequency bands, and send instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on a measurement configuration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method, comprising providing for communicating on and measuring of a plurality of frequency bands, detecting an interference situation for the plurality of frequency bands, and issuing a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to the detected interference situation; as well as a method comprising receiving a request for inter-frequency measurement from a terminal apparatus capable of communicating on a plurality of frequency bands, and sending instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on a measurement configuration.

Advantageous further developments of the respective devices / methods are as set out in respective dependent claims.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer-executable components which, when the program is run on a computer, are configured to perform the method aspects as indicated above. The above computer program product/products may be embodied as a computer-readable storage medium.

Thus, performance improvement is based on methods, devices and computer program products which, in at least exemplary embodiments,

- enable to measure non-serving cell interference effectively,

- enable to measure non-serving cell interference timely, - enable to introduce an optimized pattern to carry out inter-frequency interference measurement,

- enable to allow more flexible inter-frequency measurement configuration in IDC applications, and

- enable the UE to initiate inter-frequency measurements.

Brief description of drawings For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a basic block circuit diagram of a part of an apparatus such as a UE in a IDC scenario;

FIGURE 2 illustrates a signaling diagram according to at least an exemplary aspect of the present invention,

FIGURE 3 illustrates diagrams according to at least exemplary aspects of the present invention (Figs. 3b) to e)) in comparison to a prior art scenario (Fig. 3a));

FIGURE 4 illustrates a block circuit diagram according to at least an exemplary aspect of the present invention in relation to a UE; and

FIGURE 5 illustrates a block circuit diagram according to at least an exemplary aspect of the present invention in relation to an eNB.

Description of exemplary embodiments

Exemplary aspects / embodiments of the invention will be described herein below.

As shown in Fig. 4A, generally, the invention is implemented in, at least under an exemplary aspect, a terminal apparatus such as a UE, or in a part thereof such as a device of the UE. Such device can be a chip or chipset, or a subunit of the apparatus, or the like. The device comprises, as exempiarily shown in Fig. 4, at least a memory module,

MEM, in which software code portions and/or data is stored or are stored. Apart from control software code portions, for example, plural measurement gap patterns as e.g. illustrated in Fig. 3 b) to e) can be stored. The memory module is connected to a control module ctrl such as a processor, or CPU, or ASIC. The control module is connected to a multi-frequency/multi-RAT transceiver module. (Such multi-frequency/multi-RAT transceiver module is e.g. shown in outline in Fig. 1.) Also, the control module is connected to a multi-frequency/multi-RAT measurement module. The multi-frequency/multi-RAT measurement module is configured to perform measurements on the multi-frequency/multi-RAT transceiver module in terms of interference occurring on the frequencies or bands used or to be used by the transceiver module. The multi-frequency/multi-RAT transceiver module is configured for communication via the respective RAT and/or frequency, i.e. configured for the associated service such as LTE, WLAN, or GPS.

Likewise, under at least another exemplary aspect of the invention, as shown in Fig. 5, an apparatus such as an eNB of comprises a device according to an aspect of the invention. Such device can be a chip or chipset, or a subunit of the apparatus, or the like. The device comprises, as exempiarily shown in Fig. 5, at least a memory module, MEM, in which software code portions and/or data is stored or are stored. Apart from control software code portions, for example, plural measurement gap patterns as e.g. illustratred in Fig. 3 b) to e) can be stored. The memory module is connected to a control module ctri such as a processor, or CPU, or ASIC. The control module is connected to a transceiver module. (Such transceiver module is e.g. shown in outline in Fig. 1 in relation to the LTE aspect thereof.) The transceiver module is configured for communication via the respective RAT and/or frequency, i.e. configured for the associated service such as LTE, with the UE.

Fig. 2 shows a signaling diagram according to at least an exemplary aspect of the present invention as a non-limiting implementation example. Figure 2 distinguishes between two cases: case 1 (upper part) and case 2 (a lower (middle) part), while the lowermost part (performing measurement and IDC problem indication) are common to both cases.

When the UE is aware of potential (or ongoing) interference in a non-serving frequency and thus determines this via internal coordination with ISM radio or determines on-going interference in serving frequency via RRM measurement, the UE sends a request for inter-frequency measurement. A measurement pattern to be applied for the measurement is, in case 1 , informed from the eNB to the UE, but in case 2, informed from the UE to the eNB, e.g. in the first time triggering of inter-frequency measurement, i.e. together with the request, or optionally, a separate message may be sent following the initial request).

