HK1170892B - Method and apparatus that facilitates measurement procedures in multicarrier operation - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus to facilitate measurement procedures in multi-carrier operation

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No.61/218,850 entitled "MeasurementProcedures in Multicarrier Operation," filed on 19.6.2009. The above application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to methods and apparatus that facilitate measurement procedures in multi-carrier operation.

Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed today to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. The communication link may be established by a single-input single-output, multiple-input single-output, or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system.

MIMO system using multi-pair (N)_TSub) transmitting antenna and multi-pair (N)_RAnd) a receiving antenna for data transmission. From N_TA secondary transmitting antenna and N_RThe MIMO channel formed by the sub-receiving antennas can be decomposed into N_SIndividual channels, which may also be referred to as spatial channels, where N_S≤min{N_T，N_R}。N_SEach of the individual channels corresponds to a dimension. MIMO systems can provide improved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or greater reliability) if the other dimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennas are utilized.

MIMO systems support Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems. In a TDD system, the forward link transmission and the reverse link transmission use the same frequency domain, enabling reciprocity (reciprocity) principles to estimate the forward link channel from the reverse link channel. This enables the access point to obtain transmit beamforming gain on the forward link when multiple antennas are available at the access point.

For LTE-advanced (LTE-a) systems, it should be noted that existing LTE release 8 measurement procedures do not adequately meet the requirements and constraints associated with multi-carrier operation. Furthermore, it should be noted that existing measurement procedures for LTE release 8 are directed to single carrier operation, which is not sufficient for measurement reporting to trigger results obtained by comparisons performed during multi-carrier operation. Accordingly, methods and apparatus for performing efficient measurement procedures to facilitate handover to an appropriate cell during multi-carrier operation are desired.

The deficiencies of current wireless communication systems described above are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, but are not exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and the corresponding advantages of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein will become more apparent after understanding the following description.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosure thereof, various aspects are described herein in connection with a measurement procedure in multi-carrier operation. In one aspect, the present application discloses methods and computer program products that facilitate performing measurements in multi-carrier operation. These embodiments include: a subset of cells is selected from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes at least one serving cell and at least one non-serving cell. Further, these embodiments also include: evaluating the subset of cells by obtaining a first measurement associated with the at least one serving cell and a second measurement associated with the at least one non-serving cell. Subsequently, an occurrence of a measurement event based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement is monitored. Subsequently, a measurement report is transmitted, wherein the transmission of the measurement report is triggered by the occurrence of the measurement event.

In another aspect, the present application discloses an apparatus that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes a processor for executing computer-executable components stored in a memory. These computer-executable components include a selection component, an evaluation component, an event component, and a communication component. The selection component is configured to select a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes at least one serving cell and at least one non-serving cell. An evaluation component is then operative to evaluate the subset of cells based on a first measurement value associated with the at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with the at least one non-serving cell. For this embodiment, the event component is configured to monitor for an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement. Subsequently, a communication component is configured to send a measurement report, wherein transmission of the measurement report is triggered by occurrence of the measurement event.

In another aspect, another apparatus is disclosed. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes a selection module, an evaluation module, a monitoring module, and a transmission module. For this example: the method includes selecting a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes at least one serving cell and at least one non-serving cell. The evaluation module is then configured to evaluate the subset of cells based on a first measurement associated with the at least one serving cell and a second measurement associated with the at least one non-serving cell, and the monitoring module is configured to monitor for an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement. Subsequently, a sending module is configured to send a measurement report, wherein transmission of the measurement report is triggered by occurrence of the measurement event.

In another aspect, the present application discloses a method and computer program product for performing a handover in multi-carrier operation. For these embodiments, various acts are provided, including acts of receiving a measurement report from a wireless terminal associated with an occurrence of a measurement event. Here, the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell. The embodiments also determine a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells and a set of non-serving cells associated with the wireless terminal, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells. A handover is then performed based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

The present application also discloses an apparatus for performing handover in multi-carrier operation. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes a processor for executing computer-executable components stored in a memory. These computer-executable components include a communications component, a schema component, and a switching component. The communication component is for receiving a measurement report associated with an occurrence of a measurement event from a wireless terminal. For this embodiment, the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell. Further, a scheme component is configured to determine a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells and a set of non-serving cells associated with the wireless terminal, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells. A handover component is then operative to perform a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

In another aspect, the present application discloses another apparatus. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes a receiving module, a determining module, and an executing module. For this embodiment, the receiving means is for receiving a measurement report from the wireless terminal associated with an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell. A determination module is then used to determine a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report. Here, the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells and a set of non-serving cells associated with the wireless terminal, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells. Then, the execution module is configured to execute a handover according to the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

In other aspects, methods and computer program products are disclosed that facilitate arranging a receive frequency band. These embodiments include: a set of allocated component carriers is identified from a plurality of component carriers, wherein a system bandwidth includes the plurality of component carriers. Subsequently, an arrangement of the reception frequency bands in the system bandwidth is determined. For these embodiments, the arrangement is for overlapping at least a portion of the set of allocated component carriers.

The present application also discloses an apparatus that facilitates arranging a receive frequency band. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes a processor for executing computer-executable components stored in a memory. These computer-executable components include a distribution component and an arrangement component. The allocation component is configured to identify at least one allocated component carrier from a plurality of component carriers, wherein a system bandwidth comprises the plurality of component carriers. An arrangement component is then operative to determine an arrangement of the receive frequency bands within the system bandwidth. For this embodiment, the arrangement is for overlapping at least a portion of the at least one allocated component carrier.

In another aspect, the present application discloses another apparatus. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes an identification module and a determination module. The identifying module is configured to identify a set of allocated component carriers from a plurality of component carriers, wherein a system bandwidth includes the plurality of component carriers. Then, a determination module is configured to determine an arrangement of the receive frequency band in the system bandwidth, wherein the arrangement is configured to overlap with at least a portion of the set of allocated component carriers.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more embodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various embodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Fig. 2 depicts an exemplary wireless network environment that can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methods described herein.

Fig. 3 depicts an exemplary architecture for performing measurements in single carrier operation.

Fig. 4 depicts an exemplary architecture for performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 5 depicts an exemplary architecture that facilitates performing vertical and horizontal handovers in multi-carrier operation, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 6 depicts a block diagram of an example wireless terminal that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

Fig. 7 depicts an exemplary coupling of electrical components to perform measurements implemented in multi-carrier operation.

Fig. 8 is a flow diagram of an example methodology that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation in accordance with an aspect of the subject innovation.

Fig. 9 depicts a block diagram of an example base station that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

Fig. 10 depicts an exemplary coupling of electrical components to implement performing a handover in multi-carrier operation.

Fig. 11 is a flow diagram of an example methodology that facilitates performing a handover in multi-carrier operation in accordance with an aspect of the subject innovation.

Fig. 12 depicts an exemplary receive band arrangement according to one embodiment.

Fig. 13 depicts a block diagram of an example receive band unit that facilitates arranging a receive band, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

Fig. 14 depicts an exemplary coupling of electrical components implementing the arrangement of receive frequency bands.

Fig. 15 is a flow diagram depicting an example methodology that facilitates arranging receive frequency bands in accordance with an aspect of the subject innovation.

Fig. 16 depicts an example communication system implemented in accordance with various aspects including multiple cells.

Fig. 17 illustrates an example base station in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Fig. 18 depicts an example wireless terminal implemented in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more embodiments.

The present invention is directed to measurement procedures performed during multi-carrier operation. Further, the present application discloses example embodiments that facilitate performing efficient measurement procedures to facilitate switching to an appropriate cell during multi-carrier operation. Furthermore, exemplary embodiments are also provided that facilitate strategic placement of receive frequency bands for multicarrier operation.

To this end, it should be noted that the techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), CDMA 2000, and the like. UTRA includes wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA. CDMA 2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. TDMA systems may implement wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM). OFDMA systems may implement wireless technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, flash OFDM, and the like. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA, which uses OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMA on the uplink.

Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) uses single carrier modulation and frequency domain equalization. SC-FDMA has similar performance and substantially the same overall complexity as OFDMA systems. The SC-FDMA signal has a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) due to its inherent single carrier structure. For example, SC-FDMA can be used for uplink communications where a lower PAPR greatly benefits access terminals in terms of transmit power efficiency. Thus, SC-FDMA is implemented as an uplink multiple access scheme in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) or evolved UTRA.

High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) may include High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) or Enhanced Uplink (EUL) technology, HSPA may also include HSPA + technology. HSDPA, HSUPA and HSPA + are part of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) specifications, release 5, release 6 and release 7, respectively.

High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) optimizes data transmission from the network to the User Equipment (UE). As used herein, transmission from the network to the user equipment is referred to as the "downlink" (DL). The transmission method may allow data rates of several megabits/second. High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) may increase the capacity of a mobile wireless network. High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) may optimize data transmission from the terminal to the network. As used herein, transmission from a terminal to a network is referred to as an "uplink" (UL). The uplink data transmission method may allow a data rate of several megabits/second. HSPA + provides even further improvements in the uplink and downlink as specified in release 7 of the 3GPP specifications. Generally, a High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) method allows faster interaction between a downlink and an uplink of a data service (e.g., voice over ip (voip), video conferencing, and mobile office applications) transmitting large capacity data.

Fast data transmission protocols such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) may be used on the uplink and downlink. These protocols, such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), allow a receiver to automatically request retransmission of previously erroneously received packets.

Various embodiments are described herein in connection with an access terminal. An access terminal can also be called a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, user device, or User Equipment (UE). An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. Various embodiments are described herein in connection with a base station. A base station may be utilized for communicating with access terminal(s) and may also be referred to as an access point, a node B, an evolved node B (enodeb), an access point base station, or some other terminology.

Referring now to fig. 1, a wireless communication system 100 is depicted in accordance with various embodiments shown herein. System 100 includes a base station 102 that has multiple antenna groups. For example, one antenna group can include antennas 104 and 106, another group can include antennas 108 and 110, and an additional group can include antennas 112 and 114. Two antennas are depicted for each antenna group; however, more or fewer antennas may be used for each group. Base station 102 can additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise a plurality of components associated with signal transmission and reception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

Base station 102 may communicate with one or more access terminals, such as access terminal 116 and access terminal 122; however, it is to be appreciated that base station 102 can communicate with substantially any number of access terminals similar to access terminals 116 and 122. Access terminals 116 and 122 can be, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs, and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wireless communication system 100. As depicted, access terminal 116 is in communication with antennas 112 and 114, where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to access terminal 116 over a forward link 118 and receive information from access terminal 116 over a reverse link 120. In addition, access terminal 122 is in communication with antennas 104 and 106, where antennas 104 and 106 transmit information to access terminal 122 over forward link 124 and receive information from access terminal 122 over reverse link 126. In a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, forward link 118 can utilize a different frequency band than that used by reverse link 120, and forward link 124 can employ a different frequency band than that employed by reverse link 126, for example. Further, in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, forward link 118 and reverse link 120 can utilize a common frequency band and forward link 124 and reverse link 126 can utilize a common frequency band.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which each group of antennas is designated to communicate can be referred to as a sector of base station 102. For example, antenna groups can be designed to communicate to access terminals in a sector of the areas covered by base station 102. In communication over forward links 118 and 124, the transmitting antennas of base station 102 can utilize beamforming to improve signal-to-noise ratio of forward links 118 and 124 for access terminals 116 and 122. Moreover, when base station 102 utilizes beamforming to transmit to access terminals 116 and 122 scattered randomly through an associated coverage, access terminals in neighboring cells can be subject to less interference as compared to a base station transmitting through a single antenna to all its access terminals.

Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 200. The wireless communication system 200 depicts one base station 210 and one access terminal 250 for sake of simplicity. However, it is to be appreciated that system 200 can include more than one base station and/or more than one access terminal, wherein other base stations and/or access terminals can be substantially similar or different from example base station 210 and access terminal 250 described below. Moreover, it is to be appreciated that base station 210 and/or access terminal 250 can employ the systems and/or methods described herein to facilitate wireless communication there between.

At base station 210, traffic data for a number of data streams can be provided from a data source 212 to a Transmit (TX) data processor 214. According to an example, each data stream can be transmitted over a respective antenna. TX data processor 214 formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream can be multiplexed with pilot data using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) techniques. Additionally or alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). In general, the pilot data is a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and can be used by access terminal 250 to estimate channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream can be modulated (e.g., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), etc.) selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined by instructions performed or provided by processor 230.

The modulation symbols for the data streams can be provided to a TX MIMO processor 220, which TX MIMO processor 220 can further process the modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). The TXMMIMO processor 220 then forwards the data to N_TA plurality of transmitters (TMTR)222a through 222t provide N_TA stream of modulation symbols. In various embodiments, TX MIMO processor 220 applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted.

Each transmitter 222 receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. In addition, from N respectively_TSub-antennas 224a through 224t transmit N from transmitters 222a through 222t_TA modulated signal.

At access terminal 250, by N_RThe antennas 252a through 252r receive the transmitted modulated signals and provide a received signal from each antenna 252 to a respective receiver (RCVR)254a through 254 r. Each receiver 254 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective signal, digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding "received" symbol stream.

RX data processor 260 from N_RA receiver 254 receiving N_RA received symbol stream is processed according to a particular receiver processing technique to provide N_TA stream of "detected" symbols. RX data processor 260 can demodulate, deinterleave, and decode each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. The processing by RX data processor 260 is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO processor 220 and TX data processor 214 at base station 210.

As described above, the processor 270 may periodically determine which available technology to use. Further, processor 270 can formulate a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value (rank value) portion.

The reverse link message may comprise various types of information regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. The reverse link message may be processed by a TX data processor 238, modulated by a modulator 280, conditioned by transmitters 254a through 254r, and transmitted back to base station 210, where TX data processor 238 also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source 236.

At base station 210, the modulated signals from access terminal 250 are received by antennas 224, conditioned by receivers 222, demodulated by a demodulator 240, and processed by a RX data processor 242 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by access terminal 250. Further, processor 230 can process the extracted message to determine which precoding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights.

Processors 230 and 270 can direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at base station 210 and access terminal 250, respectively. Processors 230 and 270 can be associated with memory 232 and 272, respectively, that store program codes and data. Processors 230 and 270 can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

In designing a measurement process for multi-carrier operation, it should be noted that the baseline definition related to the existing measurement subsystem may vary. Furthermore, the present invention anticipates that additional measurement procedures are required in order to meet the architectural requirements and constraints of multi-carrier operation.

Referring next to fig. 3, an exemplary measurement architecture for single carrier operation (e.g., 3GPP LTE release 8) is provided. As shown, architecture 300 includes a serving cell 310 that serves user equipment 305 that facilitates single carrier operation of user equipment 305 at a particular serving frequency. The architecture 300 also includes neighboring cells 320, 330, and 340, wherein the user equipment 305 detects signals transmitted by the neighboring cell 320 over a serving frequency and the user equipment 305 detects signals transmitted by the neighboring cells 330 and 340 over a non-serving frequency.

With respect to the measurement process for single carrier operation (e.g., 3GPP LTE release 8), the following list of measurement process definitions currently applies to architecture 300. First, the frequency of the serving cell 310 is the "same frequency/serving frequency", and all other frequencies are "different frequencies/non-serving frequencies". Each frequency is treated equally as a "measurement object". Certain measurement reporting events (e.g., neighbor cells becoming better offset than serving cells) may be used for each measurement object. In the present application, it should be noted that the serving cell 310 is not the same as the neighbor cells 320, 330, and 340 (e.g., the measurement reporting event may correspond to "the neighbor cell 330 becomes better offset than the serving cell 310"). Further, inter-frequency measurement requires a measurement gap for measurement based on frequency re-tuning, depending on the capability of the user equipment 305.

