WO2025233759A1

WO2025233759A1 - Mechanism for transitioning between receivers

Info

Publication number: WO2025233759A1
Application number: PCT/IB2025/054554
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jorma Johannes Kaikkonen; Jussi-Pekka Koskinen; Samuli Heikki TURTINEN; Ganesh Venkatraman
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2024-05-08
Filing date: 2025-04-30
Publication date: 2025-11-13
Anticipated expiration: 2026-11-08

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a solution for transition between receivers. In particular, the network device configures a plurality of thresholds to the terminal device. The terminal device determines a threshold based on its supported transition time and the plurality of thresholds. The terminal device performs a transition between receives based on the threshold.

Description

MECHANISM FOR TRANSITIONING BETWEEN RECEIVERS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, US Provisional Application No. 63/644285, filed May 8, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

[0002] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for transitioning between receivers.

BACKGROUND

[0003] 5-th generation (5G) systems are designed and developed targeting for both mobile telephony and vertical use cases. Besides latency, reliability, and availability, UE energy efficiency is also critical to 5G. Currently, 5G devices may have to be recharged per week or day, depending on individual’s usage time. In general, 5G devices consume tens of milliwatts in RRC idle/inactive state and hundreds of milliwatts in RRC connected state. Designs to prolong battery life is a necessity for improving energy efficiency as well as for better user experience.

SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; determine a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and perform a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The third apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; determine a mobility monitoring condition based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions; and perform a transition between the first and second receivers based on the mobility monitoring condition.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The fourth apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; determining a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0010] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; determining a mobility monitoring condition based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions; and performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the mobility monitoring condition.

[0011] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0012] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; means for determining a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and means for performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

[0013] In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0014] In an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The third apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; means for determining a mobility monitoring condition based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions; and means for performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the mobility monitoring condition.

[0015] In a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The fourth apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0016] In a thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fifth aspect.

[0017] In a fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the sixth aspect.

[0018] In a fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the seventh aspect.

[0019] In a sixteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the eighth aspect.

[0020] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of UE operations with low-power wake-up receiver;

[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart for transitioning between receivers according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate signaling charts for transitioning between receivers according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, respectively;

[0026] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure; [0028] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 9 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0031 ] FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0032] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0034] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0035] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0036] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second” and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0037] As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0038] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0039] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and/or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/ or combinations thereof.

[0040] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

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

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with 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) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0041 ] 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 also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0042] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE- A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-loT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1 G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0043] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (I AB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0044] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0045] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0046] As used herein, the term “measurement threshold” may refer to a threshold used in measuring signal quality or signal strength. The term “mobility” used herein may refer to movement information of UE. The term “mobility monitoring condition” may refer to one or more parameters/metrics used to assess, monitor and manage movements of UE.

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices, including a terminal device 110-1 , ... , a terminal device 110-N (collectively referred to as “terminal device 110”, where N is an integer number) and a network device 120, can communicate with each other. In the example of FIG. 1 , the terminal device 110 may be a UE and the network device 120 may be a base station serving the UE. The serving area of the network device 120 may be called a cell 102.

[0048] It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it would be appreciated that one or more additional devices may be located in the cell 102, and one or more additional cells may be deployed in the communication environment 100. It is noted that although illustrated as a network device, the network device 120 may be another device than a network device. Although illustrated as a terminal device, the terminal device 110 may be another device than a terminal device.

[0049] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the terminal device 110 operating as a UE and the network device 120 operating as a base station. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

[0050] In some example embodiments, a link from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the network device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the terminal device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the terminal device 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the network device 120 is a RX device (or a receiver). [0051] According to some embodiments, more than one receiver may be configured at the terminal device 110. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 110 may be configured with a first receiver 210 and a second receiver 220. In some example embodiments, the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220 may be different receivers. Alternatively, the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220 may be different operational modes of the same receiver.

