# US 12,120,560 B2 · Neighbor cell measurement and reselection for narrowband operation > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,120,560 B2 - Document ID: US12120560B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/368,804 - Filed: 2021-07-06 - Published: 2021-10-28 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-04 - Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Inventors: Amith Chincholi; Chun-Hao Hsu; Gurdeep Singh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120560B2 ## CPC - H04W 36/0061: {of neighbour cell information} - H04W 48/16: Discovering, processing access restriction or access information - H04W 36/0085: {Hand-off measurements} - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that may be utilized by a UE for performing neighbor cell measurement and reselection in narrowband deployment scenarios, such as NB-IoT deployment scenarios. For example, a method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), can include determining, while communicating in a serving cell, information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters of at least one neighbor cell, and performing a neighbor cell search with measurement of narrowband reference signals (NRS) based on the one or more transmission deployment mode parameters. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, while communicating in a serving cell, information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters of at least one neighbor cell; determining that a downlink valid bit map is not included in the information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters; and performing a neighbor cell search with measurement of narrowband reference signals (NRS) based at least in part on the determining, wherein performing the neighbor cell search comprises maintaining a list of recent measurements for the serving cell and the at least one neighbor cell and comparing a difference between a median of the list for the serving cell and a median of the list for the at least one neighbor cell against a threshold. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that availability of NRS in downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell is unknown, based at least in part on the determining that the downlink valid bit map is not included. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein performing the neighbor cell search comprises assuming a worst case pattern of the downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell with a minimum amount of subframes with NRS availability. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein performing the neighbor cell search further comprises evaluating different hypotheses regarding different downlink valid bit maps, selecting one of the different hypotheses with a maximum NRS received power (NRSRP), and using NRSRP of the selected hypothesis. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising using the selected hypothesis for decoding a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH) in the at least one neighbor cell. ### Claim 6 An apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions for the at least one processor to cause the UE to: receive, while communicating in a serving cell, information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters of at least one neighbor cell; determine that a downlink valid bit map is not included in the information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters; and perform a neighbor cell search with measurement of narrowband reference signals (NRS) based at least in part on the determining, wherein perform the neighbor cell search comprises maintain a list of recent measurements for the serving cell and the at least one neighbor cell and compare a difference between a median of the list for the serving cell and a median of the list for the at least one neighbor cell against a threshold. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the UE to determine that availability of NRS in downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell is unknown, based at least in part on the determining that the downlink valid bit map is not included. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus of claim 7, wherein performing the neighbor cell search comprises assuming a worst case pattern of the downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell with a minimum amount of subframes with NRS availability. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein performing the neighbor cell search further comprises evaluating different hypotheses regarding different downlink valid bit maps, selecting one of the different hypotheses with a maximum NRS received power (NRSRP), and using NRSRP of the selected hypothesis. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the UE to use the selected hypothesis for decoding a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH) in the at least one neighbor cell. ### Claim 11 A apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving, while communicating in a serving cell, information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters of at least one neighbor cell; means for determining that a downlink valid bit map is not included in the information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters; and means for performing a neighbor cell search with measurement of narrowband reference signals (NRS) based at least in part on the determining, wherein performing the neighbor cell search comprises maintaining a list of recent measurements for the serving cell and the at least one neighbor cell and comparing a difference between a median of the list for the serving cell and a median of the list for the at least one neighbor cell against a threshold. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising means for determining that availability of NRS in downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell is unknown, based at least in part on the determining that the downlink valid bit map is not included. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The apparatus of claim 12, wherein performing the neighbor cell search comprises assuming a worst case pattern of the downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell with a minimum amount of subframes with NRS availability. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein performing the neighbor cell search further comprises evaluating different hypotheses regarding different downlink valid bit maps, selecting one of the different hypotheses with a maximum NRS received power (NRSRP), and using NRSRP of the selected hypothesis. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising means for using the selected hypothesis for decoding a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH) in the at least one neighbor cell. ### Claim 16 A non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication, by a user equipment (UE), having instructions stored thereon for at least one processor to cause the UE to: receive, while communicating in a serving cell, information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters of at least one neighbor cell; determine that a downlink valid bit map is not included in the information regarding one or more transmission deployment mode parameters; and perform a neighbor cell search with measurement of narrowband reference signals (NRS) based at least in part on the determining, wherein perform the neighbor cell search comprises maintain a list of recent measurements for the serving cell and the at least one neighbor cell and compare a difference between a median of the list for the serving cell and a median of the list for the at least one neighbor cell against a threshold. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the UE to determine that availability of NRS in downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell is unknown, based at least in part on the determining that the downlink valid bit map is not included. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein performing the neighbor cell search comprises assuming a worst case pattern of the downlink subframes of the at least one neighbor cell with a minimum amount of subframes with NRS availability. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein performing the neighbor cell search further comprises evaluating different hypotheses regarding different downlink valid bit maps, selecting one of the different hypotheses with a maximum NRS received power (NRSRP), and using NRSRP of the selected hypothesis. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the UE to use the selected hypothesis for decoding a narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH) in the at least one neighbor cell.