Also, optionally, when an interference situation changed or a measurement purpose changed, a new measurement request and/or pattern could be sent to the eNB; i.e. the pattern could be sent together with a corresponding measurement request or after such request. It is to be understood that measurement gap patterns to be suggested for configuration or those patterns configured may depend on the detected interference situation or measurement purpose, or may depend on the terminal, the location of the terminal within a network (e.g. insofar specific to a serving eNB), the network to which the terminal is attached or has a subscription to, or the like.

After receiving the request and/or measurement pattern indication, the eNB configures the inter-frequency measurement pattern in terms of e.g. inter-frequency measurement gaps and other parameters (gap length/duration, gap starting point of time / offset, periodicity / cycle length, etc) and sends it to UE.

In case 1 , the eNB applies (or configures) a pattern kept at the eNB, e.g. selected from its memory based on certain application criteria, or selected user specific, or the like, and sends it to the UE in a inter-frequency measurement configuration message.

in case 2, the eNB optionally accepts or rejects the suggested measurement gap pattern received from the UE. Acceptance or rejection can be fu!ly or partly. If partly accepted/rejected, the pattern can be modified by the eNB before applied at the UE side. Based on the configured measurement gap pattern, the UE performs the inter-frequency/inter-RAT measurements. When the UE finishes the inter-frequency measurement or measurements, UE sends IDC interference information to the eNB (indicating usable or unusable frequencies/RATs).

Note that if inter-frequency measurement is already configured together with "s-measure", and a measured ratio of RSRP/RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) is not higher than "s-measure" when the UE detects a need for measuring the neighbouring frequency carriers for IDC, UE applies the inter-frequency measurement gaps and performs inter-frequency measurement immediately.

This can be regarded as one option of option#1 to be described in more detail herein below. For example, when eNB configures inter-frequency measurement (either upon receiving the request or normal eNB configuration), it is possible that s-measure is configured as well. In such case, if UE detects potential/interference IDC problem, it shall start measure immediately no matter whether the RSRP is lower than s-measure or not.

FIGURE 3 illustrates diagrams according to at least exemplary aspects of the present invention (Figs. 3b) to c)) in comparison to a prior art scenario (Fig. 3a)). It is noted that in this document ail descriptions associated with 480ms for gap pattern options 1 -3 are examples of observation window, not referred as the period or cycle length. Observation window or period/cycle length could be characterized with other paremeters in future LTE system.

Fig. 3a) shows as a reference the measurement gap pattern according to GapPatterniDO mentioned above. A measurement gap of fixed length (e.g. 6ms) is repeated in fixed cycles (e.g. 40ms).

According to at least exemplary aspects of the present invention, such pattern is changed according to at least the alternatives as shown e.g. in Figs. 3b) through 3e).

Namely, in brief, - according to Optionl (Fig. 3b)), an offset adjustment is introduced based on (relative to) a current measurement pattern such as one of GapPatternlDO, Optionally, the offset could be a value within 0... aximum Gap cycle, and UE calculates the starting point of a measurement gap according to 3GPP TS 36.331. SFN mod T = FLOOR(gapOffset/10); subframe = gapOffset mod 10;

There are different ways to indicate the offset. It could be the offset adjustment as shown in Fig. 3b, but alternatively, it could also be an absolute value irrelevant to current gap position as mentioned above;

- according to Option 2 (Fig. 3c)), a set of consecutive subframes are muted for eNB data transmission scheduling like TDM pattern (and instead used for measurement); and

- according to Option 3 (Fig. 3d)), in a periodic pattern, a scheduled period (for data transmission) and unscheduled period (not for data transmission but for measurement) is interleaved.

That is, in Option 1 , the UE suggests to the eNB to modify the gap offset (while other configurations are kept unchanged). Here, the gap offset is originated based on a UE indication, but the period (cycle length) is still 40ms (or 80ms, in GapPatternlDI ). From the measurement gap pattern point of view, it owns similar pattern compared to the pattern shown in 3a), but "gap offset" means that the start point of measurement gap during the gap repetition period is changed or shifted. This can be a delayed start as shown in Fig. 3b), e.g. 15ms after the (arbitrary) reference of Fig. 3a) (in a first cycle), but could also be advanced, if e.g. regarded from a second cycle's viewpoint as a reference (a measurement gap of a second cycle would then start earlier so as to occur already during a preceding cycle. In option 1 (figure 3b), the modified measurement gap offset is same in each cycle. With due consideration of how gap offset is calculated in line with 3GPP TS 36.331 , it is also not problematic to have a gap offset ranging up to 40ms. Thus, the gap offset can be set as 0...40ms, and there is no problem if the measurement gap crosses the cycle boundary because all of the requirements can be guaranteed, e.g. the cycle period, measurement gap length. Note also that 480ms is not a 'big cycle' length, rather it is just an observation window for measurement. Thus in Figure 3a) indication of 2 cycles" merely serves to illustrate the interrelation to the observation window. Though in prior art (Fig. 3a)), a gap offset is the same in each cycle (shown as zero ms), as will be mentioned later, in at least options 1 and 3, the gap offset can be set different from cycle to cycle as a further modification.

