INΰUO . ² ,q2p/253966j _TY OF PERFORMING MEASUREMEMTS FROM USS ^, P ^{T/EP2019/066410} EQUIPMENT (UE) TO NETWORK NODE

FIELD

[0001] This disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses, and in particular but not exclusively to a method and apparatus relating to maintaining a service provided to a communication device over a network.

BACKGROUND

[0002] A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communication between two or more devices such as user terminals, machine-like terminals, base stations and/or other nodes by providing carriers between the communication devices. A communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and/or content data and so on. Non-limiting examples of services provided include two-way or multi-way calls, data communication or multimedia services and access to a data network system, such as the Internet.

SUMMARY

[0003] According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for performing at least one measurement on a cell to obtain a measurement result; means for transmitting, to a network apparatus, the measurement result; and means for transmitting, to the network apparatus, an indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement.

[0004] The apparatus may further comprise: means for receiving, from the network apparatus in dependence on said indication, a request to perform at least one further measurement on the cell.

[0005] The request may further comprise an indication of a quality of measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0006] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0007] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0008] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0009] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0010] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0011] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0012] According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a terminal, at least one measurement result relating to a measurement performed on a cell; and means for receiving, from the terminal, an indication of the quality of the procedure(s) used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[0013] The apparatus may further comprise: means for determining from the received indication whether or not said quality is below a predetermined quality level; and means for transmitting a request to the terminal to perform further measurements on the cell when said quality is below the predetermined quality level.

[0014] The request may comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0015] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0016] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0017] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0018] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0019] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0020] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0021] According to a third aspect, there is provided a method comprising: performing at least one measurement on a cell to obtain a measurement result; transmitting, to a network apparatus, the measurement result; and transmitting, to the network apparatus, an indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement.

[0022] The method may further comprise receiving, from the network apparatus in dependence on said indication, a request to perform at least one further measurement on the cell.

[0023] The request may further comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0024] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0025] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0026] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0027] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0028] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0029] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0030] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a terminal, at least one measurement result relating to a measurement performed on a cell; and receiving, from the terminal, an indication of the quality of the procedure(s) used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[0031] The method may further comprise: determining from the received indication whether or not said quality is below a predetermined quality level; and transmitting a request to the terminal to perform further measurements on the cell when said quality is below the predetermined quality level.

[0032] The request may comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0033] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0034] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0035] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0036] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0037] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0038] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0039] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory comprising code, wherein when the code is run on the at least one processor, the apparatus is caused to: perform at least one measurement on a cell to obtain a measurement result; transmit, to a network apparatus, the measurement result; and transmit, to the network apparatus, an indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement.

[0040] The apparatus may further be caused to receive, from the network apparatus in dependence on said indication, a request to perform at least one further measurement on the cell. [0041] The request may further comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0042] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0043] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0044] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0045] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0046] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0047] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0048] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory comprising code, wherein when the code is run on the at least one processor, the apparatus is caused to: receive, from a terminal, at least one measurement result relating to a measurement performed on a cell; and receive, from the terminal, an indication of the quality of the procedure(s) used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[0049] The apparatus may further be caused to: determine from the received indication whether or not said quality is below a predetermined quality level; and transmit a request to the terminal to perform further measurements on the cell when said quality is below the predetermined quality level.

[0050] The request may comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0051] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0052] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality. [0053] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0054] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0055] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0056] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0057] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: measuring circuitry for performing at least one measurement on a cell to obtain a measurement result; transmitting circuitry for transmitting, to a network apparatus, the measurement result; and transmitting circuitry for transmitting, to the network apparatus, an indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement.

[0058] The apparatus may further comprise: receiving circuitry for receiving, from the network apparatus in dependence on said indication, a request to perform at least one further measurement on the cell.

[0059] The request may further comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0060] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0061] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0062] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0063] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0064] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0065] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0066] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: receiving circuitry for receiving, from a terminal, at least one measurement result relating to a measurement performed on a cell; and receiving circuitry for receiving, from the terminal, an indication of the quality of the procedure(s)used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[0067] The apparatus may further comprise: determining circuitry for determining from the received indication whether or not said quality is below a predetermined quality level; and transmitting circuitry for transmitting a request to the terminal to perform further measurements on the cell when said quality is below the predetermined quality level.

[0068] The request may comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0069] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0070] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0071] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0072] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0073] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode. [0074] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0075] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: performing at least one measurement on a cell to obtain a measurement result; transmitting, to a network apparatus, the measurement result; and transmitting, to the network apparatus, an indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement.

[0076] The apparatus may further be caused to perform receiving, from the network apparatus in dependence on said indication, a request to perform at least one further measurement on the cell.

[0077] The request may further comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0078] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0079] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0080] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0081] The indication may indicate the at least one measurement was performed according to one of: relaxed measurement requirements, normal measurement requirements, normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements, non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements, mobility carrier measurement requirements, and non-mobility carrier measurement requirements.

[0082] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in a reduced operation mode.