[0052] In some example embodiments, a separate low-power wake-up receiver, LR, at the UE, instead of the main receiver (MR) so that UE can reduce power consumption. By way of example, the first receiver 210 may be the MR and the second receiver may be the low-power wake-up receiver. The main receiver (i.e., the first receiver 210) of the terminal device 110 can be in a sleep mode (or even powered off) for power saving and be activated only upon the reception of the wake-up signal from the network. The network device 120 may trigger the terminal device 110 to wake-up exactly when needed in an event-driven manner, by transmitting a special wake-up signal, WUS, to the terminal device 110, which is monitored by the dedicated LR (i.e., the second receiver 220) at the terminal device 110. When the terminal device 110 receives the WUS, the WUS receiver can trigger the wake-up of the ordinary NR transceiver (i.e. the first receiver 210) and communication can start. Thus, the ultra-low power receiver wakes up the first receiver 210 and otherwise, the first receiver 210 is OFF or kept in a deep sleep mode. The low-power wake-up receiver can be operated in an always ‘on’ manner with very low power consumption. In fact, it is expected that it will consume significantly less power compared to the NR transceiver, by designing a simple (WUS) signal and the use of dedicated hardware for its monitoring, which is only able to receive the WUS.

[0053] In some embodiments, there may be different LR types, mainly envelope detectors and sequence detectors. Regarding envelope detectors (ED) LR, the LR is capable of detecting ON/OFF keying and has no IQ branch to perform coherent/sequence detection. This receiver can receive LP- WUS and low power synchronization signal (LP-SS). Regarding sequence detectors (SD) LR, with sequence detection (SD) the LR uses IQ branches to perform coherent detection. This type of receiver can receive also synchronization signal block (SSB) in addition to LP-WUS.

[0054] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1 G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0055] As mentioned above, designs to prolong battery life is a necessity for improving energy efficiency as well as for better user experience. Energy efficiency is even more critical for UEs without a continuous energy source, e.g., UEs using small rechargeable and single coin cell batteries. Among vertical use cases, sensors and actuators are deployed extensively for monitoring, measuring, charging, etc. Generally, their batteries are not rechargeable and expected to last at least few years. Wearables include smart watches, rings, eHealth related devices, and medical monitoring devices. With typical battery capacity, it is challenging to sustain up to 1-2 weeks as required.

[0056] The power consumption depends on the configured length of wake-up periods, e.g., paging cycle. To meet the battery life requirements above, long extended discontinues reception (DRX) cycle may be used, resulting in high latency, which is not suitable for such services with requirements of both long battery life and low latency. For example, in fire detection and extinguishment use case, fire shutters may be closed and fire sprinklers may be turned on by the actuators within 1 to 2 seconds from the time the fire is detected by sensors, long eDRX cycle cannot meet the delay requirements. eDRX may not be suitable for latency-critical use cases.

[0057] According to some solutions, low-power wake up (LP-WUS) signal and low-power wake up receiver (LP-WUR) for new radio (NR) are proposed. The low-power wake-up signal and receiver, including power saving benefit, coverage, system overhead impact, network energy impact and other related aspects. The receiver architecture for low-power wake-up receiver and provide analysis for power consumption, noise figure and etc. L1 design and procedure changes needed to support the low-power wake-up signal and evaluations for the link performances. Higher layer protocol changes needed to support the low-power wake-up signals.

[0058] In radio resource control (RRC) I DLE/I NACTI VE modes, significant UE power saving gain is obtained by using LP-WUS/WUR to trigger UE main receiver (MR) paging monitoring, if sufficient relaxation to MR radio resource management (RRM) measurement is applied. Further, compared with existing eDRX operation, significant paging latency reduction and moderate UE power saving gain is observed, if LP-WUS monitoring and the corresponding paging monitoring after MR wake-up is performed not restricted within paging time window (PTW) of eDRX.

[0059] In RRC CONNECTED mode, observed that moderate UE power saving gain is obtained with marginal impact to capacity by using LP-WUS/WUR to trigger UE MR physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring compared with conventional UE power saving techniques, across different types of traffic and system load scenarios.