Option 1 preserves periodicity (cycle length) of the measurement gap pattern and also the measurement gap length is preserved. The measurement gap offset is in one embodiment the same in each cycle (Fig. 3a), but optionally (modification of option 3)) it differs among cycles, e.g. from cycle to cycle (not shown in Fig. 3d). How the gap offset is changed is also configured by eNB, e.g. eNB indicates to UE to offset the starting point of measurement gap by e.g. 5ms every cycle. Thus, the offset increases by those exemplary 5 ms from cycle to cycle.

As shown in relation to Option 2) (Fig. 3c)), the UE suggests to the eNB a block of time period (e.g. 30ms) to perform the inter-frequency/inter-RAT measurement. It may be an aperiodic configuration. As shown in relation to Option 2, the measurement pattern has only one measurement gap, and is thus aperiodic (within the 480 ms period). The mentioned "30 ms" of one measurement gap per cycle are e.g. related to GapPattern ID1 mentioned above, i.e. the cyclic measurement gaps of 6 ms within 480 ms are replaced by a single (minimum) 30 ms (or longer) measurement gap within the 480 ms, while if regarded in relation to GapPattern IDO, the minimum measurement gap duration of such sole measurement gap within 480 ms could correspond to >= 60ms, too. Thus, in line with option 2, periodicity of the measurement pattern is not preserved (rather sacrificed), and former individual measurement gap lengths are combined to a single measurement gap (of accumulated or combined gap length).

Note that the sole measurement gap could be set as one cycle configuration, or multiple cycle configuration or periodic cycle configuration. According to prior art, once measurement gap is configured, it should be periodic until eNB's reconfiguration (e.g. stop the measurement (gap)). Therefore, one may say one cycle or multiple cycle configuration is an option of periodic configuration but from the present point of view, one cycle/multiple cycle configuration is new. If it is periodic, according to the requirement, the sole measurement gap during 480 ms should be larger than 60ms. And in this case, it may even be regarded as one example of option 3. Thus, from a viewpoint of option 2, only one cycle configuration and multiple cycle configurations are considered.

That is, in a modification, optionally it could be set as multiple 'single measurement gaps' in multiple consecutive durations of 480ms. And UE suggests the number of 'single measurement gap'. Like the drawing (Fig. 3e) below (the number =3). Such modification could e.g. be regarded as one example of option 3. The essence of option2 and 3 is actually the dynamic gap configuration other than pre-existing two gap patterns. Only the difference between 2 and 3 is whether it is repetitive or not. So, option 2) could be an example of option 3 by setting repetition times to 1 .

In Option 3, the UE suggests to the eNB a measurement gap time length (i.e. longer or shorter than 6ms), a gap repetition period (other than 40ms or 80ms), and the UE can even suggest to the eNB about how many gap repetition period it would like to apply. Note that "schedulable period" in relation to Option 3 means the time duration in which eNB can schedule data transmission for this UE. And "un-schedulable period" means the measurement period or measurement gap. Option 3 as shown in Fig. 3d) represents a regular pattern, but the gap length and period is different from a prior art pattern as shown in Fig. 3a). I .e. as exemplarily shown, measurement gap length is 10 ms /rather than 6ms in Fig. 3a)) and measurement gap repetition period (cycle length) is shown as 30 ms (rather than 40 ms or 80 ms).

Thus, as shown in Fig. 3d), gap length (the same in each cycle) is modified and periodicity (though preserved as such and the same repetition period between measurement gaps) is modified (modified cycle length). According to modifications (not shown) to Option 3, only one of the above can apply, i.e. either measurement gap length or periodicity (cycle length) is changed. Furthermore, as an alternative or additional option, the gap offset can be set different from cycle to cycle. Further optionally, measurement gaps may differ from cycle to cycle (though this may lead to great signaling load), and/or repetition periods vary within the 480 ms. Furthermore, according to further exemplary embodiments, measurement gap patterns based on options 1 ) through 3) and variations thereof may be combined. E.g. gaps as outlined according to options 2) or 3) may be offset as suggested in relation to option 1 ), or the like.