[0083] The measurement may have been performed while the terminal was in an Idle mode or an Inactive mode.

[0084] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a terminal, at least one measurement result relating to a measurement performed on a cell; and receiving, from the terminal, an indication of the quality of the procedure(s) used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[0085] The apparatus may further be caused to: determine from the received indication whether or not said quality is below a predetermined quality level; and transmitting a request to the terminal to perform further measurements on the cell when said quality is below the predetermined quality level.

[0086] The request may comprise an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[0087] The indication may be an explicit indication of said quality.

[0088] The indication may be an implicit indication of said quality.

[0089] The indication may indicate at least one of: a frequency of how often said at least one measurement was performed, and/or an accuracy of the at least one measurement and/or a quality of the measurement with respect to a predetermined standard and/or a time since a last measurement was performed and/or a number of measurements made and/or a measurement window.

[0090] According to a eleventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus configured to perform the actions of the method as described above.

[0091] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising program instructions for causing a computer to perform any method as described above.

[0092] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product stored on a medium may cause an apparatus to perform any method as described herein.

[0093] According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided an electronic device that may comprise apparatus as described herein.

[0094] According to a fifteenth aspect, there is provided a chipset that may comprise an apparatus as described herein.

FIGURES

[0095] Some examples will now be described in further detail, by way of example only, with reference to the following examples and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0096] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example communication system comprising a plurality of base stations and a plurality of communication devices; [0097] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of an example terminal;

[0098] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example network apparatus;

[0099] Figure 4 shows a flow chart illustrating potential operations of a terminal;

[00100] Figure 5 shows a flow chart illustrating potential operations of a network apparatus; and

[00101] Figure 6 shows a flow chart illustrating potential signalling between and operations of a network apparatus and a terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00102] In general, the following disclosure relates to an apparatus such as a terminal configured to both report to a network a measurement regarding a cell that was made during a power saving mode of the terminal, and also to indicate to a network what quality of measurement procedures were used when obtaining that measurement.

[00103] For example, when reporting Idle/lnactive mode measurements, a terminal may explicitly or implicitly indicate to a network the quality of the measurement(s)/ measurement procedures it did (e.g. how often, how accurate the measurements were), which then allows the network to assess how usable/reliable the measurements are.

[00104] A network apparatus receiving such an indication may subsequently decide how they would like to proceed based on how usable/reliable the measurements are determined to be.

[00105] For example, using the indication, the network apparatus may determine that the measurement is likely to be accurate enough to be used for resource allocation. The network apparatus may then use the measurement for resource allocation.

[00106] The network apparatus may, using the indication, determine that the measurement is unlikely to be accurate enough to be used for resource allocation. In this case, the network apparatus may request that the terminal performs further measurements on the cell prior to making any resource allocation.

[00107] In another example, based on the information of how accurate the measurements are, the network may make a decision on carrier aggregation usability. [00108] In another example, based on the information of how accurate the measurements are, the network apparatus may make a decision on dual carrier or multi-connectivity usability.

[00109] In the following, certain exemplifying examples are explained with reference to a wireless communication system serving devices adapted for wireless communication. Before explaining in detail examples, certain general principles of a communication system, a communication device and a control apparatus are briefly explained with reference to Figures 1 and 2 to assist in understanding the technology underlying the present disclosure.

[00110] In a wireless system at least a part of communications between at least two stations occurs over wireless interfaces. Examples of wireless systems include public land mobile networks (PLMN), satellite based communication systems and different wireless local networks, for example wireless local area networks (WLAN). A local area wireless networking technology allowing devices to connect to a data network is known by the tradename Wi-Fi (or WiFi). Wi-Fi is often used synonymously with WLAN.

[00111] The wireless systems can be divided into cells, and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems. A user can access a communication system by means of an appropriate communication device or terminal. A communication device of a user is often referred to as user equipment (communication device) or user apparatus. A communication device is provided with an appropriate signal receiving and transmitting apparatus for enabling communications, for example enabling access to a communication network or communications directly with other users. The communication device may access a carrier provided by a station, for example a base station of a cell, and transmit and/or receive communications on the carrier.

[00112] A communication system and associated devices typically operate in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved. Communication protocols and/or parameters which shall be used for the connection are also typically defined. An example of standardized communication system architectures is the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology. The LTE is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The LTE employs the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access. Further development of LTE is sometimes referred to as LTE Advanced (LTE-A). The various development stages of 3GPP specifications are referred to as releases. In this description 3GPP release versions are distinguished by acronym“Rel-nn”.

[00113] In addition to LTE evolution, 3GPP has initiated a study item targeting a new radio generation (5G) called new radio (NR). NR does not require backwards compatibility with LTE. Instead, it aims at tight interworking between the RAT (radio access technology) and LTE. An objective of a NR study item is to identify and develop technology components needed for new radio (NR) systems to use any spectrum band ranging at least up to 100 GHz. The aim may be to achieve a single technical framework addressing usage scenarios, requirements and deployment scenarios defined in, for example, TR 38.913. The new radio access technology may be forward compatible to allow specification in two separate phases (Phase I and Phase II).

