Patent Description:
<CIT> discloses a secondary cell configuration method, a base station and a terminal device, which are used for improving the utilization rate of a secondary cell. The method comprises: a first base station corresponding to a primary cell of a terminal device sending, to the terminal device, a first message instructing the terminal device to convert from an RRC connection state to an idle state or an INACTIVE state, wherein the first message carries measurement configuration information, which is used for instructing the terminal device to carry out channel quality measurement on a plurality of carrier frequencies; the terminal device converting from the RRC connection state to the idle state or the INACTIVE state, and carrying out channel quality measurement on the plurality of carrier frequencies so as to screen out N candidate cells, where N ≥ <NUM>; when converting from the idle state or the INACTIVE state to the RRC connection state, the terminal device sending a second message carrying a measurement report to the first base station, wherein the measurement report contains indication information about the N candidate cells; and the first base station sending a third message comprising secondary cell configuration information to the terminal device according to the measurement report.

A method (claim <NUM>), an apparatus (claim <NUM>) and a non-transitory computer-readable medium (claim <NUM>) for early measurement reporting are disclosed in this application.

Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication. In a first aspect, a method for performing measurement reporting at a user equipment, includes: receiving, from a master node, a message comprising a measurement configuration for a secondary node comprising an RRC release message or a SIB message and wherein the message comprises one or more of a subcarrier spacing of synchronization signal blocks, SSBs to be measured; a bitmap of transmitted SSBs to be measured; an NR frequency band number; or a SSB-RSSI measurement configuration; entering an idle state; performing measurements according to the measurement configuration for the secondary node immediately after entering the idle state; generating a measurement report based on the measurements; transmitting, to the master node, an indication of an availability of the measurement report; transmitting, to the master node, the measurement report; and receiving data from the secondary node.

Other aspects include an apparatus (user equipment) configured to perform the aforementioned methods. Further aspects include non-transitory computer-executable media comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform the aforementioned method.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for performing early measurement reporting in wireless communications networks.

For example, the wireless communication network <NUM> may be a New Radio (NR) or <NUM> network configured to perform the methods for early measurement reporting, such as those described below with respect to <FIG>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the wireless network <NUM> may include a number of base stations (BSs) <NUM> and other network entities. A BS may be a station that communicates with user equipments (UEs). Each BS <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to a coverage area of a Node B (NB) and/or a Node B subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term "cell" and next generation NodeB (gNB), new radio base station (NR BS), <NUM> NB, access point (AP), or transmission reception point (TRP) may be interchangeable. In some examples, the base stations may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown) in wireless communication network <NUM> through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as a direct physical connection, a wireless connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

<FIG> illustrates example components of BS <NUM> and UE <NUM> (as depicted in <FIG>), which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the UE <NUM> and/or antennas <NUM>, processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and/or controller/processor <NUM> of the BS <NUM> may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein, such as those methods for performing early measurement reporting as described below with respect to <FIG>.

The SS block may be transmitted up to sixty-four times, for example, with up to sixty-four different beam directions for mmW.

When a UE exits an idle or inactive state, it may perform a procedure to reestablish a data connection with the network. In some cases, a long radio resource control (RRC) configuration latency may be observed when performing this procedure. For example, in some cases, an idle UE may take around <NUM> to be configured for data transmission after exiting the idle state. Similarly, an inactive UE may take around <NUM> to be configured for data transmissions after exiting the inactive state (which is slightly faster owing to not needing to perform security mode command (SMC) procedures when exiting the inactive state). Reduction of these latencies is beneficial for performance of the UE.

The early measurement reporting methods discussed herein beneficially avoid long measurement durations, which in-turn reduces the time a UE must keep its radio on thereby reducing thermal power consumption.

Similar to some later releases of LTE, in NR, UEs can receive early measurement configurations in RRC release messages or system information broadcast (SIB) messages, which allows the UE to perform measurements in an idle or inactive state. Further, to support multi-radio access technology dual connectivity (MRDC), the RRC release message or SIB message can include measurement configurations for one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as: (<NUM>) both NR and LTE, only NR, or only LTE. In this way, various MRDC configurations can be supported, such as NR-NR (where the master node and the secondary nodes are <NUM> gNBs), E-UTRA - NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) (where the master node is a <NUM> ng-eNB and the secondary node is a <NUM> gNB), and NR - E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC) (where the master node is a <NUM> gNB and the secondary node is a <NUM> ng-eNB), to name a few. In dual connectivity scenarios, the secondary node may forward its early measurement configuration to the master node via an inter-node RRC message.

