WO2019095329A1

WO2019095329A1 - Interruption free scell operation in nr

Info

Publication number: WO2019095329A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/111748
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lars Dalsgaard; Riikka Karoliina NURMINEN; Li Zhang
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2017-11-17
Filing date: 2017-11-17
Publication date: 2019-05-23
Anticipated expiration: 2020-05-17
Also published as: CN111357351B; CN111357351A

Abstract

An apparatus and a method are provided by which a user equipment receives instruction from a network control element, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and the user equipment performs the measurement according to the received instructions.

Description

INTERRUPTION FREE SCELL OPERATION IN NR

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method and a computer program product by which an interruption free SCell operation can be achieved.

Related background Art

The following meanings for the abbreviations used in this specification apply:

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

BW Bandwidth

BWP Bandwidth part

CA Carrier aggregation

DC Dual connectivity

DRX Discontinuous reception

E-UTRA Evolved universal terrestrial radio access

gNB 5G base station

LTE Long Term Evolution (4G)

MGL Measurement gap length

MGRP Measurement gap repetition periods

NR New Radio

NCSG Network controlled small gaps

PBCH Physical broadcast channel

PCell Primary cell

RF Radio frequency

RRC Radio resource control

SCell Secondary cell

SSB Synchronization signal block

TTI Transmission Time Interval

UE User equipment

Embodiments of the present invention, although not limited to this, relate to New Radio (NR) . In particular, 3GPP is currently discussing and defining NR and as part of that also UE measurements, measurement performance, gap and non-gap-assisted measurements, intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurements as well as measurements on deactivated SCells.

Additionally, also the need for UE interruptions as introduced in LTE Rel-10 are discussed. Such interruptions are necessary by some UE in LTE when operating in CA or DC due to UE implementation. Currently, an introduction of interruption requirements also for NR is discussed.

However, such UE interruptions are problematic.

Summary of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention address this situation and aim to reduce UE interruptions.

According to a first aspect of the present invention an apparatus is provided which comprises at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus at least to perform

generating instruction for a user equipment for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement, and

transmitting the instruction to the user equipment.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method is provided which comprises:

transmitting the instruction to the user equipment.

The first aspect and the second aspect may be modified as follows:

For example, the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement may comprise an indication of a periodicity of the synchronization signal blocks to be used for the measurement.

The information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement may comprise an indication including a period, offset and duration of a synchronization signal block measurement window which defines a position on the carrier at which the synchronization block measurement is located.

The indication may comprise a synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) .

The user equipment may be scheduled based on the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement.

The given carrier may contain a deactivated SCell.

The instruction for the user equipment may be included when configuring the user equipment with the SCell.

Moreover, a plurality of given carriers may be present, and the instruction for the user equipment may be generated such that for different carriers synchronization signal blocks on same positions or on different positions are instructed to be are to be used for the measurement.

Moreover, information from the user equipment may be received which indicates which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are preferably to be used for the measurement, and the instructions may be generated based on the information received from the user equipment.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided which comprises at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus at least to perform receiving instruction from a network control element, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and performing the measurement according to the received instructions.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method is provided which comprises:

receiving instruction from a network control element, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and

performing the measurement according to the received instructions.

The third aspect and the fourth aspect may be modified as follows:

The information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement may comprise an indication of a periodicity of the synchronization signal blocks to be used for the measurement.

The information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement may comprise a period, offset and duration of a synchronization signal block window.

The indication may comprises a synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) .

The given carrier may contain a deactivated SCell.

Moreover, the instruction may be received when being configured by the network control element with the SCell.

A plurality of given carriers may be present, and the instruction may comprise information instructing that for different carriers synchronization signal blocks on same positions or on different positions are instructed to be are to be used for the measurement.

Information may be generated which indicate which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are preferably to be used for the measurement, and the information may be transmitted to the network control element.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention a computer program product is provided which comprises code means for performing a method according to the second aspect and/or fourth aspect and/or their modifications when run on a processing means or module. The computer program product may be embodied on a computer-readable medium, and/or the computer program product may be directly loadable into the internal memory of the computer and/or transmittable via a network by means of at least one of upload, download and push procedures.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention an apparatus is provided which comprises

means for generating instruction for a user equipment for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement, and

means for transmitting the instruction to the user equipment.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention an apparatus is provided which comprises

means for receiving instruction from a network control element, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and

means for performing the measurement according to the received instructions.

