Minimization of drive test measurement configuration method, reporting method and access network device

Abstract

The application provides a configuration method and a reporting method of minimization of drive test measurement and an access network device, wherein the configuration method comprises the following steps: an access network user node CU-UP receives configuration information of minimization of drive test from an operation and maintenance node; the access network user node CU-UP sends the configuration information of minimization of drive test to an access network control node CU-CP; and the access network user node CU-UP receives configuration information of minimization of drive test for a certain UE from the CU-CP. Through the application, minimization of drive test (MDT) under a separation architecture is realized.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the patent application No. 201910920300.4, with the application date of September 26, 2019, and the title of "Configuration method, reporting method and access network device for minimizing drive test measurement". TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to wireless communication technology, in particular to a configuration method, a reporting method and an access network device for minimizing drive test measurement. BACKGROUND

[0003] 5G refers to the fifth generation of mobile communication technology. Unlike the previous four generations, 5G is not a single wireless technology, but a fusion of existing wireless communication technologies. Currently, the peak rate of LTE can reach 100 Mbps, and the peak rate of 5G will reach 10 Gbps, which is 100 times higher than 4G. The existing 4G network has limited processing capacity and cannot support some high-definition video, high-quality voice, augmented reality, virtual reality and other services. 5G will introduce more advanced technologies to meet the growing demand for mobile services through higher spectrum efficiency, more spectrum resources and more densely packed cells, solve the problems faced by 4G networks, and build a high-speed transmission rate, high capacity, low latency, high reliability, and excellent user experience network. As shown in the figure, the 5G architecture includes the 5G access network and the 5G core network. The UE communicates with the data network through the access network and the core network. Figure 1

[0004] In the 5G architecture, with the development of wireless technology, the functional modules originally in the same base station are separated, some functional modules are closer to the user, and other modules are pooled, virtualized and centrally deployed. That is, the base station may be divided into two parts, one part is the central control unit (CU) and the other part is the distribution unit (DU). The DU is closer to the user, and the CU is away from the antenna, can support multiple antenna connections, and improve network performance. A CU can connect multiple DUs, and the functions on the CU can be virtualized. The CU and the DU are connected through the F1 interface, which is also called the fronthaul interface or fronthaul connection. The CU implements the functions of RRC and PDCP, and the DU implements the functions of RLC, MAC and physical layer.

[0005] As shown in the figure, the CU and the DU are connected through the F1 interface, which is also called the fronthaul interface or fronthaul connection. The CU implements the functions of RRC and PDCP, and the DU implements the functions of RLC, MAC and physical layer. Figure 1 ​As shown, the central control unit CU can be further divided into a control function entity (hereinafter referred to as a CU-CP entity or a CP entity) and a user plane function entity (hereinafter referred to as a CU-UP entity or a UP entity). The CP entity and the UP entity can be separate physical entities, and the interface between the CP and the UP is referred to as an E1 interface. There is only a control plane between the CP and the UP, and the data plane is established between the UP and the DU in the core network. The CP is connected to the core network through an NG-C, connected to the DU through an F1-C, and the UP is connected to the core network through an NG-U, connected to the DU through an F1-U.

[0006] Minimization of drive tests (MDT) is a method in which a base station or a user performs some measurements and transmits the measurement results to a measurement center node, such as a TCE (Trace Collection Entity) node, to reduce the burden of manual testing. MDT measurements support real-time and non-real-time measurements. The core network or an operation and maintenance node sends an MDT activation message to an access network node, and the message carries specific MDT measurement configurations, such as measurement types, measurement cycle periods, reporting periods or thresholds, and the like. Some MDT measurement types require a UE to perform measurements, and for these measurement types, the access network node sends an RRC message to the UE to configure the UE to perform MDT measurements, and the UE reports the measurement results to the access network node. Some MDT measurement types require a base station to perform measurements, and for these measurement types, the base station performs MDT measurements according to specific configuration information. The access network sends the measurement results, including the measurement results performed by the UE and the measurement results performed by the base station, to the measurement center node.

[0007] According to the MDT initiation mode, MDT can be divided into management-based MDT and signaling-based MDT. Management-based MDT refers to that an access network entity receives an MDT activation message from an operation and maintenance node, and signaling-based MDT refers to that an access network entity receives an MDT activation message from a core network entity, such as a mobile management entity.

[0008] Figure 2A structure diagram of management-based MDT is described. 201 is an Element Management (EM) node, which sends an MDT activation request message to 202, an access network node, which can be an eNB in 4G system or a gNB or eNB in 5G system, or a base station in other systems. The MDT activation request message contains the configuration information of MDT. The configuration information of MDT mainly contains: MDT location selection condition, reporting mechanism configuration, Trace Reference (TR), IP address of MDT measurement center node (such as TCE), working type, MDT data anonymity, etc. The above-mentioned working type can be configured in different types, for example, currently defined as four types: Immediate MDT only, Logged MDT only, Trace only, Immediate MDT and Trace. It is not excluded to define more types or simplify the types. The MDT location selection condition configures which UE in which location can be selected as the user for MDT measurement. The location selection condition can be configured in the range of a cell, or the range of a TAC, or the entire PLMN. The UE in the range can be selected as the UE for MDT measurement. The TR uniquely identifies an MDT process. In an MDT process, the base station can select multiple users for MDT measurement.

[0009] 202 access network node selects UE to do MDT measurement, when the access network node selects UE, certain conditions are followed, for example, whether the user agrees to do measurement and / or whether the UE is located in the MDT location in the MDT configuration information, if the UE does not agree to MDT, or the UE does not meet the location selection condition, the UE cannot be selected as the UE to do MDT. If the UE needs to do measurement, the access network node sends the MDT configuration information to the UE. The UE performs MDT measurement according to the configuration, and sends the measurement result to the network node access network node when the reporting condition is met. The access network node sends the MDT tracking message to the 205 core network entity, which can be the 4G mobility management entity MME (Mobility Management Entity), the 5G AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function), or other core network entities connected with the access network in other systems. The message at least contains the identification of MDT and the IP address of TCE. The 205 core network entity finds the unique identification of UE, such as IMSI or IMEI (SV), and sends the unique identification to TCE. The 202 access network node saves the MDT measurement result, also called MDT record, and according to the pre-defined strategy, the 202 access network node sends the MDT record to the TCE, and the TCE combines the information sent by the core network entity to know which UE the MDT record is for.

[0010] The difference of the signaling-based MDT is that the MDT start message is sent from the core network entity to the access network entity, and the MDT configuration information is allocated by the core network entity.

[0011] The current protocol does not support how to configure multiple entities to perform MDT measurement when the access network contains multiple entities, for example, the access network contains DU, CU-UP, CU-CP, which entity is responsible for MDT measurement, and which entity is responsible for MDT measurement result reporting. The current MDT measurement mechanism does not involve it. SUMMARY

[0012] The present application provides a method for performing MDT measurement when the access network contains multiple entities.

[0013] To achieve the above purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the present application is as follows:

[0014] The present application provides a configuration method of minimization of drive test measurement, which comprises:

[0015] The access network control node CU-CP receives the configuration information of minimization of drive test from the core network or the operation and maintenance node;

[0016] The access network control node configures one or more access network nodes to perform the minimization of drive test.

[0017] Preferably, the configuration information comprises at least one of the following: an identity of the minimization of drive test measurement, a mode of the measurement, and a reporting mechanism.

[0018] Preferably, the access network control node configuring one or more access network nodes to perform the minimization of drive test comprises:

[0019] The access network control node decomposes one minimization of drive test measurement mode into a plurality of different measurement modes, and configures different access network nodes to perform the measurement respectively.

[0020] Preferably, the method further comprises:

[0021] The access network control node receives the minimization of drive test measurement results from the plurality of access network nodes respectively;

[0022] The access network control node sends the minimization of drive test measurement results to a minimization of drive test center node.

[0023] Preferably, the access network control node receiving the minimization of drive test measurement results from the plurality of access network nodes respectively comprises:

[0024] The access network control node receives the measurement results from the plurality of access network nodes respectively through a control plane, or the access network control node receives the measurement results from the plurality of access network nodes respectively through a user plane.

[0025] Preferably, after the access network control node receives the minimization of drive test measurement results from the plurality of access network nodes respectively, the method further comprises:

[0026] The access network control node integrates the received measurement results to form one measurement result.

[0027] The access network control node sending the minimization of drive test measurement results to a minimization of drive test center node comprises: the access network control node sending the measurement result formed after integration to the minimization of drive test center node.

[0028] Preferably, the minimization of drive test measurement results comprise a name or an identity of a node.

[0029] The present application provides a reporting method of minimization of drive test measurement, comprising:

[0030] The second access network node receives minimization of drive test measurement results from the first access network node; wherein the minimization of drive test measurement results are obtained by the first access network node after receiving information configured by the access network control node to perform the minimization of drive test.

[0031] The second access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result to the minimization of drive test central node.

[0032] Preferably, the second access network node is a central unit user plane (CU-UP) or a distributed unit (DU), and the first access network node is a DU or a CU-UP.

[0033] Preferably, the second access network node receives the minimization of drive test measurement result from the first access network node, including:

[0034] The second access network node receives the measurement result from the first access network node through a control plane, or receives the measurement result from the first access network node through a user plane.

