TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communication networks, and more specifically to how a user equipment (UE) manages configured and/or ongoing application-layer (e.g., quality-of-experience) measurements in a radio access network (RAN) during handover between cells in the RAN.

BACKGROUND

Currently the fifth generation (“5G”) of cellular systems, also referred to as New Radio (NR), is being standardized within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is developed for maximum flexibility to support multiple and substantially different use cases. These include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), machine type communications (MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), side-link device-to-device (D2D), and several other use cases.

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary high-level view of the 5G network architecture, consisting of a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 199 and a 5G Core (5GC) 198. NG-RAN 199 can include a set of gNodeB’s (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 100, 150 connected via interfaces 102, 152, respectively. In addition, the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface 140 between gNBs 100 and 150. With respect the NR interface to UEs, each of the gNBs can support frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.

NG-RAN 199 is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL). The NG-RAN architecture, /.< ., the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them, is defined as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (NG, Xn, Fl) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport.

The NG RAN logical nodes shown in Figure 1 include a central (or centralized) unit (CU or gNB-CU) and one or more distributed (or decentralized) units (DU or gNB-DU). For example, gNB 100 includes gNB-CU 110 and gNB-DUs 120 and 130. CUs are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and perform various gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs. DUs are logical nodes that host lower-layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split, various subsets of the gNB functions. As such, each of the CUs and DUs can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, transceiver circuitry (e.g., for communication), and power supply circuitry. A gNB-CU connects to gNB-DUs over respective Fl logical interfaces, such as interfaces 122 and 132 shown in Figure 1. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB. In other words, the Fl interface is not visible beyond gNB-CU.

Application-layer quality of experience (QoE) measurements were specified for UEs operating in LTE and earlier-generation UMTS networks, and are being specified in 3 GPP for UEs operation in NR networks. Measurements in all of these networks operate according to similar high-level principles, with the purpose of measuring the experience of end users when using certain applications over a network. For example, QoE measurements for streaming services and for MTSI (Mobility Telephony Service for IMS) are supported in LTE. QoE measurements will also be needed for UEs operating in NR networks.

Radio resource control (RRC) signaling is used to configure application-layer measurements in UEs and to collect QoE measurement result files from configured UEs. In particular, application-layer measurement configuration from a core network (e.g., EPC, 5GC) or a network operations/administration /maintenance (0AM) function is encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to a UE’s serving base station (e.g., eNB, gNB), which forwards it to a UE in an RRC message. Application-layer measurements made by the UE are encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the serving base station in an RRC message. The serving base station then forwards the container to a Trace Collector Entity (TCE) or a Measurement Collection Entity (MCE) associated with the CN.

SUMMARY

NR and LTE radio access networks (RANs) configure UEs to perform and report radio resource management (RRM) measurements to assist network-controlled mobility decisions, such as for handover from a serving cell to a neighbor cell. However, there are various problems, issues, and/or difficulties related to a UE’s configured QoE measurements when the UE is handed over from a first RAN node (e.g., gNB or eNB) to a second RAN node.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide specific improvements to QoE measurements by UEs in a wireless network, such as by providing, enabling, and/or facilitating solutions to exemplary problems summarized above and described in more detail below.

Embodiments include methods e.g., procedures) for a second RAN node configured to manage application-layer (e.g., QoE) measurements by UEs in a RAN.

These exemplary methods can include receiving, from a first RAN node, a request to handover a UE to a target cell served by the second RAN node. The handover request includes an RRC context for the UE. The RRC context includes an indication of one or more application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE by the RAN. These exemplary methods can also include determining whether each of the application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE should be maintained after handover of the UE to the target cell. These exemplary methods can also include discarding the received RRC context, except for the indications associated with application-layer measurement configurations that were determined as should be maintained. These exemplary methods can also include creating for the UE a full configuration for the target cell and sending the full configuration to the UE via the first RAN node. The full configuration includes an indication of the application-layer measurement configurations that were determined as should be maintained.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include determining for the UE one or more further application-layer measurement configurations for the target cell. The full configuration also includes the further application-layer measurement configurations.

In some embodiments, determining whether each of the application-layer measurement configurations in the UE should be maintained after handover to the target cell can include determining that all of the application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE should be maintained after handover to the target cell.

In other embodiments, the received RRC context can include one or more session start indications associated with the respective one or more application-layer measurement configurations. In such embodiments, , determining whether each of the application-layer measurement configurations in the UE should be maintained after handover to the target cell can include one or more the following:

• determining that an application-layer measurement configuration should be maintained when the associated session start indication indicates that a measurement session has been initiated or is ongoing; and

• determining that an application-layer measurement configuration should not be maintained when the associated session start indication indicates that a measurement session has not been initiated and/or is not ongoing.

In some embodiments, the indication of the application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE includes respective first identifiers associated with the respective application-layer measurement configurations. In some of these embodiments, the first identifiers are known to the UE and the received RRC context also includes one of the following:

• second identifiers associated with the respective first identifiers, wherein the second identifiers are not known to the UE; or

• a mapping between the first identifiers and the second identifiers.

In some embodiments, at least one of the application-layer measurement configurations was provided to the UE by a RAN node other than the first RAN node. In some embodiments, the application-layer measurements are QoE measurements. In some embodiments, the full configuration is included in an RRCReconfiguration message that is encapsulated in a handover request acknowledgement sent to the first RAN node

Other embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE configured for application-layer (e.g., QoE) measurements in the RAN.

These exemplary methods can include receiving one or more configurations of application-layer measurements to be performed by the UE while the UE is connected to the RAN. For example, the application-layer measurements can be QoE measurements. These exemplary methods can also include receiving, from a first RAN node, a command to handover to a target cell served by a second RAN node. The handover command includes a full configuration for the UE in the target cell. The full configuration includes an indication of at least a portion of the received application-layer measurement configurations. These exemplary methods can also include performing one or more one or more first operations with respect to the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command. These exemplary methods can also include performing one or more one or more second operations with respect to the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command.

In some embodiments, the one or more first operations can include any of the following, individually or in various combinations:

• maintaining the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command;

• sending stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command;

• continuing application-layer measurements associated with the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command;

• initiating application-layer measurements associated with the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command; and

• sending application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurements that are continued or initiated.

