Handover criteria for wireless networks

A method for wireless communication, by a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

• receiving a configuration for at least one measurement event to be used for a handover of the UE from a source cell to one of a set of neighbor cells, wherein:
• the configuration includes at least a configured threshold Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) rank criterion associated with a throughput support for communications between a cell and the UE,
• the threshold MIMO rank criterion comprises:
• a rank of the source cell becoming higher than the threshold,
• a rank of the source cell becoming lower than the threshold,
• a rank of at least one of the set of neighbor cells exceeding a rank of the source cell by more than the threshold, and
• a rank of at least one of the neighbor cells becoming higher than the threshold, and
• measurement of a MIMO rank for at least one of the set of neighbor cells meeting or exceeding the configured threshold MIMO rank criterion triggers the UE to generate and transmit a measurement report by the UE in response to the at least one measurement event;
• determining that the configured MIMO-rank criterion has been satisfied;
• transmitting the measurement report in response to determining that the configured MIMO-rank criterion has been satisfied, the measurement report at least including a measured MIMO-rank value for one or more reported cells in the set, the one or more reported cells in the set comprising cells having measured MIMO-rank values exceeding the threshold MIMO rank criterion;
• receiving a handover command for the handover of the UE to a target cell selected from the one or more reported cells in the set for the handover based at least on the reported measured MIMO-rank value for the one or more reported cells in the set and measured signal strengths for the one or more reported cells;
• and
• initiating the handover of the UE to the target cell based on the handover command.

An apparatus for wireless communication, by a Base Station (BS), comprising:

• means for transmitting, to a User Equipment (UE), a configuration for at least one measurement event to be used for a handover of the UE from a source cell to one of a set of neighbor cells, wherein:
• the configuration includes at least a configured threshold Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) rank criterion associated with a throughput supported for communications between a cell and the UE,
• the threshold MIMO rank criterion comprises:
• a rank of the source cell becoming higher than the threshold,
• a rank of the source cell becoming lower than the threshold,
• a rank of at least one of the set of neighbor cells exceeding a rank of the source cell by more than the threshold, and
• a rank of at least one of the neighbor cells becoming higher than the threshold, and
• measurement of a MIMO rank for at least one of the set of neighbor cells meeting or exceeding the configured threshold MIMO rank criterion triggers the UE to generate and transmit a measurement report in response to the at least one measurement event;
• means for receiving, from the UE, the measurement report based on the configuration, the measurement report at least including a measured MIMO-rank value for one or more reported cells in the set, the one or more reported cells in the set comprising cells having measured MIMO-rank values exceeding the threshold MIMO rank criterion;
• means for selecting a target cell from the one or more reported cells in the set for the handover based at least on the received measured MIMO-rank values and measured signal strengths for the one or more reported cells;
• and
• means for transmitting a handover command to the UE for the handover to the selected target cell.

An apparatus for wireless communication, by a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

• means for receiving a configuration for at least one measurement event to be used for a handover of the UE from a source cell to one of a set of neighbor cells, wherein:
• the configuration includes at least a configured threshold Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) rank criterion associated with a throughput support for communications between a cell and the UE,
• the threshold MIMO rank criterion comprises:
• a rank of the source cell becoming higher than the threshold,
• a rank of the source cell becoming lower than the threshold,
• a rank of at least one of the set of neighbor cells exceeding a rank of the source cell by more than the threshold, and
• a rank of at least one of the neighbor cells becoming higher than the threshold, and
• measurement of a MIMO rank for at least one of the set of neighbor cells meeting or exceeding the configured threshold MIMO rank criterion triggers the UE to generate and transmit a measurement report by the UE in response to the at least one measurement event;
• means for determining that the configured MIMO-rank criterion has been satisfied;
• means for transmitting the measurement report in response to determining that the configured MIMO-rank criterion has been satisfied, the measurement report at least including a measured MIMO-rank value for one or more reported cells in the set, the one or more reported cells in the set comprising cells having measured MIMO-rank values exceeding the threshold MIMO rank criterion;
• means for receiving a handover command for the handover of the UE to a target cell selected from the one or more reported cells in the set for the handover based at least on the reported measured MIMO-rank value for the one or more reported cells in the set and measured signal strengths for the one or more reported cells;
• and
• means for initiating the handover of the UE to the target cell based on the handover command.