[0035] Preferably, after the second access network node receives the minimization of drive test measurement result from the first access network node, the method further includes:

[0036] The second access network node integrates the received measurement result to form a measurement result,

[0037] The second access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result to the minimization of drive test central node, including:

[0038] The second access node sends the integrated measurement result to the minimization of drive test central node.

[0039] Preferably, the minimization of drive test measurement result contains a name or an identifier of the node.

[0040] The present application provides a reporting method of minimization of drive test measurement, characterized in that, comprising:

[0041] The first access network node receives information configured by an access network control node for performing minimization of drive test;

[0042] The first access network node performs the minimization of drive test measurement;

[0043] The first access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result.

[0044] Preferably, the first access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result, including at least one of the following:

[0045] The first access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result to the minimization of drive test central node.

[0046] The first access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result to the second access network node, so that the second access network node integrates the received measurement result and sends the integrated measurement result to the minimization of drive test central node.

[0047] The first access network node sends the minimization of drive test measurement result to the access network control node, so that the access network control node integrates the received measurement result, and sends the integrated measurement result to the minimization of drive test center node.

[0048] Preferably, the second access network node is a central unit user plane (CU-UP) or a distributed unit (DU), and the first access network node is a DU or a CU-UP.

[0049] Preferably, the minimization of drive test measurement result comprises a name or an identifier of the node.

[0050] The present application provides an access network control node, comprising:

[0051] a module for receiving minimization of drive test configuration information from a core network or an operation and maintenance node;

[0052] a module for configuring one or more access network nodes to perform minimization of drive test.

[0053] The present application provides an access network node, comprising:

[0054] a module for receiving minimization of drive test measurement result from a first access network node; wherein the minimization of drive test measurement result is obtained by the first access network node after receiving information configured by an access network control node to perform minimization of drive test;

[0055] a module for sending the minimization of drive test measurement result to a minimization of drive test center node.

[0056] The present application provides an access network node, comprising:

[0057] a module for receiving information configured by an access network control node to perform minimization of drive test;

[0058] a module for performing the minimization of drive test measurement;

[0059] a module for sending minimization of drive test measurement result.

[0060] The present application provides a configuration method of minimization of drive test measurement, comprising:

[0061] An access network user node (CU-UP) receives information related to MDT from an access network control node (CU-CP);

[0062] An access network control node (CU-UP) receives minimization of drive test configuration information from an operation and maintenance node;

[0063] An access network user node (CU-UP) sends a cell data tracking message to an access network control node (CU-CP).

[0064] The information about the user and MDT includes at least one of the following: indication information about whether the user is allowed to perform management-based MDT measurement, and a PLMN identification list in which the UE can perform management-based MDT measurement.

[0065] The cell data tracking message carries identification information of the MDT, and the identification information of the MDT includes a combination of an MDT measurement identification TR and a tracking record session identification TRSR, or an identification capable of uniquely indicating an MDT in the whole network.

[0066] The application provides a configuration method of minimization of drive test measurement, and the method comprises the following steps:

[0067] The distributed unit DU receives the information about the user and MDT from the access network control node CU-CP.

[0068] The distributed unit DU receives the configuration information of the minimization of drive test from the operation and maintenance node.

[0069] The distributed unit DU sends a cell data tracking message to the access network control node CU-CP.

[0070] The information about the user and MDT includes at least one of the following: indication information about whether the user is allowed to perform management-based MDT measurement, and a PLMN identification list in which the UE can perform management-based MDT measurement.

[0071] The cell data tracking message carries identification information of the MDT, and the identification information of the MDT includes a combination of an MDT measurement identification TR and a tracking record session identification TRSR, or an identification capable of uniquely indicating an MDT in the whole network.

[0072] The application provides a configuration method of minimization of drive test measurement, and the method comprises the following steps:

[0073] The access network user node CU-UP receives the configuration information of the minimization of drive test from the operation and maintenance node.

[0074] The access network user node CU-UP sends the configuration information of the minimization of drive test to the access network control node CU-CP.

[0075] The access network user node CU-UP receives the configuration message of the minimization of drive test for a certain UE from the CU-CP.

[0076] Preferably, the CU-CP further sends a cell data tracking message to the core network, and the cell data tracking message includes an interface identification of the UE and identification information of the MDT.

[0077] Preferably, the CU-CP selects a suitable user for measurement according to the minimization of drive test configuration information.

[0078] A configuration method of minimization of drive test measurement, the method comprising:

[0079] The distributed unit (DU) receives minimization of drive test configuration information from an operation and maintenance node.

[0080] The distributed unit (DU) sends the minimization of drive test configuration information to the access network control node (CU-CP).

[0081] The distributed unit (DU) receives minimization of drive test configuration information from the CU-CP.

[0082] Preferably, the CU-CP further sends a cell data tracking message to the core network, the cell data tracking message comprising an interface identifier of the UE and identification information of the MDT.

[0083] Preferably, the CU-CP selects a suitable user for measurement according to the minimization of drive test configuration information.

[0084] The application provides an access network device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used for storing a computer program, and the computer program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the above method.

[0085] As can be seen from the above technical solution, the application provides a method for performing MDT measurement and reporting when the access network comprises multiple entities. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0086] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0087] Figure 1 Existing 5G system architecture diagram;

[0088] Figure 2 Existing MDT measurement structure diagram;

[0089] Figure 3 Flowchart for embodiment one of the application;

[0090] Figure 4 Flowchart for embodiment two of the application;

[0091] Figure 5 Flowchart for embodiment three of the application;

[0092] Figure 6 Flowchart for embodiment four of the application;

[0093] Figure 7Flowchart for embodiment five of the present application;

[0094] Figure 8 Device schematic diagram of the present application;

[0095] Figure 9 Flowchart for embodiment six of the present application;

[0096] Figure 10 Flowchart for embodiment seven of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] To make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application is further described in detail below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following description is only used for illustration and does not limit the present disclosure. In the following description, a large number of specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the specific details need not be used to implement the present disclosure. In other examples, in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure, well-known circuits, materials or methods are not specifically described.

[0098] Throughout the specification, the mention of “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “one example” or “an example” means that the particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, “one example” or “an example” appearing throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or example. In addition, specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments or examples in any appropriate combination and / or sub-combination. In addition, those skilled in the art should understand that the drawings provided herein are for illustrative purposes only and the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. The term “and / or” used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the relevant listed items.

[0099] Figure 3 A method schematic diagram of the present application is described. Embodiment one:

[0100] In this embodiment, the core network node configures the access network to perform MDT measurement. In this embodiment, the core network node can be a mobility management entity MME (Mobility Management Entity) in the LTE system, or an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) in the 5G system, or a core network entity in other systems.

[0101] The access network node can be a base station central unit CU in the LTE system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in the LTE system, or a base station central unit CU in the 5G system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in the 5G system. Or the control plane of the base station in other systems. Figure 3 Take the base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in the 5G system as an example. If it is other node, the corresponding interface and message also need to be modified accordingly. For example, in the 5G system, the interface between the core network node and the access network node is the NG interface, and in the LTE system, it is the S1 interface. The interface between the access network node and the access network node in the 5G system is the Xn interface, and in the LTE system, it is the X2 interface.

[0102] Specifically Figure 3 The method can include the following steps:

[0103] Step 301: The core network node sends UE related information to the access network node.

[0104] The user related information refers to the user information related to MDT. Specifically, the user information related to MDT includes an indication information of whether the user agrees to do MDT measurement, and / or includes a PLMN list information of the UE agreeing to do MDT measurement, which is called MDT PLMN list below. Specifically, it can be transmitted by the following method:

[0105] 1. Transmit the MDT PLMN list and / or the user agreement information through the UE initial context establishment request message transmitted by the NG interface;

[0106] 2. Transmit the MDT PLMN list and the corresponding user agreement information through the handover request message of the NG interface or the Xn interface.

[0107] Step 302: The core network node sends MDT configuration information to the access network control node, such as CU-CP.

[0108] In this step, the core network node can also be replaced by an operation and maintenance node, such as an element management EM.

[0109] The MDT configuration information includes one or more of the following information:

[0110] The identity of the MDT measurement, which uniquely identifies a certain MDT measurement process of the MDT.

[0111] The IP address of the measurement center node (such as TCE), which is an entity receiving the measurement report.

[0112] The mode of measurement, which specifies which kind of measurement is performed, for example, the measurement type can be a packet delay measurement or a packet loss rate measurement or other modes.

[0113] The configuration of reporting, which contains the period of reporting, the threshold of reporting and other information.

[0114] The range of measurement, which can be a group of cells, a group of routing areas TAs or the whole PLMN.

[0115] If the access network control node receives the message in step 302 from the core network, the message is for a certain UE, and the core network has selected the UE to perform MDT measurement, the access network control node configures the UE to perform measurement and sends the message in step 303.

[0116] If the access network control node receives the message in step 302 from the operation and maintenance node, the access network control node needs to select the UE to perform MDT measurement, and the following factors are considered when the access network control node selects the UE: whether the user agrees, whether the user is in the area range where MDT measurement is to be performed.

[0117] Step 303: The access network control node, for example, CU-CP, sends MDT configuration information to CU-UP.

[0118] If the CU-CP and the CU-UP are on one entity, this step can be omitted.