Given this capability, other NR-specific features can be utilized to further reduce latency of the RRC configuration procedure after existing the idle or inactive state. For example, as described in more detail below, early measurement reporting methods may beneficially reduce the latency of the RRC configuration procedure so that UEs may receive data via NR networks more quickly after exiting an idle or inactive state.

NR networks support at least two types of references signals, including synchronization signal blocks (SSB) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), to perform radio resource management (RRM).

In SSB-based RRM, one synchronization signal block includes one symbol of a primary synchronization signal, one symbol of a secondary synchronization signal, and two or more symbols of a physical broadcast channel that are time division multiplexed. Generally, the transmission of synchronization signal blocks within a synchronization signal burst set is confined to a <NUM> window regardless of synchronization signal burst set periodicity. SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) includes a network configuring a SMTC window duration (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>), a SMTC window timing offset (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>,. , SMTC periodicity-<NUM>), and an SMTC periodicity (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).

In CSI-RS based RRM, a UE-specific CSI-RS is used for L3 mobility, and no cell specific CSI-RS need be specified. CSI-RS for L3 mobility is based on periodic CSI-RS.

As discussed in more detail below, the early measurement methods discussed herein generally include transmitting from a network and receiving at a UE an early measurement configuration prior to entering an idle or inactive state.

In some implementations, the measurement configuration may be provided to the UE, for example, in a radio resource control (RRC) release message or a system information broadcast (SIB) message. In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may be provided in a separate NR SIB (e.g. SIB10) which can be on-demand acquired with short periodicity, to reduce acquisition latency. The configuration for a SIB message would be almost the same as the RRC release message, except that the SIB message would not need a timer and a validity area would only include nodes for an idle UE (because the validity area is not applicable to inactive UEs in this context).

In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may include frequencies of NR secondary nodes (or cells), where each secondary node frequency may include one or more of the following attributes: a band indicator (e.g., an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), which may be in sync raster or not in sync raster); an SSB Measurement Time Configuration (SMTC) (for SSB-based measurement reports), a threshold and beam number to derive cell quality; a reporting of quantities for cell/beam measurements, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or both; an indication of layer <NUM> (L3) beam measurements (e.g., number or beam index only or beam index and beam quantities); a threshold and beam number for L3 beam reporting; a measurement cell list (such that a UE only measures secondary nodes included in this list); subcarrier spacing of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be measured; a bitmap of transmitted SSBs to be measured; an NR frequency band number; and an SSB-RSSI measurement configuration. Note that in some cases, the secondary node frequency list may span multiple RAN notification areas (RNAs).

In some implementations, the bitmap of transmitted SSBs to be measured is configured to indicate the set of SSBs to be measured within the SMTC measurement duration. Further, the bitmap of transmitted SSBs to be measured may be frequency range-specific. Thus, in some implementations, multiple frequency-specific bitmaps of transmitted SSBs to be measured may be received by the UE, such as in the following example format:
<IMG>.

In some implementations, the shortBitmap may relate to frequencies less than or equal to <NUM>, the mediumBitmap may relate to frequencies greater than <NUM> and less than <NUM>, and the longBitmap may refer to frequencies greater than <NUM>. Further, in some implementations, each bit in the bitmap that has a value of <NUM> may indicate that the UE needs to measure a particular SSB.

In some implementations, the NR frequency band number is used by the UE to choose the correct band filter for SSB measurement in a given ARFCN. This is useful because, unlike LTE, the NR ARFCN value (ARFCN-ValueNR) does not encode the band number. Thus, the UE may not be able to derive the band number from ARFCN value in case of overlapping bands. In some implementations, the NR frequency band number may be in the following example format:
FreqBandIndicatorNR : := INTEGER (<NUM>.

In some implementations, the SSB-RSSI measurement configuration indicates in which slot of the configured SMTC to perform RSSI measurements, which may be in the following example format:
<IMG>.

In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may further include a node (or cell) quantity threshold, such as RSRP/RSRQ. If one secondary node's quality is below the threshold, the UE will not report a measurement.

