WO2020091667A1

WO2020091667A1 - Conditional mobility

Info

Publication number: WO2020091667A1
Application number: PCT/SE2019/051069
Authority: WO
Inventors: Icaro L. J. Da Silva
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2018-11-01
Filing date: 2019-10-28
Publication date: 2020-05-07

Abstract

A method performed by a wireless device is provided, the method comprising receiving a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and performing the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

Description

CONDITIONAL MOBILITY

Technical Field

Examples of the present disclosure relate to performing a conditional mobility procedure.

Background

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Mobility in RRC CONNECTED in LTE and NR

An RRC_CONNECTED wireless device (or UE) in LTE (also called E-UTRA) can be configured by the network to perform measurements and, upon triggering measurement reports, the network may send a handover command to the UE (e.g. in LTE an RRConnectionReconfiguration with a field called mobilityControllnfo and in New Radio, NR, or 5G an RRCReconfiguration with a reconfigurationWithSync field).

These reconfigurations are prepared by the target cell upon a request from the source node (over X2 interface in case of EUTRA-EPC or Xn interface in case of EUTRA-5GC or NR) and takes into account the existing RRC configuration the UE has with source cell (which are provided in the inter-node request). Among other parameters, that reconfiguration provided by target contains all information the UE needs to access the target cell, e.g., random access configuration, a new C-RNTI assigned by the target cell and security parameters enabling the UE to calculate new security keys associated to the target cell so the UE can send a handover complete message on SRB1 (encrypted and integrity protected) based on new security keys upon accessing the target cell.

Figure 1 summarizes the flow signalling between UE, source node and target node during a handover procedure. In step 1 of Figure 1 , measurement control and reports are exchanged between UE and source gNB. In step 2, the source gNB makes a handover (FIO) decision. In step 3, source gNB sends a handover request to a target gNB. In step 4, target gNB performs admission control. In step 5, target gNB sends a FIO request acknowledge to source gNB. In step 6, Uu handover trigger information is exchanged between UE and source gNB. The UE detaches from the old cell and synchronises to the new cell. In step 7, source gNB sends SN status transfer to target gNB, and delivers buffered and in transit user data to target gNB. The source gNB may also forward user data to target gNB. The target gNB buffers user data from source gNB. In step 8, the UE synchronises to the new cell (target gNB) and completed RRC FIO procedure. User data may then be exchanged between UE and target gNB. User data may be forwarded from target gNB to User Plane Function(s). In step 9, target gNB sends a path switch request to AMF. In step 10, AMF and UPF(s) exchange path switch related 5G CN internal signalling and actual DL path switch is performed in UPF(s). User data may then be exchanged between target gNB and UPF(s). In step 1 1 , AMF returns a path switch request ack to the target gNB. In step 12, target gNB sends a UE context release to source gNB.

Both in LTE and NR, some principles exist for handovers (or in more general terms, mobility in RRC_CONNECTED):

Mobility in RRC_CONNECTED is network-based as the network has best info regarding current situation such as load conditions, resources in different nodes, available frequencies, etc. The network can also take into account the situation of many UEs in the network, for a resource allocation perspective.

- Network prepares a target cell before the UE accesses that cell. Source provides UE with the RRC configuration to be used in the target cell, including SRB1 configuration to send FIO complete.

UE is provided by target with a target C-RNTI i.e. target identifies UE from MSG.3 on MAC level for the FIO complete message. Hence, there is no context fetching, unless a failure occurs.

- To speed up the handover, network provides needed information on how to access the target e.g. RACH configuration, so the UE does not have to acquire SI prior to the handover. UE may be provided with CFRA resources, i.e. in that case target identifies the UE from the preamble (MSG.1 ). The principle behind here is that the procedure can always be optimized with dedicated resources. In conditional handover (CHO), that might be tricky as there is uncertainty about the final target but also the timing.

- Security is prepared before the UE accesses the target cell i.e. Keys must be refreshed before sending RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message, based on new keys and encrypted and integrity protected so UE can be verified in target cell.

Both full and delta reconfiguration are supported so that the HO command can be minimized.

Mobility robustness Work Item in Rel-16 for LTE and NR and Conditional Handover

Two new work items for mobility enhancements in LTE and NR have started in 3GPP in release 16. The main objectives of the work items are to improve the robustness at handover and to decrease the interruption time at handover.

One problem related to robustness at handover is that the HO Command ( RRCConnectionReconfiguration with mobilityControllnfo and RRCReconfiguration with a reconfigurationWithSync field) is normally sent when the radio conditions for the UE are already quite bad. That may lead to the HO Command not reaching the UE in time (e.g. successfully) if the message is segmented or there are retransmissions.

In LTE and NR, different solutions to increase mobility robustness have been discussed in the past. One solution discussed in NR is called“conditional handover” or“early handover command”. In order to avoid the undesired dependence on the serving radio link upon the time (and radio conditions) where the UE should execute the handover, the possibility to provide RRC signaling for the handover to the UE earlier should be provided. To achieve this, it should be possible to associate the HO command with a condition e.g. based on radio conditions possibly similar to the ones associated to an A3 event, where for example a given neighbour becomes X db better than target (or source/current serving cell). As soon as the condition is fulfilled, the UE executes the handover in accordance with the provided handover command.

Such a condition could be e.g. that the quality of the target cell or beam becomes X dB stronger than the serving cell. The threshold Y used in a preceding measurement reporting event should then be chosen lower than the one in the handover execution condition. This allows the serving cell to prepare the handover upon reception of an early measurement report and to provide the RRCConnectionReconfiguration with mobilityControllnfo at a time when the radio link between the source cell and the UE is still stable. The execution of the handover is done at a later point in time (and threshold) which may be considered optimal for the handover execution.

Figure 2 depicts an example with just a serving and a target cell. In practice there may often be many cells or beams that the UE reported as possible candidates based on its preceding RRM measurements. The network should then have the freedom to issue conditional handover commands for several of those candidates. The RRCConnectionReconfiguration for each of those candidates may differ e.g. in terms of the HO execution condition (RS to measure and threshold to exceed) as well as in terms of the RA preamble to be sent when a condition is met. In Figure 2, serving gNB may exchange user plane data with the UE. In step 1 , the UE sends a measurement report with “low” threshold to serving gNB. The serving gNB maks a HO decision based on this early report. In step 2, the serving gNB sends an early HO request to a target gNB. The target gNB accepts the HO request and builds a RRC config. The target gNB returns a HO ack including the RRC config to the serving gNB in step 3. In step 4, a conditional HO command with“high” threshold is sent to the UE. Subsequently, measurements by the UE may fulfil the HO condition of the conditional HO command. The UE thus triggers the pending conditional handover. The UE performs synchronization and random access with the target gNB in step 5, and HO confirm is exchanged in step 6. In step 7, target gNB infoms serving gNB that HO is completed. The target gNB may then exchange user plane data with the UE.

While the UE evaluates the condition, it should continue operating per its current RRC configuration, i.e., without applying the conditional HO command. When the UE determines that the condition is fulfilled, it disconnects from the serving cell, applies the conditional HO command and connects to the target cell. These steps are equivalent to the current, instantaneous handover execution.

Some examples may rely on context fetching called where a condition is also provided to the UE and, upon the fulfillment of the condition the UE executes resume. This may for example comprise a method executed by a UE in RRC connected mode the method comprising:

Receiving a message containing at least one condition from the network and monitoring the fulfillment of the provided condition;

Upon the fulfillment of a condition triggering an RRC Resume procedure or an equivalent procedure towards at least one target cell comprising:

This may be summarized by the flow diagram in Figure 3, which summarizes signalling between a UE, serving node and target node during a conditional RRC Resume procedure. In Figure 3, serving gNB may exchange user plane data with the UE. In step 1 , the UE sends a measurement report with“low” threshold to serving gNB. The serving gNB maks a HO decision based on this early report. In step 2, the serving gNB sends an early HO request to a target gNB. The target gNB accepts the HO request. The target gNB returns a HO ack to the serving gNB in step 3. In step 4, a conditional HO command with“high” threshold is sent to the UE. Subsequently, measurements by the UE may fulfil the HO condition of the conditional HO command. The UE thus triggers the pending conditional handover. The UE performs synchronization and random access with the target gNB in step 5, and in step 6 sends a RRCConnectionResumeRequest message to the target gNB. The target gNB may then exchange user plane data with the UE.

In general terms, both conditional handover and conditional resume may be considered as conditional mobility procedure.

Another example may comprise configuring conditional mobility and lists things in the configuration which are new compared to configuration of legacy handover. One of the purposes was to distinguish between an ordinary mobility message where the UE would trigger a mobility execution (e.g. handover) upon the reception of the message and a conditional message where the execution is only performed upon the triggering of an associated condition also provided in the message. Three different flavors of solutions have been considered.

- Solution a / Relies on an existing mobility message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration, RRCConnectionReconfiguration, etc.) enhanced with a flag in the RRC message that the configuration is a conditional handover. That may be a flag or field in the same message used to indicate a handover. And, if that is present the UE does not execute the handover until the associated condition is triggered. The message may be an RRCReconfiguration or an RRCConnectionReconfiguration.

o Nothing has been disclosed about the conditions and measurements associated for that solution.

- Solution b/ relies on an IE (information element) or a number of lEs that indicate that it is a conditional handover if these lEs are present in the message. That IE(s) may be the configuration associated to the condition itself, which may comprise implicitly or explicitly:

o Measurement threshold(s) associated to measurement quantities (e.g. for RSRP, RSRQ, SINR) for comparing the quality of at least an SpCell (e.g. PCell the UE is connected to) with the quality of at least one neighbour cell in a given frequency;

o A time to trigger so that the condition needs to hold for that time to be considered triggered

o Other measurement related parameters e.g. as defined in the A3 event defined in NR or LTE;

o At least one pointer to at least one element or field provided in the measConfig to that UE. For example, the UE may receive a measConfig with a list of measurement identifiers each defined by the triplet (measld, measObject, reportConfig). Then, upon using one of the identifiers in this field in CHO, the UE knows that the condition is associated to an already configured measurement identity.