Brief Description of the Drawings

These and other objects, features, details and advantages will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments of the present invention which is to be taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1A shows a gNB according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 1B shows a flowchart of a procedure carried out by a gNB according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 2A shows a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 2B shows a flowchart of a procedure carried out by a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention, and

Fig. 3 shows a diagram illustrating SSB/SMTC on a PCell and two SCells and which SSB/SMTC are actually to be used for measurement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of embodiments

In the following, description will be made to embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that the description is given by way of example only, and that the described embodiments are by no means to be understood as limiting the present invention thereto.

Before describing embodiments, however, the problem underlying the present application is described in some more detail.

As mentioned above, UE interruptions can be problematic. For example, in connection with the introduction of CA, it turned out that there might be potential interrupts to PCell once operation on the SCell is initiated -e.g. RF for SCell has to be started. That is, it is possible that the UEs will not be able to start a second RF chain (i.e., on a SCell) without this impacting the performance of the existing active RF chain (e.g. on a PCell) . Such impact could be in terms of losing scheduling opportunities e.g. reception of one or more TTI each time the RF chain was started or shut down.

Nevertheless, in LTE UEs are allowed to perform such interrupts whenever necessary, by considering certain rules. Roughly the rules states that if the measurement cycle of the deactivated SCell is 640ms or more the UE is allowed to cause interruptions of up 0.5%. If the measurement cycle of the deactivated SCell (which is configured by the network -measCycleScell) is less than 640ms the UE is not allowed to cause interruptions unless specifically allowed by the network. That is, the UE will indicate to the network that it would benefit from interrupts and network would then either allow or not the UE to cause interrupts when measCycleScell is lower than 640ms.

However, as mentioned above, allowing such interrupts may be problematic. In particular also in NR, in which CA and DC can be applied, there is a high likelihood that also in NR there will be UEs that would cause interrupts on one active RF chain when activating/deactivating a second RF chain. Therefore, it is beneficial that NR does not introduce UE autonomous interrupts but instead have a controlled method how to handle such glitches in reception on active RF chain caused by status change (activating or deactivating) in another RF chain.

Currently, measurement gaps are discussed as follows:

- Measurement gap repetition periods (MGRP) of 20ms, 40ms, 80ms and 160ms could be specified configured by LTE RRC signaling specified in 36.331 and also configured by NR RRC specified in 38.331

- There may be 6 options for measurement gap length (MGL) for NR

- In total, there may therefore be 6 potential MGL options x 4 MGRP options=24 gap pattern IDs for NR. Four of these options are expected to correspond to the already existing LTE

gap pattern IDs

0, 1, 2 and 3. Some of the existing LTE Gap patterns e.g. nonUniform1, nonUniform2, nonUniform3, nonUniform4 and

NCSG pattern IDs

0, 1, 2, and 3 are not expected to be used for NR target cell measurements in Rel-15. Possibly, it may be defined in 38.133 that only a subset of the 24 gap pattern IDs are applicable for measurements in certain scenarios which would be identified and defined by RAN4.

- Measurement Gap offset may be configurable with granularity based on the maximum slot length of all the UE serving ceils which have configured the gap.

To summarize, signalling for UE to indicate ′benefits for interrupts′ is defined in 36.331 section 5.5.2.1 ′Measurement configuration′ and 6.3.5 ′measurement information elements′ .

The UE requirements related to maximum number of interrupts are defined in 36.133 sections 7.8 ′Interruptions with Carrier Aggregation′ and 7.12 ′Interruptions with Dual Connectivity′

Rel-14 measurement enhancement WI then introduced a new Gap pattern to battle the interrupts -called Network Controlled Small Gaps (NCSG) . These are defined in 36.133.

Rel-15 NR discussions are already assuming introduction of UE autonomous interrupts and related requirements.

Thus, there is a clear need for a new solution how to remove potential interrupts caused by UE implementation.

In the following, a general overview of an embodiment of the present invention is described by referring to Figs. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B, wherein Fig. 1A shows a gNB 1 and Fig. 2A shows a UE 2.

In particular, Fig. 1A shows a gNB 1 as an example for a first apparatus such as a network control element according to the present embodiment. The gNB 1 comprises at least one processor 11 and at least one memory 12 including computer program code. The at least one processor 11, with the at least one memory 12 and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus at least to perform: generating instruction for a user equipment (e.g., UE 2 shown in Fig. 2A) for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement, and transmitting the instruction to the user equipment.