In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may further include a timer (e.g., timer T331) to control how long a UE can perform idle or inactive mode measurements, which helps with UE power saving (because the UE stops measurements when the timer expires).

In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may further include a validity area such that if the UE reselects to a cell/RNA outside this list, the measurements are no longer required. For example, an idle state UE may use a cell list whereas an inactive state UE may use a cell list or RNA list or TA list. As one solution, a flag can be included in the RRC Release message with a suspend configuration for RRC inactive UEs. When the flag is set to "true", the UE will regard the validity area as the assigned RNA list in the same RRC Release message.

In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may further include a beam measurement results validity timer configured to control how long a UE keeps beam measurement results. For example, the beam measurement results validity timer may be configured to start when the UE stops beam measurements. In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may include a plurality of frequency range-specific beam measurement results validity timers (e.g., a first beam measurement results validity timer for a first frequency range and a second beam measurement results validity timer for a second frequency range). This may be useful because different frequency ranges may have different characteristics that affect how long their measurements stay valid. When a beam measurement results validity timer expires, the UE may regard the beam measurement results outdated and discard them in order to beneficially reduce memory usage.

In some implementations, the early measurement configuration may further include one or more L3 filter coefficients. For example, a first set of L3 filter coefficients may be configured for a first frequency range and a second set of L3 filter coefficients may be configured for a second frequency range. Further, for each beam filter coefficient set, beam RSRP and RSRQ can configure different filter coefficients. In one example, the following form may be used:
<IMG>.

Any combination of early measurement configurations, such as those described above, can be included in (<NUM>) both an RRC Release message and SIB message; (<NUM>) only in RRC Release message; or (<NUM>) only in SIB message. However, in some implementations, it may be preferable to include a beam validity timer, a layer <NUM> (L3) beam filter, and a validity timer (e.g., configured to control how long the user equipment can perform measurements in the idle or inactive state, such as T331) in an RRC Release message, such as when the early measurement configurations are split across both the RRC Release message and a SIB message.

Notably, for an inactive UE, the measurement configuration is stored in AS context or suspendConfiguration by the UE and network.

In some implementations, the network indicates whether to support early measurement reporting in an NR SIB message, such as NR SIB1 or NR SIB2.

After receiving the measurement configuration (e.g., either by RRC release message or by SIB message), a UE may start L3 measurements immediately upon entering an idle or inactive state.

Thereafter, the UE can provide the network with early measurement report to speed the setup of a data connection with the network. As described in more detail below, the UE may exchange early measurement reporting messages with the UE in different ways depending on whether the UE is emerging from an idle or inactive state.

<FIG> depicts an example method <NUM> for performing measurement reporting at a user equipment.

Method <NUM> begins at step <NUM> with receiving, from a master node, a message comprising a measurement configuration for a secondary node.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a radio resource control (RRC) release message. In some implementations, the RRC release message may comprises one or more of: a frequency associated with the secondary node; an SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC) associated with the secondary node; a cell quality threshold; a timer configured to control how long the user equipment can perform measurements in the idle state; or a validity area. In some implementations, the RRC release message may further comprise an indication of whether the measurement configuration is configured for both an idle state and an inactive state, or only for an inactive state.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a system information broadcast (SIB) <NUM> message. In other implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a system information broadcast (SIB) message with a periodicity shorter than a SIB4 message. For example, a SIB10 message may be used.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with entering an idle state.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with performing measurements according to the measurement configuration for the secondary node immediately after entering the idle state. In some implementations, the user equipment performs measurements based on the received measurement configuration until a timer expires, such as a T331 timer.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with generating a measurement report based on the measurements.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, to the master node, an indication of an availability of the measurement report.

In some implementations, the indication of an availability of the measurement report is included in an RRC setup request message. In some implementations, the indication of an availability of the measurement report is included in an RRC setup complete message.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, to the master node, the measurement report.

In some implementations, transmitting, to the master node, the measurement report comprises transmitting an RRC measurement report message. In some implementations, transmitting, to the master node, the measurement report comprises transmitting an RRC setup complete message comprising the measurement report.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving data from the secondary node.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, method <NUM> may further include receiving, from the master node, a request for the measurement report prior to transmitting, to the master node, the measurement report.

In some implementations, the request for the measurement report comprises an RRC setup message.

In some implementations, the request for the measurement report comprises an uplink information request message and transmitting, to the master node, the measurement report comprises transmitting an uplink information response message comprising the measurement report. In some implementations, the uplink information response message comprises an RRC setup complete message.

