Quality of Experience (QoE) Method and Apparatus

Abstract

[0003] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a quality of experience (QoE) method and apparatus. A first device receives a QoE setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating an operation regarding at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection. The first device performs the operation indicated in the QoE setting request. Through this solution, the first device can flexibly control QoE measurement operations related to buffered QoE measurement data, previous QoE setting(s), and / or execution of QoE measurement collection without leaving any ambiguity.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to Quality of Experience (QoE) methods, devices, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media. [Background technology]

[0002] There is an increasing need for technologies to manage and guarantee Quality of Experience (QoE) in order to manage the quality provided by communication networks. For this purpose, QoE measurement collection has been introduced to measure the end-user's QoE when using specific applications and to guarantee the quality level that the user can experience. Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is calling for support for QoE measurement of streaming services and Multicast Broadcast Services (MBS) in idle or inactive states. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a first device is provided, the first device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one processor and configured to receive a Quality of Experience (QoE) setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating an operation on at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection, the at least one processor configured to perform the operation indicated in the QoE setting request.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a second device is provided, the second device being configured to determine an action to be performed by the first device on at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or the QoE measurement collection, and comprising at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one processor and configured to send a QoE setting request indicating the action to the first device.

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, the method including: receiving, at a first device, a quality of experience (QoE) setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating an operation with respect to at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained at the first device, or QoE measurement collection; and performing, at the first device, the operation indicated in the QoE setting request.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, the method including: determining, at a second device, an action to be performed by the first device on at least one of Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained at the first device, or a QoE measurement collection; and transmitting, from the second device to the first device, a QoE setting request indicating the action.

[0007] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a first apparatus is provided, the first apparatus comprising: means for receiving a quality of experience (QoE) setting request from a second apparatus, the QoE setting request indicating an operation on at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first apparatus, or QoE measurement collection; and means for performing the operation indicated in the QoE setting request.

[0008] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a second device is provided, comprising: means for determining an action to be performed by the first device on at least one of Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or a QoE measurement collection; and means for sending a QoE setting request indicating the action to the first device.

[0009] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0010] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0011] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

[0012] In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0013] It should be understood that the Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent through the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] Exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling chart for communication according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart for communication according to some further exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method implemented on a first device in some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method implemented on the second device in some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 7 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes to help those skilled in the art understand and practice the present disclosure, and are not intended to imply any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0016] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0017] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is understood that it is within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly stated.

[0018] Although terms such as "first," "second," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, it should be understood that these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0019] As used herein, the terms "at least one of: ", "at least one of ", and similar expressions where a list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or" mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0020] As used herein, unless expressly stated, performing a step "in response to A" does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after "A" occurs, and may include one or more intervening steps.

[0021] The terminology in the examples is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that as used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0022] As used herein, the term "circuit" means (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., analog and / or digital-only implementations); (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software (if applicable); (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; (ii) A hardware processor with software (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory portion(s) that work together to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions. (c) A hardware circuit or processor, such as a microprocessor or part of a microprocessor, that requires software (such as firmware) to operate, but the software may be absent when not required for operation; It may refer to one or more, or all, of the following:

[0023] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, as used herein, the term circuit also covers simply a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or part of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware implementation. The term circuit also covers, for example, a baseband or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network equipment, or other computing device or network equipment, if applicable to particular claim elements.

[0024] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), or Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including, but not limited to, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) communication protocols, and / or other protocols currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will, of course, be future communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied. The scope of the present disclosure should not be considered limited to only the above-mentioned systems.

[0025] As used herein, the term "network equipment" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and / or provides service to the terminal device in the communication network. The network equipment refers to at least one of a base station (BS) or access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node such as a femto or pico node, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network equipment such as a satellite network equipment, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, or an airborne network, depending on the terminology and technology applied. In some exemplary embodiments, a radio access network (RAN) split architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) in an IAB donor node. The IAB node includes a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that acts like a UE towards a parent node, and the DU portion of the IAB node acts like a base station towards a next-hop IAB node.

[0026] The term "terminal equipment" refers to any end device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, terminal equipment may also be referred to as communication equipment, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), mobile subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal equipment includes, but is not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal equipment, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal equipment such as digital cameras, gaming terminal equipment, music storage and playback appliances, in-vehicle wireless terminal equipment, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, wearables such as watches, head-mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices, applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronics devices, devices operating in commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Terminal equipment may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal equipment", "communication equipment", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0027] In this embodiment, the terms "resource," "transmission resource," "resource block," "physical resource block" (PRB), "uplink resource," or "downlink resource" may refer to any resource for performing communication, e.g., communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a spatial domain resource, a code domain resource, or other resource enabling communication. Hereinafter, unless explicitly stated, both frequency domain and time domain resources are used as examples of transmission resources for describing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0028] 1 illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication system 100 includes multiple communication devices, including a first device 110 and a second device 120, that may communicate with each other.

[0029] 1, first device 110 may include terminal equipment, and second device 120 and third device 130 may include network equipment. The serving area of ​​second device 120 or third device 130 may be referred to as a cell.