[0060] In some solutions, MR ramp-up time from ultra-deep sleep state can be quite long, e.g. 400ms or 800ms in the SI phase, but even larger values have been proposed. The extent of the ramp- up time can depend on the MR complexity, i.e. it can be (even) longer for a more complicated devices as high-end smartphones than for simpler devices e.g. internet of thing (loT) devices. It has been discussed that this would be UE capability that UE reports to the network.

[0061] There needs to be some procedure to enable UE to move from LR based operations to MR based operations and vice-versa. Thus, if UE determines that it has met a certain threshold (e.g. entry) UE can start using LR for LP-WUS monitoring and cease MR based paging monitoring.

[0062] Correspondingly for RRM relaxation, thresholds may be considered so that when UE determines based on MR based measurements that serving cell quality is high enough, UE can start doing LR based serving cell measurements and cease (or relax) the MR based measurements. In reverse, if UE observes based on the LR based measurements that the serving cell quality has fallen below certain threshold(s), UE may start doing MR based measurements (or stop relaxation of MR based measurements, if any).

[0063] UE may have different transition times (wake-up delays) for the MR i.e. from LP-WUS reception by LR to paging monitoring by MR. When considering e.g. how to set the threshold (for metrics based on LR measurements) for resuming the MR based operation such as measurements (after they are stopped/offloaded to LR), the threshold setting needs to be such that it enables the MR to be wake early enough to enable timely serving and neighbour cell evaluation to trigger re-selection. Hence, to enable different types of UEs with different MR ramp-up times to operate properly, network would need to configure threshold that is sufficiently conservative to ensure that all UEs will start MR measurements early enough. This will result that all devices have their power saving limited due to need to carry RRM measurements with MR.

[0064] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for transition between receivers. In particular, the network device configures a plurality of thresholds to the terminal device. The terminal device determines a threshold based on its supported transition time and the plurality of thresholds. The terminal device performs a transition between receives based on the threshold. In this way, the network is able to control UEs having different MR ramp-up/transition times. Further, behaviours of UE are predicable. In addition, it can achieve robust mobility performance with better power saving than with common configuration.

[0065] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0066] Reference is made to FIG. 3, which illustrates a signalling flow 300 of transitioning between receivers in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signalling flow 300 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 , for example, by using the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

[0067] The network device 120 transmits (3010) a configuration indicating one or more thresholds to one or more the terminal devices 110. In other words, the terminal device 110 receives (3010) the configuration indicating the one or more thresholds from the network device 120. It is noted that the configuration may include any suitable numbers of thresholds. For example, the network device 120 may configure the one or more terminal devices 110 with LP-SS based thresholds for RRM relaxation purposes (e.g. threshold based on which MR measurements can be omitted). In this way, NW can control devices with UE having different MR ramp-up/transition times and predict UE behaviours.

[0068] In some example embodiments, the one or more thresholds may be one or more measurement thresholds. Alternatively, the one or more thresholds may be one or more mobility monitoring conditions. Example embodiments where the threshold is a measurement threshold or a mobility monitoring condition are described in detail with reference to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B later.

[0069] In some example embodiments, the configuration may be broadcasted. For example, the configuration may be transmitted in a system information block (SIB). In some other example embodiments, the configuration may be transmitted via RRC signalling.

[0070] Each of the one or more thresholds corresponds to one transition time between receivers. For example, the network device 120 may configure different thresholds for different transition times between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. By way of example, the threshold A in the one or more thresholds may correspond to a transition time A and the threshold B in the one or more thresholds may correspond to a transition time B. Alternatively, or in addition, each threshold may correspond to a type of second receiver. For example, the threshold A may correspond to the envelope detector LR and the threshold B may correspond to the sequence detector LR.

[0071] In some example embodiments, different terminal devices may have different transition times between receivers. For example, the transition time supported by the terminal device 110-1 may be different from the transition time supported by the terminal device 110-N. Alternatively, or in addition, the terminal device 110 may have different transition times due to DRX configuration.