In some implementations, method <NUM> may further comprise transmitting, to the master node, a beam measurement report.

In some implementations, method <NUM> may further comprise sending, to the master node, a preamble comprising a request for the SIB message prior to receiving the message comprising the SIB message.

In some implementations, method <NUM> may further comprise deleting an existing measurement configuration and an existing measurement result after receiving the message comprising the measurement configuration for the secondary node. This may occur, for example, before performing measurements according to the received measurement configuration in step <NUM>.

In some implementations, method <NUM> may further comprise validating the measurements (e.g., performed at step <NUM>) based on the validity area (e.g., received with the measurement configuration at step <NUM>).

<FIG> depicts an example method <NUM> for performing measurement reporting.

Method <NUM> begins at step <NUM> with transmitting, from a master node to a user equipment, a message comprising a measurement configuration for a secondary node.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a radio resource control (RRC) release message. In some implementations, the RRC release message comprises one or more of: a frequency associated with the secondary node; an SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC) associated with the secondary node; a cell level measurement configuration including threshold and maximum beam number to derive cell quality; a layer <NUM> beam level measurement configuration including threshold and maximum beam number for reporting; a cell quality threshold; a timer configured to control how long the user equipment can perform measurements in an idle state; or a validity area. In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of cell identifiers. In some implementations, the RRC release message may further comprise an indication of whether the measurement configuration is configured for both an idle state and an inactive state, or only for an inactive state.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration (e.g., RRC release message or SIB message) further comprises one or more of: a subcarrier spacing of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be measured; a bitmap of transmitted SSBs to be measured; an NR frequency band number; an SSB-RSSI measurement configuration; a beam measurement results validity timer; or one or more L3 filter coefficients.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, an indication of an availability of a measurement report. In some implementations, the indication of an availability of the measurement report is included in an RRC setup request message. In some implementations, the indication of an availability of the measurement report is included in an RRC setup complete message.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, the measurement report.

In some implementations, receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, the measurement report comprises receiving an uplink information response message comprising the measurement report. In some implementations, the uplink information response message comprises an RRC setup complete message.

In other implementations, receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, the measurement report comprises receiving an RRC measurement report message.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting a secondary node addition request to the secondary node.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, method <NUM> may further comprise: receiving, at the master node from the secondary node, an inter-node radio resource control (RRC) message comprising the measurement configuration.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises: transmitting, from the master node to the user equipment, a request for the measurement report prior to receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, the measurement report. In some implementations, the request for the measurement report comprises an uplink information request message. In some implementations, the uplink information request message comprises an RRC setup message.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises: receiving, at the master node, a preamble comprising a request for the SIB message prior to transmitting the message comprising the SIB message.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises: receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, a beam measurement report.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a radio resource control (RRC) release message. In some implementations, the RRC release message comprises one or more of: a frequency associated with the secondary node; an SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC) associated with the secondary node; a cell quality threshold; a timer configured to control how long the user equipment can perform measurements in the inactive state; or a validity area. In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of cell identifiers. In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of RAN notification areas (RNAs). In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of tracking areas (TAs). In some implementations, the RRC release message may further comprise an indication of whether the measurement configuration is configured for both an idle state and an inactive state, or only for an inactive state.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a system information broadcast (SIB) <NUM> message. In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a system information broadcast (SIB) message with a periodicity shorter than a SIB4 message. For example, a SIB10 message may be used.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with entering an inactive state.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with performing measurements according to the measurement configuration for the secondary node immediately entering the inactive state. In some implementations, the user equipment performs measurements based on the received measurement configuration until a timer expires, such as a T331 timer.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, to the master node, an RRC resume request message.

In some implementations, the RRC resume request message comprises an in indication that the measurement report is available.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, from the master node, an RRC resume message comprising a request for measurement reporting.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, to the master node, an RRC resume complete message comprising the measurement report.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, in some implementations method <NUM> further comprises transmitting, to the master node, a beam measurement report.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises: sending, to the master node, a preamble comprising a request for the SIB message prior to receiving the message comprising the SIB message.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a radio resource control (RRC) release message. In some implementations, the RRC release message comprises one or more of: a frequency associated with the secondary node; an SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC) associated with the secondary node; a cell level measurement configuration including threshold and maximum beam number to derive cell quality; a layer <NUM> beam level measurement configuration including threshold and maximum beam number for reporting; a cell quality threshold; a timer configured to control how long the user equipment can perform measurements in an inactive state; or a validity area. In some implementations, the RRC release message may further comprise an indication of whether the measurement configuration is configured for both an idle state and an inactive state, or only for an inactive state.