[0119] The CU-CP determines which node performs MDT measurement according to the measurement configuration in step 302. There can be the following different implementation modes:

[0120] 1、CU-CP receives the MDT measurement mode in step 302, and further divides the MDT measurement into different measurement modes. Because the core network is not aware of whether the access network is divided into different nodes, when the core network configures the measurement, it configures the measurement of the entire access network. Therefore, the CU-CP further divides the MDT measurement into different measurements and requests the CU-UP and the DU to perform the measurement. For example, in step 302, the measurement of the data delay is required, and the data delay includes the delay on the CU-UP, the delay on the F1, and the delay on the DU. Therefore, the CU-CP decides to divide it into three different measurement modes, and the measurement is performed by the CU-UP and the DU, respectively. For example, the CU-UP measures the delay on the CU-UP and the F1 interface (the interface between the CU-UP and the DU), and the DU measures the delay of the data on the DU. The CU-CP sends the message in step 303 to the CU-UP and the message in step 304 to the DU to configure the CU-UP and the DU to perform the measurement, respectively. The CU-CP divides one measurement into several measurements, and the measurement is performed by different nodes. The CU-CP can configure the same measurement identifier for different nodes, so that when a node combines the measurement, the measurement result that can be combined can be found according to the same measurement identifier. The CU-CP can configure different measurement modes for different nodes. Alternatively, the CU-CP configures different measurement identifiers for different nodes. In this case, the measurement identifier sent by the core network and the measurement identifier allocated by the CU-CP can be different. If the CU-CP allocates different measurement identifiers, the best solution is that different nodes send the measurement report to the CU-CP, the CU-CP combines the measurement report, and then sends the measurement result and the measurement identifier allocated by the core network to the MDT center node.

[0121] 2、The CU-CP receives the MDT measurement mode in step 302, and the CU-CP forwards the MDT measurement to the CU-UP and / or the DU, and the measurement is performed by the CU-UP and / or the DU.

[0122] 3、The core network node (or operation and maintenance node) knows whether the access network is divided into different nodes, for example, when the NG interface is established, the access network sends a message to the core network node, informing the core network node that the access network is divided into different nodes, for example, into a CU and a DU, or into a CU-CP, a CU-UP and a DU. The operation and maintenance node can know whether the access network is divided into different nodes through operation and maintenance configuration. When the core network node (or operation and maintenance node) configures MDT measurement, it can configure corresponding MDT measurement according to whether the access network is divided. The CU-CP receives the MDT measurement mode in step 302, and sends a message to the corresponding node according to the measurement mode, for example, if the measurement mode is to measure the delay of the CU-CP, the message in step 303 is sent to the CU-UP, and if the measurement mode is to measure the delay on the DU, the message in step 304 is sent to the DU. The core network sends the same or different measurement identifiers to the CU-UP or the DU.

[0123] The MDT configuration information includes one or more of the following information:

[0124] The identifier of the MDT measurement, which uniquely identifies a certain MDT measurement process of the MDT.

[0125] The IP address of the measurement center node (such as TCE), which is an entity that receives the measurement report.

[0126] The measurement mode, which specifies which measurement is performed. The measurement mode here can be the same as or different from the measurement mode contained in step 302. For example, the measurement type can be data delay measurement, CU-CP delay measurement, F1 delay measurement, DU delay measurement, or other modes.

[0127] The reporting configuration, including the reporting period, the reporting threshold and other information.

[0128] The measurement range, which can be a group of cells, a group of routing areas TA, or the entire PLMN range.

[0129] The configuration of where to send the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, for example, the measurement result can be configured to be sent to another access network entity or to the MDT center entity TCE. The destination node identifier or IP address of the measurement report is configured.

[0130] The configuration of whether to report the measurement result to the MDT center entity, which indicates whether the access network node reports the measurement result to the MDT center entity TCE. The configuration information can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement center node (such as TCE).

[0131] Step 304: The access network node, e.g. CU-CP, sends the MDT configuration information to e.g. DU.

[0132] The MDT configuration information contains one or more of the following information:

[0133] The identity of the MDT measurement, which uniquely identifies a certain MDT measurement procedure of the MDT.

[0134] The IP address of the measurement center node, e.g. TCE, which is the entity that receives the measurement report.

[0135] The measurement mode, which specifies which measurement is performed. The measurement mode here can be the same as or different from the measurement mode contained in step 302. For example, the measurement type can be the measurement of data delay, the delay measurement of CU-CP, the delay measurement of F1, the delay measurement of DU, or other modes.

[0136] The reporting configuration, which contains information such as reporting period and reporting threshold.

[0137] The measurement range, which can be a group of cells, a group of routing areas TA, or the entire PLMN range.

[0138] The configuration of where to send the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, e.g. it can be configured to send the measurement result to another access network entity or to the MDT center entity TCE. The configuration information is configured by setting the destination node identity or IP address of the measurement reporting.

[0139] The configuration of whether to report the measurement result to the MDT center entity, which indicates whether the access network node reports the measurement result to the MDT center entity TCE, which can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement center node, e.g. TCE.

[0140] The MDT configuration process ends.

[0141] Through the above embodiment one, the CU-UP and / or DU performs the MDT measurement, and through embodiment two, or embodiment three, or embodiment four, the measurement result can be reported to the MDT center entity.

[0142] Embodiment two:

[0143] The embodiment describes that the control node of the access network sends the measurement result to the MDT center node. The MDT measurement is performed by multiple access network nodes, the multiple access network nodes report the measurement result to the access network control node, such as CU-CP, and the access network control node reports the measurement result to the MDT center node.

[0144] The core network node in the embodiment can be a mobility management entity MME under the LTE system, or an AMF under the 5G system, or a core network entity under other systems.

[0145] The access network node can be a base station central unit CU under the LTE system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP under the LTE system, or a base station central unit CU under the 5G system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP under the 5G system. Or the control plane of the base station under other systems. Figure 3 Taking the base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP and the distributed unit DU under the 5G system as an example. If it is other nodes, the corresponding interface and message also need to be modified accordingly. For example, under the 5G system, the interface between the core network node and the access network node is the NG interface, and under the LTE system, it is the S1 interface. The interface between the access network node and the access network node under the 5G system is the Xn interface, and under the LTE system, it is the X2 interface.

[0146] The embodiment is based on Figure 4 The process described, Figure 4 The method shown can include the following steps:

[0147] Step 401: The access network node, such as CU-CP, sends a message to the core network node, and the message carries the identification of the MDT measurement and the IP address of the measurement center node (such as TCE). The message in step 401 can be omitted in some cases, for example, the core network configures the access network to perform MDT measurement, and the core network knows all the MDT configuration information, so the message in step 401 can be omitted.

[0148] Step 402: The core network node sends a message to the MDT measurement center node, and the message carries the identification of the MDT measurement and the identification information of the UE, such as IMSI or IMEI (SV), to the MDT center node. The message in step 402 can be omitted in some cases, for example, the core network configures the access network to perform MDT measurement, and the core network knows all the MDT configuration information, so the message in step 402 can be omitted.

[0149] Step 403: The first access network node sends the MDT measurement result to the access network control node, such as CU-CP.

[0150] The first access network node can be a DU, a CU-UP, in this embodiment, the CU-UP is taken as an example. The CU-UP can report the MDT measurement result to the CU-CP through a message in the control plane. The MDT measurement result can be sent in the format of a container in the message. For example, in one embodiment, the CU-UP is configured to perform the measurement of the data delay on the CU-UP and the data delay of the F1 interface, and the CU-UP sends the measurement result of the data delay on the CU-UP and the data delay of the F1 interface to the CU-CP. Alternatively, the CU-UP can report the measurement result to the CU-CP through the user plane. The reporting of the measurement result includes the measurement result and the identification of the measurement. When the CU-CP configures the CU-UP to perform the MDT measurement, the CU-CP allocates a user plane information, for example, allocates an IP address and / or a tunnel identification, and the CU-UP sends the measurement result to the CU-CP through the user plane.

[0151] Step 404: The first access network node sends the MDT measurement result to the CU-CP.

[0152] The second access network node can be a DU, a CU-UP, in this embodiment, the DU is taken as an example. The DU can report the MDT measurement result to the CU-CP through a message in the control plane. The MDT measurement result can be sent in the format of a container in the message. For example, in one embodiment, the DU is configured to perform the measurement of the data delay on the DU, and the DU sends the measurement result of the data delay on the DU to the CU-CP. Alternatively, the CU-UP can report the measurement result to the CU-CP through the user plane. The reporting of the measurement result includes the measurement result and the identification of the measurement. When the CU-CP configures the DU to perform the MDT measurement, the CU-CP allocates a user plane information, for example, allocates an IP address and / or a tunnel identification, and the DU sends the measurement result to the CU-CP through the user plane.

[0153] Step 405: The access network control node, for example, the CU-CP, sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT center node.

