PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10560232-B2
Application Number: US-201515542260-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: User equipment radio frequency and band capability for carrier aggregation measurement gap

Abstract:
Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, user equipment (UE) comprising circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell; and indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE. The measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains. The UE then receives a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network for the two or more RF chains.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), comprising:
 one or more baseband processors to decode an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message received from an evolved NodeB (eNB), wherein the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes a request field perCC-GapIndicationRequest for the UE to provide a measurement gap preference, and to encode an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message for the eNB, wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes a measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication; and 
 a memory to store the measurement gap preference; 
 wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication includes a serving cell identifier (ID) for two or more cells configured for carrier aggregation for the UE; and 
 wherein the one or more baseband processors are to encode a capability information element (IE) UE-EUTRA-Capability for the eNB to indicate whether the UE supports per serving cell measurement gap. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes an indication of a number of frequencies to be measured by the UE. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication IE indicates a type of measurement gap for an indicated serving cell. 
     
     
       4. An apparatus of an evolved NodeB, comprising:
 one or more baseband processors to encode an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message for a user equipment (UE), wherein the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes a request field perCC-GapIndicationRequest for the UE to provide a measurement gap preference, and to decode an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message from the UE, wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes a measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication; and 
 a memory to store the measurement gap preference; 
 wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication includes a serving cell identifier (ID) for two or more cells configured for carrier aggregation for the UE; and 
 wherein the one or more baseband processors are to decode a capability information element (IE) UE-EUTRA-Capability from the UE that indicates whether the UE supports per serving cell measurement gap. 
 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes an indication of a number of frequencies to be measured by the UE. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication indicates a type of measurement gap for an indicated serving cell. 
     
     
       7. One or more non-transitory machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, if executed, result in:
 decoding an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message received from an evolved NodeB (eNB), wherein the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes a request field perCC-GapIndicationRequest for the UE to provide a measurement gap preference; and 
 encoding an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message for the eNB, wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes a measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication; 
 wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication includes a serving cell identifier (ID) for two or more cells configured for carrier aggregation for the UE; and 
 wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in encoding a capability information element (IE) UE-EUTRA-Capability for the eNB to indicate whether the UE supports per serving cell measurement gap. 
 
     
     
       8. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of  claim 7 , wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes an indication of a number of frequencies to be measured by the UE. 
     
     
       9. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of  claim 7 , wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication indicates a type of measurement gap for an indicated serving cell. 
     
     
       10. One or more non-transitory machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, if executed, result in:
 encoding an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message for a user equipment (UE), wherein the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes a request field perCC-GapIndicationRequest for the UE to provide a measurement gap preference; and 
 decoding an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete from the UE, wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes a measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication; 
 wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication includes a serving cell identifier (ID) for two or more cells configured for carrier aggregation for the UE; and 
 wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in decoding a capability information element (IE) UE-EUTRA-Capability from the UE that indicates whether the UE supports per serving cell measurement gap. 
 
     
     
       11. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message includes an indication of a number of frequencies to be measured by the UE. 
     
     
       12. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable media of  claim 10 , wherein the measurement gap preference field perCC-ListGapIndication indicates a type of measurement gap for an indicated serving cell.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 371 to International Application No. PCT/US2015/065519 filed Dec. 14, 2015, entitled USER EQUIPMENT RADIO-FREQUENCY AND BAND CAPABILITY FOR CARRIER AGGREGATION MEAS-UREMENT GAP which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/145,414 filed Apr. 9, 2015. The entire disclosure(s) of these documents are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     In the current Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard for the measurement gap, the only configuration received from the network is the gap repetition period and the new performance groups that are introduced for inter-frequency/inter-radio access technology (RAT) measurement. One configuration is a normal performance group, and the other configuration is a reduced performance group. The carriers that belong to each performance group are configured by the network. Each performance group has a different measurement requirement to support an increased number of carriers in LTE. The user equipment (UE) can relax the number of measurements in the carriers that belongs to the reduced performance group so the overall delay of all the carriers can be reduced. This arrangement, however, cannot be utilized when the UE has multiple radio-frequency (RF) chains. 
     In further enhancements of the LTE standard, one objectives is to identify necessary mechanisms to enable LTE carrier aggregation (CA) of up to 32 Component Carriers (CCs) for the downlink (DL) and the uplink (UL). For carrier aggregation, two measurement performance groups may not be enough if LTE carrier aggregation supports up to 32 CCs. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, such subject matter may be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of a network having a user equipment capable of measuring signal levels on one or more frequencies in designated measurement gaps in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of a user equipment having multiple radio-frequency (RF) chains in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of an RF structure for the user equipment of  FIG. 2  in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of a signaling flow for a configuration of the network of  FIG. 1  in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an information handling system capable of implementing radio-frequency and band capability for carrier aggregation measurement gap in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 6  is an isometric view of an information handling system of  FIG. 6  that optionally may include a touch screen in accordance with one or more embodiments; and 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of example components of a wireless device in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
     