[00114] In a wireless communication system 100, such as that shown in Figure 1 , wireless communication devices, for example, machine-type communications MTC devices 102, 104, 105 are provided wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmitting and/or receiving wireless infrastructure node or point. Such a node can be, for example, a base station or an eNodeB (eNB), or in a 5G system a Next Generation NodeB (gNB), or other wireless infrastructure node. These nodes will be generally referred to as base stations. Base stations are typically controlled by at least one appropriate controller apparatus, so as to enable operation thereof and management of mobile communication devices in communication with the base stations. The controller apparatus may be located in a radio access network (e.g. wireless communication system 100) or in a core network (CN) (not shown) and may be implemented as one central apparatus or its functionality may be distributed over several apparatus. The controller apparatus may be part of the base station and/or provided by a separate entity such as a Radio Network Controller. In Figure 1 control apparatus 108 and 109 are shown to control the respective macro level base stations 106 and 107. In some systems, the control apparatus may additionally or alternatively be provided in a radio network controller. Other examples of radio access system comprise those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as 5G or new radio, wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). A base station can provide coverage for an entire cell or similar radio service area.

[00115] In Figure 1 base stations 106 and 107 are shown as connected to a wider communications network 1 13 via gateway 1 12. A further gateway function may be provided to connect to another network.

[00116] The smaller base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may also be connected to the network 1 13, for example by a separate gateway function and/or via the controllers of the macro level stations. The base stations 1 16, 1 18 and 120 may be pico or femto level base stations or the like. In the example, stations 1 16 and 1 18 are connected via a gateway 1 1 1 whilst station 120 connects via the controller apparatus 108. In some examples, the smaller stations may not be provided.

[00117] A possible wireless communication device will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 2 showing a schematic, partially sectioned view of a communication device/terminal 200. Such a communication device is often referred to as an endpoint device. An appropriate communication device may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals.

[00118] A communication device may be for example a mobile device, that is, a device not fixed to a particular location, or it may be a stationary device. The communication device may need human interaction for communication, or may not need human interaction for communication.

[00119] The communication device 200 may receive signals over an air or radio interface 207 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In Figure 2 transceiver apparatus is designated schematically by block 206. The transceiver apparatus 206 may be provided for example by means of a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the wireless device.

[00120] A communication device is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201 , at least one memory 202 and other possible components 203 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access systems and other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other relevant control apparatus can be provided on an appropriate circuit board and/or in chipsets. This feature is denoted by reference 204. Furthermore, a wireless communication device may comprise appropriate connectors (either wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories. The communication devices 102, 104, 105 may access the communication system based on various access techniques.

[00121] An example of wireless communication systems are architectures standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A latest 3GPP based development is often referred to as the long term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology. The various development stages of the 3GPP specifications are referred to as releases. More recent developments of the LTE are often referred to as LTE Advanced (LTE-A). The LTE employs a mobile architecture known as the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). Base stations of such systems are known as evolved or enhanced NodeBs (eNBs) and provide E-UTRAN features such as user plane Packet Data Convergence/Radio Link Control/Medium Access Control/Physical layer protocol (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol terminations towards the communication devices. Other examples of radio access system comprise those provided by base stations of systems that are based on technologies such as wireless local area network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). A base station can provide coverage for an entire cell or similar radio service area.

[00122] Another example of a communications system is the 5G concept. Network architecture in 5G may be similar to that of the LTE-advanced. Changes to the network architecture may depend on the need to support various radio technologies and finer Quality of Service (QoS) support, and some on-demand requirements for e.g. QoS levels to support Quality of Experience (QoE) from a user point of view. Also network aware services and applications, and service and application aware networks may bring changes to the architecture. Those are related to Information Centric Network (ICN) and User-Centric Content Delivery Network (UC- CDN) approaches. 5G may use multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and perhaps also employing a variety of radio technologies for better coverage and enhanced data rates.

[00123] The base stations/access points in 5G may be referred to as gNB. [00124] An example network equipment for the 3GPP system is shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows an example of a control apparatus 300 for a communication system, for example to be coupled to and/or for controlling a station of an access system, such as a RAN node, e.g. a base station or (e) node B, or a node of a core network such as an MME. The method may be implanted in a single control apparatus or across more than one control apparatus. The control apparatus may be integrated with or external to a node or module of a core network or RAN. In some examples, base stations comprise a separate control apparatus unit or module. In other examples, the control apparatus can be another network element such as a radio network controller or a spectrum controller. In some examples, each base station may have such a control apparatus as well as a control apparatus being provided in a radio network controller. The control apparatus 300 can be arranged to provide control on communications in the service area of the system. The control apparatus 300 comprises at least one memory 301 , at least one data processing unit 302, 303 and an input/output interface 304. Via the interface the control apparatus can be coupled to a receiver and a transmitter of the base station. The receiver and/or the transmitter may be implemented as a radio front end or a remote radio head. For example the control apparatus 300 can be configured to execute an appropriate software code to provide the control functions. Control apparatus 300 may be included in a chipset or modem apparatus. A chipset or modem apparatus which includes apparatus 300 may be included in a control node such as an eNB.