Multicarrier operation is characterized by multiple serving cells having different component carriers. To this end, given the single carrier definition and architecture above, at least the following principles are contemplated for multi-carrier operation. First, a plurality of serving frequencies/co-frequencies are associated with a serving cell. Second, each component carrier is a measurement object.

Referring next to fig. 4, an exemplary measurement architecture for multi-carrier operation (e.g., LTE-a) is provided. As shown, architecture 400 includes serving cells 410 and 412, respectively serving user equipment 405 and facilitating multi-carrier operation of user equipment 405 over multiple serving frequencies. Architecture 400 also includes neighboring cells 420, 422, 430, and 432, where user equipment 405 detects signals transmitted by neighboring cells 420 and 422, respectively, over a serving frequency, and user equipment 405 also detects signals transmitted by neighboring cells 430 and 432 over a non-serving frequency.

Here, it should be noted that the single carrier measurement procedure is not sufficient for multi-carrier operation, since it is not immediately clear how to implement the comparison for measurement report triggering. Further, it should be noted that simply applying the conventional single carrier definition to architecture 400 would result in a larger number of compared combinations as shown in fig. 4. In fact, it is unclear when all serving cells 410 and 412 need to be compared with neighboring cells 420, 422, 430 and 432 as indicated by the specific measurement object.

In multi-carrier operation, it should be understood that a serving cell set may include cells with overlapping coverage from the same cell site, where such a set of cells is referred to herein as a "sector". In one aspect, as shown in fig. 5, "vertical" and "horizontal" movement may be contemplated, where "vertical" handover refers to changing serving cells in one sector and "horizontal" handover refers to changing sectors. For this particular example, multicarrier architecture 500 comprises sectors 510, 520, 530, and 540, as shown. Specifically, sector 510 includes serving cells 511 and 513 and a neighbor cell 512, where serving cells 511 and 513 transmit signals over serving frequencies a and B, respectively, and neighbor cell 512 transmits signals over a non-serving frequency. Further, sector 520 includes neighboring cells 522 and 524, sector 530 includes neighboring cell 532, and sector 540 includes neighboring cells 542, 544, and 546. For this particular example, as shown, each of neighboring cells 522 and 542 transmits signals over serving frequency a, and each of neighboring cells 524 and 544 transmits signals over serving frequency B. Each of the neighboring cells 512, 532, and 546 transmits signals through a non-serving frequency.

In one aspect, horizontal handover is controlled primarily by the "best cell connected to that frequency" principle. In this embodiment, it is therefore desirable for the same frequency to have a specific measurement event in which only the serving cell of the frequency indicated by the measurement object is evaluated. This will make the network aware of the adverse interference conditions on each carrier. It is contemplated that this scheme may be implemented by, for example, having a flag indicating the above limitations and/or changing the definition of "serving cell" for measurement events in multi-carrier operation. That is, in the first aspect, a flag may be added in the measurement configuration to indicate that the UE should consider only the serving cell of the frequency indicated by the measurement object in the measurement event evaluation (where this approach is only applicable to intra-frequency measurements). However, in a second aspect, rather than relying on specific indicators in the measurement configuration, the UE has been pre-configured to evaluate a serving cell that only considers the frequency indicated by the measurement object for intra-frequency measurement events in multi-carrier operation.

For vertical handover, it should be noted that such handover may be triggered when a non-serving frequency neighbor cell is considered to be of better quality than the serving cell. In the case of the 3GPP LTE release 8 measurement configuration, the UE does not know the vertical cell or the horizontal cell for the non-serving frequency. Thus, for measurement evaluation of non-serving frequencies, a particular embodiment is contemplated in which the UE considers all serving cells in an event evaluation that is expected to facilitate network control for vertical handovers.

Further optimization may also be expected in order to reduce the number of UE measurement reports. For example, the UE sends the measurement report only once when a neighbor cell becomes better than one of the serving cells (i.e., does not send another measurement report when the same neighbor cell becomes better than another serving cell). To help achieve this optimization, a new event may be defined such as "neighbor cells become better offset than one of the serving cells".

It is also contemplated that the UE may be aware of its vertical neighbor cells. For example, a new event such as "vertical neighbor cells become better offset than one of the serving cells" may be defined. In this embodiment, a new physical layer signal (e.g., physical cell identity) may be defined, where the signal can indicate the sector identity. In another embodiment, neighboring cells from the same sector may be listed as measurement target cells in the measurement configuration.

Turning next to fig. 6, a block diagram of an exemplary wireless terminal that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation in accordance with one embodiment is provided. As shown, wireless terminal 600 can include a processor component 610, a memory component 620, a selection component 630, an evaluation component 640, an event component 650, and a communication component 660.

In one aspect, the processor component 610 is configured to execute computer readable instructions related to performing any of a variety of functions. Processor component 610 may be a single processor or multiple processors dedicated to analyzing information transmitted from wireless terminal 600 and/or generating information that may be used by memory component 620, selection component 630, evaluation component 640, event component 650, and/or communication component 660. Additionally or alternatively, processor component 610 may be used to control one or more components of wireless terminal 600.

In another aspect, the memory component 620 is coupled to the processor component 610 and is configured to store computer readable instructions executed by the processor component 610. The memory component 620 can also be utilized to store any of a variety of other types of data, including data generated by any of the selection component 630, the evaluation component 640, the event component 650, and/or the communication component 660. The memory component 620 may be configured using a variety of different configurations, including random access memory, battery-powered memory, hard disks, tapes, and so forth. Various features may also be implemented on the memory component 620, such as compression and automatic backup (e.g., using a redundant array of independent drives configuration).

As shown, wireless terminal 600 can also include a selection component 630. In this embodiment, selecting component 630 is configured to select a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes at least one serving cell and at least one non-serving cell. In an aspect, to facilitate horizontal handover, evaluation component 640 is configured to analyze a subset of the cells on a particular serving frequency, wherein selection component 630 is configured to limit at least one serving cell to a single serving cell associated with the particular serving frequency used by evaluation component 640. For this particular embodiment, it should be noted that at least one non-serving cell is associated with this particular serving frequency. Further, selection component 630 may be operative to determine the subset of cells in response to a measurement configuration received from an external entity. For example, wireless terminal 600 may receive a measurement configuration from a base station, wherein the measurement configuration comprises: indicating that the UE considers only the serving cell of the frequency indicated by the specific measurement object in the measurement event evaluation.

In another aspect, selecting component 630 is configured to select the at least one serving cell from any one of a set of serving cells associated with wireless terminal 600 and select the at least one non-serving cell from any one of a set of non-serving cells associated with non-serving frequencies to facilitate vertical handovers. In particular embodiments, selecting component 630 may be configured to restrict at least one non-serving cell to being selected from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.

In another embodiment, to reduce the number of UE measurement reports, event component 650 may be configured to detect a subsequent occurrence of a measurement event. That is, such a process may include: detecting an occurrence of a first performance parameter associated with at least one non-serving cell exceeding a second performance parameter associated with any one of the set of serving cells. After detecting that the subsequent event occurs, a suppression operation (suppressing operation) may be performed, in which transmission of redundant measurement reports is suppressed. In particular, communication component 660 can be employed to inhibit transmission of subsequent measurement reports associated with subsequent occurrences.

As shown, wireless terminal 600 can also include an evaluation component 640. In an aspect, the evaluating component 640 is configured to evaluate the subset of cells based on the first measurement and the second measurement. For this particular embodiment, the first measurement value is associated with the at least one serving cell and the second measurement value is associated with the at least one non-serving cell.

Wireless terminal 600 may also include an events component 650. In this embodiment, the event component 650 is configured to monitor for the occurrence of a measurement event, wherein such measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value and a second measurement value. In an aspect, to reduce the number of UE measurement reports for vertical handover considerations, event component 650 may be operative to detect a subsequent occurrence of a first performance parameter associated with the at least one non-serving cell exceeding a second performance parameter associated with any of the set of serving cells. Subsequently, the communication component 660 can be employed to suppress transmission of a subsequent measurement report associated with the subsequent occurrence.

