Patent Description:
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio access network (RAN)#<NUM> specified network-controlled RRM measurement relaxation for user equipment (UE) power saving purposes. For example, relaxation may be applied for both intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurements.

<CIT> discloses different procedures to determine, for example, which transmit power to use, based on e.g. beam measurement results.

The scope of protection of the invention is set out by the independent claims. The example embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various example embodiments of the invention. In particular, the invention is best understood in view of <FIG> and <FIG>. The remaining embodiments, aspects, or examples are included in order to help the reader better understand the invention.

An example embodiment of an apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:.

In an example embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the above-described example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code further configured to start the at least one timer T once at least one reference value is obtained, wherein the reference value is based upon at least one measurement configured to derive one or more of at least one cell measurement quantity configured for cell quality derivation and at least one beam index determined to be used for cell quality derivation.

In an example embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the above-described example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code further configured to receive at least one measurement and/or at least one value.

In an example embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the above-described example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code further configured to compare the received at least one measurement and/or at least one value to at least one reference value.

In an example embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the above-described example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code further configured to determine whether the at least one timer T has stopped, has expired, or is running.

In an example embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the above-described example embodiments, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code further configured to, upon determining that the at least one timer T has stopped, re-determine at least one reference value configured to evaluate at least one beam change condition based on at least one measurement.

In an example embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the above-described example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code further configured to, upon determining that the at least one timer T is running, re-receive at least one measurement and/or at least one value.

An example embodiment of a method comprises steps of determining at least one reference value configured to evaluate at least one beam change condition based on at least one measurement; determining, for evaluation of fulfillment of the at least one beam change condition, whether at least one beam has changed; upon determining that at least one timer T has expired, determining that the at least one beam change condition has been fulfilled; and determining, based at least on fulfilment of the at least one beam change condition, whether at least one condition for adapting (<NUM>, <NUM>) radio resource management measurements is fulfilled.

An example embodiment of a computer program code may include instructions for performing: determining at least one reference value configured to evaluate at least one beam change condition based on at least one measurement; determining, for evaluation of fulfillment of the at least one beam change condition, whether at least one beam has changed based on the at least one reference value; upon determining that at least one timer T has expired, determining that the at least one beam change condition has been fulfilled; and determining, based at least on fulfilment of the at least one beam change condition, whether at least one condition for adapting (<NUM>, <NUM>) radio resource management measurements is fulfilled.

For proper understanding of this disclosure, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:.

Under 3GPP new radio (NR), the UE may continuously perform at least intra-frequency RRM measurements, and may be further configured to perform RRM on other layers or types of radio access technology (RAT). Generally, mobility measurements may be for inter-cell mobility, typically referred to radio resource management (RRM) measurements or Layer <NUM> mobility. RRC signalling may be used for inter-cell mobility RRC. RRC may also be used to configure measurements for synchronization signal block (SSB)-based management, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS)-based beam management, and/or Layer <NUM> (L1)-reference signals received power (RSRP) measurements. The SS block may also be referred to as a synchronization signal /PBCH block, wherein the synchronization signal may include a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal. Reference signals used for either L3 mobility and/or beam management may be explicitly configured, and RRM measurements may be configured for the UE by the network using, for example, MeasObjectNR information element (IE), as defined in 3GPP technical specification (TS) <NUM>. Specifically, MeasObjectNR specifies information applicable for synchronization signals (SS)/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block intra/inter-frequency and/or CSI-RS intra/inter-frequency measurements.

CSI-RS signals for beam management and L3 mobility purposes may be separately configured, such as the actual signals, measurements, and reporting configurations being independently configured. For beam management purposes, the UE may be configured with one or more non-zero power (NZP)-CSI-RS configurations, while for L3 mobility purposes, the UE may be configured with CSI-RS for Mobility.

In addition, at least one SSB signal may be used for both beam management and L3 mobility. For example, with SSB-based measurements for beam management, the SSB resources configured for L1-RSRP reporting may be explicitly configured, while under current specifications, the SSB-based measurements for L3 mobility may be performed by the UE during an SS/PBCH block measurement time configuration (SMTC). Such an SMTC window may determine a time duration where the UE may expect SSB-time locations, and where the UE performs measurements of any SSBs of any cell on the frequency layer.

As described 3GPP TS <NUM>, the measurement time resource(s) for SS-RSRP may be confined within an SMTC window duration. If SS-RSRP is used for L1-RSRP as configured by reporting configurations as defined in 3GPP TS <NUM>, the measurement time resources restriction by the SMTC window duration may not apply.

As an example, an SMTC window may define the time duration and periodicity for SSB-based RRM measurements. An SMTC window may be provided to the UE for IDLE mode measurements (SMTC), as well as for the CONNECTED mode with one or two separate SMTC configurations (SMTC1, SMTC2). Only on the serving carrier could the UE be configured with two SMTCs; otherwise, only one SMTC could be configured.

