Method for determination between intra- and inter-frequency operations

1. A method for use in a user equipment (UE) comprising:

obtaining a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource;

obtaining a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are associated with a synchronization signal (SS) block; and

determining whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing intra-frequency operations on the second cell when a frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is the same as a frequency of the reference measurement resource.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing inter-frequency operations on the second cell when a frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is not the same as a frequency of the reference measurement resource.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a measurement gap assistance is needed.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the measurement gap assistance is needed when a center frequency of the first cell is different from a center frequency of the second cell.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing intra-frequency operations on the second cell when at least one synchronization signal burst of the first cell shares the same frequency with at least one synchronization signal burst of the second cell.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing inter-frequency operations on the second cell when no synchronization signal bursts of the first cell shares the same frequency with any synchronization signal burst of the second cell.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based on, at least in part, a predefined location in frequency.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on an indication from a network node or from another UE.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising obtaining information about the reference measurement resource based on an indication received from a network node.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second measurement resources comprise SS block or CSI-RS.

12. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising adapting a measurement procedure in response to the determination of whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier.

13. A user equipment for determining intra-frequency operations and inter-frequency operations, comprising:

at least one processing circuitry; and

at least one storage that stores processor-executable instructions, when executed by the processing circuitry, causes the user equipment to:

obtain a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource;

obtain a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are associated with a synchronization signal (SS) block; and

determine whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell.

14. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the user equipment to perform the intra-frequency operations on the second cell when a frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is the same as a frequency of the reference measurement resource.

15. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the user equipment to perform the inter-frequency operations on the second cell when a frequency of the second measurement resource of the second cell is not the same as a frequency of the reference measurement resource.

16. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the user equipment to determine whether a measurement gap assistance is needed.

17. The user equipment according to claim 16 , wherein the measurement gap assistance is needed when a center frequency of the first cell is different from a center frequency of the second cell.

18. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the user equipment to perform the intra-frequency operations on the second cell when at least one synchronization signal burst of the first cell shares the same frequency with at least one synchronization signal burst of the second cell.

19. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the user equipment to perform the inter-frequency operations on the second cell when no synchronization signal bursts of the first cell shares the same frequency with any synchronization signal burst of the second cell.

20. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the determination of whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on a predefined location in frequency.

21. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the determination of whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier is based, at least in part, on an indication from a network node or from another UE.

22. The user equipment according to claim 13 , further comprising obtaining information about the reference measurement resource based on an indication received from a network node.

23. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the first and second measurement resources comprise SS block or CSI-RS.

24. The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the user equipment to adapt a measurement procedure in response to the determination of whether the second cell operates on the intra-frequency carrier or the inter-frequency carrier.

25. A communication system for determining intra-frequency operations and inter-frequency operations, the communication system comprising:

a network node comprising at least one processing circuitry configured to:

obtain a first measurement resource of a first cell as a reference measurement resource;

obtain a second measurement resource of a second cell, the second measurement resource of the second cell and the first measurement resource of the first cell are associated with a synchronization signal (SS) block; and

transmit to a user equipment the reference measurement resource and the second measurement resource of the second cell; and

a user equipment within a network comprising at least one processing circuitry configured to:

receive the reference measurement resource and the second measurement resource of the second cell from the network node; and

determine whether the second cell operates on an intra-frequency carrier or an inter-frequency carrier by comparing the reference measurement resource to the second measurement resource of the second cell.