[0154] The access network control node, such as the CU-CP, receives the measurement results of steps 403 and 404. According to different implementation manners, the CU-CP can directly forward the measurement results to the MDT central node, or the CU-CP organizes the measurement results of steps 403 and 404 into a proper format. For example, if the core network node or the operation and maintenance node requires to perform a data delay measurement, the CU-CP decides to measure the delay of data on the CU-UP and on the F1 interface by the CU-UP, to measure the delay of data on the DU by the DU, and receives the delay measurement results of the CU-UP (for example, containing the delay measurement results on the UP and on the F1) and the delay measurement results of the DU in steps 403 and 404 respectively, organizes the measurement results to form the delay measurement results of data on the access network, and then sends the measurement results to the MDT central node according to the reporting configuration. The CU-CP receives the measurement results and the measurement identifiers sent by the DU and the CU-UP. If there are different measurement results with the same measurement identifier, the CU-CP combines and organizes the measurement results with the same measurement identifier into a proper format and sends the measurement results to the MDT central node. If the CU-CP divides the MDT measurement with a unique identifier configured by the core network or the OAM into several MDT measurements, the related MDT measurements have different measurement identifiers, and the CU-CP receives the measurement results and the corresponding measurement identifiers sent by the DU and the CU-UP, combines and organizes the related measurement results with different measurement identifiers into a proper format, and then sends the measurement results and the unique identifier configured by the core network (or the OAM) to the MDT central node.

[0155] The measurement result reporting process ends.

[0156] Embodiment three:

[0157] This embodiment describes that a node of an access network sends measurement results to an MDT central node. MDT measurement is performed by multiple access network nodes, and measurement results are reported to the MDT central node by one of the access network nodes, such as the CU-UP.

[0158] In this embodiment, the core network node can be a mobile management entity MME in an LTE system, or an AMF in a 5G system, or a core network entity in other systems.

[0159] The access network node can be a base station central unit CU in an LTE system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in an LTE system, or a base station central unit CU in a 5G system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in a 5G system, or a control plane of a base station in other systems. Figure 3Take the CU-CP of the base station in the 5G system as an example. If it is other nodes, the corresponding interface and message also need to be modified accordingly. For example, in the 5G system, the interface between the core network node and the access network node is the NG interface, and in the LTE system, it is the S1 interface. The interface between the access network node and the access network node in the 5G system is the Xn interface, and in the LTE system, it is the X2 interface.

[0160] The embodiment is based on Figure 5 The described process, Figure 5 The method shown can include the following steps:

[0161] Step 501: The access network control node, such as the CU-CP, sends a message to the core network node, which carries the identification of the MDT measurement and the IP address of the measurement center node (such as the TCE). The message of step 501 can be omitted in some cases, such as when the core network configures the access network for MDT measurement. The core network knows all the MDT configuration information, so the message of step 501 can be omitted.

[0162] Step 502: The core network node sends a message to the MDT measurement center node, which carries the identification of the MDT measurement and the identification information of the UE, such as the IMSI or IMEI (SV), to the MDT center node. The message of step 502 can be omitted in some cases, such as when the core network configures the access network for MDT measurement. The core network knows all the MDT configuration information, so the message of step 502 can be omitted.

[0163] Step 503: The first access network node sends the MDT measurement result to the second access network node.

[0164] The first access network node can be a DU or a CU-UP. The second access network node can be a CU-UP or a DU. This embodiment takes the first access network node as a DU and the second access network node as a CU-UP as an example. It can also be the first access node is a CU-UP and the second access node is a DU, similar case, just replace the node name simply, here omitted.

[0165] The DU can report the MDT measurement result to the CU-UP through the user plane. The MDT measurement result can be sent in the format of container through the user plane. The MDT measurement result can be sent through a certain bearer between the DU and the CU-UP which has been established, and in this case, the MDT measurement result needs to be indicated in the user plane. Or when the CU-CP configures the CU-UP and the DU to perform the MDT measurement, the CU-CP obtains the information of the user plane which is specially allocated for the MDT measurement by the CU-UP, such as the IP address and / or the tunnel identifier, and sends the obtained user plane information to the DU. The DU sends the MDT measurement result to the CU-UP through the user plane. (When the first node is the CU-UP and the second node is the DU, the method is similar, that is, when the CU-CP configures the CU-UP and the DU to perform the MDT measurement, the CU-CP obtains the information of the user plane which is specially allocated for the MDT measurement by the DU, such as the IP address and / or the tunnel identifier, and sends the obtained user plane information to the CU-UP. The CU-UP sends the MDT measurement result to the DU through the user plane.) Or the DU can report the MDT measurement result to the CU-UP through the control plane message. The MDT measurement result can be sent in the format of container through the message. The information sent by the DU to the CU-UP contains the measurement result and the measurement identifier.

[0166] Step 504: The second access network node sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT center node.

[0167] The second access node, for example, CU-UP (or DU), receives the measurement result of step 503. According to different implementation manners, the CU-UP can directly forward the measurement result to the MDT central node, or the second access node combines the measurement result of step 503 with the measurement result of the second access node itself, and arranges the measurement result into a proper format. For example, the core network node or the operation and maintenance node requires to measure the data delay of the RAN, the CU-CP configures the delay of the data on the CU-UP and the F1 interface measured by the CU-UP, the delay on the DU measured by the DU, and the configuration process is described in the first embodiment. In step 503, the CU-UP receives the delay measurement result of the DU sent by the DU, and the CU-UP also measures the delay on the UP and the F1. The CU-UP combines the measurement result of the delay of the DU with the measurement result of the delay of the CU-UP, the CU-CP integrates the measurement result of the delay of the data in the access network, and then sends the measurement result to the MDT central node according to the MDT reporting configuration. The CU-UP receives the measurement result sent by the DU and the measurement identifier. If there are other measurement results with the same measurement identifier, the CU-UP combines the measurement results with the same measurement identifier into a proper format and sends the measurement result to the MDT central node. Or the CU-UP receives the measurement result sent by the DU and the measurement identifier, combines the related measurement results, arranges the measurement result into a proper format, and sends the measurement result to the MDT central node.

[0168] The measurement result reporting process two ends.

[0169] Embodiment four:

[0170] This embodiment describes that the node of the access network sends the measurement result to the MDT central node. Different access network nodes, for example, the CU-UP and the DU, respectively perform the MDT measurement, and respectively send the MDT measurement result to the MDT central entity, for example, the TCE; or one of the access network nodes performs the measurement, and the node sends the measurement result to the MDT central entity, for example, the TCE.

[0171] The core network node in this embodiment can be a mobile management entity MME in the LTE system, or an AMF in the 5G system, or a core network entity in other systems.

[0172] The access network node can be a base station central unit CU in the LTE system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in the LTE system, or a base station central unit CU in the 5G system, or a base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP in the 5G system, or a control plane of a base station in other systems. Figure 3Take the base station central unit CU control plane CU-CP under the 5G system as an example to illustrate. If it is other nodes, the corresponding interface and message also need to be modified accordingly. For example, under the 5G system, the interface between the core network node and the access network node is the NG interface, and under the LTE system, it is the S1 interface. The interface between the access network node and the access network node under the 5G system is the Xn interface, and under the LTE system, it is the X2 interface. The embodiment is based on Figure 6 The process described, Figure 6 The method shown can include the following steps:

[0173] Step 601: The access network control node, such as CU-CP, sends a message to the core network node, which carries the identification of MDT measurement and the IP address of the measurement center node (such as TCE). The message of step 601 can be omitted in some cases, for example, the core network configures the access network to perform MDT measurement, and the core network knows all the MDT configuration information, so the message of step 601 can be omitted.

[0174] Step 602: The core network node sends a message to the MDT measurement center node, which carries the identification of MDT measurement and the identification information of the UE, such as IMSI or IMEI (SV), to the MDT center node. The message of step 601 can be omitted in some cases, for example, the core network configures the access network to perform MDT measurement, and the core network knows all the MDT configuration information, so the message of step 601 can be omitted.

[0175] Step 603: The access network node, such as CU-UP or DU, sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT center node.

[0176] In the MDT configuration process, as shown in embodiment one, the CU-UP or DU gets the IP address of the MDT center node, the CU-UP or DU performs measurement according to the configuration, and reports the measurement result to the MDT center node according to the reporting configuration. The measurement result contains the identification of MDT measurement, the mode of MDT, the name of the node, the name of the node can be set to CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, or base station, the measurement result of the MDT mode, such as data delay, or data loss rate, etc. The MDT center node receives the measurement result and the corresponding measurement identification, and merges the corresponding measurement result into a suitable format if the measurement identification is the same. If the measurement identification is different, other information such as measurement mode can also be sent to the MDT center together with the measurement result, and the MDT center node performs the merging of the measurement result.

[0177] Step 604: Another access network node, such as DU or CU-UP, sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT central node. If only one access network node performs the MDT measurement, the message in step 604 is naturally omitted.

[0178] In the MDT configuration process, as shown in embodiment one, the DU or CU-UP gets the IP address of the MDT central node, the DU performs the measurement according to the configuration, and reports the measurement result to the MDT central node according to the reporting configuration. The measurement result contains the identifier of the MDT measurement, the mode of the MDT, the name of the node, which can be set as CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, or base station, and the measurement result of the MDT mode, such as data delay or data loss rate.

[0179] The measurement result reporting process three ends.

[0180] Embodiment five

[0181] This embodiment describes a method of downlink data delay measurement by DU. The method describes that the CU-CP configures the CU-UP and DU to perform downlink data delay measurement. This embodiment is based on Figure 7 the process described, Figure 7 The method shown can include the following steps:

[0182] Step 701: The CU-UP sends a data packet to the DU, which contains the timestamp corresponding to the data packet. According to the definition of data delay, the timestamp indicates the time when the delay calculation starts, for example, the timestamp indicates the time when the CU-UP receives the data packet from the NG interface, or indicates the time when the SDAP receives the data packet, or indicates the time when the PDCP receives the data packet.

