Electronic device in wireless communication system and wireless communication method

Abstract

An electronic device in a wireless communication system and a wireless communication method, including plural cells including current cells and at least one neighbouring cell. The electronic device includes: a transceiver: a first trigger circuit configured to enable the transceiver to conduct a first measurement report, to assist. in starting a relay process for enabling the electronic device to communicate with a current cell via a relay user equipment; a second trigger circuit configured to enable the transceiver to conduct a second measurement report, to assist in starting a handover process for enabling the electronic device to be switched from the current cdl to the neighbouring cell; and one or more processing circuits configured to control the first and second trigger circuits, to enable the transceiver to conduct the first measurement report before conducting the second measurement report.

1 : A method for operating an electronic device having a transceiver in a wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a plurality of cells comprising a current cell in which the electronic device is located and at least one neighbor cell, the method comprising:
 determining if a relay entering condition is satisfied based on a measurement result of the current cell and a measurement result of the neighbor cell;   starting a relay process for causing the electronic device to communicate with the current cell via a relay user equipment if the relay entering condition is determined to be satisfied;   determining if a handover entering condition is satisfied based on the measurement result of the current cell and the measurement result of the neighbor cell; and   starting a handover process for causing the electronic device to hand over from the current cell to the neighbor cell if the handover entering condition is determined to be satisfied,   wherein the relay entering condition and the handover entering condition are configured so that the relay process is started prior to the handover process.   
     
     
         2 : The method according to  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 causing the transceiver to perform a first measurement report when the relay entering condition is determined to be satisfied;   causing the transceiver to perform a second measurement report when the handover entering condition is determined to be satisfied, wherein the second measurement report is a measurement report for an A3 event; and   starting a first timing when it is determined that the handover entering condition is satisfied and to reset the first timing when it is determined that a handover leaving condition is satisfied,   wherein performing of the second measurement report is triggered when a result of the first timing reaches a first trigger time.   
     
     
         3 : The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the first measurement report is a measurement report for a relay event, wherein the method further comprises:
 starting a second timing when it is determined that the relay entering condition is satisfied and to reset the second timing when it is determined that a relay leaving condition is satisfied;   causing the transceiver to perform the first measurement report when a result of the second timing reaches a second trigger time;   configuring the relay entering condition such that the second timing starts prior to the first timing; and   configuring the relay leaving condition such that the second timing is reset posterior to the first timing.   
     
     
         4 : The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the measurement results of the current cell and the neighbor cell are based on a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) received by the transceiver from the current cell and the neighbor cell. 
     
     
         5 : The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising:
 scaling related parameters influencing a hysteresis effect of the A3 event with a scaling parameter to set related parameters for a hysteresis effect of the relay event in a manner such that the transceiver is caused to perform the first measurement report prior to the second measurement report; and   determining the scaling parameter based on indication information from a base station.   
     
     
         6 : The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising:
 setting a hysteresis parameter in the relay entering condition as x times of a hysteresis parameter in the handover entering condition for the A3 event; and   setting a hysteresis parameter in the relay leaving condition as 1+x times of a hysteresis parameter in the handover leaving condition for the A3 event,   where x is a real number within a range of 0 to 1.   
     
     
         7 : The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising setting the second trigger time to be x times the first trigger time,
 where x is a real number within a range of 0 to 1.   
     
     
         8 : The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising adjusting the first trigger time to be 1-x times, where x is a real number within a range of 0 to 1, when it is determined that the neighbor cell that satisfies the relay entering condition is same as the neighbor cell that satisfies the handover entering condition for the A3 event. 
     
     
         9 : The method according to  claim 3 , the method further comprising:
 causing the transceiver to perform a third measurement report to facilitate starting of a de-relay process for causing the electronic device to return to directly communication with the current cell, wherein the third measurement report is a measurement report for a de-relay event;   starting a third timing when it is determined that an entering condition for the de-relay event is satisfied;   resetting the third timing when it is determined that a leaving condition for the de-relay event is satisfied;   causing the transceiver to perform the third measurement report to facilitate starting of the de-relay process when a result of the third timing reaches a third trigger time;   configuring the entering condition for the de-relay event to be the same as the relay leaving condition;   configuring the leaving condition for the de-relay event to be the same as the relay entering condition; and   configuring the third trigger time to be equal to the second trigger time.   
     
