Patent Description:
For example, long term evolution (LTE) and <NUM> new radio (<NUM> NR) communications technology expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications with respect to current mobile network generations.

Both LTE and <NUM> NR communication technologies support carrier aggregation (CA) where a user equipment (UE) can communicate with one or more cells using a plurality of aggregated component carriers (CCs) to improve efficiency in receiving/transmitting wireless communications. In CA, the UE may establish an initial connection with a primary cell (PCell) for communication in a wireless network. The network may then configure one or more additional radio bearers for the UE to support additional CCs with one or more secondary cells (SCell). Instructions to activate and/or deactivate the additional aggregated CC with an SCell over an additional radio bearer are received by the network from the SCell itself. Generally, the network may activate the SCell when the need for the additional aggregated CC arises such as when high data throughput is needed or low latency is required for communication.

However, even in the deactivated state, the network may periodically request the UE to measure the SCell signals and report back the measured metrics in order to allow the network to properly manage load distribution. The UE performs the measurements by performing a UE receiver (Rx) beam sweep on a plurality of available beams between the base station and the UE to identify the beam with the strongest measurements. The beam sweep process, however, may be resource intensive with respect to UE power consumption and further exasperated by repeating the measurements for each beam.

<NPL>" discloses pre-configuring different reporting modes and required resources via RRC signaling wherein the used reporting mode and corresponding resources are indicated dynamically for a UE via DCI. A MAC CE is used for the full-scale beam reports which are then updated with differential or partial beam reports.

<NPL>" suggests UE event based aperiodic beam measurement reporting.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for the UE to minimize the need to expend resources in conducting signal measurements for SCell by limiting the number of beams that may be scanned and reported back to the network. For example, in instances when the UE has been configured with transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by the network, the UE may be configured to communicate on a limited set of beams (e.g., one beam for transmission (Tx) and another for receiver (Rx)). As such, the UE, during the periodic measurements, may limit the signal measurements to a limited set of beams from all available beams in order to conserve resources based on a determination that the UE is configured with TCI state. Further, prior to reporting the new measurements to the network, the UE may also compare the new measurements of the limited set of beams with the previously reported measurements to determine whether the difference between the new measurements and the previously reported measurements (e.g., delta value) falls beyond a threshold. In the instance, that the delta value falls within the threshold, the UE may elect against reporting the new measurements to the network, and thereby conserve further resources associated with transmitting measurement information.

However, if the UE determines that the new measurements compared against the previously reported measurements fall beyond the threshold, the UE may further determine whether the previously conducted beam sweep (e.g., measurements of all available beams) was performed within a period of time threshold. In other words, the UE may determine whether the reported measurements are stale. If the time since last beam sweep was performed exceeds the period of time threshold, the UE may initiate measurements of all UE Rx beams by doing a beam sweep, and report the updated measurements to the network. However, if the time since the last beam sweep was performed is less than the period of time threshold, the UE may perform new measurements on only the beam for which the UE last reported measurements. If the new measurements for the last reported beam are less than the threshold, the UE may elect not to report the new measurements. However, if the new measurements for the last reported beam are greater than the threshold, the UE may conduct measurements across all UE Rx beams by performing a beam sweep and provide a measurement report to the network to update the measurements.

The present disclosure provides a method for wireless communications according to claim <NUM>, an apparatus for wireless communications according to claim <NUM>, and a non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communications according to claim <NUM>. Specific embodiments are subject of the dependent claims.

The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of one or more aspects.

As discussed above, both LTE and <NUM> NR communication technologies may support carrier aggregation (CA) where a user equipment (UE) can communicate with one or more cells using a plurality of aggregated component carriers (CCs) to improve efficiency in receiving/transmitting wireless communications. In CA, the UE may establish an initial connection with a primary cell (PCell) for communication in a wireless network. The network may then configure one or more additional radio bearers for the UE to support additional CCs with one or more secondary cells (SCell).