[0183] The CU-UP receives the configuration information of the MDT measurement, which is described in embodiment one. The CU-UP receives the MDT configuration information from the CU-CP, and knows the mode to be measured, the reporting period, and the reporting threshold, for example, the measurement mode is data delay. When the CU-UP sends the data packet to the DU, it also sends the timestamp corresponding to the data packet to the DU.

[0184] Step 702: The DU measures the transmission delay of the data packet in the access network.

[0185] The DU also receives the configuration information of the MDT measurement, the configuration of the MDT is described in embodiment one, the DU receives the configuration information of the MDT from the CU-CP, the DU knows the measurement mode, the reporting period, the reporting threshold, for example, the measurement mode is the data delay, the DU receives the data packet and the corresponding timestamp, the DU can calculate the transmission delay of the data packet in the access network, for example, the transmission delay refers to the time difference between the time when the DU receives the data packet from the PDCP and the time when the UE receives the data packet. Through the measurement of all data packets in a period of time, the DU can calculate the data delay of the access network. Then through the method described in embodiment two, or embodiment three or embodiment four, the DU can send the measurement result directly to the MDT center entity, or send the measurement result to the MDT center entity through the CU-UP or the CU-CP.

[0186] The method can also be used for measurement of other MDT modes, and is not limited to data delay, and any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

[0187] Figure 3 The process of configuring the NG-RAN to perform MDT measurement by the core network is described, Figure 9 Embodiment six of the present application describes the process of configuring the UE to perform MDT measurement by the management node belonging to the operation and maintenance node, and the MDT measurement configured by the operation and maintenance node is called management-based MDT measurement. In the case of a separated RAN, there are three different configuration methods.

[0188] Method one is that the management node belonging to the operation and maintenance node directly configures the CU-UP to perform MDT measurement, and method one is described in steps 901 to 904. Method two is that the management node directly configures the DU to perform MDT measurement, and method two is described in steps 905 to 908. According to different measurement modes or different measurement types, method one or method two can be selected to activate the MDT measurement. For example, to measure the data delay of the CU-UP, the management node can directly configure the CU-UP to perform measurement, and to measure the data delay on the DU, the management node can directly configure the DU to perform measurement. Method three is that the management node configures the CU-CP to perform MDT measurement, the CU-CP selects the user who meets the condition, and decides whether to send the measurement configuration to the CU-CP or the DU or both. Method three is described in steps 909 to 912. The three methods are described in detail below.

[0189] Step 901: The CU-CP sends information to the CU-UP whether the UE is allowed to perform MDT measurement.

[0190] The CU-CP gets the information related to MDT of the user from the core network, the information related to MDT of the user includes the indication information whether the user is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, and / or the list of PLMN identities in which the UE can perform the management-based MDT measurement. As shown in step 301, the CU-CP sends the information related to MDT of the user, i.e. the indication information whether the user is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, and / or the list of PLMN identities in which the UE can perform the management-based MDT measurement (hereinafter referred to as MDT PLMN list), to the CU-UP through the E1 interface. These information can be carried by the bearer context setup request message of the E1 interface, or by other UE-related messages. The bearer context setup request message or other messages contain one or more of the following information:

[0191] The identity of the UE on the E1 interface, which at least contains the identity of the UE on the E1 interface allocated by the CU-CP.

[0192] The serving PLMN identity of the UE, which is the operator identity selected by the CU-CP or the UE, and the CU-CP saves the serving PLMN identity of the UE and sends it to the CU-UP.

[0193] The identity of the cell in which the UE is located, which contains, for example, the cell global identity CGI in which the UE is located, or the physical layer identity PCI and the frequency of the cell.

[0194] The routing area information in which the UE is located, such as the routing area identity TAI or the routing area code TAC.

[0195] The indication information whether the UE is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, which indicates that the UE is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, and the node receiving the information can select the UE to perform the management-based MDT measurement. The MDT PLMN list in which the UE can perform the MDT measurement, in which the system indicated by the PLMN identity can perform the MDT measurement.

[0196] Step 902: The management node sends the MDT activation message to the CU-UP.

[0197] When the management node needs to activate the MDT measurement, which needs to be performed on the CU-UP, the management node sends the MDT activation message to the CU-UP. The MDT activation message contains the MDT configuration information. The MDT configuration information contains one or more of the following information:

[0198] an identity of the MDT measurement, e.g. Trace Reference (TR), which is a globally unique identity in the network, containing the identity of the PLMN and an ID, identifying a certain MDT measurement of the MDT.

[0199] an IP address of a measurement center node, e.g. TCE, which is the entity receiving the measurement report.

[0200] a mode of the measurement, or a type of the measurement, specifying which measurement is performed. For example, the type of the measurement can be a measurement of data delay, a measurement of delay of F1, a measurement of delay of CU-UP.

[0201] a configuration of reporting, containing information of a period of reporting, a threshold of reporting, etc.

[0202] a range of the measurement, which can be a list of cell identities, i.e. containing a list of cell identities, or a list of routing area identities, e.g. a list of TAIs or a list of TACs, or a whole PLMN range.

[0203] an indication of privacy, also an indication of anonymity, indicating that the core network does not need to send the IMSI / IMEI of the UE to the TCE node. Instead of sending the IMSI of the UE to the TCE, or sending the IMEI-TAC to the TCE.

[0204] a configuration of where to send the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the measurement result to which entity, e.g. it can be configured to send the measurement result to another access network entity, or to the MDT center entity TCE, by setting an identity of a destination node of the measurement reporting or an IP address and / or a tunnel identity of the destination node of the measurement reporting.

[0205] a configuration of whether to report the measurement result to the MDT center entity, which indicates whether to report the measurement result to the MDT center entity TCE by the access network node, which can also be indicated by an IP address of the measurement center node, e.g. TCE.

[0206] Step 903: The CU-UP sends a message to the CU-CP, carrying the identity information of the MDT.

[0207] The CU-UP selects a suitable user to perform the MDT measurement according to the MDT measurement configuration received in step 902. First, the user is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, that is, in the message in step 901, the CU-UP receives the indication information that the UE is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, the service PLMN of the UE is in the MDT PLMN list, and the location of the UE needs to be within the range of the MDT measurement, for example, the range of the MDT measurement is a group of cells, and the serving cell of the UE received in step 901 belongs to a cell in the group. The CU-UP selects the user that meets the condition to perform the MDT measurement, and the CU-UP can assign an identifier to the selected UE, for example, a trace reference session reference (TRSR), which is combined with the identifier of the MDT measurement (for example, a TR), or a part of the identifier of the two identifiers, to form the identifier of the MDT of the access network. Of course, another identifier of the MDT can also be generated, as long as the identifier can uniquely indicate a MDT measurement in the whole network.

[0208] The message sent by the CU-UP to the CU-CP can be a cell traffic trace or other message. The message carries one or more of the following information:

[0209] The identifier of the UE on the E1 interface, which includes the identifier of the UE on the E1 interface allocated by the CU-CP and / or the identifier of the UE on the E1 interface allocated by the CU-UP.

[0210] The message carries the identifier of the MDT of the access network, which, as described above, can be a combination of the TR and the TRSR, or an identifier that can uniquely indicate a MDT in the whole network.

[0211] The message also carries the IP address of the measurement center node (for example, the TCE).

[0212] The message also carries the identifier of the cell, which indicates the identifier of the cell where the UE is located.

[0213] The message also carries privacy indication information, which indicates that the AMF needs to send the IMEI-TAC to the TCE.

[0214] Step 904: The CU-CP sends a message to the core network AMF, which carries the identifier information of the MDT.

[0215] The CU-CP sends the message received in step 903 to the core network AMF. The content of the message is as shown in step 903, but the UE's identity on the E1 interface is replaced by the UE's identity on the NG interface, i.e. the CU-CP allocated identity for the UE on the NG interface and / or the AMF allocated identity for the UE on the NG interface is included. After receiving the message, the core network AMF sends the received identity of the MDT, e.g. TR, TRSR, and the identity of the UE, e.g. IMSI, IMEI or IMEI-TAC, to the TCE node.

[0216] The following is a description of method two.

[0217] Step 905: The CU-CP sends information to the DU about whether the UE is allowed to perform MDT measurements.

[0218] The CU-CP obtains the user's MDT related information from the core network, which includes an indication of whether the user is allowed to perform management-based MDT measurements and / or a list of PLMNs in which the UE can perform management-based MDT measurements. As shown in step 301, the CU-CP sends the user's MDT related information, i.e. the indication of whether the user is allowed to perform management-based MDT measurements and / or the list of PLMNs in which the UE can perform management-based MDT measurements (hereinafter referred to as the MDT PLMN list), to the DU via the F1 interface. The above information can be carried by a bearer setup request message, a UE context setup request message or a downlink RRC transmission message on the F1 interface, or by other UE related messages. The message includes one or more of the following information:

[0219] The UE's identity on the F1 interface, which at least includes the CU-CP allocated identity for the UE on the F1 interface.

[0220] The UE's serving PLMN identity, which is the operator identity selected by the CU-CP or the UE, and which is saved by the CU-CP and sent to the DU.