     
         10 : The method according to  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 determining relay configuration information on the relay user equipment in the current cell; and   causing, based on the relay configuration information, the transceiver to perform relay communication between the user equipment and the current cell before the user equipment hands over from the current cell to the neighbor cell.   
     
     
         11 : The method according to  claim 10 , the method further comprising:
 determining a Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) of the current cell;   determining, based on the SINR, whether a region where the electronic device is located is a center region, a middle region, or an edge region of the current cell; and   causing the transceiver to transmit region information on the region where the electronic device is located to a base station of the current cell, such that the base station determines a candidate relay user equipment.   
     
     
         12 : The method according to  claim 10 , the method further comprising:
 determining at least one of mobility state information, battery level information, load level information and Quality of Service (QoS) information of the electronic device; and   causing the transceiver to transmit the determined at least one of the mobility state information, the battery level information, the load level information and the QoS information to a base station of the current cell, such that the base station determines a relay capability priority of the electronic device.   
     
     
         13 : A method for operating an electronic device in a wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system comprises a plurality of cells comprising a current cell in which the electronic device is located and at least one neighbor cell, the method comprising:
 acquiring a first measurement report from a user equipment of the current cell;   starting a relay process for causing the user equipment to communicate with the current cell via a relay user equipment in response to the first measurement report;   acquiring, after the first measurement report is acquired, a second measurement report from the user equipment; and   starting a handover process for causing the user equipment to hand over from the current cell to the neighbor cell in response to the second measurement report,   wherein the relay process is started prior to the handover process, and   wherein the first and second measurement reports include a measurement by the user equipment of the current cell and a measurement by the user equipment of the neighbor cell.   
     
     
         14 : The method according to  claim 13 , the method further comprising:
 acquiring region information of each user equipment in the current cell;   determining at least one candidate relay user equipment based on the region information; and   selecting one of the at least one candidate relay user equipment as the relay user equipment.   
     
     
         15 : The method according to  claim 14 , the method further comprising:
 acquiring at least one of mobility state information, battery level information, load level information and Quality of Service (QoS) information on each of the candidate relay user equipments;   determining, based on the acquired at least one of the mobility state information, the battery level information, the load level information and the QoS information, a relay capability priority of each of the candidate relay user equipments; and   determining the relay user equipment based on the relay capability priority.   
     
     
         16 : The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the first measurement report is a measurement report for a relay event, and wherein the method further comprises:
 setting a scaling parameter based on a coverage of the current cell and a coverage of the neighbor cell as a target cell; and   generating measurement configuration information on the relay event containing the scaling parameter to inform the user equipment.   
     
     
         17 : The method according to  claim 13 , the method further comprising:
 determining whether the relay user equipment is available or not; and   ceasing to start the relay process in response to the determination that the relay user equipment is unavailable.   
     
     
         18 : The method according to  claim 13 , the method further comprising:
 acquiring, after the first measurement report is acquired, a third measurement report from the user equipment; and   starting a de-relay process for causing the user equipment to return to directly communication with the current cell.   
     
     
         19 : The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the electronic device is a base station comprising a transceiver configured to receive information transmitted by the user equipment of the current cell. 
     
     
         20 : A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor on an electronic device in a wireless communication system, the wireless communication system comprising a plurality of cells comprising a current cell in which the electronic device is located and at least one neighbor cell, control the electronic device to implement a method comprising:
 acquiring a first measurement report from a user equipment of the current cell;   starting a relay process for causing the user equipment to communicate with the current cell via a relay user equipment in response to the first measurement report;   acquiring, after the first measurement report is acquired, a second measurement report from the user equipment; and   starting a handover process for causing the user equipment to hand over from the current cell to the neighbor cell in response to the second measurement report,   wherein the relay process is started prior to the handover process, and   
       wherein the first and second measurement reports include a measurement by the user equipment of the current cell and a measurement by the user equipment of the neighbor cell.