Other systems can benefit also from the principles presented herein as long as they have a identical or similar properties, e.g. in relation to an IDC environment. That is, the invention is exploitable at least for use in multi-radio terminals and eNBs supporting those terminals.

Basically, any system in an IDC environment that allows a terminal apparatus UE to send an inter-frequency measurement request based on the UE's self-assessment of IDC interference may benefit from the present invention, in case a network device such as an eNB receiving such request eNB configures the requested inter-frequency measurement upon receiving the request. Optionally, such systems may benefit from the invention, which allow the terminal apparatus UE to send a suggested inter-frequency measurement pattern e.g. gap offset, or other parameters relating to the measurement pattern to the eNB. The above two indications (request and measurement pattern, respectively) can be sent to the eNB jointly or separately. Thus, any those system enjoys advantages such that, at least exemplarily, the UE can perform timely measurement when interference is potentially present or already on-going, and the UE can set a suitable measurement pattern due to owning more accurate IDC information than eNB.

Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and/or hardware generally reside on a memory module. A memory module may be a volatile or non-volatile memory module, such as a RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or harddisk, or the like, in an example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, a "computer-readable medium" may be any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer or smart phone, or user equipment. The present invention relates in particular but without limitation to mobile communications, for example to IDC environments under WCDMA, LTE, LTE-A, WIMAX and/or WLAN and/or GNSS (GPS, Galileo) and can advantageously be implemented in user equipments or smart phones, or personal computers connectable to such networks. That is, it can be implemented as/in chipsets to connected devices, and/or modems thereof. More generally, all products which are subject to an IDC environment will see performance improvement with the invention being implemented thereto.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional or may be combined.

Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

The present invention proposes a device, configured to communicate on and measure a plurality of frequency bands, detect an interference situation for the plurality of frequency bands, and issue a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to the detected interference situation. Likewise, it encompasses a device configured to receive a request for inter-frequency measurement from a terminal apparatus capable of communicating on the plurality of frequency bands, and send instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on a measurement configuration. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also envisaged. List of exemplary abbreviations/acronyms used:

IDC In device co-existence

UE user equipment

MS mobile station

RAT radio access technology

LTE Long Term Evolution

LTE-A LTE-Advanced

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System D2D device-to-device

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GPS Global Positioning System

BT Bluetooth™

RF Radio Frequency

RAM Random Access Memory

ROM Read Only Memory

EPROM Electrically Programmable ROM

EEPROM Erasable EPROM

RRM Radio Resource Management

FDM Frequency Division Multiplex

TDM Time Division Multiplex

E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

RSRP Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

ISM Industrial Scientific Medical

CSG Closed Subscriber Group

MEM Memory

CPU Central Processing Unit

ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit

Claims

What is Claimed

1. A device, configured to communicate on and measure a plurality of frequency bands, detect an interference situation for the plurality of frequency bands, and issue a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to the detected interference situation.

2. A device according to claim 1 , further configured to issue a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to a change in the detected interference situation.

3. A device according to claim 1 , further configured to issue a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to a change in a measurement purpose.

4. A device according to claim 1 , further configured to associate a measurement configuration to the request for inter-frequency measurement.

5. A device according to claim 4, further configured to include the measurement configuration into the request for inter-frequency measurement, or to instruct sending the measurement configuration separately from the request.

6. A device according to claim 4 or 5, further configured to associate to the request for inter-frequency measurement a measurement configuration which comprises at least one measurement pattern, which is defined by at least one of the following parameters: a measurement gap length, a measurement gap repetition period, and a measurement gap starting point offset.

7. A device according to claim 6, wherein the measurement pattern is defined by at least one of: an offset value relative to the starting point of measurement gap; an offset value to be used to calculate the starting point of the measurement gap; at least one parameter to decide the position and/or duration of the measurement gap, an indication of a cyclic or non-cyclic measurement gap, an indication of at least one cycle's length as the measurement gap repetition period; an indication of a cycle specific offset value.

8. A device according to claim 5, wherein the measurement configuration associated to the request for inter-frequency measurement is selected from measurement configurations stored in a memory module of the device, wherein the measurement configuration is associated based on at least one of a detected interference situation and a measurement purpose.

9. A device, configured to receive a request for inter-frequency measurement from a terminal apparatus capable of communicating on the plurality of frequency bands, and send instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on a measurement configuration.

10. A device according to claim 9, further configured to associate a measurement configuration to the request for inter-frequency measurement.

11. A device according to claim 10, further configured to extract the measurement configuration from the request for inter-frequency measurement, or receive the measurement configuration separately from the request, and associate the extracted or separately received measurement configuration to said request.

