Method and apparatus for releasing or suspending one or more quality of experience configurations in handover between radio access technologies

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and devices for releasing or suspending at least one first quality of experience configuration. A method performed by a user equipment, in which the UE communicates with a first radio access technology (RAT), comprises: obtaining one or more Quality of Experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT; receiving, from a source node of the first RAT, a message indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT; initiating communication with a target node of the second RAT; and releasing or suspending at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatus for releasing or suspending at least one first QoE configuration upon handover between a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT. Background Art

[0002] Quality of Experience (QoE) measurements, also known as "application layer measurements," have been specified for Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), and are being specified for New Radio (NR) in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 17. The purpose of application layer measurements is to measure the end-user experience when using an application. Currently, QoE measurements are supported for streaming services and for MTSI (Mobile Telephone Service over IMS) services. For NR, virtual reality (VR) may be added to the list of services for which QoE measurements are specified and supported.

[0003] The solution in LTE and UMTS is similar, where the general principles are as follows. Quality of Experience Measurement Collection (QMC) enables the configuration of application layer measurements in the user equipment (UE) and the transmission of QoE measurement result files (commonly called QoE reports) to the network by means of Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. The application layer measurement configuration (also called QoE measurement configuration or QoE configuration) received by the Radio Access Network (RAN) from the Operation Operation and Management (OAM) system or the Core Network (CN) is encapsulated in a transparent container, which is forwarded to the User Equipment (UE) in a downlink RRC message. The application layer measurement report (also called QoE report) received by the UE Access Stratum (UE AS) or UE RRC layer from the higher layers (application layer) of the UE is encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the network in an uplink RRC message. The RAN then forwards the QoE report to the Measurement Collector Entity (MCE).

[0004] In 3GPP Release 17, a new study item for NR, "Study on NR QoE management and optimizations for diverse services", has been approved and concluded. Specification work for 3GPP Release 17 is still in progress. The purpose of the study item is to study solutions for QoE measurement in NR. QoE management in NR will not only collect quality of experience parameters for streaming services, but also take into account typical performance requirements of different services (for example, augmented reality (AR) / VR and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), at least VR seems to be covered in 3GPP Release 17). Based on the requirements of the service, the NR study also includes more adaptive QoE management solutions that enable network optimization to meet the user experience of different services.

[0005] Configuration data related to QoE measurements (often referred to as application-layer measurements in standard specifications) includes a service type indication, an indication of the area in which the measurements are to be performed (denoted as an area scope), the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the entity to which the collected measurement results (i.e., QoE reports) should be sent (often referred to as the measurement collector entity or measurement collection entity (MCE), but this entity may also sometimes be referred to as a trace collection entity), and a set of instructions detailing which type of measurements should be performed and how they are to be performed. These instructions are intended for the application layer in the UE and are placed in a "container" that the network entity that handles (e.g., forwards it to the UE) and the UE access layer cannot interpret and do not attempt to read. The currently specified service types are MTSI and streaming services (DASH), and in 3GPP Release 17, at least service type VR will be added. Area scopes are defined based on cells or network-related areas. In UMTS, area scopes are defined as a list of cells, routing areas, or tracking areas. In LTE, area scopes are defined as a list of cells or tracking areas. In NR, the area scope will be defined as a list of cells or a list of tracking areas.

[0006] QoE, and in particular QoE configuration, comes in two flavors: management-based (m-based) QoE configuration and signaling-based (s-based) QoE configuration. In both cases, the QoE configuration originates from the OAM system or some other management entity, such as one that handles customer satisfaction. All of these entities are referred to as the OAM system in this document (where the OAM system also includes additional entities). In the case of management-based QoE (m-based QoE), the OAM system is typically interested in general QoE statistics from a certain area (which is configured as area-wide). The m-based QoE configuration is sent directly from the OAM system to the RAN nodes that control cells within the area. Each RAN node then selects UEs within the area (and that meet any other relevant conditions, such as support for relevant application / service types) and sends the m-based QoE configuration to these UEs.

[0007] In the case of s-based QoE, the OAM system is interested in collecting QoE measurements from a specific UE, for example, because the user of the UE has submitted a complaint. The OAM system sends the s-based QoE configuration to the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) (in EPS / LTE) or Unified Data Management (UDM) (in 5GS / NR), which forwards the QoE configuration to the UE's current core network node (CN), such as the Mobility Management Entity (MME) in EPS / LTE or the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) in 5G / NR. The CN then forwards the s-based QoE configuration to the RAN node serving the relevant UE, and the RAN forwards it to the UE.

[0008] Forwarded to the UE is a service type indication and a container with measurement instructions. The UE is unaware of whether the received QoE configuration is m-based or s-based. In traditional systems, the QoE framework is integrated with tracing functionality, and a tracing ID is associated with each QoE configuration. In NR, the QoE functionality will be logically separated from the tracing functionality, but it will still partially reuse the tracing signaling mechanism. In NR and LTE, a globally unique QoE reference (formed by the Mobile Country Code (MCC) + Mobile Network Code (MNC) + QoE Measurement Collection (QMC) Identifier (ID), where the QMC ID is a 24-bit string) will be associated with each QoE configuration. The QoE reference is included in the container with the measurement instructions and sent to the RAN (i.e., the gNB in ​​NR). For communication between the gNB and the UE, the QoE reference is replaced by a shorter identifier denoted as measConfigAppLayerId, which is locally unique within the UE (i.e., there is a one-to-one mapping between measConfigAppLayerId and QoE reference for each QoE configuration provided to the UE). measConfigAppLayerId is stored in the UE access stratum and forwarded in an AT command (which is a type of command used in communications between the modem part of the UE and the application layer of the UE) together with a service type indication and a container with measurement instructions.

[0009] Reports with collected QoE measurements (i.e., QoE reports) are sent from the UE application layer to the UE access layer, which forwards them to the RAN, which forwards them to the MCE. These QoE measurements are placed in a "container" that is uninterpretable by the UE access layer and the RAN. QoE reports can be configured to be sent periodically or only at the end of an application session. In addition, the RAN can instruct the UE to suspend QoE reporting, for example, if the cell / gNB is overloaded.

[0010] The RAN is unaware of when an application session with an associated QoE measurement session is ongoing, and the UE access layer is not automatically aware of this. To mitigate this, start / stop indications can be introduced that are sent from the application layer in the UE to the UE AS, and from the UE AS to the RAN. The session stop indication can be implicit in the form of a QoE report sent at the end of the application session and the associated QoE measurement session.

[0011] As an implementation based decision, the RAN may decide to release the QoE configuration in the UE at any time. Typically this is done when the UE has moved outside the area configured for QoE measurements (often referred to as the area range).

[0012] One opportunity offered by conventional solutions is the ability to retain QoE measurements for the entire session, even during handover situations. It has also been discussed to allow the UE to continue making QoE measurements for an ongoing application session until the application session ends, even if the UE moves out of the configured area in the meantime.

[0013] An extension to the QoE framework that has been studied for 3GPP Release 17 and is currently being specified in 3GPP is the concept of RAN-visible QoE (RVQoE). Conventional QoE reporting is intended for the MCE, which is an entity external to the RAN, such as part of the OAM system, and the RAN cannot read the QoE reports (at least not according to the specification, although gNB / eNB implementations are not prevented from doing so). In contrast, reported RVQoE metrics are intended for the RAN and are delivered to the RAN in a format that the RAN understands. RVQoE metrics are derived from conventional QoE metrics, collected and compiled by the UE application layer in reports, and delivered to the RAN so that the RAN can use the reports for various types of optimizations. As an example, when the RAN receives RVQoE reports during an ongoing application session, the RAN can perform adaptation actions while the application session is ongoing to affect the QoE of the associated application session, such as changing various parameters related to the UE's scheduling and the data flow associated with the application session.

[0014] Quality of Experience (QoE) measurements have been specified for LTE and UMTS, and are being specified for NR. The purpose of application layer measurements is to measure the end-user experience when using an application. Currently, QoE measurements are supported for streaming services and for MTSI (Mobile Telephone Service over IMS) services.

[0015] The solutions in LTE and UMTS are similar, with the general principles being as follows. Quality of Experience Measurement Collection enables configuration of application-layer measurements in the UE and delivery of QoE measurement result files via RRC signaling. Application-layer measurement configurations received from the O&M or CN are encapsulated in a transparent container, which is forwarded to the UE in a downlink RRC message. Application-layer measurements received from higher layers in the UE are encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the network in an uplink RRC message. The result container is forwarded to the TCE, the Trace Collector Entity.

[0016] In 3GPP Release 17, a study item titled "Study on NR QoE management and optimizations for diverse services" was launched for NR. The goal of this study item is to investigate solutions for QoE measurement in NR. QoE management in NR will not only collect experience parameters for streaming services, but also consider the typical performance requirements of various services, such as AR / VR and URLLC.

[0017] Measurements can be initiated towards the RAN in a management-based manner, i.e. from the O&M node in a generic manner, e.g. for a group of UEs that can be selected by the RAN, or they can be initiated in a signaling-based manner, i.e. from the CN (upon request from the O&M system) towards the RAN, e.g. for a single specific UE. The configuration of the measurements includes the measurement details encapsulated in a container that is transparent to the RAN.

[0018] When initiated via the core network, measurements are started towards a specific UE. In the case of LTE, a "Trace Start" S1AP message is used, which carries details about the measurement configuration that the application should collect (in an "Application Layer Measurement Configuration Container", transparent to the RAN) and details of the trace collection entity to which the arrival measurements should be sent.

[0019] Notifications of starting and stopping application sessions with associated QoE measurement configurations are introduced, where these notifications are communicated from the application layer in the UE and to the UE access layer (i.e., the radio layer in the UE), and then forwarded to the network. This allows the network (at least the RAN) to know when QoE measurements on an application session are in progress. When the RAN stops the measurements is an implementation decision. Typically, this is done when the UE has moved outside the configured area for measurement (also known as the area range). However, this strategy is challenged by the desire to have QoE data representative of the complete application session.

[0020] Figure 1is a signaling diagram showing the basic signaling involved in QoE measurement configuration from the O&M system to the UE (not all details are shown). This figure is a copy of the figure labeled "Figure 4.2.1-1: QMC activation and reporting in LTE" in 3GPP TS 28.405 v16.0.0.

[0021] One opportunity provided by conventional solutions is to be able to maintain QoE measurements for the entire application session even during handover situations, so that the reported QoE measurement data covers the complete application session.

[0022] QoE measurements are configured in the UE with the help of RRC signaling. Configuration is done using the RRC message RRCReconfiguration containing the IE appLayerMeasConfig. When a session starts in the application layer, the UE starts collecting QoE measurements, and when the report is ready, it is sent to the network in the RRC message MeasurementReportAppLayer. The same RRC message is used for both normal QoE and RAN-visible QoE.

[0023] Figure 2 Configuration and reporting of QoE measurements using RRC signaling are shown.

[0024] Attention (AT) commands are used for communication between the AS (Radio) layer and the application layer in the UE. AT commands are defined in 3GPP TS 27.007. In QoE, AT commands are used to transfer configurations from the RRC layer to applications and to transfer reports from the application layer to the RRC layer.

