Patent Description:
In the related art, a base station schedules a User Equipment (UE) for uplink transmission and downlink reception, and when the UE performs inter-frequency measurement, the base station configures the UE to use a measurement gap. The use of the measurement gap will cause the UE to be unable to perform the uplink transmission or the downlink reception within the measurement gap, which will limit the scheduling and transmission of the base station.

All the inter-frequency measurements need to be configured with measurement gap. The UE cannot receive or send data within the measurement gap, resulting in resource waste and overhead. However, in actual deployment, the transmission position of reference signal (e.g., Synchronization Signal/PBCH Blocks (SSB) or Channel State Information-Reference Signals (CSI-RS)) used for measurement may be very flexible, and there are also scenarios where the inter-frequency measurement does not need a measurement gap, for example, when SSB center frequencies are different but are contained in an activated Bandwidth Part (BWP). In this case, for a capable UE, it does not need a measurement gap to perform the inter-frequency measurements, but there are actually some limitations on transmission.

For example, in a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) system, if the uplink transmission and downlink transmission of two overlapping or partially overlapping carriers conflict (uplink and downlink ratios are different), a very serious cross-slot interference will occur, and the system cannot work properly. For another example, for millimeter waves, the UE will use a beam for receiving and transmitting, and the beam can only be transmitted or received in the same direction at the same time.

Therefore, in the above scenarios, although the inter-frequency measurements do not need measurement gap, there are still some restrictions on transmission during the measurement. If the limitations are not taken into account, interference will occur, and the system cannot work properly.

Related technologies are discussed in 3GPP drafts R4-<NUM>, RP-<NUM>, and R4-<NUM>.

One purpose of the embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide a transmission method and device to solve the problem of uplink and downlink interference caused by not configuring a measurement gap in inter-frequency measurement.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, while the overhead is reduced, a loss in performance of the system caused by the uplink and downlink interference is avoided.

By reading the detailed description of optional implementation modes below, a variety of other advantages and benefits will become clear to those of ordinary skill in the art. The accompanying drawings are only intended to illustrate the purpose of the optional implementation modes and are not considered as a limitation on the present disclosure. In addition, the same reference signs are used to indicate the same parts throughout the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings:.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in combination with the drawings in the present disclosure. It is apparent that the described embodiments are not all embodiments but part of embodiments of the disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present disclosure without creative work shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

In addition, term "include" and any variations thereof in the specification and the claims of the disclosure are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, it is not limited for processes, methods, systems, products or devices containing a series of steps or units to clearly list those steps or units, and other steps or units which are not clearly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices may be included instead. In addition, "and/or" used in the specification and the claims indicates at least one of the connected objects, for example, A and/or B indicates three cases, that is, individual A is included, individual B is included, and both A and B exist.

In the disclosure, the words like "exemplary" or "for example" are used to serve as example, example illustration or explanation. Any embodiments or designs described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present disclosure shall not be construed as being preferred or superior to other embodiments or designs. More exactly, the purpose of using the word "exemplary" or "for example" is to present related concepts in a specific way.

The technologies described herein are not limited to a Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, and may also be applied to various wireless communication systems, for example, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-Carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.

Terms "system" and "network" are usually used interchangeably. The CDMA system may implement radio technologies such as CDMA2000 and Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA). UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other CDMA variations. The TDMA system may implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM). The OFDMA system may implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolution-UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) <NUM> (Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)), IEEE <NUM> (World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), IEEE <NUM>, and Flash-OFDM. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and more advanced LTE (such as LTE-A) are new UMTS releases using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in the documents from the organization named after "3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)". CDMA2000 and UMB are described in the documents from the organization named after "3GPP2". The technologies described herein may be applied not only to the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies but also to other systems and radio technologies.

Referring to <FIG>, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below in combination with the accompanying drawings. A transmission method and device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to a wireless communication system. <FIG> is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided by the disclosure. As illustrated in <FIG>, the wireless communication system can include: a network device <NUM> and a UE <NUM>. The UE <NUM> may be denoted as UE12. The UE <NUM> may communicate (transmit signaling or data) with the network device <NUM>. In practical applications, the connection among the above devices may be a wireless connection. In order to conveniently and intuitively represent the connection relationship among the devices, solid lines are used in <FIG>.

