Method and apparatus for measuring quality of experience (QOE)

Abstract

A method and an apparatus are provided for measuring quality of experience QoE. The method includes: a target access network device determines that a terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device; the target access network device obtains first indication information, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device; when the load of the access network device is high, the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device is adjusted to reduce the load of the access network device and improve communication efficiency.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a method and apparatus for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE). [Background technology]

[0002] With the rapid development of networks, the bandwidth and speed of networks increase geometrically. For some streaming or voice services, the signal quality cannot reflect the user experience when users use these services. Quality of experience (QoE) is a major factor that determines user loyalty and market share in telecommunication businesses. Therefore, in order to attract more customers, operators need to determine the user experience when users use these services to better optimize the network and improve the user experience. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] The embodiments of the present application disclose a method and an apparatus for measuring the Quality of Experience (QoE), so that the QoE measurement performed by a terminal device can be adjusted to reduce the load of the access network device and improve communication efficiency when the load of the access network device is high.

[0004] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring quality of experience (QoE), the method including: a target access network device determining that a terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device; the target access network device obtaining first indication information, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device;

[0005] In the above method, in a terminal device handover scenario, the load of the target access network device increases due to excessively frequent QoE measurements. Therefore, when the load of the target access network device is high, the target access network device obtains first instruction information to determine the QoE measurements initiated by the terminal device, and instructs the terminal device to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the initiated QoE measurement, so as to reduce the load of the target access network device and improve communication efficiency.

[0006] In one possible embodiment, the method further includes: the target access network device sending a first message to the terminal device based on the first indication information, the first message instructing the terminal device to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the initiated QoE measurement.

[0007] In another possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining the first indication information includes the step of the target access network device receiving the first indication information from the source access network device.

[0008] In yet another possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining the first indication information includes the step of the target access network device receiving the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0009] In yet another possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0010] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first indication information includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the target access network device obtaining second indication information, where the second indication information indicates that QoE measurement of a session corresponding to the session record indication is started and in a running state, stopped state, or completed state.

[0011] In the above method, the target access network device obtains second instruction information to determine the status of QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction, and more accurately determine the currently started QoE measurement, so as to make better decisions and improve communication efficiency.

[0012] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first indication information includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the target access network device obtaining third indication information or fourth indication information, where the third indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is started and in a running state, and the fourth indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is in a stopped state or a completed state.

[0013] In the above method, the target access network device obtains the third instruction information or the fourth instruction information to determine the status of the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction, and more accurately determine the currently started QoE measurement, so as to make better judgments and improve communication efficiency.

[0014] In yet another possible embodiment, the second instruction information, the third instruction information, or the fourth instruction information includes a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record instruction.

[0015] In yet another possible embodiment, before the target access network device receives the first indication information from the terminal device, the method further includes: the target access network device sends fifth indication information to an access stratum AS of the terminal device, where the fifth indication information instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target access network device.

[0016] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being initiated and performed by the terminal device.

[0017] In yet another possible embodiment, the method further includes: the target access network device receiving priority information from the network management device, where the priority information indicates a priority of at least one QoE measurement, and determining whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device based on the priority information.

[0018] In the above method, the target access network device obtains priority information, and determines whether to process QoE measurement based on the priority information, so that the specific requirements of the operator can be met. For example, the operator pays more attention to the QoE measurement of the service.

[0019] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes: when the target access network device decides to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, sending sixth instruction information to the terminal device, where the sixth instruction information instructs the terminal device to pause or stop the QoE measurement.

[0020] In the above-mentioned method, when the load of the target access network device is high, the target access network device may send instruction information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to pause or stop QoE measurement in order to reduce the load and improve communication efficiency.

[0021] In yet another possible embodiment, the priority information includes at least one of service type priority information, network slice priority information, and terminal device priority information.

[0022] In yet another possible embodiment, after the step of the target access network device receiving first indication information from the terminal device, the method further comprises: the target access network device sending access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results to a trace collection entity TCE, where the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results are used by the TCE to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to measurement results of QoE measurements initiated by the terminal device.

[0023] In the above method, because the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result may change at any time, in a QoE scenario, after receiving the first indication information from the terminal device, the target access network device sends the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE. Only the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result sent after the first indication information is received can be used by the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement, thereby optimizing the configuration of the target access network device and improving communication efficiency.

[0024] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes: the target access network device sending first indication information to the TCE.

[0025] In yet another possible embodiment, the method further includes: the target access network device sending access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results to the TCE, the target access network device sending first indication information to the TCE, the first indication information including identification information, the identification information being used to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device.

[0026] In the above method, since the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result may change at any time, in a QoE scenario, after sending the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE, the target access network device sends the first indication information to the TCE. The identification information included in the first indication information includes time information, and the time information is used by the TCE to select the corresponding AS configuration information and the AS measurement result, in other words, the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result after the time information can be selected for the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement, so as to optimize the configuration of the target access network device and improve communication efficiency.

[0027] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes: the target access network device determining, based on the first indication information, that QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device.

[0028] In the above method, the target access network device may directly determine that a QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device according to the first indication information, which helps the target access network device to quickly perform resource scheduling.

[0029] In yet another possible embodiment, the method further includes: the target access network device obtaining seventh instruction information, the seventh instruction information instructing the terminal device to perform the configured QoE measurement, and the target access network device sending eighth instruction information to the terminal device, the eighth instruction information instructing the terminal device to continue performing, cancel, pause or stop the configured QoE measurement.

[0030] In the above method, the target access network device obtains seventh indication information from the source access network device or the terminal device to determine that the QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device, which helps the target access network device to select an appropriate policy for processing the QoE measurement and quickly perform resource scheduling.

[0031] In another possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining the seventh indication information includes the step of the target access network device receiving the seventh indication information from the source access network device.

[0032] In yet another possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining the seventh indication information includes the step of the target access network device receiving the seventh indication information from the terminal device.

[0033] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes: the target access network device obtaining configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement.

[0034] In yet another possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement includes a step of the target access network device receiving configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement from the source access network device.

[0035] In yet another possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement includes a step of the target access network device receiving configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement from the terminal device.

[0036] In yet another possible embodiment, the eighth instruction information instructs the terminal device to continue performing a first QoE measurement, the first QoE measurement being at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device.

[0037] In yet another possible embodiment, the seventh indication information includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0038] A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring quality of experience (QoE), the method including: a source access network device determining that a terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device, the source access network device sending first indication information to the target access network device, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0039] In one possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0040] In another possible embodiment, when the first indication information includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the source access network device sending second indication information to the target access network device, where the second indication information indicates that QoE measurement of a session corresponding to the session record indication is started and in a running state, stopped state, or completed state.

[0041] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first indication information includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the source access network device sending third indication information or fourth indication information to the target access network device, where the third indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is started and in a running state, and the fourth indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is in a stopped state or a completed state.

[0042] In yet another possible embodiment, the second instruction information, the third instruction information, or the fourth instruction information includes a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record instruction.

[0043] For the technical effects provided by the second aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the first aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0044] A third aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring quality of experience (QoE), the method including: a terminal device being handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device, the terminal device sending first indication information to the target access network device, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0045] In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, a first message from the target access network device, the first message instructing to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the initiated QoE measurement.

[0046] In another possible embodiment, the method further includes: an access stratum AS of the terminal device receiving fifth indication information from the target access network device, the fifth indication information instructing the terminal device to hand over to the target access network device.