In an aspect, event component 650 can also be for identifying the at least one non-serving cell. For example, in a first embodiment, event component 650 can be utilized to determine a sector identity from a signal utilized for cell identification. In another embodiment, event component 650 can be configured to detect the list of at least one non-serving cell in a measurement configuration received from an external entity (e.g., a base station).

In another aspect, wireless terminal 600 includes a communication component 660 for enabling wireless terminal 600 to interact with external entities. For example, communication component 660 may be operative to transmit measurement reports to an external entity (e.g., a base station). In this embodiment, the transmission of the measurement report is triggered by the occurrence of a specific measurement event.

Turning to fig. 7, a system 700 that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation is depicted in accordance with one embodiment. For example, system 700 and/or instructions for implementing system 700 can reside in user equipment (e.g., wireless terminal 600) or a computer-readable storage medium. As shown, system 700 includes functional blocks that can represent functions that can be implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 700 includes a logical grouping 702 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. As shown, logical grouping 702 can include: an electrical component 710 for selecting a subset of cells comprising at least one serving cell and at least one non-serving cell; an electrical component 712 for obtaining a first measurement associated with the at least one serving cell and a second measurement associated with the at least one non-serving cell. Logical grouping 702 can also include: an electrical component 714 for monitoring for an occurrence of a measurement event based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement. Moreover, logical grouping 702 also includes: an electrical component 716 for sending a measurement report triggered by the occurrence of the measurement event. Additionally, system 700 can include a memory 720 that stores instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 710, 712, 714, and 716. While electrical components 710, 712, 714, and 716 are illustrated as being located outside of memory 720, it is to be understood that electrical components 710, 712, 714, and 716 can be located inside memory 720.

Referring next to fig. 8, a flow diagram depicting an example method that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation is provided. As shown, process 800 includes a series of acts that may be performed by various components of a user equipment (e.g., wireless terminal 600) in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. Process 800 is implemented using at least one processor to execute computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to implement the series of acts. In another embodiment, it is contemplated that a computer-readable storage medium includes code for causing at least one computer to implement the acts of process 800.

In one aspect, process 800 begins with act 810 where the wireless terminal establishes multi-carrier communication through multiple cells. Next, at act 820, the wireless terminal implements a particular cell selection scheme to select a subset of the plurality of cells to monitor. Here, it should be noted that the cell selection scheme may be provided by the network through measurement configuration and/or the wireless terminal may be pre-configured to monitor a particular cell.

At act 830, process 800 branches to determining whether the implemented cell selection scheme corresponds to a vertical handover cell selection scheme. If so, any of a plurality of serving cells respectively serving the wireless terminal over any of a plurality of serving frequencies may be selected in act 840. Otherwise, if the cell selection scheme corresponds to a horizontal handover cell selection scheme, a single serving cell corresponding to the particular serving frequency is selected in act 835.

Once the appropriate serving cells are selected, process 800 passes to act 850 where measurements of these serving and non-serving cells are obtained at act 850. Here, it should be noted that at least one measurement value is associated with a serving cell and at least one measurement value is associated with a non-serving cell. At act 860, the at least one serving cell measurement value is compared to the at least one non-serving cell measurement value to facilitate determining whether a measurement event has occurred at act 870. If an event is indeed detected, process 800 ends at act 880, where at act 880 a measurement report is sent indicating the occurrence of the detected event. Otherwise, if no event is detected, process 800 loops back to act 850, where the measurement continues to be obtained.

Turning next to fig. 9, a block diagram of an example base station that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation in accordance with various aspects is depicted. As shown, base station 900 may include a processor component 910, a memory component 920, a communication component 930, a scheme component 940, and a switching component 950.

Similar to the processor component 610 in the wireless terminal 600, the processor component 910 is configured to execute computer readable instructions related to implementing any of a variety of functions. Processor component 910 can be a single processor or multiple processors dedicated to analyzing information transmitted from base station 900 and/or generating information that can be used by memory component 920, communication component 930, scheme component 940, and/or handover component 950. Additionally or alternatively, processor component 910 may be used to control one or more components of base station 900.

In another aspect, the memory component 920 is coupled to the processor component 910 and is configured to store computer readable instructions for execution by the processor component 910. Memory component 920 may also be used to store any of a variety of other types of data, including data generated by any of communication component 930, scheme component 940, and/or switching component 950. Here, it should be noted that memory component 920 is similar to memory component 620 in wireless terminal 600. Accordingly, it should be understood that any of the foregoing features/configurations of memory component 620 may also apply to memory component 920.

In another aspect, the base station 900 includes a communication component 930 coupled to the processor component 910 and configured to enable the base station 900 to interact with external entities. For example, communications component 930 may be operative to receive a measurement report associated with an occurrence of a measurement event from a wireless terminal (e.g., wireless terminal 600). In this embodiment, the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with the at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with the at least one non-serving cell.

As shown, base station 900 may also include a scheme component 940 and a switching component 950. In this embodiment, scheme component 940 is for determining a cell selection scheme associated with a measurement report received from a wireless terminal, and handover component 950 is for performing a handover based on an occurrence of a measurement event associated with the measurement report and the cell selection scheme determined by scheme component 940. Here, it should be noted that the cell selection scheme determined by scheme component 940 indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells.

In one aspect, base station 900 facilitates horizontal handover. For example, scheme component 940 can be utilized to identify a particular cell selection scheme associated with horizontal handover. In a particular embodiment, the horizontal handover cell selection scheme includes: restricting the at least one serving cell to a single serving cell associated with a serving frequency, wherein the at least one non-serving cell is associated with the serving frequency. For this embodiment, switching component 950 may be used to perform horizontal switching. Here, it should be noted that communicating component 930 may be operative to transmit a measurement configuration to the wireless terminal, wherein the measurement configuration initiates implementation of a horizontal handover cell selection scheme in the wireless terminal.

In another aspect, base station 900 facilitates vertical handovers. For example, scheme component 940 can be utilized to identify a particular cell selection scheme associated with a vertical handover. In particular embodiments, scheme component 940 is for identifying a vertical handover cell selection scheme in which the at least one serving cell is selected from any one of a set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from any one of a set of non-serving cells associated with a non-serving frequency. In this embodiment, the switching component 950 is used to perform vertical switching. Here, it should also be noted that, instead of selecting the at least one non-serving cell from any one of a set of non-serving cells, the vertical handover cell selection scheme may include: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to be selected from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.

Turning next to fig. 10, a diagram depicts a system 1000 that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation in accordance with one embodiment. For example, system 1000 and/or instructions for implementing system 1000 can reside in a network entity (e.g., base station 900) or a computer-readable storage medium, wherein system 1000 includes functional blocks that represent functions that can be implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). Moreover, system 1000 includes a logical grouping 1002 of electrical components that can act in conjunction similar to logical grouping 702 in system 700. As shown, logical grouping 1002 can include: an electrical component 1010 for receiving a measurement report from the wireless terminal associated with the occurrence of the measurement event. Logical grouping 1002 further includes: an electrical component 1012 for determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report. Moreover, logical grouping 1002 further includes: an electrical component 1014 for performing a handover based on the occurrence and a cell selection scheme. Additionally, system 1000 can include a memory 1020 that stores instructions for executing functions associated with electrical components 1010, 1012, and 1014. While electrical components 1010, 1012, and 1014 are illustrated as being located outside of memory 1020, it is to be understood that electrical components 1010, 1012, and 1014 can exist within memory 1020.

Referring next to fig. 11, a flow diagram depicting an example method that facilitates performing a handover in multi-carrier operation is provided. As shown, process 1100 includes a series of acts that may be performed by various components of a network entity (e.g., base station 900) in accordance with an aspect of the subject innovation. Process 1100 is implemented using at least one processor to perform a series of acts by executing computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. In another embodiment, it is contemplated that a computer-readable storage medium includes code for causing at least one computer to perform the acts of process 1100.

