WO2025238482A1 - Beam sweeping factor reduction during conditional handover - Google Patents

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to Beam Sweeping Factor (BSF) reduction during Conditional Handover (CHO) A method comprises determining that a CHO is configured for the apparatus; and performing, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using an FBS, operation.

Description

BEAM SWEEPING FACTOR REDUCTION DURING CONDITIONAL HANDOVER

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority from, and the benefit of, United Kingdom Application No. 2406694.6, filed May 13, 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 Beam Sweeping Factor (BSF) reduction during Conditional Handover (CHO).

BACKGROUND

[0003] New Radio (NR) Radio Resource Management (RRM) has been discussed. One of the major objectives for this discussion is focused on the reduction of Layer 3 (L3) measurement delay.

SUMMARY

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an 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 apparatus at least to: determine that a CHO is configured for the apparatus; and perform, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using a fast beam sweeping (FBS) operation.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining that CHO is configured for the apparatus; and performing, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using an FBS operation.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for determining that CHO is configured for the apparatus; and means for performing, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using an FBS operation.

[0007] In a fourth 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 second aspect. [0008] 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

[0009] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling chart for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at an apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] 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.

[0018] 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.

[0019] 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.

[0020] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”... , etc. in front of noun(s) 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 and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). 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.

[0021] 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.

[0022] 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.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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.

[0026] 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-IoT) 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 (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), 5.5G, the sixth generation (6G) 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.

[0027] 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 (IAB) 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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 combination of the time, frequency, space and/or code domain 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.

[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may comprise a first apparatus 110 which may be, for example, a terminal device. In some example embodiments, the terminal device may also be discussed as a UE.

[0031] The communication network 100 may further comprise a second apparatuses 120- 1 and 120-2, which may be, for example, a network device. In some example embodiments, the network device may be discussed as a BS, a gNB, or an eNB.

[0032] A serving area provided by the second apparatus 120-1 is called a first cell 102. The first apparatus 110 may communicate with the second apparatus 120-1 within the first cell 102. The first cell currently serving the first apparatus 110 may be considered as a serving cell. A serving area provided by the second apparatus 120-2 is called a second cell 104. In a case wherein a handover is to be performed by the first apparatus 110, the serving cell of the first apparatus 110 may be switched from the first cell 102 to the second cell 104. Then the first apparatus 110 may communicate with the second apparatus 120-2 within the second cell 104.

[0033] In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device 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.

[0034] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and second apparatus 120 is a network device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) apparatus (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) apparatus (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX apparatus (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX apparatus (or a receiver).

[0035] It is to be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0036] 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 (1G), 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.

[0037] Requirements for multiple receive chains are defined in 3GPP specifications. Those requirements include Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) switching requirements for UEs supporting simultaneous reception from sources with different Quasi Co-located (QCL)-D, scheduling/measurement restrictions enhancements for Layer 1 (LI) measurements/procedures using simultaneous reception, and faster beam sweeping for LI measurements/ procedures .

[0038] In FR2, the UE is assumed to use a single beam for performing measurements. In that frequency range, the beam gain is important to guarantee enough coverage, but this comes at a cost of making measurement procedures slower. The reason is that, since the UE uses beams for performing measurements, it should change its spatial settings in order to cover the entire spherical coverage area. That is reflected in 3GPP requirements with a beam sweeping scaling factor of N=8 for FR2-1 and N=12 for FR2-2.

[0039] The LI BSF was reduced by means of multi-Receive (mRx), but this solution did not include L3 measurements that are used for mobility.

[0040] Additionally, a UE assistance information related signaling is introduced for enabling the UE to report the multi -Rx preference. For example, the network may command the UE perform measurements using a reduced beam sweeping scaling factor N. However, the reduction of L3 measurement delay by using lower BSF will come with a cost for the UE in terms of increased UE power consumption.

[0041] Therefore, it is desirable from a UE implementation perspective, that the reduced BSF is enabled only when there is a benefit in doing so. Otherwise, the UE might use the legacy beam sweeping scaling factor. One situation where reduction of BSF for L3 measurements can enhance user perceived quality is close to mobility events, such as handover, since longer L3 delays may lead to HO errors and longer interruption.

[0042] In this situation, how to improve UE handover performance in FR2 mobility may need to be further studied.

