Measurement design for next radio (NR) and long term evolution (LTE)

1. An apparatus for a base station comprising:

baseband circuitry including one or more processors to:

determine a Measurement Gap Length, MGL, for each one of a plurality of frequency layers operational in a wireless network, and

determine measurement gap pattern information to indicate a measurement gap availability in a time sequence for each one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network; and

a radio frequency interface to send gap assistance information for each one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network to a User Equipment, wherein the gap assistance information comprises at least the determined Measurement Gap Length and the determined measurement gap pattern information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry are to further:

determine a number of subframes required to contain a maximum number of one or more Synchronization Signal blocks; and

set the Measurement Gap Length to a length of time longer than a time duration taken to send the number of subframes required to contain the maximum number of the one or more Synchronization Signal blocks.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the maximum number of the one or more Synchronization Signal blocks for a frequency layer of the plurality of frequency layers is a predefined parameter, L, determined based on a carrier frequency of the frequency layer.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the determined Measurement Gap Length is X ms, determined using the equation:

X ≥ceiling( L/n )*(15/ Y ); and

wherein:

L is a maximum number of Synchronization Signal blocks per Synchronization Signal burst set;

n is a number of Synchronization Signal blocks in one subframe; and

Y is the Sub-carrier Spacing in kHz.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein each one of the one or more Synchronization Signal blocks comprises a Primary Synchronization Signal symbol, a Secondary Synchronization Signal symbol and two or more Physical Broadcast Channel symbols.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gap assistance information further comprises one or more of:

a gap periodicity, wherein the gap periodicity is a frequency of repetition of gaps in a respective frequency layer, or

a gap offset, wherein the gap offset is a start position of a measurement gap in the gap periodicity.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement gap pattern information includes a gap bitmap, and wherein the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry are to further:

determine on which one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network the User Equipment will perform cell measurement at a specific measurement gap occasion using the gap bitmap and a measurement priority rule.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the measurement priority rule is configured to prioritize measurement of a Long Term Evolution, LTE, frequency layer of the wireless network when a measurement gap occasion of the LTE frequency layer collides with a measurement gap occasion of a New Radio frequency layer in time domain.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the measurement priority rule is configured to prioritize measurement of a New Radio frequency layer when a measurement gap occasion of a Long Term Evolution, LTE, frequency layer of the wireless network collides with a measurement gap occasion of the New Radio frequency layer in time domain.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement gap pattern information includes a gap bitmap, and wherein the gap bitmap indicates the measurement gap availability in the time sequence by using bits of the gap bitmap to indicate whether a respective measurement gap occasion is available for performing measurement by the User Equipment or whether the respective measurement gap occasion has been disabled.

11. A non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more operations in a User Equipment for cell measurement in a wireless network, the operations comprising:

receiving gap assistance information for each one of a plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network from a Base Station, wherein the gap assistance information comprises at least a determined Measurement Gap Length and a determined measurement gap pattern information;

determining on which one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network the User Equipment will perform cell measurement at a specified measurement gap occasion using the determined measurement gap pattern information and a measurement priority rule; and

performing cell measurement on the determined frequency layer of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network within the specified measurement gap occasion.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the gap assistance information further comprises one or more of:

a gap periodicity, wherein the gap periodicity is a frequency of repetition of gaps in a respective frequency layer; and

a gap offset, wherein the gap offset is a start position of a measurement gap in the gap periodicity.

13. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the measurement priority rule is configured to prioritize measurement of a legacy Long Term Evolution, LTE, frequency layer of the wireless network when a measurement gap occasion of the LTE frequency layer collides with a measurement gap occasion of a New Radio frequency layer in time domain.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the measurement priority rule is configured to prioritize measurement of a New Radio frequency layer when a measurement gap occasion of a legacy LTE frequency layer of the wireless network collides with a measurement gap occasion of the New Radio frequency layer in time domain.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 11 , wherein the measurement gap pattern information includes a gap bitmap that indicates the measurement gap availability in a time sequence by using bits of the gap bitmap to indicate whether a respective measurement gap occasion is available for performing measurement by the User Equipment or whether the measurement gap occasion has been disabled.

16. A base station apparatus for cell measurement in a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining a Measurement Gap Length, MGL, for each one of a plurality of frequency layers operational in the wireless network;

means for determining measurement gap pattern information to indicate a measurement gap availability in a time sequence for each one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network; and

means for transmitting gap assistance information for each one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network to a User Equipment, wherein the gap assistance information comprises at least the determined Measurement Gap Length and the determined measurement gap pattern information.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising one or more of:

means for determining a number of subframes required to contain a maximum

number of one or more Synchronization Signal blocks; and

means for setting the Measurement Gap Length to a length of time longer than a time duration taken to send the number of subframes required to contain the maximum number of the one or more Synchronization Signal blocks.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the measurement gap pattern information includes a gap bitmap, and wherein the apparatus further comprises means for determining on which one of the plurality of frequency layers of the wireless network the User Equipment will perform cell measurement at a specific measurement gap occasion using the gap bitmap and a measurement priority rule.

19. The apparatus of any of claim 16 , wherein the measurement gap pattern information includes a gap bitmap, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a means for configuring the gap bitmap to guarantee that the Measurement Gap Length in each 40 ms period does not exceed 6 ms.

20. The apparatus of any of claim 16 , wherein the measurement gap pattern information includes a gap bitmap, and wherein the apparatus further comprises means for indicating the measurement gap availability in the time sequence by using bits of the gap bitmap to indicate whether a respective measurement gap occasion is available for performing measurement by the User Equipment or whether the respective measurement gap occasion has been disabled.