Method and apparatus for performing mobility measurements in a communication network

A method in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a subframe sequence pattern from a node in the communication network, the subframe sequence pattern indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by a neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node;
• extracting a sequence number from the received subframe, wherein the sequence number indicates a position in the sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node;
• identifying a type of subframe present, in the subframe sequence pattern, at a position associated with the extracted sequence number;
• considering the received subframe as the multicast subframe when the identified type is a multicast type;
• and
• considering the received subframe as the unicast subframe when the identified type is a unicast type.

A method in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a subframe sequence pattern from a node in the communication network, the subframe sequence pattern indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by a neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• and
• receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node,
• wherein the received subframe sequence pattern is independent of a subframe sequence pattern of the serving cell node.

A method in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving an indicator from a serving cell node, wherein the indicator indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by at least one neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• and
• receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node,
• wherein the indicator indicates that a subframe sequence pattern of each neighboring cell node is same as a subframe sequence pattern.

A method in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving an indicator from a serving cell node, wherein the indicator indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by at least one neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node;
• determining that the received subframe is the unicast subframe based on the received indicator, wherein determining that the received subframe is the unicast subframe comprises:
• extracting a binary value from the received indicator;
• considering no neighboring cell node transmits at least one multicast subframe when the extracted binary value is a second binary value;
• and
• ascertaining that the received subframe is the unicast subframe in response to considering no neighboring cell transmits at least one multicast subframe;
• and
• performing at least one measurement based on at least two symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols in response to determining that the received subframe is the unicast subframe.

An apparatus in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the apparatus comprising:

• a transceiver configured to receive a subframe sequence pattern from a node in the communication network, wherein the subframe sequence pattern indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by a neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• and to receive a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node;
• and
• a processor, coupled to the transceiver, configured to determine that the received subframe is the multicast subframe based on the subframe sequence pattern;
• and to perform a single reference symbol measurement in response to determining that the received subframe is the multicast subframe.

A method in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving a subframe sequence pattern from a node in the communication network, the subframe sequence pattern indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by a neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node;
• determining that the received subframe is the multicast subframe based on the subframe sequence pattern;
• and
• performing a single reference symbol measurement in response to determining that the received subframe is the multicast subframe.

A method in a mobile device for mobility measurements in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving an indicator from a serving cell node, wherein the indicator indicates a type of subframe being transmitted by at least one neighboring cell node, wherein the type of subframe includes a unicast subframe comprising at least two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol bearing cell-specific reference symbols, and a multicast subframe comprising at least one OFDM symbol bearing reference symbols;
• receiving a subframe from a sequence of subframes transmitted by the neighboring cell node;
• determining that the received subframe is the multicast subframe based on the received indicator;
• and
• performing a single reference symbol measurement in response to determining that the received subframe is the multicast subframe.