[00125] The 5G system is planned to be introduced in the early 2020s, enabling expansion of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) that go beyond those of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced mobile broadband (MBB) service, and also enabling new services and use cases to be addressed.

[00126] One of the current concepts being studied is enhanced utilisation of carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation refers to a technology in which two or more carriers are combined to form/define a channel. It is possible to combine carriers in the same or different frequency bands. The combined carriers may be formed of contiguous component carriers and/or non-contiguous component carriers. The component carriers may also be provided by the same or different base stations. Where the component carriers are provided by different base stations, this is known as dual connectivity. For dual connectivity, the base stations may be different types. For example, one base station may be a macro-base station and another base station may be a small cell eNB. In such a case, a radio access node of one of the base stations (e.g. the macro-base station) may function as a master/controlling entity for the other base station(s). These other base stations may be called a secondary cell, while the master base station may be called a primary cell. Such an arrangement is known as Master Radio Access Node dual connectivity (MR-DC).

[00127] In 3GPP Rel-15 NR, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) Duplication via New Radio (NR) Dual Connectivity (DC) is supported. However, there are limitations. For instance, a PDCP entity that duplicates PDCP protocol data units (PDUs) may support only two associated radio link control (RLC) protocol entities (also referred to as RLC entity, or RLC leg, or simply leg) which are associated at a physical layer with a component carrier, or a radio link/radio frequency (RF) link (which may be referred to as a radio leg or simply leg). One of the two RLC entities may be located in the same node, e.g., master node (MgNB), and the other RLC entity may be located in a secondary node (SgNB). The two nodes, e.g., MgNB and SgNB may be connected via an Xn interface. The Xn interface may include a user plane interface, e.g., Xn-U, for user data, and a control plane interface, e.g., Xn-C, for control data. In 3GPP Rel-16, PDCP duplication for more than two legs may be supported by combining dual connectivity (DC) and carrier aggregation (CA). In addition, multiple legs may be introduced via higher layer multi-connectivity.

[00128] The present disclosure applies to carrier aggregation, dual connectivity, or any form of multi-RAT dual connectivity/multi connectivity, or other form of carrier/bandwidth part aggregation. For example, the dual connectivity may be between NR and NR, and multi-connectivity may be between LTE, NR and WLAN, or between NR, NR, and NR (e.g., between three different NR carriers).

[00129] Carrier Aggregation (CA) was introduced to LTE in 3GPP Release 10 using LTE signalling framework available at that time and no major changes were made to the LTE signalling framework to support CA in Release 10. For instance, no major changes were made regarding how the network would configure a carrier to be measured for potential secondary cell (SCell) configuration and/or a carrier to be used for mobility.

[00130] In 5G/NR, a similar approach is being used from the first New Radio release onwards (i.e. Rel-15 onwards) and there is no distinction between carrier types. In radio resource control (RRC) connected mode, SCells are generally used for offloading while a primary cell (PCell) handles mobility. No distinction is made between a mobility carrier and an offloading carrier by a terminal/user equipment. Moreover, a terminal is not aware of any reason why a carrier is being measured, and the carriers being discussed herein are generally carriers configured in measurement configuration (and not serving carriers). A mobility carrier may be defined as a carrier used for mobility purposes, e.g., cell reselection, handover, etc. At least some of such carriers would typically have continuous coverage. However, not all such carriers provide the same coverage, and the network may have a mix of carriers in different geographical areas. This may be, for example, due to spectrum usage restrictions, such as carriers with requirements for co-existence towards other technologies (e.g., radar frequency avoidance) or at country borders. An offloading carrier may be considered to be a carrier that is used to improve performance (e.g., data throughput) by offloading data transmissions to an offloading carrier. Such a carrier may have coverage limited to certain hot spots. The lack of distinction between carrier types at the terminal may result in inefficiencies, as a terminal may perform measurements on all carriers configured at the terminal even though the terminal does not need to perform at least some measurements on some of the carriers. This may increase SCell setup time.

[00131] An offloading carrier may also be considered to be a carrier that the terminal configured to measure during idle and/or inactive modes/states with the purpose of reporting those measurements once terminal transitions back to connected mode. The terminal may configure such a carrier in response to receiving a configuration in either dedicated or broadcast signalling. These idle/inactive mode measurements can be used for CA/DC/MR-DC and alike activation and configuration, and/or for fast SCell set-up and configuration and activation.

[00132] In addition, for a terminal in radio resource control (RRC) connected mode, 5G/NR introduces a new set of challenges as searches and measurement occasions are shared between all the carriers configured at a terminal. For instance, if a terminal is configured with carriers for measurements similar to LTE, a terminal may not have knowledge regarding whether a carrier is a mobility carrier (i.e. a carrier for mobility purposes) or an offloading carrier (i.e. a carrier for offloading purposes). This may result in inefficiencies as well in the way measurements are performed at the terminal and/or imbalance between mobility and offloading measurements.