    
    
     It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail. 
     In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may still cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but are indirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements. Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in the following description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical contact with each other. However, “over” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, “over” may mean that one element is above another element but not contact each other and may have another element or elements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” may mean “and”, it may mean “or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean “one”, it may mean “some, but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or it may mean “both”, although the scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the following description and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and “include,” along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms for each other. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a diagram of a network having a user equipment capable of measuring signal levels on one or more frequencies in designated measurement gaps in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in  FIG. 1 , network  100  may comprise a wireless wide area network (WWAN) operating in accordance with a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) standard, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. The UE  110  may be communicatively coupled with a serving cell  112  which may comprise a first evolved Node B (eNB 1 ). In one or more embodiments, during measurement gaps designated by eNB 1 , the UE  110  will measure downlink (DL) frequency or frequencies of one or more serving cells such as serving cell  114  deployed on neighbor eNB, for example to measure RSRP during a given measurement gap period, and then provides the measurements reporting to the eNB 1 . Such measurement gaps configurations are specified and signaled by means of dedicated signaling for the UE  110  such that no downlink or uplink scheduling between the UE  110  and the service cell  112  occurs to allow the UE to perform measurements on the one or more given frequencies. In some embodiments, the neighbor cell  114  may comprise a small cell or remote radio head (RRH) coupled to the eNB, such as eNB 1 , of the serving cell. In such embodiments, neighbor cell  114  may comprise a micro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and so on. In other embodiments, neighbor cell  114  may comprise or otherwise be connected with a different eNB than the serving cell  112 . For example, neighbor cell  114  may comprise eNB 2  or otherwise be connected with eNB 2 . The measurement results obtained by the UE  110  for the one or more neighbors cells  114  allow the eNB 1  to determine whether to handover the UE  110  to a new cell or eNB, for example if the signal levels with a neighboring cell are better than the signal levels for the serving cell  112 . 
     The measurement gaps configuration is provided by the network  100  to the UE  110  via the serving cell  112 . In accordance with one or more embodiments, the UE  110  may indicate to the network  100  the radio-frequency (RF) capability and the band capability of the UE  110  so that the network  110  can configure cell-group specific measurement for carrier aggregation to reduce measurement delay and/or increase the downlink date rate if the UE  110  has two or more RF chains and is capable of operating on multiple frequency bands for the two or more RF chains. An example of such as UE  110  having multiple RF chains operating on multiple frequency bands is shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 2 , below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a diagram of a user equipment having multiple radio-frequency (RF) chains in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the UE  110  may include multiple radio-frequency (RF) chains such as RF chain  1  (RF CHAIN  1 )  210 , RF chain  2  (RF CHAIN  2 )  212 , up to an Nth RF chain (RF CHAIN N)  214 . The RF chains may be coupled to multiple antennas such as antenna  216 , antenna  218 , and antenna  220 , respectively, and the RF chains may be controlled by a processor  222 . In one more embodiments, one or more of the RF chains may be capable of operating on one or more frequency bands to transmit and/or receive data in the uplink and/or the downlink. An example of the RF chains having multiple frequency bands is shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 3 , below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a diagram of an RF structure for the user equipment of  FIG. 2  in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed.  FIG. 3  shows an example of the radio-frequency (RF) structure for the UE  110 . It should be noted that the RF arrangement shown in  FIG. 3  is merely one example, and the UE  110  may have various other arrangements of RF chains and frequency bands, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , the UE  110  may have two RF chains, RF chain  1  (RF CHAIN  1 )  210  and RF chain  1  (RF CHAIN  2 )  212 . RF chain  1  may be capable of supporting band X and band Y. RF chain  2  may be capable of supporting band Z and band L. 
     In this example, since the UE  110  has more than one RF chain, the UE  110  is capable of using both RF chains for gap measurements to reduce measurement delay and/or to increase spectrum efficiency. Under current specifications the network  100  is not able to utilize the multiple RF chains implemented at the UE  100  due to lack of this kind of information. Therefore, in order to achieve different and resource-efficient measurement patterns for carrier aggregation (CA) or for other features or other gap, in one or more embodiments the network  100  receives indication from the UE  100  about the RF capability of the UE  110 . Several embodiments for the UE  110  to indicate to the network  100  the RF capability are discussed herein. 
     In a first embodiment, the UE  110  may indicate to the network  110  whether it supports carrier aggregation specific measurement gap capability. Such an indication may be made by the UE  110  via the UE-EUTRA-Capability information element (IE) to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters, and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features to the network  100 . The UE-EUTRA-Capability IE may be transferred to network  100  via evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) or via another radio access technology (RAT). An example of such an UE-EUTRA-Capability IE is shown, below. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 -- ASN1START 
               