[0025] In LTE, a UE can only be configured with one QoE measurement at a time. The UE is configured with a QoE configuration container and the service type to be measured. See the example code below:

[0026] In NR, a UE can be configured with up to 16 QoE measurements. Measurements are separated by the identifier measConfigAppLayerId and they are configured with the help of AddModList. See the example code below:

[0027] AppLayerMeasConfig-r17::=SEQUENCE{

[0028] measConfigAppLayerToAddModList-r17 SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxNrofAppLayerMeas-r17))OF MeasConfigAppLayer-r17 OPTIONAL,--Need N

[0029] measConfigAppLayerToReleaseList-r17 SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxNrofAppLayerMeas-r17))OF MeasConfigAppLayerId-r17 OPTIONAL,--Need N

[0030] rrc-SegAllowed-r17 ENUMERATED{enabled}OPTIONAL,--Need R ...

[0032] }

[0033] MeasConfigAppLayer-r17::=SFQUENCE{

[0034] measConfigAppLayerId-r17 MeasConfigAppLayerId-r17,

[0035] measConfigAppLayerContainer-r17 OCTETSTRING(SIZE(1..8000))OPTIONAL,--NeedN

[0036] serviceType-r17 ENUMERATED{streaming,mtsi,vr,spare5,spare4,spare3,spare2,sparel}OPTIONAL,-- Need M

[0037] pauseReporting-r17 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL,--Need M

[0038] transmissionOfSessionStartStop-r17 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL,-- Need M

[0039] ran-VisibleParameters-r17 SetupRelease{RAN-VisibleParameters-r17}OPTIONAL,--Cond ServiceType ...

[0041] }

[0042] RAN-VisibleParameters-r17::=SEQUENCE{

[0043] ran-VisiblePeriodicity-r17 ENUMERATED{ms120,ms240,ms480,ms640,ms1024}OPTIONAL--Need S

[0044] numberOfBufferLevelEntries-r17 INTEGER (1..8)OPTIONAL,--Need R

[0045] reportPlayoutDelayForMediaStartup-r17 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL,-Need M ...

[0047] }

[0048] When switching from NR to LTE, the RRC message MobilityFromNRCommand is sent to the UE. This message includes the LTE message, RRCConnectionReconfiguration, which contains the mobilityControlInfo in the form of an octet string. See below: NOTE 1: The correspondence between the targetRAT-Type value, the criteria to be applied, and the message contained in the targetRAT-MessageContainer is shown in the following table:

[0049] When the UE performs a handover from one NR cell to another NR cell (reconfigurationWithSync), there are two possibilities for how the target configuration is signaled to the UE. In the case of incremental signaling, the network only indicates the difference in the AS configuration between the source cell and the target cell in the handover command message that triggers the handover (RRCReconfiguration message including reconfigurationWithSync). In the case of handover with fullConfig, the UE releases the existing configuration in the UE AS layer and adds the new complete AS configuration included in the handover command. Reconfiguration with fullConfig can also occur when RRC is reestablished. The configuration in higher layers in the UE (such as the application layer) is not affected by the reconfiguration with fullConfig in the UE AS. When switching from NR to LTE, the LTE message RRCConnectionReconfiguration including mobilityControlInfo (LTE message included in MobilityFromNRCommand) can contain the fullConfig of the LTE configuration.

[0050] QoE measurements consist of both the UE AS layer portion and the application layer portion. When reconfiguring with fullConfig, the UE releases the AS layer portion but retains the application layer portion, as the application layer portion is not a radio configuration. Reconfiguration with fullConfig was discussed in REL-17, and it was agreed that the network can signal which QoE configuration to retain and which to release by signaling the configured measConfigAppLayerId in the AddModList or ReleaseList, respectively. If QoE configuration should continue, the UE will again receive the AS portion of the configuration, cleared as part of the fullConfig, while the application layer portion will remain. If the QoE configuration should be released, the network can indicate the release of the configuration to the UE, and the UE AS will indicate to the application layer that the QoE configuration should be released. If QoE measurements are not indicated in the RRCReconfiguration message that includes fullConfig, all QoE measurements will be released. This applies to situations where the target node does not support QoE measurements and cannot signal anything related to QoE.

[0051] In NR, 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.3.0 specifies the following related to fullConfig: 1> If measConfigAppLayerId is not included: 2> Notify the upper layer about the release of all application layer measurement configurations; 2> discard any application layer measurement reports received from upper layers; 2> Considers itself not configured to send application layer measurement reports.

[0052] In LTE, the QoE configuration container is mandatory in the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message and it is not possible to exclude it. Therefore, a solution was agreed in which the UE AS layer does not forward the container to the application layer if measurements should continue at handover with fullConfig. If the target node does not support QoE measurements, nothing will be indicated in the message and the UE will release the QoE measurements. From 3GPP TS 36.331 v17.3.0: If the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes measConfigAppLayer set to setup and measConfigAppLayer includes a serviceType stored in the current UE configuration: 2>Discard measConfigAppLayer; 2> Treat measConfigAppLayer as not received; 1> Otherwise, if serviceType is stored in the current UE configuration: 2> Release the stored serviceType; 2> Notify the upper layer to clear the stored application layer measurement configuration; 2> discard the application layer measurement report information received from the upper layer; 2> It believes that it is not configured to send application layer measurement reports; Summary of the Invention

[0053] There is a certain challenge. During handover or other reconfiguration including fullConfig, the AS layer is cleared in the UE (with some exceptions). In addition, If the target node does not have In the switch command message Signaling to UE Notify any QoE configuration , then all QoE measurements are released in the application layer in the UE. The reason for this is that if the target node does not support QoE measurements, there should be no "hanging" measurements in the application layer.

[0054] When a UE switches from NR to LTE, the target LTE node may support QoE measurements, however, a UE served by an LTE node can only be configured with one QoE measurement configuration at a time. If the target node signals a QoE configuration, other existing measurements will not be released in the UE because the UE only No The configuration is only released when the QoE configuration is signaled. However, the LTE node does not have the possibility to release other QoE measurements by signaling the QoE configuration list, because this functionality does not exist in LTE (because a UE served by an eNB can only have one QoE configuration at a time). If the UE performs a handover from NR to LTE and measurements for one service type continue in the LTE node, other QoE configurations that the UE was configured with in NR may still remain "pending" in the UE, and the target node does not have the possibility to release them. In addition, other NR-specific QoE functionalities, such as RAN-visible QoE or alignment with MDT, cannot be released from LTE and may be suspended in the UE when switching from NR to LTE.

[0055] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to these and other challenges. Some embodiments described herein provide a method in a UE, the method comprising: - Obtain one or more configurations for QoE measurements in NR (first radio access technology (RAT)). - Receive a message containing a command for handover from NR (first RAT) to LTE (second RAT). The message may be a MobilityFromNRCommandRRC message including an LTE message RRCConnectionReconformation including a mobilityControlInfo, wherein the RRCConnectionReconformation message is created by the target node, sent to the source node (gNB) during the IRAT handover preparation phase as a transparent container (i.e., the source gNB is not expected to read or understand it), and then included by the source node in the MobilityFromNRCommand message in the form of an octet string contained in the targetRAT-MessageContainer IE. - In one solution (clear solution), MobilityFromNRCommand is updated to include IEAppLayerMeasConfig so that the NR specific part of the QoE configuration can be released. o In one option, the “NR specific part of the QoE configuration to be released” refers to the QoE measurement configuration for service types that support QoE measurement in NR but not in LTE (e.g., VR). o In another option, the “NR specific part of the QoE configuration to be released” includes features of the QoE measurement configuration for a service type for which QoE measurement is supported in both LTE and NR, but features that are part of the QoE measurement configuration are supported in NR but not in LTE. ■ For example, QoE measurements of MTSI and DASH are supported in both LTE and NR, but features such as RAN-visible QoE, alignment with MDT are supported in NR but not in LTE. - In an alternative solution (implicit solution, where AppLayerMeasConfig may not be included in the MobilityFromNRCommand), if the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message (hereinafter also referred to as Handover Command) contained in the targetRAT-MessageContainer IE contains the configuration of the QoE measurement, i.e., the service type and the QoE configuration container: ○ Release other QoE configurations configured in NR, that is, release the QoE configurations of different service types received in the QoE configuration in the handover command. ○ Releasing other QoE configurations includes releasing everything related to the QoE configuration, such as releasing the configured measConfigAppLayerId, releasing the service type, releasing the QoE reference, etc. o Release the NR-specific part of the QoE configuration that continues in LTE. As explained for the explicit solution, "NR part of the configuration" refers to features within the QoE measurement configuration for service types that are supported in both LTE and NR, but where the features themselves are supported in NR but not in LTE. - Continue QoE measurements for the service types indicated in LTE, possibly without NR-specific features. If the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message does not contain the configuration for QoE measurement, i.e., the service type and QoE configuration container: ○ Release all QoE configurations.

[0056] Additionally, some network embodiments are included, as are some embodiments related to handover from LTE to NR, with redirection and release of UE capabilities.

[0057] Embodiments described herein relate to how to avoid suspending QoE measurements in a UE when switching from a first RAT (e.g., NR) to a second RAT (e.g., LTE).

[0058] According to some embodiments, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE communicates with a first radio access technology (RAT). The method includes obtaining one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT; receiving a message from a source node of the first RAT indicating that the UE wants to communicate with a second RAT; initiating communication with a target node of the second RAT; and releasing or suspending at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations.

[0059] According to some embodiments, a method performed by a network node in a first radio access technology (RAT) is provided. The network node is in communication with a user equipment (UE) configured with one or more Quality of Experience (QoE) configurations for use with a first RAT. The method includes transmitting a message indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message includes a first indication related to releasing or suspending at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT.

[0060] According to some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) is provided, wherein the UE is adapted to communicate with a first radio access technology (RAT). The UE includes processing circuitry and a memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the UE is operable to: obtain one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT; receive a message from a source node of the first RAT indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT; initiate communication with a target node of the second RAT; and release or suspend at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations.

[0061] According to some embodiments, a network node in a first radio access technology is provided. The network node is adapted to communicate with a user equipment (UE) configured with one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with a first RAT. The network node comprises processing circuitry and a memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the network node is operable to: transmit a message indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message comprises a first indication relating to release or suspension of at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT.

[0062] According to some embodiments, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform any of the methods described above.

[0063] According to some embodiments, there is provided a carrier embodying a computer program as described above, wherein the carrier comprises one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0064] According to some embodiments, there is provided a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform any of the methods described above.

[0065] According to some embodiments, there is provided a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program as described above.

[0066] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages.

[0067] An advantage of the embodiments described herein is that it avoids suspending QoE measurements in the UE during an IRAT handover from a first RAT (e.g., NR) to a second RAT (e.g., LTE). In order to avoid wasting UE capacity and extend the battery life of the UE, it is important to release unnecessary measurements (i.e., measurements that cannot be reported to the network anyway).