[0030] Communications in communication system 100 may be conducted according to any suitable communication protocol(s), including, but not limited to, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), sixth-generation (6G), and later wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or other protocols now known or developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or other technologies now known or developed in the future.

[0031] It should be understood that the number of devices and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. Communication system 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implement exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it should be understood that one or more additional devices may be included and disposed in communication system 100. It should be noted that, although illustrated as a terminal device, first device 110 may be a device other than a terminal device. While illustrated as network equipment, second device 120 or third device 130 may be a device other than network equipment.

[0032] For purposes of explanation below, some exemplary embodiments are described with first device 110 operating as a terminal device and second device 120 and third device 130 operating as network devices. However, in some exemplary embodiments, operations described with reference to a terminal device may be implemented in a network device or other device, and operations described with reference to a network device may be implemented in a terminal device or other device.

[0033] In some demonstrative embodiments, when the first device 110 is a terminal equipment and the second device 120 and the third device 130 are network equipment, a link from the second device 120 or the third device 130 to the first device 110 is called a downlink (DL), and a link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 or the third device 130 is called an uplink (UL). In the DL, the second device 120 or the third device 130 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter), and the first device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, the first device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter), and the second device 120 or the third device 130 is a RX device (or receiver).

[0034] In the communication system 100, the first device 110 may change or switch between various operating states. In some cases, the first device 110 may be in a connected state with the second device 120 or the third device 130. In the connected state, the first device 110 may have at least one communication connection (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) connection) with the second device 120 or the third device 130 over which the first device 110 is actively communicating with the second device 120 or the third device 130 and can transmit and / or receive data and control information. In the connected state, the second device 120 or the third device 130 to which the first device 110 is connected may have a context (e.g., a UE context) of the first device 110. The device context (e.g., a UE context) may include at least one of an access stratum context, one or more radio link configuration parameters, bearer configuration information, security information, layer configuration information, and / or other configuration information of the device.

[0035] In some cases, for purposes of power saving, mobility, etc., the first device 110 may transition to a power-saving state, such as an inactive state or an idle state. In the inactive state, the first device 110 is not in an active communication connection (e.g., an RRC connection). In some exemplary embodiments, the context of the first device 110 may be maintained on the network side, such as with the second device 120 or the third device 130 to which the first device 110 is connected. In some exemplary embodiments, the first device 110 in the inactive state may perform, for example, small data transmission and / or control information exchange with the second device 120 or the third device 130. Being in the inactive state allows the first device 110 to quickly resume a communication connection with the second device 120 or the third device 130. It should be noted that the device to which the first device 110 connects from the inactive state may be the same or a different device than the device to which the first device 110 was previously connected. In the idle state, the first device 110 is not in a communication connection (for example, an RRC connection) with a network device, and no context is maintained on the network side of the second device 120 or the third device 130, etc.

[0036] In a radio resource control (RRC) layer of the first device 110, the connected state may be referred to as RRC_CONNECTED, the inactive state may be referred to as RRC_INACTIVE, and the idle state may be referred to as RRC_IDLE. The first device 110 may transition between different operating states, such as transitioning from a connected state to an inactive or idle state, from an inactive state to a connected or idle state, and / or from an idle state to a connected or inactive state.

[0037] In operation of a communication system, a first device, such as a terminal device, may be configured to perform quality of experience (QoE) measurement collection and collect QoE measurement data according to a QoE setting. The QoE measurement collection may be performed when the first device is in a connected state, and the collected QoE measurement data may be reported to a device to which the first device is connected. With the increasing number of services supported in communication systems, it has been proposed to support QoE measurement even when the device is in other states, such as an inactive or idle state. For example, a multicast broadcast service (MBS) enables resource-efficient transmission to multiple end users requesting the same content. It generally transmits information via DL and can support information communication even when the first device is in an idle or inactive state. The terminal device may perform Real Video (RV)-QoE measurements of MBS services during periods in a connected, idle, or inactive state.

[0038] However, the fact that QoE measurement collection is performed in an idle or inactive state raises new challenges. While the first device may continue collecting QoE measurements, it may not be able to report the collected QoE measurement data during periods of idle or inactive states. One problem is that when the first device returns to a connected state, it cannot determine whether the collected QoE measurement data is valid for the new cell or whether the new cell supports QoE measurement collection or configuration. In this case, the first device may not know how to handle buffered QoE measurement data, previously configured QoE configuration(s), and / or whether to continue QoE measurement collection. In other cases, the first device may be configured to pause reporting of QoE measurement data or collection of QoE measurements even while still in a connected state. Similar challenges arise even when the first device is able to resume reporting of QoE measurement data or collection of QoE measurements.

[0039] The first device exhibits unexpected behavior in that it may delete its previous QoE setting(s) and previous QoE measurement data when it transitions to an idle or inactive state, which may lead to signaling overhead if the device to which the first device is connected prefers to collect previous QoE measurement data and / or reuse previous QoE setting(s) for measurement collection.