               
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-v1250-IEs ::= 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 phyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 PhyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rf-Parameters-v1250 
                 RF-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rlc-Parameters-r12 
                 RLC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
                 UE-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryDL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..14) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryUL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..13) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 wlan-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 WLAN-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 measParameters-v1250 
                 MeasParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 dc-Parameters-r12 
                 DC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 mbms-Parameters-v1250 
                 MBMS-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 mac-Parameters-r12 
                 MAC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 fdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 tdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 sl-Parameters-r12 
                 SL-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 nonCriticalExtension 
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs 
                 OPTIONAL 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs :: SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Rf-band-capability 
                 BOOLEAN 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 ... 
               
               
                 -- ASN1STOP 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a diagram of a signaling flow for a configuration of the network of  FIG. 1  in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Another embodiment for the UE  110  to indicate the radio-frequency (RF) capability of the UE  110  to the network  100  may comprise a carrier aggregation (CA) specific gap measurement indication procedure. In such an embodiment, when the UE  110  indicates to the network  100  that the UE  110  supports the carrier aggregation (CA) specific gap measurement indication feature, the network  100  can send the CA specific request to the UE  110  to inquire or trigger the UE  110  to indicate what band and RF combination the UE  110  supports in order for the network  100  to configure one of the available measurement gap patterns. For example, the network  100  may configure a combination of band Y and band Z for carrier aggregation, and the network  100  may configure band X for measurement by the UE  100 . The network  100  may then request the UE  110  to indicate if the RF capability of the UE  110  is capable of satisfying measurement band X using RF band Y or RF band Z, or both. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the network  100  sends a message including at least a carrier aggregation specific measurement group “CA specific MG request”  410  Information Element (IE) to the UE  110 , for example via eNB 1   112 . This request  410  may contain on which band or bands the network  100  may want the UE  110  to perform measurements. Additionally, this request  410  may contain which CA band combinations or alternatively a list of frequency bands the network  100  is interested in to know measurement capability. By default, the current CA configuration should be considered as the CA band combination that the eNB, eNB 1   112 , is interested in. To support this, a new IE as discussed herein is provided in the radio resource control (RRC) signaling. 
     Next, the UE  110  may respond with the preferred measurement gap configuration “CA specific MG response”. For example, the UE  110  can inform the requirement of measurement gap and the preferred measurement gap pattern for each serving frequency separately per eNB interest. Alternatively, the UE  110  can inform the requirement of measurement gap and the preferred measurement gap pattern for all supported frequency bands in each serving frequencies in each band combination for all supported band combinations or the requested band combinations. To support this, a new IE as discussed herein is provided in the RRC signaling. Next, the network  100  sends a message including at least a “CA specific measurement gap configuration”  414  IE to the UE  110 . The eNB, eNB 1   112 , can setup a measurement gap pattern for each serving frequency, which means in some instances there may be no measurement gap for one or more serving frequencies. 
     In another embodiment, a new signal structure is provided to allow the UE  110  to indicate which band combinations require either measurement gap, or mini gap or no gap. In one or more embodiments, the gap type can be a regular measurement gap, a mini gap, or no gap required, or a subset of these gap types, or a combination thereof. The mini gap, which also may be referred to as a small gap or an interruption gap, indicates there will be downlink transmissions on the serving frequency, and the UE  110  can receive the downlink transmissions on the serving frequency using other RF bands or chains with a smaller value of interruption, for example one millisecond or less, when RF tuning happens. Currently, RF implementation is up to the UE  110 , and the network  110  has no knowledge of the RF configuration of the UE  110 . In order to keep such an arrangement, the UE  110  may indicate if a full measurement gap is required for a band combination without any downlink data transmission during this period, or alternatively a mini gap, or no gap is sufficiently required. For example, using the example of RF capability as shown in  FIG. 3 , above, the UE  110  may have two RF chains and can support band X and band Y using RF chain  1 , and can support band Z and band L using RF chain  2 . If the current serving band for the UE  110  is configured with band X for data communication, then the UE  110  implemented with RF chain  1  and  2  as described above should indicate the following RF capability to network: 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Band 
                 Gap Type 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Y 
                 Yes, full gap is 
                 No downlink transmission from the eNB 
               