Primary measurement timing configurations (SMTC1) may indicate the periodicity and/or offset value for the SMTC window, as well as the duration of the subframes. In addition, secondary measurement timing configuration (SMTC2) for SSBs may correspond with at least one specific physical cell identifier (PCI) listed in the configuration. For the SSBs indicated in the SMTC1, the second/alternative second periodicity may be indicated by periodicity in SMTC2. Periodicity in SMTC2 may only be set to a value shorter than the periodicity of the SMTC1. Additionally, SMTC1 may be a multiple of SMTC2. As an example, if the SMTC1 periodicity is configured as sf10, the periodicity of SMTC2 may only be set to sf5. SMTC2 may use the offset and duration value of SMTC1.

As described in 3GPP RAN#<NUM>, a power saving enhancement in RRM may consider the UE IDLE mode measurements and/or may be triggered. RAN2 resulted in RRM measurements which may be relaxed when specific conditions apply, or a criteria is fulfilled for the UE.

Specifically, measurement relaxation criteria may consider both low mobility and UE location in the cell, such as whether the UE is in a cell edge. The UE may activate relaxed measurement criteria if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied. First, a serving cell measurement may not change more than a relative threshold during a time period. The LTE-relaxed monitoring criteria in 3GPP TS <NUM> may be considered as a baseline, and additional enhancements addressing NR-specific aspects may be considered. Second, the UE may not be a cell edge, where the serving cell/beam RSRP/RSRQ/SINR may be above a threshold.

It was also agreed to include determining whether serving cell measurements change more than a relative threshold during a time period. LTE relaxed monitoring may be used as a baseline operation, where the UE may compare the cell quality (serving cell measurement) to a reference value, and may check if the different is within a threshold value, such as SSearchDeltaP. Specifically, under 3GPP TS <NUM>, the relaxed monitoring criterion may be fulfilled when (SrxlevRef - Srxlev) < SSearchDeltaP. In NR, the cell quality may be derived based on the beam level measurements at RRC, and a single value may be derived based upon multiple beams. Where an absolute threshold is configured, the UE may average the beam measurements of up to N beams that are above the threshold (i.e. the measured values are above a quality threshold such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR or the like).

The cell quality/serving cell measurements may be used to determine whether the UE can relax the measurements which may be used to determine that the UE is in a low mobility, in a stationary state, or in a state for adapting its operation, such as for power saving, from the RRM measurement perspective. Since the variation of the measurements is low, the assumption is that the radio environment may be considered to be relatively static, and subsequent measurements may have relatively high correlation. However, while the cell quality may provide information to estimate that the UE may be in a low mobility state or in a state where the UE may adapt the measurements, it may not be enough to only consider the derived cell quality since the quality may be relatively static, while the beam measurements may fluctuate. In cell re-selection and IDLE mode mobility cases, it may not be an issue; however, it may not be feasible to determine whether criteria or conditions to relax RRM measurements have been fulfilled.

Certain embodiments described herein may have various benefits and/or advantages to overcome the disadvantages described above. For example, by considering cell quality measurements and beam-based measurements for determining whether a UE can adapt its RRM, this may have the benefit of saving power and providing a more reliable mechanism for determining that the UE is in a low mobility state. In addition, since cell quality may be derived according to one or more beams, individual beam measurements and conditions may provide a better indication of whether the UE can determine that a radio environment is relatively static, or that the UE is in a state when it can adapt its RRM measurements with little or no impact on the mobility performance. Thus, certain embodiments are directed to improvements in computer-related technology.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a signaling diagram showing communications between UE <NUM> and NE <NUM> for evaluating beam-based condition/criteria. UE <NUM> may be UE <NUM>, and NE <NUM> may be NE <NUM>, both illustrated in <FIG>.

In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may transmit at least one SIB, such as at least one SIB3, and/or at least one RRC message to UE <NUM>. In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may transmit at least one first beam-specific downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) to UE <NUM>. The first beam-specific DL-RS may include at least one synchronization signal physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block (SSB) and/or at least one CSI-RS.

In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may perform at least one measurement. For example, the beam-specific DL RS may comprise at least one synchronization signal physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block, such as for L3 mobility purposes, beam management purposes, and/or CSI-RS purposes, including for L3 mobility and/or beam management.

In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may determine at least one reference value based on at least one parameter, such as Srxlev (cell selection RX level value (dB)) and Squal (cell selection quality value), provided by the network. In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may transmit at least one second beam-specific DL RS, which may include the at least one SSB and/or at least one CSI-RS to UE <NUM>. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may perform at least one measurement based on the at least one determined reference value. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> detects at least one change in at least one beam condition. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may determine whether to perform at least one of beam-based RRM relaxation operation and/or reporting operation.

In some embodiments, if UE <NUM> determines that at least one beam change has occurred, UE <NUM> may continue obtaining additional or new reference values in step <NUM>, and/or may stop/start/restart/continue the at least one timer T.