[0040] According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution for QoE measurement control is provided, in which a first device is instructed by a second device to perform an operation on QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting stored in the first device, and / or QoE measurement collection, and the first device performs the operation in response to the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting stored in the first device, and / or QoE measurement collection.

[0041] Through this solution, it is possible to flexibly control QoE measurement operations related to buffered QoE measurement data, previous QoE setting(s), and / or execution of QoE measurement collection without leaving any ambiguity to the first device. Furthermore, by requiring the first device to appropriately handle the QoE measurement data, previous QoE setting(s), and / or execution of QoE measurement collection, it is also possible to save resources for reporting ineffective QoE measurement data, retaining invalid QoE setting(s), and / or executing meaningless QoE measurement collection.

[0042] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0043] Reference is now made to Figure 2, which illustrates a signaling chart 200 for communication in some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, signaling chart 200 includes first device 110, second device 120, and third device 130. For purposes of explanation, reference is made to Figure 1 for a description of signaling chart 200.

[0044] In the signaling chart 200, the second device 120 determines an action 210 for the first device 110 to perform on at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device 110, or the QoE measurement collection. The second device 120 sends a QoE setting request to the first device 110 indicating the action to perform.

[0045] In the signaling chart 200, it is assumed that the first device 110 buffers and / or causes to be buffered the QoE measurement data. Alternatively or additionally, the first device 110 may maintain at least one QoE setting for the QoE measurement data collection. Alternatively or additionally, the first device 110 may perform QoE measurement data collection to collect the QoE measurement data. The buffering of QoE measurement data, the maintaining of at least one QoE setting, and / or the QoE measurement data collection are illustrated together in block 205.

[0046] Upon receiving the QoE setting request from the second device 120, the first device performs the operations indicated in the QoE setting request.

[0047] The first device 110 is configured to perform QoE measurement collection and collect QoE measurement data according to the QoE configuration(s). The QoE measurement data may be buffered in the first device 110 and reported to the same or another communication device, e.g., network equipment, when communication resources are available for reporting. The QoE measurement data includes various QoE measurement metrics that can be collected by the first device 110. The QoE configuration, also referred to as a QoE measurement configuration, includes QoE measurement parameters for configuring QoE measurements in the first device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE configuration may be transmitted to the first device 110 via a reconfiguration message, such as an RRC reconfiguration message. The message may indicate a configuration for reporting QoE measurement data, such as a QoE measurement collection (QMC) configuration container, a system resource block 4 (SRB4) configuration, a service type for which QoE measurement data is to be collected, and / or other information. In some exemplary embodiments, the first device 110 may maintain multiple QoE configurations in parallel.

[0048] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may receive the QoE configuration for QoE measurement collection at an access stratum (AS) layer, such as the RRC layer. The AS layer of the first device 110 may forward the QoE configuration and other necessary parameters to, for example, an application (App) layer of the first device 110. The QoE measurement collection may be performed at the App layer of the first device 110, and the collected QoE measurement data may be buffered for reporting.

[0049] Although some examples have been provided above, it should be understood that there are no particular limitations on the QoE measurement data, QoE settings, and QoE measurement collection in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a configuration operation is performed on the second device 120 to configure the first device 110 with respect to processing previously buffered QoE measurement data, previous QoE setting(s), and / or whether QoE measurement collection needs to be resumed or stopped.

[0051] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device 110 can transition from an idle state or an inactive state to a connected state with the second device 120. During the idle or inactive state, the first device 110 can perform QoE measurement collection according to the QoE setting(s) and buffer the collected QoE measurement data. As an exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the first device 110 is in a connected state with the third device 130 in FIG. 1 and decides to transition to the idle or inactive state. The third device 130 can decide to select the first device 110 to continue QoE measurement collection in the idle or inactive state. The third device 130 then sends an instruction to continue QoE measurement collection in the idle or inactive state, for example, in a message (e.g., an RRC release message) that places the first device 110 in the idle or inactive state. Upon receiving this instruction, the first device 110 can perform QoE measurement collection while in the idle or inactive state.

[0052] In this case, when the first device 110 connects to the second device 120 and transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state, the second device 120 may configure the first device 110 with buffered QoE measurement data, previous QoE setting(s), and / or processing of QoE measurement collection through a QoE setting request. The QoE setting request sent from the second device 120 may indicate an action to be performed when the first device 110 transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state. It should be noted that the second device 120 may be a different device (e.g., a different network device) than the device to which the first device 110 was previously connected, or it may be the same device.

[0053] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may be in a connected state with the second device 120 when performing QoE measurement collection in accordance with the QoE configuration(s). The first device 110 may be configured to suspend QoE measurement reporting to the second device 120, and thus may need to buffer the collected QoE measurement data. In this case, the QoE configuration request sent from the second device 120 may indicate an action to be performed if the connected first device 110 is configured to resume reporting of QoE measurement data.