Generally, even in the deactivated state, the network may periodically request the UE to measure the SCell signals and report back the measured metrics in order to allow the network to properly manage load distribution. The UE performs the measurements by conducting a UE Rx beam sweep on a plurality of available beams between the base station and the UE to identify the beam with the strongest measurements. The beam sweep process, however, may be resource intensive with respect to UE power consumption.

The present disclosure provides techniques for the UE to minimize the need to expend resources in conducting signal measurements for SCell by limiting the number of beams that may be scanned and reported back to the network. When the UE has been configured with transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state by the network, the UE is configured to communicate on a limited set of beams (e.g., one beam for transmission (Tx) of control and data for uplink and another for receiver (Rx) for control and data on downlink). It should be appreciated that in some examples, the UE may be configured with more than one TCI state. In such instance, for each TCI state, the UE may be configured to communicate using a different set of one or more beams. For example, the UE may be configured with a first TCI state identifying a first set of beams and also a second TCI state identifying a second set of beams. In such instance, the UE may monitor the beams based on the TCI configurations. As such, the UE, during the periodic measurements, limits the signal measurements to a limited set of beams from all available beams in order to conserve resources based on a determination that the UE is configured with the TCI state. Further, prior to reporting the new measurements to the network, the UE also compares the new measurements of the limited set of beams with the previously reported measurements to determine whether the difference between the new measurements and the previously reported measurements (e.g., delta value) falls beyond a threshold. In the instance that the delta value falls within the threshold, the UE may elect against reporting the new measurements to the network, and thereby conserve further resources associated with transmitting measurement information.

However, if the UE determines that the new measurements compared against the previously reported measurements fall beyond the threshold, the UE may further determine whether the previously conducted beam sweep (e.g., measurements of all available beams) was performed within a predetermined time period threshold. In other words, the UE may determine whether the reported measurements are stale. If the time since last beam sweep was performed exceeds the predetermined time period threshold, the UE may initiate measurements all UE Rx beams by doing a beam sweep, and report the updated measurements to the network. However, if the time since last beam sweep was performed is less than the predetermined time period threshold, the UE may perform new measurements on only the beam for which the UE last reported measurements. If a difference between the new measurements for the last reported beam sweep and the previously reported measurements are less than the threshold, the UE may elect not to report the new measurements. However, if the difference between the new measurements for the last reported beam sweep and the previously reported measurements are greater than the threshold, the UE may conduct measurements across all UE Rx beams by performing a beam sweep and provide measurement report to the network to update the measurements.

Various aspects are now described in more detail with reference to the <FIG>. Additionally, the term "component" as used herein may be one of the parts that make up a system, may be hardware, firmware, and/or software stored on a computer-readable medium, and may be divided into other components.

The wireless communications system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes base stations <NUM>, UEs <NUM>, and a core network <NUM> such as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or <NUM> core (5GC). In some examples, the core network <NUM> that may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, internet protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network <NUM> may allow circuit-switched connectivity to the back-end operator network (e.g., public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or packet-switched connectivity to private networks, operator's intranet or to the public internet.

In an aspect, one or more of the UEs <NUM> may include a communication management component <NUM> that reduces measurements of SCells in certain scenarios. The reduction in measurements may save UE power, for example, when the UE is in a sleep mode. As discussed in further detail below with respect to <FIG>, the communication management component <NUM> may include a TCI configuration component <NUM> that determines an active TCI state of the UE <NUM>, a measurement metrics component <NUM> that compares current and previous measurement metrics, and a reporting configuration component <NUM> that determines whether to send a measurement report.

The base stations <NUM> may include macro cells (high power cellular base station) and/or small cell base stations (low power cellular base station). The base stations <NUM> (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) interface with the core network <NUM> (e.g., an EPC or 5GC) through backhaul links <NUM> (e.g., S1 interface). The base stations <NUM> may communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., through the core network <NUM>) with each other over backhaul links <NUM> (e.g., X2 interface).