In some embodiments, the at least one beam may be determined to not be changed if, for example, the beams are not changed for a cell measurement quantity (cell quality or L3 cell quality), such as RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR, derivation for different measurements in comparison to at least one reference value or other measurement. Specifically, this determination may be made if at least one beam index used to derive cell measurement quantity (cell quality) has not changed; if none of the beam indices have changed; if at most N of M beam indices have changed; and may be based upon one or more of any of the measurement within a period of time, a previous measurement within a period of time, the at least one reference value, and the at least one reference value within a period of time. A determination that a beam change has not occurred may also occur when at least one (or N) beam index used to derive the cell quality is the same as in the reference set. To determine whether has or has not changed, the signal quality (in terms of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR or the like) of the beam index or indices may be compared to the threshold value and determined if the quality is above or equal to the threshold. If the value is above (or equal) to the threshold, the beam may be considered not to be changed. In other words, in an example of using one beam (although multiple beam indexes may be considered), if a beam index is used for cell quality derivation (or is above or equal to a threshold) in the reference measurement (or the index is considered as reference value), and the same beam index is used for cell quality derivation (or is above or equal to the threshold) in a measurement that is compared to the reference measurement, the beam index is considered not to have changed. Beam index or indices may refer to downlink signals and their respective identifiers such as SSB index, SSB resource index, SSB time location index, or CSI-RS index/resource identifier or the like.

As an example, in the first measurement or evaluation, UE <NUM> may determine that beam index (the measured signal quality of the beam index in terms of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR or the like) #<NUM> and #<NUM> are above a threshold and/or are considered as reference values. In the second evaluation, UE <NUM> may determine that index #<NUM>, index #<NUM>, and additionally index #<NUM> may be above a threshold and/or are determined to be valid for beam evaluation. Furthermore, UE <NUM> may determine that a beam change has not occurred. In the third evaluation, UE <NUM> may determine that only beam index #<NUM> is above the threshold and/or considered in the beam-based evaluation). In some embodiments, UE <NUM> may determine that a beam change has occurred since not all the beams are the same in the evaluated set compared to the reference set.

In various embodiments, UE <NUM> may determine that, since at least one index (#<NUM>) is the same as the reference set, UE <NUM> may determine that a beam change has not occurred. When UE <NUM> determines that a beam change has occurred and/or that a beam-based condition has not been fulfilled, UE <NUM> may perform at least one of: i) obtain a new reference value based on the latest measurement where it considered that a beam change occurred, ii) obtain of new reference value based on the latest measurement where UE <NUM> considered that a beam change occurred if the cell based condition is fulfilled, iii) obtain a new reference value based on the latest measurement where UE <NUM> considered that a cell based condition is fulfilled, and iv) stop/suspend evaluation of beam-based conditions until evaluation is started or restarted.

In certain embodiments, UE <NUM> may start/restart timer T and/or may continue evaluation of beam-based conditions. Additionally or alternatively, when the beam-based condition is not considered to be fulfilled, UE <NUM> may need to re-evaluate at least one or all cell-based conditions.

In some embodiments, when UE <NUM> has determined that, for example, at least one adaptation condition is fulfilled, such as based on cell-based, beam-based, or both conditions), UE <NUM> may determine that UE <NUM> is in at least one low mobility state and/or in a state where UE <NUM> may adapt its operation, such as performing RRM measurements). UE <NUM> may further determine that UE <NUM> needs to continue evaluating whether the cell-/beam-based conditions apply, for example, whether UE <NUM> needs to cancel the adaptation/exit the adaptation state, and UE <NUM> may start a timer to continue evaluation.

According to various embodiments, UE <NUM> may determine, based on subsequent measurements/evaluations, whether the beam- or cell-based condition still holds. For example, UE <NUM> may obtain at least one new reference value when UE <NUM> has determined that UE <NUM> can adapt its operation, or UE <NUM> may use the same reference value that it obtained for the evaluation for the time duration of T initially. Additionally or alternatively, UE <NUM> may continue evaluation whether the beam-based condition is satisfied or continues to be satisfied. Regarding the beam-based condition, as with the cell-based condition, UE <NUM> may obtain at least one new reference value when it has determined that UE <NUM> can adapt its operation (such as relax RRM measurements) or use the same reference value that was initially obtained. In some examples, at least one timer may be used to evaluate the beam/cell-based condition, and additionally or alternatively, UE <NUM> may evaluate the condition as per subsequent evaluation (for example, the measurement interval used for determining whether a condition is fulfilled), and if one or more measurements or obtained values (e.g. beam indexes/quality or cell quality) differ from the reference values or are considered to be changed, UE <NUM> may exit the adaptation state. Alternatively, UE <NUM> may be configured to determine when values, such as beam indexes/quality or cell quality, for N-consecutive or N within a time period have changed, and, based on the determination, exit the low mobility state/measurement adaptation state.

