WO2019096404A1

WO2019096404A1 - Method, system and apparatus to measure a received signal strength indicator

Info

Publication number: WO2019096404A1
Application number: PCT/EP2017/079596
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jorma Johannes Kaikkonen; Timo Koskela; Sami-Jukka Hakola
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2017-11-17
Filing date: 2017-11-17
Publication date: 2019-05-23

Abstract

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: determine configuration information, the configuration information associated with at least one communications slot; and configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information.

Description

Title

METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS TO MEASURE A RECEIVED SIGNAL STRENGTH INDICATOR

Field

The present application relates to a method, apparatus, system and computer program and in particular but not exclusively to a method and apparatus for use in a network which is configured to provide received signal strength indications.

Background

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication sessions between two or more entities such as user terminals, base stations and/or other nodes by providing carriers between the various entities involved in the communications path. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and/or content data and so on. Non-limiting examples of services provided comprise two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services and access to a data network system, such as the Internet.

In a wireless communication system at least a part of a communication session between at least two stations occurs over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems comprise public land mobile networks (PLMN), satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). The wireless systems can typically be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems.

A user can access the communication system by means of an appropriate communication device or terminal. A communication device of a user is often referred to as user equipment (UE) or mobile station (MS). A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting apparatus for enabling communications, for example enabling access to a communication network or communications directly with other users. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station of a cell, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

The communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and/or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. One example of a communications system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology and so-called 5G or New Radio networks. Standardization of 5G or New Radio networks is currently under discussion. LTE is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

Summary

According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to: determine configuration information, the configuration information associated with at least one communications slot; and configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information.

The apparatus caused to determine configuration information may be caused to: determine a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; determine a second bitmap indicating synchronisation signal block based radio resource measurement timing configuration block locations within the at least one communications slot; and combine the first bitmap and second bitmap to form a configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap.

The apparatus caused to combine the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap may be caused to perform one of: OR the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap; and NOR the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap.

The apparatus caused to determine configuration information may be caused to: determine a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; and utilize the first bitmap as the configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap.

The apparatus may be further caused to determine one of the first bitmap and second bitmap by being caused to perform at least one of: receive a bitmap via a System Information Block 1 (SIB1 ) signal; receive a bitmap via remaining minimum system information (RMSI) signal; receive a bitmap via radio resource control (RRC) signalling; receive a bitmap indicated for the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signalling for measurement purposes; and receive a bitmap and/or indication of the determined time locations in a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

The apparatus caused to configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may be caused to: read from the configuration bitmap a pair of bits associated with one of the at least one communications slot; measure the received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot based on the values of the pair of bits such that, when: the pair of bits are 00 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a half-slot of the one of the at least one communications slot or the whole one of the at least one communications slot; the pair of bits are 01 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the one of the at least one communications slot; the pair of bits are 10 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the one of the at least one communications slot; and the pair of bits are 1 1 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are at least one physical downlink control channel symbol within the one of the at least one communications slot.

The at least one communications slot may comprise at least one synchronisation signal block location.

The apparatus may be the user equipment.

The apparatus may be a network access point in communications with the user equipment, and the apparatus caused to configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may be caused to at least one of: transmit a configuration bitmap to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is caused to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration bitmap; and transmit control information to the user equipment, the control information comprising at least one of: synchronisation signal block locations within a synchronisation signal burst set; a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; a received signal strength indicator measurement window within the synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; and occupied and/or un-occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the a received signal strength indicator measurement window.

The control information may comprise the synchronisation signal block time locations within a synchronisation signal burst set and the apparatus caused to configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may be further caused to: identify any occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communication slot; include any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there are no occupied synchronisation signal block locations; and for any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there is at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location, the apparatus is caused to: perform a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the second half of the at least the at least one communications slot; perform a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot; and perform a received signal strength indicator measurement the time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for at least one symbol of the physical downlink control channel within the at least the at least one communications slot.

The at least the at least one communications slot may comprise one of: the at least one communications slot; the at least one communications slot and at least one further communications slot within a frame or half-frame; the at least one communications slot and at least one further communications slot within a received signal strength indicator measurement window; and the at least one communications slot and at least one further communications slot within a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

According to a second aspect there is provided a method comprising: determining configuration information, the configuration information associated with at least one communications slot; and configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information. Determining configuration information may further comprise: determining a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; determining a second bitmap indicating synchronisation signal block based radio resource measurement timing configuration block locations within the at least one communications slot; and combining the first bitmap and second bitmap to form a configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information may comprise the configuration bitmap.

Combining the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap may further comprise one of: ORing the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap; and NORing the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap.

Determining configuration information may further comprise: determining a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; and utilizing the first bitmap as the configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap

The method may further comprise determining one of the first bitmap and second bitmap by performing at least one of: receiving a bitmap via a System Information Block 1 (SIB1 ) signal; receiving a bitmap via remaining minimum system information (RMSI) signal; receiving a bitmap via radio resource control (RRC) signalling; receiving a bitmap indicated for the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signalling for measurement purposes; and receiving a bitmap and/or indication of the determined time locations in a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

Configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may further comprise: reading from the configuration bitmap a pair of bits associated with one of the at least one communications slot; measuring the received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot based on the values of the pair of bits such that, when: the pair of bits are 00 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a half-slot of the one of the at least one communications slot or the whole one of the at least one communications slot; the pair of bits are 01 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the one of the at least one communications slot; the pair of bits are 10 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the one of the at least one communications slot; and the pair of bits are 1 1 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are at least one physical downlink control channel symbol within the one of the at least one communications slot.

Configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may further comprise at least one of: transmitting a configuration bitmap to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is caused to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration bitmap; and transmitting control information to the user equipment, the control information comprising at least one of: synchronisation signal block locations within a synchronisation signal burst set; a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; a received signal strength indicator measurement window within the synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; and occupied and/or un-occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the a received signal strength indicator measurement window.

The control information may comprise the synchronisation signal block time locations within a synchronisation signal burst set, and configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may further comprise: identifying any occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communication slot; including any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there are no occupied synchronisation signal block locations; and for any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there is at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location, the method may further comprise: performing a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the second half of the at least the at least one communications slot; performing a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot; and performing a received signal strength indicator measurement the time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for at least one symbol of the physical downlink control channel within the at least the at least one communications slot.