[0043] In accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for BSF reduction during CHO. In this solution, if the first apparatus 110 determines a CHO is configured for the first apparatus 110, the first apparatus 110 performs one or more measurements using the FBS operation.

[0044] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0045] In the following, the first apparatus 110 may operate as a terminal device, e.g., a UE and the second apparatuses 120-1 and 120-2 may operate as a base station, e.g., a gNB, respectively. The first cell 102 currently serving the first apparatus 110 may be managed by the second apparatus 120-1 and therefore may act as a serving cell of the first apparatus 110. In some cases, the serving cell of the first apparatus 110 may be switched from the first cell 102 to the second cell 104 managed by the second apparatus 120-2. The first cell 102 may be referred to as a source cell and the second cell 104 to which the first apparatus 110 hands over may be referred to as a target cell

[0046] For the first apparatus 110 on a single FR2 carrier, configured with CHO from the source cell to the target cell, the CHO command contains both the measurement conditions to be met for the handover to be executed, as well as the configuration of the target cell.

[0047] In the present disclosure, the use of FBS may be linked to the procedure for CHO. This is important for both reducing UE power consumption, as well as for improving the UE mobility performance.

[0048] Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which shows a signaling chart 200 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the signaling chart 200 involves a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120- 1 and a second apparatus 120-2. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 200.

[0049] The first apparatus 110 hereinafter may support multi-RX while doing measurements. As shown in FIG. 2, the first apparatus 110 may receive a message (205), from the second apparatus 120-1, of a configuration associated with CHO via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message. For example, the configuration associated with CHO may at least comprise a CHO command. The first apparatus 110 may respond (210) a RRC reconfiguration complete message to the second apparatus 120-1. That is, a CHO has been configured for the first apparatus 110.

[0050] Upon the configuration of the CHO, the first apparatus 1 10 may determine that an FBS operation is to be used for one or more measurements, for example, the L3 measurements.

[0051] For example, the first apparatus 110 may perform (215) one or more measurements by using the FBS operation. As an example, the first apparatus 1 10 may perform one or more L3 measurements associated with the CHO (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements for the second cell 104 managed by the second apparatus 120-2) by using the FSB operation.

[0052] As an example, in addition to the one or more L3 measurements associated with the CHO, in a case where the first apparatus 110 is configured with a CHO, the first apparatus 1 10 may perform all L3 measurements by using the FBS operation.

[0053] In this case, no additional signaling from the NW is required for triggering the FBS operation at the first apparatus 1 10 for the one or more (L3) measurements. If the CHO is configured for the first apparatus 1 10, the first apparatus 1 10 may use the FBS operation for the one or more (L3) measurements until a completion of the CHO.

[0054] If the first apparatus 110 determines, at least based on the one or more measurement, that at least one condition for the CHO is met, a CHO procedure to the target cell, i.e., the second apparatus 120-2, is initiated (220) from the first apparatus 110, for example, the first apparatus 1 10 may initiate a random access procedure to the second apparatus 120-2. After the CHO is completed, the first apparatus 1 10 may use (225) a normal beam sweeping operation, e.g., use a BSF that is not associated with an FBS operation for subsequent measurements.

[0055] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 receives, from the second apparatus 120-1, a new RRC reconfiguration message for deleting the last pending CHO configuration, the first apparatus 1 10 may also go back to use the normal beam sweeping operation.

[0056] Based on RAN4 RRM specification requirements for the L3 measurement delay requirements, the measurement delay depends on the N factor, or M_pss/_sss sync and Mmeas_period, which are calculated based on the number of samples and beam sweeping scaling factor. The case where the FBS operation is to be used for all L3 measurements when the UE is configured with a CHO may be captured by updating the number of samples and beam sweeping scaling factor with a reduced value that captures the FBS operation.

[0057] The case where the FBS operation is to be used for measurements associated with CHO will be captured by specifying that only the measurement objects (MOs) that are related to the CHO operation should use the FBS.

[0058] In this way, at least the layer 3 measurement will be speed up when a CHO is configured for the first apparatus 110, which will improve the mobility performance.

[0059] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which shows a signaling chart 300 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the signaling chart 300 involves a first apparatus 110 and two second apparatus 120-1 and 120-2. For the purpose of discussion, reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 300.