In certain embodiments, UE <NUM> may be configured with stricter or looser conditions/parameters to detect at least one change in cell/beam condition when UE <NUM> has determined that UE <NUM> is allowed/can adapt its operation (such as RRM measurements) and/or be in a low mobility/stationary state. For example, the cell-based condition may be considered to be fulfilled when cell quality is above a threshold and the cell quality variation (e.g. RSRP value of the cell is not lower (or different) by an offset compared to the reference value e.g. within a time period, and when UE <NUM> evaluates the exit condition, the offset value may be stricter, specifically, the offset value may be used for comparing the obtained cell quality to the reference may be smaller, where less variation is tolerated, or vice versa. In certain embodiments, the new obtained cell quality value may be compared to the reference value plus the offset (e.g. the variation is determined to be within acceptable range if Cell Quality_new <= reference_value + offset) wherein the offset may be positive, negative or zero. Similarly, when evaluating beam-based conditions, when UE <NUM> has determined that it can adapt, UE <NUM> may be required to exit the adaptation state if even one beam has changed or is different compared to the reference value. Thus, the criteria may be stricter when evaluating the exit condition. In certain examples, an offset value (which may be an offset used to determine the threshold value or number beam changes, or number of beams that is allowed to be changed) may be similar, stricter or looser, such as where more/fewer beam changes or a higher/lower number of beams which can change may be tolerated. In certain embodiments, an offset value may be applied for the threshold used to determine whether a beam change has occurred, as described in various embodiments. An offset (e.g. in dBs) may be applied to a threshold to change it to be higher or lower (or the same). The offset may be positive, negative, or zero.

In various embodiments, the beam measurements (or the measurements of the evaluation of beam based condition) may be performed independently of the cell quality derivation (or cell based measurement that is used to derive cell quality and determine if cell-based condition for adapting UE operation such as RRM measurements applies) e.g. with higher or lower periodicity or the beam measurements are associated with the measurements used for cell quality derivation. In any of the embodiments, in some cases UE may evaluate the beam-based condition when deriving cell quality and additionally evaluate beam-based condition more frequently. As an example, if UE derives cell quality every <NUM> it may be configured to perform or it may perform beam-based measurements/evaluation every <NUM> and additionally when UE derives the cell quality (every <NUM>). In some examples UE may derive cell quality every <NUM> but independently of the cell quality derivation determine beam-based condition every <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>. If the beam-based condition is evaluated independently of cell quality derivation or measurements, UE may still use the same parameters "as if" the cell quality would be derived e.g. the used threshold for cell quality derivation would be used, or as in various examples herein a different threshold may be used for beam-based evaluation. The values considered herein are merely example values.

In various embodiments, if there has been at least K beam changes and/or K beam changes within a period of time T after UE <NUM> has derived the cell measurement quantity (e.g., that may be used as a reference value for a beam change or to determine a reference for a cell based condition evaluation), UE <NUM> may consider the beam based condition not to be fulfilled, may consider that it cannot adapt/relax measurements, and/or may consider UE <NUM> not to be in a low/stationary mobility state. In addition, a condition may determine if UE <NUM> may or may not be considered to be located at a cell edge; alternatively, UE <NUM> may be considered to be located at a cell edge, and may not be allowed to adapt its operation for power saving (e.g., adapt RRM measurements). In addition, if there has been a maximum of K beam changes and/or K beam changes within a period of time T after UE <NUM> has derived the cell measurement quantity (e.g., that may be used as a reference value for beam changes and/or to determine reference for cell based condition evaluation), UE <NUM> may consider the beam-based condition to be fulfilled, consider that it can adapt/relax measurements, and/or consider UE <NUM> to be in a low mobility state or in a state where it can adapt its operation, such as RRM measurements).

According to some embodiments, the beam change may be determined by UE <NUM> when at least one beam or N beams have changed compared to the reference value or at least one beam or N beams have changed for M-consecutive evaluation instances compared to the reference value within period of time T (or evaluated without a time period or using alternative timer period Talt for evaluation). In some embodiments, the beam change may be determined not to occur when at least one beam is the same as in the reference set.

According to various embodiments, the timer T used for evaluation of beam-based condition or cell-based condition or both may be an interval for measurements to evaluate the condition, or multiple such intervals.

In some embodiments, at least one condition to evaluate at least one beam-based criteria/condition may require that at least one or all beams configured for deriving at least one cell measurement quantity is with K dB of a highest-measured value. For example, the highest-measured value may need to be above at least one threshold, such as absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation or other threshold. Additionally or alternatively, all of the beams used to derive the cell quality, and/or considered for evaluation of beam-based conditions, may need to be above at least one predetermined threshold, such as absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation or other threshold. Finally, at least N beam quantities may be required to be within K dB of at least one highest measured value.

In some embodiments, when determining whether at least one change condition for the beams used for cell measurement quantity derivation has occurred, an alternative or additional threshold value may be used. For example, this alternative or additional threshold value may be derived from absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation by using an offset, and/or it may be a separately configured or separately set threshold. In various embodiments, when the UE determines that beam change conditions are satisfied, UE <NUM> may use the threshold to determine which beams are considered in the evaluation, for example, that the beam is above at least one threshold, which may be independent to the absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a flow diagram of a method that may be performed by a UE, such as UE <NUM> of <FIG> or UE <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, to determine when a beam specific criteria for measurement relaxation is fulfilled or a condition can be applied, according to certain embodiments.