In some embodiments, the one or more second operations can include any of the following, individually or in various combinations:

• releasing the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command;

• maintaining the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command; • discarding any stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command;

• maintaining any stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command; and

• stopping or pausing ongoing application-layer measurements associated with the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command.

In some embodiments, the full configuration also includes one or more further applicationlayer measurement configurations for the UE in the target cell, and the one or more first operations are also performed with respect to the further application-layer measurement configurations.

In some embodiments, the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command include all of the received application-layer measurement configurations. In other embodiments, one or more of the following applies:

• each of the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command is associated with a measurement session has been initiated by the UE or is ongoing; and

• each of the application-layer measurement configurations not indicated in the handover command is not associated with any measurement sessions that have been initiated by the UE or are ongoing.

In some embodiments, the indication of at least a portion of the received application-layer measurement configurations includes respective first identifiers associated with respective application-layer measurement configurations.

In some embodiments, at least one of the application-layer measurement configurations is received from a RAN node other than the first RAN node. In some embodiments, the applicationlayer measurements are QoE measurements. In some embodiments, the full configuration is received in an RRCReconfiguration message.

Other embodiments include UEs (e.g., wireless devices, etc.) and RAN nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, TRPs, etc.) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. Other embodiments include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, configure such UEs or RAN nodes to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. These and other embodiments described herein can facilitate handover with possibly some reconfiguration of QoE measurements without having to include a QoE configuration container in each RRCReconfiguration message sent to the UE via the source RAN node in conjunction with handover. This reduces the sizes of messages sent from target to source RAN node and from source RAN node to the UE, as well as processing resources and energy consumption needed to handle such messages at the RAN nodes and at the UE.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description in view of the Drawings briefly described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figures 1-2 illustrate two high-level views of an exemplary 5G/NR network architecture.

Figure 3 shows an exemplary configuration of NR user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacks.

Figures 4A-C illustrate various aspects of QoE measurement configuration for a UE in an LTE network.

Figures 5 A-C illustrate various aspects of QoE measurement collection for a UE in an LTE network.

Figure 6 is a diagram of signaling between a UE, a first RAN node, and a second RAN node, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 7 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a RAN node, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 8 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 9 shows a communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 10 shows a UE according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 11 shows a network node according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 12 shows host computing system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 13 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized. Figure 14 illustrates communication between a host computing system, a network node, and a UE via multiple connections, at least one of which is wireless, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods and/or procedures disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments can apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Furthermore, the following terms are used throughout the description given below:

• Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” can be either a “radio access node” or a “wireless device.”

• Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” (or equivalently “radio network node,” “radio access network node,” or “RAN node”) can be any node in a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., micro, pico, femto, or home base station, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a transmission point (TP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node. • Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a PDN Gateway (P-GW), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a Charging Function (CHF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a location management function (LMF), or the like.

• Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” (or “WD” for short) is any type of device that has access to (/.< ., is served by) a cellular communications network by communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. Unless otherwise noted, the term “wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with “user equipment” (or “UE” for short). Some examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback appliances, wearable devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), mobile-type communication (MTC) devices, Internet-of-Things (loT) devices, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc.

• Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the radio access network (e.g., a radio access node or equivalent name discussed above) or of the core network (e.g., a core network node discussed above) of a cellular communications network. Functionally, a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the cellular communications network.

• Base station: As used herein, a “base station” may comprise a physical or a logical node transmitting or controlling the transmission of radio signals, e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en- gNB, centralized unit (CU)/distributed unit (DU), transmitting radio network node, transmission point (TP), transmission reception point (TRP), remote radio head (RRH), remote radio unit (RRU), Distributed Antenna System (DAS), relay, etc. The above definitions are not meant to be exclusive. In other words, various ones of the above terms may be explained and/or described elsewhere in the present disclosure using the same or similar terminology. Nevertheless, to the extent that such other explanations and/or descriptions conflict with the above definitions, the above definitions should control.

Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3 GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system. Furthermore, although the term “cell” is used herein, it should be understood that (particularly with respect to 5G NR) beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams.

Figure 2 shows a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including NG- RAN 299 and 5GC 298. As shown in the figure, NG-RAN 299 can include gNBs (e.g., 210a, b) and ng-eNBs (e.g., 220a, b) that are interconnected with each other via respective Xn interfaces. The gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected via the NG interfaces to the 5GC, more specifically to the access and mobility management functions (AMFs, e.g., 230a, b) via respective NG-C interfaces and to the user plane functions (UPFs, e.g., 240a, b) via respective NG-U interfaces. Moreover, the AMFs can communicate with one or more policy control functions (PCFs, e.g., 250a, b) and network exposure functions (NEFs, e.g., 260a, b).

Each of the gNBs can support the NR radio interface including FDD, TDD, or a combination thereof. Each of ng-eNBs can support the fourth-generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio interface. Unlike conventional LTE eNBs, however, ng-eNBs connect to the 5GC via the NG interface. Each of the gNBs and ng-eNBs can serve a geographic coverage area including one more cells, such as cells 21 la-b and 221a-b shown in Figure 2. Depending on the cell in which it is located, a UE (205) can communicate with the gNB or ng-eNB serving that cell via the NR or LTE radio interface, respectively. Although Figure 2 shows gNBs and ng-eNBs separately, it is also possible that a single NG-RAN node provides both types of functionality.

5G/NR technology shares many similarities with LTE. For example, NR uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the DL and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL. As another example, in the time domain, NR DL and UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized 1-ms subframes. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration, with each slot including multiple OFDM-based symbols. However, time-frequency resources can be configured much more flexibly for an NR cell than for an LTE cell. For example, rather than a fixed 15-kHz OFDM sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as in LTE, NR SCS can range from 15 to 240 kHz, with even greater SCS considered for future NR releases. In addition to providing coverage via cells as in LTE, NR networks also provide coverage via “beams.” In general, a downlink (DL, i.e., network to UE) “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted reference signal (RS) that may be measured or monitored by a UE. In NR, for example, RS can include any of the following: synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB), channel state information RS (CSI-RS), tertiary reference signals (or any other sync signal), positioning RS (PRS), demodulation RS (DMRS), phase-tracking reference signals (PTRS), etc. In general, SSB is available to all UEs regardless of the state of their connection with the network, while other RS (e.g., CSI-RS, DM-RS, PTRS) are associated with specific UEs that have a network connection.