The network device <NUM> provided in the present disclosure may be a base station. The base station may be a commonly used base station, an evolved node base station (eNB), or a network device (for example, a next generation node base station (gNB) or a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP)) in the <NUM> system.

The UE <NUM> provided in the present disclosure may be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, a Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), a Netbook or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable device or vehicle-mounted device, etc..

<FIG> illustrates the UE <NUM> of the embodiments, not covered by the claimed invention, of the present disclosure. The UE <NUM> may include a baseband processor <NUM> in the UE <NUM>.

According to the present disclosure, the baseband processor <NUM> is configured to stop transmission on a first symbol and/or within a measurement window when a UE performs inter-frequency measurements without measurement gap. The first symbol includes one or more items of the following: the symbols to be measured, one or more symbols before the symbols to be measured, or one or more symbols after the symbols to be measured.

The UE <NUM> may also include a transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may include a sending circuit and a receiving circuit. The sending circuit is configured to modulate a baseband signal generated by the baseband processor <NUM> by up conversion to obtain a high-frequency carrier signal. The high-frequency carrier signal is transmitted through an antenna <NUM>. The receiving circuit <NUM> operates on the high-frequency signal received by the antenna <NUM> by down conversion to obtain a low-frequency baseband signal. The number of antennas <NUM> is one or more.

Referring to <FIG>, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a transmission method. The execution entity of the method is the UE. The method includes step S201.

At S201, the UE is not expected to transmit on a first symbol and/or within a measurement window when the UE performs inter-frequency measurements without measurement gap. The first symbol includes one or more items of: (<NUM>) the symbols to be measured; (<NUM>) one or more symbols before the symbols to be measured; or (<NUM>) one or more symbols after the symbols to be measured.

It is to be understand that the transmission method is applicable to one or more of the following scenarios:.

In some implementation modes, the operation that the UE being not expected to transmit includes: not sending or receiving, for example, not sending or receiving by the UE in the serving cell.

In some implementation modes, the operation that the UE being not expected to transmit on the first symbol and/or within the measurement window may include at least one of: when the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurements is synchronous with the serving cell, transmission is stopped on the first symbol; or, when the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurements is not synchronous with the serving cell, transmission is stopped within the measurement window.

In some implementation modes, the method may also include the following operation.

First information is received. The first information indicates one or more of:.

Exemplarily, the first information is synchronization information. The synchronization information is "TRUE" or "<NUM>", which indicates that the SFN and frame boundary across the servicing cell and the inter-frequency neighbor cells are aligned. The synchronization information is "FALSE" or "<NUM>", which indicates that the SFN and frame boundary across the servicing cell and the inter-frequency neighbor cells are aligned. It is to be understood that the content of the first information is not specified.

When a first condition is satisfied, it is determined that the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurement is synchronous with the serving cell.

The first condition includes one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurement being synchronous with the serving cell represents one or more of the following:.

Second information is sent. The second information indicates whether the UE supports a first capability. The first capability includes one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the method may also include that: a measurement configuration is received. The measurement configuration includes one or more of:.

It is to be understood that the content of the indicating information in (<NUM>) and (<NUM>) above is not specified.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, if the inter-frequency measurements are without measurement gap, the UE stops transmission on the symbols to be measured, one or more symbols before the symbols to be measured, and/or one or more symbols after the symbols to be measured, and/or within the measurement window. In this way, while the overhead is reduced, a loss in performance of the system caused by the uplink and downlink interference is avoided.

The implementation modes of the transmission method in the embodiments of the present disclosure are introduced below in combination with first embodiment to sixth embodiment not covered by the claimed invention.

Referring to <FIG>, a serving cell performs measurement for an inter-frequency neighbor cell, that is, the measurement on a reference signal SSB#<NUM> is performed. The SSB is a synchronization signal block including a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) and a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH).

<FIG> illustrates the transmission of the SSB in the time domain. In the present embodiment not covered by the claimed invention, a measurement window (SSB Measurement Time Configuration (SMTC) window time) is <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the UE does not receive or transmit data on the SSB#<NUM> and the SSB#<NUM>, meanwhile, the UE does not receive or transmit data on the previous symbol of SSB#<NUM> and the following symbol of SSB#<NUM>, and the UE does not receive or transmit data on the previous symbol of SSB#<NUM> and the following symbol of SSB#<NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a serving cell performs measurement for an inter-frequency neighbor cell, that is, the measurement on a reference signal SSB#<NUM> is performed. The SSB is a synchronization signal block including a PSS, an SSS and a PBCH.