[0060] In this case, additional parameters may be added to the CHO command to indicate whether and when the FBS operation is to be used by the first apparatus 110.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 3, the first apparatus 110 may receive (305) a message, from the second apparatus 120-1, of a configuration associated with CHO via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message. For example, the configuration associated with CHO may at least comprise a CHO command along with at least one indication associated with the FBS operation.

[0062] For example, the indication associated with FBS may be a flag indicating that the FBS is to be used by the first apparatus 110 for the measurements related to this specific CHO command.

[0063] As another example, the indication associated with FBS may be a timer indicating a time interval within which the FBS operation should be used by the first apparatus 110.

[0064] The first apparatus 110 may respond (310) a RRC reconfiguration complete message to the second apparatus 120-1. That is, a CHO has been configured for the first apparatus 110.

[0065] If the first apparatus 110 obtains, from the configuration associated with the CHO and/or the CHO command, an indication, e.g., a flag, indicating that the FBS is to be used by the first apparatus 110 for the measurements related to this CHO command, the first apparatus 110 may perform (315) one or more measurements by using the FBS operation. As an example, the first apparatus 110 may perform, by using the FBS operation, one or more L3 measurements associated with the CHO (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements for the second cell 104 managed by the second apparatus 120-2).

[0066] If the first apparatus 110 obtains, from the configuration associated with the CHO and/or the CHO command, an indication, e.g., a timer, indicating a time interval within which the FBS operation should be performed by the first apparatus 110, the first apparatus 110 may use the FBS operation within a time interval TFBS from a time point when the RRC reconfiguration message is received until an expiration of the timer. That is, the timer may start when the first apparatus 110 receives the RRC reconfiguration message.

[0067] After an expiration of the timer, e.g., the time interval TFBS, the first apparatus 110 may go back to use the normal beam sweeping operation for the L3 measurements related to this CHO configuration.

[0068] In case at least one CHO condition is met before the timer, e.g., the time interval TFBS, then the timer is stopped.

[0069] If the first apparatus 110 determines, at least based on the one or more measurement, that at least one condition for the CHO is met, a CHO procedure to the target cell, i.e., the second apparatus 120-2, is initiated (320) from the first apparatus 110, for example, the first apparatus 110 may initiate a random access procedure to the second apparatus 120-2. After the CHO is completed, the first apparatus 110 may use (325) a normal beam sweeping operation, e.g., use a BSF that is not associated with an FBS operation for subsequent measurements.

[0070] As mentioned above, additional signaling is added for the configuration of CHO. As an option, a flag enabling FBS and the FBS timer is included for each conditional configuration. As another option, the flag enabling FBS and the FBS timer is included for all conditional configurations.

[0071] In the solutions of the present disclosure, it is possible for the NW to request the UE to use FBS during a specific scenario like the CHO. These solutions also enable the NW to configure the FBS on each specific CHO command individually and allow the NW to configure a timer for how long the FBS should be active after the CHO command is received. [0072] In this way, these solutions are easy adaptable to both minimize UE power consumption and to reduce L3 measurement delay.

[0073] By using the solutions proposed in the present disclosure, the FBS can be controlled by the network and only enabled in a situation where the UE is close to perform a HO operation.

[0074] In case the NW configures the UE to perform FBS and it doesn’t find a better suited candidate for HO, the FBS operation will stop as soon as the timer T_FBS expires. As a result, the additional power consumption related to the FBS will only be maintained temporarily, and if TFBS is configured long enough, the UE will have already identified the potential target candidates for HO when T_FBS expires.

[0075] In case CHO is completed, the FBS operation stops, and the UE resumes normal operation with reduced power consumption.

[0076] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at an apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0077] At block 410, the first apparatus 110 determines that CHO is configured for the apparatus.

[0078] At block 420, the first apparatus 110 performs, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using an FBS operation.

[0079] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurements to be performed are layer 3 measurements.

[0080] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurements to be performed are layer 3 measurements associated with the CHO.

[0081] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that an indication, that the FBS operation is to be used for the measurements associated with the CHO, is obtained along with a CHO command, performing the measurements associated with the CHO by using the FBS operation.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises: obtaining, along with the CHO command, a timer associated with a time interval within which the FBS operation is to be used by the apparatus; and using the FBS operation for the one or more layer 3 measurements based on the timer.

[0083] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises: in accordance with a determination of an expiration of the timer, determining that a beam sweeping factor, that is not associated with the FBS operation, is to be used.

[0084] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that a condition of the CHO is met before an expiration of the timer, stopping the timer.