[0072] In some example embodiments, the configuration may explicitly include the one or more thresholds. Alternatively, the configuration may include one or more offset values and a common threshold. In this case, the one or more thresholds may be based on the one or more offset values and the common threshold. In some example embodiments, each offset value may correspond to one transition time between receivers. Alternatively, or in addition, each offset value may correspond to a type of second receiver 220.

[0073] In some example embodiments, the threshold may be related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver 210 to the second receiver 220, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver 220. For example, serving cell evaluations may be offloaded from the first receiver 210 to the second receiver 220 to enable large power saving. The second receiver 220 may carry the serving cell evaluation related measurements based on new reference signal, low power synchronization signal, LP-SS, or SSB depending on the type of the second receiver 220.

[0074] The terminal device 110 determines (3020) a threshold from the one or more thresholds based on its supported transition time between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. In some other example embodiments, if the transition time of the terminal device 110 exceeds a time threshold, the terminal device 110 may add an offset value to the threshold. The terminal device 110 performs (3030) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220 based on the threshold. In this way, robust mobility performance with better power saving can be achieved.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may monitor (3040) a signal using the first receiver 210 or the second receiver 220. For example, if the transition to the first receiver 210 is performed, the terminal device 110 may monitor a paging signal using the first receiver 210. Alternatively, if the transition to the second receiver 220 is performed, the terminal device 110 may monitor a LP-WUS using the second receiver 220.

[0076] In some other example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may perform (3050) a mobility measurement based on the threshold. For example, if the transition to the first receiver 210 is performed, the terminal device 110 may perform the mobility measurement using the first receiver 210. Alternatively, if the transition to the second receiver 220 is performed, the terminal device 110 may perform the mobility measurement using the second receiver 220. In some example embodiments, if the terminal device 110 supports SD-LR that can measure SSB, no additional threshold is defined but the terminal device 110 may be to follow s-MeasConfig threshold. In this case, when observed radio conditions exceed the threshold set by s-MeasConfig, the terminal device 110 can omit the MR based measurements (including serving and neighboring cell measurement) and use the SD-LR to monitor the radio conditions based on SSB. Further, if the conditions fall below the threshold, the terminal device 110 may resume MR based measurements.

[0077] Reference is made to FIG. 4A, which illustrates a signalling flow 400 of transitioning between receivers in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signalling flow 400 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 , for example, by using the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

[0078] The network device 120 transmits (4005) a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds to one or more the terminal devices 110. In other words, the terminal device 110 receives (4005) the configuration indicating the one or more measurement thresholds from the network device 120. It is noted that the configuration may include any suitable numbers of measurement thresholds. In some example embodiments, the one or more measurement thresholds may be one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold. Alternatively, the one or more measurement thresholds may be one or more received signal strength indicator (RSSI) thresholds. In some other example embodiments, the one or more measurement thresholds may be one or more reference signal received quality (RSRQ) thresholds.

[0079] In some example embodiments, the configuration may be broadcasted. For example, the configuration may be transmitted in a SIB. In some other example embodiments, the configuration may be transmitted via RRC signalling.

[0080] Each of the one or more measurement thresholds corresponds to one transition time between receivers. For example, the network device 120 may configure different measurement thresholds for different transition times between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. By way of example, the measurement threshold A in the one or more measurement thresholds may correspond to a transition time A and the measurement threshold B in the one or more measurement thresholds may correspond to a transition time B. Alternatively, or in addition, each measurement threshold may correspond to a type of second receiver. For example, the measurement threshold A may correspond to the envelope detector LR and the measurement threshold B may correspond to the sequence detector LR.

[0081 ] The terminal device 110 determines (4010; 4010’) a measurement threshold from the one or more measurement thresholds based on its supported transition time between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. The terminal device 110 performs (4040) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220 based on the measurement threshold.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the configuration may explicitly include the one or more measurement thresholds. In this case, the terminal device 110 may determine (4015) whether the supported transition time is less than a transmission time corresponding to the measurement threshold. If the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, the terminal device 110 may apply the measurement threshold. For example, if the supported transition time is less than the transition time A but larger than the transition time B, the terminal device 110 may apply (4035) the measurement threshold A which is corresponding to the transition time A. In some example embodiments, if a measurement result at the terminal device 110 exceeds the measurement threshold, the terminal device may perform (4040) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. For example, if the second receiver 220 is currently activated, the terminal device 110 may activate the first receiver 210 and deactivate the second receiver 220 during the transition.