In other words, by referring to the flowchart shown in Fig. 1B, in step S11, the instruction for the user equipment for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements is generated, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement. In step S12, the instruction is transmitted to the user equipment.

Fig. 2A shows a UE 2 as an example for a second apparatus according to the present embodiment. The UE 2 comprises at least one processor 21 and at least one memory 22 including computer program code. The at least one processor 21, with the at least one memory 22 and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus at least to perform receiving instruction from a network control element (e.g., gNB 1 shown in Fig. 1A) , the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and performing the measurement according to the received instructions.

In other words, by referring to the flowchart shown in Fig. 2B, in step S1, instruction from the network control element is received, wherein the instruction includes information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements. In step S22, the measurement is performed according to the received instructions, i.e., on the instructed synchronization signal blocks (SSB) only.

Hence, according to embodiments of the present invention, a UE is configured with information indicating those SSBs on a given carrier (such as a SCell) are to be used for the measurement (i.e., SSB based measurement) .

In this way, the network can control on which SSBs the UE will perform measurements, so that the number of gaps or interrupts due to SSB based measurements can be reduced. Moreover, the network knows which SSBs are used by the UE for the measurement, so that the network can schedule the UE correspondingly avoiding scheduling when UE is not able to receive.

The gNB 1 may further comprise a transmitter 13 connected to the processor 11 by which the instruction is transmitted to the user equipment. In addition, the gNB 1 may further comprise input/output (I/O) units or functions (interfaces) connected to the processor 11, in order to provide connections to other elements such as the UE 2 and other network elements, for example. In particular, the I/O units or functions may also comprise a receiver.

Similarly, the UE 2 may further comprise a receiver 23 connected to the processor 21 for receiving the instruction from the network control element. In addition, the UE 2 may further comprise input/output (I/O) units or functions (interfaces) connected to the processor 21. For example, the I/O units or functions 23 may comprise a transmitter.

In the following, some more details of embodiments of the present invention are described.

According to embodiments of the present invention, it is proposed to introduce a method which can address both the aspect of some UE types causing pulling on active RF chain when the operation status of another RF chain changes, and accounting such impact on system level in a controlled manner and not introducing UE autonomous gaps.

This is done by having the network to indicate to the UE which SSB on a given deactivated SCell (or basically which SMTC on a given carrier) the UE shall use for SSB-based measuring. Alternatively, network could also indicate to the UE an SMTC, including the period, offset and duration of the SSB measurement window, that is dedicated for measurement of deactivated SCells. The SSB measurement window may define a position on the carrier at which the synchronization block measurement is located, for example. Having received such indication the UE shall use this SMTC and periodicity for deactivated SCell measurement irrespective if SS-Block might be present more often. Once the network has configured such instance to the UE, the UE shall use the indicated SSB or SMTC instance in time domain for performing the measurements.

At least UE′s which have indicated that they cause pulling on RF chain status change could get such measurement instance indication from network. As the network now knows which UEs cause pulling and when they measure, the network will know when the UE will not be able to receive (or transmit) due to pulling. Network can then omit scheduling the UE at such time instances. Moreover, it is noted that all this may be network configurable. Configuration could as such could be part of the SCell configuration, for example.

According to embodiments of the present invention, there are introduced clearly defined rules and requirements related to potential reception (and transmission) glitches caused on UE on one RF chain side due to operational status change on second RF chain.

In NR, the synchronization signal is not assumed to be transmitted in a continuous manner as known in legacy systems like LTE, except in some special cases (e.g., async networks in lower frequency bands) . Synchronization signal including the PBCH is transmitted in a DTX or periodical manner once per SSB (SS-Block) periodicity. SSB periodicity is network configurable and may vary and may be as long as 160ms (e.g. 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160ms) . For carriers which the network may use for initial access the SSB periodicity would need to be at least 20ms. Otherwise, the network has freedom to configure any suitable SSB periodicity.

The UE will need to perform SSB-based measurement on de-activated SCells and such measurements may be done on the SSB. As the SSB is fixed in time the UE measurements would be limited in time occasions to the SSB time occasions. However, if not defined it is up to the UE implementation when to measure which de-activated SCell using whichever SSB of the measured SCell (s) . In such case there would be a similar scenario as in LTE and a UE causing glitches due to pulling, when changing the status of an RF chain will cause disturbance on the active RF chain -UE autonomous interrupts.