According to a third aspect there is provided an apparatus method comprising: means for determining configuration information, the configuration information associated with at least one communications slot; and means for configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information.

The means for determining configuration information may further comprise: means for determining a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; means for determining a second bitmap indicating synchronisation signal block based radio resource measurement timing configuration block locations within the at least one communications slot; and means for combining the first bitmap and second bitmap to form a configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information may comprise the configuration bitmap.

The means for combining the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap may further comprise one of: means for ORing the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap; and means for NORing the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap.

The means for determining configuration information may further comprise: means for determining a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; and means for utilizing the first bitmap as the configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap

The apparatus may further comprise means for determining one of the first bitmap and second bitmap by: receiving a bitmap via a System Information Block 1 (SIB1 ) signal; receiving a bitmap via remaining minimum system information (RMSI) signal; receiving a bitmap via radio resource control (RRC) signalling; receiving a bitmap indicated for the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signalling for measurement purposes; and receiving a bitmap and/or indication of the determined time locations in a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

The means for configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may further comprise: means for reading from the configuration bitmap a pair of bits associated with one of the at least one communications slot; means for measuring the received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot based on the values of the pair of bits such that, when: the pair of bits are 00 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a half-slot of the one of the at least one communications slot or the whole one of the at least one communications slot; the pair of bits are 01 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the one of the at least one communications slot; the pair of bits are 10 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the one of the at least one communications slot; and the pair of bits are 1 1 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are at least one physical downlink control channel symbol within the one of the at least one communications slot.

The means for configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may further comprise at least one of: means for transmitting a configuration bitmap to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is caused to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration bitmap; and means for transmitting control information to the user equipment, the control information comprising at least one of: synchronisation signal block locations within a synchronisation signal burst set; a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; a received signal strength indicator measurement window within the synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; and occupied and/or un-occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the a received signal strength indicator measurement window. The control information may comprise the synchronisation signal block time locations within a synchronisation signal burst set, and the means for configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information may further comprise: means for identifying any occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communication slot; means for including any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there are no occupied synchronisation signal block locations; and for any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there is at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location, the apparatus may further comprise: means for performing a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the second half of the at least the at least one communications slot; means for performing a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot; and means for performing a received signal strength indicator measurement the time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for at least one symbol of the physical downlink control channel within the at least the at least one communications slot.

In another aspect there is provided a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program code for providing any of the above methods.

In another aspect there is provided a computer program product for a computer, comprising software code portions for performing the steps of any of the previous methods, when said product is run. A computer program comprising program code means adapted to perform the method(s) may be provided. The computer program may be stored and/or otherwise embodied by means of a carrier medium.

In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should be appreciated that further embodiments may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the embodiments described above.

Description of Figures

Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication system comprising a base station and a plurality of communication devices including an aerial vehicle communication device;

Figure 2a shows a schematic diagram of an example communication device;

Figure 2b shows a schematic diagram of an example control apparatus;

Figure 3a shows example synchronisation signal block (SSB) time locations within a synchronisation signal burst set;

Figure 3b shows example received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement locations based on synchronisation signal block (SSB) time locations;

Figure 3c shows example received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement locations based physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) symbol locations and synchronisation signal block (SSB) time locations in a 14 symbol slot for 15kHz sub-carrier spacing (SCS);

Figure 4a shows an example of a combination of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement locations according to some embodiments;

Figure 4b shows another example of a combination of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement locations according to some embodiments;

Figure 5a shows a flow diagram of example methods for generating the combination of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement locations and employing the combination according to some embodiments;

Figure 5b shows another flow diagram of example methods for generating the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement locations and employing the combination according to some embodiments;

Figure 6 shows flow diagram of example methods for employing the combination in further detail according to some embodiments; and. Figure 7 illustrates the possible SS Block Locations in SS Burst Set in 5ms half-frame, the SMTC Window, set of slots for RSSI measurement and the occupied SS block locations (and non-occupied) within the slots used for RSSI measurement.

Detailed description

Before explaining in detail the examples, certain general principles of a wireless communication system and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 , 2a and 2b to assist in understanding the technology underlying the described examples.

In a wireless communication system 100, such as that shown in Figure 1 , conventional mobile communication devices or user equipment (UE) 102, 104, 105 are provided wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving node or point. Base stations (BTS, NodeB (NB), enhanced NodeB (eNB) are typically controlled by at least one appropriate controller apparatus, so as to enable operation thereof and management of mobile communication devices in communication with the base stations. The controller apparatus may be located in a radio access network (e.g. wireless communication system 100) or in a core network (CN) (not shown) and may be implemented as one central apparatus or its functionality may be distributed over several apparatus. The controller apparatus may be part of the base station and/or provided by a separate entity such as a Radio Network Controller (RNC). In Figure 1 control apparatus 108 and 109 are shown to control the respective macro level base stations 106 and 107. The control apparatus of a base station can be interconnected with other control entities. The control apparatus is typically provided with memory capacity and at least one data processor. The control apparatus and functions may be distributed between a plurality of control units. In some systems, the control apparatus may additionally or alternatively be provided in a radio network controller or a base station controller (BSC).

LTE and NR systems may however be considered to have a so-called “flat” architecture, without the provision of RNCs; rather the NB is in communication with a system architecture evolution gateway (SAE-GW) and a mobility management entity (MME), which entities may also be pooled meaning that a plurality of these nodes may serve a plurality (set) of NBs. Each UE is served by only one MME and/or S-GW at a time and the NB keeps track of current association. SAE-GW is a“high-level” user plane core network element in LTE, which may consist of the S-GW and the P-GW (serving gateway and packet data network gateway, respectively). The functionalities of the S-GW and P-GW are separated and they are not required to be co-located. In Figure 1 base stations 106 and 107 are shown as connected to a wider communications network 1 13 via gateway 1 12. A further gateway function may be provided to connect to another network.