In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of cell identifiers. In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of RAN notification areas (RNAs). In some implementations, the validity area comprises a list of tracking areas (TAs).

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, an RRC resume request message.

In some implementations, the RRC resume request message comprises an indication that the measurement report is available.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, from the master node to the user equipment, an RRC resume message comprising a request for a measurement report.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, an RRC resume complete message comprising the measurement report.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, in some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises receiving, at the master node from the secondary node, an inter-node radio resource control (RRC) message comprising the measurement configuration.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises receiving, at the master node from the user equipment, a beam measurement report.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises receiving, at the master node, a preamble comprising a request for the SIB message prior to transmitting the message comprising the SIB message.

In some implementations, the RRC resume request message comprises a user equipment identification, and method <NUM> further comprises determining, based on the user equipment identification, that the user equipment supports early measurement reporting.

Method <NUM> begins at step <NUM> with receiving, from a first master node, a message comprising a measurement configuration for a secondary node.

In some implementations, the message comprising the measurement configuration comprises a radio resource control (RRC) release message. In some implementations, the RRC release message comprises one or more of: a frequency associated with the secondary node; an SSB measurement time configuration (SMTC) associated with the secondary node; a cell level measurement configuration including threshold and maximum beam number to derive cell quality; a layer <NUM> beam level measurement configuration including threshold and maximum beam number for reporting; a cell quality threshold; a timer configured to control how long the user equipment can perform measurements in the inactive state; or a validity area. In some implementations, the RRC release message may further comprise an indication of whether the measurement configuration is configured for both an idle state and an inactive state, or only for an inactive state.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, to a second master node, an RRC resume request message.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, from the second master node, an RRC resume message comprising a request for measurement reporting.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, to the second master node, an RRC resume complete message comprising the measurement report.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, in some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises transmitting, to the second master node, a beam measurement report.

In some implementations, method <NUM> may further comprise deleting an existing measurement configuration and an existing measurement result after receiving the message comprising the measurement configuration for the secondary node from the first master node. This may occur, for example, before performing measurements according to the received measurement configuration in step <NUM>.

Method <NUM> begins at step <NUM> with transmitting, from a first master node to a user equipment, a message comprising a measurement configuration for a secondary node.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with determining that the user equipment has moved out of range of the first master node MN. If out of range, the measurement configuration received in the RRC release message may be invalid for the new serving master node. In a conventional procedure, this may cause the UE to follow a new configuration procedure with the new serving master node.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with determining that the user equipment is still within a RAN area associated with the first master node and a second master node. For example, the UE may determine whether it is still in RAN notification area (RNA) by checking whether the second master node is still in the configured validity area, which may be included with the RRC release message, such as described above.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, at the second master node from the user equipment, an RRC resume request message.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, from the second master node to the user equipment, an RRC resume message comprising a request for a measurement report.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with receiving, at the second master node from the user equipment, an RRC resume complete message comprising the measurement report.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transmitting, from the second master node to the secondary node, a secondary node addition request.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, in some implementations, the RRC resume request message comprises a user equipment identification, and method <NUM> further comprises determining, based on the user equipment identification, that the user equipment supports early measurement reporting.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises receiving, at the second master node from the user equipment, a beam measurement report.

In some implementations, method <NUM> further comprises transmitting, from the second master node to the first master node, a Retrieve UE Context Request message and receiving, at the second master node from the first master node, a Retrieve UE Context Response message including a measurement configuration for the secondary node.

<FIG> depicts an example call flow <NUM> of a method for performing measurement reporting, as described above with respect to <FIG> and <FIG>.

As depicted, user equipment (UE) <NUM> receives an RRC release message with a measurement configuration for potential secondary node (SN) frequencies at <NUM>. UE <NUM> then enters an idle state and performs signal measurements.

Sometime later, UE <NUM> exits the idle state and commences configuring a data connection with the network. At <NUM>, UE <NUM> transmits an RRC Setup Complete message (message <NUM>) to master node (MN) <NUM>, which indicates the availability of measurement reports.