[0047] In yet another possible embodiment, before the terminal device sends the first indication information to the target access network device, the method further includes: the AS of the terminal device sends fifth indication information to an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0048] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being initiated and performed by the terminal device.

[0049] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes: an AS of the terminal device receiving first indication information from an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0050] In yet another possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0051] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first indication information includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the terminal device sending second indication information to the source access network device, where the second indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is in a started and running state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0052] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first indication information includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the terminal device sending third indication information or fourth indication information to the source access network device, where the third indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is started and in a running state, and the fourth indication information indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is in a stopped state or a completed state.

[0053] For the technical effects provided by the third aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the first aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0054] A fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE), the method including: an access network device receiving priority information from a network management device, the priority information indicating a priority of at least one Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement; and, the access network device determining whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device based on the priority information.

[0055] In the above method, the access network device obtains the priority information, and determines whether to process the QoE measurement based on the priority information, so that the specific requirements of the operator can be met. For example, the operator pays more attention to the QoE measurement of the service.

[0056] In one possible embodiment, the method further includes: when the access network device decides to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, sending indication information to the terminal device, the indication information instructing the terminal device to pause or stop the QoE measurement.

[0057] In the above-mentioned method, when the load of the access network device is high, the access network device may send instruction information to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to pause or stop QoE measurement in order to reduce the load and improve communication efficiency.

[0058] In other possible implementations, the priority information includes at least one of service type priority information, network slice priority information, and terminal device priority information.

[0059] A fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring Quality of Experience QoE, the method including: a network management device determining priority information, the network management device sending priority information to an access network device, the priority information indicating a priority of at least one Quality of Experience QoE measurement, the priority information being used by the access network device to decide whether to process a QoE measurement performed by a terminal device.

[0060] In one possible embodiment, the priority information includes at least one of service type priority information, network slice priority information, and terminal device priority information.

[0061] For the technical effects provided by the fifth aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the fourth aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0062] A sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring a quality of experience QoE. The method includes: an access network device receiving first indication information from a terminal device, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device; an access network device sending access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results to a trace collection entity TCE, the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results being used by the TCE to determine the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0063] In the above method, because the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result may change at any time, in a QoE scenario, after receiving the first indication information from the terminal device, the access network device sends the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE. Only the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result sent after the first indication information is received can be used by the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement, thereby optimizing the configuration of the target access network device and improving communication efficiency.

[0064] In one possible embodiment, the method further includes: the access network device sending first indication information to the TCE.

[0065] In another possible embodiment, before the access network device sends the first indication information to the TCE, the method further includes: the access network device receives second indication information from the terminal device, where the second indication information indicates that the QoE measurement corresponding to the first session is in a stopped state or a completed state.

[0066] In yet another possible implementation, the method further includes: the access network device sending second indication information to the TCE.

[0067] A seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring a quality of experience QoE. The method includes: a trace collection entity TCE receiving first indication information from an access network device, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by a terminal device; the TCE receiving at least one of access stratum AS configuration information and AS measurement results from the access network device; the TCE determining, based on at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement results, the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the initiated QoE measurement.

[0068] In one possible embodiment, the method further includes: the TCE receiving second indication information from the access network device, the second indication information indicating that the QoE measurement corresponding to the first session is in a stopped state or a completed state.

[0069] For the technical effects provided by the seventh aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the sixth aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0070] An eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring quality of experience QoE, the method including: an access network device sending access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results to a trace collection entity TCE; an access network device sending a first message to the TCE, the first message including first indication information, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by a terminal device, the first message including identification information, the identification information being used to determine AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0071] In the above method, since the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result may change at any time, in a QoE scenario, after sending the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE, the access network device sends the first indication information to the TCE. The identification information included in the first indication information includes time information, and the time information is used by the TCE to select the corresponding AS configuration information and the AS measurement result, in other words, the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result after the time information can be selected for the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement, so as to optimize the configuration of the target access network device and improve communication efficiency.

[0072] In one possible embodiment, before the access network device sends the first message to the TCE, the method further includes: the access network device receives first indication information from the terminal device.

[0073] In another possible embodiment, the identification information includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or time information, the time information indicating a time when the access network device receives the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0074] In yet another possible embodiment, before the access network device sends the first message to the TCE, the method further includes: the access network device receives second indication information from the terminal device, where the second indication information indicates that the QoE measurement corresponding to the first session is in a stopped state or a completed state.

[0075] A ninth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring a quality of experience QoE, the method including: a trace collection entity TCE receiving access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results from an access network device; a TCE receiving a first message from the access network device, the first message including first indication information, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by a terminal device, the first message including identification information, the identification information being used to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0076] In one possible implementation, the identification information includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or time point information, the time point information indicating a time point when the access network device receives the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0077] For the technical effects provided by the ninth aspect or possible embodiments, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the eighth aspect or corresponding embodiments.

[0078] A tenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE). The method includes:

[0079] A step of the target access network device obtaining first indication information, the first indication information indicating a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0080] A step of the target access network device sending second instruction information to the terminal device, the second instruction information instructing the terminal device to continue performing, discontinue, pause or stop the configured QoE measurement.

[0081] In the above method, since excessively frequent QoE measurements may increase the load on the access network device and affect communication efficiency, the target access network device determines that QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device by receiving first indication information from the source access network device or the terminal device, so that the target access network device can process the QoE measurement, for example, continue to perform, pause or cancel the QoE measurement, in order to appropriately schedule resources.

[0082] In one optional embodiment, the target access network device obtaining the first indication information includes the target access network device receiving the first indication information from the source access network device.

[0083] In another optional embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining the first indication information includes the step of the target access network device receiving the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0084] In one optional embodiment, the method further includes: the target access network device obtaining configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement.

[0085] In one possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement includes a step of the target access network device receiving configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement from the source access network device.

[0086] In one possible embodiment, the step of the target access network device obtaining configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement comprises a step of the target access network device receiving configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement from the terminal device.

[0087] In yet another optional manner, the second instruction information instructs the terminal device to continue performing a first QoE measurement, the first QoE measurement being at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device.

[0088] In yet another optional manner, the first indication information includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0089] An eleventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring quality of experience (QoE), the method including: a source access network device determining that a terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device, the source access network device sending first indication information to the target access network device, the first indication information indicating a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0090] In one possible implementation, the source access network device sends configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurements to the target access network device.

[0091] In another possible embodiment, the first indication information includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0092] For technical effects provided by the eleventh aspect or possible embodiments, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the tenth aspect or corresponding embodiments.

[0093] A twelfth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for measuring quality of experience (QoE), the method including: determining that a terminal device is to be handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device; and sending first indication information by the terminal device to the target access network device, the first indication information indicating a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0094] In one possible embodiment, the terminal device receives second instruction information from the target access network device, the second instruction information instructing the terminal device to continue performing, discontinue, pause or stop the configured QoE measurement.

[0095] In one possible implementation, the terminal device transmits configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurements to the target access network device.

[0096] In another optional manner, the second instruction information instructs the terminal device to continue performing a first QoE measurement, the first QoE measurement being at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device.

[0097] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0098] For technical effects provided by the twelfth aspect or possible embodiments, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the tenth aspect or corresponding embodiments.