The smaller base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may also be connected to the network 113, for example by a separate gateway function and/or via the controllers of the macro level stations. The base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may be pico or femto level base stations or the like. In the example, stations 1 16 and 1 18 are connected via a gateway 1 11 whilst station 120 connects via the controller apparatus 108. In some embodiments, the smaller stations may not be provided. Smaller base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may be part of a second network, for example WLAN and may be WLAN APs.

A possible schematic view of a mobile communication device or UE 200 will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 2a. Such a communication device 200 is often referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS) or terminal. An appropriate mobile communication device may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting implementations of the communications device include a mobile station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, an loT device or any combinations of these or the like.

A mobile communication device may provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia, control signals, measurement signals, and so on.

The communications device 200 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 207 via appropriate apparatus for receiving (e.g., a receiver) and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals (e.g., a transmitter). In Figure 2a transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 206. The transceiver apparatus 206 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the communications device 200.

A mobile device is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201 , at least one memory 202 and other possible components 203 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 204. The mobile device may further control other apparatus by means of a suitable interface such as input/output ports 205 and 215. In some embodiments the operation of the communications device 200 may be performed by voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. The communications device 200 may in some embodiments be equipped with a display 208, a speaker and a microphone. Furthermore the communications device 200 may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices.

Figure 2b shows an example of a control apparatus for a communication system, for example to be coupled to and/or for controlling a station of an access system, such as a RAN node, e.g. a base station, (e)node B or 5G AP (also known as gNB, a central unit of a cloud architecture or a node of a core network such as an MME or S-GW, a scheduling entity, or a server or host. The method may be implanted in a single control apparatus or across more than one control apparatus. The control apparatus may be integrated with or external to a node or module of a core network or RAN. In some embodiments, base stations comprise a separate control apparatus unit or module. In other embodiments, the control apparatus can be another network element such as a radio network controller or a spectrum controller. In some embodiments, each base station may have such a control apparatus as well as a control apparatus being provided in a radio network controller. The control apparatus or access point 250 can be arranged to provide control on communications in the service area of the system. The control apparatus or access point 250 comprises at least one memory 251 , at least one data processing unit 252, 253 and an input/output interface 254. Via the interface the control apparatus can be coupled to a receiver and a transmitter of the base station. The receiver and/or the transmitter may be implemented as a radio front end or a remote radio head. For example the control apparatus 250 or processor 251 can be configured to execute an appropriate software code to provide the control functions.

The UE/communication device 200 (and the other communication devices within the communications system) may access the communication system based on various access techniques, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), or wideband CDMA (WCDMA). Other non-limiting examples comprise time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and various schemes thereof such as the interleaved frequency division multiple access (IFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), space division multiple access (SDMA) and so on. Signalling mechanisms and procedures, which may enable a device to address in-device coexistence (IDC) issues caused by multiple transceivers, may be provided with help from the LTE network. The multiple transceivers may be configured for providing radio access to different radio technologies.

An example of wireless communication systems are architectures standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).The 3GPP based development is referred to as the long term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology. The various development stages of the 3GPP specifications are referred to as releases. More recent developments of the LTE are often referred to as LTE Advanced (LTE-A). The LTE employs a mobile network architecture known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). Base stations or access nodes of such systems are known as evolved or enhanced Node Bs (eNBs in LTE and gNBs in 5G/NR) and provide E-UTRAN features such as user plane Packet Data Convergence/Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control/Physical layer protocol (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol terminations towards the communication devices. Other examples of a radio access system comprise those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). A base station can provide coverage for an entire cell or similar radio service area.

Within current NR or 5G plans the synchronization signal (SS) block also known as SSB carries synchronization signals such as the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and/or secondary synchronization signal (SSS) and physical broadcast channel PBCH (including PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS)). SS Blocks can be transmitted in certain time locations that are specified according to the current proposals in TS38.213. The total number of possible time locations (within in a half-frame) depends on the frequency band considered. For example for <3GHz the maximum number of SSBs locations, L, is 4, for 3-6GHz L=8 and for above 6GHz L=64. A duration of a half frame (half radio frame) is 5ms.

With respect to Figure 3a an example of SSB time location pattern is shown. The time pattern of possible SSB locations comprises a series of slots 301. Each slot (of which the first 301 is explicitly labelled) comprises a number of symbols. In the example shown in Figure 3a each slot comprises 14 symbols - symbol 0 to symbol 13. These symbols may be allocated or mapped to different services/functions. For example the slot 301 may comprise an initial number of symbols 303 which may be used for the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). This is typically defined as the initial 2 symbols symbol 0 and symbol 1 , but can be only one or up to 3 symbols. Furthermore the slot 301 , as shown in Figure 3a, may comprise two SSB time locations #0 305 which is mapped to symbols between symbol 4 to symbol 7 and #1 307 which is mapped to symbols between symbol 8 to symbol 11 . Furthermore the slot comprises symbols 12 and 13 which may be DL data or UL switching gap and uplink control symbol.

The possible time locations of the SSBs in the second slot are then placed for example such as described in TS38.213, for example as shown in Figure 3a where the second slot comprises SS Block #2 309 which is mapped to symbols between symbol 4 to symbol 7 of the second slot (symbols 18 to 21 of the slot sequence in the SS Burst Set) and #3 31 1 which is mapped to symbols between symbol 8 to symbol 1 1 of the second slot (symbols 22 to 25 of the slot sequence). The transmitted SSBs will be then repeated with a given period that can be {5,10,20,40,80, 160}ms.

The current agreed approach is one in which a UE will be provided information regarding the used/occupied SSB locations (in other words providing SSB time locations that contain SS Blocks) for the serving cell, at least for the purpose of the rate matching. This information can be provided via remaining minimum system information (RMSI) (for example using the defined System Information Block 1 (SIB1 )) and radio resource control (RRC) signalling.

For the bands <6GHz, both methods can use an exact bitmap (with the same length as total number of locations), while for the bands above 6GHz, RRC can use an exact bitmap (64bits) and a compressed bitmap can be used for SIB1 (with a working assumption of 8+8 bits, with group and location bit map).