In step <NUM>, the UE may determine at least one reference value or value configured to evaluate at least one beam change condition based on at least one measurement occurring during at least one time period. In certain embodiments, the UE may determine the at least one reference value based upon at least one measurement configured to derive one or more of at least one cell measurement quantity configured for cell quality derivation, at least one beam index configured (or determined to be used) for cell quality derivation, a number of beams configured for cell quality derivation (e.g., a maximum number of beams used for cell quality derivation or maximum number of beams above the threshold used for cell quality derivation), a measured quantity of the beams, and any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may store the at least one reference value when, for example, at least one cell-based measurement is determined to be valid and/or at least one criteria configured for cell-based measurements (or cell based condition/criteria for adapting RRM measurements if fulfilled/satisfied) is satisfied. For example, this may be based on at least one cell quantity value above at least one threshold.

In various embodiments, the at least one reference value may be a first measurement configured to obtain one or more of cell quality and/or a first measurement configured to evaluate at least one condition and/or criteria for measurement adaptation/relaxation and/or evaluating the low mobility state (or a state where UE can adapt its RRM measurements or adapt its operation for power saving or for other purpose). At least one reference value and/or at least one measurement configured to obtain at least one reference value may be included in the period of time T configured to evaluate the measurement adaptation state, or the evaluation may be started once the reference value is obtained. For example, it may trigger the start of the time period for evaluations. The reference value may also be equal to the cell quality-based value (cell measurement) and/or beam-based value considered to be valid. For example, validity may mean that cell-based condition to adapt RRM measurements has been fulfilled, and the beam measurements of the said cell quality derivation or cell-based measurements are obtained. In some cases where the threshold value used for cell quality derivation and beam based condition evaluation may be different, UE <NUM> may obtain the reference beam indexes/values according to the used threshold.

In some embodiments, the at least one reference value may be at least one beam index configured to derive at least one cell measurement quantity. In various embodiments, the at least one reference value may be the top N-beam indexes measured and/or the highest N-beams above at least one threshold. The threshold used for determining that the beam based condition may be a cell quality derivation threshold or an alternative threshold. An alternative threshold may also be derived using the cell quality derivation thresholds, such as by using an offset that may be positive, negative, or zero in absolute power values or in dBs). In certain embodiments, the at least one reference value may be at least one measured quantity value configured for cell-based measurements, which may be either L3-filtered or non-L3-filtered. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one reference value may be at least one measured quantity value configured for beam-based/cell-based measurements, which may be either L3-filtered or non-L3-filtered.

In step <NUM>, the UE may begin at least one timer T from time <NUM>. For example, the at least one timer T from time <NUM> may be started, restarted, or reset. In some embodiments, at least one timer T may be started before the at least one reference value is determined in step <NUM>. Alternatively, at least one timer T may be started when at least one measurement configured to be compared to the at least one reference value is obtained. In various embodiments, the at least one timer T may be started when at least one cell-based condition is evaluated, and/or at least one cell- and/or beam-based condition may share the at least one timer T. For example, the at least one timer T may be configured to evaluate at least one cell- and/or at least one beam-based condition.

In various embodiments, the at least one timer T may not be started when, for example, at least one cell-based measurement or beam-based measurement is evaluated to be invalid for a reference value. For example, the evaluation criteria may include one or more of the cell qualities being lower than at least one quality threshold (or subsequent or set of cell quality measurements have variation above threshold value or the variation is negative) and at least one beam-based measurement needing to fulfill criteria, such as where at least N beams are above at least one threshold. Alternatively, the UE may begin to evaluate beam-based conditions when a cell based condition is fulfilled, such as a subsequent or set of cell quality measurements have variation above threshold value or the variation is negative. In one example, the reference value for the beam-based condition is evaluated together with cell based condition, or a beam based condition is started to evaluate when a cell based condition applies. In one example, the cell based and/or beam based conditions may both need to be fulfilled in order to determine that conditions apply or is required that timer T to start evaluation is started; for example, it may also mean that a reference value is obtained once both of the conditions are satisfied are first satisfied and monitored for the duration of at least timer T or other timer. Furthermore, the at least one timer T may be started when the UE begins evaluating at least one condition for determining whether to relax/adapt its operation for power saving purposes (e.g., relax RRM measurements) or entering a low/stationary mobility state. In some cases, the UE may determine to be in a cell edge or not to be in a cell edge.