In one aspect, process 1100 begins with act 1110 of receiving a measurement report from any one of a plurality of wireless terminals. Here, it should be noted that these measurement reports identify the occurrence of measurement events from the wireless terminal, wherein the measurement events are based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell.

Next, at act 1120, the received measurement report is processed, and then at act 1130, it is determined whether to perform handover according to the processing result. If a handover is not desired, process 1100 loops back to act 1110 where the measurement report continues to be received in act 1110. If, however, a handover is indeed desired, process 1100 moves to act 1140, and in act 1140, a particular cell selection scheme associated with the received measurement report is determined. In an aspect, the cell selection scheme may correspond to a vertical handover determination or a horizontal handover determination. Once the cell selection scheme is determined, process 1100 ends at act 1150, and the appropriate handover is performed at act 1150.

In multi-carrier operation, it should be noted that, in general, the bandwidth made up by the carriers allocated to a UE is smaller than the reception bandwidth that the UE has. In this scenario, a portion of the inter-frequency measurements (i.e., tuning away the radio frequency) may be performed without the assistance of measurement gaps.

Referring next to fig. 12, an example scenario is provided in which a UE has a 60MHz capable reception bandwidth, and two component carriers of 20MHz are allocated to the UE. In particular, the system bandwidth includes carriers 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216, and 1218, where the UEs are allocated carriers 1212 and 1214 through a radio resource configuration. In one aspect, it should be noted that the system frequency band may be contiguous. As shown, different candidate receive bands 1220, 1230, and 1240 are provided, where some of the non-serving frequencies (i.e., carriers 1210, 1216, and 1218) fall into the UE receive band, depending on the arrangement of the center of the UE receive band. Here, similar to the system frequency band, it should be noted that the UE reception frequency band may be discontinuous when, for example, the UE is equipped with multiple radio frequency chains.

In one aspect, the network is aware of the UE reception band arrangement so that it can determine whether to configure measurement gaps for inter-frequency measurements. Here, it should be noted that sometimes it is desirable for the network to configure the arrangement of the UE reception bands, since it is more aware of the frequency deployment scenario of the present network than the UE. The network may also have knowledge of the UE reception capabilities. Thus, in one exemplary embodiment, the arrangement of the UE reception band with respect to the allocated component carriers is configured by the network.

In another aspect, the UE may decide on the receive band arrangement based on available knowledge of the UE (e.g., adjacent frequencies in the measurement configuration). In this embodiment, the placement decision may be transmitted to the network so that the network can configure the measurement gap appropriately. Thus, in another exemplary embodiment, the arrangement of the UE reception band with respect to the allocated component carriers is decided by the UE, wherein such arrangement is transmitted from the UE to the network.

Turning next to fig. 13, a block diagram of an exemplary receive band unit that facilitates arranging a receive band is depicted in accordance with various aspects. As shown, the receive band unit 1300 includes a processor component 1310, a memory component 1320, an allocation component 1330, an arrangement component 1340, and a communication component 1350.

Processor component 1310, similar to the respective processor components 610 and 910 located in wireless terminal 600 and base station 900, respectively, is operative to execute computer readable instructions related to performing any of a variety of functions. The processor component 1310 may be a single processor or multiple processors dedicated to analyzing information transmitted from the receive band unit 1300 and/or generating information that may be used by the memory component 1320, the allocation component 1330, the placement component 1340, and/or the communication component 1350. Additionally or alternatively, the processor component 1310 may be used to control one or more components of the receive band unit 1300.

In another aspect, the memory component 1320 is coupled to the processor component 1310 and is used to store computer readable instructions that are executed by the processor component 1310. The memory component 1320 may also be used to store any of a variety of other types of data, including data generated by any of the assignment component 1330, the arrangement component 1340, and/or the communication component 1350. Here, it should be noted that memory component 1320 is analogous to respective memory components 620 and 920 in wireless terminal 600 and base station 900. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that any of the foregoing features/configurations of memory components 620 and 920 may also be applicable to memory component 1320.

As shown, the receive band unit 1300 may also include an allocation component 1330 and an arrangement component 1340. In this embodiment, allocating component 1330 is configured to identify at least one allocated component carrier from a plurality of component carriers in a system bandwidth, and arranging component 1340 is configured to determine an arrangement of receive bands in the system bandwidth. For this embodiment, the arrangement overlaps with at least a portion of the at least one allocated component carrier.

In a first aspect, the arranging component 1340 is located in a network entity (e.g., base station 900) from which the arranging component 1340 operates to determine an arrangement of receive frequency bands. In this embodiment, it is contemplated that the placement component 1340 can be used to determine the need for a measurement gap configuration based on placement. For this embodiment, in response to a requirement of the measurement gap configuration, communications component 1350 is then operable to transmit the measurement gap configuration to a wireless terminal (e.g., wireless terminal 600).

In another aspect, arranging component 1340 is located in a wireless terminal (e.g., wireless terminal 600), and arranging component 1340 is configured to determine an arrangement of receive frequency bands from the wireless terminal. In this embodiment, a communication component 1350 may be utilized to communicate the arrangement to a network entity (e.g., base station 900). Here, it should be noted that the placement component 1340 may also be used to determine a requirement of a measurement gap configuration according to a placement scenario, wherein the communication component 1350 receives the measurement gap configuration in response to the requirement of the measurement gap configuration.

Turning next to fig. 14, another system 1400 that facilitates arranging receive frequency bands in accordance with an embodiment is depicted. For example, system 1400 and/or instructions for implementing system 1400 can reside in a computing device (e.g., receive band unit 1300) or a computer-readable storage medium, wherein system 1400 includes functional blocks that represent functions that can be implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). Further, system 1400 includes a logical grouping 1402 of electrical components that can act in conjunction similar to respective logical groupings 702 and 1002 in systems 700 and 1000. As shown, logical grouping 1402 can include: an electrical component 1410 for identifying a set of allocated component carriers from a plurality of component carriers. Logical grouping 1402 further includes: an electrical component 1412 for determining an arrangement of receive frequency bands to overlap at least a portion of the allocated component carriers. Additionally, system 1400 can include a memory 1420 that stores instructions for performing functions associated with electrical components 1410 and 1412, wherein any of electrical components 1410 and 1412 can be located within or external to memory 1420.

Referring next to fig. 15, a flow diagram depicting an example method that facilitates arranging receive frequency bands is provided. As shown, process 1500 includes a series of acts that may be performed by various components of a computing device (e.g., receive band unit 1300) in accordance with an aspect of the subject innovation. The series of acts are implemented using at least one processor executing computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium to implement the process 1500. In another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium includes code for causing at least one computer to implement the acts of process 1500.

In one aspect, process 1500 begins at act 1510 by determining a system bandwidth, wherein the bandwidth spans multiple carriers. Next, at act 1520, a particular carrier assigned to the user equipment is identified. Subsequently, process 1500 transfers to act 1530 and, in act 1530, the capabilities of the user device are determined. As described previously, generally, a carrier allocated to a user equipment constitutes a smaller bandwidth than a reception band the user equipment has. Accordingly, then in act 1540, a strategic placement of the receive band for the user equipment is determined.

Once the arrangement of the reception frequency bands of the user equipment is determined, process 1500 ends by transmitting the arrangement in act 1550. However, here, since process 1500 (or a portion thereof) may be performed by a user device or a network, it should be noted that the communication process of act 1550 is different. For example, if process 1500 is performed by a user device, then act 1550 includes transmitting to the network the arrangement determined by the user device. However, if process 1500 is performed by a network, act 1550 includes transmitting the arrangement to a user device for implementation.

Exemplary communication System

Turning next to fig. 16, an exemplary communication system 1600 implemented in accordance with various aspects is provided that includes multiple wireless coverage areas, each corresponding to wireless coverage from a cell of a single base station. As shown, system 1600 includes wireless coverage I1602, wireless coverage M1604. Here, it should be noted that adjacent wireless coverage 1602, 1604 overlap slightly, as indicated by boundary area 1668, potentially creating signal interference between signals transmitted by base stations of adjacent cells. Each wireless coverage 1602, 1604 of the system 1600 includes three cells. According to various aspects, wireless coverage without subdivision into multiple cells (N ═ 1), wireless coverage with two cells (N ═ 2), and wireless coverage with more than 3 cells (N > 3) may also be achieved. Wireless coverage 1602 includes a first cell (cell I1610), a second cell (cell II 1612), and a third cell (cell III 1614). Each cell 1610, 1612, and 1614 has two cell border areas; each border area is shared between two adjacent cells.