At <NUM>, MN <NUM> transmits an uplink information request (message <NUM>) with a measurement report request. In response, at <NUM>, UE <NUM> transmits an uplink information response that includes the measurement reports. Additionally, UE <NUM> may include beam measurement reports in the same message.

UE <NUM> then completes the data connection configuration procedure and begins receiving data from SN <NUM>.

Notably, in a conventional configuration, MN <NUM> may have needed to wait until at least a tenth message that was triggered either by either the expiration of a reporting period or by an event at UE <NUM> after UE <NUM> exited the idle state. Thus, the depicted method reduces latency, reduces UE <NUM>'s power usage, and reduces network overhead as compared to conventional methods.

<FIG> depicts another example call flow <NUM> of a method for performing measurement reporting, as described above with respect to <FIG> and <FIG>.

Here, unlike in <FIG>, UE <NUM> transmits the measurement reports in message <NUM> at <NUM>.

As above, in a conventional configuration, MN <NUM> may have needed to wait until at least a tenth message that was triggered either by either the expiration of a reporting period or by an event at UE <NUM> after UE <NUM> exited the idle state. Thus, here again, the depicted method reduces latency, reduces UE <NUM>'s power usage, and reduces network overhead as compared to conventional methods.

Sometime later, UE <NUM> exits the idle state and commences configuring a data connection with the network. At <NUM>, UE <NUM> transmits an RRC setup request message (message <NUM>) to master node (MN) <NUM>, which indicates the availability of measurement reports. In this example, a single bit is used to indicate the availability of early measurement results.

At <NUM>, MN <NUM> transmits an RRC setup message (message <NUM>) including a request for the measurement reports). In response, UE <NUM> transmits the measurement reports in an RRC setup complete message (message <NUM>) at <NUM>.

As above, in a conventional configuration, MN <NUM> may have needed to wait until at least a tenth message that was triggered either by the expiration of a reporting period or by an event at UE <NUM> after UE <NUM> exited the idle state. Thus, here again, the depicted method reduces latency, reduces UE <NUM>'s power usage, and reduces network overhead as compared to conventional methods.

As depicted, user equipment (UE) <NUM> receives an RRC release message with a measurement configuration for potential secondary node (SN) frequencies at <NUM>. UE <NUM> then enters an inactive state and performs signal measurements.

Sometime later, UE <NUM> exits the inactive state and commences configuring a data connection with the network. At <NUM>, UE <NUM> receives an RRC resume message (message <NUM>) from master node (MN) <NUM> comprising a request for a measurement reporting.

At <NUM>, UE <NUM> respond with an RRC resume complete message (message <NUM>), which includes the measurements captured during the inactive state.

Notably, in a conventional configuration, MN <NUM> may have needed to wait until at least an eighth message to receive measurement reports from UE <NUM> after exiting an inactive state. Thus, the depicted method reduces latency, reduces UE <NUM>'s power usage, and reduces network overhead as compared to conventional methods.

Sometime later, UE <NUM> exits the inactive state and commences configuring a data connection with the network.

At <NUM>, UE <NUM> transmits to master node (MN) <NUM> an RRC resume request (message <NUM>) with a <NUM> bit indication that early measurement results are available. In response, at <NUM> MN <NUM> transmits an RRC resume message (message <NUM>) including a request for the early measurement reporting. In response, at <NUM> UE <NUM> transmits an RRC resume complete message (message <NUM>) including the measurement reports.

As above, in a conventional configuration, MN <NUM> may have needed to wait until at least an eighth message to receive measurement reports from UE <NUM> after exiting an inactive state. Thus, the depicted method reduces latency, reduces UE <NUM>'s power usage, and reduces network overhead as compared to conventional methods.

<FIG> depicts another example call flow <NUM> of a method for performing measurement reporting, as described above with respect to <FIG>.

As depicted, user equipment (UE) <NUM> receives, from last serving master node <NUM>, an RRC release message with a measurement configuration for potential secondary node (SN) frequencies at <NUM>. UE <NUM> then enters an inactive state and performs signal measurements.