<FIG> illustrates the transmission of the SSB in the time domain. In the present embodiment not covered by the claimed invention, a measurement window (SMTC window time) is <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a serving cell performs measurement for an inter-frequency neighbor cell, that is, the measurement is performed on a reference signal SSB#<NUM>. The SSB is a synchronization signal block including a PSS, an SSS and a PBCH.

Referring to <FIG>, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a UE. The UE <NUM> may include a processing module.

The processing module <NUM> is configured to: when the UE performs the inter-frequency measurements without measurement gap, perform at least one of: the UE being not expected to transmit on a first symbol, or the UE being not expected to transmit within a measurement window.

The first symbol includes one or more items of: the symbols to be measured, one or more symbols before the symbols to be measured, or one or more symbols after the symbols to be measured.

In some implementation modes, the processing module <NUM> may be a baseband processor.

In some implementation modes, the operation of performing at least one of: the UE being not expected to transmit on a first symbol, or the UE being not expected to transmit includes the following operation.

When the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurements is synchronous with a serving cell, the UE is not expected to transmit on the first symbol;
and/or,
when the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurement is not synchronous with the serving cell, the UE is not expected to transmit within the measurement window.

In some implementation modes, the UE <NUM> may also include: a first receiving module.

The first receiving module is configured to receive first information. The first information indicates one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the UE <NUM> may also include: a determining module.

The determining module is configured to determine that the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurements is synchronous with the serving cell when the first condition is satisfied.

In some implementation modes, that the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurements is synchronous with the serving cell represents one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the UE <NUM> may also include: a sending module.

The sending module is configured to send second information. The second information indicates whether the UE supports a first capability. The first capability includes one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the UE <NUM> may also include: a second receiving module.

The second receiving module is configured to receive a measurement configuration. The measurement configuration includes one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the operation that UE being not expected to transmit includes: not sending or receiving by the UE in the serving cell.

Not sending includes one or more of the following:.

Not receiving includes one or more of the following:.

The UE provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can perform the method embodiment illustrated in <FIG> with similar implementation principles and technical effects, and elaborations are omitted herein.

Referring to <FIG>, the present disclosure provides a UE. The UE <NUM> may include: a transceiver <NUM> and a processor <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> is configured to: when the UE performs the inter-frequency measurements without measurement gap, perform at least one of: UE being not expected to transmit on a first symbol, or UE being not expected to transmit within a measurement window.

In some implementation modes, the processor <NUM> may be a baseband processor.

In some implementation modes, the operation of performing at least one of: UE being not expected to transmit on a first symbol, or UE being not expected to transmit includes the following operation.

When the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurement is synchronous with a serving cell, UE is not expected to transmit on the first symbol;
and/or,
when the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurement is not synchronous with the serving cell, UE is not expected to transmit within the measurement window.

In some implementation modes, the processor <NUM> is further configured to receive the first information. The first information indicates one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the processor <NUM> is configured to determine that the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurements is synchronous with the serving cell if the first condition is satisfied.

In some implementation modes, the frequency or cell of the inter-frequency measurement being synchronous with the serving cell represents one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the processor <NUM> is further configured to send the second information. The second information indicates whether the UE supports the first capability. The first capability includes one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the processor <NUM> is further configured to receive a measurement configuration. The measurement configuration includes one or more of:.

In some implementation modes, the operation that transmission is stopped includes: not sending or receiving by the UE in the serving cell.

The UE provided by the present disclosure can perform the method embodiment illustrated in <FIG> with similar implementation principles and technical effects, and elaborations are omitted herein.

<FIG> is a structure diagram of a communication device to which the present disclosure is applied. As illustrated in <FIG>, the communication device <NUM> may include: a processor <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, a memory <NUM> and a bus interface.

In the present disclosure, the communication device <NUM> may also include: a computer program stored in the memory <NUM> and capable of running in the processor <NUM>. When executed by the processor <NUM>, the computer program implements the steps in the embodiment in <FIG>.