               
                   
                 required 
                 during the gap 
               
               
                 Z, L 
                 Mini gap only 
                 If the UE has a separate RF chain and will 
               
               
                   
                   
                 not have interruption between bands Z 
               
               
                   
                   
                 and L with the serving band, the UE can 
               
               
                   
                   
                 use no gap instead 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     To allow the UE  110  to indicate the band combination as shown above, a possible information element (IE) may be introduced, as shown below. The UE-EUTRA-Capability IE shown, below, may be used to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features to the network  100 . The UE-EUTRA-Capability IE, below, may be transferred via E-UTRA or via another RAT. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 -- ASN1START 
               
               
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-v1250-IEs ::= 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 phyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 PhyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rf-Parameters-v1250 
                 RF-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rlc-Parameters-r12 
                 RLC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
                 UE-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryDL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..14) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryUL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..13) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 wlan-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 WLAN-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 measParameters-v1250 
                 MeasParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 dc-Parameters-r12 
                 DC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 mbms-Parameters-v1250 
                 MBMS-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 mac-Parameters-r12 
                 MAC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 fdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 tdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 sl-Parameters-r12 
                 SL-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 nonCriticalExtension 
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs 
                 OPTIONAL 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs :: SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Rf-band-capability 
                 RF-Band-Capability 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 RF-Band-Capability :: = 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 bandList 
                 BandInfoEUTRA, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 gapType 
                 ENUMERATED {NormalMG, MiniMG,NoGap, 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 spare} 
               
               
                 } 
               
               
                 ... 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Another UE-EUTRA-Capability as shown, below, also may be used to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features to the network. The UE-EUTRA-Capability IE, below, may be transferred via E-UTRA or via another RAT. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 -- ASN1START 
               
               
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-v1250-IEs ::= 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 phyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 PhyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rf-Parameters-v1250 
                 RF-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rlc-Parameters-r12 
                 RLC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
                 UE-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryDL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..14) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryUL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..13) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 wlan-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 WLAN-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 measParameters-v1250 
                 MeasParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 dc-Parameters-r12 
                 DC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 mbms-Parameters-v1250 
                 MBMS-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 mac-Parameters-r12 
                 MAC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 fdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 tdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 sl-Parameters-r12 
                 SL-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 nonCriticalExtension 
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs 
                 OPTIONAL 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs :: SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Rf-band-capability 
                 RF-Band-Capability 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 RF-Band-Capability :: = 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 bandList 
                 BandInfoEUTRA, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 gapIsNeeded 
                 BOOLEAN 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 ... 
               
               
                 -- ASN1STOP 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In yet another embodiment, the UE  110  may indicate which RF band combinations that the UE  110  supports. In this embodiment, the UE  110  indicate the combination of RF bands the UE  110  supports so the network  110  can configure an optimal measurement gap pattern. For example, RF band combination for the UE  110  may be indicated as follows. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Band 
                 RF Index 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 A, X, Y 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 B, Z, L 
                 2 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     As shown in the above indication, the UE 11  has two RF combinations with RF index  1  and RF index  2 . RF index  1  can support bands A, X, and Y. RF index  2  can support bands B, Z, and L. The UE  110  may indicate the RF band combinations as shown above using an example information element (IE) as shown below. The UE-EUTRA-Capability IE shown below may be used to convey the E-UTRA UE Radio Access Capability Parameters and the Feature Group Indicators for mandatory features to the network  100 . The UE-EUTRA-Capability IE, below, may be transferred via E-UTRA or via another RAT. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 -- ASN1START 
               
               
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-v1250-IEs ::= 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 phyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 PhyLayerParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rf-Parameters-v1250 
                 RF-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 rlc-Parameters-r12 
                 RLC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
                 UE-BasedNetwPerfMeasParameters-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryDL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..14) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 ue-CategoryUL-r12 
                 INTEGER (0..13) 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 wlan-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 WLAN-IW-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 measParameters-v1250 
                 MeasParameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 dc-Parameters-r12 
                 DC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 mbms-Parameters-v1250 
                 MBMS-Parameters-v1250 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
               
