Method for determination between intra- and inter-frequency operations

Abstract

The solution outlined in this disclosure is a method for determining intra-frequency operations and inter-frequency operations, the method comprises obtaining a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource, obtaining a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are of the same type, and determining whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell. The method may be carried out in a user equipment or a network node.

1 . A method for use in a user equipment, UE, comprising:
 obtaining a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource;   obtaining a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are of the same type; and   determining whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell;   wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on one or more rules of the reference measurement resource, the rules comprising:
 the reference measurement resource being associated with paging resources for the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a subset of the paging resources for the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a synchronization signal (SS) block or SS burst or SS burst set associated with the paging resources; 
 the reference measurement resource being the SS block or SS burst or SS burst set closest to the paging resources in a frequency domain; 
 the reference measurement resource being configured for radio link monitoring (RLM); the reference measurement resource comprising a control channel, in which the UE receives information; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising a search space in the frequency domain, where the UE receives information; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising serving cells dedicated transmissions to the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a resource of a maximum UE bandwidth; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising resources for at least one channel state information-reference signal resource group; 
 the reference measurement resource matching a channel raster; and 
 the reference measurement resource matching a synchronization raster. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising performing intra-frequency operations on the second cell when a carrier frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is the same as a carrier frequency of the reference measurement resource. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising performing inter-frequency operations on the second cell when a carrier frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is not the same as a carrier frequency of the reference measurement resource. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a measurement gap assistance is needed. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the measurement gap assistance is needed when a center frequency of the first cell is different from a center frequency of the second cell. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising performing intra-frequency operations on the second cell when at least one synchronization signal burst of the first cell shares the same frequency with at least one synchronization signal burst of the second cell. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising performing inter-frequency operations on the second cell when no synchronization signal bursts of the first cell shares the same frequency with any synchronization signal burst of the second cell. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based on, at least in part, a predefined location in frequency. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on an indication from a network node or from another UE. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising obtaining information about the reference measurement resource based on an indication received from a network node. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first and second measurement resources comprise SS block or CSI-RS. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising adapting a measurement procedure in response to the determination of whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier. 
     
     
         13 . A user equipment, UE, for determining intra-frequency operations and inter-frequency operations, comprising:
 an interface configured to:
 obtain a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource; and 
 obtain a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are of the same type; and 
   processing circuitry configured to determine whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell;   wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on one or more rules of the reference measurement resource, the rules comprising:
 the reference measurement resource being associated with paging resources for the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a subset of the paging resources for the UE; the reference measurement resource being a synchronization signal (SS) block or SS burst or SS burst set associated with the paging resources; 
 the reference measurement resource being the SS block or SS burst or SS burst set closest to the paging resources in a frequency domain; 
 the reference measurement resource being configured for radio link monitoring (RLM); the reference measurement resource comprising a control channel, in which the UE receives information; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising a search space in the frequency domain, where the UE receives information; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising serving cells dedicated transmissions to the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a resource of a maximum UE bandwidth; the reference measurement resource comprising resources for at least one channel state information-reference signal resource group; 
 the reference measurement resource matching a channel raster; and 
 the reference measurement resource matching a synchronization raster. 
   
     
     
         14 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising performing intra-frequency operations on the second cell when a carrier frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is the same as a carrier frequency of the reference measurement resource. 
     
     
         15 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising performing inter-frequency operations on the second cell when a carrier frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is not the same as a carrier frequency of the reference measurement resource. 
     
     
         16 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising determining whether a measurement gap assistance is needed. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the measurement gap assistance is needed when a center frequency of the first cell is different from a center frequency of the second cell. 
     
     
         18 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising performing intra-frequency operations on the second cell when at least one synchronization signal burst of the first cell shares the same frequency with at least one synchronization signal burst of the second cell. 
     
     
         19 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising performing inter-frequency operations on the second cell when no synchronization signal bursts of the first cell shares the same frequency with any synchronization signal burst of the second cell. 
     
     
         20 . The UE according to  claim 13 , wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based on, at least in part, a predefined location in frequency. 
     
     
         21 . The UE according to  claim 13 , wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on an indication from a network node or from another UE. 
     
     
         22 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising obtaining information about the reference measurement resource based on an indication received from a network node. 
     
     
         23 . The UE according to  claim 13 , wherein the first and second measurement resources comprise SS block or CSI-RS. 
     
     
         24 . The UE according to  claim 13 , further comprising adapting a measurement procedure in response to the determination of whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier. 
     
     
         25 . A communication system for determining intra-frequency operations and inter-frequency operations, the communication system comprising:
 a network node within a wireless network, wherein the network node configured to:
 obtain a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource; 
 obtain a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are of the same type; and 
 transmit to a user equipment, UE, within the network the reference measurement resource and the second measurement resource of the second cell; and 
   the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is configured to:
 receive the reference measurement resource and the second measurement resource of the second cell from the network node; and 
 determine whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell; 
 wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on one or more rules of the reference measurement resource, the rules comprising:
 the reference measurement resource being associated with paging resources for the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a subset of the paging resources for the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a synchronization signal (SS) block or SS burst or SS burst set associated with the paging resources; 
 the reference measurement resource being the SS block or SS burst or SS burst set closest to the paging resources in a frequency domain; the reference measurement resource being configured for radio link monitoring (RLM); 
 the reference measurement resource comprising a control channel, in which the UE receives information; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising a search space in the frequency domain, where the UE receives information; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising serving cells dedicated transmissions to the UE; 
 the reference measurement resource being a resource of a maximum UE bandwidth; 
 the reference measurement resource comprising resources for at least one channel state information-reference signal resource group; 
 the reference measurement resource matching a channel raster; and 
 the reference measurement resource matching a synchronization raster.