For example, the small cell base station <NUM>' may have a coverage area <NUM>' that overlaps the coverage area <NUM> of one or more macro cell base stations <NUM>. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home Evolved Node Base Stations (eNBs) (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG). The base stations <NUM> / UEs <NUM> may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL).

When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station <NUM>' may employ NR and use the same <NUM> unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the Wi-Fi AP <NUM>. The small cell base station <NUM>', employing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and/or increase capacity of the access network.

A gNodeB (gNB) or eNodeB (eNB)<NUM> (one or both of gNB and eNB may also be referred to as "base station") may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and/or near mmW frequencies in communication with the UE <NUM>. It should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention is not just limited to mmW, but may also include any other frequencies used for wireless communication. In an aspect, a gNB <NUM> operating using mmW may utilize beamforming <NUM> with the UE <NUM> to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Additionally, UEs <NUM> performing D2D communications may operate using mmW and may also utilize beamforming <NUM>.

The EPC may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME), other MMEs, a Serving Gateway, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC), and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway. The MME may be in communication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS). The MME is the control node that processes the signaling between the UEs <NUM> and the EPC. Generally, the MME provides bearer and connection management. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets are transferred through the Serving Gateway, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway. The PDN Gateway provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway and the BM-SC are connected to the IP Services. The IP Services may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, and/or other IP services. The BM-SC may provide functions for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmission, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS Bearer Services within a public land mobile network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to the base stations <NUM> belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area broadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible for session management (start/stop) and for collecting eMBMS related charging information.

The base station may also be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), or some other suitable terminology. The base station <NUM> provides an access point to the core network <NUM> for a UE <NUM>. Examples of UEs <NUM> include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a display, or any other similar functioning device.

In some examples, the wireless communication system may be a mmW communication system. In mmW communication systems (e.g., access network <NUM>), a line of sight (LOS) may be needed between a transmitting device (e.g., base station <NUM>) and a receiving device (e.g., UE <NUM>), or between two UEs <NUM>. Frequency is very high in mmW communication systems which means that beam widths are very small, as the beam widths are inversely proportional to the frequency of the waves or carriers transmitted by an antenna of the transmitting device. Beam widths used in mmW communications are often termed as "pencil beams. " The small wavelengths may result in many objects or materials acting as obstacles including even oxygen molecules. Therefore, LOS between the transmitter and receiver may be required unless a reflected path is strong enough to transmit data. Further, in some examples, base stations may track UEs <NUM> to focus beams for communication.

During LOS situations, tracking of the UE <NUM> may be performed by the base station <NUM> or another UE <NUM> by focusing a beam onto the tracked UE <NUM>. However, if the receiving UE <NUM> is in a Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) position, then a transmitter of the base station <NUM> may need to search for a strong reflected path which is not always available. An example of a UE <NUM> being in a NLOS position may include a first UE <NUM> located within a vehicle. When the first UE <NUM> is located within the vehicle, a base station <NUM> may have difficulty retaining LOS and the difficulty of retaining LOS may further increase when the vehicle is moving.

Further, compared to lower frequency communication systems, a distance between base stations <NUM> in a mmW communication system may be very short (e.g., <NUM> - <NUM> meters between gNBs). The short distances may result in a short amount of time required for a handover between base stations <NUM>. The short distance and the fast handovers may cause difficulty to the base station <NUM> in maintaining a LOS beam on a UE <NUM> when the UE <NUM> is, for example, located within a vehicle as even small obstacles like a user's finger on the UE <NUM> or the vehicle windows or windshield act as obstacles to maintaining the LOS.