[0068] Taking into account the fact that the UE may return to the first RAT (e.g., NR) in a short time, when the UE is communicating with LTE, the use of the QoE configuration configured for NR in the UE can be temporarily suspended, and the use of the QoE configuration configured for NR in the UE can be resumed when the UE returns to NR, thereby eliminating the need to resend the QoE configuration to the UE again. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0070] Figure 1 is a signaling diagram that provides an overview of the signaling involved in QoE measurement configuration from the O&M system to the UE;

[0071] Figure 2 Shows the configuration and reporting of QoE measurements using RRC signaling;

[0072] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to some embodiments;

[0073] Figure 4is a flowchart illustrating a method according to some embodiments;

[0074] Figure 5 shows an example of a communication system according to some embodiments;

[0075] Figure 6 illustrates a UE according to some embodiments;

[0076] Figure 7 illustrates a network node according to some embodiments;

[0077] Figure 8 This is a block diagram of the host;

[0078] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0079] Figure 10 A communication diagram illustrating a host communicating with a UE via a network node over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0080] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0081] In this document, the application layer in the UE may also be referred to as the "UE application layer" or simply the "application layer".

[0082] The terms "QoE configuration," "QoE parameters," "QoE information," and "QoE configuration information" are used interchangeably. The contents are defined as follows and can optionally include any additional information relevant to QoE measurement. The network, UE AS, and UE application layers can store various components.

[0083] The entity that performs QoE measurements and other actions related to QoE configuration (such as receiving QoE information from the UE AS and / or sending QoE information to the UE AS) is the application. The application resides at the application layer in the UE, so it is correct to say that the application layer performs these actions. In the description of the solution, the performer of these various actions is sometimes referred to as the application layer and sometimes referred to as the application.

[0084] The terms "application layer measurement configuration," "application measurement configuration," "RVQoE measurement configuration," "RVQoE configuration," "RVQoE measurement and reporting configuration," and "QMC configuration" may be used interchangeably.

[0085] Although the solutions are described for the interaction between UE AS and UE application layer in handling / storing QoE information, they may also be applicable to RVQoE information.

[0086] All references to the application layer are to the application layer of the UE.

[0087] The term "service" is often used as an abbreviation for "service type", so "service" and "service type" can be considered interchangeable unless explicitly stated otherwise.

[0088] The solution proposed in this invention is applicable to both signaling-based and management-based QoE / RVQoE measurements (but may optionally be restricted to only one of them).

[0089] In some embodiments, an XML file containing a configuration of QoE measurements to be performed and reported (e.g., indicating the QoE metrics to be collected and reported) is provided as an instruction on whether the UE should send a session start / stop indication. This XML file is referred to herein using different terms, including at least "QMC configuration file" and "QoE configuration file."

[0090] The functionality in the UE that 3GPP has named the access stratum (where there is corresponding access stratum functionality in the network) is referred to in various ways herein, including "access stratum", "AS", "UE access stratum", "UE AS", "access stratum layer", "AS layer", "UE access stratum layer", "UE AS layer".

[0091] The terms "LTE" and "LTE node" imply that a network node serves a UE by using LTE radio access technology over the air interface (Uu).

[0092] The terms “NR” and “NR node” imply that a network node serving a UE does so by using NR radio access technology over the air interface (Uu).

[0093] Parameters / IE / fields used in ASN.1 code and in the procedure text of the 3GPP RRC specification for 5G / NR (i.e., 3GPP TS 38.331 Version 17.3.0) are typically named with a suffix that indicates the release number of the 3GPP standard that introduced the parameter / IE / field (e.g., the suffix "-r17" for parameter / IE / fields introduced in Release 17 of the 3GPP standard). Parameters / IE / fields that follow this naming convention are typically referenced both with and without the suffix, where the name including the suffix is ​​used in the ASN.1 code (and therefore defines the official name from the perspective of the ASN.1 compiler), while the name without the suffix is ​​used in the runtime text, such as in field descriptions and procedure text. Relevant examples in the context of this document include the parameter / IE / fields AppLayerMeasConfig-r17 / AppLayerMeasConfig and MeasConfigAppLayer-r17 / MeasConfigAppLayer. In this document, two name variations may appear for various parameter / IE / fields.

[0094] Detailed description of solutions related to handling of QoE measurements when switching from a first RAT (e.g., NR) to a second RAT (e.g., LTE)

[0095] Some embodiments include a method for a UE where the UE is configured with a QoE measurement in NR and an IRAT handover to LTE is triggered. In LTE, a UE can only be configured with one QoE measurement at a time, and the present invention describes a method for releasing other QoE measurements in the UE and also releasing other QoE functionality in the UE that does not exist in LTE. The LTE target node (i.e., the eNB controlling the target cell of the handover) cannot release the QoE functionality configured in NR in existing specifications.

[0096] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to some embodiments. Figure 3 Methods according to certain embodiments are described. Figure 3 The method may be performed by a UE or a wireless device (eg, as later referred to, respectively Figure 5 and Figure 6 The method may be performed by a UE 512 or UE 600 as described above. The UE may be in communication with a first radio access technology (RAT). The method begins at step 302, where one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT are obtained. For example, the UE may be configured by the first RAT with the one or more QoE configurations for use with the first RAT.

[0097] In step 304, the method includes receiving a message from a source node of the first RAT indicating that the UE wants to communicate with the second RAT. The message may include a handover command or an RRC release with redirection to the second RAT message.

[0098] The message may include a first indication related to releasing or suspending at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT. The first indication may include an identification of the at least one first QoE configuration. It will be appreciated that the at least one first QoE configuration may include all but one of the one or more QoE configurations. The first indication may include an identification of a second QoE configuration associated with the first service type in the handover command, wherein the first indication indicates that the at least one first configuration includes any QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations that is not associated with the first service type.

[0099] The first indication may include an instruction to the UE for selecting which one of the one or more QoE configurations to release or suspend.

[0100] The first indication may include one or more of the following: an indication that the UE should suspend or release the at least one first QoE configuration currently stored at the UE; an indication of one or more service types for which the at least one first QoE configuration should be suspended or released; an indication of the maximum (or minimum) number of at least one first QoE configuration that the UE should suspend or release; and the time at which the at least one first QoE configuration is to be suspended.

[0101] In step 306, the method includes initiating communication with a target node of the second RAT. In step 308, the method includes releasing or suspending at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations. In some examples, step 306 can be performed based on a first indication. It will be appreciated that suspending the at least one first QoE configuration includes disabling reporting of measurements based on the at least one first QoE configuration when communicating with the second RAT.

[0102] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to some embodiments.

[0103] Figure 4 Methods according to certain embodiments are described. Figure 4 The method can be performed by a network node (eg, as later referred to Figure 5 and 7The method may be performed by the network node 510 or the network node 700 described above. The network node may be in a first RAT. The network node may communicate with a user equipment UE, the user equipment UE being configured with one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT. The method begins at step 402, wherein a message is transmitted indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message includes a first indication related to release or suspension of at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when starting communication with the second RAT. Step 402 corresponds to Figure 3 The first indication may be defined similarly to that described with reference to some examples of step 304 .

[0104] As mentioned above, the embodiments described herein provide a method in a UE.

[0105] The UE may receive configuration of one or more QoE measurements in NR (first RAT) (e.g., as described with reference to step 302).

[0106] The UE may then receive a message containing a command for handover from NR (first RAT) to LTE (second RAT) (which is an example implementation of step 304). The message may be a MobilityFromNRCommand RRC message including an LTE message RRCConnectionReconformation including mobilityControlInfo, wherein the RRCConnectionReconformation message is created by the target node, sent to the source node (gNB) as a transparent container during the IRAT handover preparation phase (i.e., the source gNB is not expected to read or understand it), and then included by the source node in the MobilityFromNRCommand message in the form of an octet string contained in a targetRAT-MessageContainer IE.

[0107] In some embodiments, the message (e.g., MobilityFromNRCommand) is updated to include an information element (e.g., IE AppLayerMeasConfig) including an identification of the at least one first QoE. Thus, the information element may include an example of the first indication of step 304. This information element may then ensure that the NR-specific portion of the one or more QoE configurations may be released or suspended.

[0108] In some examples, the “NR-specific portion of the QoE configuration to be released” refers to the QoE configuration for a service type that supports QoE measurement in NR but does not support QoE measurement in LTE (e.g., VR).

[0109] In another example, the “NR specific part of the QoE configuration to be released” includes features of the QoE measurement configuration for a service type for which QoE measurement is supported in both LTE and NR, but features that are part of the QoE measurement configuration are supported in NR but not in LTE. In other words, Figure 3 The method may further include releasing or suspending one or more features of the one or more QoE configurations that are not supported by the second RAT. a. For example, QoE measurements of MTSI and DASH are supported in both LTE and NR, but features such as RAN-visible QoE and alignment with MDT are supported in NR but not in LTE.

[0110] In some embodiments, the AppLayerMeasConfig IE includes a measConfigAppLayerToReleaseList IE that includes the MeasConfigAppLayerId(s) associated with the at least one first QoE configuration to be released or suspended.

[0111] In some embodiments, the source node uses the MeasConfigAppLayer IE in the measConfigAppLayerToAddModList IE in the AppLayerMeasConfig IE to release the RAN visible QoE configuration associated with the QoE configuration without releasing the entire QoE configuration. In other words, Figure 3 The method may include releasing or suspending the radio access network visible QoE configuration without releasing or suspending the entire associated QoE configuration.

[0112] In some embodiments, the source node uses the MeasConfigAppLayer IE in the measConfigAppLayerToAddModList IE in the AppLayerMeasConfig IE to turn off the sending of session state indications by setting the pauseReporting IE in the MeasConfigAppLayer IE to "false", and / or to resume QoE measurement reporting by setting the TransmissionOfSessionStartStop IE in the MeasConfigAppLayer IE to "false" if QoE measurement reporting has been paused / suspended.

[0113] In some embodiments, the nonCriticalExtension field in the MobilityFromNRCommand message is used to extend the MobilityFromNRCommand message with the AppLayerMeasConfig IE (as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 Version 17.3.0).

[0114] In some embodiments, the AppLayerMeasConfig IE is not included in the MobilityFromNRCommand message, but instead other new (one or more) IEs are added to the message (e.g., utilizing the nonCriticalExtension field) to indicate the required release, modification, or suspension of the at least one first QoE configuration, and / or deletion of QoE-related parameters in the one or more QoE configurations that are not applicable in the second RAT (i.e., LTE in this scenario).

[0115] In some embodiments, the AppLayerMeasConfig IE is included in the MobilityFromNRCommand message and is supplemented by one or more additional IEs that may be used to indicate supplementary modification or deletion of QoE-related parameters in the one or more QoE configurations that are not applicable in the target RAT (i.e., LTE in this scenario). The nonCriticalExtension field in the MobilityFromNRCommand message may be used to include both the AppLayerMeasConfig IE and the additional supplementary IE(s) in the MobilityFromNRCommand message.

[0116] In some embodiments, the UE NRQoE configuration is not released immediately, but the internal RRCConnectionReconfiguration (i.e., the RRCConnectionReconfiguration in the targetRAT-MessageContainer IE) is decoded before releasing / suspending the at least one first QoE configuration or features of the one or more QoE configurations. In other words, Figure 3 The method further includes decoding the handover command before releasing or suspending the first QoE configuration.

[0117] In some embodiments, the RRCConnectionReconfiguration in the targetRAT-MessageContainer IE includes a second QoE configuration for QoE measurement of the first service type, the UE maintains the QoE configuration of the first service type from the one or more QoE configurations, and releases or suspends other QoE configurations in the one or more QoE configurations.