[0085] In some example embodiments, the method 400 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the CHO is completed and/or RRC reconfiguration message including a new CHO configuration is received, determining that a beam sweeping factor, that is not associated with the FBS operation, is to be used.

[0086] In some example embodiments, the indication that the FBS operation is to be used for the one or more layer 3 measurements associated with the CHO and the timer are indicated as information elements in a RRC reconfiguration message associated with a CHO configuration.

[0087] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises a terminal device.

[0088] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the method 400 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1 may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0089] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining that CHO is configured for the apparatus; means for performing, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using an FBS operation; and means for determining that the CHO is to be performed based on results of the one or more measurements.

[0090] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurements to be performed are layer 3 measurements.

[0091] In some example embodiments, the one or more measurements to be performed are layer 3 measurements associated with the CHO.

[0092] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for in accordance with a determination that an indication, that the FBS operation is to be used for the measurements associated with the CHO, is obtained along with a CHO command, performing the measurements associated with the CHO by using the FBS operation.

[0093] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for obtaining, along with the CHO command, a timer associated with a time interval within which the FBS operation is to be used by the apparatus; and means for using the FBS operation for the one or more layer 3 measurements based on the timer.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for in accordance with a determination of an expiration of the timer, determining that a beam sweeping factor, that is not associated with the FBS operation, is to be used.

[0095] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining that a condition of the CHO is met before an expiration of the timer, stopping the timer.

[0096] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining that the CHO is completed and/or a RRC reconfiguration message including a new CHO configuration is received, determining that a beam sweeping factor, that is not associated with the FBS operation, is to be used.

[0097] In some example embodiments, the indication that the FBS operation is to be used for the one or more layer 3 measurements associated with the CHO and the timer are indicated as information elements in an RRC reconfiguration message associated with a CHO configuration. [0098] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises a terminal device.

[0099] FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a device 500 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processor 510, and one or more communication modules 540 coupled to the processor 510.

[0100] The communication module 540 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 540 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 540 may include at least one antenna.

[0101] The processor 510 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 500 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.

[0102] The memory 520 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) 524, 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) 522 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0103] A computer program 530 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 510. The instructions of the program 530 may include instructions for performing operations/acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 530 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 524.

The processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 530 into the RAM 522.

[0104] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 530 so that the device 500 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 500 (such as in the memory 520) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 500. The device 500 may load the program 530 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 522 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).

[0106] FIG. 6 shows an example of the computer readable medium 600 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 600 has the program 530 stored thereon.

[0107] 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.

[0108] 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 computerexecutable 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. Machine-executable 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. [0109] 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.

[0110] 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.

[0111] 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.

[0112] 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 sub-combination.

[0113] 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. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine that a conditional handover, CHO, is configured for the apparatus; and perform, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using a fast beam sweeping, FBS, operation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, where the one or more measurements to be performed are layer 3 measurements.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, where the one or more measurements to be performed are layer 3 measurements associated with the CHO.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that an indication, that the FBS operation is to be used for the measurements associated with the CHO, is obtained along with a CHO command, perform the measurements associated with the CHO by using the FBS operation.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the apparatus is caused to: obtain, along with the CHO command, a timer associated with a time interval within which the FBS operation is to be used by the apparatus; and use the FBS operation for the one or more layer 3 measurements based on the timer.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination of an expiration of the timer, determine that a beam sweeping factor, that is not associated with the FBS operation, is to be used.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a condition of the CHO is met before an expiration of the timer, stop the timer.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1-7, wherein the apparatus is caused to: in accordance with a determination that the CHO is completed and/or a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration message including a new CHO configuration is received, determine that a beam sweeping factor, that is not associated with the FBS operation, is to be used.

9. The apparatus of any of claims 4-7, wherein the indication that the FBS operation is to be used for the one or more layer 3 measurements associated with the CHO and the timer are indicated as information elements in a RRC reconfiguration message associated with a CHO configuration.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the apparatus comprises a terminal device.

11. A method comprising: determining that a conditional handover, CHO, is configured for the apparatus; and performing, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using a fast beam sweeping, FBS, operation.

12. An apparatus comprising: means for determining that a conditional handover, CHO, is configured for the apparatus; and means for performing, at least based on the determination, one or more measurements using a fast beam sweeping, FBS, operation.

13. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 11.