Figure 3 shows an exemplary configuration of NR user plane (UP) or control plane (CP) protocol stacks between a UE, a gNB, and an AMF. Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers between the UE and the gNB are common to UP and CP. The PDCP layer provides ciphering/deciphering, integrity protection, sequence numbering, reordering, and duplicate detection for both CP and UP. In addition, PDCP provides header compression and retransmission for UP data.

On the UP side, Internet protocol (IP) packets arrive to the PDCP layer as service data units (SDUs), and PDCP creates protocol data units (PDUs) to deliver to RLC. The Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer handles quality-of-service (QoS) including mapping between QoS flows and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and marking QoS flow identifiers (QFI) in UL and DL packets. The RLC layer transfers PDCP PDUs to the MAC through logical channels (LCH). RLC provides error detection/correction, concatenation, segmentation/reassembly, sequence numbering, reordering of data transferred to/from the upper layers. The MAC layer provides mapping between LCHs and PHY transport channels, LCH prioritization, multiplexing into or demultiplexing from transport blocks (TBs), hybrid ARQ (HARQ) error correction, and dynamic scheduling (on gNB side). The PHY layer provides transport channel services to the MAC layer and handles transfer over the NR radio interface, e.g., via modulation, coding, antenna mapping, and beam forming.

On CP side, the non-access stratum (NAS) layer is between UE and AMF and handles UE/gNB authentication, mobility management, and security control. The RRC layer sits below NAS in the UE but terminates in the gNB rather than the AMF. RRC controls communications between UE and gNB at the radio interface as well as the mobility of a UE between cells in the NG-RAN. RRC also broadcasts system information (SI) and performs establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of DRBs and Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) and used by UEs. Additionally, RRC controls addition, modification, and release of carrier aggregation (CA) and dual -connectivity (DC) configurations for UEs. RRC also performs various security functions such as key management.

After a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC IDLE state until an RRC connection is established with the network, at which time the UE will transition to RRC CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can occur). The UE returns to RRC IDLE after the connection with the network is released. In RRC IDLE state, the UE’s radio is active on a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by upper layers. During DRX active periods (also referred to as “DRX On durations”), an RRC IDLE UE receives SI broadcast in the cell where the UE is camping, performs measurements of neighbor cells to support cell reselection, and monitors a paging channel on PDCCH for pages from 5GC via gNB. An NR UE in RRC IDLE state is not known to the gNB serving the cell where the UE is camping.

NR RRC also includes an RRC INACTIVE state in which a UE is known (e.g., via UE context) by the serving gNB. RRC INACTIVE has some properties similar to a “suspended” condition used in LTE. More specifically, an RRC INACTIVE UE remains in CM- CONNECTED (i.e., where the UE’s CN resources are maintained) and can move within a RAN Notification Area (RNA) configured by NG-RAN without notifying the NG-RAN of changes in serving gNBs within the RNA. In RRC_INACTIVE, the last serving gNB node keeps the UE context and the UE-associated NG connection with the UE’s serving AMF and UPF.

If the last serving gNB receives DL data for the UE from the UPF while the UE is in RRC IN ACTIVE, it pages in the cells corresponding to the RNA and may send XnAP RAN Paging to neighbor gNB(s) if the RNA includes cells of neighbor gNB(s). The same paging takes place when the last serving gNB receives DL UE-associated signaling from the AMF, except a UE Context Release Command message. Upon receiving such a UE Context Release Command message for an RRC INACTIVE UE, the last serving gNB may page in the cells corresponding to the RNA and may send XnAP RAN Paging to neighbor gNB(s) if the RNA includes cells of neighbor gNB(s), in order to release UE explicitly.

In general, the RNA configured for a UE can a single or multiple cells within the UE’s CN registration area. There are several different alternatives on how the RNA can be configured. For example, a UE can be provided an explicit list of one or more cells that constitute the RNA. Alternately, the UE can be provided (at least one) RAN area ID, where a RAN area is a CN Tracking Area or a subset thereof. A RAN area is specified by one RAN area ID, which consists of a tracking area code (TAC) and optionally a RAN area code. Each cell can broadcast one or more RAN area IDs in its SI. The NG-RAN may provide different RNA definitions to different UEs but not one definition to each UE at any given time. As briefly mentioned above, QoE measurements have been specified for UEs operating in LTE networks and in earlier-generation UMTS networks. Measurements in both networks operate according to the same high-level principles. Their purpose is to measure the experience of end users when using certain applications over a network. For example, QoE measurements for streaming services and for MTSI (Mobility Telephony Service for IMS) are supported in LTE.

QoE measurements may be initiated towards the RAN from an 0AM node generically for a group of UEs (e.g., all UEs meeting one or more criteria), or they may also be initiated from the CN to the RAN for a specific UE. The configuration of the measurement includes the measurement details, which is encapsulated in a container that is transparent to RAN.

A "TRACE START" S1AP message is used by the LTE EPC for initiating QoE measurements by a specific UE. This message carries details about the measurement configuration the application should collect in the “Container for application-layer measurement configuration” IE, which transparent to the RAN. This message also includes details needed to reach the TCE to which the measurements should be sent.

Figures 4A-C illustrate a procedure between an E-UTRAN and a UE for configuring QoE measurements in an LTE network. Figure 4A shows an exemplary UE capability transfer procedure used to transfer UE radio access capability information from the UE to E-UTRAN. Initially, the E-UTRAN can send a UECapabilityEnquiry message. The UE can respond with a UECapabilitylnformation message that includes a “UE-EUTRA-Capability” IE.

This IE may further include a UE-EUTRA-Capability-v 1530 IE, which can be used to indicate whether the UE supports QoE Measurement Collection for streaming services and/or MTSI services. In particular, the UE-EUTRA-Capability-v 1530 IE can include a measParameters-vl 530 IE containing the information about the UE’s measurement support. In some cases, the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE can also include a UE-EUTRA-Capability-v 16xy- IE”, which can include a qoe-Extensions-rl6 field. Figure 4B shows an exemplary ASN. l data structure for these various IES, with the various fields defined in Table 1 below.