In one example, when the UE has determined or is configured with parameters to determine that it may operate in power saving mode in low mobility state/stationary state or in a state where the UE may adapt its operation, the UE may adapt its operation parameters, such as RRM measurement or beam management parameters it may be configured with, the UE may adapt various parameters regarding its operation including measurement period, measurement bandwidth, measurement quantity (e.g., RSRP, SINR, RSRQ or the like), number of measured intra- and/or inter-frequency layers, number or measured cells, and number of measured reference signals such as SS/PBCH block. Operation parameters may be for L3 RRM measurements, L3 mobility (such as inter-cell mobility), and/or for beam management. Furthermore, the operation parameters may refer to e.g. number of component carriers configured/activated/used for UE, number of MIMO layers, operation bandwidth for DL or UL or for UL and DL, number of configured/active bandwidth parts aggregated bandwidth, length of a DRX cycle (idle/inactive, or long/short in connected mode. In further examples the operation parameters may comprise of number of CORESETs (Control Resource Sets for PDCCH reception), active TCI states for PDCCH/PDSCH/PUCCH/PUSCH search space periodicity/bandwidth/number of blind decoding, control channel element aggregation levels, or the like. These are merely examples.

In some embodiments, at least one period of time associated with the at least one timer T may be started whenever one or more of the UE performs at least one serving cell measurement, such as when the UE derives at least one new cell measurement quantity (cell quality value); the UE performs at least one measurement, such as at least one serving cell measurement, to evaluate at least one condition nor criteria to relax measurements, allowing the UE to relax measurement or evaluate conditions to relax RRM measurements and perform at least one measurement; the UE receives at least one trigger signal, such as DCI/MAC CE/RRC signaling, allowing the UE to relax measurements; and the UE performs measurements within at least one network configured time window. Additionally or alternatively, the at least one timer T may be associated with a period of time which is a sliding time window, wherein whenever a condition is not fulfilled, the at least one timer T is restarted; when the at least one timer T is restarted, the most recent measurement value may be set as the reference value. In some embodiments, the period of time may be a static window, where the at least one timer T is not started or restarted despite at least one condition being fulfilled or unfulfilled. In certain embodiments, by performing at least one measurement which may be considered as a reference value, the at least one timer T may be started.

In step <NUM>, the UE may perform at least one measurement and/or obtain at least one value. In some embodiments, the UE may obtain at least L measurements to determine at least one cell- or beam-based condition, wherein L measurements are performed within the at least one time period T. The UE may perform L measurements in total, where either L measurements are performed, or at least one measurement has been made within the period T. In some embodiments, the at least one condition may be evaluated together with at least one beam-based condition and/or at least one cell-based condition.

In step <NUM>, the UE may compare the performed at least one measurement and/or obtained at least one value, for example, one or more of cell-based and beam-based values, to at least one reference value.

In step <NUM>, the UE may determine whether at least one beam has changed. In some embodiments, if the UE determines that at least one beam change has occurred, the UE may continue obtaining at least one additional reference value (e.g. beam indexes/quality or cell quality) in step <NUM>, and/or may stop/start/restart/suspend the at least one timer T. Otherwise, the UE may proceed to step <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the at least one beam may be determined to not be changed if, for example, the beams are changed for a cell measurement quantity derivation for different measurements in comparison to at least one reference value or other measurement. Specifically, this determination may be made if at least one beam index used to derive cell measurement quantity (cell quality) has changed; if none of the beam indices have changed; if N of M beam indices have changed; and may be based upon one or more of any of the measurement within a period of time, a previous measurement within a period of time, the at least one reference value, and the at least one reference value within a period of time.

In various embodiments, if there has been at least K beam changes and/or K beam changes within a period of time T after the UE has derived the cell measurement quantity, the UE may consider the beam based condition not to be fulfilled, may consider that it cannot adapt/relax measurements, and/or may consider the UE not to be in a low mobility state. Alternatively, if there has been a maximum of K beam changes and/or K beam changes within a period of time T after the UE has derived the cell measurement quantity, the UE may consider the beam-based condition to be fulfilled, consider that it can adapt/relax measurements, and/or consider the UE to be in a low mobility state.

In some embodiments, when determining whether at least one change condition for the beams used for cell measurement quantity derivation has occurred, an alternative or additional threshold value may be used. For example, this alternative or additional threshold value may be derived from absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation by using an offset, and/or it may be a separately configured or separately set threshold. In various embodiments, when the UE determines that beam change conditions are satisfied, the UE may use the threshold to determine which beams are considered in the evaluation, for example, that the beam is above at least one threshold, which may be independent to the absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation.

In step <NUM>, the UE may determine whether the at least one timer T has stopped, has expired, or is running.

In step <NUM>, the UE may, upon determining that the at least one timer T has stopped, re-determine at least one reference value configured to evaluate at least one beam change condition based on at least one measurement in step <NUM>. In some embodiments, at any time, the at least one timer T may be stopped due to external reasons, for example, when the UE cannot relax the measurements and/or the UE cannot evaluate the conditions. Another external reason includes if a cell-based condition is evaluated separately and the condition is not fulfilled. When the at least one timer T is stopped, the UE may return to step <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, the UE may, upon determining that the at least one timer T is running, obtain at least one measurement and/or at least one value (e.g. beam indexes/quality or cell quality) in step <NUM>. For example, the UE may determine that the UE still needs to evaluate the at least one condition to obtain at least one new measurement. In various embodiments, the UE may need to perform at least one (or N) measurement within a predetermined period of time to evaluate at least one condition before it may consider the at least one beam-based/cell-based condition fulfilled.