12. A device according to claim 10 or 1 1 , further configured to associate to the request for inter-frequency measurement a measurement configuration which comprises at least one measurement pattern, which is defined by at (east one of the following parameters: a measurement gap length, a measurement gap repetition period, and a measurement gap starting point offset.

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein the measurement pattern is defined by at least one of: an offset value relative to the starting point of measurement gap; an offset value to be used to calculate the starting point of the measurement gap; at least one parameter to decide the position and/or duration of the measurement gap.

an indication of a cyclic or non-cyc!ic measurement gap, an indication of at least one cycle's length as the measurement gap repetition period; an indication of a cycle specific offset value.

14. A device according to claim 12, further configured to associate a measurement configuration to the request for inter-frequency measurement from measurement configurations stored in a memory module of the device, wherein the measurement configuration is associated based on at least one of a detected interference situation and a measurement purpose, and to send instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on the associated measurement configuration.

15. A device according to claim 14, further configured to accept, reject, or modify a measurement configuration associated to the request for inter-frequency, and to send instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on the accepted, rejected, or modified associated measurement configuration.

16. A method, comprising providing for communicating on and measuring of a plurality of frequency bands, detecting an interference situation for the plurality of frequency bands, and issuing a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to the detected interference situation. 7. A method according to claim 16, further comprising issuing a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to a change in the detected interference situation.

18. A method according to claim 16, further comprising issuing a request for inter-frequency measurement in response to a change in a measurement purpose.

19. A method according to claim 16, further comprising associate a measurement configuration to the request for inter-frequency measurement.

20. A method according to claim 19, further comprising including the measurement configuration into the request for inter-frequency measurement, or instructing sending the measurement configuration separately from the request.

21. A method according to claim 19 or 20, further comprising associating to the request for inter-frequency measurement a measurement configuration which comprises at least one measurement pattern, which is defined by at least one of the following parameters: a measurement gap length, a measurement gap repetition period, and a measurement gap starting point offset.

22. A method according to claim 21 , wherein the measurement pattern is defined by at least one of: an offset value relative to the starting point of measurement gap; an offset value to be used to calculate the starting point of the measurement gap; at least one parameter to decide the position and/or duration of the measurement gap. an indication of a cyclic or non-cyclic measurement gap, an indication of at least one cycle's length as the measurement gap repetition period; an indication of a cycle specific offset value.

23. A method according to claim 20, further comprising selecting the measurement configuration associated to the request for inter-frequency measurement from measurement configurations stored in a memory module of the device, wherein the measurement configuration is associated based on at least one of a detected interference situation and a measurement purpose.

24. A method, comprising receiving a request for inter-frequency measurement from a terminal apparatus capable of communicating on a plurality of frequency bands, and sending instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on a measurement configuration.

25. A method according to claim 24, further comprising associating a measurement configuration to the request for inter-frequency measurement.

26. A method according to claim 25, further comprising extracting the measurement configuration from the request for inter-frequency measurement, or receiving the measurement configuration separately from the request, and associating the extracted or separately received measurement configuration to said request.

27. A method according to claim 15 or 26, further comprising associating to the request for inter-frequency measurement a measurement configuration which comprises at least one measurement pattern, which is defined by at least one of the following parameters: a measurement gap length, a measurement gap repetition period, and a measurement gap starting point offset.

28. A method according to claim 27, wherein the measurement pattern is defined by at least one of: an offset value relative to the starting point of measurement gap; an offset value to be used to calculate the starting point of the measurement gap; at least one parameter to decide the position and/or duration of the measurement gap. an indication of a cyclic or non-cyclic measurement gap, an indication of at least one cycle's length as the measurement gap repetition period; an indication of a cycle specific offset value.

29. A method according to claim 27, further comprising associating a measurement configuration to the request for inter-frequency measurement from measurement configurations stored in a memory module of the device, wherein the measurement configuration is associated based on at least one of a detected interference situation and a measurement purpose, and to sending instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on the associated measurement configuration.

30. A method according to claim 29, further comprising accepting, rejecting, or modifying a measurement configuration associated to the request for inter-frequency, and sending instructions to the terminal apparatus to measure interference on the plurality of frequency bands based on the accepted, rejected, or modified associated measurement configuration.

31. A computer program product comprising computer-executable components which, when the program is run on a computer, are configured to perform the method steps according to any of claims 6 to 23.

32. A computer program product comprising computer-executable components which, when the program is run on a computer, are configured to perform the method steps according to any of claims 24 to 30.