- Solution c/ A new RRC message can be defined for conditional handover, see details below. That message comprises at least one condition associated to at least one RRCReconfiguration message, where each is possibly signaled as a bit string or using the message IE itself. In that solution, a single condition may be associated to multiple RRCReconfiguration like messages, where each message is only associated to a possible candidate cell. Or, alternatively, each condition may have its own associated RRCReconfiguration message, each associated to a potential target cell. That may be seen as a signalling optimization as the size of the message may become critical in case the UE receives conditional configurations for a high number of potential target candidate cells.

The following implementation in the NR RRC specifications (TS 38.331 ) considers an enhanced version of the RRCReconfiguration message carrying the Conditional Mobility (e.g. conditional handover) configurations:

_{*************************************************************************************************}

- RRCReconfiguration

The RRCReconfiguration message is the command to modify an RRC connection. It may convey information for measurement configuration, mobility control, radio resource configuration (including RBs, MAC main configuration and physical channel configuration) including a security configuration.

Signalling radio bearer: SRB1 or SRB3 RLC-SAP: AM

Logical channel: DCCH

Direction: Network to UE

RRCReconfiguration message

Nothing is mentioned in solution b / as described above about the measurements associated to the triggering condition provided to the UE inside the message.

The following implementation in the NR RRC specifications (TS 38.331 ) considers a new RRCConditionalReconfiguration message carrying the Conditional Mobility (e.g. conditional handover) configurations:

- RRCConditionalReconfiguration

The RRCConditionalReconfiguration message is the command to modify an RRC connection upon the triggering of an associated condition. It may convey information for measurement configuration, mobility control, radio resource configuration (including RBs, MAC main configuration and physical channel configuration) and security configuration.

Signalling radio bearer: SRB1 or SRB3

RLC-SAP: AM

Logical channel: DCCH

Direction: Network to UE

There currently exist certain challenge(s). For example, in examples for configuring conditional handover such as those described above, the UE is configured with at least one measurement related condition linked to conditional handover command (e.g. an RRCReconfiguration or RRCConnectionReconfiguration) where the UE may apply the mobility command and perform specified actions upon the triggering of the condition. For example, in solutions b/ and c/ described above.

Two problems arise from the above described examples:

A first problem is the consistency between measurements the UE is configured to perform (e.g. upon reception of a message containing a measConfig) and the measurements associated to the conditions the UE is provided with the conditional mobility command. In other words, it may not be certain the measurements required to be performed for monitoring the conditions are properly configured.

A second problem is the potentially large amount of configuration information provided to the UE in the conditional mobility message, which may be transmitted in poor radio conditions. Thus there is a high chance that the conditional mobility message may not be successfully received by the UE. Thus, retransmissions may be required, which may also be in poor radio conditions. Summary

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other problems. One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method performed by a wireless device. The method comprises receiving a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and performing the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method performed by a base station. The method comprises sending a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

A further aspect of the present disclosure provides a wireless device comprising a processor and a memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processor such that the wireless device is operable to receive a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and perform the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

A still further aspect of the present disclosure provides a base station comprising a processor and a memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processor such that the base station is operable to send a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

An additional aspect of the present disclosure provides a wireless device configured to receive a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and perform the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a base station configured to send a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

Brief Description of the Drawings

For a better understanding of examples of the present disclosure, and to show more clearly how the examples may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the following drawings in which:

Figure 1 summarizes signalling between a UE, source node and target node during a handover procedure;

Figure 2 summarizes signalling between a UE, serving node and target node during a conditional handover procedure;

Figure 3 summarizes signalling between a UE, serving node and target node during a conditional RRC Resume procedure;

Figure 4 illustrates actions performed by a UE and a network;

Figure 5 illustrates actions performed by a UE and a network;

Figure 6 illustrates actions performed by a UE and a network;

Figure 7 illustrates actions performed by a UE and a network;

Figure 8 is a flow chart of an example of a method performed by a wireless device;

Figure 9 is a flow chart of an example of a method performed by a base station;

Figure 10 shows an example of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments; Figure 1 1 shows an example of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 13 shows a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 14 shows a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 15 shows methods implemented in a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 16 shows methods implemented in a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 17 shows methods implemented in a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

Figure 18 shows methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments; and

Figure 19 illustrates a schematic block diagram of virtualization apparatus in accordance with some embodiments.

Detailed Description

The following sets forth specific details, such as particular embodiments or examples for purposes of explanation and not limitation. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other examples may be employed apart from these specific details. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, nodes, interfaces, circuits, and devices are omitted so as not obscure the description with unnecessary detail. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions described may be implemented in one or more nodes using hardware circuitry (e.g., analog and/or discrete logic gates interconnected to perform a specialized function, ASICs, PLAs, etc.) and/or using software programs and data in conjunction with one or more digital microprocessors or general purpose computers. Nodes that communicate using the air interface also have suitable radio communications circuitry. Moreover, where appropriate the technology can additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer-readable memory, such as solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.

Flardware implementation may include or encompass, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a reduced instruction set processor, hardware (e.g., digital or analogue) circuitry including but not limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC) and/or field programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and (where appropriate) state machines capable of performing such functions.

In an example, a method at the UE for a conditional mobility procedure is provided, the method comprising:

1 ) Receiving a conditional mobility configuration (e.g. RRCConditionalReconfiguration) which contains at least one triggering condition configuration (when fulfilled the UE shall trigger the mobility procedure) where the triggering condition has at least one reference/pointer to at least one measurement configuration;

2) Processing the configuration of 1 ) above and determining if the UE is performing measurements according to the measurement configuration pointed by the reference provided in the previous measurements;

o If UE is not performing these measurements, start performing measurements according to the measurement configuration pointed by the reference provided in the previous measurements;

o If UE is performing these measurements, continue performing measurements according to the measurement configuration pointed by the reference provided in the previous measurements (e.g. as shown in Figure 4, which illustrates an example of actions performed by a UE and a network.)

Referring further to Figure 4, the network sends a conditional mobility configuration to the UE. The conditional mobility configuration includes a triggering condition configuration, which includes a reference to a measurement configuration. For example, the reference to a measurement configuration may comprise a measurement configuration identifier, referred to in Figure 4 as identifier-X. The UE then determines whether it shall start measurements and the monitoring of the condition, or if the referred measurements (e.g. identified by identifier-X) are already being performed. After these two steps of the method, the UE may e.g. monitor a trigger condition according to the measurement configuration provided in 2) above and measurements performed by the UE, and upon the fulfillment of the condition, trigger the conditional mobility procedure.

In one example further development related to 1 ) above, the provided reference is a reference to a measurement configuration already stored at the UE, possibly received in a message processed before the message containing the reference/pointer and the conditional mobility configuration i.e. the conditional mobility configuration does not need to contain a measurement configuration. An example is shown in Figure 5, which illustrates an example of actions performed by a UE and a network. As shown in Figure 5, the network sends a conditional mobility configuration to the UE. The conditional mobility configuration includes a triggering condition configuration, which includes a reference to a measurement configuration (e.g. identifier-X). The UE then selects a measConfig (measurement configuration) from stored measurement configurations (with identifiers identifier-X1 , ..., identifier-Xn) at the UE.

In another example further development of 2) above, the provided reference is a reference to a measurement configuration that is provided with the conditional mobility configuration in the same message i.e. the message may contain a measurement configuration itself and a pointer/reference to it. An example is shown in Figure 6, which illustrates an example of actions performed by a UE and a network. The network sends a conditional mobility configuration to the UE. This configuration includes a triggering condition configuration which includes a reference to a measurement configuration (e.g. identifier-X). The conditional mobility configuration also includes a measurement configuration referred to using identifier-X. Before receiving the conditional mobility configuration, the UE has stored measurement configurations, but does not have measurement condition with identifier-X. The UE first processes the measurement configuration provided in the conditional mobility configuration, and may store the measurement configuration with identifier-X. The UE then selects a measConfig to monitor the triggering condition for conditional mobility. For example, the UE selects the measConfig with the identifier identifier-X.

In another example further development, a combination of the two previous developments may apply. In other words, the conditional mobility may contain the reference/pointer to a measurement configuration already stored at the UE or to a configuration that is being provided together with the conditional mobility configuration.

In another example further development, related to the 2 previous developments where UE may receive two types of measurement configurations that need to be distinguished by the UE e.g. by the fact they have different field names (although they might have the same IE / type) or that they are within different parts of the message processed upon different triggers. One type of measurement configuration is to be applied upon the reception of the message. That is the one prepared by the source node and refer to measurements the UE shall perform and may be related to the trigger condition the UE monitors for the conditional mobility triggering. The other type of measurement configuration is the one prepared by target node (or by multiple target nodes, in case the conditional mobility is associated to multiple cell candidates) and is the measurement configuration to be applied upon the triggering of the condition (prepared by target node).

In another example further development, related to the 3 previous developments where UE may receive a measurement configuration with a reference/pointer/index, and the index itself in the trigger condition configuration, the UE first needs to apply the measurement configuration (e.g. process that part of the message) to only then apply the conditional mobility part of the message, otherwise there may be a link to a measurement configuration not yet added / stored at the UE. An example is shown in Figure 7, which illustrates an example of actions performed by a UE and a network. The network sends a conditional mobility configuration to the UE. The conditional mobility configuration includes a measurement configuration associated to potential (candidate) target cell A, to be applied only if the triggering condition is fulfilled for target cell A. The conditional mobility configuration also includes a measurement configuration with identifier identifier-X, to be applied upon reception of the conditional mobility configuration (e.g. stored at the UE). The UE may then process the measurement configuration with identifier-X and store it, then select it based on the triggering condition configuration in the conditional mobility configuration, which refers to a measurement configuration with identifier-X.

In the above examples, where a network performs a step or sends a message or a conditional mobility configuration, this may be performed or sent by any suitable node in a network, for example a base station, which may be for example the base station of a serving cell of the UE that receives the message or conditional mobility configuration.

There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one or more of the issues disclosed herein. For example, according to one aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a wireless device. The method comprises receiving a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device. The method also comprises performing the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

According to another example aspect, there is provided a method performed by a base station, the method comprising sending a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). One of the advantages of methods disclosed herein is that they may provide a high level of consistency between the measurements that UE shall perform to possibly trigger a conditional mobility procedure (like a conditional handover, conditional reconfiguration with sync, conditional reconfiguration, conditional resume, etc.) and the measurements that the UE is required to perform according to measurement configuration.