In step <NUM>, the UE may, upon determining that the at least one timer T has expired, determine that the at least one beam change condition has been fulfilled. In addition to determining that no beam change has occurred, the UE may determine that at least one beam-based condition is fulfilled. In certain embodiments, the at least one timer T may expire, and the UE may consider the at least one condition fulfilled if other conditions apply, for example, cell-based conditions and/or a number of measurements.

In some embodiments, at least one measurement used for evaluating the at least one condition/criteria, such as the beam-based condition and/or cell-based condition, may be based upon one or more of at least one L3 filtered value; at least one value not L3 filtered, such as values obtained prior to L3 filtering; and cell-based conditions based on at least one serving cell measurement or at least one measurement on any of the cells, or measurement on a cell, configured to determine the low mobility/measurement adaptation condition to be fulfilled.

In various embodiments, the beam-based condition criteria may be considered to be fulfilled only when at least X beams are used for cell quality derivation in any of the measurement for deriving the cell measurement quantity. Using the at least one beam for cell quality may or not depend on at least one threshold.

In certain embodiments, the at least one change condition may be determined to not be fulfilled if, for example, the number of beam measurements, including DL RSs such as SS/PBCH block and CSI-RS, considered in the cell quality determination is less than N, and/or is a threshold amount less than the M, such as the maximum to be considered, e.g. nrofSS-BlocksToAverage.

In various embodiments, the change condition may depend on the use of at least one threshold value for cell measurement quantity derivation. For example, if absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation is not configured, the UE may use the highest measured value for cell quality derivation (i.e. one beam value determines the cell quality) and beam change is considered to occur when the one beam changes. Additionally or alternatively, the determination may depend if absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation is configured and UE has measurement only one beam above the threshold and the beam used for derivation changes. Finally, the determination may be based on, if absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation is configured and the UE derives the cell measurement quantity based on more than one beam, the number of changed beams conditions may apply, for example, if a network has configured a parameter (Change_Beam) to determine how many beams can change in the cell quality derivation which is not considered yet a change. The parameter may apply only when one or more of more than one beam is used, at least the configured number Change_Beam beams are used to derive cell quality, and if the UE derives the cell quality using lower number of beams than Change Beam, the beam change may be considered to happen when at least one beam changes.

In some embodiments, at least parameter and/or at least one condition may depend on the mode of the UE, such as whether the UE is in IDLE or INACTIVE mode. In one example, the INACTIVE or IDLE mode may have stricter or looser criteria with respect to each other for relaxing the measurements, where looser criteria may include the UE evaluating the criteria/condition with looser parameter settings, such as a shorter timer value (i.e., how long UE evaluates the condition) and/or more beam changes may occur or the relative RSRP condition for cell-based condition may have a larger value (i.e., the condition may tolerate a higher variation).

In another example, the IDLE mode parameters are derived based on INACTIVE mode parameters (such as timer values to evaluate beam/cell based conditions, or number of beam changes, thresholds used to determine beam change or the like) using an offset value or a delta value, or alternatively, INACTIVE parameters based on IDLE. A further example includes different conditions and criteria being evaluated for INACTIVE and IDLE. In a further example, the UE may be allowed to relax or adapt measurements when it is in INACTIVE, but not when it is in IDLE, and vice versa. Finally, the conditions and parameters, including timer values to evaluate beam/cell based conditions, number of beam changes, and thresholds used to determine beam changes, may be the same for IDLE and INACTIVE.

In some embodiments, both cell-based conditions, such as relative threshold, cell quality threshold, or any cell based on condition, and beam-based condition may be required together for the UE to be allowed to adapt/relax RRM measurements, or to consider itself in a low mobility state. For example, when at least one cell quality is above a specific threshold, at least one beam-based value may be set to be the reference values. In another example, if the reference value for cell quality measurement changes, the beam-based values may change, for example, at least one new reference value may be set to evaluate whether a beam-based condition is fulfilled.

The methods presented in any of the examples or embodiments herein may be used in any RRC mode, including IDLE, INACTIVE, or CONNECTED.

A further example would be where the cell-based condition, such as RSRP, is within a relative threshold, and considered to be fulfilled, but at least one beam based condition is not fulfill, such as the beams being considered to be changed as described above. In this case, the UE may consider that at least one low mobility state condition is not fulfilled, which may cause the reset of the at least one timer T since both conditions are not fulfilled. In some embodiments, at least one the beam index may be at least one of, for example, SS/PBCH index, time location index, resource index/indicator, or CSI-RS resource indicator, CSI-RS Resource Identifier/index, TCI State Identifier/spatial reference (for PDSCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PUSCH) or any identifier that identifies downlink reference signal.