Notably, in this example, UE <NUM> was moving while in the inactive state. Thus, when UE <NUM> exits the inactive state, the last serving master node (MN) <NUM> is no longer the best node for UE <NUM> (e.g., based on range, signal quality, etc.). Rather, the new serving MN <NUM> is preferred by UE <NUM>. However, in this example, last serving MN <NUM> and new serving MN <NUM> are in the same RAN area, thus new serving MN <NUM> is able to request and the retrieve the measurement configuration originally sent to UE <NUM> (at step <NUM>) at step <NUM>.

This exchange of measurement configuration data allows new serving MN <NUM> to then request the measurement reporting in an RRC resume message (message <NUM>) at <NUM>, as in earlier examples. In response, at <NUM> UE <NUM> transmits an RRC resume complete message (message <NUM>) to new serving MN <NUM> including the measurement reports.

As above, in a conventional configuration, new serving MN <NUM> may have needed to wait until at least an eighth message to receive measurement reports from UE <NUM> after exiting an inactive state. Thus, the depicted method reduces latency, reduces UE <NUM>'s power usage, and reduces network overhead as compared to conventional methods.

<FIG> depicts example UE behaviors during state transitions, such as between RRC Connected, RRC Inactive, and RRC Idle states.

In a first example, a UE may start in RRC Connected state <NUM> and receive an RRC Release message with a suspend configuration at <NUM>, which causes the UE to enter RRC Inactive state <NUM>. As discussed above with respect to <FIG>, the UE may receive a new early measurement configuration in the RRC Release message at <NUM>.

In response to receipt of the new early measurement configuration with the RRC Release message at <NUM>, the UE may delete any previous early measurement configurations and any associated results. Thereafter, the UE may perform measurements with the new early measurement configuration included in the RRC Release message until, for example, a timer, such as the T331 timer, expires.

The UE may then transmit an RRC Resume Request message at <NUM> and proceed to enter RRC Connected state <NUM>, for example, as discussed above and depicted with respect to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>. When the UE reenters RRC Connected state <NUM>, it may validate its early measurement results with a latest received validity area and then proceed to delete its current early measurement configuration.

In a second example, the UE may start in RRC Connected state <NUM> and receive an RRC Release message without a suspend configuration at <NUM>, which causes the UE to enter RRC Idle state <NUM>. As discussed above with respect to <FIG>, the UE may receive a new early measurement configuration in the RRC Release message at <NUM>.

In response to receipt of the new early measurement configuration with the RRC release message at <NUM>, the UE may likewise delete any previous early measurement configurations and any associated results. And thereafter, the UE may perform measurements with the new early measurement configuration included in the RRC Release message until, for example, a timer, such as the T331 timer, expires.

The UE may then transmit an RRC Setup Request message at <NUM> and proceed to enter RRC connected state <NUM>, for example, as discussed above and depicted with respect to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>. When the UE reenters RRC Connected state <NUM>, it may validate its early measurement results with a latest received validity area and then proceed to delete its current early measurement configuration.

In a third example, the UE may reselect to a new cell with another radio access technology (RAT). As discussed above with respect to <FIG>, the UE may receive a new early measurement configuration in an RRC Release message as part of the reselection process. Further, the RRC Release message may include a suspend configuration (e.g., at <NUM>) indicating whether the early measurement configuration for the UE is applicable to both RRC Inactive state <NUM> and RRC Idle state <NUM>, or just to RRC Inactive state <NUM>. Thereafter, if the UE enters RRC Idles state <NUM> autonomously, such as shown at <NUM>, and the RRC Release message (e.g., at <NUM>) indicated that the early measurement configuration is for RRC Inactive state <NUM> only, then the UE may delete the stored early measurement configuration results received in the RRC Release message at <NUM>.

Note that aspects described with respect to <FIG> may be combined with the methods described above with respect to <FIG> and flows described above with respect to <FIG>.

<FIG> depicts an example method <NUM> for user equipment state transitions.

Method <NUM> begins at step <NUM> with receiving, at a user equipment in a first state from a network, a message comprising a new measurement configuration.

In some implementations, the message comprising the new measurement configuration is an RRC Release message, such as described above with respect to <FIG>.

In some implementations, the new measurement configuration is configured for multi-radio access technology dual connectivity (MRDC). In some implementations, the new measurement configuration may be configured for E-UTRA - NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), NR - E-UTRA Dual Connectivity (NE-DC), or NR-NR Dual Connectivity (NR-NR). For example, the new measurement configuration may comprise a first new measurement configuration for a <NUM> radio access technology (e.g., LTE) and a second new measurement configuration for a <NUM> radio access technology (e.g., NR. In dual connectivity scenarios, a secondary node may forward its early measurement configuration to the master node via an inter-node RRC message.