Furthermore it has been agreed (during the RAN1 meeting #88 in Athens) that information to derive measurement timing/duration, for example the time window for the new radio synchronisation signal (NR-SS) detection, could be provided for the UE in addition to the SS burst set periodicity. In a later meeting RAN1#89 it was further agreed that the SS burst set should be contained to 5ms. In a further meeting RAN1 MR AH#2 it was also agreed that there would be only one SS block based RRM measurement timing configuration (SMTC) per frequency layer. In other words only one set of parameters for measurement window periodicities, duration and offset configuration. It can be understood especially from an IDLE mode device perspective, if both, SS burst set periodicity and the measurement window are known, and UE can assume that all the cells for the given frequency layer would be transmitting the SS-blocks during the measurement window a UE can steer it’s measurement activity optimally, thereby reducing the effort and related power consumption.

In the latest agreement for measurement purposes, in RAN1#90bis it was agreed that UE can be provided with a bit map indicating for the UE that which SS Block locations UE needs to monitor and measure on a given frequency layer. The agreements also state that UE is not required to measure the SS Blocks outside the measurement window.

This agreement explicitly agreed that:

The network can indicate a set of SS blocks to be measured within the SMTC measurement duration (connected mode only);

The indication is per frequency layer;

The UE is not required to measure SS blocks not indicated as transmitted;

If there is no indication, the default value is that all SS blocks within the SMTC measurement duration;

The signalling method is applicable to both intra- and inter-frequency measurements; and For connected mode:

The signalling is via RRC and a full bitmap with length L

For idle mode:

No indication from gNB

Note: this means that all SS blocks within the SMTC measurement duration There has also been discussion, RAN1 over SSB and channel state information - reference signal (CSI-RS) based mobility measurement quantities. Based on the discussion RAN1 has agreed to introduce following L3 mobility related measurements:

reference signal received power (RSRP);

reference signal received quality (RSRQ); and

signal to noise and interference ratio (SNIR).

RSRQ by definition is formed from two different components, the RSRP and received signal strength indicator (RSSI). While RSRP is measured from a known reference signal, there are more options for determining the time and frequency location for RSSI measurements as it does not require (a predetermined) signal to be measured but attempts to capture the‘power’ on the determined resources.

In the context of mobility RSRQ has been considered to be used to obtain some understanding of the loading situation of the frequency layer (i.e. RSSI) and also to give some indication of the quality of the quality of the radio link towards a given cell.

The introduction of 5G/NR is likely to use the same type of traffic characteristics, and similar time and frequency selective packet scheduling as in LTE. In addition, the use of spatial filtering, i.e. beam forming, can be expected to be used more prominently, especially for higher frequency bands. Hence when measurement quantities are considered for NR, it should be carefully considered the definition of the measure to ensure that it can deliver meaning for information regarding the quantity that is attempted to be estimated. When considering a measurement quantity like RSRQ it is evident that the definition how the interference part i.e. RSSI, is measured determines the usability of the quantity.

Two high level options for the RSSI measurement for synchronisation signal reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ) can be identified.

Firstly in a manner similar to current LTE, the RSSI could be defined to be measured from all of SS block symbols or a subset of the SS block symbols. This would mean that the RSSI would include the power sent from serving/camped cell. Another option would be to preclude the SS block location from which the RSRP is determined, and use some other SS block location(s). The selection of the other SS block locations in some situations could be arbitrary. For example the selection of a closest (next/previous) in time domain. In some situations the other SS block locations could be selected by a deterministic means. For example a selection based on the known used locations, or un-used locations (based on the information provided by RMSI/SIB1 ).

In some situations a combination or hybrid of the aforementioned means could also be used and the number of the SS block locations selected could be different (all/sub-set). It is well understood that in synchronous system, if overlapping SS block locations are used in different cells, it is rather likely that the RSSI obtained in SS block symbols could be dominated by power received from other neighbouring cells SS blocks. Hence, the merits of the measurement for load estimation may be questionable.

A first approach for RSSI measurement on SS block symbols is illustrated in Figure 3b. In this figure is shown a 5ms repeating cycle. Each cycle comprises a series of slots, of which the first 321 is labelled. Each slot comprises 14 symbols, identified as symbols 0 to 13. Furthermore each slot comprises first two symbols, PDCCH symbols, (symbols 0 and 1 ), a first SS block of the slot (SSB #0 305 in the first slot 321 mapped to symbols 4 to 7 of the first slot 321 , SSB #2 309 in the second slot mapped to symbols 2 to 5 of the second slot 322), and a second SS block (SSB #1 307 mapped to symbols 8 to 1 1 of the first slot 321 , SSB #3 31 1 mapped to symbols 6 to 9 of the second slot 322).

In this first approach the RSRP is measured, as shown by arrow 323 in Figure 3b, on the SSB #0 symbols (namely SSS signal and optionally using the PBCH DMRS signals). For the RSSI measurement for SSB #0 325 the UE is configured to measure the RSSI on N SS Block locations, as shown by the arrows 327 in Figure 3b. As discussed above the locations may be used/unused locations. For example based on the RAN1 NR AH#3 agreement the same UE RX spatial filtering is used for RSRP and RSSI measurement.

As a second approach the RSSI, Figure 3c shows a further example of RSSI measurement. Figure 3c shows a similar 5ms repeating cycle. Each cycle comprises a series of slots, of which the first 331 and second 341 is labelled. Each slot comprises 14 symbols, identified as symbols 0 to 13. Furthermore the first slot is shown comprising a first two symbols (symbols 0 and 1 ) used for PDCCH, a first SS block (SSB #0 in the first slot 331 ) mapped to symbols 4 to 7 of the slot, a second SS block (SSB #1 in the first slot 331 ) mapped to symbols 8 to 1 1 of the slot, and a final uplink control symbol mapped to symbol 13. The second slot is shown comprising a first two symbols (symbols 0 and 1 ) mapped to the PDCCH, a first SS block (SSB #2) mapped to symbols 2 to 5 of the slot, and a second SS block (SSB #3) mapped to symbols 6 to 9 of the slot.