In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may transmit at least one beam-specific DL RS to UE <NUM>, such as at least one SSB and/or CSI-RS. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may perform at least one measurement. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may perform at least one measurement based on the received at least one beam-specific DL RS. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may transmit at least one channel quality report of each beam based on the at least one measurement to NE <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may determine at least one reference value based on the channel quality report from UE <NUM>. In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may transmit at least one reference value to UE <NUM>, for example, by using at least one SIB/RRC message. Additionally or alternatively, NE <NUM> may transmit the at least one reference value to UE <NUM> upon UE <NUM> entering an IDLE or INACTIVE mode. In step <NUM>, NE <NUM> may transmit at least one beam-specific DL RS, such as at least one SSB or CSI-RS, to UE <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may perform at least one measurement based on at least one reference value. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may determine at least one beam-based condition configured for fulfillment. In step <NUM>, UE <NUM> may perform at least one beam-based RRM relaxation and reporting operation.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a system according to certain embodiments. In various embodiments, a system may include multiple devices, such as, for example, user equipment <NUM> and/or network entity <NUM>.

User equipment <NUM> may include one or more of a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, smart phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, or portable media player, digital camera, pocket video camera, video game console, navigation unit, such as a global positioning system (GPS) device, desktop or laptop computer, single-location device, such as a sensor or smart meter, or any combination thereof.

Network entity <NUM> may be one or more of a base station, such as an evolved node B (eNB) or <NUM> or New Radio node B (gNB), a serving gateway, a server, and/or any other access node or combination thereof. Furthermore, network entity <NUM> and/or user equipment <NUM> may be one or more of a citizens broadband radio service device (CBSD).

One or more of these devices may include at least one processor, respectively indicated as <NUM> and <NUM>. Processors <NUM> and <NUM> may be embodied by any computational or data processing device, such as a central processing unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or comparable device. The processors may be implemented as a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or processors.

At least one memory may be provided in one or more of devices indicated at <NUM> and <NUM>. The memory may be fixed or removable. The memory may include computer program instructions or computer code contained therein. Memories <NUM> and <NUM> may independently be any suitable storage device, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A hard disk drive (HDD), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or other suitable memory may be used. The memories may be combined on a single integrated circuit as the processor, or may be separate from the one or more processors. Furthermore, the computer program instructions stored in the memory and which may be processed by the processors may be any suitable form of computer program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted computer program written in any suitable programming language. Memory may be removable or non-removable.

Processors <NUM> and <NUM> and memories <NUM> and <NUM> or a subset thereof, may be configured to provide means corresponding to the various blocks of <FIG>. Although not shown, the devices may also include positioning hardware, such as GPS or micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS) hardware, which may be used to determine a location of the device. Other sensors are also permitted and may be included to determine location, elevation, orientation, and so forth, such as barometers, compasses, and the like.

As shown in <FIG>, transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may be provided, and one or more devices may also include at least one antenna, respectively illustrated as <NUM> and <NUM>. The device may have many antennas, such as an array of antennas configured for multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communications, or multiple antennas for multiple radio access technologies. Other configurations of these devices, for example, may be provided. Transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may be a transmitter, a receiver, or both a transmitter and a receiver, or a unit or device that may be configured both for transmission and reception.

The memory and the computer program instructions may be configured, with the processor for the particular device, to cause a hardware apparatus such as user equipment to perform any of the processes described below (see, for example, <FIG>). Therefore, in certain embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may be encoded with computer instructions that, when executed in hardware, perform a process such as one of the processes described herein. Alternatively, certain embodiments may be performed entirely in hardware.

In certain embodiments, an apparatus may include circuitry configured to perform any of the processes or functions illustrated in <FIG>. For example, circuitry may be hardware-only circuit implementations, such as analog and/or digital circuitry. In another example, circuitry may be a combination of hardware circuits and software, such as a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) with software or firmware, and/or any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and at least one memory that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various processes or functions. In yet another example, circuitry may be hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that include software, such as firmware for operation. Software in circuitry may not be present when it is not needed for the operation of the hardware.

The features, structures, or characteristics of certain embodiments described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases "certain embodiments," "some embodiments," "other embodiments," or other similar language, throughout this specification refers to the fact that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearance of the phrases "in certain embodiments," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," or other similar language, throughout this specification does not necessarily refer to the same group of embodiments, and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Claim 1:
An apparatus (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising at least one processor (<NUM>) and at least one memory (<NUM>) including computer program code, the at least one memory (<NUM>) and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus (<NUM>) to at least:
determine (<NUM>) at least one reference value configured to evaluate at least one beam change condition based on at least one measurement;
determine (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), for evaluation of fulfillment of the at least one beam change condition, whether at least one beam has changed based on the at least one reference value;
upon determining that at least one timer T has expired, determine (<NUM>) that the at least one beam change condition has been fulfilled; and
determine, based at least on fulfilment of the at least one beam change condition, whether at least one condition for adapting (<NUM>, <NUM>) radio resource management measurements is fulfilled.