                   
                 mac-Parameters-r12 
                 MAC-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 fdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 tdd-Add-UE-EUTRA-Capabilities-v1250 
                 UE-EUTRA-CapabilityAddXDD-Mode-v1250 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 sl-Parameters-r12 
                 SL-Parameters-r12 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 nonCriticalExtension 
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs 
                 OPTIONAL 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 UE-EUTRA-Capability-vxxxx-IEs :: SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Rf-band-capability 
                 RF-Band-CapabilityList 
                 OPTIONAL, 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ... 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 RF-Band-CapabilityList :: = 
                 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxRF)) OF PLMN- RF-Band- 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 Capability 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 RF-Band-Capability :: = 
                 SEQUENCE { 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 bandList 
                 BandInfoEUTRA, 
               
               
                   
                 rfIndex 
                 INTERGER (0..maxRF) 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 } 
               
               
                 ... 
               
               
                 -- ASN1STOP 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a block diagram of an information handling system capable of implementing radio-frequency and band capability for carrier aggregation measurement gap in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Information handling system  500  of  FIG. 5  may tangibly embody any one or more of the network elements described herein, above, including for example the elements of network  100  with greater or fewer components depending on the hardware specifications of the particular device. In one embodiment, information handling system  500  may tangibly embody a user equipment (UE) comprising circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell, indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receive a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network based on the two or more RF chains information. In another embodiment, information handling system may tangibly embody an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) comprising circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell, indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes a list of multiple bands for two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains of the UE with an indication of a measurement gap type for the multiple bands, and receive a measurement gap configuration from the network for the two or more RF chains. In yet another embodiment, information handling system  500  may tangibly embody an enhanced Node B (eNB) comprising circuitry to transmit a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap capability request to a user equipment (UE), receive a CA specific measurement gap capability response from the UE, and transmit a CA specific measurement gap configuration message to the UE to cause the UE to perform measurement gap measurements according to the configuration message. Although information handling system  500  represents one example of several types of computing platforms, information handling system  500  may include more or fewer elements and/or different arrangements of elements than shown in  FIG. 5 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. 
     In one or more embodiments, information handling system  500  may include an application processor  510  and a baseband processor  512 . Application processor  510  may be utilized as a general-purpose processor to run applications and the various subsystems for information handling system  500 . Application processor  510  may include a single core or alternatively may include multiple processing cores. One or more of the cores may comprise a digital signal processor or digital signal processing (DSP) core. Furthermore, application processor  510  may include a graphics processor or coprocessor disposed on the same chip, or alternatively a graphics processor coupled to application processor  510  may comprise a separate, discrete graphics chip. Application processor  510  may include on board memory such as cache memory, and further may be coupled to external memory devices such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)  514  for storing and/or executing applications during operation, and NAND flash  816  for storing applications and/or data even when information handling system  500  is powered off. In one or more embodiments, instructions to operate or configure the information handling system  500  and/or any of its components or subsystems to operate in a manner as described herein may be stored on an article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium. In one or more embodiments, the storage medium may comprise any of the memory devices shown in and described herein, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Baseband processor  512  may control the broadband radio functions for information handling system  500 . Baseband processor  512  may store code for controlling such broadband radio functions in a NOR flash  518 . Baseband processor  512  controls a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver  520  which is used for modulating and/or demodulating broadband network signals, for example for communicating via a 3GPP LTE or LTE-Advanced network or the like. 
     In general, WWAN transceiver  520  may operate according to any one or more of the following radio communication technologies and/or standards including but not limited to: a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communication technology, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio communication technology, an Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radio communication technology, and/or a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communication technology, for example Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Freedom of Multimedia Access (FOMA), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE Advanced), Code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, Third Generation (3G), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation) (UMTS (3G)), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) (W-CDMA (UMTS)), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-Time-Division Duplex (UMTS-TDD), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4th Generation) (3GPP Rel. 8 (Pre-4G)), 3GPP Rel. 9 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 9), 3GPP Rel. 10 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 10), 3GPP Rel. 11 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 11), 3GPP Rel. 12 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3GPP Rel. 13 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3GPP Rel. 14 (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 12), 3GPP LTE Extra, LTE Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Long Term Evolution Advanced (4th Generation) (LTE Advanced (4G)), cdmaOne (2G), Code division multiple access 2000 (Third generation) (CDMA2000 (3G)), Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO), Advanced Mobile Phone System (1st Generation) (AMPS (1G)), Total Access Communication System/Extended Total Access Communication System (TACS/ETACS), Digital AMPS (2nd