[00133] Therefore, there is a need/desire for a system/mechanism with improved efficiency and performance in terms of performing terminal measurements, for example, for different purposes (e.g., mobility, offloading etc.) based on system needs.

[00134] In order to help the network plan how resources in the network may be deployed efficiently, the terminal may be configured to perform measurements on at least frequency in a cell in which it is operating. The measurement result, and/or a conclusion drawn from this measurement result may then be provided to a network entity for performing resource planning/network configuration.

[00135] It is a current goal of New Radio to perform carrier aggregation/dual connectivity configuration and/or set-up efficiently. There are, however, delays in performing this in New Radio relative to previous LTE systems. These delays result from inter-frequency measurements by a terminal operating in power saving modes, such as an Idle or Inactive mode.

[00136] In more detail, for both Idle mode and Inactive mode, a terminal may be switched on, but have no active radio resource control connection to the network. This means that several components within the terminal may be temporarily powered down by the terminal to conserve battery power. The terminal may re-power these components, periodically and/or aperiodically, to perform some measurements for mobility. However, as the terminal releases configurations and/or measurements related to a previous carrier aggregation/dual connectivity set up when entering an Idle mode and/or an Inactive mode, some delay is spent in re-acquiring a carrier- aggregation/dual connectivity configuration and/or set up. The delays due to interfrequency measurements in New Radio are typically the same or longer than that in LTE, and can be of the order of more than 480ms x Number of different frequency layers/set of cells with the same carrier frequency). Similar range of delays or even longer are expected for NR as well or NR future releases.

[00137] One possible way of addressing this is to configure a terminal to measure candidate secondary cells in an Idle mode (and/or an Inactive mode), and to report the measurements back to a network when the terminal is reconnected to the network. For example, a terminal may be configured to measure up to 8 candidate secondary cells per frequency for up to three carriers while in an Idle/Inactive mode, before reporting the measurements to a primary cell when the terminal is reconnected. Other numbers of measured candidate secondary cells per frequency/number of carriers to be measured may be specified by an operating communication protocol.

[00138] For Idle and/or inactive mode early measurements and reporting, a terminal may be configured with carrier(s) to be measured during that mode, as well as a list of cells for each carrier. If configured with a list of cells, the terminal may abstain from making measurements on cells that are not on the list. However, this is a matter for the operating communication protocol.

[00139] One example of LTE terminal measurement requirements in such a case is described in 3GPP Technical Specification 36.133, Chapter 4.9.2. This is described in the following.

[00140] In this specification, for a terminal that supports Idle mode measurements for carrier aggregation (i.e. supports ca-ldleModeMeasurements), the terminal supports the idle mode carrier aggreation measurements on overlapping and non-overlapping carriers. An overlapping carrier is defined as a carrier configured by higher layer for early measurement reporting and inter-frequency mobility measurements. A non-overlapping carrier is defined as a carrier configured by higher layer for early measurement reporting while not configured for inter-frequency mobility measurements.

[00141] In LTE, the requirements for non-overlapped carriers are more relaxed than those for overlapping (see 3GPP Technical Specification 36.133 Chapter 4.9.2.2):

[00142] While timer T331 is running, the terminal performs measurement on the configured overlapping and non-overlapping inter-frequency carriers for idle mode measurement reporting.

[00143] A terminal that supports ca-ldleModeMeasurements supports the idle mode CA measurements of at least 3 inter-frequency carriers of which zero or one inter-frequency carrier may be a non-overlapping carrier when Srxlev < SnonlntraSearchP or Squal £ SnonlntraSearchQ.

[00144] According to TS 36.304 V15.3.0 and TS 38.304 v15.3.0, Srxlev defines a cell selection receive level value (dB), Squal defines cell selection quality value (dB), SnonlntraSearchP specifies the Srxlev threshold (in dB) for E-UTRAN inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements. SnonlntraSearchQ specifies the Squal threshold (in dB) for E-UTRAN inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements.

[00145] If Srxlev > SnonlntraSearchP and Squal > SnonlntraSearchQ the terminal supports the idle mode carrier aggregation measurements of at least 1 interfrequency carrier of which zero or one inter-frequency carrier may be a nonoverlapping carrier.

[00146] For overlapping carriers, the inter-frequency measurement requirements in 3GPP Technical Specification 36.133 Chapter 4.2.2.4 applies when Srxlev < SnonlntraSearchP or Squal < SnonlntraSearchQ. If Srxlev > SnonlntraSearchP and Squal > SnonlntraSearchQ, at least prior to transmission of the idle mode measurement report, the terminal performs at least a single measurement on detected cells on the overlapping inter-frequency carrier(s) configured to be measured for early measurement reporting.

[00147] For non-overlapping carriers, at least prior to transmission of the idle mode measurement report, the terminal performs at least a single measurement on detected cells on the non-overlapping inter-frequency carrier(s) configured to be measured for early measurement reporting.

[00148] Similar behaviour is likely to be standardised in New Radio.