[0221] The identity of the cell in which the UE is located, e.g. including the globally unique identity of the cell in which the UE is located, CGI, or including the physical layer identity of the cell in which the UE is located, PCI, and the frequency of the cell.

[0222] Routing area information of the UE, e.g. routing area identity TAI or routing area code TAC.

[0223] An indication information whether to allow the UE to perform the management-based MDT measurement, indicating that the UE is allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, and a node receiving the information can select the UE to perform the management-based MDT measurement.

[0224] An MDT PLMN list in which the MDT measurement can be performed, and the MDT measurement can be performed in a system indicated by an identifier of the PLMN.

[0225] Step 906: The management node sends an MDT activation message to the DU.

[0226] When the management node needs to activate the MDT measurement, the MDT measurement needs to be performed on the DU, and the management node sends an MDT activation message to the DU. The MDT activation message contains MDT configuration information. The MDT configuration information contains one or more of the following information:

[0227] An identifier of the MDT measurement, such as a Trace Reference, abbreviated as TR, which is a globally unique identifier containing an identifier of a PLMN and an ID. The identifier indicates a certain MDT measurement of the MDT.

[0228] An IP address of a measurement center node (such as a TCE), which is an entity receiving a measurement report.

[0229] A measurement mode, or a measurement type, which specifically indicates which measurement is performed. For example, the measurement type can be a data delay measurement, an F1 delay measurement, or a DU delay measurement.

[0230] Reporting configuration, containing information such as a reporting period and a reporting threshold.

[0231] A measurement range, which can be a group of cells, that is, contains a list of cell identifiers, or a group of routing area identifiers, such as a TAI list or a TAC list, or an entire PLMN range.

[0232] Privacy indication information, which is also anonymous indication information, indicating that the core network does not need to send the IMSI / IMEI of the UE to the TCE node. Instead, the IMSI of the UE is not sent to the TCE, or the IMEI-TAC is sent to the TCE.

[0233] Configuration of a measurement result sending destination, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, for example, the measurement result can be configured to be sent to another access network entity or to the MDT center entity TCE. The destination node identifier of the measurement report or the IP address and / or tunnel identifier of the destination node of the measurement report are set.

[0234] Whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT center entity is configured, and the configuration information indicates whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT center entity TCE by the access network node, and the configuration information can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement center node (for example, TCE).

[0235] Step 907: The DU sends a message to the CU-CP, and the message carries the identification information of the MDT.

[0236] The DU selects appropriate users to perform MDT measurement according to the MDT measurement configuration received in step 906. First, the user is allowed to perform management-based MDT measurement, that is, in the message in step 905, the DU receives the indication information that the UE is allowed to perform management-based MDT measurement, second, the service PLMN of the UE is in the MDT PLMN list, and the location of the UE needs to be within the range of MDT measurement, for example, the range of MDT measurement is a group of cells, and the serving cell of the UE received in step 905 belongs to a cell in the group. The DU selects the user that meets the condition to perform MDT measurement, and the DU can select the UE to assign an identification, for example, a trace record session identification (Trace Reference Session Reference, abbreviated as TRSR), which is combined with the identification of the MDT measurement (for example, TR), or the part of the two identifications is intercepted respectively, and the access network MDT identification is combined. Of course, another MDT identification can also be generated, as long as the identification can uniquely indicate a MDT measurement in the whole network.

[0237] The message sent by the DU to the CU-CP can be a cell traffic trace or other message. The message carries one or more of the following information:

[0238] The identification of the UE on the F1 interface includes the identification of the UE on the F1 interface allocated by the CU-CP and / or the identification of the UE on the F1 interface allocated by the DU.

[0239] The message carries the identification of the access network MDT, as described above, the identification of the access network MDT can be the combination of TR and TRSR, or an identification that can uniquely indicate a MDT in the whole network.

[0240] The message also carries the IP address of the measurement center node (for example, TCE).

[0241] The message also carries the identification of the cell, indicating the identification of the cell where the UE is located.

[0242] The message also carries privacy indication information, indicating that the AMF needs to send the IMEI-TAC to the TCE.

[0243] Step 908: CU-CP sends a message to core network AMF, the message carries the identification information of MDT.

[0244] CU-CP sends the message received in step 907 to core network AMF. The content of the message is as shown in step 907, but the identification of UE on F1 interface is replaced by the identification of UE on NG interface, that is, it contains the identification of UE on NG interface allocated by CU-CP for UE, and / or the identification of UE on NG interface allocated by AMF for UE. After receiving the message, core network AMF sends the received identification of MDT, such as TR, TRSR, the identification of UE, such as IMSI, IMEI, or IMEI-TAC, to TCE node.

[0245] The following is a description of method three.

[0246] Step 909: Management node sends MDT activation message to CU-CP.

[0247] The MDT activation message contains the configuration information of MDT. The MDT configuration information contains one or more of the following information:

[0248] The identification of MDT measurement (for example, Trace Reference, TR) is a globally unique identification, which contains the identification of PLMN and an ID. It identifies a certain MDT measurement of MDT.

[0249] The IP address of measurement center node (for example, TCE), which is the entity receiving the measurement report.

[0250] The mode of measurement, or the type of measurement, specifically refers to which measurement is performed. For example, the type of measurement can be the measurement of data delay, the measurement of F1 delay, and the measurement of DU delay.

[0251] The configuration of reporting, including the period of reporting, the threshold of reporting, and other information.

[0252] The range of measurement, which can be a group of cells, that is, it contains a list of cell identifications; or a group of routing area identification list, such as TAI list or TAC list, or the whole PLMN range.

[0253] Privacy indication information, also known as anonymity indication information, indicates that core network does not need to send the IMSI / IMEI of UE to TCE node. Instead, it does not send the IMSI of UE to TCE, or sends IMEI-TAC to TCE.

[0254] Configuration of where to send the measurement results, the configuration information indicates which entity the access network node should send the MDT measurement results to, for example, the measurement results can be configured to be sent to another access network entity, or to the MDT central entity TCE. By setting the destination node identifier of the measurement report or the IP address of the destination node of the measurement report and / or the tunnel identifier.

[0255] Configuration of whether to report the measurement results to the MDT central entity, the configuration information indicates whether the measurement results are reported by the access network node to the MDT central entity TCE, which can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement central node (e.g. TCE).

[0256] Step 910: The CU-CP sends the measurement configuration to the CU-UP.

[0257] The CU-CP selects the appropriate user to perform the MDT measurement according to the MDT measurement configuration received in step 909. First, the user must be allowed to perform the management-based MDT measurement, and the CU-CP receives the indication information from the core network that the UE agrees to perform the management-based MDT measurement, second, the location of the UE needs to be within the scope of the MDT measurement, and the CU-CP can assign an identifier to the selected UE, such as a tracking record Session Reference (abbreviated as TRSR), which is combined with the identifier of the MDT measurement (e.g. TR), or the part of the two identifiers is intercepted respectively, to form the identifier of the access network MDT. Of course, another MDT identifier can also be generated, as long as the identifier can uniquely indicate a MDT measurement in the whole network.

[0258] The CU-CP decides whether the MDT measurement is measured by the CU-UP or by the DU. If it is measured by the CU-UP, the CU-CP sends the message in step 910 to the CU-UP, which carries the MDT configuration information, and the MDT configuration information is similar to 909, which is omitted here. If it is measured by the DU, the CU-CP sends the message in step 911 to the DU, which carries the MDT configuration information. The CU-CP can send the MDT configuration information to the CU-UP by sending a bearer establishment message, or by sending a newly defined MDT activation message to the CU-UP, and the MDT activation message in step 910 or other messages contains one or more of the following information:

[0259] The identifier of the UE on the E1 interface, which at least contains the identifier of the UE allocated by the CU-CP on the E1 interface.

[0260] The identifier of the MDT, such as the combination of TRSR and TR.

[0261] IP address of the measurement center node (e.g. TCE), which is the entity receiving the measurement report.

[0262] Type of the measurement, or which measurement is performed. For example, the type of measurement can be delay measurement of data, delay measurement of F1, delay measurement of DU.

[0263] Reporting configuration, including reporting period, reporting threshold, etc.

[0264] Configuration of where to send the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, for example, the measurement result can be configured to be sent to another access network entity, or to be sent to the MDT center entity TCE. The configuration information is configured by setting the destination node identifier or IP address of the measurement reporting.

[0265] Configuration of whether to report the measurement result to the MDT center entity, which indicates whether the measurement result is reported by the access network node to the MDT center entity TCE, and the configuration information can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement center node (e.g. TCE).

[0266] Step 911: CU-CP sends measurement configuration to DU.

[0267] As shown in step 910, if the CU-CP decides that the MDT measurement is measured by the DU, the CU-CP sends the message of step 911 to the DU, and the message carries the MDT configuration information. The message can be a UE context establishment or modification message, or a newly defined message, which carries the identifier of the UE on the F1 interface and the MDT configuration information. The MDT configuration information is similar to the information shown in 910, which is omitted here.

[0268] Step 912: CU-CP sends a message to AMF, which carries the MDT identifier information.

[0269] The message sent by the CU-CP to the AMF can be a cell data trace (Cell Traffic Trace) or other message. The message carries one or more of the following information:

[0270] The message carries the identifier of the MDT, as described above, the identifier of the MDT of the access network can be a combination of TR and TRSR, or an identifier that can uniquely indicate a MDT in the whole network.