Another possible benefit is a signalling optimization when configuring the UE with a conditional mobility command. In a typical scenario the UE has at least one stored measurement configuration when it receives a conditional mobility configuration provided by the network. Then, by omitting the whole measurement configuration associated to the triggering condition and simply adding a link to existing configuration already stored at the UE, additional bits do not need to be repeated over the air.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

In some embodiments, there is provided a method 800 shown in Figure 8, which is a flow chart of an example of a method 800 performed by a wireless device. The method 800 comprises, in step 802, receiving a message, for example from a serving cell of the wireless device, or a base station associated with the serving cell. The message comprises an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device. For example, the message may comprise an instruction such that the wireless device should configure itself to carry out a conditional mobility procedure, e.g. the wireless device should perform certain measurements (e.g. a measurement periodically) and carry out a mobility procedure (e.g. move to another cell, such as a handover procedure) when a result of the measurement meets a condition of the conditional mobility procedure.

The message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal (e.g. a reference signal) received at the wireless device (e.g. from a candidate target cell for a mobility procedure by the wireless device). For example, the reference may be an index in a list of configurations of measurements that could be performed by the wireless device. The wireless device may then for example retrieve or obtain the configuration of the measurement using the reference, and may thus configure itself to perform the measurement. The configuration may be obtained or retrieved for example from a local storage of the wireless device. Additionally or alternatively, the configuration information may be contained within the message or provided to the wireless device in an earlier message.

The method 800 also comprises, in step 804, performing the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

In some examples, the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure identifies the condition, and the method further comprises identifying the condition from the message. Thus the message may include or indicate the condition. Alternatively, in some examples, the method further comprises identifying the condition from a condition reference in the message. Thus, for example, the condition may be obtained or retrieved by the wireless device using the reference, e.g. in local storage and/or from a prior message to the wireless device.

In some examples, the configuration of the measurement is associated with a condition, and the method further comprises identifying the condition using the reference to the configuration of the measurement. Thus, for example, retrieving or obtaining the configuration of the measurement may also retrieve the condition.

In some examples, the method further comprises determining if the wireless device is performing the measurement (e.g. periodically), and if the wireless device is not performing the measurement, configuring the wireless device to perform the measurement (e.g. periodically). For example, the wireless device may be configured to perform the measurement and thus may not need to be configured again to perform the measurement. However, if the wireless device is not configured to perform the measurement, the wireless device may be configured to do so, such that the wireless device may determine when the result of the measurement meets the condition and can thus carry out the conditional mobility procedure. In some examples, the configuration of the measurement indicates a time period for periodically performing the measurement.

The method may in some examples further comprise receiving the configuration of the measurement before receiving the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure. For example, the configuration of the measurement may be received in an earlier message. In some examples, the method comprises storing the configuration of the measurement before configuring the conditional mobility procedure. For example, the wireless device may store the configuration in a local storage such as random access memory (RAM), flash storage or other storage. Thus the wireless device may later be able to retrieve the configuration from the storage, e.g. in response to the message.

In some examples, the message includes information associated with the configuration of the measurement, and the method comprises updating the configuration of the measurement based on the information associated with the configuration of the measurement. For example, a configuration associated with a particular reference may include details of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device (e.g. when the wireless device is configured to do so). Flowever, the information included in the message may include the same reference and different details, and thus the wireless device may for example update the details (e.g. in local storage) associated with the reference to match the information in the message.

The message or a second message may in some examples indicate a second reference to a second configuration of a second measurement to be performed by the wireless device. In such cases, the method may further comprise carrying out an alternative conditional mobility procedure when a result of the second measurement meets a condition associated with the additional conditional mobility procedure or the condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure. The conditional mobility procedure and the alternative conditional mobility procedure may be associated with different cells. For example, the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a first cell, and the alternative conditional mobility procedure is associated with a second cell different to the first cell. In some examples, the message further configures the alternative conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device. Alternatively, for example, the method further comprises receiving an additional message configuring the alternative conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device. In some examples, the method further comprises configuring the wireless device to carry out the second measurement upon receipt of the message. This may comprise for example determining whether the wireless device is already performing the second measurement, and configuring the device to do so if not. The measurement may be different to the second measurement. For example, the measurement may be whether a signal (e.g. reference signal) from a first cell exceeds a first threshold or exceeds a signal from the serving cell by a first threshold amount, and the second measurement may be whether a signal from a second cell exceeds a second threshold or exceeds a signal from the serving cell by a second threshold amount. The first cell may be different to the second cell and/or the first threshold may be different to the second threshold.

The message may on some examples include an Information Element (IE) configuring the conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device and/or indicating the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

In some examples, the message is received from a serving cell of the wireless device.

The mobility procedure may in some examples be associated with the condition and a candidate target cell. In such cases, the method may further comprise receiving the message, and receiving one or more additional messages, each additional message configuring a respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of one or more additional candidate target cells. Thus for example the wireless device may be configured with multiple conditional mobility procedures. The respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the candidate target cell and the one or more additional candidate target cells is associated with the condition. That is, for example, two or more (or in some cases all) of the conditional mobility procedures may share the same condition, e.g. a respective signal (e.g. reference signal) from the associated candidate target cells meets one or more criteria, such as for example signal strength or signal strength relative to the strength of a signal from a currently serving cell. In some examples, the respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each (e.g. all) or one or more of the additional candidate target cells is associated with a respective additional condition.

In some examples, the message comprises an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message or a RRC Reconfiguration message.

The conditional mobility procedure may for example comprise a handover (e.g. conditional handover) to a target cell or a resume procedure (e.g. conditional resume procedure) to a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure. For example, the resume procedure comprises an RRC Resume procedure.

In some examples, determining that the condition has been met comprises monitoring a parameter.

In some examples, the method may comprise determining that the condition has been met. This may comprise for example determining that the parameter exceeds a threshold. The parameter may for example comprise a signal strength of a signal (e.g. a reference signal) received at the wireless device from at least one candidate target cell associated with the mobility procedure.

In some examples, the condition comprises whether a signal strength of a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold, and/or whether the signal strength of the candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength threshold. The method may thus in some examples comprise configuring the conditional mobility procedure in response to a signal strength of a candidate target cell being greater than the signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is lower than the first threshold. For example, the second threshold being met may prompt a communication such as a measurement report from the wireless device to the serving cell, and in response the serving cell may instruct the wireless device to configure the conditional mobility procedure.

In some examples, determining that the condition has been met comprises determining that an A3 event has been triggered. The method may thus in some examples comprise triggering the A3 event when a signal strength of a candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold.

In other example embodiments, there is provided a method 900 shown in Figure 9, which is a flow chart of an example of a method 900 performed by a base station. The method 900 comprises, in step 902, sending a message to a wireless device. The base station may thus for example be associated with a serving cell of the wireless device. The message includes an indication (e.g. an instruction) for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device. The message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition. The wireless device may thus for example identify the configuration and/or retrieve configuration details for the conditional mobility procedure from the reference in the message, for example by using the reference to retrieve the condition from a stored list of configurations and/or associated details.

In some examples, the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure identifies the condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure. Alternatively, the message further includes a reference for identifying the condition. The wireless device may thus for example identify the condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure from the message or from the reference identifying the condition in the message, for example by using the reference to retrieve the condition from a stored list of conditions.

In some examples, the configuration of the measurement indicates a time period for periodically performing the measurement.

The method in some examples comprises sending the configuration of the measurement to the wireless device before sending the message to the wireless device, e.g. in an earlier message.

The message may for example include information associated with the configuration of the measurement. This information could for example then be stored by the wireless device for later retrieval, and/or used by the wireless device for configuring the conditional mobility procedure. Additionally or alternatively, for example, if configuration details associated with the reference are stored or otherwise accessible by the wireless device, and the message includes different information associated with the same reference, the wireless device may update the stored/retrievable details associated with the reference in accordance with the information in the message.

In some examples, the message or a further message sent to the wireless device by the base station indicates a second reference to a second configuration of a second measurement to be performed by the wireless device. The conditional mobility procedure may therefore in some examples be associated with a first cell associated with the base station, and the alternative conditional mobility procedure is associated with a second cell different to the first cell. Thus the method may for example comprise receiving the second configuration from a node (e.g. other base station) associated with the second cell. The base station may then forward the details of the second configuration to the wireless device for example. In some examples, the message further configures the alternative conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device. In some examples, the method further comprises sending an additional message configuring the alternative conditional mobility procedure to the wireless device. The measurement may for example be different to the second measurement.

In some examples, the message includes an Information Element (IE) configuring the conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device and/or indicating the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

The base station may be associated with a serving cell of the wireless device in some examples.

In some examples, the mobility procedure is associated with the condition and a candidate target cell. The method may then in some examples further comprise sending the message and one or more additional messages to the wireless device, each additional message configuring a respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of one or more additional candidate target cells. The respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the candidate target cell and the one or more additional candidate target cells may thus associated with the condition in some examples. The respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the additional candidate target cells may be associated with a respective additional condition.

The message may in some examples comprise an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message or a RRC Reconfiguration message.

In some examples, the conditional mobility procedure comprises a handover (e.g conditional handover) to a target cell or a resume procedure (e.g. conditional resume procedure) to a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure. Therefore, for example, the resume procedure may comprise an RRC Resume procedure.

The condition may in some examples comprise whether a signal strength of a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold, and/or whether the signal strength of the candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength threshold.

Particular example embodiments will now be described below.

The term“conditional mobility” or“conditional mobility procedure” may be used in some examples to refer to conditional handover, conditional resume, conditional reconfiguration with sync, and/or conditional reconfiguration. The term should be interpreted as any procedure (that is in some examples configured by network) to the UE which contains a condition (e.g. associated to measurement event) and, upon the triggering of that condition, the UE shall perform the mobility related procedure e.g. resume., handover, reconfiguration with sync, beam switching, etc.

The term“reference” may be used in some examples to refer to the link, pointer, association or any means to index and identify a measurement configuration that is either stored at the UE or that is being provided to the UE together with the conditional mobility configuration.