Cell border regions potentially provide signal interference between signals transmitted by base stations of neighboring cells. Line 1616 represents a cell border region between cell I1610 and cell II 1612; line 1618 represents a cell border region between cell II 1612 and cell III 1614; line 1620 represents the cell border region between cell III1614 and cell I1610. Similarly, radio coverage M1604 includes a first cell (cell I1622), a second cell (cell II 1624), and a third cell (cell III 1626). Line 1628 represents a cell border area between cell I1622 and cell II 1624; line 1630 represents the cell border region between cell II 1624 and cell III 1626; line 1632 represents the border area between cell III 1626 and cell I1622. Wireless coverage I1602 includes a Base Station (BS), base station I1606, and a plurality of End Nodes (ENs) in each cell 1610, 1612, 1614. Cell I1610 includes EN (1)1636 and EN (x)1638 coupled to BS 1606 via wireless links 1640, 1642, respectively; cell II 1612 includes EN (1 ') 1644 and EN (X') 1646 coupled to BS 1606 via wireless links 1648, 1650, respectively; cell III1614 includes EN (1 ") 1652 and EN (X") 1654 coupled to BS 1606 via wireless links 1656, 1658, respectively. Similarly, wireless coverage M1604 includes a base station M1608 and a plurality of End Nodes (ENs) in each sector 1622, 1624, and 1626. Cell I1622 includes EN (1)1636 'and EN (x) 1638' coupled to BS M1608 via wireless links 1640 ', 1642', respectively; cell II 1624 includes EN (1 ') 1644' and EN (X ') 1646' coupled to BS M1608 via wireless links 1648 ', 1650', respectively; cell III 1626 includes EN (1 ") 1652 'and EN (X") 1654' coupled to BS 1608 via wireless links 1656 ', 1658', respectively.

System 1600 also includes a network node 1660 coupled to BS I1606 and BS M1608 via network links 1662, 1664, respectively. Network node 1660 is also coupled to other network nodes (e.g., other base stations, AAA server nodes, intermediate nodes, routers, etc.) and the internet via network link 1666. Network links 1662, 1664, 1666 may be, for example, fiber optic cables. Each end node (e.g., EN 11636) may be a wireless terminal that includes a transmitter and a receiver. A wireless terminal (e.g., EN (1)1636) may move throughout system 1600 and may communicate via a wireless link with a base station in wireless coverage where the EN is currently located. Wireless Terminal (WT) (e.g., EN (1)1636) may communicate with a peer node (e.g., other WTs in system 1600 or other WTs outside system 1600) via a base station (e.g., BS 1606) and/or network node 1660. The WT (e.g., EN (1)1636) may be a mobile communication device, e.g., a cellular telephone, a personal data assistant with a wireless modem, and so on. Each base station performs tone subset allocation using a different method for the strip-symbol periods than employed for allocating tones and determining tone hopping in other symbol periods (e.g., non-strip-symbol periods). The wireless terminals use the tone subset allocation method and information received from the base station (e.g., base station slope ID, cell ID information) to determine the tones that they can use to receive data and information at particular strip-symbol periods. Tone subset allocation sequences are constructed in accordance with various aspects to spread inter-cell interference and inter-radio coverage interference into tones. While the present system is described primarily in the context of a cellular mode, it should be understood that a variety of modes may be used and applied in accordance with aspects described herein.

Exemplary base station

Fig. 17 depicts an example base station 1700 in accordance with various aspects. Base station 1700 implements tone subset allocation sequences, wherein different tone subset allocation sequences are generated for respective different cell types of wireless coverage. Base station 1700 may serve as any of base stations 1606, 1608 in system 1600 of fig. 16. The base station 1700 includes a receiver 1702, a transmitter 1704, a processor 1706 (e.g., CPU), input/output interface 1708, and memory 1710 coupled together by a bus 1709, where the various units 1702, 1704, 1706, 1708, and 1710 may exchange data and information via the bus 1709.

Sectorized antenna 1703 coupled to receiver 1702 is used for receiving data and other signals (e.g., channel reports) from wireless terminal transmissions from each cell within the wireless coverage of the base station. Sectorized antenna 1705 coupled to transmitter 1704 is used for transmitting data and other signals (e.g., control signals, pilot signals, beacon signals, etc.) to wireless terminals 1800 (see fig. 18) in each cell within the wireless coverage of the base station. In various aspects, the base station 1700 may use multiple receivers 1702 and multiple transmitters 1704, e.g., different receivers 1702 and different transmitters 1704 for each cell. The processor 1706 may be, for example, a general purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 1706, under the direction of one or more routines 1718 stored in memory 1710, controls the operation of the base station 1700 and implements the methods described above. I/O interface 1708 provides a connection to other network nodes (coupling BS 1700 to other base stations, access routers, AAA server nodes, etc.), other networks, and the internet. Memory 1710 includes routines 1718 and data/information 1720.

Data/information 1720 includes data 1736, tone subset allocation sequence information 1738, which includes downlink strip-symbol time information 1740 and downlink tone information 1742, and Wireless Terminal (WT) data/information 1744, which includes multiple sets of WT information (WT 1 information 1746 and WT N information 1760). Each set of WT information (e.g., WT 1 information 1746) includes data 1748, terminal ID 1750, cell ID 1752, uplink channel information 1754, downlink channel information 1756, and mode information 1758.

Routines 1718 include communications routines 1722 and base station control routines 1724. Base station control routines 1724 include a scheduler module 1726 and signaling routines 1728, where signaling routines 1728 include tone subset allocation routine 1730 for the strip-symbol period, other downlink tone allocation hopping routine 1732 for the remaining symbol periods (e.g., non-strip-symbol periods), and beacon routine 1734.

Data 1736 includes data to be transmitted to WTs and data received from WTs, where data to be transmitted is sent to encoder 1714 of transmitter 1704 for encoding prior to transmission to WTs, and data received from WTs is processed after reception by decoder 1712 of receiver 1702. Downlink strip-symbol time information 1740 includes frame synchronization structure information (e.g., large slot, beacon slot, and superslot structure information) and information specifying whether a given symbol period is a strip-symbol period, and if so, whether the index of the strip-symbol period and the strip-symbol are reset points for puncturing the tone subset allocation sequence used by the base station. Downlink tone information 1742 includes the following information, as well as other radio coverage and cell specific values (e.g., slope index, and cell type), including: the carrier frequency assigned to the base station 1700, the number and frequency of tones, and the set of tone subsets assigned to the strip-symbol periods.

The data 1748 may include: data received by WT 11800 from a peer node, data that WT 11800 desires to transmit to a peer node, and downlink channel quality report feedback information. Terminal ID 1750 is an ID assigned by base station 1700 to identify WT 11800. Cell ID 1752 includes information identifying the cell in which WT 11800 is operating. For example, cell ID 1752 may be used, for example, to determine a cell type. Uplink channel information 1754 includes information identifying channel segments that scheduler 1726 has allocated to WT 11800 for use, e.g., uplink traffic channel segments for data, and dedicated uplink control channels for request, power control, time control, etc. Each uplink channel assigned to WT 11800 includes one or more logical tones, where each logical tone follows an uplink hopping sequence. Downlink channel information 1756 includes information identifying channel segments that have been assigned by scheduler 1726 to WTs 11800 for carrying data and/or information, e.g., downlink traffic channel segments for user data. Each downlink channel assigned to WT 11800 includes one or more logical tones, where each logical tone follows a downlink hopping sequence. Mode information 1758 includes information identifying the operational state (e.g., sleep, hold, power on) of WT 11800.