Generation) (D-AMPS (2G)), Push-to-talk (PTT), Mobile Telephone System (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone System (IMTS), Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMTS), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony), MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobiltelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D), Public Automated Land Mobile (Autotel/PALM), ARP (Finnish for Autoradiopuhelin, “car radio phone”), NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), High capacity version of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) (Hicap), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, DataTAC, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), Wideband Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (WiDEN), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), also referred to as also referred to as 3GPP Generic Access Network, or GAN standard), Zigbee, Bluetooth®, Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) standard, millimeter wave (mmWave) standards in general for wireless systems operating at 10-90 GHz and above such as WiGig, IEEE 802.11ad, IEEE 802.11ay, and so on, and/or general telemetry transceivers, and in general any type of RF circuit or RFI sensitive circuit. It should be noted that such standards may evolve over time, and/or new standards may be promulgated, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     The WWAN transceiver  520  couples to one or more power amps  542  respectively coupled to one or more antennas  524  for sending and receiving radio-frequency signals via the WWAN broadband network. The baseband processor  512  also may control a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver  526  coupled to one or more suitable antennas  528  and which may be capable of communicating via a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, and/or an amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM) radio standard including an IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n standard or the like. It should be noted that these are merely example implementations for application processor  510  and baseband processor  512 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. For example, any one or more of SDRAM  514 , NAND flash  516  and/or NOR flash  518  may comprise other types of memory technology such as magnetic memory, chalcogenide memory, phase change memory, or ovonic memory, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     In one or more embodiments, application processor  510  may drive a display  530  for displaying various information or data, and may further receive touch input from a user via a touch screen  532  for example via a finger or a stylus. An ambient light sensor  534  may be utilized to detect an amount of ambient light in which information handling system  500  is operating, for example to control a brightness or contrast value for display  530  as a function of the intensity of ambient light detected by ambient light sensor  534 . One or more cameras  536  may be utilized to capture images that are processed by application processor  510  and/or at least temporarily stored in NAND flash  516 . Furthermore, application processor may couple to a gyroscope  538 , accelerometer  540 , magnetometer  542 , audio coder/decoder (CODEC)  544 , and/or global positioning system (GPS) controller  546  coupled to an appropriate GPS antenna  548 , for detection of various environmental properties including location, movement, and/or orientation of information handling system  500 . Alternatively, controller  846  may comprise a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) controller. Audio CODEC  544  may be coupled to one or more audio ports  550  to provide microphone input and speaker outputs either via internal devices and/or via external devices coupled to information handling system via the audio ports  550 , for example via a headphone and microphone jack. In addition, application processor  510  may couple to one or more input/output (I/O) transceivers  552  to couple to one or more I/O ports  554  such as a universal serial bus (USB) port, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a serial port, and so on. Furthermore, one or more of the I/O transceivers  552  may couple to one or more memory slots  556  for optional removable memory such as secure digital (SD) card or a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , an isometric view of an information handling system of  FIG. 5  that optionally may include a touch screen in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed.  FIG. 6  shows an example implementation of information handling system  500  of  FIG. 5  tangibly embodied as a cellular telephone, smartphone, or tablet type device or the like. The information handling system  500  may comprise a housing  610  having a display  530  which may include a touch screen  532  for receiving tactile input control and commands via a finger  616  of a user and/or a via stylus  618  to control one or more application processors  510 . The housing  610  may house one or more components of information handling system  500 , for example one or more application processors  510 , one or more of SDRAM  514 , NAND flash  516 , NOR flash  518 , baseband processor  512 , and/or WWAN transceiver  520 . The information handling system  500  further may optionally include a physical actuator area  620  which may comprise a keyboard or buttons for controlling information handling system via one or more buttons or switches. The information handling system  500  may also include a memory port or slot  556  for receiving non-volatile memory such as flash memory, for example in the form of a secure digital (SD) card or a subscriber identity module (SIM) card. Optionally, the information handling system  500  may further include one or more speakers and/or microphones  624  and a connection port  554  for connecting the information handling system  500  to another electronic device, dock, display, battery charger, and so on. In addition, information handling system  500  may include a headphone or speaker jack  628  and one or more cameras  536  on one or more sides of the housing  610 . It should be noted that the information handling system  500  of  FIG. 6  may include more or fewer elements than shown, in various arrangements, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7 , example components of a wireless device such as User Equipment (UE) device  110  in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. User equipment (UE) may correspond, for example, to UE  110  of network  100 , although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, UE device  700  may include application circuitry  702 , baseband circuitry  704 , Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry  706 , front-end module (FEM) circuitry  708  and one or more antennas  710 , coupled together at least as shown. 
     Application circuitry  702  may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuitry  702  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors, for example graphics processors, application processors, and so on. The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory and/or storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory and/or storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system. 