The method of some examples may apply for a conditional mobility configuration associated to a single cell or to multiple cells. In the case of single cell, a single measurement configuration reference is provided and linked to a mobility procedure. In the case of multiple cells, a single measurement configuration reference may be provided and linked to the monitoring of multiple cells e.g. within the same measurement object / frequency. Or alternatively, multiple measurement configuration references may be provided and referred to different cells.

At least some, most or all of the wireless device (also referred to herein interchangeably as a User Equipment, UE) and/or network actions defined herein may be described as being performed in New Radio, NR, 5G or Long Term Evolution, LTE. In other words, the configuration of a conditional HO received in NR and executed in NR. However, in some examples the method(s) disclosed herein may also be applied in the following cases, at least:

UE is configured with a condition HO in NR, then the condition is triggered and UE executes the HO in LTE;

UE is configured with a condition HO in LTE, then the condition is triggered and UE executes the HO in NR;

Or, in more general terms, UE is configured with a condition HO in RAT-1 , then the condition is triggered and UE executes the HO in RAT-2;

At least some, most or all of the UE and/or network actions defined herein may be described in some examples in terms of handover or reconfigurations with sync, which may comprise the change of a cell. However, the method(s) disclosed herein may also comprise for example the cases where a cell is added, for example in case of multi-connectivity scenarios such as carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, EN-DC, NR-DC, MR-DC, etc. In that case, the configuration of a conditional mobility procedure (e.g. conditional HO) as described herein may be described as a conditional configuration for SCG addition or SCell addition, or equivalent. The method may also in some examples comprise the case of an intra-cell procedure relying on conditional mobility, e.g. a reconfiguration with sync with cell identity the same as a serving cell.

Embodiments described herein may use a “measurement configuration” and a link/reference to it. Examples of a reference (also used interchangeably herein with“link” in some examples).

In one embodiment the measurement configuration may be a measConfig field (or equivalent field) of type / Information Element (IE) MeasConfig (or any other IE within MeasConfig shown below, such as reportConfig or measld, or measObject).

In another embodiment, the measConfig field of IE MeasConfig is provided in a message that does not contain the conditional mobility configuration and is stored to be possibly referred later. For example, messages such as RRCReconfiguration and RRCResume (e.g. in NR) or RRCConnectionReconfiguration and RRCConnectionResume (e.g. in EUTRA), provided upon resume, upon an intra-cell reconfiguration or upon handovers, PSCell change, etc.

In a further embodiment, a measConfig field of IE MeasConfig is provided in a message that also contains the conditional mobility configuration. For example, messages such as RRCReconfiguration and RRCResume (e.g. in NR) or RRCConnectionReconfiguration and RRCConnectionResume (e.g. in EUTRA). That can either be a new message for conditional mobility or be provided within an IE associated to conditional mobility within a mobility message.

In such a case, this message may in some examples actually contain two measurement configurations, one to be applied upon the reception of the message and another to be applied only upon the triggering of the condition. Another solution is to provide two RRCReconfiguration messages, one first containing the measConfig followed by another with the conditional mobility.

An example of an ASN.1 code from the NR RRC specifications is shown for the MeasConfig IE referred to above, where only a subset of fields are shown. This is an example of what is referred to in the paragraph above as a“measurement configuration”.

- MeasConfig

The IE MeasConfig specifies measurements to be performed by the UE, and covers intra-frequency, inter-frequency and inter-RAT mobility as well as configuration of measurement gaps.

MeasConfig information element

In one example embodiment, the“measurement configuration” may be any field that may be present in the IE MeasConfig as defined above (NR MeasConfig IE is used as reference, but in general terms that may be any field in any MeasConfig IE). For example, the measurement configuration referred to herein may in some examples be at least one of the following:

Reporting configuration (e.g. reportConfig field of IE ReportConfigNR present in MeasConfig); That may be one reportConfig form a list provided in measConfig.

- Measurement object (e.g. measObject field of IE ReportConfigNR present in MeasConfig);

- Measurement identifier to be added or modified that associates a reporting configuration to a measurement object.

A measurement identifier as described above, in ASN.1 encoding according to the NR RRC specifications (TS 38.331 ) may be one of a list included in MeasConfig IE, e.g., one of the measldToAddModList (i.e. a list of MeasIdToAddMod), as show below:

- MeasldToAddModList

The IE MeasldToAddModList concerns a list of measurement identities to add or modify, with for each entry the measld, the associated measObjectld and the associated reportConfigld.

MeasldToAddModList information element

Each element in this list has a measld which indexes the“measurement configuration” as described in some examples herein and associates to a measurement object and reporting configuration via respective indexes (otherwise referred to as references or links) in lists of reporting configuration and measurements objects.

That measld is the one used in the conditional mobility configuration so that UE knows which measurement, reporting configuration, and measurement object is associated to the triggering condition for conditional mobility and starts he monitoring condition accordingly.

In one example embodiment, the configured measld is associated to a reportConfig of reportType eventTriggered which may have configured an event A1 , A2, A3, A4, A5 or A6. Upon configuring that measurement, the UE shall perform measurements accordingly and monitor the report trigger condition for the configured event. If that same measurement is later referred in conditional mobility configuration, the UE monitors both conditions for the same measld, even though these may trigger different actions or parallel actions (e.g. measurement reporting to source and conditional handover/mobility).

In one example embodiment, the configured measld is associated to a reportConfig of a newly defined reportType, e.g. conditionalMobilityEvent which may have a structure very similar to triggered events such as A1 , A2, A3, A4, A5 or A6, which may be implemented as using the same IE for eventTriggered configuration and conditionalMobilityEvent configuration. Alternatively, using a subset of the possible configurations in EventTriggerCoinfig e.g. only fields and lEs relate dot A3-like event that is herein translated in a condition. Therein, at least A3 should be possible to be configured, for conditional coverage-based handovers/reconfiguration with sync. Upon configuring that measurement, the UE may not perform measurements accordingly and/or may not monitor the report trigger condition for the configured event until it receives a conditional mobility message with that measld present being referred. Hence, the reception of the conditional mobility message may trigger the UE to start performing measurements. There may also be a flag indicating that the measurement reporting condition is triggered jointly with a potential conditional mobility.

The reportConfig and/or measld may contain an indication that a given measurement identifiers associated to a reportConfig and measObject is not associated to a measurement report triggering (or periodical) but to a conditional mobility procedure. That indication may be a flag inside the eventT riggered configuration (or inside a specific event configuration, like A3). Or, alternatively, a new reportConfig type may also be defined, with structure similar to eventTriggered.

In a possible example set of implementations of embodiments described herein, in ASN.1 encoding according to the NR RRC specifications (TS 38.331 ), a conditional mobility IE in RRCReconfiguration in the RRCReconfiguration message contains in the condReconfiguration a reference/link to a measurement identifier. That identifier is associated to a stored measObject and reportConfig. The measObject frequency may in some examples need to be consistent with the frequency provided in the reconfigurationWithSync in the same message, otherwise the UE may trigger an RRC compliance failure (which leads to an RRC reestablishment procedure). Upon receiving that measld reference/link/pointer, for example, the UE starts performing these measurements, if not yet started, and starts monitoring a triggering condition in the reporting configuration associated to that measld, if not already being monitored. Upon the triggering of the condition, at least trigger the mobility conditional procedure, which includes applying the RRCReconfiguration message including a reconfigurationWithSync (in the case of NR). In LTE, the equivalent would be a mobility Controllnfo.

Below is shown an example of an enhanced version of the RRCReconfiguration message defined in NR RRC specifications (TS 38.331 ) where the enhanced version of the message includes a measurement identifier (encoded as a measldCond field of IE Measld) linked to a configured measurement identifier that is part of the UE’s measurement configuration (either received in a previous message (and stored at the UE) or received in the same message:

RRCReconfiguration

The RRCReconfiguration message is the command to modify an RRC connection. It may convey information for measurement configuration, mobility control, radio resource configuration (including RBs, MAC main configuration and physical channel configuration) including and security configuration.

Signalling radio bearer: SRB1 or SRB3

RLC-SAP: AM

Logical channel: DCCH

Direction: Network to UE

RRCReconfiguration message

Measld The IE Measld is used to identify a measurement configuration, i.e., linking of a measurement object and a reporting configuration.

Implementation 1 a

In this first example implementation, the reportConfig associated to the measld referred in the condReconfiguration is of eventTriggered type e.g. A3 event, etc. In this solution the UE is configured to perform measurement according to a provided measurement configuration (measConfig), i.e., there is no need to define any additional measurement requirements based on the reception of a conditional mobility command. From specifications perspective, we do not need to define a new section for UE performing measurements, as we may rely on the sub-clause 5.5. The reason is that the conditional mobility command contains a link to a measurement identifier configured at the UE.

Procedural text for this first implementation 1 a may be for example as follows:

5.3.5.3 Reception of an RRCReconfiguration by the UE

The UE shall:

The UE shall perform the following actions upon reception of the RRCReconfiguration not

Including condUecon dgu/a do/? or, If secluded, open the triggering ef the associated condition in conUffecorj/fgumf/on: 1 > if the RRCReconfiguration includes the fullConfig :

2> perform the radio configuration procedure as specified in 5.3.5.1 1 ;

1 > if the RRCReconfiguration includes the masterCellGroup :

2> perform the cell group configuration for the received masterCellGroup according to 5.3.5.5;

1 > if the RRCReconfiguration includes the masterKeyUpda te :

2> perform security key update procedure as specified in 5.3.5.7;

1 > if the RRCReconfiguration includes the secondaryCellGroup\

2> perform the cell group configuration for the SCG according to 5.3.5.5; 1 > if the RRCReconfiguration message contains the radioBearerConfig :

2> perform the radio bearer configuration according to 5.3.5.Q;

1 > if the RRCReconfiguration message includes the measConfig :

2> perform the measurement configuration procedure as specified in 5.5.2;

1 > if the RRCReconfiguration message includes the dedicatedSIB 1 -Delivery. 2> perform the action upon reception of SIB1 as specified in 5.2.2.4.2;

1 > if the RRCReconfiguration message includes the dedicatedSystemlnformationDelivery.