[0083] In some example embodiments, the measurement threshold may be related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver 210 to the second receiver 220, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver 220. For example, serving cell evaluations may be offloaded from the first receiver 210 to the second receiver 220 to enable large power saving. The second receiver 220 may carry the serving cell evaluation related measurements based on new reference signal, low power synchronization signal, LP-SS, or SSB depending on the type of the second receiver 220.

[0084] In some example embodiments, the configuration may further include an offset value. In this case, if the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, the terminal device 110 may add (4020) the offset value to the measurement threshold.

[0085] In some other example embodiments, the configuration may include one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold. In this case, the one or more measurement thresholds may be based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold. In some example embodiments, the offset value may be in dB.

[0086] In some example embodiments, each offset value may correspond to one transition time between receivers. By way of example, the offset value A in the offset values may correspond to a transition time A and the offset value B in the one or more offset values may correspond to a transition time B. Alternatively, or in addition, each offset value may correspond to a type of second receiver 220. For example, the offset value A may correspond to the envelope detector LR and the offset value B may correspond to the sequence detector LR.

[0087] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine (4025), from the one or more offsets, an offset value based on the supported transition time. For example, if the supported transition time is less than the transition time A but larger than the transition time B, the terminal device 110 may select the offset value A. The terminal device 110 may determine the measurement threshold by adding the offset value to the common measurement threshold. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the measurement threshold by adding the offset value A to the common measurement threshold. In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may then apply (4035) the measurement threshold. In some example embodiments, if a measurement result at the terminal device 110 exceeds the measurement threshold, the terminal device may perform (4040) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. For example, if the second receiver 220 is currently activated, the terminal device 110 may activate the first receiver 210 and deactivate the second receiver 220 during the transition.

[0088] Reference is made to FIG. 4B, which illustrates a signalling flow 410 of transitioning between receivers in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signalling flow 410 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 , for example, by using the terminal device 110 and the network device 120.

[0089] The network device 120 transmits (4105) a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions to one or more the terminal devices 110. In other words, the terminal device 110 receives (4105) the configuration indicating the one or more mobility monitoring conditions from the network device 120. It is noted that the configuration may include any suitable numbers of mobility monitoring conditions. In some example embodiments, the mobility monitoring condition may be a relaxation measurement condition.

[0090] In some example embodiments, the configuration may be broadcasted. For example, the configuration may be transmitted in a SIB. In some other example embodiments, the configuration may be transmitted via RRC signalling.

[0091] Each of the one or more mobility monitoring conditions corresponds to one transition time between receivers. For example, the network device 120 may configure different mobility monitoring conditions for different transition times between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. By way of example, the mobility monitoring condition A in the one or more mobility monitoring conditions may correspond to a transition time A and the mobility monitoring condition B in the one or more mobility monitoring conditions may correspond to a transition time B. Alternatively, or in addition, each mobility monitoring condition may correspond to a type of second receiver. For example, the mobility monitoring condition A may correspond to the envelope detector LR and the mobility monitoring condition B may correspond to the sequence detector LR.

