Method for reporting the results of specific reference-cell-based quality measurement in a mobile communication system using carrier aggregation, and apparatus for the method

• US 8,891,394 B2
• Filed: 01/20/2011
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jung, Sung Hoon, Chun, Sung Duck, Yi, Seung June, Lee, Young Dae, Park, Sung Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad
• Assistant Examiner(s): BELETE, BERHANU D
• Application Number:
  US13/574,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20120294184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,398 Days
• Field of Search: 370252-256, 370/331, 455436-438, 455/422.1, 455/450, 455/435.1, 455/425, 455/67.13, 455/501
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/001 the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0058 Transmission of hand-off measurement information, e.g. measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0085 Hand-off measurements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method in which a terminal reports the results of quality measurement based on a specific reference cell from among a plurality of serving cells for the terminal in a mobile communication system using carrier aggregation. The present invention also relates to a terminal apparatus for the method. For this purpose, the terminal receives measurement configuration information from a network, performs a quality measurement in accordance with the received measurement configuration information, determines whether or not a report criterion based on a specific reference cell from among the plurality of cells for the terminal is met in accordance with the measurement result, and, if the report criterion based on the specific reference cell is met, sends a report message, including the measurement results and an indicator that indicates the specific reference cell, to the network.

Claims

1. A method for performing, by a user equipment (UE), a cell measurement in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:

receiving, from a network, measurement configuration information including a reporting criterion which triggers the user equipment to transmit a measurement report message;

performing, by the user equipment (UE), cell measurement according to the received measurement configuration information;

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a first event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the first event in which a measurement of a serving cell becomes better than a first threshold;

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a second event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the second event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a second threshold;

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a third event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the third event in which a measurement of a neighboring cell becomes offset better than the serving cell;

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fourth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fourth event in which the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes offset better than a third threshold; and

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fifth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fifth event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a forth threshold and the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes better than a fifth threshold,

wherein if a plurality of serving cells including a primary cell (PCell) and at least one secondary cell (SCell) are configured in the user equipment (UE), the serving cell for the third event and the serving cell for the fifth event are each a PCell among the plurality of serving cells, and the measurement report message includes a measurement of the SCell and a cell identifier of the SCell.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a specific reference cell from among the plurality of serving cells; and

determining whether the first event or the second event is satisfied on the basis of the specific reference cell,

wherein the user equipment (UE) selects the specific reference cell according to any one scheme predetermined between the user equipment (UE) and the network from among a first scheme for selecting a cell having highest quality from among the plurality of serving cells configured in the UE, a second scheme for selecting a cell having the lowest quality from among the plurality of serving cells configured in the UE, and a third scheme for allowing the UE to randomly select one of the plurality of serving cells configured in the UE.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the received measurement configuration information includes information regarding the scheme for enabling the UE to select the specific reference cell from among the plurality of serving cells configured in the user equipment (UE).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement configuration information includes information related to a measurement object on which the cell measurement is to be performed and the measurement object comprises at least one of an inter-frequency measurement or an intra-frequency measurement.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of a sixth event in which the measurement of the serving cell is worse than a sixth threshold and a measurement of a neighbor cell of a heterogeneous network (inter-Radio Access Technology) is better than a seventh threshold.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

upon receiving the measurement configuration information, determining whether the plurality of serving cells are configured in the UE.

7. A user equipment (UE) for performing a cell measurement in a mobile communication system, the user equipment (UE) comprising:

a reception module configured to receive, from a network, measurement configuration information including a reporting criterion which triggers the user equipment to transmit a measurement report message; and

a processor configured to;

control a cell measurement in response to the measurement configuration information received through the reception module,

report the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a first event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the first event in which a measurement of a serving cell becomes better than a first threshold;

report the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a second event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the second event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a second threshold;

report the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a third event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the third event in which a measurement of a neighboring cell becomes offset better than the serving cell;

report the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fourth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fourth event in which the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes offset better than a third threshold; and

report the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fifth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fifth event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a forth threshold and the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes better than a fifth threshold,

wherein if a plurality of serving cells including a primary cell (PCell) and at least one secondary cell (SCell) are configured in the user equipment (UE), the serving cell for the third event and the serving cell for the fifth event are each a PCell among the plurality of serving cells, and the measurement report message includes a measurement of the SCell and a cell identifier of the SCell.

8. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 7, wherein the processor selects a specific reference serving cell from among the plurality of serving cells and determines whether the first event or the second event is satisfied on the basis of the specific reference cell,

wherein the processor selects the specific reference cell according to any one scheme predetermined between the user equipment (UE) and the network from among a first scheme for selecting a cell having highest quality from among the plurality of serving cells configured in the UE, a second scheme for selecting a cell having the lowest quality from among the plurality of serving cells configured in the UE, and a third scheme for allowing the UE to randomly select one of the plurality of serving cells configured in the UE.

9. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 8, wherein the received measurement configuration information includes information regarding the scheme for enabling the processor to select the specific reference cell from among the plurality of serving cells configured in the user equipment (UE).

10. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 7, wherein the measurement configuration information includes information related to a measurement object on which the cell measurement is to be performed and the measurement object comprises at least one of an inter-frequency measurement or an intra-frequency measurement.

11. The user equipment (UE) according to claim 7, further comprising:

reporting the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of a sixth event in which the measurement of the serving cell is worse than a sixth threshold and a measurement of a neighbor cell quality of a heterogeneous network (inter-Radio Access Technology) is better than a seventh threshold.

12. A base station signaling a user equipment (UE) to perform a cell measurement in a mobile communication system, the base station comprising:

a transmitter to transmit, to the user equipment (UE), measurement configuration information including a reporting criterion which triggers the user equipment (UE) to transmit a measurement report message;

a receiver;

a processor configured to control the transmitter and the receiver by;

receive the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a first event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the first event in which a measurement of a serving cell becomes better than a first threshold;

receive the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a second event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the second event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a second threshold;

receive the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a third event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the third event in which a measurement of a neighboring cell becomes offset better than the serving cell;

receive the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fourth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fourth event in which the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes offset better than a third threshold; and

receive the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fifth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fifth event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a forth threshold and the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes better than a fifth threshold,

wherein if a plurality of serving cells including a primary cell (PCell) and at least one secondary cell (SCell) are configured in the user equipment (UE), the serving cell for the third event and the serving cell for the fifth event are each a PCell among the plurality of serving cells, and the measurement report message includes a measurement of the SCell and a cell identifier of the SCell.

13. A method for a base station signaling a user equipment (UE) to perform a cell measurement in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:

transmitting, to the user equipment (UE), measurement configuration information including a reporting criterion which triggers the user equipment to transmit a measurement report message; and

receiving the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a first event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the first event in which a measurement of a serving cell becomes better than a first threshold;

receiving the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a second event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the second event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a second threshold;

receiving the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a third event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the third event in which a measurement of a neighboring cell becomes offset better than the serving cell;

receiving the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fourth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fourth event in which the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes offset better than a third threshold; and

receiving the measurement report message including a result of the cell measurement to the network when the reporting criterion of a fifth event has been configured and the result of the cell measurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the fifth event in which the measurement of the serving cell becomes worse than a forth threshold and the measurement of the neighboring cell becomes better than a fifth threshold,

wherein if a plurality of serving cells including a primary cell (PCell) and at least one secondary cell (SCell) are configured in the user equipment (UE), the serving cell for the third event and the serving cell for the fifth event are each a PCell among the plurality of serving cells, and the measurement report message includes a measurement of the SCell and a cell identifier of the SCell.