REDUCING INTER-FREQUENCY MEASUREMENTS IN HETEROGENOUS CELLULAR NETWORKS

1 . A serving cell unit comprising:

circuitry communicatively coupled to at least one core network;

wherein the circuitry is configured to:

exchange radio frequency signals with user equipment;

initialize the circuitry with an initial Synchronization Signal Block Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (SSB-ARFCN) for a given operating channel of the serving cell unit;

precompute all sync rasters which can be used as potential SSB-ARFCNs for the given operating channel of the serving cell unit;

perform neighbor cell measurements of at least one neighbor cell by configuring the circuitry to: (1) perform measurements on the potential SSB-ARFCNs; and (2) obtain physical cell IDs (PCIs) and associated synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) and synchronization signal signal to interference & noise ratio (SS-SINR) for the potential SSB-ARFCNs; and

re-configure the circuitry to an appropriate SSB-ARFCN of the potential SSB-ARFCNs based on: (1) a maximum number of PCIs for the potential SSB-ARFCNs; (2) the SS-RSRP exceeding an SS-RSRP threshold; and (3) a combination of the SS-RSRP exceeding the SS-RSRP threshold and not selecting the potential SSB-ARFCNs of PCIs below a SS-SINR threshold.

2 . The serving cell unit of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:

periodically update the neighbor cell measurements; and

incorporate any neighbor deployment changes by being configured to re-configure the circuitry to an updated appropriate SSB-ARFCN.

3 . The serving cell unit of claim 1 , wherein:

the serving cell unit includes a remote unit having the circuitry; and

the at least one neighbor cell is implemented by a macro cell base station having neighbor cell circuitry.

4 . The serving cell unit of claim 1 , wherein being configured to re-configure the circuitry to the appropriate SSB-ARFCN of the potential SSB-ARFCNs minimizes measurement gap impacts.

5 . The serving cell unit of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry includes:

a radio environment measurement monitor (REM) configured to monitor the at least one neighbor cell.

6 . The serving cell unit of claim 5 , wherein the radio environment measurement monitor (REM) is configured to perform the neighbor cell measurements of the at least one neighbor cell by:

performing radio environment measurement monitor (REM) scan on the potential SSB-ARFCNs to obtain the SS-RSRP and the SS-SINR for the PCIs of each neighbor cell.

7 . The serving cell unit of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to initialize the circuitry with the initial SSB-ARFCN for the given operating channel of the serving cell unit without information regarding the SSB-ARFCN of the at least one neighbor cell.

8 . A method comprising:

initializing serving cell circuitry implementing a serving cell with an initial Synchronization Signal Block Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (SSB-ARFCN) for a given operating channel of the serving cell, wherein the serving cell circuitry is communicatively coupled to at least one core network;

precomputing all sync rasters which can be used as potential SSB-ARFCNs for the given operating channel of the serving cell circuitry;

performing neighbor cell measurements of at least one neighbor cell by configuring the serving cell circuitry to: (1) perform measurements on the potential SSB-ARFCNs; and (2) obtain physical cell IDs (PCIs) and associated synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) and synchronization signal signal to interference & noise ratio (SS-SINR) for the potential SSB-ARFCNs; and

re-configuring the serving cell circuitry to an appropriate SSB-ARFCN of the potential SSB-ARFCNs based on: (1) a maximum number of PCIs for the potential SSB-ARFCNs; (2) the SS-RSRP exceeding an SS-RSRP threshold; and (3) a combination of the SS-RSRP exceeding the SS-RSRP threshold and not selecting the potential SSB-ARFCNs of PCIs below a SS-SINR threshold.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

periodically updating the neighbor cell measurements; and

incorporating any neighbor deployment changes by re-configuring the serving cell circuitry to an updated appropriate SSB-ARFCN.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the serving cell circuitry is included in a remote unit; and

the at least one neighbor cell is implemented by a macro cell base station.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein re-configuring the serving cell circuitry to the appropriate SSB-ARFCN of the potential SSB-ARFCNs minimizes measurement gap impacts.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein performing the neighbor cell measurements of the at least one neighbor cell includes:

performing radio environment measurement monitor (REM) scan on the potential SSB-ARFCNs to obtain the SS-RSRP and the SS-SINR for the PCIs of each neighbor cell.

13 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

initializing the serving cell circuitry implementing the serving cell with the initial SSB-ARFCN for the given operating channel of the serving cell without information regarding the SSB-ARFCN of the at least one neighbor cell.

14 . A communication system comprising:

serving cell circuitry implementing a serving cell, the serving cell circuitry communicatively coupled to at least one core network, wherein the serving cell circuitry is configured to exchange radio frequency signals with user equipment within the serving cell;

neighbor cell circuitry implementing a neighbor cell, the neighbor cell circuitry communicatively coupled to the at least one core network, wherein the neighbor cell circuitry is configured to exchange radio frequency signals with the user equipment within the neighbor cell; and

wherein the serving cell circuitry is configured to:

initialize the serving cell circuitry with an initial Synchronization Signal Block Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (SSB-ARFCN) for a given operating channel of the serving cell;

precompute all sync rasters which can be used as potential SSB-ARFCNs for the given operating channel of the serving cell;

perform neighbor cell measurements of the neighbor cell by configuring the serving cell circuitry to: (1) perform measurements on the potential SSB-ARFCNs; and (2) obtain physical cell IDs (PCIs) and associated synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) and synchronization signal signal to interference & noise ratio (SS-SINR) for the potential SSB-ARFCNs; and

re-configure the serving cell circuitry to an appropriate SSB-ARFCN of the potential SSB-ARFCNs based on: (1) a maximum number of PCIs for the potential SSB-ARFCNs; (2) the SS-RSRP exceeding an SS-RSRP threshold; and (3) a combination of the SS-RSRP exceeding the SS-RSRP threshold and not selecting the potential SSB-ARFCNs of PCIs below a SS-SINR threshold.

15 . The communication system of claim 14 , wherein the serving cell circuitry is configured to:

periodically update the neighbor cell measurements; and

incorporate any neighbor deployment changes by being configured to re-configure the serving cell circuitry to an updated appropriate SSB-ARFCN.

16 . The communication system of claim 14 , further comprising:

a remote unit including the serving cell circuitry; and

a macro cell base station including the neighbor cell circuitry.

17 . The communication system of claim 14 , wherein being configured to re-configure the serving cell circuitry to the appropriate SSB-ARFCN of the potential SSB-ARFCNs minimizes measurement gap impacts.

18 . The communication system of claim 14 , wherein the serving cell circuitry is configured to perform the neighbor cell measurements of the neighbor cell by:

performing radio environment measurement monitor (REM) scan on the potential SSB-ARFCNs to obtain the SS-RSRP and the SS-SINR for the PCIs of each neighbor cell.

19 . The communication system of claim 14 , wherein the serving cell circuitry includes:

a radio environment measurement monitor (REM) configured to monitor the neighbor cell.

20 . The communication system of claim 19 , wherein the radio environment measurement monitor (REM) is configured to perform the neighbor cell measurements of the neighbor cell by:

performing radio environment measurement monitor (REM) scan on the potential SSB-ARFCNs to obtain the SS-RSRP and the SS-SINR for the PCIs of each neighbor cell.