[0092] The terminal device 110 determines (4110;4110’) a mobility monitoring condition from the one or more mobility monitoring conditions based on its supported transition time between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. The terminal device 110 performs (4140) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220 based on the mobility monitoring condition. [0093] In some example embodiments, the configuration may explicitly include the one or more mobility monitoring conditions. In this case, the terminal device 110 may determine (4115) whether the supported transition time is less than a transmission time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition. If the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, the terminal device 110 may apply the mobility monitoring condition. For example, if the supported transition time is less than the transition time A but larger than the transition time B, the terminal device 110 may apply (4135) the mobility monitoring condition A which is corresponding to the transition time A. In some example embodiments, if a measurement result at the terminal device 110 exceeds the mobility monitoring condition, the terminal device may perform (4140) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. For example, if the second receiver 220 is currently activated, the terminal device 110 may activate the first receiver 210 and deactivate the second receiver 220 during the transition.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the mobility monitoring condition may be related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver 210 to the second receiver 220, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver 220. For example, serving cell evaluations may be offloaded from the first receiver 210 to the second receiver 220 to enable large power saving. The second receiver 220 may carry the serving cell evaluation related measurements based on new reference signal, low power synchronization signal, LP-SS, or SSB depending on the type of the second receiver 220.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the configuration may further include an offset value. In this case, if the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, the terminal device 110 may add (4120) the offset value to the mobility monitoring condition.

[0096] In some other example embodiments, the configuration may include one or more offset values and a common mobility monitoring condition. In this case, the one or more measurement thresholds may be based on the one or more offset values and the common mobility monitoring condition. In some example embodiments, the offset value may be in dB.

[0097] In some example embodiments, each offset value may correspond to one transition time between receivers. By way of example, the offset value A in the offset values may correspond to a transition time A and the offset value B in the one or more offset values may correspond to a transition time B. Alternatively, or in addition, each offset value may correspond to a type of second receiver 220. For example, the offset value A may correspond to the envelope detector LR and the offset value B may correspond to the sequence detector LR.

[0098] In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine (4125), from the one or more offsets, an offset value based on the supported transition time. For example, if the supported transition time is less than the transition time A but larger than the transition time B, the terminal device 110 may select the offset value A. The terminal device 110 may determine the mobility monitoring condition by adding the offset value to the common mobility monitoring condition. For example, the terminal device 110 may determine the mobility monitoring condition by adding the offset value A to the common mobility monitoring condition. In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may then apply (4135) the mobility monitoring condition. In some example embodiments, if a measurement result at the terminal device 110 exceeds the mobility monitoring condition, the terminal device may perform (4140) the transition between the first receiver 210 and the second receiver 220. For example, if the second receiver 220 is currently activated, the terminal device 110 may activate the first receiver 210 and deactivate the second receiver 220 during the transition.

[0099] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 500 will be implemented at the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1.

[0100] At block 510, the first apparatus 510 receives, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds. Each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0101] At block 520, the first apparatus 510 determines a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds.

[0102] At block 530, the first apparatus 510 performs a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

[0103] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: monitor a signal using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold; or performing a mobility measurement using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold.

[0104] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more measurement thresholds.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold; based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, applying the measurement threshold; and based on a determination that a measurement result at the first apparatus exceeds the measurement threshold, performing the transition between the first and second receivers.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold; and based on a determination that the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, adding the offset value to the measurement threshold.

[0107] In some example embodiments, the measurement threshold is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

[0108] In some example embodiments, each measurement threshold corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold, and the one or more measurement thresholds is based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: determining, from the one or more offset values, an offset value based on the supported transition time; determining the measurement threshold by adding the offset value to the common measurement threshold; based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, applying the measurement threshold; and based on a determination that a measurement result at the first apparatus exceeds the measurement threshold, performing the transition between the first and second receivers. [0111 ] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurement thresholds are one of: one or more reference signal received power thresholds, one or more received signal strength indicator thresholds, or one or more reference signal received quality thresholds.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0114] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0115] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 600 may be implemented at the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0116] At block 610, the second apparatus transmits, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds. Each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver. [0117] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more measurement thresholds.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the measurement threshold is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

[0119] In some example embodiments, each measurement threshold corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0120] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold, and the one or more measurement thresholds is based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold.

[0121 ] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurement thresholds comprises one of: one or more reference signal received power thresholds, one or more received signal strength indicator thresholds, or one or more reference signal received quality thresholds. [0123] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0125] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 700 will be implemented at the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1.

[0126] At block 710, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions. Each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers. The first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0127] At block 720, the first apparatus determines a mobility monitoring condition based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions.