Table 1.

Figure 4C shows an exemplary ASN. l data structure for the qoe-Reference parameter mentioned in Table 1 above.

Figures 5 A-C illustrate various aspects of QoE measurement collection for a UE in an LTE network. In particular, Figure 5A shows an exemplary signal flow diagram of a QoE measurement collection process for LTE. To initiate QoE measurements, the serving eNB sends to a UE in RRC CONNECTED state an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message that includes a QoE configuration file, e.g., a measConfigAppLayer IE within an OtherConfig E. As discussed above, the QoE configuration file is an application-layer measurement configuration received by the eNB (e.g., from EPC) encapsulated in a transparent container, which is forwarded to UE in the RRC message. The UE responds with an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message.

Subsequently, the UE performs the configured QoE measurements and sends a MeasReportAppLayer RRC message to the eNB, including a QoE measurement result file. Although not shown, the eNB can forward this result file transparently (e.g., to EPC). More specifically, if the UE has been configured with SRB4, the UE can:

• set the measReportAppLayerContainer in the MeasReportAppLayer message to the value of the application layer measurement report information;

• set the serviceType in the MeasReportAppLayer message to the type of the application layer measurement report information; and

• submit the MeasReportAppLayer message to lower layers for transmission via SRB4.

Figure 5B shows an exemplary ASN. l data structure for a measConfigAppLayer IE. The setup includes the transparent container measConfigAppLayerContainer which specifies the QoE measurement configuration for the Application of interest. In the serviceType field, a value of “qoe” indicates Quality of Experience Measurement Collection for streaming services and a value of “qoemtsi” indicates Enhanced Quality of Experience Measurement Collection for MTSI. This field also includes various spare values.

Figure 5C shows an exemplary ASN.l data structure for a measReportAppLayer IE, by which a UE can send to the E-UTRAN (e.g., via SRB4) the QoE measurement results of an application (or service). The service for which the report is being sent is indicated in the serviceType IE.

Seamless mobility is a key feature of 3GPP radio access technologies (RATs). In general, a network configures a UE to perform and report radio resource management (RRM) measurements to assist network-controlled mobility decisions, such as for handover from a serving cell to a neighbor cell while the UE is in RRC CONNECTED state. Seamless handovers ensure that the UE moves around in the coverage area of different cells without causing too many interruptions in data transmission.

During preparation for handover of a UE to a target node, the source node sends the current UE configuration to the target node in the HANDOVER REQUEST message. The target node prepares a target configuration for the UE based on the current configuration and the capabilities of the target node and the UE. The target node sends the target configuration to the source node in a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message, which the source node encapsulates in an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE. As a streamlined option, the target configuration can be signaled as a “delta-configuration” including only the differences from the UE’s current configuration in the source cell.

However, the target node may not recognize something in the UE’s current configuration because it is a feature supported by the source node but not the target node. In such case the target node will trigger a full configuration, causing the UE to discard the current configuration and make a new configuration from scratch. This is referred to as "full configuration" or "full config" and is further described in 3GPP TS 38.331 (vl6.4.1) section 5.3.5.11. Full configuration may also be used in the following cases:

• when the network prefers to signal a full target configuration rather than a delta configuration with respect to the UE’s current configuration; and

• when the target node does not support QoE measurements, or does not support QoE measurements of a certain type supported and/or previously configured by the source node.

The decision whether to send a delta configuration or a full configuration is left to the target RAN node and can vary according to network implementation. It is important that a serving RAN node and a UE have the same understanding of the UE’s configuration, including the UE’s QoE configuration. The serving RAN node maintains a mirror of the UE's configuration in what is referred to as “UE context.” If the serving RAN node and the UE have different understanding of the UE's configuration, the UE may behave in a way unexpected by the network and/or the serving RAN node may request the UE to perform actions that the UE is unable (e.g., not configured) to performed.

It may not be necessary for a serving RAN node to know the exact content of the UE’s QoE configuration(s), but at least the serving RAN node needs to know that the UE has certain QoE configurations that can be identified, e.g., by indices. This allows the serving RAN node to release or modify the QoE configurations that the UE has, and to avoid providing the UE with a new QoE configuration that has an index associated with one of the UE’s existing QoE configurations.

Currently, network actions are unclear during handover for a UE that has existing QoE configuration(s). For example, a target RAN node may send a delta RRC configuration to the UE once the HANDOVER REQUEST is received from the serving (or source) RAN node. In this case, there should not be any problem the target RAN node can handle the UE context including the QoE configuration that will be configurated as part of otherConfig information sent to the UE.

Alternately, a target RAN node may decide to send a full configuration (or fullConfig') to the UE, which configures the UE from the scratch and causes the UE to discard (e.g., delete or make unusable in some other way) the RRC configuration received from the source RAN node. This also causes the target RAN node to discard the mirrored RRC configuration that it maintains. However, the target RAN node may decide to not release the QoE configuration at the UE, and that the UE should continue the previously configured QoE measurements. However, since the target RAN node flushes the UE RRC context received from the source RAN node, there will be a mismatch between the RRC configurations maintained by the UE and the target RAN node. In other words, UE will keep the QoE configuration received from the source RAN node but target RAN node does not have it due to discarding it during the full configuration procedure.

Some existing techniques allow the UE to take counter actions when a target RAN node sends a full configuration while supporting previously configured QoE measurements. However, other actions need to be taken by the target RAN node to facilitate the continued QoE measurements and reception of the QoE measurements reports from the UE. These currently unspecified actions include appropriate handling of the UE’s existing QoE configurations (i.e., provided by source or other RAN nodes) when sending a full configuration to the UE. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide flexible and efficient techniques whereby a target RAN node can maintain the UE’ s QoE configurations received from the source RAN node, including maintaining the UE’s QoE configurations in or with the UE RRC context even if the UE RRC context received from the source RAN node is discarded and a new RRC context is created due to performing handover with a full configuration.