[0118] In some embodiments (where AppLayerMeasConfig may not be included in MobilityFromNRCommand), the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message (hereinafter also referred to as the handover command) included in the targetRAT-MessageContainer IE includes a second QoE configuration for QoE measurement, namely, the first service type and the QoE configuration container. This second QoE configuration may include the first indication of step 304.

[0119] The second QoE configuration may indicate to the UE to release or suspend any other QoE configuration among the one or more QoE configurations configured in the NR, for example, to release or suspend the QoE configuration of a service type different from the first service type indicated in the handover command.

[0120] It will be appreciated that releasing the QoE configuration may include releasing everything related to the QoE configuration, such as releasing the configured measConfigAppLayerId, releasing the service type, releasing the QoE reference, and the like.

[0121] In other examples, releasing the QoE configuration may include releasing the NR-specific portion of the QoE configuration when communicating in LTE. "NR portion of the configuration" refers to features within the QoE configuration for a service type that is supported in both LTE and NR, but where the features themselves are supported in NR but not in LTE. Such release may include releasing one or more of the following features: ■measConfigAppLayerId. I (RANVIbleQoE) configuration ■Suspend reporting, that is, resume reporting in LTE. ■ Alignment with MDT (either in standalone connectivity or in dual connectivity). ■ QoE measurement and / or RVQoE measurement in non-RRC connected state ■Slice-based QoE measurement ●As an option, if the QoE configuration is restricted to one or more network slices (as indicated by (one or more) S-NSSAI), the QoE configuration is released. ●As another option, the QoE configuration is retained, but the slice range (i.e., the list of network slices indicated by the list of (one or more) S-NSSAIs in the QoE configuration at the application layer) is released / deleted or associated with an indication that it should be ignored. ■QoE report breakdown ■ The scope parameters relevant to limiting QoE measurements are: MBS service area, MBS service ID HSDN area / HSDN community ●UEs in high mobility state or UEs with high speed / rate Use of shared spectrum (e.g., NR-U) ●Use of non-public networks (or use of private networks)

[0122] In some embodiments, which may be combined with other options of the present invention, the UE determines whether it can maintain a certain NR-specific QoE configuration in LTE based on its support for QoE measurement collection in LTE for the service type to which the NR-specific QoE configuration relates.

[0123] Figure 3 The method may then further include continuing to perform QoE measurements while communicating with the second RAT. The QoE measurements may be performed according to any QoE configuration that has not been released or suspended, possibly without NR-specific features. It will be appreciated that after releasing or suspending the at least one first QoE configuration, the UE may be left with a second QoE configuration (from the one or more QoE configurations) that may be used to perform and report QoE measurements in the second RAT. The second QoE configuration may have been modified to remove features that are not supported in the second RAT.

[0124] In some examples, for example, where the at least one first QoE configuration is suspended, Figure 3 The method may further include performing measurements according to the at least one first QoE configuration while communicating with the second RAT, and reporting the measurements to the first RAT upon returning to communication with the first RAT.

[0125] In some embodiments, the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message does not include the configuration for QoE measurement, ie, the service type and the QoE configuration container. Figure 3 The method may include releasing or pausing all of the one or more QoE configurations.

[0126] In some embodiments, the first indication of the message of step 304 (e.g., an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message) may include an indication instructing the UE to select which QoE measurement configuration to retain among all its current one or more QoE configurations of any service type. This first indication may be explicit or implicit. An example of an implicit first indication may be that no instruction for release or suspension has yet been issued to the UE. In this case, the UE may select the (one) QoE measurement configuration to retain. In other words, the first indication of step 304 may include an indication to select a second QoE configuration to retain from the one or more QoE configurations. Implicitly, in this scenario, another of the one or more QoE configurations may be set to the at least one first QoE configuration and may therefore be suspended or released.

[0127] For example, the UE may decide: o Keep the second QoE measurement configuration related to a certain service type. o In configurations that LTE can support, retain the second QoE measurement configuration related to the application session whose DRB has the highest QoS requirement ○ Keep the second QoE measurement configuration related to the application session using the highest priority slice o Keep the second QoE measurement configuration related to the application session that is active or the most active among all measured sessions. o Keep the second QoE measurement configuration, either signaling-based or management-based. o A second QoE configuration that preserves the ongoing application session. o Keep the second QoE configuration with the longest or shortest reporting period. o Keep the second QoE configuration for a service type that supports measurements in both NR and LTE, but with the minimum number of NR-specific features configured.

[0128] If a UE is configured with more than one QoE configuration for the same service type in NR, the network can select one of them to continue in LTE. If no explicit release of QoE measurements is signaled to the UE, the UE can determine which QoE configuration should be maintained for use in LTE. o In one alternative, the UE itself selects the QoE configuration to keep. In another alternative, the network indicates to the UE which service to prioritize, and the UE selects which exact QoE configuration to keep. o Each QoE configuration may contain a priority indication, and the UE retains the configuration with the highest indicated priority. If more than one QoE configuration has the highest indicated priority, the choice of which of them to retain may be left to the UE. o When determining which of the QoE configurations to retain, the UE may take into account whether a QoE measurement session for that QoE configuration is ongoing, e.g. by giving such a QoE configuration a higher priority, and / or using this as a selection criterion when selecting a QoE configuration to exclude multiple QoE configurations with the highest indicated priority. -The UE can determine the QoE configuration to maintain in LTE by: ○ Check the QoE reference within the QoE profile delivered in LTE and compare the QoE reference with the reference in NR. QoE configurations with the same QoE reference in NR and LTE should be preserved in LTE. This check can be done in the UE application layer or in the UE AS layer. If the UE AS layer performs the check, the application can send the QoE reference to the UE AS layer, possibly based on a request from the UE AS layer. o The case where the UE selects itself which configuration to keep among all available configurations for any service type by applying one or more of the above criteria.

[0129] In some examples, the instruction to select the second QoE configuration can be combined with an indication of the at least one first QoE configuration. For example, the message can identify a first subset of QoE configurations from the one or more QoE configurations that the UE should release or suspend. However, this may leave multiple QoE configurations from the one or more QoE configurations, from which the UE can then select the second QoE configuration to retain.

[0130] In one option, the network provides the UE with an indication (e.g., as part of an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message) to retain and suspend all (one or more) NR-related QoE / RVQoE configurations (e.g., the one or more QoE configurations) it has received in NR and not use any of them, or to retain and suspend all NR-related QoE / RVQoE configurations it has received in NR and only use a second QoE configuration generated by applying any of the criteria / embodiments of the present invention. The UE may also receive an indication of a retention period (e.g., 24 hours) indicating how long the UE should retain NR-related QoE / RVQoE information when the UE is not camped on or connected to a cell in NR. The retention period may not be explicitly communicated to the UE, but is a fixed period (e.g., 24 hours or 48 hours) indicated in the specification.

[0131] In some examples, the message of step 304 includes an RRC release with redirection to the second RAT. If the UE is configured for QoE / RVQoE measurements, the message from the NRRAT (i.e., from the gNB) indicates that the existing NR connection should be released and a new connection should be re-established in the other RAT (e.g., in LTE), for example, when the coverage area of ​​the NRRAT is reached and the gNB chooses not to initiate a handover procedure to LTE, but instead determines to release the UE, indicating in the RRC release message that the UE should move to an E-UTRA carrier.

[0132] If the UE has received a QoE / RVQoE configuration, the gNB may include instructions on how the UE should handle the QoE / RVQoE configuration as part of the RRCRelease message (e.g., the message of step 304).

[0133] The above instructions may include a first indication related to the release or suspension of NR-related QoE and / or RVQoE configuration (e.g., in a "Suspend QMC Configuration" IE or a "Suspend NR QMC" IE, etc.), thereby providing: - an indication that the UE should maintain and suspend the QoE configuration currently stored at the UE (and / or the RVQoE configuration stored at the UE), - an indication of which QoE / RVQoE configurations the UE should maintain and suspend, - indication of the types of services that the QoE / RVQoE configuration should be maintained and suspended, - Indication of the maximum (or minimum) number of QoE / RVQoE configurations that the UE should maintain and suspend - Time related information indicating how long the QoE / RVQoE configuration should be maintained and suspended (this may also be omitted and instead a fixed period (e.g. 24 hours or 48 hours) is indicated in the specification).

[0134] In some examples, the instruction that the UE may receive may include a first indication regarding the release of NR-related QoE and / or RVQoE configuration (e.g., in a "Release QMC Configuration" IE or a "Release NR QMC" IE, etc.), where the first indication provides an indication to release one or more QoE / RVQoE configurations according to the criteria described in detail in other embodiments described herein. For example: - an indication that the UE should release all QoE configurations currently stored at the UE (and / or RVQoE configurations stored at the UE), - an indication of which QoE / RVQoE configurations the UE should release, - Indication of the service type for which the QoE / RVQoE configuration should be released.

[0135] In one alternative, the UE may autonomously determine to maintain (and / or suspend) all NR-related QoE / RVQoE configurations that are not explicitly or implicitly released by the network.

[0136] An example of an implementation for suspending NR-related QoE configuration and suspending RVQoE reporting when the UE is released from NR and redirected to LTE is shown below:

[0137] An example of an implementation for releasing NR-related QoE configuration and an indication for suspending RVQoE reporting when the UE is released from NR and redirected to LTE is shown below:

[0138] If the UE has maintained (or suspended) NR-related QoE / RVQoE configurations when transitioning from an NR RAT to an LTE RAT, it may receive an indication from the target NR node that use of any or all or only some of the suspended (or maintained) QoE configurations may be resumed.

[0139] For example, the MobilityFromEUTRANCommand may be used as part of a targetRAT-MessageContainer (encoded as an octet string and corresponding to an RRCReconfiguration message if targetRAT-Type is equal to "nr") to convey an indication regarding the resumption of the NR-related QoE / RVQoE configuration that was previously retained (kept) at the UE. This field contains a message specified in another standard, as indicated by targetRAT-Type, and carries information about the target cell identifier(s) and radio parameters and application layer measurement parameters related to the target radio access technology.

[0140] Before or in conjunction with an inter-RAT handover from NR to LTE, the gNB may request from the UE (or from the target eNB) a list of UE-related capabilities, which relate to the UE's QoE measurement collection in LTE , for example as indicated in the qoE-MeasReport-r15 and qoe-MTSI-MeasReport-r15 IEs defined in 3GPP TS 36.306 v17.3.0.

[0141] During inter-RAT handover preparation, the gNB uses the UE capability information and the service types associated with the NR-related QoE configuration to inform the target eNB of the service type or services for which the UE is currently configured to perform QoE measurements in NR.

[0142] The gNB may indicate to the eNB a preference in terms of which service type, or which QoE reference, or which pair of QoE reference and service type the gNB wants the UE to continue performing QoE measurements on.

[0143] gNB can also: - Indicates to the eNB whether a certain QoE configuration currently available at the UE is signaling-based QoE or management-based QoE - Indicate to the eNB whether the UE should / may keep (and not use) other QoE configurations (whether supported by LTE or not), instead of releasing them.