In this example the RSSI measurement is performed on symbols placed outside the SS block. Considering the SS block mapping to the slot agreed in RAN1 NR AH#2, there is at the start of the slots a few symbols (1-3) left free to be used for the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) as indicated above. From a system operation perspective, these symbols could be considered to better reflect the actual load situation. In other words have activity based on scheduling load. Hence, one option could be that in those slots where the UE measures the SSB RSRP, it would also estimate the RSSI over the‘un mapped’ symbols at the start of the slot. Thus for example the RSSI for the SSB #0 block is measured, as shown by the arrow 333, at the 0th symbol (symbol 0) and the RSSI for the SSB #1 block measured, as shown by the arrow 335) at the 1st symbol (symbol 1 ).

Also in this approach, like discussed in previous section, the UE would need to utilize same RX spatial beam for RSSI and RSRP measurement. For example in Figure 3 for the UE to be able to measure RSSI for SS blocks #0 and #1 (with different RX filter), the UE would need to measure the PDCCH symbols 0 and 1 with respective RX spatial filter configurations.

Alternatively UE could use the PDCCH symbol(s) which are closest to the SS block. In other words for SS Block #1 the UE could use the PDCCH symbol of the next slot while for SS Block #0 the PDCCH of current slot would be used.

Alternatively, when the UE measures RSSI on both PDCCH symbols (or in more general view all PDCCH symbols 1-3), it performs RSSI measurements for a specific SS Block at the time. This may be compared to the earlier example where symbol 0 was used as RSSI measurement for first SS block in a slot and symbol 1 for second SS Block in a slot. In this example the UE measures both PDCCH symbols to perform a RSSI measurement corresponding either a first or second SS block of a slot. This would mean that the UE would be able to measure a RSSI for one SS Block since the same RX spatial filter is used for measuring the RSRP and the corresponding RSSI to obtain the RSRQ of an SS Block. A UE with potentially multiple RX chains could be able to measure multiple directions at the same time.

In a further alternative, in the case where the UE knows that for the current slot only one of the SS Block locations are occupied, the UE may be configured to measure the PDCCH symbol/symbols with same RX spatial filter for obtaining RSSI for the transmitted SS Block in a slot.

In context of RAN1 discussion, it has been considered that for SSB based RSRQ to improve the RSRQ as a measurement quantity that RSSI could be measured from different time/frequency locations. In RAN1#90bis it was agreed that the RSSI measurement can be extended beyond the SSB locations as illustrated in the agreement below:

A default RSSI time-domain measurement resource is supported, where a predetermined (i.e. , fixed in the spec) set of OFDM symbols are used taking into account OFDM symbols associated with detected SSBs - the details of which have been designated for further study.

A set of slots for RSSI time-domain measurement resource can be explicitly configured per frequency carrier by OSI (Other System Information) for IDLE, by RRC for CONNECTED. A set of OFDM symbols in the configured slot are used taking into account OFDM symbols associated with detected SSBs. This supports at least for intra-frequency measurement for both IDLE and CONNECTED modes of operation; and inter-frequency measurement for CONNECTED modes of operation for the UE. The applicability for IDLE mode inter-frequency measurement and the details of which have been designated for further study.

The concept as discussed herein is one wherein for efficiently determining time domain resources for RSSI measurement. The concept may be implemented for example by a UE is configured to combine bitmaps that indicate the occupied (and unoccupied) serving cell SS block locations (bitmap B) with a corresponding SMTC SS Block location bitmap (bitmap A) on indicated set of slots for RSSI measurement. This may therefore be where one of the bitmaps is for example the bitmap provided for the UE for serving cell rate matching purposes via NR-SIB1 (RMSI) or configured by RRC, and/or bitmap indicated for the UE through RRC signalling for measurement purposes, and/or bitmap/indication of the slots to be used for RSSI measurement in SMTC window. Alternatively, UE may use only SS Block location bitmap (bitmap A) to form bitmap C i.e. the bitmap B is not used. Bitmap B may be in this case omitted or set to zero (same length as bitmap A but with all entries of the map are zero) when combining with bitmap A.

In some embodiments the bitmaps (bitmap A and bitmap B) are combined using an OR function to obtain a combined bitmap (bitmap C). Then having obtained a combined bitmap, the resulting combined bitmap (bitmap C) is processed using a specific set of rules.

In some embodiments the UE is configured to use the indication of the 1^st front-loaded demodulation reference signal location in a slot to determine which symbols in a slot are used for the RSSI measurement.

The UE may therefore be configured to determine the SS Block RSSI measurement resources/configuration based on the combination of:

Indicated SS Block transmit (occupied) locations in the SMTC window

Set of slots for RSSI time-domain measurement

Serving cell SS Block transmit (occupied) locations

and do so in a manner such as shown with respect to Figures 5a, and 6.

For example Figure 5a shows an example method as implemented in some embodiments.

In some embodiments the UE is configured to determine first the candidate slots to be considered for RSSI measurements.

The initial operation may thus be one in which the UE is configured to receive information for determining (or determine by other means) the indicated SS Block locations within the SS block based RRM measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window (bitmap A). Also the UE in some embodiments is configured to receive information for determining (or determine by other means) the occupied (and unoccupied) Serving cell SS Block locations on corresponding locations (bitmap B)

This may for example be by receiving bitmaps (bitmap A and B) over an indicated set of slots for RSSI measurement as shown in Figure 5a by step 501.

Having determined the bitmaps A and B then the UE may be configured to OR wise combine these bitmaps to generate the combined bitmap (bitmap C). In other words the UE may be configured to calculate a combined bitmap of the indicated SS Block locations in SMTC window and occupied (and unoccupied) Serving cell SS Block locations on corresponding locations.

The operation of OR wise combining the bitmaps A and B to form bitmap C is shown in Figure 5a by step 503.

Having generated the combined bitmap (bitmap C) the UE may then be configured to, by using suitable means, use the bitmap on a half-slot basis by determining a suitable ruleset to interpret the resulting bitmap C and interpreting the combined bitmap C based on these determined rules as shown in Figure 5a by step 505.

An example of the bitmaps A, B and C can be seen with respect to Figure 4a.

Figure 4a shows a first time line of a series of slots each 1 ms in length as shown in by the first slot 407. Within each of the slots is shown the SS block time locations 401 suitable for RSSI measurement 408.