<FIG> and <FIG> illustrate flowcharts <NUM> and <NUM> of methods executed by the UE <NUM> in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. As discussed below, although flowchart <NUM> in <FIG> is illustrated as a continuation of flowchart <NUM> in <FIG>, it should be appreciated that methods of flowcharts <NUM> and <NUM> may be executed either independently (e.g., flowchart <NUM> may start at block <NUM> without first requiring the UE to execute the steps of blocks <NUM>-<NUM> outlined in flowchart <NUM>) or as a continuation of flowchart <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the method includes receiving a request from the network to periodically measure one or more SCells by performing beam sweeps across all UE Rx beams. In some examples, the SCell may be deactivated during the time the UE receives the request from the network. However, the SCell may be activated when the need arises, including in instances of high data throughput and / or low latency requirements. Generally, performing beam sweeps across all UE Rx beams and reporting measurement metrics (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP)/ reference signal received quality (RSRQ)/ reference signal - signal to interference plus noise ratio (RS-SINR)) to the network may enable the network to better manage load balancing of the network. Additionally, because the UE <NUM> has performed beam sweeps across all UE Rx beams, the UE <NUM> may store the recent timing information from a target cell and thereby enable fast activation of the SCell, if needed. However, as noted above, the process of performing the periodic beam sweeps may be resource intensive.

To minimize resource waste, the UE <NUM>, at block <NUM> determines if the UE is configured in at least one active TCI state. In some examples, the UE may be configured in at least one TCI state because the network may have previously activated the UE for communication with an SCell. As such, during such activation, the network may have provided the UE TCI configuration information that identifies one or more limited beams for the UE to utilize for uplink and downlink communication. For example, the network may configure the UE <NUM> with a TCI configuration information via an RRC configuration. In some examples, the UE may be configured with more than one TCI configuration information. The UE <NUM>, however, may be configured with a single active TCI configuration, which may be selected by the network via RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI.

At block <NUM>, if the UE has been configured in at least one active TCI state, the UE may determine the previous measurement metrics associated with the beam(s) identified in the TCI configuration. Generally, there may be a single beam identified for uplink transmission and a separate beam identified for downlink communication. In other examples, the UE may be configured with only a single beam for both uplink and downlink communication.

At block <NUM>, the UE measures the signal quality for only the beam corresponding to the configured TCI state to calculate a current measurement metric. At block <NUM>, the UE may further calculate the difference (or change / delta) between the current measurement metric to the previous measurement metrics. At block <NUM>, the UE compares the difference to a threshold.

If the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metrics is less than the threshold, the UE, at block <NUM> may disable measurement reporting for the UE or report back to the network only the signal quality metrics based on the last measured beam(s). Disabling measurement reporting may include electing not to respond to the request from the network for the UE to perform beam sweeps across all UE Rx beams and/or provide measurement reports to the network.

However, if difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metrics is greater than the threshold, the UE <NUM>, at block <NUM> may either enable measurement reporting which includes performing measurements across all UE Rx beams using beam sweep, or in the alternative continuing to the steps outlined in flowchart <NUM> of <FIG> for further analysis as to whether to enable or disable measurement reporting.

Turning next to <FIG>, flowchart <NUM> may be a continuation of the flowchart <NUM> of <FIG>. For example, once the UE determines that the difference between the current measurement metrics for the beam identified in the TCI configuration exceeds the threshold, the method may proceed to block <NUM> discussed below. However, it is not necessary that steps outlined in blocks <NUM>-<NUM> precede those outlined in flowchart <NUM>. Specifically, it is contemplated that upon receiving a request to perform measurements for SCell from the network (block <NUM>), the UE may directly proceed to block <NUM> by foregoing blocks <NUM>-<NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the UE may determine the time since the last measurement was performed across all UE Rx beams by beam sweep. At block <NUM>, the UE may determine whether the length of time since the UE previously performed the beam sweep exceeds the period of time threshold. The period of time threshold may be a period of time after which a previous measurement is considered stale. The period of time threshold may be configured by the network or specified in a standards document or regulation. In an aspect, the period of time threshold may be defined as a number of measurement cycles (e.g., a number of periodic measurements for which the UE is configured). For example, the period of time threshold may be defined as <NUM>, <NUM>, or another number of measurement cycles.