[0144] As part of the inter-RAT handover preparation, the eNB may indicate to the source gNB (as an alternative or in addition to the information provided to the UE in the mobilityControlInfo IE): - Which QoE configuration is accepted by the eNB to continue operating in LTE (e.g., indicating a QoE reference, or service type, or a pair of QoE reference and service type) - Which QoE configurations are not accepted (rejected) and will be released when transitioning to LTE - When the UE is in LTE, can other QoE configurations that are not accepted be suspended (held at the UE) - Cause value used to indicate the reason why a certain QoE configuration is not accepted (e.g., QoE measurement of the service type is not supported) - Release all QoE configurations of UE

[0145] In another method performed by the UE, upon switching from NR to LTE (or any other radio access technology that does not support QoE measurement reporting for NR services), the UE: suspends / stops reporting QoE measurements received from upper layers, and stores the received QoE measurements in a storage device / variable at the UE (at the access layer level or at an upper layer such as an application layer). • In this method, the UE continues to perform QoE measurements at the application layer. o This may apply, for example, to QoE measurements of service types that are supported at least in the further RAT and for which the use of the corresponding QoE configuration is not accepted by the further RAT. • In this method, the UE may continue to check the session status of the application that continues to perform QoE measurements (even if reporting is suspended), e.g. whether a session is ongoing, or whether a session has ended, or whether a (new) session has started. • This method may optionally be performed based on an explicit indication from the RAN node, which indication may have been received from the OAM (the OAM initiates the request to continue measurements at the application layer when moving to other radio access technologies, such as LTE).

[0146] The UE may store some or all QoE configurations for services not supported in the LTE network (or other radio access technologies that do not support QoE measurements for specific services) in a storage device / variable at the UE (at the access layer level or at an upper layer such as the application layer). • The RAN node or OAM layer may explicitly request storage of the QoE configuration and continuation of QoE measurements at the application layer as part of an RRC reconfiguration message, such as MobilityFromNRCommand.

[0147] Upon returning to a radio access technology that supports QoE measurements for the service in question (e.g., when returning to NR), the UE may resume reporting to the network the QoE measurements collected while the UE was in the other RAT. • In an embodiment, the UE may send the stored QoE configuration to the network when returning to a radio access technology that supports QoE measurements for the service under consideration (e.g. when returning to NR). Impact of technical regulations Here is shown an example implementation of the solution in 3GPP TS 38.331 v 17.3.0, where the release of QoE measurements is explicitly signaled to the UE ( New chapters are underlined ): –MobilityFromNRCommand The MobilityFromNRCommand message is used to command handover from NR to E-UTRA / EPC, E-UTRA / 5GC or UTRA-FDD. Signaling Radio Bearer: SRB1 RLC-SAP:AM Logical channel: DCCH Direction: Network to UE MobilityFromNRCommand message An example implementation of the implicit solution in 3GPP TS 36.331 v 17.3.0 is shown here, where the release of QoE measurements is not signaled to the UE (new sections are underlined): 5.3.5.8 Radio Configuration Involving Full Configuration Options The UE shall: 1> If the UE is connected to the EPC: 2> Release / clear all current private radio configurations except the following: -MCG·C-RNTI, -MCG safety configuration, -Logical channel configuration of PDCP, RLC, and RB, - recorded measurement configuration; -serviceType; 1> Otherwise, if the UE is connected to 5GC: 2> Release / clear all current private radio configurations except the following: -MCG·C-RNTI, -MCG safety configuration, -RB configuration (SDAP (if configured), PDCP, RLC and logical channels); - recorded measurement configuration; NOTE 1: Radio configuration is not just resource configuration, but also includes other configurations such as MeasConfig and OtherConfig. In case (NG)EN-DC is configured, this also includes the entire NR SCG configuration. Such NR SCG configuration does not include DRB configuration such as configured by nr-RadioBearerConfig1 and nr-RadioBearerConfig2. 1> If the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes measConfigAppLayer set to setup, and measConfigAppLayer includes a serviceType stored in the current UE configuration: 2>Discard measConfigAppLayer; 2> Treat measConfigAppLayer as not received; 2> If the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes mobilityControlInfo and involves Switching from NR to E-UTRA: 3> Notify the upper layer to clear all stored application layer measurement configurations, except those related to the received serviceType In addition to the application layer measurement configuration of the connection; 3> Notify the upper layer to clear all application layer measurement configurations that are only applicable to NR; 3> Considers itself to be configured to send application layer measurement reports; 1> Otherwise, if serviceType is stored in the current UE configuration: 2> Release the stored serviceType; 2> Notify the upper layer to clear the stored application layer measurement configuration; 2> discard the application layer measurement report information received from the upper layer; 2> It believes that it is not configured to send application layer measurement reports; 2> If the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes mobilityControlInfo and involves Switching from NR to E-UTRA: 3> Notify the upper layer to clear all stored application layer measurement configurations applicable to NR; (Alternative plan) 1> Otherwise, if serviceType is stored in the current UE configuration: 2> Release the stored serviceType; 2> Notify the upper layer to clear the stored application layer measurement configuration; 2> discard the application layer measurement report information received from the upper layer; 2> It believes that it is not configured to send application layer measurement reports; 2> If the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message includes mobilityControlInfo and involves Switching from NR to E-UTRA: 3> Notify the upper layer to keep all stored application layer measurement configurations applicable to NR; 3> Notify the upper layer to keep all stored application layer measurement configurations applicable to NR; A non-limiting example of the method in section (2.7.1.6) performed by the UE upon receiving a mobilityFromNRCommand (handover from NR to LTE) is shown below (New Chapters are underlined ): The UE shall: 1> Stop timer T310 if it is running; 1> Stop timer T312 if it is running; 1> If T316 is running: 2> Stop timer T316; 2> Clear the information included in the VarRLF-Report (if any); 1> If the T390 is running: 2> Stop timer T390 for all access categories; 2> Perform the actions specified in 5.3.14.4; 1> If measConfigAppLayerToAddModList is included in MobilityFromNRCommand In appLayerMeasConfig: 2>For each measConfigAppLayerId included in measConfigAppLayerToAddModList value: 2> For the application layer measurement configuration associated with measConfigAppLayerId, pause the The lower layer submits the measurement report container to the application layer; 2>Store any previously or subsequently received application layer measurement reports associated with measConfigAppLayerId Report container, for the application layer measurement report container, there is no fragment or complete Messages are submitted to lower layers for delivery; 2>Store the QoE configuration associated with measConfigAppLayerId; 1>For each included in measConfigAppLayerToReleaseModList measConfigAppLayerId value: 2> Notify the upper layer to clear all stored application layer measurement configurations; 2> Notify the upper layer to clear all application layer measurement configurations; 2> Considers itself to be configured to send application layer measurement reports; 1> If targetRAT-Type is set to eutra: 2> Consider inter-RAT mobility initiated towards E-UTRA; 2> Forward nas-SecurityParamFromNR to the upper layer (if included); 1> Otherwise, if targetRAT-Type is set to utra-fdd: 2> Consider inter-RAT mobility initiated towards UTRA-FDD; 2> Forward nas-SecurityParamFromNR to the upper layer (if included); 1> Access the target cell indicated in the inter-RAT message according to the specifications of the target RAT. An example implementation based on 3GPP TS 27.007 version 18.1.0 is shown below, where the +CAPPLEVMCNRAT command is utilized. In the +CAPPLEVMCNR AT command, Underlined parametersCan be used to release a QoE configuration or modify selected parameters of a QoE configuration.<start-stop_measurement> Parameters can be used to release QoE configuration.<ran_visible_release_only> Parameters can be used to release RAN visible QoE configuration while preserving the rest of the QoE configuration.<transmission_of_session_start-end> The parameter can be used to stop the application from sending session start / stop indications. Parameters in bold represent possible additions to the +CAPPLEVMCNR AT command to facilitate adaptation of QoE configuration(s) when the UE switches from NR to LTE. 7 Table 8.84-1: ++CAPPLEVMCNR parameter command syntax describe This command allows control of application level measurement configuration according to 3GPP TS 38.331

[160] . Set command controls presentation of unsolicited result codes +CAPPLEVMCNR: (list of [ <cr> <lf>,<meas_config_app_layer_id> ,[ <start-stop_measurement> ,[ <ran_visible_release_only> ]],[<app-meas_config_file_length> ,<app-meas_config-file> ],[ <transmission_of_session_start-end> ],[<ran_visible_periodicity> ],[<nu mber_of_buffer_level_entries> ],[<report_playout_delay_for_media_startup> ],[<app-meas_service_type> ] ]s) provides data for configuration. <err>For values, refer to Article 9.2. Read command returns <n>The current value of . The test command returns the value supported as a composite value. Defined value <n>: Integer type. Disables or enables the presentation of the unsolicited result code +CAPPLEVMCNR to the TE. 0 Disable rendering of unsolicited result codes 1 Enable presentation of unsolicited result codes <app-meas_service_type> : Integer type. Contains an indication of what application is the target of the application-level measurement configuration. 1. QoE measurement collection for streaming services 2. QoE Measurement Collection for MTSI Services 3. QoE Measurement Collection for Virtual Reality Services <start-stop_measurement> : integer type. Indicates the<app-meas_service_type> Start and stop application-level measurement reporting for the indicated application. 0 Start application-level measurement 1. Stop application-level measurement and release application-level measurement configuration. <app-meas_config_file_length> : integer type. Indicates<app-meas_config-file> The number of octets of the parameter. <app-meas_config-file> : octet string. Contains<app-meas_service_type> Application-level measurement profile for the indicated application. This parameter shall not undergo normal character conversion as per +CSCS. <meas_config_app_layer_id> : integer type. In QoE measurement configuration,<meas_config_app_layer_id> Instructions<app-meas_config-file> When the QoE measurement configuration is released,<meas_config_app_layer_id> Indicates the measurement to be released. Absence of this parameter indicates that all measurement configurations are released. <transmission_of_session_start-end> : Integer type. Contains an indication of whether a session start-end is required. 0 Not required 1 Requirements <ran_visible_periodicity> : integer type. 0 120ms 1 240ms 2 480ms 3 640ms 4 1024ms <number_of_buffer_level_entries> : Integer type. Contains the number of buffer level entries. 1-8 <report_playout_delay_for_media_startup> : Integer type. Contains an indication of whether to request an initial playback report of the media start delay. 0 Do not request media-initiated playback delay reporting 1 Request media-initiated playback delay reporting <ran_visible_release_only> : Integer type. Indicates the RAN-visible application-level measurements to be released. 0Release this<meas_config_app_layer_id> RAN-visible application-level measurements <release_or_adapt_nr_configurations> : integer type. Indicates NR when switching from NR to LTE Release or adaptation of a configuration. 0 Release all NR application layer measurement reports associated with service types that do not support application layer measurements in LTE Configuration 1 Release all NR application layer measurement reports associated with service types that do not support application layer measurements in LTE Configuration, and modify the service type related to supporting application layer measurements in LTE by removing configuration parameters not supported in LTE All NR configurations for application layer measurement reporting linked to LTE (adapting application layer measurement configurations to LTE) An example implementation based on 3GPP TS 27.007 version 18.1.0 is shown below, where the +CAPPLEVMCAT command ( New chapters are underlined ). 8.78 Application-level measurement configuration + CAPPLEVMC Table 8.78-1: +CAPPLEVMC parameter command syntax describe This command allows control of application level measurement configuration according to 3GPP TS 25.331