[0099] A thirteenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses an apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE. The apparatus may be a target access network device or a chip in the target access network device, and includes a processing module configured to determine that a terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device. The processing module is configured to obtain first indication information by using a communication module, and the first indication information indicates a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0100] In one possible embodiment, the communication module is configured to send a first message to the terminal device based on the first instruction information, the first message instructing the terminal device to pause or cancel at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being initiated.

[0101] In another possible implementation, the communication module is configured to receive a first indication from the source access network device.

[0102] In yet another possible implementation, the communication module is configured to receive a first indication from the terminal device.

[0103] In yet another possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0104] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module is further configured to obtain second instruction information, wherein the second instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of a session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0105] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session record instruction, the communication module is configured to obtain third instruction information or fourth instruction information, where the third instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, and the fourth instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been stopped or is in a completed state.

[0106] In yet another possible embodiment, the second instruction information, the third instruction information, or the fourth instruction information includes a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record instruction.

[0107] In yet another possible embodiment, before receiving the first instruction information from the terminal device, the communication module is further configured to send fifth instruction information to the access stratum AS of the terminal device, where the fifth instruction information instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target access network device.

[0108] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being initiated and performed by the terminal device.

[0109] In yet another possible embodiment, the communication module is configured to receive priority information from the network management device, the priority information indicating a priority of at least one QoE measurement, and the processing module is configured to decide whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device based on the priority information.

[0110] In yet another possible embodiment, when deciding to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, the processing module is configured to send sixth instruction information to the terminal device by using the communication module, where the sixth instruction information instructs the terminal device to pause or stop the QoE measurement.

[0111] In yet another possible embodiment, the priority information includes at least one of service type priority information, network slice priority information, and terminal device priority information.

[0112] In yet another possible embodiment, after receiving the first indication information from the terminal device, the communication module is further configured to send at least one of access layer AS configuration information and AS measurement results to the trace collection entity TCE, and the at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement results are used by the TCE to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device.

[0113] In yet another possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to transmit the first indication to the TCE.

[0114] In yet another possible embodiment, the communication module is further configured to send access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results to the TCE, and send first indication information to the TCE, the first indication information including identification information, and the identification information is used to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0115] For the technical effects provided by the thirteenth aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the first aspect or the corresponding implementations.

[0116] A fourteenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses an apparatus for measuring Quality of Experience QoE. The apparatus may be a source access network device or a chip in the source access network device, and includes: a processing module configured to determine that a terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device; and a communication module configured to send first indication information to the target access network device, where the first indication information indicates a Quality of Experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0117] In one possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0118] In another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module is further configured to send second instruction information to the target access network device, where the second instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0119] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module is further configured to send third instruction information or fourth instruction information to the target access network device, where the third instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, and the fourth instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been stopped or is in a completed state.

[0120] In yet another possible embodiment, the second instruction information, the third instruction information, or the fourth instruction information includes a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record instruction.

[0121] For the technical effects provided by the fourteenth aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the second aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0122] A fifteenth aspect of the embodiment of the present application discloses an apparatus for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE). The apparatus may be a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device, and includes: a processing module configured to perform handover from a source access network device to a target access network device; and a communication module configured to send first indication information to the target access network device, where the first indication information indicates a Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0123] In one possible embodiment, the communication module is further configured to receive a first message from the target access network device, the first message instructing to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being initiated.

[0124] In another possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to receive fifth instruction information from the target access network device, where the fifth instruction information instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target access network device.

[0125] In yet another possible embodiment, before sending the first indication information to the target access network device, the communication module is further configured to send fifth indication information to an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0126] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being initiated and performed by the terminal device.

[0127] In yet another possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to receive first indication information from an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0128] In yet another possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0129] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module is further configured to send second instruction information to the source access network device, where the second instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction is in a started and running state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0130] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module is further configured to send third instruction information or fourth instruction information to the source access network device, where the third instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, and the fourth instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been stopped or is in a completed state.

[0131] For the technical effects provided by the fifteenth aspect or possible implementations, please refer to the description of the technical effects provided by the third aspect or corresponding implementations.

[0132] A sixteenth aspect of the embodiment of the present application discloses an apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE. The apparatus may be a target access network device or a chip in the target access network device. The apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another device other than the apparatus and transmit a signal to the processor or transmit a signal from the processor to another device other than the apparatus. The processor is configured to perform the method described in the first aspect or possible implementation of the first aspect by using a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0133] A seventeenth aspect of the embodiment of the present application discloses an apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE. The apparatus may be a source access network device or a chip in the source access network device. The apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another device other than the apparatus and transmit a signal to the processor or transmit a signal from the processor to another device other than the apparatus. The processor is configured to perform the method described in the second aspect or possible implementation of the second aspect by using a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0134] An eighteenth aspect of the embodiment of the present application discloses an apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE. The apparatus may be a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device. The apparatus includes a processor and an interface circuit. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory. The interface circuit is configured to receive a signal from another device other than the apparatus and transmit a signal to the processor or transmit a signal from the processor to another device other than the apparatus. The processor is configured to perform the method described in the third aspect or possible implementation of the third aspect by using a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

[0135] A nineteenth aspect of the present application discloses a computer program, which, when executed by a communication device, performs the method as described in any one of the previous aspects and possible implementations of any one of the aspects.

[0136] A twentieth aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a computer readable storage medium, the storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, performs the method described in any one of the previous aspects and possible implementations of any one of the aspects.

[0137] A twenty-first aspect of the embodiment of the present application discloses a chip system, the chip system includes at least one processor, a memory, and an interface circuit. The memory, the interface circuit, and the at least one processor are interconnected through a line, and the at least one memory stores instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the method described in any one of the above aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the above aspect is performed.

[0138] A twenty-second aspect of an embodiment of the present application discloses a system for measuring a quality of experience QoE, the system comprising an apparatus of the thirteenth or sixteenth aspect, an apparatus of the fourteenth or seventeenth aspect, and an apparatus of the fifteenth or eighteenth aspect. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0139] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a system for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 2A] 1 is a schematic flowchart of QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 2B] 1 is a schematic flowchart of QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application; [Diagram 3] 1 is a flowchart of a method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart of another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flowchart of yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart of yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart of yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart of yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart of yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an apparatus for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another apparatus for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0140] The following describes embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0141] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a system 100 for measuring quality of experience QoE according to an embodiment of the present application. The system 100 for quality of experience QoE measurement includes a terminal device 101, an access network device 102, an access network device 103, and a core network device 104. It should be understood that the system 100 to which the method in the embodiment of the present application can be applied may include more or less access network devices. The access network device and the terminal device may be hardware, software obtained by function division, or a combination thereof. The access network device and the terminal device may communicate with each other by using other devices or network elements. The method in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to the system 100 shown in FIG. 1.

[0142] (1) Terminal device: A terminal device is also referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. A terminal device includes a device that provides a voice and / or data connection to a user. Specifically, a terminal device may include a device that provides a voice to a user, includes a device that provides a data connection to a user, or includes a device that provides a voice and data connectivity to a user. For example, a terminal device may include a handheld device with wireless connectivity or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. A terminal device communicates with a core network via a radio access network (RAN) and may exchange voice or data with the RAN, or exchange voice and data with the RAN. The terminal device may include a user equipment (UE), a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) terminal device, a machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, an internet of things (IoT) terminal device, a light user equipment (light UE), a reduced capability user equipment (REDCAP UE), a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, an access point (AP), a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device, and the like.For example, a terminal device may be a mobile phone (also called a "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal device, or a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, or computer-embedded mobile device. For example, a terminal device may be a personal communication service (PCS) phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or other device. A terminal device may alternatively include limited devices, such as devices with relatively low power consumption, limited storage capabilities, or limited computing capabilities. For example, terminal devices include information sensing devices such as bar codes, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), laser scanners, and the like.