Furthermore Figure 4a shows a second time line 409 which shows the SS Blocks in the SMTC window and an example bitmap A which shows the occupied SS block time locations 403. The occupied SS block time locations 403 within the bitmap A are represented by a value and the un-occupied SS block time locations 405 within the bitmap A are represented by a Ό’ value. As such the example bitmap A in Figure 4a is [10 00 10 01] for the RSSI measurement slots 408. The space in the example bitmap represents a slot boundary in this example.

Figure 4a furthermore shows an third time line 41 1 which shows the serving cell SS blocks 41 1 and furthermore which of these are occupied SS block time locations 403 and which are non-occupied 405. The occupied SS block time locations 403 within the bitmap B are represented by a T value and the un-occupied SS block time locations 405 within the bitmap B are represented by a Ό’ value. As such the example bitmap B in Figure 4a is [1 1 00 10 01] for the RSSI measurement slots 408.

Figure 4a furthermore shows a representation of a combined bitmap 413 (bitmap A OR’ bitmap B = bitmap C) which produces the candidate RSSI measurement configuration bitmap. Thus the example combined bitmap in Figure 4a is [1 1 00 10 01]. In Figures 5b and 4b, a further embodiment is shown. In this embodiment the UE is configured to determine first the candidate slots to be considered for RSSI measurements.

The initial operation may thus be one in which the UE is configured to receive information for determining (or determine by other means) the indicated SS Block locations within the SS block based RRM measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window (bitmap A).

This may for example be by receiving bitmap A over an indicated set of slots for RSSI measurement as shown in Figure 5b by step 51 1.

Having determined the bitmap A then the UE may be configured use bitmap A as bitmap C. This may be implemented in some embodiments by setting the bitmap B to only zeros and then OR’ing the two bitmaps. In other words the UE may be configured to calculate a configuration bitmap from bitmap A only as shown in Figure 5b by step 513.

Having generated the configuration bitmap (bitmap C) the UE may then be configured to, by using suitable means, use the bitmap on a half-slot (or full slot) basis by determining a suitable ruleset to interpret the resulting bitmap C and interpreting the combined bitmap C based on these determined rules as shown in Figure 5b by step 505.

An example of this can be seen with respect to Figure 4b which shows a further example of a configuration bitmap (bitmap C) constructed in a manner similar to in the bitmap in Figure 4a, but that the UE generates the bitmap C without using bitmap B. Bitmap A is mapped directly to bitmap C. Alternatively as discussed above would be to set the bitmap B to contain only zeros before the OR combination. This means that the serving cell SS block location bitmap (for rate matching purposes) is not used for generating bitmap C.

Thus Figure 4b shows a first time line of a series of slots each 1 ms in length as shown in by the first slot 407. Within each of the slots is shown the SS block time locations 401 suitable for RSSI measurement 408.

Furthermore Figure 4b shows a second time line 409 which shows the SS Blocks in the SMTC window and an example bitmap A which shows the occupied SS block time locations 403. The occupied SS block time locations 403 within the bitmap A are represented by a T value and the non-occupied or un-occupied SS block time locations 405 within the bitmap A are represented by a Ό’ value. As such the example bitmap A in Figure 4b is [10 00 10 01] for the RSSI measurement slots 408. The space in the example bitmap represents a slot boundary in this example.

Figure 4b furthermore shows a representation of a combined bitmap 423 (bitmap A = bitmap C) which produces the candidate RSSI measurement configuration bitmap. Thus the example combined bitmap in Figure 4b is [10 00 10 01].

With respect to Figure 6 an example of the determining of a suitable ruleset and the application of the ruleset to the combined bitmap is shown in further detail. In some embodiments the UE is configured to read from the bitmap C the bits associated with a slot on a slot by slot basis. In other words read a 2 bit value X0X1 from the bitmap C

The operation of reading from the bitmap is shown in Figure 6 by step 601.

Having read from the bitmap a configuration bit pair, the value of the configuration bit pair may be used to define rules for configuring the RSSI measurements.

In some embodiments the UE is configured to measure the RSSI for a slot using the following rules based on configuration bit pair values.

Measure RSSI based on configuration bit pair values X0X1:

00 All Symbols of a half-slot/slot

01 Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 1 half of the slot

10 Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 2 half of the slot

1 1 On PDCCH symbol/symbols

The above bit-pair expression can also be interpreted in following manner for SS Block RSSI measurement:

on the configured slots for SS Block RSSI measurements and with knowledge of occupied SS block locations, for each slot:

- if no SS block locations are occupied or used, UE can measure all the symbols of the slot,

- if only first SS block location in a slot is occupied, UE can measure the symbols of second half-slot,

- if only second SS block location in a slot is occupied, UE can measure the symbols of first half-slot,

- if both SS block locations are occupied/used, UE measures RSSI on PDCCH symbols.

Additionally or alternatively the above bit-pair expression can also be interpreted in following manner.

for SS Block RSSI measurement:

- if no SS block locations are occupied or used or only first SS block location in a slot is occupied, UE measures only from symbols of the slot corresponding to PDCCH location,

- if only second SS block location in a slot is occupied, UE measures from the symbols of first half-slot,

- if both SS block locations are occupied or used, UE measures RSSI from the symbols of the slot corresponding to PDCCH location or from all the symbols not occupied by SS block signal. In general, all the bit configurations in the examples can be expressed in similar manner.

In some embodiments, the UE is provided information regarding the actually sent SSB locations, and location and duration of the SMTC window and UE determines the time locations (symbols of a slot and from which slots) based on the combination of this information.

This is shown for example in Figure 7. Figure 7 shows a first time line 701 which shows a half-frame (of 5ms) 700, which is divided into slots 702 and which shows possible SS Block time locations 71 1 in the SS burst set.

Figure 7 furthermore shows a second time line 703 which shows for the SS Burst Set the SMTC window 704 and the possible SS Block time locations within the window.

Figure 7 furthermore shows a third time line 705 which shows possible RSSI measurement slots (K-Slots) within the RSSI measurement window (and which is within the SMTC window 704.

Furthermore Figure 7 shows a fourth time line 707 showing the occupied SS blocks 708 and un-occupied blocks 710 within the RSSI measurement window 706 and thus also within the SMTC window 704.

With the indicated rule set the UE can be configured to avoid measuring the slots where the SS Block time locations are occupied by SS Block signal that would potentially induce some bias to the RSSI measurements.