By instructing the UE when to measure a given SCell on which SSB the time domain uncertainty will disappear from the equation and any disturbance on the active RF chain will be known (in time domain) to the gNB -i.e. the UE autonomous interruptions has been eliminated.

In Fig. 3, one such an approach is illustrated. Fig. 3 shows a diagram illustrating SSB/SMTC on a PCell and two SCells (SCell1 and SCell2) and which SSB/SMTC are actually to be used for measurement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Here the SSB periodicity on all cells are set to 20ms. Network has indicated measCycleScell as 160ms and also indicated the UE which SSB on each SCell, that the UE shall use for measuring the de-activated SCell.

Illustrated is also potential glitches on active RF chain (PCell) caused by status change of e.g. a 2nd receiver (SCell1 or SCell2) . These are illustrated as gaps (not all illustrated, but indicated by arrows) .

Alternatively, network could indicate to UE that a certain SMTC with 160ms period (i.e. the first SSB out of eight SSBs) is used for measurement of all deactivated SCells. UE can then decide which SCell (e.g. SCell1 or SCell2) to measure in each SMTC instance. The measurement performance of deactivated SCells will be defined based on SMTC period (in the example 160ms) and the number of deactivated SCells (in the example 2) . In the figure this would mean that the network indicates to the UE that all the de-activated SCell′s shall be measured based on 160ms SMTC periodicity (and the Measured SSB/SMTC would be aligned) . The 160ms measurement periodicity shall be obeyed by the UE even if the SSB/SMTC is present more often.

As the SSB location and UE measurement time is known by network, any impact from activating/deactivating a 2nd RF chain on the active RF chain is predictable and can be accounted in gNB scheduler. How to account such impact in the gNB scheduler may be left for gNB implementation. Examples would be not to schedule the UE in interfered locations, another would be to rely on re-transmission, additionally also coding could ensure lowering the impact. These are just examples -however all relying on that the gNB has knowledge about when the UE performs measurements on de-activated SCells.

As such the ′gaps′ in Fig. 3 should not be seen as gaps in the sense known from legacy systems where gaps are configured by the network. Assigning explicit gaps to handle above would be one option -however, it could be rather complex. Implicit gaps, as mentioned, is simpler. This would mean that the network is aware when glitch is happening and can handle these accordingly.

In practice the measurement occasion related to a given SCell (or carrier) can be configured in many different ways. Some examples:

When UE is configured with the SCell the network can include SSB measurement time information

Different SCells may or may not have same measurement time occasion (different measurement time occasion is illustrated in Fig. 3) .

Related signalling would need to be supported by RRC signalling (38.331) while the UE requirements would need to be defined as well (38.133) .

Another alternative is to have UE indicating favourable SCell measurement occasions to the network. Such indication could be based on optimized UE measurement implementation.

Similar approach can also be applied for other SCell operations than deactivated SCell measurements. E. g. it could also be applied for SCell addition/removal and SCell activation/de-activation.

One clear advantage of this solution is that it removes any UE autonomous interrupts and the system impacts from such. At the same time it allows UE implementations which needs such transition glitches -which is some cases are not possible to avoid or beneficial from power saving point of view. In the future with more integrated implementations it might become more common case that status change on one RF chain interferes with reception/transmission on another RF chain.

The invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible.

For example, in the above embodiments, the procedure was described for NR.However, the procedure can be applied to any radio technique, as along as the different synchronization signal blocks on a carrier can be used for measurement. In particular, the procedure may also be applied in LTE.

Moreover, in the above embodiments, two RF chains were shown as an example. However, the invention is not limited to this, and also more than two RF chains are possible.

In general, various embodiments of the UE can include, but are not limited to, mobile stations, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) having wireless communication capabilities, portable computers having wireless communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital cameras having wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices having wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback appliances having wireless communication capabilities, Internet appliances permitting wireless Internet access and browsing, as well as portable units or terminals that incorporate combinations of such functions.

The

memories

12 and 22 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The

processors

11 and 21 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general-purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

Further, as used in this application, the term ″circuitry″ refers to all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) to combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware) , such as (as applicable) : (i) to a combination of processor (s) or (ii) to portions of processor (s) /software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

This definition of ″circuitry″ applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term ″circuitry″ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ″circuitry″ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other network device.