[0143] By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may alternatively be a wearable device, which may also be referred to as a wearable intelligent device, an intelligent wearable device, etc.

[0144] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may further include a relay. Alternatively, it will be understood that any device that can perform data communication with the base station may be regarded as a terminal device.

[0145] When the various terminal devices described above are located in a vehicle (e.g., disposed or installed in a vehicle), the terminal devices may be regarded as in-vehicle terminal devices and may be implemented as an on-board unit (OBU) or a communication device used for an OBU. Alternatively, when the various terminal devices described above are located on the roadside, e.g., on a roadside infrastructure, the terminal devices may be implemented as a roadside unit (RSU) or a communication device used for an RSU.

[0146] In an embodiment of the present application, the apparatus configured to perform the functions of the terminal device may be a terminal device, or may be an apparatus that can assist the terminal device to perform the functions, such as a chip system. The apparatus may be installed in the terminal device. In an embodiment of the present application, the chip system may include a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete components. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by using an example in which the apparatus configured to perform the functions of the terminal is a terminal device.

[0147] (2) Access network (AN) device: An access network device is a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects a terminal to a wireless network, and may also be called a base station. Currently, some examples of RAN nodes are further evolved Node B (gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home eNode B (e.g., home evolved Node B or home Node B, HNB), base band unit (BBU), wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point (AP), etc. In addition, in a network structure, the access network device may include a RAN device including a centralized unit (CU) node, a distributed unit (DU) node, or a CU node and a DU node. The RAN device, including the CU node and the DU node, divides the protocol layer of the gNB in ​​the NR system. Some functions of the protocol layer are centrally controlled by the CU, and the remaining functions or all functions of the protocol layer are distributed to the DU. The functions of the CU may be further divided. For example, the control plane (CP) is separated from the user plane (UP), in other words, a CU control plane (CU-CP) and a CU user plane (CU-UP) are obtained.

[0148] (3) Core network (CN) device: Core network devices include, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF), an entity session management function (SMF) entity, and a user plane function (UPF) entity, which are not enumerated one by one in this specification. The AMF entity may be responsible for access management and mobility management of the terminal. The SMF entity may be responsible for session management, such as user session establishment, etc. The UPF entity may be a user plane function entity, and is mainly responsible for connecting to an external network. It should be noted that the entities in this application may also be referred to as network elements or function entities. For example, the AMF entity may also be referred to as an AMF network element or an AMF function entity. As another example, the SMF entity may also be referred to as an SMF network element or an SMF function entity.

[0149] The following explains some terminology in this application for ease of understanding.

[0150] 1. Multi-radio access technology dual connectivity (MR-DC): In a wireless network, a terminal device may communicate with multiple base stations, i.e., dual-connectivity (DC). In the new protocol, this is also called MR-DC. The multiple base stations may be base stations belonging to the same radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., all are 4G base stations or all are 5G base stations), or may be base stations of different RATs (e.g., one is a fourth-generation 4G base station and the other is a fifth-generation 5G base station). The network side may use the resources of multiple base stations to provide communication services to the terminal device to provide high-speed transmission to the terminal device. In DC, the base station having a control plane neighbor interaction with the core network is called a master base station (MN), and the other base station is called a secondary node (SN). Each base station has a different radio link control (RLC) protocol / media access control (MAC) entity. Data radio bearers (DRBs) in DC are classified into master cell group bearers (MCG bearers), secondary cell group bearers (SCG bearers), and split bearers. MCG bearers mean that the RLC / MAC entity of the DRB is only in the master base station, SCG bearers mean that the RLC / MAC entity of the DRB is only in the secondary base station, and split bearers mean that the RLC / MAC entity of the DRB is in both the master base station and the secondary base station.A bearer whose packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) terminates on the MN is called an MN terminated bearer, specifically, downlink (DL) data arrives directly from the core network to the MN, is processed by the MN's PDCP / service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and then sent to the terminal device via RLC / MAC. Uplink (UL) data is processed by the MN's PDCP / SDAP, and then sent to the core network. Similarly, a bearer whose PDCP terminates on the SN is called an SN terminated bearer. Specifically, DL data arrives directly from the core network to the SN, is processed by the SN's PDCP / SDAP, and then sent to the terminal device via RLC / MAC. UL data is processed by the SN's PDCP / SDAP, and then sent to the core network.

[0151] 2. Minimization of drive-tests (MDT): The basic idea of ​​the minimization of drive-tests technology is that operators replace some traditional drive-test tasks with measurements and measurement result transmissions made by the commercial terminals of subscribed users, to automatically collect terminal measurement data and detect problems and failures in the wireless network for optimization. The application scenarios of this technology are as follows: Operators usually perform regular network coverage drive tests every month, and also perform call quality drive tests in certain areas to address user complaints, and MDT can be used to replace the tests in these scenarios. Measurement types in the existing MDT technology may include signal level measurements, quality of service (QoS) measurements, and accessibility measurements. MDT includes logged MDT and immediate MDT. The immediate MDT is mainly for measuring terminal devices in the RRC_CONNECTED state, and the logged MDT is mainly for measuring terminal devices in the idle (RRC_IDLE) state or the RRC inactive (RRC_INACTIVE) state. The immediate MDT is usually used to measure the data volume, throughput rate, packet transmission delay, packet loss rate, processing delay, etc. of the terminal device. The logged MDT is usually used by the terminal device to measure the received signal strength. The access network device initiates the MDT measurement collection task in the following two scenarios. One is to initiate a signaling based MDT, and the other is to initiate a management based MDT. The signaling based MDT is an MDT for a specific terminal device. The access network device receives indication information from the core network, and the indication information instructs it to perform MDT for the terminal device. The management based MDT is not an MDT for a specific terminal device.The access network device receives a message to perform MDT from an operation administration and maintenance (OAM) or element manager (EM), and then the access network device selects a terminal device from the terminal devices under the access network device to perform MDT measurements based on a specific policy.

[0152] Some L2 measurements are further defined over the air and are used by the network side to perform statistics on some network performance to perform functions such as radio link management, radio resource management, network maintenance, etc. The L2 measurements are performed on the statistics of one terminal device, such as service throughput, service traffic, processing delay of the terminal device, and air interface delay of the terminal device.

[0153] 3. QoE Management: For some streaming or voice services, such as streaming service and multimedia telephony service for IP multimedia subsystem (MTSI), and virtual reality (VR) services, signal quality alone cannot reflect the user experience of these services. Therefore, operators try to learn the user experience and better optimize the network to improve the user experience. Such measurement collection may be called QoE measurement collection or application layer measurement collection (in other words, QoE measurement may also be called application layer measurement). Such measurement may alternatively be initiated by signaling-based MDT and management-based MDT. As shown in Figure 2A and Figure 2B, the QoE measurement process is as follows:

[0154] Step 1: The CN, OAM, or EM sends QoE measurement related configuration information to an access network device.

[0155] Step 2: The access network device receives QoE measurement related configuration information from the CN or OAM or EM.