If the time since the previous beam sweep is less than the period of time threshold, the UE, at block <NUM> may perform measurement on only the last reported beam because the last reported beam would generally be associated with the strongest signal quality. At block <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may determine the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metrics for signal quality on the last reported beam. The UE <NUM> may determine whether the difference satisfies the threshold.

If, the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metrics for the last reported beam is less than the threshold, the UE <NUM>, at block <NUM> may disable measurement reporting (e.g., electing to omit transmitting the current measurement reports) or report back to the network only the signal quality metrics based on the last measured beam(s) (e.g., the current measurement metric). However, if the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metrics for the last reported beam is greater than the threshold, the UE <NUM>, at block <NUM> may proceed to measure signal quality across all UE Rx beams using beam sweep.

At block <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may select the measurement metric to report to the network. Specifically, because the UE may have signal quality information associated with all Rx beams, the UE may select the beam corresponding to the strongest signal quality (e.g., least SNR). At block <NUM>, the UE may update the previous measurement metric to the current measurement metric based on the selection of the beam. At block <NUM>, the UE may report the current measurement metric (e.g., updated measurement) to the network.

<FIG> illustrates example hardware components and subcomponents of a device that may be a UE <NUM> for implementing one or more methods (e.g., method <NUM>) described herein in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. For example, one example of an implementation of the UE <NUM> may include a variety of components, some of which have already been described above, but including components such as one or more processors <NUM>, memory <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> in communication via one or more buses <NUM>, which may operate in conjunction with the communication management component <NUM> to perform functions described herein related to including one or more methods (e.g., <NUM>) of the present disclosure.

The one or more processors <NUM>, modem <NUM>, memory <NUM>, transceiver <NUM>, RF front end <NUM> and one or more antennas <NUM>, may be configured to support voice and/or data calls (simultaneously or non-simultaneously) in one or more radio access technologies. In an aspect, the one or more processors <NUM> can include a modem <NUM> that uses one or more modem processors. The various functions related to communication management component <NUM> may be included in modem <NUM> and/or processors <NUM> and, in an aspect, can be executed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different ones of the functions may be executed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in an aspect, the one or more processors <NUM> may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a receiver processor, or a transceiver processor associated with transceiver <NUM>. In other aspects, some of the features of the one or more processors <NUM> and/or modem <NUM> associated with communication management component <NUM> may be performed by transceiver <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> may be configured to store data used herein and/or local versions of application(s) <NUM> or communication management component <NUM> and/or one or more of its subcomponents being executed by at least one processor <NUM>. The memory <NUM> can include any type of computer-readable medium usable by a computer or at least one processor <NUM>, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In an aspect, for example, the memory <NUM> may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining communication management component <NUM> and/or one or more of its subcomponents, and/or data associated therewith, when the UE <NUM> is operating at least one processor <NUM> to execute communication management component <NUM> and/or one or more of its subcomponents.

The communication management component <NUM> may include a TCI configuration component <NUM> to determine whether the UE <NUM> is configured with one or more TCI states and includes one or more Tx and Rx beams for communication from prior SCell activation. The TCI configuration component <NUM> may receive a TCI configuration from the network as an RRC message indicating one or more TCI state a and the one or more Tx and Rx beams for communication in each respective TCI state. The TCI configuration component <NUM> may store the TCI configuration (e.g., in memory <NUM>. The TCI configuration component <NUM> may receive a TCI activation from the network as an RRC message, MAC-CE, or DCI and select a corresponding configured TCI state for activation. That is, the TCI configuration component <NUM> may indicate the one or more Tx and Rx beams corresponding to the active TCI state for communications. The TCI configuration component <NUM> may store an indication of the most recent active TCI state. When the communication management component <NUM> receives a request from the network to perform signal measurements, the communication management component <NUM> may determine the stored most recent active TCI state and the Tx and Rx beams corresponding to the TCI state. Accordingly, the TCI configuration component <NUM> may determine that the UE is configured with at least one activated TCI state that identifies the at least one beam from the plurality of beams for measurement.