[0054] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE measurement data in the QoE setting request may include discarding or retaining the QoE measurement data buffered in the first device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, the buffered QoE measurement data may be collected during periods when the first device 110 is in an idle or inactive state. In some exemplary embodiments, the buffered QoE measurement data may be collected during periods when the first device 110 in a connected state has paused reporting of QoE measurement data. The second device 120 can flexibly configure whether to allow the first device 110 to continue reporting QoE measurement data collected during periods when the first device 110 is in an idle or inactive state or when reporting is paused. For ineffective QoE measurement data, the second device 120 can instruct the first device 110 to discard it without reporting it, thereby saving resources (e.g., in the air interface) used for communicating the measurement data and buffering space in the first device 110.

[0055] In some demonstrative embodiments, in the QoE setting request, the action on the QoE setting may include continuing or discarding at least one QoE setting retained in the first device 110. The QoE setting(s) retained in the first device 110 may include QoE settings from one or more devices (e.g., the third device 130) to which the first device 110 was previously connected. The second device 120 can determine whether to reuse the QoE setting(s) for QoE measurement collection at a later stage and then determine whether to configure the first device 110 to continue or discard the QoE setting(s). For example, if the second device 120 is the same device to which the first device 110 was previously connected or is within a particular area scope where the previous QoE setting is still valid, there is no need to reconfigure the first device 110 with the new QoE setting. The second device 120 may request the first device 110 to reuse (e.g., continue) a previous QoE setting held in the first device 110 by sending an instruction in a QoE setting request. In some other embodiments, the second device 120 may request the first device 110 to discard a previous QoE setting(s) for other reasons. In such a manner, for invalid QoE setting(s), the second device 120 may directly instruct the first device 110 to discard them or to configure new ones instead, without reporting them, thereby saving signaling resources (e.g., in the air interface).

[0056] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on QoE measurement collection in the QoE setting request may include resuming or stopping QoE measurement collection. For example, if the first device 110 performs QoE measurement collection while in an idle or inactive state and connects to the second device 120 from the idle or inactive state, the second device 120, which does not support QoE measurement collection, may request the first device 110 to stop QoE measurement collection. In some cases, if the second device 120 does not support QoE measurement collection due to temporal overload and may later wish to resume QoE measurement reporting, the second device 120 may instruct the first device 110 to temporarily stop (or suspend) or update (obtain the latest collection) QoE measurement collection. In another example, if the first device 110 does not perform QoE measurement collection (e.g., when it is in an idle or inactive state or when it has been requested to pause QoE measurement collection), the second device 120 may request the first device 110 to resume collection.

[0057] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting, and / or the QoE measurement collection may be explicitly or implicitly indicated in the QoE setting request. In the case of an explicit indication, the QoE setting request may include one or more fields for specific instructions of the action on the QoE measurement data, the action on the at least one QoE setting, and / or the action on the QoE measurement collection. In the case of an implicit indication, in some exemplary embodiments, the instruction to continue the QoE setting may implicitly indicate the action of resuming the QoE measurement collection.

[0058] In some example embodiments, in the case of an implicit indication, the QoE settings request may include information related to further QoE settings to be provided from the second device 120 to the first device 110. The QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting, and / or the operation regarding QoE measurement collection may be indicated by the presence or absence of information related to further QoE settings in the QoE settings request.

[0059] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request indicates that the first device 110 provides new QoE settings (e.g., a QMC configuration container and an SRB4 configuration) for collecting QoE measurement data, which may implicitly indicate that the new QoE settings overwrite previous QoE setting(s) held in the first device 110. The first device 110 can discard the previous QoE setting(s) or stop using the previous QoE setting(s) for collecting QoE measurement data. The first device 110 can start QoE measurement data collection using the new QoE settings.

[0060] In some example embodiments, if the information included in the QoE settings request indicates that no new QoE settings are provided, it may implicitly indicate that the first device 110 may continue to use the previous QoE setting(s) for QoE measurement collection.

[0061] In some exemplary embodiments, the presence or absence of a new QoE setting may implicitly indicate that the QoE measurements buffered at the first device 110 should be discarded or retained, depending on a pre-agreement or pre-configuration between the first device 110 and the second device 120.

[0062] Although some examples of implicit indications are provided above, it should be understood that there may be other ways to implicitly indicate an action in a QoE setting request. It should also be understood that in some other exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request may include further QoE setting-related information in addition to one or more explicit indications.

[0063] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on QoE measurement data, the action on at least one QoE setting, and / or the action on QoE measurement collection may be indicated by the same or different signaling to the first device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request may be sent from the second device 120 to the first device 110 by any suitable signaling.

[0064] In an exemplary embodiment, the QoE setting request may be sent in dedicated signaling to the first device 110 .

[0065] Specifically, in an exemplary embodiment, the QoE setting request may be indicated in any of the signaling sent to the first device 110 when the first device 110 connects to the second device 120 from an idle or inactive state. In an exemplary embodiment, the QoE setting request may be sent to the first device 110 when the first device 110 is in an idle or inactive state, during a state transition procedure, or after the first device 110 has completed a state transition.