Communications routines 1722 control the base station 1700 to perform various communications operations and implement various communications protocols. Base station control routines 1724 are used to control the base station 1700 to perform basic base station functional tasks (e.g., signal generation and reception, scheduling), and to implement method steps of some aspects including transmitting signals to wireless terminals using tone subset allocation sequences during strip-symbol periods.

The signaling routine 1728 controls the operation of the receiver 1702 with a decoder 1712 of the receiver 1702 and the operation of the transmitter 1704 with an encoder 1714 of the transmitter 1704. Signaling routine 1728 is responsible for controlling the generation of data 1736 and control information to be sent. Tone subset allocation routine 1730 constructs the tone subsets to be used in the strip-symbol periods using the method of the aspect and using data/information 1720, which includes downlink strip-symbol time information 1740 and cell ID 1752. The downlink tone subset allocation sequence is different for each cell type in radio coverage and different for adjacent radio coverage. WT 1800 receives signals in strip-symbol periods according to a downlink tone subset allocation sequence; and base station 1700 uses the same downlink tone subset allocation sequence to generate the signal to be transmitted. Other downlink tone allocation hopping routine 1732 constructs downlink tone hopping sequences using information including downlink tone information 1742 and downlink channel information 1756 for symbol periods other than strip-symbol periods. The downlink data tone hopping sequences are synchronized in cells that span the radio coverage. Beacon routine 1734 controls the transmission of beacon signals (e.g., signals of relatively high power signals concentrated on one or more tones) that may be used for synchronization, e.g., to synchronize the frame time structure of the downlink signal and thus the tone subset allocation sequence with respect to the very large slot boundary.

Exemplary Wireless terminal

Fig. 18 depicts an exemplary wireless terminal (end node) 1800, where wireless terminal 1800 may be used as any of the wireless terminals (end nodes) of system 1600 shown in fig. 16 (e.g., EN (1) 1636). Wireless terminal 1800 implements a tone subset allocation sequence. The wireless terminal 1800 includes a receiver 1802 (which includes a decoder 1812), a transmitter 1804 (which includes an encoder 1814), a processor 1806, and memory 1808 coupled together by a bus 1810 where the various units 1802, 1804, 1806, and 1808 may exchange data and information by the bus 1810. An antenna 1803 for receiving signals from a base station (and/or a disparate wireless terminal) is coupled to receiver 1802. An antenna 1805 for transmitting signals to, for example, a base station (and/or a disparate wireless terminal) is coupled to transmitter 1804.

The processor 1806 (e.g., a CPU) controls operation of the wireless terminal 1800 and implements methods by executing routines 1820 in memory 1808 and using data/information 1822 in memory 1808.

Data/information 1822 includes user data 1834, user information 1836, and tone subset allocation sequence information 1850. User data 1834 may include data for the peer node (which is routed to encoder 1814 for encoding before transmission by transmitter 1804 to the base station), and data received from the base station (which is processed by decoder 1812 in receiver 1802). User information 1836 includes uplink channel information 1838, downlink channel information 1840, terminal ID information 1842, base station ID information 1844, cell ID information 1846, and mode information 1848. Uplink channel information 1838 includes information identifying the uplink channel segments that are assigned to wireless terminal 1800 by the base station and used when wireless terminal 1800 is transmitting information to base station 1500. The uplink channels may include an uplink traffic channel, a dedicated uplink control channel (e.g., a request channel, a power control channel, and a time control channel). Each uplink channel includes one or more logical tones, where each logical tone follows an uplink tone hopping sequence. The uplink hopping sequence is different between each cell type of radio coverage and between adjacent radio coverage. Downlink channel information 1840 includes information identifying downlink channel segments assigned to WT 1800 by the base station for use when transmitting data/information to WT 1800. The downlink channels may include downlink traffic channels and assignment channels, where each downlink channel includes one or more logical tones, each logical tone following a downlink hopping sequence, where the downlink hopping sequences are synchronized between each cell of wireless coverage.

User info 1836 also includes terminal ID information 1842 (which is a base station assigned identification), base station ID information 1844 (which identifies the particular base station with which the WT is establishing communications), and cell ID information 1846 (which identifies the particular sector of wireless coverage in which WT 1800 is currently located). Base station ID 1844 provides a cell slope value and cell ID information 1846 provides a cell index type; the cell slope value and the cell index type may be used to derive the tone hopping sequence. User info 1836 also includes mode information 1848 which identifies whether WT 1800 is in sleep mode, hold mode, or on mode.

Tone subset allocation sequence information 1850 includes downlink strip-symbol time information 1852 and downlink tone information 1854. Downlink strip-symbol time information 1852 includes frame synchronization structure information (e.g., superslot, beaconslot, and superslot structure information), and information specifying whether a given symbol period is a strip-symbol period, and if so, whether the strip-symbol is a reset point for puncturing the tone subset allocation sequence used by the base station. Downlink tone information 1854 includes the following information, as well as other radio coverage and cell specific values (e.g., slope indicator, and cell type), including: a carrier frequency assigned to the base station, the number and frequency of tones, and a set of tone subsets assigned to the strip-symbol periods.

Routines 1820 include communications routines 1824 and wireless terminal control routines 1826. Communications routines 1824 control the various communications protocols used by WT 1800. Wireless terminal control routines 1826 control the basic functions of the wireless terminal 1800, including the control of the receiver 1802 and transmitter 1804. Wireless terminal control routines 1826 include signaling routines 1828. Signaling routines 1828 include a tone subset allocation routine 1830 for the strip-symbol periods and other downlink tone allocation hopping routines 1832 for the remaining symbol periods (e.g., non-strip-symbol periods). Tone subset allocation routine 1830 in accordance with some aspects, generates downlink tone subset allocation sequences using user data/information 1822 including downlink channel information 1840, base station ID information 1844 (e.g., slope index and cell type), and downlink tone information 1854, processes received data transmitted from a base station. For symbol periods other than strip-symbol periods, other downlink tone allocation hopping routine 1832 constructs downlink tone hopping sequences using information including downlink tone information 1854 and downlink channel information 1840. Tone subset allocation routine 1830, when executed by processor 1806, tone subset allocation routine 1830 is used to determine when and on which tones the wireless terminal 1800 receives one or more strip-symbol signals from the base station 1700, from the base station 1700. The uplink tone allocation hopping routine uses the tone subset allocation function, along with information received from the base station, to determine the tones on which signals should be transmitted.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the various functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk (disk) and disc (disc), as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc (BD), where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

When the embodiments are implemented using program code or code segments, it should be understood that the code segments may be represented by procedures, functions, subroutines, programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, classes, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. Additionally, in some aspects, the steps and/or actions of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a machine readable medium and/or computer readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor, in which case it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means as is known in the art.

For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments described in this application are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

As used herein, the term to "infer" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. The inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-layer events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and stored event data come from one or more event and data sources.

Furthermore, as used in this application, the terms "component," "module," and "system" and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being: a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Claims (35)

1. A method that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, the method comprising:

determining a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells comprises a single serving cell of a plurality of serving cells respectively serving a wireless terminal, the plurality of serving cells supporting a multi-carrier configuration of the wireless terminal, and wherein the subset of cells further comprises at least one non-serving cell, the single serving cell and the at least one non-serving cell being associated with a particular serving frequency;

obtaining a first measurement associated with the single serving cell and a second measurement associated with the at least one non-serving cell and evaluating a subset of the cells on the particular serving frequency;

monitoring for an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

transmitting a measurement report, wherein the transmission is triggered by an occurrence of the measurement event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining is performed in response to a measurement configuration received from an external entity.