Embodiments can be summarized at a high level as follows. A target RAN node for a UE handover can determine whether the UE is configured with one or more existing QoE configurations and can send a full configuration to UE, e.g., to the source node in a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message, which the source node encapsulates in an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE. The target RAN node then determines the RRC context of the UE (i.e., to be stored or maintained by the target RAN node) based on a combination of the full configuration and the one or more existing QoE configurations.

In this manner, embodiments can facilitate handover with possibly some reconfiguration of QoE measurements without having to include a QoE configuration container in each RRCReconfiguration message sent to the UE via the source RAN node in conjunction with handover. This reduces the sizes of messages sent from target to source RAN node and from source RAN node to the UE, as well as processing resources and energy consumption needed to handle such messages at the RAN nodes and at the UE.

In the following description of embodiments, the following groups of terms and/or abbreviations have the same or substantially similar meanings and, as such, are used interchangeably and/or synonymously unless specifically noted or unless a different meaning is clear from a specific context of use:

• “application layer” and “UE application layer” (RAN nodes generally do not have an application layer);

• “application-layer measurement”, "application measurement”, and “QoE measurement”;

• “QoE measurement report”, “QoE report”, “measurement report”, and “report”;

• “QoE measurement configuration”, “QoE configuration”, “measurement configuration”;

• “modem”, “radio layer”, “radio network layer”, and “access stratum”;

• “radio layer connection” and “RRC connection”;

• “UE RRC configuration”, “RRC configuration”, “UE RRC context”, “RRC context”, “context”;

• “service” and “application”;

• “measurement collection entity”, “MCE”, “trace collection entity”, and “TCE”.

Although embodiments are described in the context of UE handovers, embodiments are also applicable to other UE reconfiguration events than handover. For example, there may be more RRC parameters added later and if any of these RRC parameters are changed, principles of the disclosed embodiments can also be used to change these parameters towards the UE without having to include the QoE configuration container in a message to the UE.

Figure 6 shows a signaling diagram between a UE (610), a first RAN node (620), and a second RAN node (630) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Although Figure 6 shows operations with numerical labels, the numbers are intended to facilitate the following description rather than to require and/or imply any particular order of the operations, unless expressly stated to the contrary.

In operation 1, the first RAN node configures the UE with a QoE measurement configuration via the radio-layer (e.g., RRC) connection with the UE. The first RAN node also arranges itself to receive subsequent QoE measurement reports from UE application layer via the RRC connection with the UE. In operation 2, the UE radio layer sends the QoE configuration to the UE application layer, which then can be considered as configured to perform QoE measurements according to the received configuration.

In operation 3, the first RAN node sends a HANDOVER REQUEST to the second RAN node including the UE RRC context which contains indication of the QoE configurations. At this point the first and second RAN nodes become the UE’s source and target RAN nodes for handover. For example, the indication may refer to QoE configuration identifiers that the UE previously received from the first RAN node or from another RAN node, i.e., before being handed over to the first RAN node. Other information about the QoE configuration which is not part of the UE RRCs configuration may also be sent to the second RAN node, such as a mapping between an identifier provided to the UE (e.g., MeasConfigAppLayerld) and a QoE reference that is not provided to the UE. In the following, the indication will refer to both the indication and any other information about the QoE configuration that was provided by the first RAN node.

Upon receiving the HANDOVER REQUEST, the second RAN node decides to send a full configuration to the UE via the first RAN node. This decision can be for any of various reasons, including those discussed above. In operation 4, the second RAN node determines whether to maintain the indicated QoE configurations at the UE. This determination can be based on the status of the QoE configuration at the UE, such as whether or not there is an ongoing session for the configured QoE measurements in the application layer. For example, a session start indication can be included in the UE context information received from the first RAN node.

As an example, when a QoE measurement session is ongoing for an indicated QoE configuration, the second RAN node can decide to keep the QoE configuration even if it sends a full configuration to the UE. On the other hand, when a QoE measurement session is not ongoing for an indicated QoE configuration, the second RAN node can decide to keep or release the QoE configuration.

In operation 5, the second RAN node discards (e.g., deletes or makes unusable in some way) the received UE context except for the indication(s) associated with QoE configurations that the second RAN node determined to keep or maintain in operation 4. In operation 6, the second RAN node creates a full configuration for the UE, including the indication of the UE’s existing QoE configurations that the second RAN node determined to keep or maintain. In some embodiments, the second RAN node can add one or more new QoE configurations, such that the full configuration also include these newly added QoE configuration(s).

In operation 7, the second RAN node sends the first RAN node a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message with the full configuration determined and/or created in operation 6. As mentioned above, the full configuration can be part of an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, which is encapsulated in the HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message. In operation 8, the first RAN node sends the UE a Handover Command, which includes the full configuration with the indication of QoE configurations and any newly added QoE configuration(s). For example, the Handover Command can be, or include, the encapsulated RRCReconfiguration message received from the second RAN node.

In operation 9, the UE continues performing and reporting the previously configured QoE measurements in the handover target cell serve by the second RAN node. The continuation of QoE measurements can be based on the indication of existing QoE configuration(s) that the UE received in the Handover Command. More specifically, the UE can continue QoE measurements associated with indications received in the Handover Command, and stop (or refrain from starting) any other previously configured QoE measurements. The UE may also discard (e.g., delete or make unusable in some other way) other existing QoE configurations, i.e., those not associated with indications received in the Handover Command. In operation 9, the UE may also start any QoE measurements that are newly configured by the Handover Command.

Various features of the embodiments described above correspond to various operations illustrated in Figures 7-8, which show exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) for a RAN node and a UE, respectively. In other words, various features of the operations described below correspond to various embodiments described above. Furthermore, the exemplary methods shown in Figures 7-8 can be used cooperatively to provide various benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems described herein. Although Figures 7-8 show specific blocks in particular orders, the operations of the exemplary methods can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and/or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown. Optional blocks or operations are indicated by dashed lines. In particular, Figure 7 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a second RAN node configured to manage application-layer measurements by UEs in the RAN, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method can be performed by a RAN node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, TRP, etc. such as described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary method can include the operations of block 710, where the second RAN node can receive, from a first RAN node, a request to handover a UE to a target cell served by the second RAN node. The handover request includes an RRC context for the UE. The RRC context includes an indication of one or more application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE by the RAN. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 720, where the second RAN node can determine whether each of the application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE should be maintained after handover of the UE to the target cell.