[0156] For signaling-based QoE measurement, the access network device receives QoE measurement related configuration information from the CN. The QoE measurement related configuration information includes application layer measurement configuration information. The QoE measurement related configuration information includes a container, and the container includes the application layer measurement configuration information. The access network device obtains the QoE measurement related configuration information for a specific terminal device from the CN. For example, the QoE measurement related configuration information is transmitted via an interface message between the access network device and the CN of the terminal device.

[0157] For management-based QoE measurement, the access network device receives QoE measurement related configuration information from the OAM or EM. The QoE measurement related configuration information includes application layer measurement configuration information. The QoE measurement related configuration information includes a container, which includes the application layer measurement configuration information. The access network device obtains the QoE measurement related configuration information from the OAM or EM that is not for a specific terminal device.

[0158] In addition to receiving application layer measurement configuration information from the CN, OAM, or EM, the access network device may further determine application layer measurement configuration information by the access network device.

[0159] In addition, the application layer measurement configuration information may further include a notification message. The notification message instructs the terminal device to report an application layer indicator. The application layer indicator may include one or more of the following items, which are not limited here:

[0160] (1) Average throughput: The average throughput indicates the total number of bits received by the application layer of the UE within a measurement interval, for example a streaming media service.

[0161] (2) Initial Playout Delay: Initial playout delay refers to the initial playout delay when streaming media begins to be displayed. For example, initial playout delay may be defined as the time from when the first segment of media is acquired to when the streaming media is extracted from the client's buffer.

[0162] (3) Buffer Level: The buffer level indicates the duration for which the media data can be played from the current playout point.

[0163] (4) Playout Delay: Playout delay refers to the playout delay of streaming media initiation. For example, playout delay may be specifically defined as the delay from when a dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) player receives a playout / rollback / start trigger to the time of media playout.

[0164] (5) Degradation Duration: The degradation duration indicates the interval between the Nepal time (NPT) corresponding to the good quality frame immediately preceding the degradation and the Nepal time corresponding to the first good quality frame following it. A good quality frame is either a perfectly acceptable frame, where all parts of the picture corresponding to the frame contain correct content, or the frame is a new frame (i.e., does not depend on previously decoded frames) or depends only on previously decoded good quality frames.

[0165] (6) Number of consecutive lost packets: The number of consecutive lost packets indicates the number of Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) packets that are consecutively lost.

[0166] (7) Jitter Duration: Jitter indicates that the difference between the actual playout time of a frame and the desired playout time exceeds a threshold. The desired playout time of a frame is the playout time of the previous playout frame plus the difference between the Nepali time of the current frame and the Nepali time of the previous frame.

[0167] (8) Sync Loss Duration: Sync Loss indicates that the absolute time difference between value A and value B exceeds a certain threshold, where value A refers to the difference between the playout time of the previous playout frame of the video stream and the playout time of the previous playout frame of the audio stream, and value B refers to the difference between the desired playout time of the previous playout frame of the video stream and the desired playout time of the previous playout frame of the audio stream.

[0168] (9) Round Trip Time Delay: Round trip time delay indicates the round trip time at the RTP level plus additional two-way delay (RTP level → speaker → microphone → RTP level) due to buffering and other processing at the client.

[0169] (10) Average bit rate: The average bit rate is the bit rate of the media information effectively encoded during the measurement period.

[0170] Step 3: The access network device sends application layer measurement configuration information to the access layer AS of the terminal device.

[0171] For signaling-based QoE measurement, the access network device sends application layer measurement configuration information to the corresponding terminal device, and the access network device also decides whether to configure the UE for QoE measurement based on whether the terminal device supports QoE measurement.

[0172] For management-based QoE measurement, the access network device selects an appropriate terminal device to perform QoE measurement based on the QoE measurement-related configuration information sent by the OAM or EM, whether the corresponding QoE measurement is supported by the terminal device, and some other factors. After selecting an appropriate terminal device, the access network device sends application layer measurement configuration information to the terminal device.

[0173] The access network device may send the application layer measurement configuration information to the terminal device via an RRC message, where the RRC message carries a service type corresponding to the application layer measurement configuration information.

[0174] In addition to sending the application layer measurement configuration information to the terminal device, the access network device may further send some other configuration information to the terminal device. The other configuration information informs the terminal device to report the application layer indicators in a format (e.g., information element format) that can be sensed by the access network device. Alternatively, the access network device informs the terminal device to report the total score of the application layer indicators, the total score of the access layer indicators, or the total score obtained by combining the application layer indicators and the access layer indicators.

[0175] Step 4: The access layer AS of the terminal device receives the application layer measurement configuration information from the access network device.

[0176] Step 5: The access layer AS of the terminal device sends the application layer measurement configuration information to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0177] The upper layer of the access stratum (AS) of the terminal device may be an application layer or a layer used for QoE measurement. In addition to sending the application layer measurement configuration information to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device, the AS of the terminal device further sends configuration information to inform the terminal device of a service type corresponding to the application layer measurement configuration information and an application layer indicator or a total score received from the access network device in a form that can be sensed by the access network device.

[0178] Step 6: The upper layer of the AS of the terminal device performs QoE measurement based on the application layer measurement configuration information, and determines the measurement result of the QoE measurement.

[0179] Step 7: The upper layer of the AS of the terminal device sends the measurement result of the QoE measurement to the AS of the terminal device.

[0180] The upper layer of the AS of the terminal device may report the measurement result of the QoE measurement according to a certain rule (e.g., the rule is included in the application layer measurement configuration information). For example, the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device reports the measurement result of the QoE measurement periodically. For example, the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device reports the measurement result of the QoE measurement only after the session is terminated.

[0181] In addition to sending the measurement result of the QoE measurement to the AS of the terminal device, the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device may further send a service type corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement and an application layer indicator or an overall score in a form that can be sensed by the access network device.

[0182] Step 8: The AS of the terminal device receives the measurement result of the QoE measurement from the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0183] Step 9: The AS of the terminal device sends the measurement result of the QoE measurement to the access network device.

[0184] In addition to sending the measurement result of the QoE measurement to the access network device, the AS of the terminal device may further send a service type corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement and an application layer indicator or a total score in a form that can be sensed by the access network device. An RRC message may be sent to the access network device via the AS of the terminal device, where the RRC message carries the measurement result of the QoE measurement and the corresponding service type.

[0185] The access network device to which the AS of the terminal device transmits the measurement result of the QoE measurement and the access network device to which the AS of the terminal device transmits the application layer measurement configuration information to the terminal device may be the same access network device or different access network devices.

[0186] Step 10: The access network device receives the measurement result of the QoE measurement from the AS of the terminal device.

[0187] Step 11: The access network device sends the measurement result of the QoE measurement to the TCE.

[0188] The access network device may optimize radio resources based on the application layer indicator or the overall score reported by the terminal device in a form that can be sensed by the access network device, for example, of a QoE measurement, when the measurement result corresponding to the application layer indicator or the overall score is not ideal, the access network device may allocate more resources to the corresponding terminal device that reports the measurement result of the QoE measurement, or increase the scheduling priority of the terminal device.

[0189] Step 12: The TCE receives the measurement result of the QoE measurement from the access network device.

[0190] Excessively frequent QoE measurements may increase the load on access network devices and affect communication efficiency. The embodiments of the present application provide a method for QoE measurement that reduces the load on access network devices.

[0191] 3 shows a method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0192] Step S301: A source access network device decides to hand over a terminal device to a target access network device.

[0193] Specifically, the source access network device and the target access network device may correspond to different access network devices in different scenarios.