     Baseband circuitry  704  may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry  704  may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of RF circuitry  706  and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry  706 . Baseband processing circuitry  704  may interface with the application circuitry  702  for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry  706 . For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry  704  may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor  704   a , third generation (3G) baseband processor  704   b , fourth generation (4G) baseband processor  704   c , and/or one or more other baseband processors  704   d  for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future, for example fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), and so on. Baseband circuitry  704 , for example one or more of baseband processors  704   a  through  704   d , may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuitry  706 . The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation and/or demodulation, encoding and/or decoding, radio frequency shifting, and so on. In some embodiments, modulation and/or demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry  704  may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping and/or demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding and/or decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry  804  may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder and/or decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation and/or demodulation and encoder and/or decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. 
     In some embodiments, baseband circuitry  704  may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. Processor  704   e  of the baseband circuitry  704  may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSP)  704   f  The one or more audio DSPs  704   f  may include elements for compression and/or decompression and/or echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuitry  704  and application circuitry  702  may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some embodiments, baseband circuitry  704  may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry  704  may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which baseband circuitry  804  is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. 
     RF circuitry  706  may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry  706  may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and so on, to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry  706  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry  708  and provide baseband signals to baseband circuitry  704 . RF circuitry  706  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry  704  and provide RF output signals to FEM circuitry  708  for transmission. 
     In some embodiments, RF circuitry  706  may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of RF circuitry  706  may include mixer circuitry  706   a , amplifier circuitry  706   b  and filter circuitry  706   c . The transmit signal path of RF circuitry  706  may include filter circuitry  706   c  and mixer circuitry  706   a . RF circuitry  706  may also include synthesizer circuitry  706   d  for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry  708  based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry  706   d . Amplifier circuitry  706   b  may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry  706   c  may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to baseband circuitry  704  for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  706   a  of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry  706   d  to generate RF output signals for FEM circuitry  708 . The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry  1004  and may be filtered by filter circuitry  706   c . Filter circuitry  706   c  may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down conversion and/or up conversion respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   a  of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection, for example Hartley image rejection. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry  706   a  may be arranged for direct down conversion and/or direct up conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry  706   a  of the receive signal path and mixer circuitry  706   a  of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation. 
     In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, RF circuitry  706  may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuitry  704  may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuitry  706 . In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio integrated circuit (IC) circuitry may be provided for processing signals for one or more spectra, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. 
     In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry  706   d  may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry  706   d  may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. 
     Synthesizer circuitry  706   d  may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by mixer circuitry  706   a  of RF circuitry  706  based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry  706   d  may be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer. 
     In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either baseband circuitry  704  or applications processor  702  depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by applications processor  702 . 
     Synthesizer circuitry  706   d  of RF circuitry  706  may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1, for example based on a carry out, to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle. 
     In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry  706   d  may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency, for example twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency, and so on, and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a local oscillator (LO) frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry  1006  may include an in-phase and quadrature (IQ) and/or polar converter. 
     FEM circuitry  708  may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas  710 , amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry  706  for further processing. FEM circuitry  708  may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by RF circuitry  706  for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas  710 . 
     In some embodiments, FEM circuitry  708  may include a transmit/receive (TX/RX) switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. FEM circuitry  708  may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuitry  708  may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and to provide the amplified received RF signals as an output, for example to RF circuitry  706 . The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry  708  may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals, for example provided by RF circuitry  706 , and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission, for example by one or more of antennas  710 . In some embodiments, UE device  700  may include additional elements such as, for example, memory and/or storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     The following are example implementations of the subject matter described herein. It should be noted that any of the examples and the variations thereof described herein may be used in any permutation or combination of any other one or more examples or variations, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. In example one, a user equipment (UE) comprises circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell, indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receive a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network