[74] and 3GPP TS 36.331

[86] . The set command controls the presentation of unsolicited result codes + CAPPLEVMC:<app-meas_service_type> ,<start-stop_reporting> [,<app-meas_config_file_length> ,<app-meas_config-file> ] provides configuration data. For possible <err>For values, refer to Article 9.2. Read command returns <n>The current value of . The test command returns the value supported as a composite value. Defined value <n>: Integer type. Disables or enables the presentation of unsolicited result codes +CAPPLEVMC to the TE. 0 Disable rendering of unsolicited result codes 1 Enable presentation of unsolicited result codes <app-meas_service_type> : Integer type. Contains an indication of what application is the target of the application-level measurement configuration. 1. QoE measurement collection for streaming services 2. QoE Measurement Collection for MTSI Services <start-stop_reporting> : integer type. Indicates the<app-meas_service_type> Start and stop application-level measurement reporting for the indicated application. 0 Start application-level measurement reporting 1. Stop application-level measurement reporting <app-meas_config_file_length> : integer type. Indicates<app-meas_config-file> The number of octets of the parameter. <app-meas_config-file> : An octet string. Contains<app-meas_service_type> Application-level measurement profile for the indicated application. This parameter shall not undergo normal character conversion as per +CSCS. <release_nr_configurations> : Integer type. Indicates the release of NR configuration when switching from NR to LTE. 0 Release all NR configurations for application layer measurement reports 1 Release all NR configurations for application layer measurement reporting except for the application layer measurement configuration for the indicated service type Beyond accomplish Optional. An alternative example of implementation of the above AT command may be as follows (only the new parameters of +CAPPLEVMC are indicated), where QoE or RVQoE measurement collection is released for all service types or selectively for specific service types due to a change of RAT (e.g. from NR to LTE) <app-meas_service_type_release> : Integer type. Contains what is released due to changes in the RAT Indication of application-level measurement configuration. 0 Release all QoE measurement collection 1 Release for MTSI service QoE measurement collection 2. Release QoE measurement collection for streaming services 3. Unlocking QoE measurement collection for VR services 4. Release QoE measurement collection for MBS services An alternative example of implementation of the above AT command may be as follows (only the new parameter of +CAPPLEVMC is indicated), where QoE or RVQoE measurement collection is suspended or resumed for all service types or selectively for specific service types due to a change of RAT (e.g., from NR to LTE or vice versa) <app-meas_service_type_pause> : integer type. Contains whether the usage of application-level measurement configuration is determined by Indication of suspension due to RAT change. 0 Pause all QoE measurement collection 1. Pause QoE measurement collection for MTSI services 2. Pause QoE measurement collection for streaming services 3. Pause QoE measurement collection for VR services 4. Suspend QoE measurement collection for MBS services <app-meas_service_type_resume> : Integer type. Contains whether the application should be restored due to RAT changes. An indication of the usage of the level measurement configuration. 0 Resume all QoE measurement collection 1Resume QoE measurement collection for MTSI services 2. Resuming QoE measurement collection for streaming services 3. Resuming QoE measurement collection for VR services 4. Resuming QoE measurement collection for MBS services

[0148] Figure 5 An example of a wireless communication network 500 is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0149] In the example, the communication system 500 includes a telecommunications network 502, which includes an access network 504, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 506, which includes one or more core network nodes 508. The access network 504 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 510a and 510b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 510) or any other similar third generation partnership project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. The network nodes 510 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 512a, 512b, 512c, and 512d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 512) to the core network 506 via one or more wireless connections.

[0150] Example wireless communications over wireless connections include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Additionally, in various embodiments, the communication system 500 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that facilitate or participate in the transfer of data and / or signals, whether via a wired or wireless connection. The communication system 500 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0151] UE 512 may be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 510 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 510 is arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 512 and / or with other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network 502 to enable and / or provide network access (such as wireless network access) and / or to perform other functions (such as management in telecommunication network 502).

[0152] In the depicted example, core network 506 connects network node 510 to one or more hosts (such as host 516). These connections can be direct or indirect via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node can be directly coupled to the host. Core network 506 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 508) constructed from hardware and software components. The features of these components can be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UE, network nodes, and / or hosts, so that the description is generally applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 508. Example core network nodes include one or more functions of a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a subscription identifier dehiding function (SIDF), a unified data management (UDM), a security edge protection proxy (SEPP), a network exposure function (NEF), and / or a user plane function (UPF).

[0153] The host 516 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of the telecommunications network 502 and / or the access network 504 and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host 516 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include the provision of live and / or pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (e.g., retrieval and compilation of data regarding various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analytical functionality, social media, functionality for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functionality for an alarm and monitoring center, or any other such functionality performed by a server.

[0154] on the whole, Figure 5 The communication system 500 enables connectivity between UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as a specific standard, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable next-generation standards (e.g., 6G); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0155] In some examples, the telecommunication network 502 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Thus, the telecommunication network 502 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to the telecommunication network 502. For example, the telecommunication network 502 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or provide massive machine type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to yet other UEs.

[0156] In some examples, the UE 512 is configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 504 on a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from the access network 504. In addition, the UE may be configured to operate in a single-RAT or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, the UE may operate with any one or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., be configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0157] exist Figure 5 In the example shown in , the hub 514 communicates with the access network 504 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 512c and / or 512d) and a network node (e.g., network node 510b). In some examples, the hub 514 can be a controller, a router, a content source and analysis node, or any of the other communication devices described herein with respect to the UE. For example, the hub 514 can be a broadband router for the UE that enables access to the core network 506. As another example, the hub 514 can be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. The commands or instructions can be received from the UE, the network node 510, or can be received through executable code, scripts, processes, or other instructions in the hub 514. As another example, the hub 514 can be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data, and in some embodiments, can perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 514 can be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, hub 514 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, and hub 514 then provides the VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In yet another example, hub 514 acts as a proxy server or coordinator for the UEs, particularly if one or more of the UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0158] The hub 514 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 510b. The hub 514 may also take into account different communication schemes and / or schedules between the hub 514 and the UEs (e.g., UE 512c and / or 512d) and between the hub 514 and the core network 506. In other examples, the hub 514 is connected to the core network 506 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. In addition, the hub 514 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider through the access network 504 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, the UE may establish a wireless connection with the network node 510 while still being connected via the hub 514 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 514 may be a dedicated hub, that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications from the network node 510b to the UE / from the UE to the network node 510b. In other embodiments, hub 514 may be a non-dedicated hub, ie, a device operable to route communications between UEs and network node 510b, but otherwise capable of operating as a communications origin and / or endpoint for certain data channels.

[0159] Figure 6 UE 600 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, UE refers to a device capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptop computers, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless devices, and the like. Other examples include any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communication (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0160] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for direct link communications, dedicated short range communications (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user owning and / or operating the associated device. Instead, the UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not, or may not, initially be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0161] UE 600 includes processing circuitry 602 operatively coupled to input / output interface 606, power supply 608, memory 610, communication interface 612, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof, via bus 604. Some UEs may utilize Figure 6 All or a subset of the components shown in the . The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another UE. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0162] The processing circuitry 602 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine that operates to execute instructions stored in the memory 610 as a machine-readable computer program. The processing circuitry 602 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 602 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). The processing circuitry 602 may be operable to provide functionality, either alone or in combination with other UE 600 components (such as the memory 610, the UE 600). For example, the processing circuitry 602 may be configured to cause the UE 602 to perform operations as described in reference to FIG. Figure 3 The method described.

[0163] In an example, the input / output interface 606 can be configured to provide an interface or multiple interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. Input devices can allow a user to capture information into the UE 600. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, directional pads, trackpads, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. A presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from the user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, a light sensor, a proximity sensor, a biosensor, etc., or any combination thereof. The output device can use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) port can be used to provide input and output devices.

[0164] In some embodiments, the power supply 608 is configured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a power cell may be used. The power supply 608 may also include power circuitry for delivering power from the power supply 608 itself and / or an external power source to various components of the UE 600 via an interface or input circuit such as a power cable. The delivered power may be used, for example, to charge the power supply 608. The power circuitry may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modifications to the power from the power supply 608 so that the power is suitable for the respective components of the UE 600 being powered.

[0165] The memory 610 may be or be configured to include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable cartridge, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory 610 includes one or more application programs 614 (such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other applications) and corresponding data 616. The memory 610 may store any of a variety of different operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE 600.

[0166] The memory 610 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro-DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory such as a tamper-resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) (including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) such as a USIM and / or an ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a "SIM card." The memory 610 may allow the UE 600 to access instructions, applications, and the like stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to download or upload data. An article of manufacture, such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or contained within memory 610 , which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0167] The processing circuit 602 can be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using a communication interface 612. The communication interface 612 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 622. The communication interface 612 may include one or more transceivers for communicating, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., a network node in an access network or another UE). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 618 and / or a receiver 620 adapted to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 618 and the receiver 620 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 622) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively, the transmitter 618 and the receiver 620 may be implemented separately.

[0168] In some embodiments, the communication functionality of the communication interface 612 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication functionality, or any combination thereof. Communication can be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards such as IEEE 802.11, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, new radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), QUIC, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0169] Regardless of the type of sensor, the UE can provide an output of the data captured by its sensor via its communication interface 612 via a wireless connection to a network node. The data captured by the UE's sensor can be delivered via another UE via a wireless connection to a network node. The output can be periodic (e.g., every 14 minutes if it reports a sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the load of reports from several sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., sending an alarm when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0170] As another example, a UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change. For example, the UE can include a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of an unmanned aircraft in flight based on the received input, or controls a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0171] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains including, but not limited to, urban wearable technology, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are or are embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, connected lighting, an electric meter, a robotic vacuum cleaner, a voice-controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electric door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), a wearable device for tactile enhancement or sensory enhancement, a sprinkler, an animal or item tracking device, a sensor for monitoring plants or animals, an industrial robot, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device like a heart rate monitor or a remotely controlled surgical robot. In addition to the above, the UE may be used in conjunction with a device such as a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electric meter, a robotic vacuum cleaner, a voice-controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electric door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), a wearable device for tactile enhancement or sensory enhancement, a sprinkler, an animal or item tracking device, a sensor for monitoring plants or animals, an industrial robot, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device like a heart rate monitor or a remotely controlled surgical robot. Figure 6 In addition to the other components described in the UE 600 shown in FIG. 6 , a UE in the form of an IoT device includes circuitry and / or software depending on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0172] As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE may be an M2M device, which in the 3GPP context may be referred to as an MTC device. As a specific example, a UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, or airplane, or other equipment capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0173] In fact, any number of UEs can be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE can be a drone or can be integrated into a drone and provide speed information of the drone (obtained by a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote control for operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote control, the first UE can adjust the throttle on the drone (for example, by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the speed of the drone. The first and / or second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, the UE can include a sensor and an actuator and handle the transfer of data from both the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0174] Figure 7 A network node 700 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device capable of, configured to, arranged to, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), and NRNodeBs (gNBs)).