In <FIG>, a bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges which are linked together by various circuits of one or more processors represented by the processor <NUM> and memories represented by the memory <NUM>. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits together, such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the field and therefore are not described further here. The bus interface provides the interface. The transceiver <NUM> may be a plurality of components, that is, includes a transmitter and a receiver, which provide a unit for communicating with a variety of other devices on a transmission medium.

The processor <NUM> is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory <NUM> may store the data used by the processor <NUM> to perform operations.

The communication device provided by the present disclosure can perform the method embodiment illustrated in <FIG> with similar implementation principles and technical effects, and elaborations are omitted herein.

The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program. When executed by the processor, the computer program implements the steps of the transmission method.

The present disclosure also provides a communication apparatus, which is a UE or a chip in the UE or a baseband processor in the UE. The communication apparatus is configured to:
when the UE performs the inter-frequency measurements without measurement gap, perform at least one of: stop transmission on a first symbol, or stop transmission within a measurement window.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in the disclosed content of the present disclosure can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions may include corresponding software modules. The software modules may be stored in an RAM, a flash memory, an ROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other storage medium known in the field. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor, so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In addition, the ASIC can reside in a core network interface device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the core network interface device.

Those skilled in the art may realize that, in one or more abovementioned examples, the functions described in the present disclosure may be realized by hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. In case of implementation with the software, these functions are stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes in the computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium includes a computer storage medium and a communication medium, and the communication medium includes any medium for conveniently transmitting a computer program from one place to another place. The storage medium may be any available medium accessible for a universal or dedicated computer.

The specific implementation methods described above further describe in detail the purposes, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the above is only the specific implementations of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of protection as defined by the appended claims.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, a system or a computer program product Therefore, the embodiment of the disclosure may use form of a pure hardware embodiment, a pure software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Moreover, the embodiment of the disclosure may use form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-available storage media (including, but not limited to, a disk memory, a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), and an optical memory) including computer-available program codes.

The embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams of the method, the device (system) and the computer program product according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that each flow and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram, and the combination of the flow and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be implemented by the computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor or other programmable data processing devices to generate a machine, so that instructions which are executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing devices generate a device which is used for implementing the specified functions in one or more flows of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in the computer-readable memory which can guide the computer or other programmable data processing devices to work in a particular way, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory generate a product including an instruction device. The instruction device implements the specified functions in one or more flows of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded on the computer or other programmable data processing devices, so that a series of operation steps are performed on the computer or other programmable data processing devices to generate the processing implemented by the computer, and the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable data processing devices provide the steps for implementing the specified functions in one or more flows of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

It is to be understood that the division of the above modules is only a division of logical functions, and these modules may be fully or partially integrated on a physical entity or separated physically in practical implementation. These modules can all be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element or in the form of hardware. Or part of the modules can be implemented in the form of software called by a processing element, and part of the modules can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, the determining module can be a separate processing element or can be implemented by integrating into a chip of the device; moreover, the determining module can also be stored in the memory of the device in the form of program code. The function of the determining module is called and executed by a processing element of the device. The implementation of other modules is similar. In addition, all or part of these modules can be integrated or implemented independently. The processing element here can be an integrated circuit with a signal processing capability.

Claim 1:
A method for transmission, applied to a User Equipment, UE, comprising:
when the UE performs inter-frequency measurements without measurement gap, performing (<NUM>) at least one of:
when a cell of the inter-frequency measurements is synchronous with a serving cell, the UE being not expected to transmit on a first symbol; or
when the cell of the inter-frequency measurements is not synchronous with the serving cell, the UE being not expected to transmit within a measurement window;
wherein the first symbol comprises one or more items of: symbols to be measured, one or more symbols before the symbols to be measured, or one or more symbols after the symbols to be measured;
and characterized by:
wherein the cell of the inter-frequency measurements being synchronous with the serving cell represents one or more of:
a sub-frame boundary across the serving cell and inter-frequency neighbor cells is aligned;
a System Frame Number, SFN, across the serving cell and the inter-frequency neighbor cells is aligned;
the UE can utilize a serving cell timing to derive a SSB index of inter-frequency neighbor cell; or
timings of SSBs across the serving cell and the inter-frequency cells are aligned.