2> perform the action upon reception of System Information as specified in 5.2.2.4;

1 >set the content of RRCReconfigurationComplete message as follows:

2> if the RRCReconfiguration includes the masterCellGroup containing the

reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent, or;

2> if the RRCReconfiguration includes the secondaryCellGroup containing the

reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent

3> include the uplinkTxDirectCurrentList,

1 > if the UE is configured with E-UTRA nr-SecondaryCellGroupConfig (MCG is E-UTRA):

2> if RRCReconfiguration was received via SRB1 : 3> submit the RRCReconfigurationComplete \/ ia the EUTRA MCG embedded in E- UTRA RRC message RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete as specified in TS 36.331 [10];

3> if reconfigurationWithSync was included in spCellConfig of an SCG: 4> initiate the random access procedure on the SpCell, as specified in TS 38.321

[3];

3>else:

4>the procedure ends;

NOTE: The order the UE sends the

RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message and performs the Random

Access procedure towards the SCG is left to UE implementation.

2>else ( RRCReconfiguration was received via SRB3):

3> submit the RRCReconfigurationComplete message via SRB3 to lower layers for transmission using the new configuration; NOTE: For EN-DC, in the case RRCReconfiguration is received via SRB1 , the random access is triggered by RRC layer itself as there is not necessarily other UL transmission. In the case RRCReconfiguration is received via SRB3, the random access is triggered by the MAC layer due to arrival of

RRCReconfigurationComplete. 1 > else:

2> submit the RRCReconfigurationComplete message via SRB1 to lower layers for transmission using the new configuration;

2> if this is the first RRCReconfiguration message after successful completion of the RRC re-establishment procedure: 3> resume SRB2 and DRBs that are suspended;

1 > if reconfigurationWithSync was included in spCellConfig o f an MCG or SCG, and when MAC of an NR cell group successfully completes a random access procedure;

2>stop timer T304 for that cell group; 2> apply the parts of the CQI reporting configuration, the scheduling request configuration and the sounding RS configuration that do not require the UE to know the SFN of the respective target SpCell, if any;

2> apply the parts of the measurement and the radio resource configuration that require the UE to know the SFN of the respective target SpCell (e.g. measurement gaps, periodic CQI reporting, scheduling request configuration, sounding RS configuration), if any, upon acquiring the SFN of that target SpCell;

2> if the reconfigurationWithSync was included in spCellConfig o f an MCG:

3>stop timer T390, if running, for all access categories; 3> if RRCReconfiguration does not include dedicatedSIBI -Delivery and

3> if the active downlink BWP, which is indicated by the firstActiveDownlinkBWP-ld for the target SpCell of the MCG, has a common search space configured by searchSpaceSIB 1 :

4> acquire the SIB1 of the target SpCell of the MCG, as specified in 5.2.2.3.1 which is scheduled as specified in TS 38.213 [13];

4> upon acquiring SIB1, perform the actions specified in section 5.2.2.4.2.

2>the procedure ends.

NOTE: The UE is only required to acquire broadcasted SIB1 if the UE can acquire it without disrupting unicast data reception, i.e. the broadcast and unicast beams are quasi co-located.

5.5 Measurements

5.5.1 Introduction

The network may configure an RRC_CONNECTED UE to perform measurements and report them in accordance with the measurement configuration. The measurement configuration is provided by means of dedicated signalling i.e. using the RRCReconfiguration.

The network may configure the UE to perform the following types of measurements: 5.5.x Conditional mobility triggering The UE shall:

1 > if the roeas/d provided In coedCecorh/gorat/on exists in the measidUst within the CedfeasCoo/Tr 2> perform the evaluation of reporting criteria as spec: see in 5.5.4 for the associated meas/d;

2> :f the reporfType associated to this measib is set to ecem7agp¾red and it the entry condition applicable for this event, :.e. the event corresponding with the ecanWd cf the corresponding reponCon% wrthin darfvfeasConrfe, is fulfilled for the ceil provided in the wwoocgurafwai/wf/dnwc lor all measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during time ToTrigger def Ined ter this event within the VarMeasConfig:

3> perform actions as specified in 5.3.5.3;

1 > else:

2> perform the actions as specified In 5.3 5.8.2;

5.3.5.8.2 Inability to comply with RRCReconfiguration The UE shall:

1 > if the UE is operating in EN-DC:

2> if the UE is unable to comply with (part of) the configuration included in the

RRCReconfiguration message received over SRB3;

3> continue using the configuration used prior to the reception of

RRCReconfiguration message;

3> initiate the SCG failure information procedure as specified in subclause 5.7.3 to report SCG reconfiguration error, upon which the connection reconfiguration procedure ends;

2> else, if the UE is unable to comply with (part of) the configuration included in the RRCReconfiguration message received over MCG SRB1 ; 3> continue using the configuration used prior to the reception of

RRCReconfiguration message;

3> initiate the connection re-establishment procedure as specified in TS 36.331 [10, 5.3.7], upon which the connection reconfiguration procedure ends. 1 > else if RRCReconfiguration is received via NR:

RRCReconfiguration message;

3> continue using the configuration used prior to the reception of

RRCReconfiguration message; 3> if security has not been activated:

4> perform the actions upon going to RRCJDLE as specified in 5.3.1 1 , with release cause other,

3>else:

4> initiate the connection re-establishment procedure as specified in 5.3.7, upon which the reconfiguration procedure ends;

1 >else if RRCReconfiguration is received via other RAT (HO to NR failure):

2> if the UE is unable to comply with any part of the configuration included in the

RRCReconfiguration message:

3> perform the actions defined for this failure case as defined in the specifications applicable for the other RAT.

NOTE 1 : The UE may apply above failure handling also in case the RRCReconfiguration message causes a protocol error for which the generic error handling as defined in 10 specifies that the UE shall ignore the message.

NOTE 2: If the UE is unable to comply with part of the configuration, it does not apply any part of the configuration, i.e. there is no partial success/failure.

_{*********************************************************************************************************}

Implementation 1 b In this implementation, the reportConfig associated to the measld referred in the condReconfiguration has a new reportType named conditionalMobility with IE EventTriggerConfig. That may be a subset of the configuration in EventTriggerConfig, for example, comprising only a subset of events like A3 event.

5.5 x Conditional mobility triggering The LIE shall:

1 > sl the meas/d provided in condReconfiguraiion exists In the meas/dl/st within the

Va/MeasConr/g.

2> perform the evaluation ef the criteria as specified in 5 5.4 for the associated areas/d;

2> If the reporffvpe is set to cead/fona/Meddre and if the entry condition applicable for this event, i.e the event corresponding with the ecenf/d oi the corresponding reportConfig within VarMeasConflg, is fulfilled for the ceil provided In the

meon%ma?/oni/i@nSync for ail measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during 7 o /r¾ger defined for this event within the l/arMeasCoapm

Implementation 1c

In this example implementation, the UE has a configured measld and is monitoring a trigger condition for an eventTriggered reportType and, upon the fulfilment of the condition for the cell indicated in the reconfigurationWithSync in the conditional mobility configuration, the UE sends a measurement report to the source node and, triggers the condition and perform the mobility procedure i.e. apply the configuration.

In these implementations (1 a, 1 b, 1 c, etc.), the UE may in some examples have stored multiple RRCReconfiguration messages, each with a condition linked to a stored measld, and upon the reception of each start the monitoring of a trigger condition.

Implementation 1d

In this example implementation, the condition is modelled as part of the measurement reporting triggering conditions, in sub-clause 5.5.4. The difference may be that one distinguishes the events triggering reports and events triggering a conditional mobility procedure e.g. by the new reportType as described in previous embodiments.

As an example of how the NR RCC specifications could be implemented, procedural text for this implementation 1d may be for example as follows:

2> perform the evaluation of the criteria as speeded in 5 5.4 for the associated raeas/d;

5.5.4 Measurement report triggering 5.5.4.1 General If security has been activated successfully, the UE shall:

1 > for each measld included in the measldList within VarMeasConfig·.

2> if the corresponding reportConfig\nc\udes a reportType set to eventTriggered or periodical·,

3> if the corresponding measObject concerns NR; 4> if the eventAI or eventA2 is configured in the corresponding reportConfig:

5> consider only the serving cell to be applicable;

4>else:

5>for events involving a serving cell associated with a measObjectNRand neighbours associated with another measObjectNR, consider any serving cell associated with the other measObjectNR to be a neighbouring cell as well;

5> if useWhiteCellList is set to TRUE:

6> consider any neighbouring cell detected based on parameters in the associated measObjectNRto be applicable when the concerned cell is included in the whiteCellsToAddModList defined within the

VarMeasConfig for this measld;

5> else:

6> consider any neighbouring cell detected based on parameters in the associated measObjectNRto be applicable when the concerned cell is not included in the blackCellsToAddModList defined within the

VarMeasConfig for this measld;

3>else if the corresponding measObject concerns E-UTRA; 4> consider any neighbouring cell detected on the associated frequency to be applicable when the concerned cell is not included in the

blackCellsToAddModListEUTRAN defined within the VarMeasConfig for this measld ;

2> if the corresponding reportConfig includes a reportType set to reportCGh

3> consider the cell detected on the associated measObject which has a physical cell identity matching the value of the cellForWhichToReportCGI included in the corresponding reportConfig within the VarMeasConfig to be applicable;

2> if the reportType is set to oood;i/cwa//vto0;S/y and il the entry condition applicable tor this event, i.e. the event corresponding with the evem/d of the corresponding reportConfig within VarMeasConfig, is fulfilled for the cell Indicated so

recoo%eradooW//0%oc for all measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during hme 7b Tagger defined for this event within the ½tdWeasCoo;rg:

3> perform actions as speeded in 5 3.5 3;

2> if the reportType is set to eventTriggered and if the entry condition applicable for this event, i.e. the event corresponding with the eventld of the corresponding reportConfig within VarMeasConfig, is fulfilled for one or more applicable cells for all measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during timeToTrigger defined for this event within the VarMeasConfig, while the VarMeasReportList does not include a measurement reporting entry for this measld {a first cell triggers the event):

3> include a measurement reporting entry within the VarMeasReportList tor this measld ;

3>set the numberOfReportsSent defined within the VarMeasReportList tor this measld to 0;