[0194] In the MN change scenario in the MR-DC scenario, the MN is intended to change from an access network device of a source group to an access network device of a target group, where the source access network device and the target access network device are the source MN and the target MN, respectively.

[0195] In the SN change scenario in the MR-DC scenario, the SN is intended to be changed from an access network device of a source group to an access network device of a target group, where the source access network device and the target access network device are the source SN and the target SN, respectively.

[0196] In an MR-DC scenario where MN and SN move some services to each other's peer end, e.g. MN terminated bearer changes to SN terminated bearer or SN terminated bearer changes to MN terminated bearer or MN terminated MCG bearer changes to MN terminated SCG / Split bearer or MN terminated SCG / Split bearer changes to MN terminated MCG bearer, the initiator is the source access network device and the target end is the target access network device. In this scenario, handover does not mean that the terminal device disconnects from the sending end.

[0197] In a non-MR-DC handover scenario, the source access network device and the target access network device are respectively the source base station and the target base station in the handover process.

[0198] Please note that this step does not mean that the terminal device has been handed over to the target access network device, but rather that the source access network device is about to hand over the terminal device to the target access network device.

[0199] Step S302: The source access network device sends indication information A to the target access network device.

[0200] The indication information A indicates a QoE measurement being started by the terminal device.

[0201] Specifically, when the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, after the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, the source access network device sends indication information A to the target access network device, and the indication information A indicates a QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device. When a service of the terminal device is started at an application layer, the terminal device starts a QoE measurement corresponding to the service.

[0202] Specifically, the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device may be obtained by the source access network device from the terminal device, or may be obtained from other access network devices. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, when the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device initiates the QoE measurement, the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device sends a session record indication to the AS to indicate that the session has started or that the QoE measurement of the session has been initiated. The session record indication remains unchanged throughout the session, and different sessions corresponding to one application have different session record indications. For example, the session record indication may be a two-byte string.

[0203] Specifically, the indication information A may be a QoE measurement list, and the list may include at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, an identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session record indication corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device. The service type may be a streaming service, an MTSI, a VR service, etc. The identification information of the network slice may be single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), or other information identifying the network slice. The session record indication is an identifier encapsulated by the application layer for a session. The session record indication remains unchanged throughout the session, and different sessions corresponding to one application have different session record indications. For example, the session record indication may be a two-byte string.

[0204] Specifically, when a source access network device moves some services to a target access network device, the initiated QoE measurement refers to the QoE measurement corresponding to the services that have been initiated and moved to the target access network device, i.e., it may be part of the QoE measurement initiated at the source access network device.

[0205] Specifically, the source access network device and the target access network device may correspond to different access network devices in different scenarios. In this case, the indication information A is carried in different messages by the source access network device in different scenarios and sent to the target access network device.

[0206] For example, in a non-MR-DC handover scenario, the indication information A may be carried in a handover request message sent by the source base station to the target base station.

[0207] In a MN change scenario in an MR-DC scenario, the indication information A may be carried in a handover request message sent by the source MN to the target MN.

[0208] In the SN change scenario in the MR-DC scenario, the indication information A is sent by the source SN to the target SN in the following two ways: In the first way, the source SN sends the indication information A to the MN, and then the MN sends the indication information A to the target SN after receiving the indication information A; In the second way, the source SN sends the indication information A to the target SN.

[0209] In an MR-DC scenario where MN and SN move some services to each other's peer end, for example, in a scenario where MN terminated bearer is changed to SN terminated bearer, please refer to step S301 for details. Details will not be described again here. The initiator is the source access network device, and the target end is the target access network device. The indication information A may be carried in an SN change request message sent by the initiator to the target end, an SN change requirement message sent by the initiator to the target end, or an SN addition request message sent by the MN to the SN.

[0210] In one possible embodiment, before the source access network device sends the indication information A to the target access network device, the terminal device receives QoE measurement related configuration information. The QoE measurement related configuration information may be sent to the terminal device by the source access network device, or may be sent to the terminal device by another access network device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0211] Step S303: The target access network device receives the indication information A sent by the source access network device.

[0212] Specifically, the indication information A indicates a QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, and specifically, the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device includes a QoE measurement that has been initiated but terminated and / or a measurement that has been initiated and is being performed.

[0213] In one possible embodiment, when the indication information A includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the target access network device receiving indication information B from the source access network device.

[0214] Specifically, the indication information B indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is in a started and running state, a started and stopped state, or a started and completed state. The indication information B may further include a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record indication. The indication information B of the source access network device may be reported to the source access network device by an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device through the AS of the terminal device, or may be reported to the source access network device by the AS of the terminal device.

[0215] In one example, when the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device stops or completes the QoE measurement of the session, the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device sends indication information B to the AS of the terminal device, where the indication information B indicates that the QoE measurement of the session has been stopped or completed. The indication information B may include a session record indication, a service type, and an indication indicating that the QoE measurement of the session has been stopped or completed. Then, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information B to the source access network device.

[0216] In one possible embodiment, when the indication information A includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the target access network device receiving the indication information C or the indication information D from the source access network device.

[0217] Specifically, the indication information C indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is started and in a running state, and the indication information D indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record indication is started and stopped or started and completed. The indication information C or the indication information D may further include a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record indication. The indication information C or the indication information D of the source access network device may be reported to the source access network device by an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device through the AS of the terminal device, or may be reported to the source access network device by the AS of the terminal device.

[0218] In one example, when the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device stops or completes the QoE measurement of the session, the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device sends indication information D to the terminal device, where the indication information D indicates that the QoE measurement of the session has been stopped or completed. The indication information D may include a session record indication, a service type, and an indication indicating that the QoE measurement of the session has been stopped or completed. Then, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information D to the source access network device.

[0219] It should be noted that the target access network device receiving the indication information B, and / or the indication information C or the indication information D from the source access network device may be an independent embodiment. The source access network device deciding to hand over the terminal device to the target access network device, the source access network device sending the indication information A to the target access network device, and the target access network device receiving the indication information A from the source access network device may be an independent embodiment.

[0220] Step S304: The target access network device sends a control command to the terminal device.

[0221] Specifically, this step is an optional step. The control command instructs the terminal device to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being started. The control command is for some service types and some network slices.

[0222] Step S305: The terminal device receives a control command from the target access network device.

[0223] Specifically, this step is an optional step.

[0224] Step S306: The terminal device pauses or stops at least one QoE measurement other than the started QoE measurement.

[0225] Specifically, this step is an optional step. The terminal device pauses or stops at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being started according to the control command of step S305.

[0226] In one example, the QoE measurements of the terminal device include measurement 1, measurement 2, and measurement 3. Measurement 3 is a QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device. When the load of the target access network device is high, the target access network device sends a control command to the terminal device. After receiving the control command, the terminal device chooses to pause or cancel measurement 1 and / or measurement 2. Furthermore, the terminal device may decide to pause or cancel measurement 1 or measurement 2 based on priority information. The priority information may be sent by the target access network device to the terminal device, where the priority information indicates the priority of the QoE measurements. For example, the service type corresponding to measurement 1 is an MTSI service, and the service type corresponding to measurement 2 is a VR service. The priority information indicates that the priority of the MTSI service is 1, the priority of the VR service is 2, and the priority of the MTSI service is higher than the priority of the VR service. In this case, the terminal device decides to pause or cancel measurement 2 based on the priority information.