[00149] The inventors have realised that a drawback of such an approach is that in some cases the network does not know whether or not the reported measurements have been performed with a relaxed accuracy or not. This is because the carriers that a terminal measures can depend on a terminal-specific factors relating to capabilities of the terminal. For example, the broadcast configuration of the carrier(s) measured by a terminal may be based on the terminal capabilities. Also, a terminal may suspend measurements for power saving purposes (measurements of secondary cells may also be known as an“S-measure”).

[00150] The following provides mechanisms for addressing one or more of the above-mentioned problems.

[00151] In general, an apparatus such as a terminal may be configured to both report to a network a measurement regarding a cell that was made during a power saving mode of the terminal, and also to indicate to a network what quality of measurement procedures were used when obtaining that measurement. For example, when reporting Idle/lnactive mode measurements, a terminal may explicitly or implicitly indicate to network the quality of the measurement(s)/ measurement procedures it did (e.g. how often, how accurate the measurements were). This then enables the network to assess how usable/reliable the measurements are and to decide on further actions. In other words, a network apparatus receiving such an indication may subsequently decide how they would like to proceed. For example, using the indication, the network apparatus may determine that the measurement is likely to be accurate enough to be used for resource allocation. Once this determination has been made, the network apparatus may then use the measurement for resource allocation. The network apparatus may, using the indication, determine that the measurement is unlikely to be accurate enough to be used for resource allocation. In this case, the network apparatus may request that the terminal performs further measurements on the cell prior to making any resource allocation or making any decision regarding carrier aggregation. In another example, based on the information of how accurate the measurements are (included in the measurement report), the network apparatus may decide on carrier aggregation usability (e.g. whether or not to use it, how to use it, etc.).

[00152] In another example, based on the information of how accurate the measurements are (included in the measurement report) could decide on dual connectivity or multi-connectivity usability.

[00153] The indication may be explicit or implicit. If the indication is explicit, this may be signalled using at least one bit in an uplink transmission that are reserved for providing this indication. The at least one bit may be in a measurement report comprising the measurement to which the indication relates. The indication may be signalled implicitly through an absence of signalling information related to the carrier.

[00154] The indication may be provided in a number of different ways.

[00155] For example, the terminal may indicate that the measurement was performed according to “relaxed” measurement requirements or “normal” measurement requirements, where “relaxed” measurement requirements have a higher level of uncertainty in their accuracy than“normal” measurement requirements. Where there are several potential measurement requirements, the terminal may be configured to indicate which individual ones of those measurement requirements are “relaxed” and which of those measurement requirements are“normal”. [00156] For example, terminal may indicate that the measurement was performed according to normal idle/inactive mode measurement requirements.

[00157] For example, terminal may indicate that the measurement was performed according to non-overlapping carrier measurement requirements.

[00158] For example, terminal may indicate that the measurement was performed according to mobility (i.e. carriers measured for reselection) or non-mobility

(i.e. any other carrier being measured) carrier measurement requirements.

[00159] For example, the indication may indicate a time since a last measurement was performed.

[00160] For example, the indication may indicate a number of measurements made.

[00161] For example, the indication may indicate a measurement window.

[00162] For example, terminal may indicate at least one of the causes listed above or any other special measurement requirements.

[00163] The terminal may indicate that the measurements were made according to a specific set of requirements in an operating communication protocol. Examples of these are discussed in more detail below.

[00164] The indication may be provided as part of the same transmission as the measurement itself. For example, the indication may be provided as part of a measurement report. The indication may be provided in a separate transmission to the measurement.

[00165] By providing an indication of a quality of a measurement process/procedure used to obtain a measurement (which may include, for example, a frequency at which the measurements were made and/or a number of measurements made), the network may configure at least one further measurement to be made. The network may specify how this at least one further measurement is to be performed and/or a minimum quality of measurement procedure(s) to obtain the at least one further measurement(s).

[00166] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating potential operations performed by a terminal/terminal.

[00167] At 401 , a terminal performs at least one measurement on a cell to obtain a measurement result. The measurement result may relate to a measurement that was performed when the apparatus was in a reduced operation mode. The reduced operation mode may be a power saving mode. The reduced operation mode may be Idle mode. The reduced operation mode may be an Inactive mode.

[00168] At 402, the terminal transmits, to a network apparatus, the measurement result.

[00169] At 403, the terminal transmits, to the network apparatus, an indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement. The indication of the quality of the performing at least one measurement indicates the quality of the measurement process(es)/procedure(s) used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[00170] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating potential operations performed by a network apparatus.

[00171] At 501 , the network apparatus receives, from a terminal, at least one measurement result relating to a measurement performed on a cell. The measurement result may relate to a measurement that was performed when the apparatus was in a reduced operation mode (as per the above discussion with respect to 401 ).

[00172] At 502, the network apparatus receives, from the terminal, an indication of the quality of the procedure(s) used to obtain the at least one measurement.

[00173] The network apparatus may further make resource allocation decisions based on the received indication. For example, based on received indication network may decide on carrier aggregation usability.