3. A method that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, the method comprising:

determining a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes a serving cell from any one of a set of serving cells associated with a wireless terminal, the plurality of serving cells supporting a multi-carrier configuration for the wireless terminal, and wherein the subset of cells further includes a non-serving cell from a set of non-serving cells associated with a non-serving frequency;

obtaining first measurements associated with at least one serving cell and second measurements associated with at least one non-serving cell;

monitoring for an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

transmitting a measurement report, wherein the transmission is triggered by an occurrence of the measurement event.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining comprises: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to a predetermined subset determined from the set of non-serving cells.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the monitoring comprises: detecting a subsequent occurrence of a first performance parameter associated with the at least one non-serving cell exceeding a second performance parameter associated with any one of the set of serving cells, and wherein the transmitting further comprises: refraining from transmission of a subsequent measurement report associated with the subsequent occurrence.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: identifying the at least one non-serving cell.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifying comprises: a sector identity is determined from the signal used for cell identification.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifying comprises: detecting the list of at least one non-serving cell in a measurement configuration received from an external entity.

9. An apparatus that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

a processor component for analyzing information to be communicated from the apparatus and/or generating information that can be utilized by:

a memory component coupled to the processor component and configured to store computer readable instructions for execution by the processor component;

a selection component configured to determine a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells comprises a single serving cell of a plurality of serving cells respectively serving a wireless terminal, the plurality of serving cells supporting a multi-carrier configuration of the wireless terminal, and wherein the subset of cells further comprises at least one non-serving cell, the single serving cell and the at least one non-serving cell being associated with a particular serving frequency;

an evaluation component for obtaining first measurements associated with the single serving cell and second measurements associated with the at least one non-serving cell and for evaluating a subset of the cells on the particular serving frequency;

an event component to monitor for an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

a communication component for transmitting a measurement report, wherein the transmission of the measurement report is triggered by the occurrence of the measurement event.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the selection component is to: determining a subset of the cells in response to a measurement configuration received from an external entity.

11. An apparatus that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

a processor component for analyzing information to be communicated from the apparatus and/or generating information that can be utilized by:

a memory component coupled to the processor component and configured to store computer readable instructions for execution by the processor component;

a selection component to determine a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes a serving cell from any one of a set of serving cells associated with a wireless terminal, the set of serving cells supporting a multi-carrier configuration for the wireless terminal, and wherein the subset of cells further includes a non-serving cell from a set of non-serving cells associated with a non-serving frequency;

an evaluation component for obtaining a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

an event component to monitor for an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

a communication component for transmitting a measurement report, wherein the transmission of the measurement report is triggered by the occurrence of the measurement event.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the selection component is to: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to be determined from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the event component is to: detecting a subsequent occurrence of a first performance parameter associated with the at least one non-serving cell exceeding a second performance parameter associated with any one of the set of serving cells, and wherein the communication component is to: refraining from transmission of a subsequent measurement report associated with the subsequent occurrence.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the event component is to: identifying the at least one non-serving cell.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the event component is to: a sector identity is determined from the signal used for cell identification.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the event component is to: detecting the list of at least one non-serving cell in a measurement configuration received from an external entity.

17. An apparatus that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells comprises a single serving cell of a plurality of serving cells that respectively serve a wireless terminal, the plurality of serving cells supporting a multi-carrier configuration of the wireless terminal, and wherein the subset of cells further comprises at least one non-serving cell, the single serving cell and the at least one non-serving cell being associated with a particular serving frequency;

means for obtaining a first measurement associated with the single serving cell and a second measurement associated with the at least one non-serving cell and evaluating a subset of the cells on the particular serving frequency;

means for monitoring for occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

means for transmitting a measurement report, wherein the transmission of the measurement report is triggered by the occurrence of the measurement event.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means for determining is configured to: determining a subset of the cells in response to a measurement configuration received from an external entity.

19. An apparatus that facilitates performing measurements in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining a subset of cells from a plurality of cells, wherein the subset of cells includes a serving cell from any one of a set of serving cells associated with a wireless terminal, the plurality of serving cells supporting a multi-carrier configuration for the wireless terminal, and wherein the subset of cells further includes a non-serving cell from any one of a set of non-serving cells associated with non-serving frequencies;

means for obtaining first measurements associated with at least one serving cell and second measurements associated with at least one non-serving cell;

means for monitoring for occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between the first measurement and the second measurement; and

means for transmitting a measurement report, wherein the transmission of the measurement report is triggered by the occurrence of the measurement event.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the means for selecting comprises: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to be selected from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising: means for identifying the at least one non-serving cell.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for identifying comprises: means for determining a sector identity from a signal used for cell identification.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for identifying comprises: means for detecting the list of at least one non-serving cell in a measurement configuration received from an external entity.

24. A method that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, the method comprising:

receiving a measurement report associated with an occurrence of a measurement event from a wireless terminal, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells, wherein the determining comprises identifying a horizontal handover cell selection scheme that comprises restricting the at least one serving cell to a single serving cell associated with a serving frequency, and wherein the at least one non-serving cell is associated with the serving frequency; and

performing a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising: sending a measurement configuration to the wireless terminal, wherein the measurement configuration initiates implementation of the horizontal handover cell selection scheme in the wireless terminal.

26. A method that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, the method comprising:

receiving a measurement report associated with an occurrence of a measurement event from a wireless terminal, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells, wherein the determining comprises identifying a vertical handover cell selection scheme in which the at least one serving cell is selected from any one of the set of serving cells, and wherein the at least one non-serving cell is selected from any one of the set of non-serving cells associated with a non-serving frequency; and

performing a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the vertical handover cell selection scheme comprises: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to be selected from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.

28. An apparatus that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

a processor component for analyzing information to be communicated from the apparatus and/or generating information that can be utilized by:

a memory component coupled to the processor component and configured to store computer readable instructions for execution by the processor component;

a communication component for receiving a measurement report from a wireless terminal associated with an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

a scheme component for determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells, wherein the scheme component is for identifying a horizontal handover cell selection scheme that includes restricting the at least one serving cell to a single serving cell associated with a serving frequency, and wherein the at least one non-serving cell is associated with the serving frequency; and

a handover component for performing a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the communication component is configured to transmit a measurement configuration to the wireless terminal, and wherein the measurement configuration initiates implementation of the horizontal handover cell selection scheme in the wireless terminal.

30. An apparatus that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

a processor component for analyzing information to be communicated from the apparatus and/or generating information that can be utilized by:

a memory component coupled to the processor component and configured to store computer readable instructions for execution by the processor component;

a communication component for receiving a measurement report from a wireless terminal associated with an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

a scheme component for determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells, wherein the scheme component is for identifying a vertical handover cell selection scheme in which the at least one serving cell is selected from any one of the set of serving cells and wherein the at least one non-serving cell is selected from any one of the set of non-serving cells associated with a non-serving frequency; and

a handover component for performing a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the vertical handover cell selection scheme comprises: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to be selected from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.

32. An apparatus that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a measurement report from a wireless terminal associated with an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

means for determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells, wherein the means for determining comprises means for identifying a horizontal handover cell selection scheme that includes restricting the at least one serving cell to a single serving cell associated with a serving frequency, and wherein the at least one non-serving cell is associated with the serving frequency; and

means for performing a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising: means for transmitting a measurement configuration to the wireless terminal, wherein the measurement configuration initiates implementation of the horizontal handover cell selection scheme in the wireless terminal.

34. An apparatus that facilitates performing handover in multi-carrier operation, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a measurement report from a wireless terminal associated with an occurrence of a measurement event, wherein the measurement event is based on a comparison between a first measurement value associated with at least one serving cell and a second measurement value associated with at least one non-serving cell;

means for determining a cell selection scheme associated with the measurement report, wherein the cell selection scheme indicates a set of serving cells associated with the wireless terminal and a set of non-serving cells, wherein the at least one serving cell is selected from the set of serving cells and the at least one non-serving cell is selected from the set of non-serving cells, wherein the means for determining comprises means for identifying a vertical handover cell selection scheme in which the at least one serving cell is selected from any one of the set of serving cells and wherein the at least one non-serving cell is selected from any one of the set of non-serving cells associated with a non-serving frequency; and

means for performing a handover based on the occurrence and the cell selection scheme.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the vertical handover cell selection scheme comprises: limiting the at least one non-serving cell to be selected from a predetermined subset of the set of non-serving cells.