[0227] In the above method, in a scenario where a source access network device decides to hand over a terminal device to a target access network device, the load of the target access network device increases due to excessively frequent QoE measurement. Thus, when the load of the target access network device is high, the target access network device receives first instruction information from the source access network device to determine the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device, and then instructs the terminal device to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the initiated QoE measurement, so as to reduce the load of the target access network device and improve communication efficiency.

[0228] 4 shows another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0229] Step S401: A source access network device decides to hand over a terminal device to a target access network device.

[0230] Specifically, the source access network device and the target access network device may correspond to different access network devices in different scenarios. For details, please refer to step S301. The details are not described again here.

[0231] Step S402: The terminal device sends indication information A to the target access network device.

[0232] The indication information A indicates the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device. For the indication information A, please refer to the indication information A in step S302. Details will not be described again here.

[0233] Specifically, when the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, after the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, the terminal device sends indication information A to the target access network device, and the indication information A indicates the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device, in other words, the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device includes the QoE measurement initiated but terminated and / or the measurement initiated and performed. Alternatively, the indication information A indicates the QoE measurement initiated and performed by the terminal device, i.e. does not include the QoE measurement initiated but terminated.

[0234] Specifically, the instruction information A may be a QoE measurement list. For details, please refer to the description of step S302. The details will not be described again here.

[0235] Specifically, when a terminal device sends indication information A to a target access network device, it may mean that an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information A to the AS of the terminal device, and after receiving the indication information A, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information A to the target access network device.

[0236] In one possible embodiment, the AS of the terminal device receives indication information E (for example, the target access network device or the source access network device sends indication information E to the terminal device). The indication information E indicates that the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device (for example, the indication information E indicates that a base station handover is performed), or indicates that the terminal device needs to report indication information A, or requests the terminal device to report indication information A. Then, before the terminal device sends indication information A to the target access network device, the AS of the terminal device sends indication information F to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device, and the indication information F indicates that the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device (for example, the indication information F indicates that a base station handover is performed), or indicates that the terminal device needs to report indication information A.

[0237] Step S403: The target access network device receives indication information A from the terminal device.

[0238] Specifically, the indication information A indicates a QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0239] In one possible embodiment, when the indication information A includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the target access network device receiving indication information B from the source access network device.

[0240] Specifically, the instruction information B indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction is in a state of being started and running, being started and stopped, or being started and completed. For details, please refer to the description of step S303. The details will not be described again here.

[0241] In one possible embodiment, when the indication information A includes a session record indication, the method further includes: the target access network device receiving the indication information C or the indication information D from the source access network device.

[0242] Specifically, the instruction information C indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been started and is in a running state, and the instruction information D indicates that the QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been started and is in a stopped state or started and is completed state. For details, please refer to the description of step S303. The details will not be described again here.

[0243] For steps S404 to S406, please refer to steps S304 to S306, and the details will not be described again here.

[0244] In the above method, in a scenario where the source access network device decides to hand over the terminal device to the target access network device, the load of the target access network device increases due to excessively frequent QoE measurements. Therefore, when the load of the target access network device is high, the target access network device decides to hand over the QoE measurements initiated by the terminal device. Hello A first instruction information is received from the terminal device, and then the terminal device is instructed to pause or cancel at least one QoE measurement other than the initiated QoE measurement in order to reduce the load on the target access network device and improve communication efficiency.

[0245] 5 illustrates yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0246] Step S501: A network management device sends QoE measurement related configuration information to an access network device.

[0247] Specifically, step S501 is an optional step, and the network management device may be a core network device or an OAM. The QoE measurement related configuration information includes application layer measurement configuration information. The QoE measurement related configuration information includes a container, and the container includes the application layer measurement configuration information.

[0248] Step S502: The access network device receives QoE measurement related configuration information from the network management device.

[0249] Specifically, step S502 is an optional step.

[0250] Step S503: The access network device sends application layer measurement configuration information to the terminal device.

[0251] Specifically, the access network device sends application layer measurement configuration information to the AS of the terminal device. After receiving the application layer measurement configuration information, the AS of the terminal device sends the application layer measurement configuration information to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device. The application layer measurement configuration information is used by the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device to determine the measurement result of the QoE measurement.

[0252] Step S504: The terminal device receives application layer measurement configuration information from the access network device.

[0253] Step S505: The network management device sends the priority information to the access network device.

[0254] Specifically, the network management device may be an OAM, and the priority information indicates a priority of at least one QoE measurement. The priority information may include at least one of priority information of QoE measurements corresponding to a service type, priority information of QoE measurements corresponding to a network slice, and priority information of QoE measurements corresponding to a terminal device. The priority may be measured with different values, and different values ​​represent different priorities. For example, a smaller value indicates a higher priority. For example, in one example, the priority information includes priority information of a service type. For example, a priority of a QoE measurement corresponding to an MTSI service is 1, and a priority of a QoE measurement corresponding to a VR service is 2. The priority of a QoE measurement corresponding to an MTSI service is higher than the priority of a QoE measurement corresponding to a VR service.

[0255] Step S506: The access network device receives priority information from the network management device.

[0256] In particular, the priority information indicates a priority of at least one QoE measurement.

[0257] Optionally, in a scenario where a terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device, the source access network device sends priority information to the target access network device. In other words, when the access network device is a source access network device, after receiving priority information from a network management device, the access network device sends priority information to the target access network device. When the access network device is a target access network device, the access network device receives priority information from the source access network device.

[0258] It should be noted that when steps S501 to S502 are performed, there is no strict order between steps S505 to S506 and steps S501 to S502.

[0259] S507: The access network device determines, based on the priority information, whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device.

[0260] Specifically, step S507 is an optional step. When deciding to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, the access network device may send a control command to the terminal device, and the control command instructs the terminal device to pause or stop the QoE measurement.

[0261] In one example, assume that the priority information is that the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service is 1, the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service is 2, the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service is higher than the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service, and the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device includes the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service and the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service. When the load of the access network device is high, the access network device decides to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device. Since the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service is higher than the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service, the access network device sends a control command to the terminal device, and the control command instructs the terminal device to pause the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service.

[0262] In one example, assume that the priority information is that the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service is 1, the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service is 2, the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service is higher than the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service, and the terminal device 1 performs the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service and the terminal device 2 performs the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service. When the load of the access network device is high, the access network device decides to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device. Because the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the MTSI service is higher than the priority of the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service, the access network device sends a control command to the terminal device 2, and the control command instructs the terminal device 2 to pause the QoE measurement corresponding to the VR service.

[0263] It should be noted that the embodiment of FIG. 5 may be combined with the embodiment of FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, for example, steps S301 to S303 and steps S505 to S507 may be combined.

[0264] In the above method, the target access network device obtains the priority information, and determines whether to process the QoE measurement based on the priority information, so that the specific requirements of the operator can be met. For example, since the operator pays more attention to the QoE measurement of the service, the target access network device may instruct the terminal device to stop or pause the QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement of the service to which the operator pays more attention.

[0265] 6 illustrates yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0266] For steps S601 to S604, please refer to steps S501 to S504, and the details will not be described again here.

[0267] Specifically, steps S601 to S604 are optional steps.

[0268] Step S605: The terminal device sends indication information A to the access network device.

[0269] Specifically, the indication information A indicates the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device, and the indication information A may be a QoE measurement list. For details, please refer to the description of step S302. The details will not be described again here. The terminal device sending the indication information A to the access network device may mean that the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information A to the AS of the terminal device, and the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information A to the access network device.