[00174] For example, the network apparatus may determine that the indicated quality does not meet a predetermined level for performing resource allocation. The predetermined level may depend on what the resources are being allocated for (e.g. whether the resources are for carrier aggregation, for dual connectivity, etc.). For example, the resources being allocated may be for carrier aggregation. In this example, the network apparatus may configure the terminal to perform further measurements (for example, if the received indication indicates that their associated measurements were not performed frequently enough. The network apparatus may also abstain from configuring any SCell(s) using the received measurements until the results of these further measurements are received.

[00175] When the indication quality does not meet the predetermined level, the network apparatus may transmit to the terminal (and the terminal may receive from the network apparatus), a request to perform at least one further measurement on the cell. The request may comprises an indication of a quality of a measurement procedure to be used when performing the at least one further measurement.

[00176] When the indication quality does meet the predetermined level, the network resource may perform resource allocation using the measurement received in 501.

[00177] The network may transmit the result of the resource allocation to another entity. For example, the result of the resource allocation may be transmitted to the terminal. The terminal may use the result of the resource allocation to perform further transmissions/receptions, for example, for data transmission and/or reception.

[00178] As an example of the type of resource allocation performed by a network apparatus, we consider the case of carrier aggregation.

[00179] In this case, based on the information/indication of how accurate the reported measurement(s) are, the network apparatus may determine whether or not carrier aggregation is usable. For example, if a terminal indicates that measurements are “one-shot” measurements (i.e. they are not formed from combining several measurement results together), then a network apparatus may require additional measurements in order to assess if the candidate secondary cells being measured are good enough still to be configured for carrier aggregation. In particular, the network apparatus may request additional measurements if the less accurate “one-shot” measurement does not indicate a strong candidate secondary cell. In contrast, if a very strong secondary cell candidate is found, the“one-shot’ ¹ measurement result could be considered sufficient. The limit for configuring carrier aggregation could be higher if the measurements are “one-shot” as opposed to when a combined measurement result is provided/repeat measurements of the same secondary cell are performed. In other words, the reported measurement result itself may be considered in combination with the reported quality when determining whether or not further measurements by the terminal are to be requested.

[00180] In another example, if the terminal indicates that measurements are “normal” (see below), then a network may immediately configure the detected candidate secondary cell and therefore quickly activate the carrier aggregation (also referred to as fast activation).

[00181] In another example, if the reported measurement(s) indicates that the terminal that performed the measurements has met a certain accuracy requirement (e.g. “x dB accuracy requirement met”), the network apparatus may be confident in the result and configure the corresponding candidate secondary cell (provided that the measurement result is indicating strong enough signal).

[00182] In all of the above, the indication may be explicit or implicit. If the indication is explicit, this may be signalled using at least one bit in an uplink transmission that are reserved for providing this indication. The at least one bit may be in a measurement report comprising the measurement to which the indication relates. The indication may be signalled implicitly through an absence of signalling information related to the carrier.

[00183] The indication may be provided in a number of different ways.

[00184] For example, the terminal may indicate that the measurement was performed according to “relaxed” measurement requirements or “normal” measurement requirements, where “relaxed” measurement requirements have a higher level of uncertainty in their accuracy than“normal” measurement requirements. Where there are several potential measurement requirements, the terminal may be configured to indicate which individual ones of those measurement requirements are “relaxed” and which of those measurement requirements are“normal”.

[00185] The terminal may indicate that the measurements were made according to a specific set of requirements in an operating communication protocol.

[00186] For example, the terminal may indicate whether the measurement(s) were made according to requirements associated with a specific operating mode of the terminal. For example, the terminal may indicate that the measurements were made according to measurement requirements of a normal mode. The terminal may indicate that the measurements were made according to measurement requirements of an Idle mode. The terminal may indicate that the measurements were made according to measurement requirements of an Inactive mode.

[00187] The terminal may indicate that the measurement(s) were made according to the measurement requirements for a non-overlapping carrier case. The terminal may indicate that the measurement(s) were made according to the measurement requirements for an overlapping carrier case.

[00188] The terminal may indicate that the measurements were made according to mobility-based requirements or not. For example, a terminal may apply different procedures for a cell being considered for reselection than for a cell not being considered for reselection.

[00189] It is understood that the above examples of what the terminal may indicate are only some of the potential forms that the indication of what quality of measurement procedures were used when obtaining that measurement and that other forms are possible.

[00190] By reporting an indication of an accuracy of the measurement procedure performed for obtaining the measurement, the network is enabled to assess how usable/reliable the measurements are and decide on further actions.

[00191] The following provides various examples of what the terminal could indicate to the network as at least part of the indication of said accuracy.