3> include the concerned cell(s) in the cellsTriggeredList defined within the

VarMeasReportList for this measld ;

3> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5;

2> if the reportType is set to eventTriggered and if the entry condition applicable for this event, i.e. the event corresponding with the eventld of the corresponding reportConfig within VarMeasConfig, is fulfilled for one or more applicable cells not included in the cellsTriggeredList for all measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during timeToTrigger defined for this event within the VarMeasConfig (a subsequent cell triggers the event):

3>set the numberOfReportsSent defined within the VarMeasReportList for this measld to 0; 3> include the concerned cell(s) in the cellsTriggeredList defined within the

VarMeasReportList for this measld ;

3> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5; > if the reportType is set to eventTriggered and if the leaving condition applicable for this event is fulfilled for one or more of the cells included in the cellsTriggeredList defined within the VarMeasReportList for this measld for all measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during timeToTrigger defined within the VarMeasConfig for this event:

3> remove the concerned cell(s) in the cellsTriggeredList defined within the

VarMeasReportList for this measld ; 3> if reportOnLeave is set to TRUE for the corresponding reporting configuration:

4> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5;

3> if the cellsTriggeredList defined within the VarMeasReportList for this measld is empty:

4> remove the measurement reporting entry within the VarMeasReportList for this measld ;

4>stop the periodical reporting timer for this measld, if running; > if reportType is set to periodical and if a (first) measurement result is available:

3> include a measurement reporting entry within the VarMeasReportList for this measld ; 3>set the numberOfReportsSent defined within the VarMeasReportList for this measld to 0;

4> if the reportAmount exceeds 1 : 5> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5, immediately after the quantity to be reported becomes available for the NR SpCell;

4>else (i.e. the report Amount s equal to 1 ): 5> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5,

immediately after the quantity to be reported becomes available for the NR SpCell and for the strongest cell among the applicable cells;

2> upon expiry of the periodical reporting timer for this measld:

3> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5. 2> if reportType is set to reportCGl·,

3> if the UE acquired the SIB1 or SystemlnformationBlockTypel for the requested cell; or

3> if the UE detects that the requested NR cell is not transmitting SIB1 (see TS 38.213 [13], section 13): 4> stop timer T321 ;

4> include a measurement reporting entry within the VarMeasReportListfor this measld·,

4>set the numberOfReportsSent defined within the VarMeasReportListtor this measld to 0; 4> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5;

2> upon the expiry of T321 for this measld :

3> include a measurement reporting entry within the VarMeasReportListfor this measld ;

3>set the numberOfReportsSent defined within the VarMeasReportListtor this measld to 0;

3> initiate the measurement reporting procedure, as specified in 5.5.5.

_{***************************************************************} Possible implementations in the NR RRC specifications (new message carrying one or multiple conditional mobility commands)

In the following example implementations, as an example of how the NR RCC specifications could be changed, a new conditional mobility message RRCConditionalReconfiguration contains at least one condition linked to a measurement identifier stored at the UE, linked to a mobility command e.g. an RRCReconfiguration message with a reconfigurationWithSync.

- RRCConditionalReconfiguration

The RRCConditionalReconfiguration message is the command to modify an RRC connection upon the triggering of an associated condition. It may convey information for measurement configuration, mobility control, radio resource configuration (including RBs, MAC main configuration and physical channel configuration) including and security configuration.

Signalling radio bearer: SRB1 or SRB3

RLC-SAP: AM

Logical channel: DCCH

Direction: Network to UE

RRCConditionalReconfiguration message

Other implementations like 1 a, 1 b, 1 c, 1 d are also possible under the assumption here that a new message is defined. 5 3.5.X Reception of an RRCCond/fmna/r¾eon%nrafiOr; by the UE

The UE shall:

1 > store the received condRecon/fgwabon;. as messages

1 > perform actions as specified in perform the actions as specified in 5.5.x;

5.5.x Conditional mobility triggering The UE shall:

1 > If the meas/b provided in coedCecodCyemfmoLiSt exists in the meas!dUsi w\h\n the darMeasCon/fg:

2> perform the evaluation of the criteria as specified In 5.5.4 for each associated meas/d; 2> if the repoa/j/oe is set to event f agganad and if the entry condition applicable for this event, i.e. the event corresponding with the evenf/d of the corresponding reportConfig within VarMeasConfig, Is fulfilled for the cell provided in the reconneeraffonRdfdSjme for all measurements after layer 3 filtering taken during fane 7b Tagger defined for this event within the varPTeasCen/m.

3> perform actions as specified in 5 3.5.3.

If the message also contains a measConfig, UE may in some examples first apply the measConfig, to then apply the link e.g. in case the UE first configures that.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in Figure 10. For simplicity, the wireless network of Figure 10 only depicts network QQ106, network nodes QQ160 and QQ160b, and WDs QQ1 10, QQ1 10b, and QQ1 10c. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node QQ160 and wireless device (WD) QQ1 10 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.1 1 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network QQ106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices. Network node QQ160 and WD QQ1 10 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In Figure 10, network node QQ160 includes processing circuitry QQ170, device readable medium QQ180, interface QQ190, auxiliary equipment QQ184, power source QQ186, power circuitry QQ187, and antenna QQ162. Although network node QQ160 illustrated in the example wireless network of Figure 10 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node QQ160 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium QQ180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node QQ160 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node QQ160 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB’s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node QQ160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium QQ180 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna QQ162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node QQ160 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ160, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ160.

Processing circuitry QQ170 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry QQ170 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry QQ170 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Processing circuitry QQ170 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ160 components, such as device readable medium QQ180, network node QQ160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry QQ170 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium QQ180 or in memory within processing circuitry QQ170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ172 and baseband processing circuitry QQ174 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry QQ170 executing instructions stored on device readable medium QQ180 or memory within processing circuitry QQ170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry QQ1 70 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry QQ170 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry QQ170 alone or to other components of network node QQ160, but are enjoyed by network node QQ160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium QQ180 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer- executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry QQ170. Device readable medium QQ180 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry QQ170 and, utilized by network node QQ160. Device readable medium QQ180 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry QQ170 and/or any data received via interface QQ190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ170 and device readable medium QQ180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface QQ190 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node QQ160, network QQ106, and/or WDs QQ1 10. As illustrated, interface QQ190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) QQ194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network QQ106 over a wired connection. Interface QQ190 also includes radio front end circuitry QQ192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna QQ162. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 comprises filters QQ198 and amplifiers QQ196. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may be connected to antenna QQ162 and processing circuitry QQ170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ162 and processing circuitry QQ170. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry QQ192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ198 and/or amplifiers QQ196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna QQ162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna QQ162 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry QQ192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry QQ170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node QQ160 may not include separate radio front end circuitry QQ192, instead, processing circuitry QQ170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna QQ162 without separate radio front end circuitry QQ192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry QQ172 may be considered a part of interface QQ190. In still other embodiments, interface QQ190 may include one or more ports or terminals QQ194, radio front end circuitry QQ192, and RF transceiver circuitry QQ172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface QQ190 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry QQ174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown). Antenna QQ162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna QQ162 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry QQ190 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna QQ162 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna QQ162 may be separate from network node QQ160 and may be connectable to network node QQ160 through an interface or port.

Antenna QQ162, interface QQ190, and/or processing circuitry QQ170 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna QQ162, interface QQ190, and/or processing circuitry QQ170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry QQ187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node QQ160 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry QQ187 may receive power from power source QQ186. Power source QQ186 and/or power circuitry QQ187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node QQ160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source QQ186 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry QQ187 and/or network node QQ160. For example, network node QQ160 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry QQ187. As a further example, power source QQ186 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry QQ187. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used. Alternative embodiments of network node QQ160 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node QQ160 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node QQ160 and to allow output of information from network node QQ160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node QQ160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE) a vehicle- mounted wireless terminal device, etc.. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (loT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device QQ1 10 includes antenna QQ1 1 1 , interface QQ1 14, processing circuitry QQ120, device readable medium QQ130, user interface equipment QQ132, auxiliary equipment QQ134, power source QQ136 and power circuitry QQ137. WD QQ1 10 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD QQ1 10, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD QQ1 10.

Antenna QQ1 1 1 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface QQ1 14. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna QQ1 1 1 may be separate from WD QQ1 10 and be connectable to WD QQ1 10 through an interface or port. Antenna QQ1 1 1 , interface QQ1 14, and/or processing circuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna QQ1 1 1 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface QQ1 14 comprises radio front end circuitry QQ1 12 and antenna QQ1 1 1 . Radio front end circuitry QQ1 12 comprise one or more filters QQ1 18 and amplifiers QQ1 16. Radio front end circuitry QQ1 14 is connected to antenna QQ1 1 1 and processing circuitry QQ120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ1 1 1 and processing circuitry QQ120. Radio front end circuitry QQ1 12 may be coupled to or a part of antenna QQ1 1 1 . In some embodiments, WD QQ1 10 may not include separate radio front end circuitry QQ1 12; rather, processing circuitry QQ120 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna QQ1 1 1 . Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be considered a part of interface QQ1 14. Radio front end circuitry QQ1 12 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry QQ1 12 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ1 18 and/or amplifiers QQ1 16. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna QQ1 1 1 . Similarly, when receiving data, antenna QQ1 1 1 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry QQ1 12. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry QQ120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry QQ120 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD QQ1 10 components, such as device readable medium QQ130, WD QQ1 10 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry QQ120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium QQ130 or in memory within processing circuitry QQ120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry QQ120 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and application processing circuitry QQ126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry QQ120 of WD QQ1 10 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry QQ124 and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 and baseband processing circuitry QQ124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ122, baseband processing circuitry QQ124, and application processing circuitry QQ126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may be a part of interface QQ1 14. RF transceiver circuitry QQ122 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry QQ120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry QQ120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium QQ130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry QQ120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry QQ120 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry QQ120 alone or to other components of WD QQ1 10, but are enjoyed by WD QQ1 10 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry QQ120 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry QQ120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry QQ120 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD QQ1 10, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Device readable medium QQ130 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry QQ120. Device readable medium QQ130 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry QQ1 20. In some embodiments, processing circuitry QQ120 and device readable medium QQ130 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment QQ132 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD QQ1 10. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment QQ132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD QQ1 10. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment QQ132 installed in WD QQ1 10. For example, if WD QQ1 10 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD QQ1 10 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment QQ132 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment QQ132 is configured to allow input of information into WD QQ1 10, and is connected to processing circuitry QQ120 to allow processing circuitry QQ120 to process the input information. User interface equipment QQ132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment QQ132 is also configured to allow output of information from WD QQ1 10, and to allow processing circuitry QQ120 to output information from WD QQ1 10. User interface equipment QQ132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment QQ132, WD QQ1 10 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment QQ134 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment QQ134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source QQ136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. WD QQ1 10 may further comprise power circuitry QQ137 for delivering power from power source QQ136 to the various parts of WD QQ1 10 which need power from power source QQ136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry QQ137 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry QQ137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD QQ1 10 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry QQ137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source QQ136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source QQ136. Power circuitry QQ137 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source QQ136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD QQ1 10 to which power is supplied.