based on the two or more RF chains information. In example two, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to indicate the CA-specific measurement gap capability via at least one bit in UE capability information element. In example three, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to indicate a list of frequency bands associated with the two or more RF chains with indication of whether one or more of the RF chains should be utilized to perform measurements on the list of multiple bands with configuring measurement gap. In example four, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to indicate a list of bands associated with the two or more RF chains with indication of a measurement gap type to perform measurement on the list of frequency bands. In example five, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to indicate the association between a list of bands and the two or more RF chains via an RF index. In example six, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to indicate a list of bands for the two or more RF chains with indication of whether one or more of the bands is required for measurement gap measurements configuration, wherein if a band is not required for measurement gap measurements indicates a downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency without interruption. In example seven, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to indicate the measurement gap capability of the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In example eight, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry, wherein the measurement gap capability includes an indication of whether the UE supports a specific RF band request from the network. In example nine, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to transmit RRC signaling to the network including a response to a request from the network for the measurement gap capability of the UE. In example ten, the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry to perform measurement gap measurements according to the CA-specific measurement gap configuration received from the network. 
     In example eleven, an apparatus of a user equipment (UE) comprises circuitry to connect to a network via a serving cell, indicate to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes a list of multiple bands for two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains of the UE with an indication of a measurement gap type for the multiple bands, and receive a measurement gap configuration from the network for the two or more RF chains. In example twelve, the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry, wherein the gap type can be a regular measurement gap, a mini gap, or no gap required, or subset thereof, or a combination thereof. In example thirteen, the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry, wherein the mini gap indicates there will be downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell, and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency using another frequency with a smaller valued interruption. 
     In example fourteen, an enhanced Node B (eNB) comprises circuitry to transmit a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap capability request to a user equipment (UE), receive a CA specific measurement gap capability response from the UE, and transmit a CA specific measurement gap configuration message to the UE to cause the UE to perform measurement gap measurements according to the configuration message. In example fifteen, the subject matter of example fourteen or any of the examples described herein comprises circuitry, wherein the measurement gap capability response includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, wherein the enhanced Node B comprises circuitry to transmit the CA-specific measurement gap configuration message to the UE with measurement gap configuration information for the two or more RF chains. 
     In example sixteen, one or more computer-readable media have instructions stored thereon that, if executed by user equipment (UE), result in connecting to a network via a serving cell, indicating to the network a measurement gap capability of the UE, wherein the measurement gap capability includes information if the UE supports a carrier aggregation (CA) specific measurement gap and if the UE has two or more radio-frequency (RF) chains, and receiving a CA specific measurement gap configuration from the network for the two or more RF chains. In example seventeen, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further result in indicating the measurement gap capability via at least one bit in UE capability information element. In example eighteen, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further to result in indicating a list of multiple bands for the two or more RF chains with indication of whether one or more of the bands should be utilized for measurement gap measurements. In example nineteen, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further to result in indicating a list of multiple bands for the two or more RF chains with indication of a measurement gap type for the multiple bands. In example twenty, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, further to result in indicating a list of multiple bands for the two or more RF chains via an RF index. In example twenty-one, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further to result in indicating a list of multiple bands for the two or more RF chains with indication of whether one or more of the bands is required for measurement gap measurements, wherein if a band is not required for measurement gap measurements indicates a downlink transmission on a serving frequency of the serving cell and the UE can receive the downlink transmission on the serving frequency without interruption. In example twenty-two, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further to result in indicating the measurement gap capability of the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In example twenty-three, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, wherein the measurement gap capability includes an indication of whether the UE supports a specific RF band request from the network. In example twenty-four, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further to result in transmitting radio resource control (RRC) signaling to the network including a response to a request from the network for the measurement gap capability of the UE. In example twenty-five, the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein comprises instructions, if executed by the UE, further to result in performing measurement gap measurements according to the CA specific measurement gap configuration received from the network. 
     Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that the subject matter pertaining to user equipment radio-frequency and band capability for carrier aggregation measurement gap and many of its attendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20151214
Publication Date: 20200211
Grant Date: 20200211
Priority Date: 20150409
Inventors: YIU, Candy
HE, HONG
TANG, YANG
HEO, YOUN HYOUNG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04W8/24", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W24/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W24/10", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L27/0006", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/001", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W8/24", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0091", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 57072818