[0066] As an example, the first device 110 in an inactive state may request a connection with the second device 120 via an RRC resume request. The second device 120 may accept the connection with the first device 110 and transmit an RRC resume message including a QoE setting request to the first device 110. In another example, when the first device 110 connects to the second device 120 from an idle state, the QoE setting request may be included in a message transmitted to the first device 110 to indicate that the communication connection has been established. After the first device 110 completes a state transition from the idle state or the inactive state, the QoE setting request may be transmitted to the first device 110 via, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message. In some embodiments, when the first device 110 is in an inactive state, the QoE setting request may be piggybacked on a message for small data transmission from the second device 120.

[0067] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request may be sent to the first device 110 when the first device 110 is in a connected state with the second device 120 (e.g., when the reporting of QoE measurement data is suspended, or when the second device 120 decides to resume reporting). The QoE setting request in this embodiment may be sent to the first device 110 via, for example, an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0068] In some example embodiments, the QoE setting request may be transmitted to first device 110 via broadcast signaling, such as system information block (SIB) signaling.

[0069] It should be apparent that the QoE setting request may be sent to first device 110 in any other suitable message / signaling, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0070] In some demonstrative embodiments, the second device 120 can make a decision regarding the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting, and / or QoE measurement collection behavior based on various factors and / or configuration information. As an example, when the first device 110 connects to the second device 120 from an inactive state, the second device 120 may be able to obtain context information from a device to which the first device 110 was previously connected (e.g., the third device 130), or the second device 120 may locally maintain the context information of the first device 110. The context information may indicate the QoE setting(s) used by the first device 110. By analyzing the QoE setting(s) used by the first device 110, the second device 120 can determine whether to reuse the QoE setting(s), whether to receive QoE measurement data collected according to the QoE setting(s), and / or whether to allow the first device 110 to resume or stop QoE measurement collection according to the QoE setting(s). In some example embodiments, the second device 120 can be configured via a core network element, such as an Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) function, as to whether or how to process the QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting, and / or the QoE measurement collection.

[0071] It will be understood that the second device 120 may determine the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting, and / or QoE measurement collection behavior based on other factors and / or configuration information, which is not limited within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0072] In some exemplary embodiments, considering that QoE measurement collection is performed when the first device 110 is in an inactive or idle state, in addition to or as an alternative to the QoE setting request, the first device 110 may receive validity control information for controlling the validity of the QoE measurement data, QoE setting(s), and / or QoE measurement collection during periods of inactivity or idle state. Figure 3 shows a signaling chart 300 for communication in an exemplary embodiment. As shown in Figure 3, the signaling chart 300 includes the first device 110, the second device 120, and the third device 130. For illustrative purposes, the signaling chart 300 will be described with reference to Figure 1.

[0073] In the signaling chart 300, for purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the first device 110 is initially in a connected state with the third device 130. The third device 130 may transmit (310), and the first device 110 may receive (315), validity control information for at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection in an idle or inactive state of the first device 110. The validity control information may be used to control the validity of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device 110, or QoE measurement collection when the first device 110 transitions to the idle or inactive state.

[0074] The validity control information may be communicated to the first device 110 at any suitable time and with any suitable signaling. In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information may be communicated to the first device 110 in a message for placing the first device 110 in an inactive or idle state. For example, an RRC release message for instructing the first device 110 to switch from a connected state to an inactive state may include the validity control information. In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information may be included in any message transmitted to the first device 110 during the connected state, such as an RRC reconfiguration message. The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to messages used to communicate the validity control information.

[0075] In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information may indicate a valid time for buffered QoE measurement data during an idle or inactive state of the first device 110. The validity time may refer to a period for the latest data collection / buffering. In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information may indicate a valid time for at least one QoE setting retained in the first device 110 during an idle or inactive state of the first device 110. Alternatively or additionally, the validity control information may indicate a valid time for performing QoE measurement data collection during an idle or inactive state of the first device 110. The validity control information may indicate a valid buffer size used for QoE measurement data collection. By setting the validity time, the third device 130 to which the first device 110 is connected can effectively control the validity of QoE measurement data in the first device 110 during an inactive or idle state and / or the validity of QoE settings and / or QoE measurement data collection during an inactive or idle state.

[0076] In some cases, the first device 110 may transition from a connected state to an idle or inactive state (320). When in the idle or inactive state, the first device 110 may still perform QoE measurement collection to collect QoE measurement data according to one or more QoE settings and buffer the collected QoE measurement data. The buffering of QoE measurement data, maintaining at least one QoE setting, and / or QoE measurement collection are collectively illustrated in block 325.

[0077] When there is no active communication connection, the collected QoE measurement data may be buffered at the first device 110. In some example embodiments, the QoE measurement data is collected when the first device 110 is in a connected state, but may not have an opportunity to be reported to the third device 130.

[0078] After the first device 110 transitions to an idle state or an inactive state in accordance with the validity control information received (310) from the third device 130, the first device 110 may control (330) the validity of at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or QoE measurement value collection based on the validity control information.