The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 740, where the second RAN node can discard the received RRC context, except for the indications associated with application-layer measurement configurations that were determined as should be maintained. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 750, where the second RAN node can create a full configuration for the UE in the target cell. The full configuration can include an indication of the application-layer measurement configurations that were determined as should be maintained. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 760, where the second RAN node can send the full configuration to the UE via the first RAN node.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 730, where the second RAN node can determine for the UE one or more further application-layer measurement configurations for the target cell. The full configuration also includes the further application-layer measurement configurations.

In some embodiments, determining whether each of the application-layer measurement configurations in the UE should be maintained after handover to the target cell in block 720 can include the operations of sub-block 721, where the second RAN node can determine that all of the application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE should be maintained after handover to the target cell.

In other embodiments, the received RRC context can include one or more session start indications associated with the respective one or more application-layer measurement configurations. In such embodiments, determining whether each of the application-layer measurement configurations in the UE should be maintained after handover to the target cell in block 720 can include one or more the following, labelled with corresponding sub-block numbers: • (722) determining that an application-layer measurement configuration should be maintained when the associated session start indication indicates that a measurement session has been initiated or is ongoing; and

• (723) determining that an application-layer measurement configuration should not be maintained when the associated session start indication indicates that a measurement session has not been initiated and/or is not ongoing.

In some embodiments, the indication of the application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE includes respective first identifiers associated with the respective application-layer measurement configurations. In some of these embodiments, the first identifiers are known to the UE and the received RRC context also includes one of the following:

• second identifiers associated with the respective first identifiers, wherein the second identifiers are not known to the UE; or

• a mapping between the first identifiers and the second identifiers.

In some embodiments, at least one of the application-layer measurement configurations was provided to the UE by a RAN node other than the first RAN node. In some embodiments, the application-layer measurements are QoE measurements. In some embodiments, the full configuration is included in an RRCReconfiguration message that is encapsulated in a handover request acknowledgement sent to the first RAN node (e.g., in block 760).

In addition, Figure 8 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE configured for application-layer measurements in a RAN, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method can be performed by a UE (e.g., wireless device, etc.) such as described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary method can include the operations of block 810, where the UE can receive one or more configurations of application-layer measurements to be performed by the UE while the UE is connected to the RAN. For example, the application-layer measurements can be QoE measurements. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 820, where the UE can receive, from a first RAN node, a command to handover to a target cell served by a second RAN node. The handover command includes a full configuration for the UE in the target cell. The full configuration includes an indication of at least a portion of the received application-layer measurement configurations. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 830, where the UE can perform one or more one or more first operations with respect to the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 840, where the UE can perform one or more one or more second operations with respect to the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command. In some embodiments, the one or more first operations performed in block 830 can include any of the following, individually or in various combinations:

• maintaining the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command;

• sending stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command;

• continuing application-layer measurements associated with the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command;

• initiating application-layer measurements associated with the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command; and

• sending application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurements that are continued or initiated.

In some embodiments, the one or more second operations performed in block 840 can include any of the following, individually or in various combinations:

• releasing the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command;

• maintaining the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command;

• discarding any stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command;

• maintaining any stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command; and

• stopping or pausing ongoing application-layer measurements associated with the application-layer measurement configurations that are not indicated in the handover command.

In some embodiments, the full configuration also includes one or more further applicationlayer measurement configurations for the UE in the target cell, and the one or more first operations are also performed (e.g., in block 830) with respect to the further application-layer measurement configurations.

In some embodiments, the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command include all of the received application-layer measurement configurations. In other embodiments, one or more of the following applies: • each of the application-layer measurement configurations indicated in the handover command is associated with a measurement session that has been initiated by the UE or is ongoing; and

• each of the application-layer measurement configurations not indicated in the handover command is not associated with any measurement sessions that have been initiated by the UE or are ongoing.

In some embodiments, the indication of at least a portion of the received application-layer measurement configurations includes respective first identifiers associated with respective application-layer measurement configurations.

In some embodiments, at least one of the application-layer measurement configurations is received from a RAN node other than the first RAN node. In some embodiments, the applicationlayer measurements are QoE measurements. In some embodiments, the full configuration is received (e.g., in block 820) in an RRCReconfiguration message.

Although various embodiments are described above in terms of methods, techniques, and/or procedures, the person of ordinary skill will readily comprehend that such methods, techniques, and/or procedures can be embodied by various combinations of hardware and software in various systems, communication devices, computing devices, control devices, apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, computer program products, etc.

Figure 9 shows an example of a communication system 900 in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, the communication system 900 includes a telecommunication network 902 that includes an access network 904, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 906, which includes one or more core network nodes 908. The access network 904 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 910a and 910b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 910), or any other similar 3 GPP access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes 910 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UEs, such as by connecting UEs 912a, 912b, 912c, and 912d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 912) to the core network 906 over one or more wireless connections.

Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 900 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 900 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

The UEs 912 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 910 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 910 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 912 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 902 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 902.

In the depicted example, the core network 906 connects the network nodes 910 to one or more hosts, such as host 916. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 906 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 908) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 908. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

The host 916 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 904 and/or the telecommunication network 902, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 916 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

As a whole, the communication system 900 of Figure 9 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, the telecommunication network 902 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 902 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 902. For example, the telecommunications network 902 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, the UEs 912 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 904 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 904. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e., being configured for multi -radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

In the example, the hub 914 communicates with the access network 904 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 912c and/or 912d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 910b). In some examples, the hub 914 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 914 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 906 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 914 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 910, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 914. As another example, the hub 914 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 914 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 914 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 914 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 914 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

The hub 914 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 910b. The hub 914 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub 914 and UEs (e.g., UE 912c and/or 912d), and between the hub 914 and the core network 906. In other examples, the hub 914 is connected to the core network 906 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 914 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 904 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 910 while still connected via the hub 914 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 914 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node 910b. In other embodiments, the hub 914 may be a nondedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 910b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Figure 10 shows a UE 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). The UE 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input/output interface 1006, a power source 1008, a memory 1010, a communication interface 1012, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The processing circuitry 1002 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 1010. The processing circuitry 1002 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general -purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1002 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

In the example, the input/output interface 1006 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 1000. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

In some embodiments, the power source 1008 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 1008 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1008 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1000 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1008. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1008 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1000 to which power is supplied.