[0175] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, in other words, their transmit power level), and thus, depending on the amount of coverage provided, a base station may be referred to as a femto base station, a pico base station, a micro base station, or a macro base station. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0176] Other examples of network nodes include a multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access node, a multi-standard radio (MSR) device such as an MSRBS, a network controller such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), an operation and maintenance (O&M) node, an operation support system (OSS) node, a self-organizing network (SON) node, a positioning node (e.g., an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC)) and / or a minimization of drive tests (MDT).

[0177] Network node 700 includes processing circuitry 702, memory 704, communication interface 706, and power supply 708, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. Network node 700 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own corresponding components. In certain scenarios where network node 700 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such scenarios, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered a single independent network node in some instances. In some embodiments, network node 700 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate memory 704 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 710 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 700 may also include multiple sets of various illustrated components for different wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, radio frequency identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technology, integrated into the network node 700. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within the network node 700.

[0178] The processing circuitry 702 may include one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide the functionality of the network node 700, either alone or in combination with other network node 700 components such as the memory 704. For example, the processing circuitry 702 may be configured to cause the network node to perform operations as described in reference to FIG. Figure 4 The method described.

[0179] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 702 comprises a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 702 comprises one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 712 and baseband processing circuitry 714. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 712 and baseband processing circuitry 714 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 712 and baseband processing circuitry 714 may be on the same chip, chipset, board, or unit.

[0180] Memory 704 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including, without limitation, permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a flash drive, a compact disk (CD), or a digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuit 702. Memory 704 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including applications, software, computer programs including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 702 and utilized by network node 700. Memory 704 may be used to store any computations performed by processing circuit 702 and / or any data received via communication interface 706. In some embodiments, processing circuit 702 and memory 704 are integrated.

[0181] The communication interface 706 is used in the wired or wireless transmission of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks and / or UEs. As shown, the communication interface 706 includes (one or more) ports / (one or more) terminals 716 used to send data to the network and receive data from the network, for example, via a wired connection. The communication interface 706 also includes a radio front-end circuit 718 that can be coupled to the antenna 710 or, in some embodiments, is part of the antenna 710. The radio front-end circuit 718 includes a filter 720 and an amplifier 722. The radio front-end circuit 718 can be connected to the antenna 710 and the processing circuit 702. The radio front-end circuit can be configured to condition the signal transmitted between the antenna 710 and the processing circuit 702. The radio front-end circuit 718 can receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 718 can use a combination of the filter 720 and / or the amplifier 722 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal can then be transmitted via the antenna 710. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 710 can collect the radio signal, which can then be converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 718. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 702. In other embodiments, the communication interface can include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0182] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 700 does not include a separate radio front end circuitry 718, but rather the processing circuitry 702 includes the radio front end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 710. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 712 is part of the communication interface 706. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 706 includes one or more ports or terminals 716, the radio front end circuitry 718, and the RF transceiver circuitry 712 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 706 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 714, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0183] Antenna 710 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 710 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 718 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 710 is separate from network node 700 and connectable to network node 700 via an interface or port.

[0184] The antenna 710, the communication interface 706, and / or the processing circuit 702 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signal may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, the antenna 710, the communication interface 706, and / or the processing circuit 702 may be configured to perform any transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signal may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0185] The power supply 708 provides power to the various components of the network node 700 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). The power supply 708 may also include or be coupled to power management circuitry to provide power to the components of the network node 700 for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 700 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electrical grid, an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as a cable, whereby the external power source provides power to the power circuitry of the power supply 708. As another example, the power supply 708 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack that is connected to or integrated into the power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power if the external power source fails.

[0186] Embodiments of the network node 700 may include Figure 7 Additional components beyond those shown in the figure are used to provide certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 700 may include a user interface device to allow information to be entered into the network node 700 and to allow information to be output from the network node 700. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions for the network node 700.

[0187] Figure 8 According to various aspects described herein, it may be Figure 5 800 of an embodiment of the host 516. As used herein, the host 800 can be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including processing resources in a standalone server, blade server, cloud-enabled server, distributed server, virtual machine, container, or server farm. The host 800 can provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0188] Host 800 includes processing circuitry 802 operatively coupled to input / output interface 806, network interface 808, power supply 810, and memory 812 via bus 804. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to, for example, Figure 6 and Figure 7 Those features described for the devices of the previous figures make their description generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 800.

[0189] The memory 812 may include one or more computer programs, including one or more host applications 814 and data 816, which may include user data (e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 800 or data generated by the host 800 for the UE). An embodiment of the host 800 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application 814 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding of multiple different categories, types, or implementations for UEs (e.g., mobile phones, desktop computers, wearable display systems, head-up display systems). The host application 814 may also provide user authentication and permission checks and may periodically report health, routing, and content availability to a central node (such as a device in the core network or on the edge). Thus, the host 800 can select and / or instruct different hosts for the UE to use for over-the-top services. The host application 814 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0190] Figure 9 900 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment in which the functions implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device that can include a virtualized hardware platform, storage device, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization is applicable to any device described herein or its components and is related to the implementation in which at least a portion of functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components performed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 900 hosted by one or more hardware nodes (such as hardware computing devices operated as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts). In addition, in embodiments in which the virtual nodes do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes or hosts), the nodes can be fully virtualized.

[0191] Application 902 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, virtual appliance, network function, virtual node, virtual network function, etc.) is run in a virtualized environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0192] The hardware 904 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, and the like. The software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 906 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 908a and 908b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 908), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 906 may present a virtual operating platform that appears to be networked hardware to the VMs 908.

[0193] VM 908 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage devices, and can be run through a corresponding virtualization layer 906. Different embodiments of instances of virtual device 902 can be implemented on one or more of VMs 908, and the implementation can be done in different ways. Virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) in some contexts. NFV can be used to consolidate many network device types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices that can be located in data centers and customer premises.

[0194] In the context of NFV, VMs 908 can be software implementations of physical machines that run programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM in VMs 908 and the portion of hardware 904 on which that VM executes, whether dedicated to that VM and / or shared with other VMs in the VM stack, form an independent virtual network element. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more VMs 908 on top of hardware 904 and corresponds to an application 902.

[0195] The hardware 904 can be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. The hardware 904 can implement some functions with the help of virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 904 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 910, which also oversees the lifecycle management of the application 902. In some embodiments, the hardware 904 is coupled to one or more radio units, each of which includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units can communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and can be used in combination with virtual components to provide radio capabilities to virtual nodes, such as radio access nodes or base stations. In some embodiments, a control system 912 can be used to provide some signaling, which can alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0196] Figure 10 A communication diagram illustrating a host 1002 communicating with a UE 1006 via a network node 1004 over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments. Figure 10 To describe the UE discussed in the previous paragraph (such as Figure 5 UE 512a and / or Figure 6 UE 600), network nodes (such as Figure 5 The network node 510a and / or Figure 7 network nodes 700) and hosts such as Figure 5 Host 516 and / or Figure 8 An example implementation of a host 800 according to various embodiments.

[0197] Like host 800, embodiments of host 1002 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. Host 1002 also includes software that is stored in or accessible to host 1002 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that can be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 1006 connected via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1050 extending between UE 1006 and host 1002. When providing services to the remote user, the host application can provide user data transmitted using OTT connection 1050.

[0198] The network node 1004 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with the host 1002 and the UE 1006. The connection 1060 can be direct or through a core network (such as Figure 5 The intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet, for example.

[0199] UE 1006 includes hardware and software, the software being stored in or accessible to UE 1006 and executable by the UE's processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or an operator-specific "app," that can be operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via UE 1006 with the support of host 1002. In host 1002, an executing host application can communicate with the executing client application via an OTT connection 1050 terminated at UE 1006 and host 1002. When providing services to a user, the UE's client application can receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1050 can communicate both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application can interact with the user to generate user data that it provides to the host application via the OTT connection 1050.

[0200] The OTT connection 1050 may extend via a connection 1060 between the host 1002 and the network node 1004 and via a wireless connection 1070 between the network node 1004 and the UE 1006 to provide connectivity between the host 1002 and the UE 1006. The connection 1060 and the wireless connection 1070 over which the OTT connection 1050 may be provided have been drawn abstractly to illustrate communication between the host 1002 and the UE 1006 via the network node 1004, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0201] As an example of transmitting data via OTT connection 1050, in step 1008, host 1002 provides user data, which can be executed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with UE 1006. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with UE 1006, which shares data with host 1002 without explicit human interaction. In step 1010, host 1002 initiates a transmission carrying the user data to UE 1006. Host 1002 may initiate the transmission in response to a request transmitted by UE 1006. The request may be initiated through human interaction with UE 1006 or through operation of a client application executing on UE 1006. In accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission may pass through network node 1004. Therefore, in step 1012, network node 1004 transmits the user data carried in the transmission initiated by host 1002 to UE 1006 in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1014 , the UE 1006 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be executed by a client application executing on the UE 1006 in association with the host application executed by the host 1002 .

[0202] In some examples, UE 1006 executes a client application that provides user data to host 1002. The user data may be provided in reaction to or in response to data received from host 1002. Therefore, in step 1016, UE 1006 may provide the user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. When providing the user data, the client application may also consider user input received from the user via the input / output interface of UE 1006. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data is provided, UE 1006 initiates transmission of the user data to host 1002 via network node 1004 in step 1018. In step 1020, network node 1004 receives the user data from UE 1006 and initiates transmission of the received user data to host 1002 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1022, host 1002 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 1006.

[0203] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of an OTT service provided to a UE 1006 using an OTT connection 1050, with the wireless connection 1070 forming the final leg. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve the reduction of unnecessary measurements and reporting performed by the UE, thereby providing benefits such as extended battery life.

[0204] In an example scenario, plant status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1002. As another example, the host 1002 may process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from the UE for use in creating a map. As another example, the host 1002 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling traffic congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1002 may store surveillance video uploaded by the UE. As another example, the host 1002 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR that it may broadcast, multicast, or unicast to the UE. As other examples, the host 1002 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical electrical loads for balancing power generation demand, location services, presentation services (such as compiled graphs from data collected from remote devices), or any other function that collects, retrieves, stores, analyzes, and / or transmits data.