[0079] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device 110 may start at least one timer for the buffered QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, and / or at least one indicated validity period in the validity control information for QoE measurement collection. In some exemplary embodiments, when the validity period of the buffered QoE measurement data expires, the first device 110 may discard the buffered QoE measurement data. If there is new QoE measurement data being collected and / or buffered, the first device 110 may continue to monitor the buffering time of the collected and / or buffered QoE measurement data and delete some or all of the collected and / or buffered measurement data from the buffer only when the validity period expires. In some exemplary embodiments, when the validity period of a QoE setting expires, the first device 110 may stop QoE measurement collection based on the QoE setting or may discard the QoE setting QC. In some example embodiments, if the validity period for QoE measurements collection expires, the first device 110 may stop QoE measurements collection.

[0080] In some cases, the first device 110 may transition from an inactive or idle state to a connected state. In the example of Figure 3, for purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the first device 110 connects to the second device 120, but the first device 110 may also connect to a third device 130 that was previously in a connected state.

[0081] The second device 120 determines (335) and sends (340) a QoE settings request indicating an action to be taken by the first device 110 with respect to at least one of the QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device 110, or the QoE measurement collection. Upon receiving (345) the QoE settings request, the first device 110 performs the QoE settings request action 350. The actions at 335, 340, 345, and 350 are similar to the actions at 210, 215, 220, and 225 in Figure 2 and are omitted here for brevity.

[0082] In some exemplary embodiments, if the first device 110 has validity control information, it may perform the operation indicated in the QoE setting request when the validity period indicated in the validity control information expires, for example, when the validity period of the QoE measurement data, the validity period of at least one QoE setting held in the first device, and / or the validity period of the QoE measurement value collection expires.

[0083] In the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments, through the QoE setting request and / or validity control information, QoE measurement-related operations (e.g., buffering of QoE measurement data, QoE settings, and / or QoE measurement value collection) in inactive or idle states and / or other cases can be flexibly and efficiently controlled according to actual requirements in various applications.

[0084] 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at a first device in some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the method 400 is described from the perspective of the first device 110 of FIG.

[0085] In block 410, the first device 110 receives a quality of experience (QoE) setting request from a second device (e.g., the second device 120 of FIG. 1), the QoE setting request indicating an operation regarding at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained at the first device, or QoE measurement collection.

[0086] In block 420, the first device 110 performs the actions indicated in the QoE setting request.

[0087] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE measurement data includes discarding or retaining the QoE measurement data buffered in the first device 110 .

[0088] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE settings includes continuing or discarding at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device 110 .

[0089] In an exemplary embodiment, the actions on QoE measurements collection include restarting or stopping QoE measurements collection.

[0090] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE settings request includes information related to further QoE settings, and the action is indicated by the presence or absence of information related to further QoE settings in the QoE settings request.

[0091] In some exemplary embodiments, the method 400 further includes receiving validity control information for at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device 110, or the QoE measurement value collection in an idle or inactive state of the first device 110, and controlling the validity of at least one of the QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting held in the first device 110, or the QoE measurement value collection based on the validity control information in accordance with a determination that the first device 110 transitions from a connected state to an idle or inactive state.

[0092] In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information indicates at least one of a validity period of buffered QoE measurement data, a validity period of at least one QoE setting held in the first device 110, or a validity period for performing QoE measurement collection.

[0093] In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information is received from a third device to which first device 110 is connected in the connected state.

[0094] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE measurement data is collected during periods when the first device 110 is idle or inactive.

[0095] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request indicates an action to be performed when the first device 110 transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state, when the validity period of at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device 110, or QoE measurement value collection expires while the first device 110 is in the idle or inactive state, or when the first device 110 in the connected state is configured to restore reporting of QoE measurement data.

[0096] In some exemplary embodiments, first device 110 includes a terminal device and second device 120 includes a network device.

[0097] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request is included in dedicated or broadcast signaling.

[0098] 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented in a second device, in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For purposes of explanation, the method 500 is described from the perspective of the second device 120 of FIG.

[0099] In block 510, the second device 120 determines an action to be performed by the first device (e.g., the first device 110 of FIG. 1 ) with respect to at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or the QoE measurement collection.

[0100] In block 520, the second device 120 sends a QoE setting request to the first device 110 indicating the action.

[0101] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE measurement data includes discarding or retaining the QoE measurement data buffered in the first device 110 .

[0102] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE settings includes continuing or discarding at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device 110 .

[0103] In an exemplary embodiment, the actions on QoE measurements collection include restarting or stopping QoE measurements collection.

[0104] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE settings request includes information related to further QoE settings, and the action is indicated by the presence or absence of information related to further QoE settings in the QoE settings request.

[0105] In some exemplary embodiments, the method 500 further includes transmitting to the first device 110 the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device 110, or validity control information in an idle or inactive state of the first device 110 for at least one of the QoE measurement data collections.

[0106] In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information indicates at least one of a validity period of buffered QoE measurement data, a validity period of at least one QoE setting held in the first device 110, or a validity period for performing QoE measurement collection.

[0107] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE measurement data is collected during periods when the first device 110 is idle or inactive.

[0108] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE setting request indicates an action to be performed when the first device 110 transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state, when the validity period of at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device 110, or QoE measurement value collection expires while the first device 110 is in the idle or inactive state, or when the first device 110 is configured to restore reporting of QoE measurement data while in the connected state.