The memory 1010 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1010 includes one or more application programs 1014, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1016. The memory 1010 may store, for use by the UE 1000, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

The memory 1010 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1010 may allow the UE 1000 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1010, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

The processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1012. The communication interface 1012 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1022. The communication interface 1012 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1018 and/or a receiver 1020 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1018 and receiver 1020 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1022) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1012 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1012, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., an alert is sent when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 1000 shown in Figure 10.

As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

Figure 11 shows a network node 1100 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NRNodeBs (gNBs)).

Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

The network node 1100 includes a processing circuitry 1102, a memory 1104, a communication interface 1106, and a power source 1108. The network node 1100 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1100 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1100 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1104 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1110 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1100 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1100, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1100.

The processing circuitry 1102 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1100 components, such as the memory 1104, to provide network node 1100 functionality.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and the baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

The memory 1104 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1102. The memory 1104 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions (collectively denoted computer program product 1104a) capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1102 and utilized by the network node 1100. The memory 1104 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1102 and/or any data received via the communication interface 1106. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 and memory 1104 is integrated.

The communication interface 1106 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1106 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1116 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1106 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1118 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1110. Radio front-end circuitry 1118 comprises filters 1120 and amplifiers 1122. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may be connected to an antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio frontend circuitry 1118 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1120 and/or amplifiers 1122. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1110. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1110 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1118. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1102. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1100 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1118, instead, the processing circuitry 1102 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1110. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1112 is part of the communication interface 1106. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1106 includes one or more ports or terminals 1116, the radio frontend circuitry 1118, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1112, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1106 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1114, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

The antenna 1110 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1110 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1118 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1110 is separate from the network node 1100 and connectable to the network node 1100 through an interface or port.

The antenna 1110, communication interface 1106, and/or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1110, the communication interface 1106, and/or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

The power source 1108 provides power to the various components of network node 1100 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1108 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1100 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1100 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1108. As a further example, the power source 1108 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Embodiments of the network node 1100 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1100 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1100 and to allow output of information from the network node 1100. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1100.

Figure 12 is a block diagram of a host 1200, which may be an embodiment of the host 916 of Figure 9, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1200 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1200 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

The host 1200 includes processing circuitry 1202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1204 to an input/output interface 1206, a network interface 1208, a power source 1210, and a memory 1212. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 10 and 11, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1200.

The memory 1212 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1214 and data 1216, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1200 or data generated by the host 1200 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1200 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1214 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1214 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1200 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1214 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc. Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

Applications 1302 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Hardware 1304 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions (collectively denoted computer program product 1304a) executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1306 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1308a and 1308b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1308), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1306 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1308.

The VMs 1308 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1306. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1302 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1308, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment. In the context of NFV, a VM 1308 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1308, and that part of hardware 1304 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1308 on top of the hardware 1304 and corresponds to the application 1302.

Hardware 1304 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1304 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1304 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1310, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1302. In some embodiments, hardware 1304 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1312 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Figure 14 shows a communication diagram of a host 1402 communicating via a network node 1404 with a UE 1406 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 912a of Figure 9 and/or UE 1000 of Figure 10), network node (such as network node 910a of Figure 9 and/or network node 1100 of Figure 11), and host (such as host 916 of Figure 9 and/or host 1200 of Figure 12) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 14.

Like host 1200, embodiments of host 1402 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1402 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1402 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1406 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1450 extending between the UE 1406 and host 1402. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1450.

The network node 1404 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1402 and UE 1406. The connection 1460 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 906 of Figure 9) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

The UE 1406 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1406 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1406 with the support of the host 1402. In the host 1402, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1450 terminating at the UE 1406 and host 1402. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1450 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1450.

The OTT connection 1450 may extend via a connection 1460 between the host 1402 and the network node 1404 and via a wireless connection 1470 between the network node 1404 and the UE 1406 to provide the connection between the host 1402 and the UE 1406. The connection 1460 and wireless connection 1470, over which the OTT connection 1450 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1402 and the UE 1406 via the network node 1404, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1450, in step 1408, the host 1402 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1406. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1406 that shares data with the host 1402 without explicit human interaction. In step 1410, the host 1402 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1406. The host 1402 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1406. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1406 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1406. The transmission may pass via the network node 1404, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1412, the network node 1404 transmits to the UE 1406 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1402 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1414, the UE 1406 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1406 associated with the host application executed by the host 1402. In some examples, the UE 1406 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1402. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1402. Accordingly, in step 1416, the UE 1406 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE 1406. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1406 initiates, in step 1418, transmission of the user data towards the host 1402 via the network node 1404. In step 1420, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1404 receives user data from the UE 1406 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1402. In step 1422, the host 1402 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1406.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1406 using the OTT connection 1450, in which the wireless connection 1470 forms the last segment. More precisely, these embodiments can facilitate handover with possibly some reconfiguration of QoE measurements without having to include a QoE configuration container in each RRCReconfiguration message sent to the UE via the source RAN node in conjunction with handover. This reduces the sizes of messages sent from target to source RAN node and from source RAN node to the UE, as well as processing resources and energy consumption needed to handle such messages at the RAN nodes and at the UE By improving the performance and reporting of application-layer measurements in this manner, embodiments facilitate improved network performance as experienced by applications, including OTT services. These improvements increase the value of such OTT services to end users and service providers.

In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1402. As another example, the host 1402 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1402 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1402 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1402 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1402 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.

In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1450 between the host 1402 and UE 1406, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1402 and/or UE 1406. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1450 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1450 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1404. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1402. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1450 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.

