Mobile communication system, and carrier measurement method in the mobile communication system

A carrier measurement method of a mobile communication system including a base station and a terminal, the method comprising:

• transmitting, at the base station, a terminal-specific message including measurement gap pattern information and priority information on a plurality of RF chains for a measurement of one or more downlink carriers and muting at least one of data transmission and data scheduling to the terminal during a gap duration indicated in the measurement gap pattern information;
• determining, at the terminal, a connection state of the terminal, wherein the connection state is one of a state that a primary downlink carrier is activated or a state that the primary downlink carrier and at least one secondary downlink carrier for carrier aggregation is activated;
• selecting at least one RF chain among the plurality of RF chains according to the connection state and the priority information by minimizing a number of the at least one RF chain to be used to measure the downlink carriers;
• applying the measurement gap pattern to the selected at least one RF chain;
• and
• during a measurement gap, measuring the downlink carriers during the gap duration indicated in the measurement gap pattern information.

A carrier measurement terminal comprising:

• a radio transceiver for communicating with a base station and configuring a plurality of RF chains, wherein each of the plurality of RF chains is used for reception on one or more downlink carriers;
• a control message module configured to control the radio transceiver to receive carrier aggregation candidate configuration information, measurement gap pattern information, priority information on a plurality of RF chains, one of an activation command and a deactivation command for specific candidate downlink carriers, and one of inter-frequency measurement configuration information and inter-system measurement configuration information;
• a measurement module configured to:
• determine a connection state of the terminal, wherein the connection state is one of a state that a primary downlink carrier is activated or a state that the primary downlink carrier and at least one secondary downlink carrier for carrier aggregation are activated,
• select at least one RF chain which a measurement gap pattern is applied to among the plurality of RF chains according to the connection state and the received priority information by minimizing a number of the at least one RF chain to be used to measure the downlink carriers, and
• measure, via the radio transceiver, the downlink carriers based on the measurement gap pattern information during a measurement gap by using the selected at least one RF chain.