[0109] In some exemplary embodiments, first device 110 includes a terminal device and second device 120 includes a network device.

[0110] In an exemplary embodiment, the QoE setting request is included in dedicated or broadcast signaling.

[0111] In some demonstrative embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 400 (e.g., first device 110 in FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing each operation of method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in first device 110 in FIG. 1 .

[0112] In some exemplary embodiments, a first device comprises means for receiving a Quality of Experience (QoE) setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating at least one operation of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection; and means for performing the operation indicated in the QoE setting request.

[0113] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE measurement data includes discarding or retaining the QoE measurement data buffered in the first device.

[0114] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE settings includes continuing or discarding at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device.

[0115] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on QoE measurements collection includes restarting or stopping QoE measurements collection.

[0116] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE settings request includes information related to further QoE settings, and the action is indicated by the presence or absence of information related to further QoE settings in the QoE settings request.

[0117] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device further comprises means for receiving validity control information of at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or QoE measurement value collection in an idle or inactive state of the first device, and means for controlling validity of at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or QoE measurement value collection based on the validity control information in accordance with a determination that the first device transitions from a connected state to an idle or inactive state.

[0118] In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information indicates at least one of a validity period of buffered QoE measurement data, a validity period of at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or a validity period for performing QoE measurement collection.

[0119] In an exemplary embodiment, the validity control information is received from a third device to which the first device is connected in a connected state.

[0120] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE measurement data is collected during periods when the first device is in an idle or inactive state.

[0121] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE settings request indicates an operation to be performed in one of the following cases: when the first device transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state; when the validity period of at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or QoE measurement collection expires while the first device is in the idle or inactive state; or when the first device in the connected state is configured to restore reporting of QoE measurement data.

[0122] In an exemplary embodiment, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0123] In an exemplary embodiment, the QoE setting request is included in dedicated or broadcast signaling.

[0124] In some exemplary embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing method 400 or other operations in some exemplary embodiments of first device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to execute.

[0125] In some demonstrative embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 500 (e.g., second device 120 in FIG. 1 ) may configure means for performing each operation of method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in second device 120 in FIG. 1 .

[0126] In some exemplary embodiments, the second device comprises means for determining an action to be performed by the first device with respect to at least one of quality of experience (QoE) measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or the QoE measurement collection, and means for sending a QoE setting request to the first device indicating the action.

[0127] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE measurement data includes discarding or retaining the QoE measurement data buffered in the first device.

[0128] In some exemplary embodiments, the action on the QoE settings includes continuing or discarding at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device.

[0129] In an exemplary embodiment, the actions on QoE measurements collection include restarting or stopping QoE measurements collection.

[0130] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE settings request includes information related to further QoE settings, and the action is indicated by the presence or absence of information related to further QoE settings in the QoE settings request.

[0131] In some exemplary embodiments, the second device further comprises means for transmitting to the first device validity control information in an idle or inactive state of the first device for at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or the QoE measurement collection.

[0132] In some exemplary embodiments, the validity control information indicates at least one of a validity period of buffered QoE measurement data, a validity period of at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or a validity period for performing QoE measurement collection.

[0133] The QoE measurement data in some exemplary embodiments is collected during periods when the first device is idle or inactive.

[0134] In some exemplary embodiments, the QoE settings request indicates an operation to be performed in one of the following cases: when the first device transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state; when the validity period of at least one of the QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or QoE measurement collection expires while the first device is in the idle or inactive state; or when the first device in the connected state is configured to restore reporting of QoE measurement data.

[0135] In an exemplary embodiment, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0136] In an exemplary embodiment, the QoE setting request is included in dedicated or broadcast signaling.

[0137] In some exemplary embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing method 500 or other operations in some exemplary embodiments of second device 120. In some exemplary embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to execute.

[0138] 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 suitable for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Device 600 may be provided to implement a communications apparatus such as first device 110, second device 120, or third device 130 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 that may be coupled to processor 610, and one or more communications modules 640 that may be coupled to processor 610.

[0139] The communications module 640 may be for bidirectional communication. The communications module 640 may have one or more communications interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communications interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communications module 640 may include at least one transceiver. In some exemplary embodiments, the communications module 640 may include at least one antenna.

[0140] Processor 610 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 600 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0141] The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 624, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), optical disks, laser disks, and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that do not persist through power-down periods.

[0142] The computer program 630 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The instructions of the program 630 may include instructions for performing the operations / acts of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 630 may be stored in a memory, such as the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any appropriate operations and processes by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

[0143] An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 630 such that the device 600 may execute any of the processes of the present disclosure, such as those described with reference to Figures 2 to 5. An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0144] In some exemplary embodiments, program 630 may be tangibly included in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 600 (such as in memory 620) or other storage accessible by device 600. Device 600 may load program 630 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 622 for execution. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term "non-transitory" as used herein is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), as opposed to a limitation of persistence for data storage (e.g., ROM as opposed to RAM).