The communication management component <NUM> may further include measurement metrics component <NUM> for measuring signal quality for one or more Rx beams to identify one or more of measurement metrics (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, RS-SINR, etc.) For example, the measurement metrics component <NUM> may include or control the receiver <NUM> to measure the signal quality of the one or more Rx beams to identify the one or more of measurement metrics. For example, the measurement metrics component <NUM> may tune the receiver <NUM> to the Rx beam, measure a reference signal, and calculate the one or more measurement metrics. The measurement metrics component <NUM> may store (e.g., in memory <NUM>) each measurement metric for comparison to later measurement metrics. Accordingly, when the communication management component <NUM> receives a request from the network to perform signal measurements, the measurement metrics component <NUM> may identify the one or more current measurement metrics.

The communication management component <NUM> may further include measurement comparison component <NUM> for determining whether there have been any changes in signal quality since the UE last reported the measurement metrics for the measured beam. For example, the measurement comparison component <NUM> may compare the current measurement metrics to the stored measurement metrics. For instance, the measurement comparison component <NUM> may determine a difference between the current measurement metric and the last reported measurement metric for the Rx beam. The measurement comparison component <NUM> may compare the difference to the threshold to determine whether there have been any changes in signal quality since the UE last reported the measurement metrics for the measured beam.

The communication management component <NUM> may further include reporting configuration component <NUM> to enable or disable measurement reporting based on one or more factors identified herein. For example, the reporting configuration component <NUM> may receive the difference between the current measurement metric and the last reported measurement metric or an indication of whether the difference satisfies the threshold from the measurement metrics component <NUM>. In an aspect, the reporting configuration component <NUM> may disable the measurement reporting in respond to determining that the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metric for the at least one beam is less than the threshold. In contrast, the reporting configuration component <NUM> may enable the measurement reporting in response to determining that the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metric for the at least one beam is greater than the threshold. In another aspect, the reporting configuration component <NUM> may determine whether a length of time since the UE previously performed signal measurements for the plurality of beams associated with SCell exceeds a period of time threshold. The reporting configuration component <NUM> may enable the measurement reporting in respond to determining that length of time since the UE previously performed signal measurements for the plurality of beams associated with SCell exceeds a period of time threshold. The reporting configuration component <NUM> may disable the measurement reporting in respond to determining that length of time since the UE previously performed signal measurements for the plurality of beams associated with SCell is less than the period of time threshold.

The transceiver <NUM> may include at least one receiver <NUM> and at least one transmitter <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may include hardware, firmware, and/or software code executable by a processor for receiving data, the code comprising instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., computer-readable medium). The receiver <NUM> may be, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver. In an aspect, the receiver <NUM> may receive signals transmitted by at least one UE <NUM>. Additionally, receiver <NUM> may process such received signals, and also may obtain measurements of the signals, such as, but not limited to, Ec/lo, SNR, RSRP, RSSI, etc. The transmitter <NUM> may include hardware, firmware, and/or software code executable by a processor for transmitting data, the code comprising instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., computer-readable medium). A suitable example of the transmitter <NUM> may including, but is not limited to, an RF transmitter.

Moreover, in an aspect, transmitting device may include the RF front end <NUM>, which may operate in communication with one or more antennas <NUM> and transceiver <NUM> for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions, for example, wireless communications transmitted by at least one base station <NUM> or wireless transmissions transmitted by UE <NUM>. The RF front end <NUM> may be connected to one or more antennas <NUM> and can include one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) <NUM>, one or more switches <NUM>, one or more power amplifiers (PAs) <NUM>, and one or more filters <NUM> for transmitting and receiving RF signals.

In an aspect, the LNA <NUM> can amplify a received signal at a desired output level. In an aspect, the RF front end <NUM> may use one or more switches <NUM> to select a particular LNA <NUM> and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.