In some implementations, the first state is an RRC Connected state, such as described above with respect to <FIG>.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with deleting, by the user equipment, an existing measurement configuration stored at the user equipment.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with deleting, by the user equipment, an existing measurement result stored at the user equipment.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with performing, by the user equipment, early measurements according to the new measurement configuration.

In some implementations, the user equipment performs the early measurements according to the new measurement configuration until the expiration of a timer. In some implementations, the timer is a T331 timer.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transitioning, by the user equipment, from the first state to a second state.

In some implementations, the second state is an RRC Inactive state or an RRC Idle state, such as described above with respect to <FIG>.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with transitioning, by the user equipment, from the second state to a third state.

In some implementations, the third state is the RRC Connected state. Thus, in some implementations, the third state is the same as the first state.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with validating, by the user equipment, the early measurements based on a validity are received from the network.

In some implementations, the validity area is received with the message comprising the new measurement configuration.

Method <NUM> then proceeds to step <NUM> with deleting, by the user equipment, the new measurement configuration.

Though not depicted in <FIG>, method <NUM> may further comprise transmitting, by the user equipment to the network, a connection request message. In some implementations, the connection request message is one of an RRC Resume Request message or an RRC Setup Request message.

In some implementations, the first state is an RRC Connected state, the second state is an RRC Inactive state, and the third state is an RRC Idle state, such as described above with respect to <FIG>. Thus, in some implementations, the third state is different from the first state. In such implementations, transitioning, by the user equipment, from the second state to the third state at step <NUM> may be performed by the user equipment autonomously. In such implementations, the message comprising the new measurement configuration in step <NUM> further comprises an indication of whether the new measurement configuration is valid for an RRC Inactive state and an RRC Idle state, or only the RRC Inactive state. In such implementations, method <NUM> may further comprise deleting, by the user equipment, the new measurement configuration received at step <NUM>.

Note that aspects of method <NUM> may be combined with the methods described above with respect to <FIG>.

In this example, the communications device <NUM> includes a processing system <NUM> coupled to a transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device <NUM> via an antenna <NUM>, such as the various signal described herein.

The processing system <NUM> includes a processor <NUM> coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> via a bus <NUM>. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory <NUM> is configured to store instructions that when executed by processor <NUM>, cause the processor <NUM> to perform the operations illustrated in <FIG>, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein.

In certain aspects, the processing system <NUM> further includes one or more of circuitry for receiving <NUM>, circuitry for entering a state <NUM>, circuitry for performing measurements <NUM>, circuitry for generating measurement reports <NUM>, circuitry for transmitting <NUM>, and circuitry for validating. Processing system <NUM> may further include, within memory <NUM>, one or more of: code for receiving <NUM>, code for entering a state <NUM>, code for performing measurements <NUM>, code for generating measurement reports <NUM>, code for transmitting <NUM>, and code for validating <NUM>. The various circuitry elements and code elements depicted in <FIG> may be configured to perform the methods described above with respect to <FIG>. Note, though, that <FIG> is just one example, and other processing systems are possible, including more or fewer components, which may likewise be configured for performing the methods described above with respect to <FIG>.

Claim 1:
A method for performing measurement reporting at a user equipment (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), comprising:
receiving (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), from a master node (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), a message comprising a measurement configuration for a secondary node (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising an RRC release message or a SIB message and wherein the message comprises one or
more of a subcarrier spacing of synchronization signal blocks, SSBs to be measured; a bitmap of transmitted SSBs to be measured; an NR frequency band number; or a SSB-RSSI measurement configuration;
entering (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) an inactive state;
performing (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) measurements according to the measurement configuration for the secondary node (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) immediately after entering the inactive state;
generating (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) a measurement report based on the measurements;
transmitting (<NUM>,<NUM>, <NUM>), to the master node (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), an RRC resume request message (<NUM>);
receiving (<NUM>, <NUM>), from the master node (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), an RRC resume message (<NUM>) comprising a request for measurement reporting;
transmitting (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), to the master node, an RRC resume complete message comprising the measurement report; and
receiving (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) data from the secondary node.