[0145] 7 shows an example of a computer readable medium 700, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 700 has the program 630 stored thereon.

[0146] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or any combination thereof.

[0147] Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute on a target physical or virtual processor device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions of the program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0148] Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that, when executed by the processor or controller, the functions / acts specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams are performed. The program code can run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0149] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0150] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. Computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0151] Furthermore, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown, or sequentially, or to perform all of the operations depicted, to achieve desirable results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be preferred. Similarly, while several specific implementation details are included in the above description, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be unique to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated otherwise, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0152] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. a first device, at least one processor; coupled to the at least one processor; receiving a Quality of Experience (QoE) setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating an action on at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained on the first device, or QoE measurement collection; at least one transceiver configured to perform Equipped with the at least one processor is configured to perform the operations indicated in the QoE setting request. First device.

2. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the action on the QoE measurement data includes discarding or retaining QoE measurement data buffered in the first device.

3. The first device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the action on a QoE setting includes continuing or discarding the at least one QoE setting held in the first device.

4. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the action on QoE measurement collection comprises restarting or stopping the QoE measurement collection.

5. 5. The first device of claim 1, wherein the QoE setting request includes information related to further QoE settings, and the action is indicated by the presence or absence of the information related to the further QoE settings in the QoE setting request.

6. The at least one transceiver is further configured to receive, in an idle or inactive state of the first device, at least one validity control information of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection; The at least one processor, in response to determining that the first device transitions from a connected state to the idle state or the inactive state, controlling the validity of at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or validity of QoE measurement value collection based on the validity control information; It is configured as follows: A first device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The validity control information is the validity period of the buffered QoE measurement data; the validity period of the at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or a validity period for performing said QoE measurement collection; The first device of claim 6 , exhibiting at least one of:

8. The first device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the validity control information is received from a third device to which the first device is connected in the connected state.

9. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the QoE measurement data is collected during periods when the first device is idle or inactive.

10. The QoE setting request When the first device transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state, When the first device is in the idle state or inactive state, if a validity period has expired for at least one of the QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting held on the first device, or the QoE measurement collection; and wherein the first device in a connected state is configured to restore reporting of QoE measurement data; indicates the action to be performed in any of the following cases: A first device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. The first device according to claim 1 , wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

12. The first device according to claim 1 , wherein the QoE setting request is included in dedicated signaling or broadcast signaling.

13. a second device, at least one processor configured to determine an action to be taken by the first device with respect to at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection; at least one transceiver coupled to the at least one processor and configured to send a QoE setting request to the first device indicating the operation; A second device comprising:

14. The second device of claim 13 , wherein the action on the QoE measurement data includes discarding or retaining QoE measurement data buffered in the first device.

15. The second device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the action on a QoE setting comprises continuing or discarding the at least one QoE setting held in the first device.

16. The second device of claim 13 , wherein the action on QoE measurement collection comprises restarting or stopping the QoE measurement collection.

17. 17. The second device of claim 13, wherein the QoE setting request includes information related to further QoE settings, and the operation is indicated by the presence or absence of the information related to the further QoE settings in the QoE setting request.

18. The at least one transceiver further comprises: transmitting validity control information to the first device in an idle or inactive state of the first device regarding at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection; 18. A second device according to any one of claims 13 to 17, configured to:

19. The validity control information is the validity period of the buffered QoE measurement data; the validity period of the at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or a validity period for performing said QoE measurement collection; 20. The second device of claim 18, wherein the second device exhibits at least one of:

20. The second device of claim 13 , wherein the QoE measurement data is collected during periods when the first device is idle or inactive.

21. The QoE setting request When the first device transitions from an idle or inactive state to a connected state, When the first device is in the idle state or inactive state, if a validity period for the at least one of the QoE measurement data, the at least one QoE setting held in the first device, or the QoE measurement collection has expired; If the first device in a connected state is configured to restore reporting of QoE measurement data, 21. The second device of claim 13, wherein the action to be performed is indicated in any of the following cases:

22. The second device of any one of claims 13 to 21, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

23. The second device according to any of claims 13 to 22, wherein the QoE setting request is included in dedicated signaling or broadcast signaling.

24. receiving, at a first device, a quality of experience (QoE) setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating at least one operation of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained at the first device, or QoE measurement collection; performing, at the first device, the operation indicated in the QoE setting request; A method comprising:

25. determining, at the second device, an action to be taken by the first device with respect to at least one of Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained at the first device, or QoE measurement collection; sending a QoE setting request from the second device to the first device indicating the operation; A method comprising:

26. 1. A first device, comprising: means for receiving a Quality of Experience (QoE) setting request from a second device, the QoE setting request indicating an action on at least one of QoE measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection; means for performing the operation indicated in the QoE setting request; A first device comprising:

27. a second device, means for determining an action to be performed by the first device with respect to at least one of Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement data, at least one QoE setting maintained in the first device, or QoE measurement collection; means for transmitting a QoE setting request to the first device, the QoE setting request indicating the operation; A second device comprising:

28. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 24 or the method of claim 25.

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