Figure 1 1 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE QQ2200 may be any UE identified by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-loT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE QQ200, as illustrated in Figure 1 1 , is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although Figure 1 1 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

In Figure 1 1 , UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ201 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface QQ205, radio frequency (RF) interface QQ209, network connection interface QQ21 1 , memory QQ215 including random access memory (RAM) QQ217, read-only memory (ROM) QQ219, and storage medium QQ221 or the like, communication subsystem QQ231 , power source QQ233, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium QQ221 includes operating system QQ223, application program QQ225, and data QQ227. In other embodiments, storage medium QQ221 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in Figure 1 1 , or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In Figure 1 1 , processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine- readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface QQ205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE QQ200 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface QQ205. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE QQ200. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE QQ200 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface QQ205 to allow a user to capture information into UE QQ200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In Figure 1 1 , RF interface QQ209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface QQ21 1 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network QQ243a. Network QQ243a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network QQ243a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface QQ21 1 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface QQ21 1 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM QQ217 may be configured to interface via bus QQ202 to processing circuitry QQ201 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM QQ219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry QQ201 . For example, ROM QQ219 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include operating system QQ223, application program QQ225 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file QQ227. Storage medium QQ221 may store, for use by UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium QQ221 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro- DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium QQ221 may allow UE QQ200 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium QQ221 , which may comprise a device readable medium.

In Figure 1 1 , processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to communicate with network QQ243b using communication subsystem QQ231 . Network QQ243a and network QQ243b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network QQ243b. For example, communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.1 1 , CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter QQ233 and/or receiver QQ235 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter QQ233 and receiver QQ235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem QQ231 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem QQ231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network QQ243b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network QQ243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source QQ213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE QQ200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE QQ200 or partitioned across multiple components of UE QQ200. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem QQ231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry QQ201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus QQ202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry QQ201 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry QQ201 and communication subsystem QQ231 . In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes QQ330. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications QQ320 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications QQ320 are run in virtualization environment QQ300 which provides hardware QQ330 comprising processing circuitry QQ360 and memory QQ390. Memory QQ390 contains instructions QQ395 executable by processing circuitry QQ360 whereby application QQ320 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment QQ300, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices QQ330 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry QQ360, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory QQ390-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions QQ395 or software executed by processing circuitry QQ360. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) QQ370, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface QQ380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media QQ390-2 having stored therein software QQ395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry QQ360. Software QQ395 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers QQ350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines QQ340 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines QQ340, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance QQ320 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines QQ340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry QQ360 executes software QQ395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer QQ350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer QQ350 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine QQ340.

As shown in Figure 12, hardware QQ330 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ330 may comprise antenna QQ3225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) QQ3100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine QQ340 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines QQ340, and that part of hardware QQ330 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines QQ340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines QQ340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure QQ330 and corresponds to application QQ320 in Figure 12.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units QQ3200 that each include one or more transmitters QQ3220 and one or more receivers QQ3210 may be coupled to one or more antennas QQ3225. Radio units QQ3200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes QQ330 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system QQ3230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes QQ330 and radio units QQ3200.

With reference to FIGURE 13, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network QQ410, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network QQ41 1 , such as a radio access network, and core network QQ414. Access network QQ41 1 comprises a plurality of base stations QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area QQ413a, QQ413b, QQ413c. Each base station QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c is connectable to core network QQ414 over a wired or wireless connection QQ415. A first UE QQ491 located in coverage area QQ413c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station QQ412c. A second UE QQ492 in coverage area QQ413a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station QQ412a. While a plurality of UEs QQ491 , QQ492 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station QQ412.

Telecommunication network QQ410 is itself connected to host computer QQ430, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer QQ430 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections QQ421 and QQ422 between telecommunication network QQ410 and host computer QQ430 may extend directly from core network QQ414 to host computer QQ430 or may go via an optional intermediate network QQ420. Intermediate network QQ420 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network QQ420, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network QQ420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Figure 13 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs QQ491 , QQ492 and host computer QQ430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ450. Host computer QQ430 and the connected UEs QQ491 , QQ492 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection QQ450, using access network QQ41 1 , core network QQ414, any intermediate network QQ420 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection QQ450 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection QQ450 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station QQ412 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer QQ430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE QQ491 . Similarly, base station QQ412 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE QQ491 towards the host computer QQ430.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 14. In communication system QQ500, host computer QQ510 comprises hardware QQ515 including communication interface QQ516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system QQ500. Flost computer QQ510 further comprises processing circuitry QQ518, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry QQ518 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Flost computer QQ510 further comprises software QQ51 1 , which is stored in or accessible by host computer QQ510 and executable by processing circuitry QQ518. Software QQ51 1 includes host application QQ512. Flost application QQ512 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE QQ530 connecting via OTT connection QQ550 terminating at UE QQ530 and host computer QQ510. In providing the service to the remote user, host application QQ512 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection QQ550.

Communication system QQ500 further includes base station QQ520 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware QQ525 enabling it to communicate with host computer QQ510 and with UE QQ530. Flardware QQ525 may include communication interface QQ526 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system QQ500, as well as radio interface QQ527 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection QQ570 with UE QQ530 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 14) served by base station QQ520. Communication interface QQ526 may be configured to facilitate connection QQ560 to host computer QQ510. Connection QQ560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 14) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware QQ525 of base station QQ520 further includes processing circuitry QQ528, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station QQ520 further has software QQ521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system QQ500 further includes UE QQ530 already referred to. Its hardware QQ535 may include radio interface QQ537 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection QQ570 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE QQ530 is currently located. Hardware QQ535 of UE QQ530 further includes processing circuitry QQ538, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE QQ530 further comprises software QQ531 , which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ530 and executable by processing circuitry QQ538. Software QQ531 includes client application QQ532. Client application QQ532 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE QQ530, with the support of host computer QQ510. In host computer QQ510, an executing host application QQ512 may communicate with the executing client application QQ532 via OTT connection QQ550 terminating at UE QQ530 and host computer QQ510. In providing the service to the user, client application QQ532 may receive request data from host application QQ512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection QQ550 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application QQ532 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer QQ510, base station QQ520 and UE QQ530 illustrated in Figure 14 may be similar or identical to host computer QQ430, one of base stations QQ412a, QQ412b, QQ412c and one of UEs QQ491 , QQ492 of Figure 13, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 14 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 13.

In Figure 14, OTT connection QQ550 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer QQ510 and UE QQ530 via base station QQ520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE QQ530 or from the service provider operating host computer QQ510, or both. While OTT connection QQ550 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection QQ570 between UE QQ530 and base station QQ520 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE QQ530 using OTT connection QQ550, in which wireless connection QQ570 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, power consumption, connectivity, connection reliability and/or connection continuity.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection QQ550 between host computer QQ510 and UE QQ530, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection QQ550 may be implemented in software QQ51 1 and hardware QQ515 of host computer QQ510 or in software QQ531 and hardware QQ535 of UE QQ530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection QQ550 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software QQ51 1 , QQ531 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection QQ550 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station QQ520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station QQ520. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer QQ510’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software QQ51 1 and QQ531 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection QQ550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 15 will be included in this section. In step QQ610, the host computer provides user data. In substep QQ61 1 (which may be optional) of step QQ610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step QQ620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step QQ630 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer. Figure 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 16 will be included in this section. In step QQ710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step QQ720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

Figure 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 17 will be included in this section. In step QQ810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step QQ820, the UE provides user data. In substep QQ821 (which may be optional) of step QQ820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep QQ81 1 (which may be optional) of step QQ810, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep QQ830 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step QQ840 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Figure 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 18 will be included in this section. In step QQ910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step QQ920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step QQ930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station. Figure 19 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus WW00 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in Figure 10). The apparatus may be implemented in a wireless device or network node (e.g., wireless device QQ110 or network node QQ160 shown in Figure 10). Apparatus WW00 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to Figure VV and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of Figure VV is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus WW00. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities.

Virtual Apparatus WW00 may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause receiver unit WW02, performing unit WW04, and any other suitable units of apparatus WW00 to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in Figure 19, apparatus WW00 includes receiver unit WW02 and performing unit WW04. Receiver unit WW02 is configured to receive a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device. Performing unit WW04 is configured to perform the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

The following enumerated embodiments are provided as part of this disclosure. Group A Embodiments

1 . A method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:

- receiving a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device;

- performing the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the

measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

2. The method of embodiment 1 , wherein the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure identifies the condition, and the method further comprises identifying the condition from the message.

3. The method of embodiment 1 , further comprising identifying the condition from a condition reference in the message.

4. The method of embodiment 1 , wherein the configuration of the measurement is

associated with a condition, and the method further comprises identifying the condition using the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

5. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 4, comprising determining if the wireless device is performing the measurement, and if the wireless device is not performing the measurement, configuring the wireless device to perform the measurement.

6. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the configuration of the

measurement indicates a time period for periodically performing the measurement.

7. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 6, comprising receiving the configuration of the measurement before receiving the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure.

8. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 7, comprising storing the configuration of the measurement before configuring the conditional mobility procedure.

9. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein the message includes information associated with the configuration of the measurement, and the method comprises updating the configuration of the measurement based on the information associated with the configuration of the measurement. 10. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the message or a second message indicates a second reference to a second configuration of a second measurement to be performed by the wireless device.

1 1 . The method of embodiment 10, wherein the method further comprises carrying out an alternative conditional mobility procedure when a result of the second

measurement meets a condition associated with the additional conditional mobility procedure or the condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

12. The method of embodiment 1 1 , wherein the conditional mobility procedure is

associated with a first cell, and the alternative conditional mobility procedure is associated with a second cell different to the first cell.

13. The method of embodiment 1 1 or 12, wherein the message further configures the alternative conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device.

14. The method of embodiment 1 1 or 12, further comprising receiving an additional message configuring the alternative conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device.

15. The method of embodiment 10, further comprising configuring the wireless device to carry out the second measurement upon receipt of the message.

16. The method of any of embodiments 10 to 15, wherein the measurement is different to the second measurement.

17. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 16, wherein the message includes an

Information Element configuring the conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device and/or indicating the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

18. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 17, wherein the message is received from a serving cell of the wireless device.

19. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 18, wherein the mobility procedure is

associated with the condition and a candidate target cell, and the method further comprises receiving the message, and receiving one or more additional messages, each additional message configuring a respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of one or more additional candidate target cells.

20. The method of embodiment 19, wherein the respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the candidate target cell and the one or more additional candidate target cells is associated with the condition. 21 . The method of embodiment 19, wherein the respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the additional candidate target cells is associated with a respective additional condition.

22. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 21 , wherein the message comprises an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message or a RRC Reconfiguration message.

23. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 22, wherein the conditional mobility

procedure comprises a conditional handover to a target cell or a conditional resume procedure to a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

24. The method of embodiment 23, wherein the resume procedure comprises an RRC Resume procedure.

25. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 24, wherein determining that the condition has been met comprises monitoring a parameter.

26. The method of embodiment 25, wherein determining that the condition has been met comprises determining that the parameter exceeds a threshold.

27. The method of embodiment 25 or 26, wherein the parameter comprises a signal strength of at least one candidate target cell associated with the mobility procedure at the wireless device.

28. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 27, wherein the condition comprises whether a signal strength of a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold, and/or whether the signal strength of the candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength threshold.

29. The method of embodiment 28, comprising configuring the conditional mobility

procedure in response to a signal strength of a candidate target cell being greater than the signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is lower than the first threshold.

30. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 30, wherein determining that the condition has been met comprises determining that an A3 event has been triggered.

31 . The method of embodiment 30, comprising triggering the A3 event when a signal strength of a candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold. 32. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:

- providing user data; and

- forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the base station.

Group B Embodiments

33. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:

- sending a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

34. The method of embodiment 33, wherein the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure identifies the condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

35. The method of embodiment 33, wherein the message further includes a reference for identifying the condition.

36. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 35, wherein the configuration of the

37. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 36, comprising sending the configuration of the measurement to the wireless device before sending the message to the wireless device.

38. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 37, wherein the message includes

information associated with the configuration of the measurement.

39. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 38, wherein the message or a further

message sent to the wireless device by the base station indicates a second reference to a second configuration of a second measurement to be performed by the wireless device.

40. The method of embodiment 39, wherein the conditional mobility procedure is

associated with a first cell associated with the base station, and the alternative conditional mobility procedure is associated with a second cell different to the first cell.

41 . The method of embodiment 40, comprising receiving the second configuration from a node associated with the second cell.

42. The method of any of embodiments 39 to 41 , wherein the message further configures the alternative conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device.

43. The method of any of embodiments 39 to 41 , further comprising sending an

additional message configuring the alternative conditional mobility procedure to the wireless device.

44. The method of any of embodiments 39 to 43, wherein the measurement is different to the second measurement.

45. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 44, wherein the message includes an

46. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 45, wherein the base station is associated with a serving cell of the wireless device.

47. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 46, wherein the mobility procedure is

associated with the condition and a candidate target cell, and the method further comprises sending the message and one or more additional messages to the wireless device, each additional message configuring a respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of one or more additional candidate target cells.

48. The method of embodiment 47, wherein the respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the candidate target cell and the one or more additional candidate target cells is associated with the condition.

49. The method of embodiment 48, wherein the respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of the additional candidate target cells is associated with a respective additional condition.

50. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 49, wherein the message comprises an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message or a RRC Reconfiguration message.

51 . The method of any of embodiments 33 to 50, wherein the conditional mobility

52. The method of embodiment 51 , wherein the resume procedure comprises an RRC Resume procedure.

53. The method of any of embodiments 33 to 52, wherein the condition comprises

whether a signal strength of a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold, and/or whether the signal strength of the candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength threshold.

54. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:

- obtaining user data; and

- forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.

Group C Embodiments

55. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the

Group A embodiments; and

- power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.

56. A base station, the base station comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the

Group B embodiments;

- power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the base station.

57. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising:

- an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals;

- radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; - the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments;

- an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry;

- an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and

- a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply

power to the UE.

58. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

- a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),

- wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

59. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

60. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

61 . The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and

- the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client

application associated with the host application. 62. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, providing user data; and

- at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

63. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.

64. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application.

65. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE

comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3 embodiments.

66. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

- a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular

network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),

- wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE’s components configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

67. The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

68. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein:

the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and - the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, providing user data; and

- at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

- communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station,

- wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the UE. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:

the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and - the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.

75. The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and

- the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data.

76. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

77. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.

78. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising:

- at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and

- at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

79. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising:

- at the UE, executing a client application; and

- at the UE, receiving input data to the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application,

- wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data. 80. A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

81 . The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

82. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

83. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application;

- the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.

84. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A

embodiments.

85. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.

86. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. ABBREVIATIONS

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s).

Claims

1 . A method (800) performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:

- receiving (802) a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device; and

- performing (804) the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference comprises at least one identifier of the configuration of the measurement.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the message indicates a reference to a plurality of configurations of measurements to be performed by the wireless device.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the message configuring the conditional mobility procedure identifies the condition, and the method further comprises identifying the condition from the message.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the configuration of the measurement is associated with the condition, and the method further comprises identifying the condition using the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, comprising receiving the configuration of the measurement before receiving the message comprising an indication to configure the conditional mobility procedure.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the method further comprising

determining if the wireless device is performing the measurement, and if the wireless device is not performing the measurement, configuring the wireless device to perform the measurement.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the message includes information

associated with the configuration of the measurement, and the method comprises updating the configuration of the measurement based on the information associated with the configuration of the measurement.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the message includes an Information Element configuring the conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device and/or indicating the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the mobility procedure is associated with the condition and a candidate target cell, and the method further comprises receiving the message, and receiving one or more additional messages, each additional message configuring a respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of one or more additional candidate target cells.

1 1 . The method of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the conditional mobility procedure comprises a conditional handover to a target cell or a conditional resume procedure to a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

12. The method of any of claims 1 to 1 1 , wherein determining that the condition has been met comprises monitoring a parameter, and determining that the condition has been met comprises determining that the parameter exceeds a threshold.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the parameter comprises a signal strength of at least one candidate target cell associated with the mobility procedure at the wireless device.

14. The method of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the condition comprises whether a signal strength of a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold, and/or whether the signal strength of the candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength threshold.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising configuring the conditional mobility procedure in response to a signal strength of a candidate target cell being greater than the signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a second threshold, wherein the second threshold is lower than the first threshold.

16. A method (900) performed by a base station, the method comprising:

- sending (902) a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the reference comprises at least one identifier of the configuration of the measurement.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein the message indicates a reference to a

plurality of configurations of measurements to be performed by the wireless device.

19. The method of any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the message configuring the

conditional mobility procedure identifies the condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

20. The method of any of claims 16 to 19, comprising sending the configuration of the measurement to the wireless device before sending the message to the wireless device.

21 . The method of any of claims 16 to 20, wherein the message includes information associated with the configuration of the measurement.

22. The method of any of claims 16 to 21 , wherein the message includes an Information Element configuring the conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device and/or indicating the reference to the configuration of the measurement.

23. The method of any of claims 16 to 22, wherein the mobility procedure is associated with the condition and a candidate target cell, and the method further comprises sending the message and one or more additional messages to the wireless device, each additional message configuring a respective conditional mobility procedure associated with each of one or more additional candidate target cells.

24. The method of any of claims 16 to 23, wherein the conditional mobility procedure comprises a conditional handover to a target cell or a conditional resume procedure to a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

25. The method of any of claims 16 to 24, wherein the condition comprises whether a signal strength of a candidate target cell associated with the conditional mobility procedure is greater than a signal strength of a serving cell of the wireless device by a first threshold, and/or whether the signal strength of the candidate target cell is greater than a signal strength threshold.

26. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method according to any one of the preceding claims.

27. A subcarrier containing a computer program according to claim 26, wherein the subcarrier comprises one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal or computer readable storage medium.

28. A computer program product comprising non transitory computer readable media having stored thereon a computer program according to claim 26.

29. A wireless device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor such that the wireless device is operable to: receive a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device; and

perform the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

30. The wireless device of claim 29, wherein the memory contains instructions

executable by the processor such that the wireless device is operable to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 15.

31 . A base station comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing

instructions executable by the processor such that the base station is operable to: send a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

32. The base station of claim 31 , wherein the memory contains instructions executable by the processor such that the base station is operable to perform the method of any of claims 17 to 25.

33. A wireless device configured to:

receive a message, the message comprising an indication to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device; and perform the conditional mobility procedure when a result of the measurement meets a condition associated with the conditional mobility procedure.

34. The wireless device of claim 33, wherein the wireless device is configured to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 15.

35. A base station configured to:

send a message to a wireless device, the message including an indication for the wireless device to configure a conditional mobility procedure for the wireless device, wherein the message indicates a reference to a configuration of a measurement to be performed by the wireless device on a signal received at the wireless device, and wherein the conditional mobility procedure is associated with a condition.

36. The base station of claim 35, wherein the base station is configured to perform the method of any of claims 17 to 25.