[0205] In some examples, a measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments. In response to changes in the measurement results, there may also be optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1050 between the host 1002 and the UE 1006. The measurement process and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in the software and hardware of the host 1002 and / or the UE 1006. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 1050 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above or providing the values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 1050 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; reconfiguration does not require direct changes to the operation of the network node 1004. Such processes and functionality may be known and implemented in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. by the host 1002. The measurements may be achieved because software uses the OTT connection 1050 to cause messages to be transmitted, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0206] Although the computing devices (e.g., UE, network node, host) described herein may include the illustrated combinations of hardware components, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It is understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information to process the information and make a determination as a result of the processing. In addition, although the components are depicted as being located within a larger box or as a single box nested within multiple boxes, in reality, the computing device may include multiple different physical components that make up the single illustrated component, and functionality may be divided between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the component may be divided between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0207] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on an independent or separate device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those specific embodiments, the processing circuitry may be configured to perform the described functionality regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to just the processing circuitry or to other components of the computing device, but are generally enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks. Example Group A Examples 1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE communicates with a first radio access technology (RAT), the method comprising: obtaining one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT; receiving a message from a source node of the first RAT indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message includes a first indication related to release or suspension of at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT; initiating communication with a target node of the second RAT; and The at least one first QoE configuration is released or suspended according to the first indication. 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the message includes a handover command for handing over to the second RAT. 3. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the message comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) release message with redirection to the second RAT. 4. The method of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the first indication includes an identifier of the at least one first QoE configuration. 5. The method of embodiment 4, wherein the identifier is included in an information element. 6. A method as described in embodiments 2 to 5 when dependent on claim 2, wherein the first indication includes an identifier of a second QoE configuration associated with the first service type in the handover command, and wherein the first indication indicates that the at least one first configuration includes any QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations that is not associated with the first service type. 7. The method as in any preceding embodiment, further comprising releasing or suspending one or more features of the one or more QoE configurations not supported by the second RAT. 8. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the first indication comprises an indication for selecting a second QoE configuration to be retained from the one or more QoE configurations. 9. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein releasing or suspending the at least one first QoE configuration comprises releasing or suspending a radio access network visible QoE configuration without releasing or suspending the entire associated QoE configuration. 10. The method of any preceding embodiment, further comprising decoding the handover command before releasing or suspending the first QoE configuration. 11. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 10, wherein suspending the at least one first QoE configuration comprises disabling reporting of measurements according to the at least one first QoE configuration when communicating with the second RAT. 12. The method of embodiment 11, wherein the indication comprises one or more of the following: an indication that the UE should suspend or release the at least one first QoE configuration currently stored at the UE; an indication that one or more service types of the at least one first QoE configuration should be suspended or released; an indication of a maximum (or minimum) number of at least one first QoE configuration that the UE should suspend or release; The at least one first QoE configuration is to be suspended for a time. 13. The method of any one of embodiments 11 or 12, comprising pausing the at least one first QoE configuration, wherein the method comprises: performing measurements according to the at least one first QoE configuration while communicating with the second RAT; Upon returning to communication with the first RAT, the measurements are reported to the first RAT. 14. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: Provide user data; and The user data is forwarded to a host via transmission to the network node. Group B Examples 15. A method performed by a network node in a first radio access technology, wherein the network node is in communication with a user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) being configured with one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT, the method comprising: A message is transmitted indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message includes a first indication related to release or suspension of at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT. 16. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the message includes a handover command to handover to the second RAT. 17. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the message comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) release message with redirection to the second RAT. 18. The method of embodiments 15 to 17, wherein the first indication includes an identifier of the at least one first QoE configuration. 19. The method of embodiment 18, wherein the identifier is included in an information element. 20. A method as described in Examples 15 to 19 when dependent on Example 16, wherein the first indication includes an identifier of a second QoE configuration associated with the first service type in the handover command, and wherein the first indication indicates that the at least one first configuration includes any QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations that is not associated with the first service type. 21. The method of embodiments 15 to 20, wherein the first indication includes one or more of the following: an indication that the UE should suspend or release the at least one first QoE configuration currently stored at the UE; an indication that one or more service types of the at least one first QoE configuration should be suspended or released; an indication of a maximum (or minimum) number of at least one first QoE configuration that the UE should suspend or release; The at least one first QoE configuration may be suspended for a period of time. 22. The method of any one of embodiments 15 to 21, wherein the first indication comprises an indication for selecting a second QoE configuration to retain from the one or more QoE configurations. 23. The method according to any of the preceding embodiments, further comprising: Access user data; and The user data is forwarded to a host or user device. Group C Examples 24. A user equipment comprising: a processing circuit configured to cause the user equipment to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A; and A power supply circuit is configured to supply power to the processing circuit. 25. A network node, comprising: a processing circuit configured to cause the network node to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments of Group B; A power supply circuit is configured to supply power to the processing circuit. 26. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising: an antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry and configured to condition signals passed between the antenna and the processing circuitry; The processing circuit is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuit; and A battery is connected to the processing circuit and is configured to supply power to the UE. 27. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), The UE comprises a communication interface and a processing circuit, and the communication interface and the processing circuit of the UE are configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A to receive the user data from the host. 28. The host of the preceding embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the host to the UE. 29. The host according to the two preceding embodiments, wherein: The processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide the user data; and The host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. 30. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system further comprising a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and A transmission carrying the user data is initiated to the UE via a cellular network including the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host. 31. The method of the previous embodiment further comprising: At the host, a host application associated with the client application executing on the UE is executed to receive the user data from the UE. 32. The method of the previous embodiment further comprising: transmitting, at the host, input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application. 33. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), The UE includes a communication interface and a processing circuit, and the communication interface and the processing circuit of the UE are configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A to transmit the user data to the host. 34. The host of the preceding embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host. 35. The host according to the two preceding embodiments, wherein: The processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide the user data; and The host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. 36. A method implemented by a host, the host configured to operate in a communication system further comprising a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: At the host, user data transmitted by the UE to the host via the network node is received, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group A to transmit the user data to the host. 37. The method of the previous embodiment further comprising: At the host, a host application associated with the client application executing on the UE is executed to receive the user data from the UE. 38. The method of the previous embodiment further comprising: transmitting, at the host, input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application. 39. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and A network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the embodiments in Group B to transmit the user data from the host to the UE. 40. The host according to the preceding embodiment, wherein: The processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and The UE includes processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host. 41. A method implemented in a host, the host being configured to operate in a communication system further comprising a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and Initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE. 42. The method of the preceding embodiment, further comprising transmitting, at the network node, the user data provided by the host for the UE. 43. A method as described in any of the previous two embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executed on the UE, and the client application is associated with the host application. 44. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top service, the communication system comprising: A host, comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the embodiments in Group B to transmit the user data from the host to the UE. 45. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and / or The user equipment. 46. ​​A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and A network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the embodiments in Group B to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host. 47. The host of the preceding embodiment, wherein: The processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application to provide the user data; and The host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. 48. The host of any of the preceding two embodiments, wherein initiating reception of the user data comprises requesting the user data. 49. A method implemented by a host, the host configured to operate in a communication system further comprising a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: At the host, receiving user data from the UE is initiated, the user data originating from a transmission already received by the network node from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments in Group B to receive the user data from the UE for the host. 50. The method of the preceding embodiment further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.< / n> < / n> < / err> < / n> < / n> < / err> < / lf> < / cr>

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment UE, wherein: The UE communicates with a first radio access technology RAT, and the method includes: obtaining one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT; receiving a message from a source node of the first RAT indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT; initiating communication with a target node of the second RAT; and At least one first QoE configuration among the one or more QoE configurations is released or suspended.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: Releasing or suspending the at least one first QoE configuration includes: All QoE configurations in the one or more QoE configurations are released.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The message includes a first indication related to the release or suspension of the at least one first QoE configuration when commencing communication with the second RAT.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein: The releasing or suspending the at least one first QoE configuration is based on the first indication.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The message includes a handover command for handover to the second RAT.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein: The message comprises a Radio Resource Control, RRC, Release message with redirection to the second RAT.

7. The method according to claims 4 to 6, wherein: The first indication includes an identifier of the at least one first QoE configuration.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: The identification is included in an information element.

9. A method as claimed in claims 5 to 8 when dependent on claim 5, wherein The first indication includes an identifier of a second QoE configuration associated with the first service type in the handover command, wherein the first indication indicates that the at least one first configuration includes any QoE configuration not associated with the first service type among the one or more QoE configurations.

10. The method of any one of claims 4 to 9, further comprising releasing or suspending one or more features of the one or more QoE configurations not supported by the second RAT.

11. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein The first indication includes an indication for selecting a second QoE configuration to be retained from the one or more QoE configurations.

12. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 11, wherein Releasing or suspending the at least one first QoE configuration comprises releasing or suspending the radio access network visible QoE configuration without releasing or suspending the entire associated QoE configuration.

13. The method of any one of claims 4 to 12, further comprising decoding the handover command before releasing or suspending the first QoE configuration.

14. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 13, wherein Suspending the at least one first QoE configuration includes disabling reporting of measurements according to the at least one first QoE configuration when communicating with the second RAT.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein: The instructions include one or more of the following: an indication that the UE should suspend or release the at least one first QoE configuration currently stored at the UE; an indication that one or more service types of the at least one first QoE configuration should be suspended or released; an indication of a maximum (or minimum) number of at least one first QoE configuration that the UE should suspend or release; The at least one first QoE configuration is to be suspended for a time.

16. The method of any one of claims 14 or 15, comprising pausing the at least one first QoE configuration, wherein the method comprises: performing measurements according to the at least one first QoE configuration while communicating with the second RAT; Upon returning to communication with the first RAT, the measurements are reported to the first RAT.

17. A method performed by a network node in a first radio access technology, wherein: The network node is in communication with a user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) being configured with one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT, the method comprising: A message is transmitted indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message includes a first indication related to release or suspension of at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein: The message includes a handover command for handover to the second RAT.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein: The message comprises a Radio Resource Control, RRC, Release message with redirection to the second RAT.

20. The method according to claims 17 to 19, wherein The first indication includes an identifier of the at least one first QoE configuration.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The identification is included in an information element.

22. A method as claimed in claims 17 to 21 when dependent on claim 18, wherein The first indication includes an identifier of a second QoE configuration associated with the first service type in the handover command, wherein the first indication indicates that the at least one first configuration includes any QoE configuration not associated with the first service type among the one or more QoE configurations.

23. The method of claims 17 to 22, wherein: The first indication includes one or more of the following: an indication that the UE should suspend or release the at least one first QoE configuration currently stored at the UE; an indication that one or more service types of the at least one first QoE configuration should be suspended or released; an indication of a maximum (or minimum) number of at least one first QoE configuration that the UE should suspend or release; The at least one first QoE configuration may be suspended for a period of time.

24. The method of any one of claims 17 to 23, wherein The first indication includes an indication for selecting a second QoE configuration to be retained from the one or more QoE configurations.

25. A user equipment UE, wherein: The UE is adapted to communicate with a first radio access technology (RAT), the UE comprising a processing circuit and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuit, whereby the UE is operable to: obtaining one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT; receiving a message from a source node of the first RAT indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT; Initiate communication with a target node of the second RAT; as well as At least one first QoE configuration among the one or more QoE configurations is released or suspended.

26. The UE as claimed in claim 25, wherein: The memory contains further instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the UE is operable to perform a method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 16.

27. A network node in a first radio access technology, wherein: The network node is adapted to communicate with a user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) being configured with one or more quality of experience (QoE) configurations for use with the first RAT, the network node comprising processing circuitry and memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the network node is operable to: A message is transmitted indicating that the UE is to communicate with a second RAT, wherein the message includes a first indication related to release or suspension of at least one first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations when commencing communication with the second RAT.

28. The network node as claimed in claim 27, wherein: The memory contains further instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the UE is operable to perform a method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 24.

29. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24.

30. A carrier containing a computer program according to claim 29, wherein The carrier includes one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer-readable storage medium.

31. A computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 24.

32. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon the computer program according to claim 29.

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