[0271] The message also carries the IP address of the measurement center node (e.g. TCE).

[0272] The message also carries the identifier of the cell, indicating the identifier of the cell where the UE is located.

[0273] The message also carries privacy indication information, indicating that the AMF needs to send the IMEI-TAC to the TCE.

[0274] After receiving the message, the core network AMF sends the received MDT identifier, such as a TR, a TRSR, and the identifier of the UE, such as an IMSI, an IMEI, or an IMEI-TAC, to the TCE node.

[0275] Figure 10 Embodiment seven of the present application describes a process of configuring a UE to perform MDT measurement by a management node belonging to an operation and maintenance node. The MDT measurement configured by the operation and maintenance node is referred to as management-based MDT measurement. In the case of a split RAN, there are three different configuration scenarios.

[0276] Scenario one is that the management node belonging to the operation and maintenance node directly configures the CU-UP to perform MDT measurement. Scenario one is described in steps 1001 to 1004. Scenario two is that the management node directly configures the DU to perform MDT measurement. Scenario two is described in steps 1005 to 1008. Depending on different measurement modes or different measurement types, scenario one or scenario two can be selected to activate MDT measurement. For example, to measure the data delay of the CU-UP, the management node can directly configure the CU-UP to perform measurement. To measure the data delay on the DU, the management node can directly configure the DU to perform measurement. There is also a scenario in which the management node configures the CU-CP to perform MDT measurement. In this scenario, the CU-CP selects users that meet the conditions and decides whether to send the measurement configuration to the CU-CP or the DU or both. This scenario has been described in previous embodiments and is omitted here. The two scenarios are described in detail below.

[0277] Step 1001: The management node sends an MDT activation message to the CU-UP.

[0278] When the management node needs to activate MDT measurement, which needs to be performed on the CU-UP, the management node sends an MDT activation message to the CU-UP. The MDT activation message contains MDT configuration information. The MDT configuration information contains one or more of the following information:

[0279] An identifier of the MDT measurement (such as a Trace Reference, abbreviated as TR), which is a globally unique identifier containing the identifier of the PLMN and an ID. The identifier identifies a certain MDT measurement of the MDT.

[0280] An IP address of a measurement center node (such as a TCE), which is an entity that receives measurement reports.

[0281] The mode of measurement, or the type of measurement, specifically refers to which measurement is performed. For example, the type of measurement can be measurement of data delay, F1 delay measurement, or CU-UP delay measurement.

[0282] The configuration of reporting, including the period of reporting, the threshold of reporting, and the like.

[0283] The range of measurement, which can be a group of cells, i.e., a group of cell identifiers; or a group of routing area identifiers, such as a TAI list or a TAC list, or the entire PLMN range.

[0284] The privacy indication information, also the anonymity indication information, indicates that the core network does not need to send the IMSI / IMEI of the UE to the TCE node. Instead, the IMSI of the UE is not sent to the TCE, or the IMEI-TAC is sent to the TCE.

[0285] The configuration of where to send the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, for example, the measurement result can be configured to be sent to another access network entity, or to the MDT center entity TCE. The destination node identifier of the measurement report or the IP address and / or tunnel identifier of the destination node of the measurement report is set.

[0286] The configuration of whether to report the measurement result to the MDT center entity, which indicates whether the measurement result is reported by the access network node to the MDT center entity TCE. The IP address of the measurement center node (e.g., TCE) can also be used to indicate the configuration information.

[0287] Step 1002: The CU-UP sends an MDT configuration request message to the CU-CP, which carries the configuration information.

[0288] The CU-UP sends an MDT configuration request message to the CU-CP according to the MDT measurement configuration received in step 1001. The purpose of this message is for the CU-CP to select which UEs to perform MDT measurement. This message is a common message, not a UE-specific message. The CU-UP forwards the message received in step 1001 to the CU-CP through this message.

[0289] Step 1003: The CU-CP selects users for MDT measurement and sends an MDT configuration message to the CU-UP.

[0290] The message in step 1003 is a UE specific message. The CU-CP selects a suitable user to perform MDT measurement. First, the user has to allow the management based MDT measurement, the CU-CP has received the indication information that the UE allows the management based MDT measurement and / or the MDT PLMN list of the UE from the core network in the previous procedure, if the current serving PLMN of the UE is in the MDT PLMN list, and the location of the UE needs to be in the range of the MDT measurement, for example, the range of the MDT measurement is a group of cells, the serving cell of the UE needs to belong to a cell in the group of cells, the CU-CP can select the user to perform MDT measurement, and the CU-CP can assign an identity to the selected UE, for example, a Trace Reference Session Reference (TRSR), the identity and the identity of the MDT measurement (for example, a TR), the two identities, or the part of the two identities, are combined to form the identity of the MDT measurement of the access network. Of course, another identity of the MDT measurement can also be generated, as long as the identity can uniquely indicate a MDT measurement in the whole network.

[0291] The message sent by the CU-CP to the CU-UP can be a UE specific message defined on the E1 interface, or a new message.

[0292] The MDT configuration message or other message in step 1003 contains one or more of the following information:

[0293] The identity of the UE on the E1 interface, at least including the identity of the UE allocated by the CU-CP on the E1 interface.

[0294] The identity of the MDT, for example, the combination of TRSR and TR.

[0295] The IP address of the measurement center node (for example, TCE), which is the entity receiving the measurement report.

[0296] The measurement mode, or the type of measurement, which specifies which measurement is performed. For example, the type of measurement can be the measurement of data delay, the delay measurement of F1, and the delay measurement of DU.

[0297] The reporting configuration, including the period of reporting, the threshold of reporting, and other information.

[0298] The configuration of the destination of the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, for example, the measurement result can be configured to be sent to another access network entity, or to the MDT center entity TCE. The destination node identity or IP address of the measurement report is configured by setting.

[0299] Whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT central entity is configured, and the configuration information indicates whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT central entity TCE by the access network node, and the configuration information can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement central node (for example, TCE).

[0300] Step 1004: The CU-CP sends a message to the core network, for example, AMF. The message carries the identification information of the MDT.

[0301] The message sent by the CU-CP to the AMF can be a cell data trace (Cell Traffic Trace) or other messages. The message is a UE-specific message, and the message carries one or more of the following information:

[0302] The interface identifier of the UE, for example, the identifier of the NG interface allocated by the core network AMF for the UE, and the identifier of the NG interface allocated by the base station CU-CP for the UE.

[0303] The message carries the identification of the MDT of the access network, as described above, the identification of the MDT of the access network can be a combination of TR and TRSR, or an identification that can uniquely indicate an MDT in the whole network.

[0304] The message also carries the IP address of the measurement central node (for example, TCE).

[0305] The message also carries the identification of the cell, indicating the identification of the cell where the UE is located.

[0306] The message also carries privacy indication information, indicating that the AMF needs to send the IMEI-TAC to the TCE.

[0307] Step 1005: The CU-UP sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT central entity.

[0308] According to the configuration of the measurement report, the CU-UP sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT central entity TCE.

[0309] The following is a description of scenario two.

[0310] Step 1006: The management node sends an MDT activation message to the DU.

[0311] When the management node needs to activate MDT measurement, which needs to be performed on the DU, the management node sends an MDT activation message to the DU. The MDT activation message contains the configuration information of the MDT. The MDT configuration information contains one or more of the following information:

[0312] An identifier of the MDT measurement, such as Trace Reference, TR, which is a globally unique identifier containing the identity of the PLMN and an ID. The identifier identifies a certain MDT measurement of the MDT.

[0313] An IP address of a measurement center node, such as TCE, which is an entity receiving the measurement report.

[0314] A mode of the measurement, or a type of the measurement, which specifies which measurement is performed. For example, the type of the measurement can be a measurement of a data delay, a measurement of a delay of an F1, or a measurement of a delay of a DU.

[0315] A configuration of reporting, which contains information of a period of reporting, a threshold of reporting, and the like.

[0316] A range of the measurement, which can be a group of cells, i.e., contains a list of cell identities, or a group of routing area identities, such as a list of TAIs or a list of TACs, or a whole PLMN range.

[0317] Privacy indication information, which is also anonymity indication information, indicates that the core network does not need to send the IMSI / IMEI of the UE to the TCE node. Instead, the IMSI of the UE is not sent to the TCE, or the IMEI-TAC is sent to the TCE.

[0318] A configuration of a destination of the measurement result, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, such as another access network entity or the MDT center entity TCE. The configuration information is indicated by setting an IP address of a destination node of the measurement reporting or a tunnel identifier of the destination node of the measurement reporting.

[0319] A configuration of whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT center entity, which indicates whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT center entity TCE by the access network node. The configuration information is indicated by an IP address of the measurement center node, such as TCE.

[0320] Step 1007: The DU sends an MDT configuration request message to the CU-CP, which carries the configuration information.

[0321] The DU sends an MDT configuration request message to the CU-CP according to the MDT measurement configuration received in step 1006. The message is used to let the CU-CP select which UE performs the MDT measurement. The message is a common message, not a UE-specific message. The DU forwards the message received in step 1006 to the CU-CP through the message.