The term unit, as used herein, can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As described herein, device and/or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor. Furthermore, functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and/or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other. Moreover, devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In addition, certain terms used in the present disclosure, including the specification and drawings, can be used synonymously in certain instances (e.g., “data” and “information”). It should be understood, that although these terms (and/or other terms that can be synonymous to one another) can be used synonymously herein, there can be instances when such words can be intended to not be used synonymously.

Embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein also include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:

Al . A method for a second radio access network (RAN) node configured to manage application-layer measurements by user equipment (UEs) in the RAN, the method comprising: receiving, from a first RAN node, a request to handover a UE to a target cell served by the second RAN node, wherein: the handover request includes a radio resource control (RRC) context for the UE, and the RRC context includes an indication of one or more application-layer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE by the RAN; determining whether to maintain the respective application-layer measurement configurations in the UE after handover to the target cell; deleting the received RRC context, except for the indications associated with application-layer measurement configurations that were determined to be maintained; creating a full configuration for the UE in the target cell, wherein the full configuration includes an indication of the application-layer measurement configurations that were determined to be maintained; and sending the full configuration to the UE via the first RAN node.

A2. The method of embodiment Al, further comprising determining one or more further application-layer measurement configurations for the UE in the target cell, wherein the full configuration also includes the further application-layer measurement configurations.

A3. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2, wherein determining whether to maintain the respective application-layer measurement configurations comprises determining to maintain all of the previously configured application-layer measurement configurations.

A4. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2, wherein: the received RRC context includes one or more session start indications associated with the respective one or more application-layer measurement configurations; and determining whether to maintain the respective application-layer measurement configurations includes one or more of the following: determining to maintain an application-layer measurement configuration when the associated session start indication indicates that a measurement session has been initiated or is ongoing; and determining not to maintain an application-layer measurement configuration when the associated session start indication indicates that a measurement session has not been initiated and/or is not ongoing.

A5. The method of any of embodiments A1-A4, wherein the indication of the applicationlayer measurement configurations previously provided to the UE includes respective first identifiers associated with the respective application-layer measurement configurations.

A6. The method of embodiment A5, wherein: the first identifiers are known to the UE; and the received RRC context also includes one of the following: second identifiers associated with the respective first identifiers, wherein the second identifiers are not known to the UE; or a mapping between the first identifiers and the second identifiers.

A7. The method of any of embodiments A1-A6, wherein at least one of the application-layer measurement configurations was provided to the UE by a RAN node other than the first RAN node.

A8. The method of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the application-layer measurements are quality-of-experience (QoE) measurements.

A9. The method of any of embodiments A1-A8, wherein the full configuration is included in an RRCReconfiguration message that is encapsulated in a handover request acknowledgement sent to the first RAN node.

Bl. A method for a user equipment (UE) configured for application-layer measurements in a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: receiving one or more configurations of application-layer measurements to be performed by the UE while the UE is connected to the RAN; receiving, from a first RAN node, a command to handover to a target cell served by a second RAN node, wherein: the handover command includes a full configuration for the UE in the target cell, and the full configuration includes an indication of at least a portion of the received application-layer measurement configurations; performing one or more one or more first operations with respect to the indicated application-layer measurement configurations; and performing one or more one or more second operations with respect to the non-indicated application-layer measurement configurations.

B2. The method of embodiment Bl, wherein the one or more first operations include any of the following: maintaining the indicated application-layer measurement configurations; sending stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the indicated application-layer measurement configurations; continuing application-layer measurements associated with the indicated applicationlayer measurement configurations; initiating application-layer measurements associated with the indicated application-layer measurement configurations; and sending application-layer measurement reports associated with the application-layer measurements that are continued or initiated.

B3. The method of any of embodiments B1-B2, wherein the one or more second operations include any of the following: releasing the non-indicated application-layer measurement configurations; maintaining the non-indicated application-layer measurement configurations; discarding any stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the nonindicated application-layer measurement configurations; maintaining any stored application-layer measurement reports associated with the nonindicated application-layer measurement configurations; and stopping or pausing ongoing application-layer measurements associated with the nonindicated application-layer measurement configurations.

B4. The method of any of embodiments B1-B3, wherein: the full configuration also includes one or more further application-layer measurement configurations for the UE in the target cell, and the one or more first operations are also performed with respect to the further application-layer measurement configurations. B5. The method of any of embodiments Bl -B4, wherein the indicated application-layer measurement configurations include all of the received application-layer measurement configurations.

B6. The method of any of embodiments B1-B4, wherein one or more of the following applies: each of the indicated application-layer measurement configurations is associated with a measurement session has been initiated by the UE or is ongoing; and each of the non-indicated application-layer measurement configurations is not associated with any measurement sessions that have been initiated by the UE or are ongoing.

B7. The method of any of embodiments B1-B6, wherein the indication of at least a portion of the received application-layer measurement configurations includes respective first identifiers associated with respective application-layer measurement configurations.

B8. The method of any of embodiments B1-B7, wherein at least one of the application-layer measurement configurations is received from a RAN node other than the first RAN node.

B9. The method of any of embodiments B1-B8, wherein the application-layer measurements are quality-of-experience (QoE) measurements.

BIO. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the full configuration is received in an RRCReconfiguration message.

Cl . A second radio access network (RAN) node configured to manage application-layer measurements by user equipment (UEs) in the RAN, the second RAN node comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with UEs and with a first RAN node; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A9. C2. A second radio access network (RAN) node configured to manage application-layer measurements by user equipment (UEs) in the RAN, the second RAN node being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A9.

C3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a second radio access network (RAN) node configured to manage application-layer measurements by user equipment (UEs) in the RAN, configure the second RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A9.

C4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a second radio access network (RAN) node configured to manage application-layer measurements by user equipment (UEs) in the RAN, configure the second RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A9.

DI . A user equipment (UE) configured for application-layer measurements in a radio access network (RAN), the UE comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with at least first and second RAN nodes; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the radio transceiver circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the radio transceiver circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Bl -BIO.

D2. A user equipment (UE) configured for application-layer measurements in a radio access network (RAN), the UE being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Bl -BIO.

D3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured for applicationlayer measurements in a radio access network (RAN), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Bl -BIO.

D4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured for application-layer measurements in a radio access network (RAN), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Bl -BIO.