In some embodiments where a half slot or slot is indicated, or where all symbols and/or SS Block location is indicated, these could be seen as implementation options once there is a decision whether the slot is measured. In case it is defined or configured by network that halfslot is measured, it may be further agreed whether the half-slot refers to:

Always the first half-slot which may include PDCCH symbols and to avoid potentially measuring uplink control on the second half of the slot;

or UE selects the first or the second half-slot randomly or based on implementation;

or the selection is defined by network via configuration or it is predefined in specification;

or always the second half of the slot.

In some embodiments measuring only half slot would provide less symbols for RSSI measurement but would mean that the UE RX is not locked to that particular direction.

With the use of the full slot (all the symbols), the UE could measure more symbols but would keep the RX beam locked to that particular direction for a longer time (for RSSI measurement UE utilizes the same RX beam/RX spatial filter that is used for RSRP measurement). In one example option, full slot measurement may also exclude the potential time location of UL control channel symbol from the RSSI measurement on that slot. The operation of implementing such a measurement rule set is shown in Figure 6 by step 603.

In some embodiments the network is configured to provide a‘direct’ indication or information to the UE, the indication or information providing the explicit measurement configuration. In other words the determination of the candidate bitmaps, the generation of the combined bitmap may be implemented at a network level and the resulting configuration passed to the UE.

In some embodiments this‘direct’ configuration signalling may be in the form of a bitmap. Within the bitmap, each 2-bit combination corresponds to a slot and identifies whether the SS block within slot is to be used. For example in some embodiments the network may signal the UE with slots used for RSSI time domain measurements with an included bitmap. Thus for four slots a RSSI measurement bitmap:“00 00 1 1 10” may be sent and be used as a combined bitmap. The UE may then interprets the bitmap according to the above example rule set (configuration table).

In some embodiments the network may send to the UE a“2 bit configuration” which is applied for each RSSI measurement slot regardless of SS Block configuration.

In some embodiments the UE uses the configured candidate slots (such as indicated by bitmap C) to be considered for RSSI measurements together with the bitmap indicating the SS block locations to be measured within the SMTC window (such as indicated in bitmap A), and depending on the presence of SS blocks in the RSSI candidate slot, the UE is configured to determine the symbols from which to perform the RSSI measurement. For example if a slot is indicated as a candidate for RSSI measurement, measure RSSI based on the information carried by the bitmap (or by determining per slot basis the occupied SS block time locations) indicating the SS block locations to be measured within the SMTC window for example as follows:

00: All Symbols of a half-slot/slot

01 : Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 1 half of the slot

10: Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 2 half of the slot

11 : On PDCCH symbol/symbols only

In some embodiments the UE could use the informed location of the DMRS to adjust the symbols to be used for RSSI measurements. In other words the UE in some embodiments could be determined to use 2 symbols only if front-loaded DMRS for data is in the 3rd symbol and 2 first symbols of the slot are used for PDCCH (if no SS block sent in the first half slot). In some alternative embodiments, the UE could be determined to measure the RSSI also from symbols where the front-loaded DMRS is present.

In some embodiments, the UE determines the measurement bandwidth used for RSSI measurement for (at least) SSB based RSRQ based on the CORESET information provided in the PBCH. In some embodiments, if the UE is not given the indication of the slots where to measure RSSI and only receives the SMTC window, the UE may be configured to utilize the slots containing the occupied SS Block time locations for RSSI measurement (thus the RSSI measurement window can determined using the STMC window with information of occupied SS blocks locations and below rule set) and exclude the slots where no SS blocks are sent. For the slots containing the SS Blocks, UE utilizes the following rule set:

00: No RSSI measurements

01 : Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 1 half of the slot

10: Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 2 half of the slot

11 : On PDCCH symbol/symbols only

In some embodiments, UE may measure the RSSI only for the symbols of same slot (as opposed of multiple slots) that was used for measuring SSB RSRP. With the previously presented rule set UE would apply only for current slot RSSI measurement:

00: No RSSI measurements (no RSSI measurement since no SS Blocks are present) 01 : Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 1 half of the slot

10: Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 2 half of the slot

11 : On PDCCH symbol/symbols only

10: Symbols on SS Block location or all symbols on the 2 half of the slot

11 : On PDCCH symbol/symbols only

In related embodiment, network may configure UE, or it may be predefined that UE measures RSSI only on PDCCH symbol/symbols of the same slot that was used to measure SSB block RSRP. In the above examples the bitmap is defined by the occupied block time locations having a value and Ό’ for a non-occupied block time location. In some embodiments the bitmap may use complementary values. Thus the complement bitmap is defined by the occupied block time locations having a Ό’ value and‘T for a non-occupied block time location. In such embodiments the combined bitmap may be generated by a‘NOR’ operation on the complementary bitmap A and complementary bitmap B and the output interpreted to select the Ό’ values.

In some embodiments considering the front-loaded DMRS locations in a slot (which may be 2^nd or 3^rd symbol in the slot and signalled at least in NR-PBCH), the UE may be configured to use the information to take this in to account when determining which PDCCH symbols to measure RSSI. In addition and as discussed above the information provided by NR-PBCH used to determine the CORESET bandwidth (used for scheduling SIB#1 ) may be used to determine the measurement bandwidth of the RSSI for SSB RSRQ (e.g. SS-RSRQ defined in 38.215). In such embodiments the configuration and measurement rules that adapt to cover different scenarios (which signals are present in a slot/half slot) may be implanted in an easy to implement manner and does not require significant processing overhead.

Furthermore in such embodiments these methods avoid any potential load“bias” in the case where UE measures SS block locations where there may be potential SS block transmissions.

Similarly these methods have the advantage in that for different values of N for RSSI measurement would mean that the higher the N value, there is not a direct relationship to the length that the UE RX spatial filter is locked to specific direction (and thus allows a UE to be configured to measure or, if in Connected mode, receive control/data using other RX spatial filter settings during the RSSI measurement time locations). Furthermore even in a case of N=1 , if different SS block (#n¹0) symbols are used for RSSI and RSRP(#0), the methods described above prevent a spatial filter lock for the duration of RSSI measurement, and possibly allow the UE to measure the SS block with a properly aligned RX spatial filter.