Further, for example, one or more PA(s) <NUM> may be used by the RF front end <NUM> to amplify a signal for an RF output at a desired output power level. In an aspect, the RF front end <NUM> may use one or more switches <NUM> to select a particular PA <NUM> and its specified gain value based on a desired gain value for a particular application.

Also, for example, one or more filters <NUM> can be used by the RF front end <NUM> to filter a received signal to obtain an input RF signal. In an aspect, the RF front end <NUM> can use one or more switches <NUM> to select a transmit or receive path using a specified filter <NUM>, LNA <NUM>, and/or PA <NUM>, based on a configuration as specified by the transceiver <NUM> and/or processor <NUM>.

As such, the transceiver <NUM> may be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through one or more antennas <NUM> via the RF front end <NUM>. In an aspect, the transceiver <NUM> may be tuned to operate at specified frequencies such that transmitting device can communicate with, for example, one or more base stations <NUM> or one or more cells associated with one or more base stations <NUM>. In an aspect, for example, the modem <NUM> can configure the transceiver <NUM> to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the configuration of the transmitting device and the communication protocol used by the modem <NUM>.

In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can be a multiband-multimode modem, which can process digital data and communicate with the transceiver <NUM> such that the digital data is sent and received using the transceiver <NUM>. In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can be multiband and be configured to support multiple frequency bands for a specific communications protocol. In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can be multimode and be configured to support multiple operating networks and communications protocols. In an aspect, the modem <NUM> can control one or more components of transmitting device (e.g., RF front end <NUM>, transceiver <NUM>) to enable transmission and/or reception of signals from the network based on a specified modem configuration. In an aspect, the modem configuration can be based on the mode of the modem <NUM> and the frequency band in use. In another aspect, the modem configuration can be based on UE configuration information associated with transmitting device as provided by the network during cell selection and/or cell reselection.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example method <NUM> for wireless communications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The method <NUM> may be performed using the UE <NUM>. Although the method <NUM> is described below with respect to the elements of the UE <NUM>, other components may be used to implement one or more of the steps described herein.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes receiving, at a UE, a request from a network to perform signal measurements for a plurality of beams associated with a SCell. Aspects of block <NUM> may be performed by transceiver <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>. For example, the request may be an RRC message including a measurement object for the SCell. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, and/or the modem <NUM> controlling the transceiver <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define means for receiving, at UE, a request from a network to perform signal measurements for a plurality of beams associated with a SCell.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> may optionally include determining, in response to the request, whether a length of time since the UE previously performed signal measurements for the plurality of beams associated with SCell exceeds a period of time threshold. In some aspects, the method may include measuring the signal quality for each of the plurality of beams associated with the SCell using a beam sweep if the length of time since the UE previously performed the signal measurements exceeds the period of time threshold. In such an instance, the method may further include reporting measurement metrics associated with each of the plurality of beams to the network. However, if the length of time since the UE previously performed the signal measurements is less than the period of time threshold, the method may include measuring signal quality for the last reported beam (e.g., a beam from a plurality of beams for which the UE reported measurements last) as identified in block <NUM> below. Aspects of block <NUM> may be performed by communication management component <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes measuring, in response to the request, a signal quality for at least one beam from the plurality of beams associated with the SCell to generate a current measurement metric. In some examples, the at least one beam may be identified in the active TCI configuration when the UE is determined to be configured in an active TCI state. To this end, the method <NUM> may include determining that the UE is configured with an active TCI state that identifies the at least one beam from the plurality of beams. In other examples, the at least one beam may be the last reported beam for which the UE <NUM> may have reported the signal quality measurement metrics. Aspects of block <NUM> may be performed by measurement metrics component <NUM> described above with reference to <FIG>. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, and/or the modem <NUM> executing the communication management component <NUM> or the measurement metrics component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define means for measuring, in response to the request, a signal quality for at least one beam from the plurality of beams associated with the SCell to generate a current measurement metric.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes determining whether a difference between the current measurement metric and a previous measurement metric for the at least one beam satisfies a threshold. In some examples, the previous measurement metric may be a signal quality measurement that the UE may have previously reported to the network for one or more beams (e.g., from previous activation of the SCell). In other examples, the previous measurement metric may be associated with the beam identified in the active TCI configuration for the UE. Specifically, the UE may be configured in an active TCI state based on prior SCell activations that identifies a limited set of beams for the UE to use for communication on the SCell. As such, during subsequent communications (e.g., current communication), the UE may limit the measurement reporting to only those beams that had previously been assigned to the UE in the active TCI configuration.