[00192] The indication of the accuracy may be provided by providing an Interval of when measurements were performed. In other words, a terminal may indicate how often the measurements were actually done. For example, a serving cell quality may be considered good enough to not perform continuous measurements on other cells. This is similar to what is done in Idle mode when“s-Measure” is configured, which provides a threshold of a serving cell connection below which measurements are performed on surrounding cells. A terminal may indicate the interval explicitly, for example, “every N seconds” or in a more condensed form such as“relaxed”,“normal”, “fast”, “one-shot”, etc. A terminal may indicate the interval implicitly. This may be performed through an absence of information about the measurement interval means the measurements were done with normal requirements)

[00193] The indication of the accuracy may be provided by providing an accuracy of the measurements (as opposed to the measurement procedure itself). In this case, the terminal may also indicate whether it considers the measurements as“accurate” in the sense of how often they were performed. For example (similar to the previous example), a terminal may indicate e.g. “relaxed” (=not very accurate), “normal” (=typical accuracy), “fast” (=recently done, which may not represent long-term situation) or“one-shot” (=current situation, which may suffer from instantaneous fast fading effects) measurements.

[00194] The indication of the accuracy may be provided by providing a reference quality of the measurements. In this case, a terminal measurements may also refer to the existing measurement requirements defined in an operating communication protocol. This may be useful in situations where certain carriers were measured less frequently than others. The terminal may also directly indicate the explicit (e.g.“x dB accuracy requirement met”) or implicit (e.g.“measured with less accuracy than for reselection”) reference quality. The network may interpret the received result with reference to the operating communication protocol.

[00195] This new proposed indication informs the network on the reliability of the measurement, e.g. to determines with which periodicity terminal performed the reported measurements or when was the last time period terminal did the measurements. Based on this, network could configure further measurements (e.g. if the measurements were not done frequently enough) or configure the SCell(s) using the reported measurements (in case the measurements were not considered accurate enough and network desires additional measurements).

[00196] In some examples, the indication could be explicit (e.g. at least a bit in the measurement report or a reliability measure for one or more of the measurement results) or implicit (e.g. based on absence of signalling information related to the carrier using relaxed/normal measurement requirements).

[00197] A signalling diagram showing potential communications between a terminal and a network apparatus are illustrated with respect to Figure 6.

[00198] At 601 , a network apparatus transmits a network configuration to a terminal. The measurement configuration may be provided to the terminal in either a radio resource control connected mode or a radio resource control idle mode. In one example, the measurement configuration may be transmitted via broadcast signalling (e.g. through a system information block). In one example, the measurement configuration may be transmitted via dedicated signalling to the terminal (e.g. using an RRCRelease-message).

[00199] At 602, the terminal performs measurements according to the received measurement configuration. These measurements may be performed while the terminal is in a power saving mode, such as in an idle mode or an inactive mode.

[00200] At 603, the terminal enters an active mode

[00201] At 604, the terminal and the network apparatus exchange messages for reconnecting the terminal with the network apparatus through a radio resource control connection. [00202] At 605, the network apparatus transmits a request for early measurements. This request may optionally include a request for a measurement quality.

[00203] At 606, the terminal compiles an early measurement report based on the measurements performed in 602. The early measurement report includes an indication of the quality of the measurement procedures performed for obtaining the measurements in 602.

[00204] At 607, the terminal transmits the early measurement report, including the indication of the quality, to the network apparatus.

[00205] At 608, the network apparatus determines that carrier aggregation is usable based on the received measurements and the received indication of the quality.

[00206] At 609 the network transmits a carrier aggregation configuration message to the terminal based on the determination in 608.

[00207] It is understood that the network apparatus may have alternatively decided at 608 that carrier aggregation is not usable based on the received measurements and the received indication of quality. In this case, the network apparatus does not transmit the carrier aggregation configuration message at 609. Instead, the network apparatus may decide to transmit a request for more measurements of the cell to be made at 609.

[00208] It is understood that the term “terminal” throughout the above may encompass those terminals without users accessing a communication network, such as those performing machine to machine communications with a network, in addition and/or alternatively to those terminals with users accessing a communication network (e.g. a user equipment).

[00209] It is understood in the above that references to“cell” refers to an area of coverage provided by an access point to a network. Consequently, a measurement performed on a cell may refer to a measurement performed on at least one carrier provided by or otherwise accessible in that cell.

[00210] The required data processing apparatus and functions may be provided by means of one or more data processors. The described functions may be provided by separate processors or by an integrated processor. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASystem InformationC), gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The data processing may be distributed across several data processing modules. A data processor may be provided by means of, for example, at least one chip. Appropriate memory capacity can be provided in the relevant devices. The memory or memories may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. One or more of the steps discussed in relation to Figures 6 and/or 7 may be performed by one or more processors in conjunction with one or more memories.

[00211] An appropriately adapted computer program code product or products may be used for implementing the examples, when loaded or otherwise provided on an appropriate data processing apparatus. The program code product for providing the operation may be stored on, provided and embodied by means of an appropriate carrier medium. An appropriate computer program can be embodied on a computer readable record medium. A possibility is to download the program code product via a data network. In general, the various examples may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Examples described above may thus be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[00212] It is noted that whilst examples have been described in relation to certain architectures, similar principles can be applied to other systems. Therefore, although certain examples were described above by way of example with reference to certain exemplifying architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, examples may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein. It is also noted that different combinations of different examples are possible. It is also noted herein that while the above describes examples, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present application.