[0322] Step 1008: CU-CP selects the user to perform MDT measurement, and sends MDT configuration message to DU.

[0323] The message in step 1008 is UE specific message. CU-CP selects the appropriate user to perform MDT measurement. First, the user is allowed to perform management based MDT measurement, CU-CP receives the indication information that the UE is allowed to perform management based MDT measurement and / or the MDT PLMN list of the UE from the core network in the previous process, if the current service PLMN of the UE is in the MDT PLMN list, and the location of the UE needs to be in the range of MDT measurement, for example, the range of MDT measurement is a group of cells, the service cell of the UE belongs to a cell in the group of cells, CU-CP can select the user to perform MDT measurement, and CU-CP can select the UE to assign an identifier, for example, trace reference session identifier (TRSR), the identifier and the identifier of MDT measurement (for example, TR), or the part of the two identifiers, which are combined to form the identifier of MDT measurement of the access network. Of course, another MDT identifier can also be generated, as long as the identifier can uniquely indicate a MDT measurement in the whole network.

[0324] The message sent by CU-CP to DU can be UE context modification request, or a new message. The message contains one or more of the following information:

[0325] The identifier of the UE on the F1 interface, at least including the identifier of the UE allocated by CU-CP on the F1 interface.

[0326] The identifier of MDT, such as the combination of TRSR and TR.

[0327] The IP address of the measurement center node (for example, TCE), which is the entity receiving the measurement report.

[0328] The mode of measurement, or the type of measurement, which specifies which measurement is performed. For example, the type of measurement can be the measurement of data delay, the delay measurement of F1, and the delay measurement of DU.

[0329] The configuration of reporting, including the period of reporting, the threshold of reporting and other information.

[0330] The configuration of sending the measurement result to which entity, which indicates that the access network node should send the MDT measurement result to which entity, for example, the measurement result can be configured to be sent to another access network entity, or to be sent to the MDT center entity TCE. The destination node identifier or IP address of the measurement report is configured by setting.

[0331] The measurement result is reported to the MDT center entity, and the configuration information indicates whether the measurement result is reported to the MDT center entity TCE by the access network node, and the configuration information can also be indicated by the IP address of the measurement center node (for example, TCE).

[0332] Step 1009: The CU-CP sends a message to the core network, for example, AMF. The message carries the identification information of the MDT.

[0333] The message sent by the CU-CP to the AMF can be a cell data trace (Cell Traffic Trace) or other messages. The message is a UE-specific message, and the message carries one or more of the following information:

[0334] The interface identifier of the UE, for example, the NG interface identifier allocated by the core network AMF for the UE, and the NG interface identifier allocated by the base station CU-CP for the UE.

[0335] The message carries the identification of the MDT of the access network, as described above, the identification of the MDT of the access network can be a combination of TR and TRSR, or an identification that can uniquely indicate an MDT in the whole network.

[0336] The message also carries the IP address of the measurement center node (for example, TCE).

[0337] The message also carries the identification of the cell, indicating the identification of the cell where the UE is located.

[0338] The message also carries privacy indication information, indicating that the AMF needs to send the IMEI-TAC to the TCE.

[0339] Step 1010: The DU sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT center entity.

[0340] According to the measurement reporting configuration, the DU sends the MDT measurement result to the MDT center entity TCE.

[0341] Figure 8 The structure block diagram of the access network node for performing MDT measurement according to the example embodiment of the application is schematically shown. As shown, Figure 8 The access network node receives the configuration information of the MDT, the access network node performs MDT configuration according to the configuration information, and the access network node can also receive the measurement result of the MDT sent by other access network nodes, the access network node integrates the received measurement result and its own measurement result, and forms a measurement result which is sent to the MDT center node through the output module.

[0342] The above merely provides the preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not used to limit the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A method performed by a distribution unit (DU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: The method comprises: receiving, from a central unit, CU, control plane, CP, of a base station, over a F1 interface, a UE context setup request message comprising information of a list of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, allowed for management based minimization of drive tests, MDT; receiving, from a management node, EM, a MDT activation message comprising information on configuring MDT measurements; selecting, for MDT, a suitable UE based on the information on configuring MDT measurements and the information of the list of PLMNs allowed for management based MDT.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The UE context setup request message further comprises: an identity of a cell in which the UE is located and / or an identity of a serving PLMN of the UE.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: sending, to the CU-CP of the base station, a cell data logging message comprising an identity associated with a trace reference, TR, and a trace reference session reference, TRSR, of the MDT.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The cell data logging message further comprises a trace collection entity, TCE, IP address and / or privacy indication information.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, The cell data logging message is sent to an access and mobility management function, AMF, via the CU-CP of the base station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, The UE is selected for MDT measurements if the UE's serving PLMN is within the list of PLMNs allowed for management based MDT and the UE is within a specified area.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, The UE is not selected if the UE is not within the specified area or if the UE's serving PLMN is not within the list of PLMNs allowed for management based MDT.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein, Sending the cell data logging message comprises: for each selected UE, sending, to the CU-CP of the base station, in F1 UE related signaling, the cell data logging message.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein, The cell data logging message further comprises an identity allocated by the CU-CP for the UE on the F1 interface and / or an identity allocated by the DU for the UE on the F1 interface. 10.A method performed by a central unit, CU, -control plane, CP, of a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: The method comprises: sending, to a distributed unit, DU, of a base station, over a F1 interface, a UE context setup request message comprising information of a list of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, allowed for management based minimization of drive tests, MDT, the information of the list of PLMNs allowed for management based MDT being used by the DU of the base station for selecting a suitable UE for MDT.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The UE context setup request message further comprises: an identity of a cell in which the UE is located and / or an identity of a serving PLMN of the UE.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein, Further comprising: receiving, from the DU of the base station, a cell data logging message comprising an identity associated with a trace reference, TR, and a trace reference session reference, TRSR, of the MDT.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The cell data logging message further comprises a trace collection entity, TCE, IP address and / or privacy indication information.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein, Further comprising: sending the cell data logging message to an access and mobility management function, AMF.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein, The cell data logging message further comprises an identity allocated by the CU-CP for the UE on the F1 interface and / or an identity allocated by the DU for the UE on the F1 interface.

16. A distribution unit, DU, of a base station in a wireless communication system, the DU comprising: The DU of the base station comprises: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor operably coupled to the at least one transceiver, The at least one processor is configured to: receive, from a central unit CU-control plane CP of a base station, a UE context setup request message including information of a management-based minimization of drive test MDT public land mobile network PLMN list allowing over an F1 interface; receive, from an element management EM node, a MDT activation message including information of configuring MDT measurement; select a suitable UE for MDT according to the information of configuring MDT measurement and the information of the management-based MDT PLMN list allowing.

17. The DU of claim 16, wherein, The UE context setup request message further includes: an identity of a cell where the UE is located and / or an identity of a serving PLMN of the UE.

18. The DU of claim 16, wherein, The at least one processor is further configured to send, to the CU-CP of the base station, a cell data tracking message including an identity associated with a tracking reference TR and a tracking reference session reference TRSR of the MDT.

19. The DU of claim 18, wherein, The cell data tracking message further includes a tracking collection entity TCE IP address and / or privacy indication information.

20. The DU of claim 18, wherein, The cell data tracking message is sent to an access and mobility management function AMF via the CU-CP of the base station.

21. The DU of claim 16, wherein, The UE is selected to be a suitable UE for MDT measurement if the serving PLMN of the UE is within the management-based MDT PLMN list allowing and the UE is within a specified area.

22. The DU of claim 16, wherein, The UE is not selected if the UE is not within the specified area, or if the serving PLMN of the UE is not within the management-based MDT PLMN list allowing.

23. The DU of claim 18, wherein, The at least one processor is configured to send, to the CU-CP of the base station, a cell data tracking message in F1 UE related signaling for each selected UE.

24. The DU of claim 18, wherein, The cell data tracking message further includes an identity allocated by the CU-CP for the UE on the F1 interface and / or an identity allocated by a distributed unit DU for the UE on the F1 interface. 25.A central unit, CU, -control plane, CP, of a base station in a wireless communication system, the CU-CP comprising: The CU-CP of the base station includes: at least one transceiver; and The at least one processor is operatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, The at least one processor is configured to: send, to a distributed unit DU of a base station, a UE context setup request message including information of a management-based minimization of drive test MDT public land mobile network PLMN list allowing over an F1 interface, the information of the management-based MDT PLMN list allowing being used by the DU of the base station to select a suitable UE for MDT.

26. The CU-CP of claim 25, wherein, The UE context setup request message further includes: an identity of a cell where the UE is located and / or an identity of a serving PLMN of the UE.

27. The CU-CP of claim 25, wherein, The at least one processor is further configured to receive a cell data tracking message sent by the DU of the base station, the message including an identity associated with a tracking reference TR and a tracking reference session reference TRSR of the MDT.

28. The CU-CP of claim 27, wherein, The cell data tracking message further includes a tracking collection entity TCE IP address and / or privacy indication information.

29. The CU-CP of claim 27, wherein, The at least one processor is further configured to send the cell data tracking message to an access and mobility management function AMF.

30. The CU-CP of claim 27, wherein, The message of the cell data tracking further comprises an identification of the UE allocated by the CU-CP on the F1 interface, and / or an identification of the UE allocated by the DU on the F1 interface.

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