Patent ID: 10419987

Abstract:
A UE (22) in handover consideration transmits an uplink measurement signal comprising repetitions of a predetermined identity code. Network access nodes (18, 20) that are candidate handover target nodes receive the signal and use it for channel quality and timing offset measurements. To ensure that a predetermined minimum number of symbols are received without interference from user traffic, an uplink measurement signal reception window is defined for each candidate node (18, 20). The timing of the reception window is based on a total timing misalignment between the UE (22) and the candidate node. In some embodiments, the duration of the reception window is based on an uncertainty in the timing misalignment estimate. Reception of user data is precluded during the uplink measurement signal reception window (on the allocated subband, if the full uplink carrier is not used). The UE transmits the uplink measurement signal in an uplink measurement signal transmission window. In some embodiments, the duration of the transmission window is sufficient to encompass the uplink measurement signal reception windows of all candidate nodes.