In some examples, the determining whether the difference between the current measurement metric and the previous measurement metric for the at least one beam satisfies a threshold includes comparing the new measurement metric to an old measurement metric that the UE had previously reported to the network for the at least one beam from the plurality of beams associated with the SCell. In some examples, the threshold to trigger configuring the UE to either enable or disable the measurement reporting (see block <NUM>) may be configured by the network by a configuration message (e.g., via signaling). Aspects of block <NUM> may be performed by measurement comparison component <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, and/or the modem <NUM> executing the communication management component <NUM> or the measurement comparison component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define means for determining whether a difference between the current measurement metric and a previous measurement metric for the at least one beam satisfies a threshold.

At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes configuring the UE to either enable or disable measurement reporting based on the determining. In some examples, configuring the UE to either enable or disable measurement reporting may include disabling the measurement reporting based on determining that the difference between the new measurement metric and the old measurement metric for the at least one beam is less than the threshold. In some aspects, disabling the measurement reporting may include omitting reporting the new measurement metric for the at least one beam to the network. For example, the UE may elect not to report the new measurement report to the network if the difference between the new measurement metric and the old measurement metric previously reported has not changed significantly (e.g., less than a threshold).

In other examples, if the difference exceeds the threshold, the method may include enabling the measurement reporting based on determining that the difference between the new measurement metric and the old measurement metric for the at least one beam is greater than the threshold. In such an instance, the method may include measuring the signal quality for each of the plurality of beams associated with the SCell using beam sweep, and reporting measurement metrics associated with each of the plurality of beams to the network.

In some examples, configuring the UE to either enable or disable the measurement reporting may include enabling the measurement reporting based on a determination that the signal quality for the at least one beam from the plurality of beams falls below a signal quality threshold. For example, the measurements using beam sweep across all beams can be triggered if the single beam being monitored falls below the signal quality threshold. In other examples, the method may include enabling the measurement reporting based on a determination that a first signal quality for a first beam from the plurality of beams falls below a signal quality threshold, and a second signal quality for the second beam is greater than the signal quality threshold. For example, the UE may measure and report other beams from the SCell if the beam being monitored (e.g., beam that is configured in TCI) falls below a threshold, while another beam is better than the one being monitored by a certain signal quality threshold, where the signal quality threshold may be configured by the network. Aspects of block <NUM> may be performed by reporting configuration component <NUM> described above with reference to <FIG>. Thus, the UE <NUM>, the processor <NUM>, and/or the modem <NUM> executing the communication management component <NUM> or the reporting configuration component <NUM> or one of its subcomponents may define means for configuring the UE to either enable or disable measurement reporting based on the determining.

Claim 1:
A method for wireless communications, performed by a user equipment, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>; <NUM>), at the user equipment, UE (<NUM>), a request from a network to perform signal measurements for a plurality of beams associated with a secondary cell, SCell;
measuring (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>), in response to the request and based on a determination (<NUM>) that the UE is configured with at least one transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state that identifies a limited set of at least one beam from the plurality of beams, a signal quality for the limited set to generate a current measurement metric;
determining (<NUM>, <NUM>; <NUM>) whether a difference between the current measurement metric and a previous measurement metric for the at least one beam satisfies a threshold; and
configuring (<NUM>) the UE to either enable or disable measurement reporting based on the determining.