[0128] At block 730, the first apparatus performs a transition between the first and second receivers based on the mobility monitoring condition.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further includes monitoring a signal using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold; or performing a mobility measurement using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold.

[0130] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more mobility monitoring conditions.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further includes: determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition; and based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, applying the mobility monitoring condition.

[0132] In some example embodiments, the configuration further comprises an offset value, and the method 700 further includes: determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition; and based on a determination that the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, adding the offset value to the mobility monitoring condition. [0133] In some example embodiments, the mobility monitoring condition is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

[0134] In some example embodiments, each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common mobility monitoring condition, and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions is based on the one or more offset values and the common mobility monitoring condition.

[0136] In some example embodiments, the method 700 further includes determining, from the one or more offset values, an offset value based on the supported transition time; determining the mobility monitoring condition by adding the offset value to the common mobility monitoring condition; and based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, applying the mobility monitoring condition.

[0137] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0140] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the method 800 may be implemented at the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0141 ] At block 810, transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more mobility monitoring conditions.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the mobility monitoring condition is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver. [0144] In some example embodiments, each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common mobility monitoring condition, and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions is based on the one or more offset values and the common mobility monitoring condition.

[0146] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0148] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0149] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 500 (for example, the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1 .

[0150] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; means for determining a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and means for performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: monitor a signal using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold; or means for performing a mobility measurement using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more measurement thresholds.

[0153] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold; means for based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, applying the measurement threshold; and means for based on a determination that a measurement result at the first apparatus exceeds the measurement threshold, performing the transition between the first and second receivers.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold; and means for based on a determination that the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, adding the offset value to the measurement threshold.

[0155] In some example embodiments, the measurement threshold is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

[0156] In some example embodiments, each measurement threshold corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0157] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold, and the one or more measurement thresholds is based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, from the one or more offset values, an offset value based on the supported transition time; means for determining the measurement threshold by adding the offset value to the common measurement threshold; means for based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, applying the measurement threshold; and means for based on a determination that a measurement result at the first apparatus exceeds the measurement threshold, performing the transition between the first and second receivers.

[0159] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurement thresholds comprises one of: one or more reference signal received power thresholds, one or more received signal strength indicator thresholds, or one or more reference signal received quality thresholds.

[0161] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0163] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the network device 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0164] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more measurement thresholds.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the measurement threshold is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

[0167] In some example embodiments, each measurement threshold corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold, and the one or more measurement thresholds is based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold.

[0169] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurement thresholds comprises one of: one or more reference signal received power thresholds, one or more received signal strength indicator thresholds, or one or more reference signal received quality thresholds.

[0171 ] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0172] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0173] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 700 (for example, the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 700. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the terminal device 110 in FIG. 1 .

[0174] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; means for determining a mobility monitoring condition based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions; and means for performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the mobility monitoring condition.

[0175] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for monitoring a signal using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold; or means for performing a mobility measurement using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold.

[0176] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more mobility monitoring conditions.

[0177] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition; and means for based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, applying the mobility monitoring condition.

[0178] In some example embodiments, the configuration further comprises an offset value, and wherein the first apparatus comprises means for determining whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition; and means for based on a determination that the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, adding the offset value to the mobility monitoring condition.

[0179] In some example embodiments, the mobility monitoring condition is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver. [0180] In some example embodiments, each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0181 ] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common mobility monitoring condition, and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions is based on the one or more offset values and the common mobility monitoring condition.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for determining, from the one or more offset values, an offset value based on the supported transition time; means for determining the mobility monitoring condition by adding the offset value to the common mobility monitoring condition; and means for based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the mobility monitoring condition, applying the mobility monitoring condition.

[0183] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0184] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0185] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0186] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 800 (for example, the network device 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 800. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the network device 120 in FIG. 1.

[0187] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more mobility monitoring conditions, wherein each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

[0188] In some example embodiments, the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more mobility monitoring conditions.