It is to be understood that the above description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications and applications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

An apparatus, comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus at least to perform

generating instruction for a user equipment for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement, and

transmitting the instruction to the user equipment.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises an indication of a periodicity of the synchronization signal blocks to be used for the measurement.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises an indication including a period, offset and duration of a synchronization signal block measurement window which defines a position on the carrier at which the synchronization block measurement is located.
The apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the indication comprises a synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus further to perform

scheduling the user equipment based on the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the given carrier contains a deactivated SCell.
The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus further to perform

including the instruction for the user equipment when configuring the user equipment with the SCell.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein

a plurality of given carriers is present, and

the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus further to perform

generating the instruction for the user equipment such that for different carriers synchronization signal blocks on same positions or on different positions are instructed to be used for the measurement.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus further to perform

receiving information from the user equipment indicating which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are preferably to be used for the measurement, and

generating the instructions based on the information received from the user equipment.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the apparatus is or is part of a network control element.
An apparatus, comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being arranged to cause the apparatus at least to perform

receiving instruction from a network control element, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and

performing the measurement according to the received instructions.
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises an indication of a periodicity of the synchronization signal blocks to be used for the measurement.
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises a period, offset and duration of a synchronization signal block window.
The apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the indication comprises a synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 11 to 14, wherein

the given carrier contains a deactivated SCell.
The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus further to perform

receiving the instruction when the apparatus is configured by the network control element with the SCell.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 11 to 16, wherein

a plurality of given carriers is present, and

the instruction comprise information instructing that for different carriers synchronization signal blocks on same positions or on different positions are instructed to be used for the measurement.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 11 to 17, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, is configured to cause the apparatus further to perform

generating information indicating which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are preferably to be used for the measurement, and

transmitting the information to the network control element.
The apparatus according to any one of the claims 11 to 18, wherein the apparatus is or is part of a user equipment.
A method comprising

generating instruction for a user equipment for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement, and

transmitting the instruction to the user equipment.
The method according to claim 20, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises an indication of a periodicity of the synchronization signal blocks to be used for the measurement.
The method according to claim 20, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises an indication including a period, offset and duration of a synchronization signal block measurement window which defines a position on the carrier at which the synchronization block measurement is located.
The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the indication comprises a synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration.
The method according to any one of the claims 20 to 23, further comprising

scheduling the user equipment based on the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement.
The method according to any one of the claims 20 to 24, wherein the given carrier contains a deactivated SCell.
The method according to claim 25, further comprising

including the instruction for the user equipment when configuring the user equipment with the SCell.
The method according to any one of the claims 20 to 26, wherein

a plurality of given carriers is present, and

the method further comprises:

generating the instruction for the user equipment such that for different carriers synchronization signal blocks on same positions or on different positions are instructed are to be used for the measurement.
The method according to any one of the claims 20 to 27, further comprising

receiving information from the user equipment indicating which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are preferably to be used for the measurement, and

generating the instructions based on the information received from the user equipment.
The method according to any one of the claims 20 to 28, wherein the method is carried out by a network control element.
A method comprising

receiving instruction from a network control element, the instruction including information as to which synchronization signal blocks on a given carrier are to be used for performing synchronization signal blocks based measurements, and

performing the measurement according to the received instructions.
The method according to claim 30, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises an indication of a periodicity of the synchronization signal blocks to be used for the measurement.
The method according to claim 30, wherein the information as to which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are to be used for the measurement comprises a period, offset and duration of a synchronization signal block window.
The method according to claim 31 or 32, wherein the indication comprises a synchronization signal block measurement timing configuration.
The method according to any one of the claims 30 to 33, wherein the given carrier contains a deactivated SCell.
The method according to claim 34, further comprising

receiving the instruction when an apparatus carrying out the method is configured by the network control element with the SCell.
The method according to any one of the claims 30 to 35, wherein

a plurality of given carriers is present, and

the instruction comprise information instructing that for different carriers synchronization signal blocks on same positions or on different positions are instructed are to be used for the measurement.
The method according to any one of the claims 30 to 36, further comprising

generating information indicating which synchronization signal blocks on the given carrier signal are preferably to be used for the measurement, and

transmitting the information to the network control element.
The method according to any one of the claims 30 to 37, wherein the method is carried out by a user equipment.
A computer program product comprising code means for performing a method according to any one of the claims 20 to 38 when run on a processing means or module.
The computer program product according to claim 39, wherein the computer program product is embodied on a computer-readable medium, and/or the computer program product is directly loadable into the internal memory of the computer and/or transmittable via a network by means of at least one of upload, download and push procedures.