It should be understood that each block of the flowchart of the Figures and any combination thereof may be implemented by various means or their combinations, such as hardware, software, firmware, one or more processors and/or circuitry.

It is noted that whilst embodiments have been described in relation to one example of a network, similar principles maybe applied in relation to other examples of networks. It should be noted that other embodiments may be based on other cellular technology other than LTE or on variants of LTE. For example, some embodiments may be used with so-called 5G New Radio or MulteFire. Therefore, although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that the apparatuses may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and/or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the invention 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, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be 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 embodiments of this invention may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and/or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computer- executable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it.

Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the Figures may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media.

The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may comprise one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

Embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate. The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the exemplary embodiment of this invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims. Indeed there is a further embodiment comprising a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to:

determine configuration information, the configuration information associated with at least one communications slot; and

configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the apparatus caused to determine configuration information is caused to:

determine a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot;

determine a second bitmap indicating synchronisation signal block based radio resource measurement timing configuration block locations within the at least one communications slot; and

combine the first bitmap and second bitmap to form a configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the apparatus caused to combine the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap is caused to perform one of:

OR the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap; and

NOR the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the apparatus caused to determine configuration information is caused to:

determine a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; and

utilize the first bitmap as the configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap.

5. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, further caused to determine one of the first bitmap and second bitmap by being caused to perform at least one of:

receive a bitmap via a System Information Block 1 (SIB1 ) signal;

receive a bitmap via remaining minimum system information (RMSI) signal; receive a bitmap via radio resource control (RRC) signalling;

receive a bitmap indicated for the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signalling for measurement purposes; and

receive a bitmap and/or indication of the determined time locations in a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

6. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the apparatus caused to configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information is caused to:

read from the configuration bitmap a pair of bits associated with one of the at least one communications slot;

measure the received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot based on the values of the pair of bits such that, when:

the pair of bits are 00 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a half-slot of the one of the at least one communications slot or the whole one of the at least one communications slot;

the pair of bits are 01 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the one of the at least one communications slot;

the pair of bits are 10 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the one of the at least one communications slot; and

the pair of bits are 1 1 then the determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot are at least one physical downlink control channel symbol within the one of the at least one communications slot.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claims 2 to 6, wherein the at least one communications slot comprises at least one synchronisation signal block location.

8. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the apparatus is the user equipment.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the apparatus is a network access point in communications with the user equipment, and the apparatus caused to configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information is caused to at least one of: transmit a configuration bitmap to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is caused to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration bitmap; and

transmit control information to the user equipment, the control information comprising at least one of:

synchronisation signal block locations within a synchronisation signal burst set; a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window;

a received signal strength indicator measurement window within the synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window; and

occupied and/or un-occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the a received signal strength indicator measurement window.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control information comprises the synchronisation signal block time locations within a synchronisation signal burst set and the apparatus caused to configure a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information is further caused to:

identify any occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communication slot;

include any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there are no occupied synchronisation signal block locations; and

for any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there is at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location, the apparatus is caused to:

perform a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the second half of the at least the at least one communications slot;

perform a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot; and perform a received signal strength indicator measurement the time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for at least one symbol of the physical downlink control channel within the at least the at least one communications slot.

11. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the at least the at least one communications slot comprises one of:

the at least one communications slot;

the at least one communications slot and at least one further communications slot within a frame or half-frame;

the at least one communications slot and at least one further communications slot within a received signal strength indicator measurement window; and

the at least one communications slot and at least one further communications slot within a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

12. A method comprising:

determining configuration information, the configuration information associated with at least one communications slot;

configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein determining configuration information further comprises:

determining a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot;

determining a second bitmap indicating synchronisation signal block based radio resource measurement timing configuration block locations within the at least one communications slot; and combining the first bitmap and second bitmap to form a configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein combining the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap further comprises one of:

ORing the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap; and NORing the first bitmap and second bitmap to form the configuration bitmap.

15. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein determining configuration information further comprises:

determining a first bitmap indicating occupied and unoccupied serving cell synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communications slot; and

utilizing the first bitmap as the configuration bitmap, wherein the configuration information comprises the configuration bitmap

16. The method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 15, further comprising determining one of the first bitmap and second bitmap by performing at least one of:

receiving a bitmap via a System Information Block 1 (SIB1 ) signal;

receiving a bitmap via remaining minimum system information (RMSI) signal;

receiving a bitmap via radio resource control (RRC) signalling;

receiving a bitmap indicated for the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signalling for measurement purposes; and

receiving a bitmap and/or indication of the determined time locations in a synchronisation signal block based radio resource management measurement timing configuration window.

17. The method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 16, wherein configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information further comprises:

reading from the configuration bitmap a pair of bits associated with one of the at least one communications slot;

measuring the received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the one of the at least one communications slot based on the values of the pair of bits such that, when:

18. The method as claimed in claims 13 to 17, wherein the at least one communications slot comprises at least one synchronisation signal block location.

19. The method as claimed in any of claims 12 to 18, wherein configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information further comprises at least one of: transmitting a configuration bitmap to the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is caused to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration bitmap; and

transmitting control information to the user equipment, the control information comprising at least one of:

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the control information comprises the synchronisation signal block time locations within a synchronisation signal burst set, and configuring a user equipment to measure a received signal strength indicator measurement for the at least one communications slot at determined time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot based on the configuration information further comprises: identifying any occupied synchronisation signal block locations within the at least one communication slot;

including any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there are no occupied synchronisation signal block locations; and

for any of the at least the at least one communication slots where there is at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location, the method further comprises:

performing a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the second half of the at least the at least one communications slot;

performing a received signal strength indicator measurement at time locations within the at least the at least the at least one communications slot for all of the symbols of a synchronisation signal block location or all of the symbols in the second half of the communications slot when the at least one occupied synchronisation signal block location is in the first half of the at least the at least one communications slot; and performing a received signal strength indicator measurement the time locations within the at least the at least one communications slot for at least one symbol of the physical downlink control channel within the at least the at least one communications slot.

21. The method as claimed in any of claims 12 to 20, wherein the at least the at least one communications slot comprises one of:

the at least one communications slot;