[0189] In some example embodiments, the mobility monitoring condition is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

[0190] In some example embodiments, each mobility monitoring condition corresponds to a type of second receiver.

[0191] In some example embodiments, the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common mobility monitoring condition, and the one or more mobility monitoring conditions is based on the one or more offset values and the common mobility monitoring condition.

[0192] In some example embodiments, each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

[0193] In some example embodiments, the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

[0194] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

[0195] FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device 900 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 900 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the terminal device 110 or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 900 includes one or more processors 910, one or more memories 920 coupled to the processor 910, and one or more communication modules 940 coupled to the processor 910.

[0196] The communication module 940 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 940 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 940 may include at least one antenna.

[0197] The processor 910 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 900 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0198] The memory 920 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 924, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 922 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0199] A computer program 930 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 910. The instructions of the program 930 may include instructions for performing operations/acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 930 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 924. The processor 910 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 930 into the RAM 922.

[0200] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 930 so that the device 900 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 8. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0201] In some example embodiments, the program 930 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 900 (such as in the memory 920) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 900. The device 900 may load the program 930 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 922 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e. , tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0202] FIG. 10 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1000 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1000 has the program 930 stored thereon.

[0203] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0204] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machineexecutable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0205] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0206] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0207] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0208] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0209] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1 . A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to: receive, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; determine a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and perform a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is caused to: monitor a signal using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold; or perform a mobility measurement using the first or second receiver based on the measurement threshold.

3. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more measurement thresholds.

4. The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold; based on a determination that the supported transition time is less than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, apply the measurement threshold; and based on a determination that a measurement result at the first apparatus exceeds the measurement threshold, perform the transition between the first and second receivers.

5. The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein the configuration further comprises an offset value, and wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine whether the supported transition time is less than a transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold; and based on a determination that the supported transition time is larger than the transition time corresponding to the measurement threshold, add the offset value to the measurement threshold.

6. The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein the measurement threshold is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

7. The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to a type of second receiver.

8. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold, and the one or more measurement thresholds are based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold.

9. The first apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine, from the one or more offsets, an offset value based on the supported transition time; determine the measurement threshold by adding the offset value to the common measurement threshold; apply the measurement threshold; and based on a determination that a measurement result at the first apparatus exceeds the measurement threshold, perform the transition between the first and second receivers.

10. The first apparatus of claim 8, wherein each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

11 . The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more measurement thresholds comprises one of: one or more reference signal received power thresholds, one or more received signal strength indicator thresholds, or one or more reference signal received quality thresholds.

12. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

13. The first apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

14. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to: transmit, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

15. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the configuration explicitly comprises the one or more measurement thresholds.

16. The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein the measurement threshold is related to at least one of: a measurement offloading from the first receiver to the second receiver, or an entry or exit condition for monitoring a wake-up signal at the second receiver.

17. The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to a type of second receiver.

18. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the configuration comprises one or more offset values and a common measurement threshold, and the one or more measurement thresholds are based on the one or more offset values and the common measurement threshold.

19. The second apparatus of claim 18, wherein each offset value corresponds to a type of the second receiver.

20. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the one or more measurement thresholds comprises one of: one or more reference signal received power thresholds, one or more received signal strength indicator thresholds, or one or more reference signal received quality thresholds.

21 . The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different receivers, or wherein the first receiver and the second receiver are different operational modes of same receiver.

22. The second apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first apparatus is a terminal device and the second apparatus is a network device.

23. A method comprising: receiving, at a first apparatus and from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; determining a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

24. A method comprising: transmitting, at a second apparatus and to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating a set of measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

25. A first apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver; means for determining a measurement threshold based on a supported transition time between the first and second receivers and the one or more measurement thresholds; and means for performing a transition between the first and second receivers based on the measurement threshold.

26. A second apparatus comprising: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a configuration indicating one or more measurement thresholds, wherein each measurement threshold corresponds to one transition time between receivers, and the first apparatus is configured with a first receiver and a second receiver.

27. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 23 or 24.