[0270] In one possible embodiment, after the terminal device sends the indication information A to the access network device and after the QoE measurement of the first session is completed, the terminal device sends the indication information B or the indication information D to the access network device. The indication information B indicates that the QoE measurement of the first session is in a stopped state or a completed state, and the indication information D indicates that the QoE measurement of the first session is stopped or completed.

[0271] Step S606: The access network device receives indication information A from the terminal device.

[0272] Step S607: The access network device sends indication information A to the TCE.

[0273] Step S608: The TCE receives indication information A from the access network device.

[0274] Step S609: The access network device sends at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE.

[0275] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the access network device sends the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result to the TCE only after receiving the indication information A from the terminal device.

[0276] Specifically, the AS configuration information may be radio configuration information. For example, the access network device configures CA, DC, etc. for the terminal device so that the TCE determines the radio configuration corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement. For example, the TCE may determine that the QoE measurement is of the QoE measurement and is a measurement result obtained when the CA or DC is configured or not configured. The AS measurement result may be a measurement result obtained by L2 measurement or MDT measurement. The AS measurement result may be an AS indicator or a total score of the AS indicator. For details, please refer to the application layer indicator. The details will not be described again here.

[0277] Optionally, in a scenario where a terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device, after receiving indication information A from the source access network device or the terminal device, the target access network device sends at least one of AS configuration information and AS measurement results to the TCE. In other words, when the access network device is a target access network device, after receiving indication information A from the source access network device or the terminal device, the access network device sends at least one of AS configuration information and AS measurement results to the TCE.

[0278] Step S610: The TCE receives at least one of AS configuration information and AS measurement results from the access network device.

[0279] Step S611: The TCE determines, based on at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result, the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the initiated QoE measurement.

[0280] Specifically, the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result are used by the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement to optimize some configurations of the access network device. A specific analysis process may be as follows: In one example, assume that the measurement result of the QoE measurement is bad and the AS measurement result is also bad. In this case, the TCE may determine that the AS measurement result is bad by considering the AS measurement result, and determine that the bad measurement result of the QoE measurement is caused by the AS side. In another example, assume that the measurement result of the QoE measurement is bad and the AS measurement result is good. In this case, the TCE may determine that the AS measurement result is good by considering the AS measurement result, and determine that the bad measurement result of the QoE measurement is not caused by the AS side, but caused by other reasons. In other words, the TCE may associate the measurement result of the QoE measurement being initiated with the corresponding AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result.

[0281] It should be noted that S609 to S611 may be independent embodiments and may be performed before the TCE receives the indication information A.

[0282] In the above method, because the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result may change at any time, in a QoE scenario, after receiving the first indication information from the terminal device, the target access network device sends the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE. Only the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result sent after the first indication information is received can be used by the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement, thereby optimizing the configuration of the target access network device and improving communication efficiency.

[0283] 7 illustrates yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0284] For steps S701 to S704, please refer to steps S601 to S604, and the details will not be described again here.

[0285] In one possible embodiment, after the terminal device sends the indication information A to the access network device and after the QoE measurement of the first session is completed, the terminal device sends the indication information B or the indication information D to the access network device. The indication information B indicates that the QoE measurement of the first session is in a stopped state or a completed state, and the indication information D indicates that the QoE measurement of the first session is stopped or completed.

[0286] Step S705: The access network device sends at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE.

[0287] Specifically, for the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result, please refer to the description of step S609. Details will not be described again here. Optionally, in a scenario in which a terminal device is handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device, the target access network device sends at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE.

[0288] Step S706: The TCE receives at least one of AS configuration information and AS measurement results from the access network device.

[0289] Step S707: The access network device sends a first message to the TCE.

[0290] Specifically, the first message includes indication information A. The indication information A indicates a QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device, and the indication information A may be a QoE measurement list. For details, please refer to the description of step S302. Details will not be described again here. Optionally, in a scenario in which the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, after receiving the indication information A from the source access network device or the terminal device, the target access network device sends a first message to the TCE.

[0291] Specifically, the first message includes identification information, and the identification information includes an identifier of a terminal device and / or time information. The time information indicates a time when the access network device receives the indication information A from the terminal device or a time when the access network device sends the first message to the TCE. The identifier of the terminal device may be a trace ID, a trace reference ID, an access network trace identifier, etc. The trace identifier may be generated by a network management or an operator, and may be a three-byte string. The trace reference identifier includes a PLMN and a trace identifier. The access network trace identifier includes a trace reference identifier and a trace recording session reference. For signaling-based QoE measurement, the trace identifier, the trace reference identifier, or the RAN trace identifier is sent by the CN to the access network device. For management-based QoE measurement, the trace identifier or the trace reference identifier is sent by the OAM to the access network device, and the trace recording session reference is generated by the access network device.

[0292] Step S708: The TCE receives a first message of the access network device.

[0293] Step S709: The TCE determines, based on the identification information, AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device.

[0294] Specifically, the TCE may select the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result after the time information as the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device. In other words, the TCE may select the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result reported by the access network device after the time when the access network device receives the indication information A from the terminal device as the AS configuration information and / or measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement. Alternatively, the TCE may select the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result reported by the access network device after the time when the access network device sends a first message to the TCE as the AS configuration information and / or measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement.

[0295] Specifically, the AS configuration information and / or AS measurement result corresponding to the measurement result of the QoE measurement initiated by the terminal device is used by the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement to optimize some configurations of the access network device. For the specific analysis process, please refer to the description of step S611. Details will not be described again here.

[0296] It should be noted that S705 and S706 may be independent embodiments and may be performed after the access network device sends the first message to the TCE.

[0297] In the above method, since the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result may change at any time, in a QoE scenario, after sending the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result to the TCE, the target access network device sends the first indication information to the TCE. The identification information included in the first indication information includes time information, and the time information is used by the TCE to select the corresponding AS configuration information and the AS measurement result, in other words, the AS configuration information and the AS measurement result after the time information can be selected for the TCE to analyze the measurement result of the QoE measurement, so as to optimize the configuration of the target access network device and improve communication efficiency.

[0298] 8 illustrates yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0299] Step S801: A source access network device decides to hand over a terminal device to a target access network device.

[0300] Specifically, the source access network device and the target access network device correspond to different systems or belong to different RATs. In one example, the source access network device belongs to a 4G base station, and the target access network device belongs to the 5G base station.

[0301] Please note that this step does not mean that the terminal device has been handed over to the target access network device, but rather that the source access network device is about to hand over the terminal device to the target access network device.

[0302] Step S802: The source access network device sends indication information H to the target access network device.

[0303] Specifically, the indication information H indicates a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device. In addition to sending the indication information H to the target access network device, the source access network device may further send indication information I to indicate a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device and a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device, and may further send configuration information corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0304] Specifically, the source access network device may send the indication information H or the indication information I to the target access network device in two manners. In a first manner, the source access network device sends the indication information H or the indication information I to the target access network device. In a second manner, the source access network device first sends the indication information H or the indication information I to the core network device, for example, in a handover required message, and then the core network device sends the indication information H or the indication information I to the target access network device, for example, in a handover request message.

[0305] In one possible implementation, the indication information H indicates that QoE measurements are not configured for the terminal device.

[0306] Step S803: The target access network device receives indication information H from the source access network device.

[0307] Specifically, the indication information H indicates a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device. In addition to determining that a QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device by receiving the indication information H from the source access network device, the target access network device may indirectly determine that a QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device by receiving the indication information A from the source access network device. In addition, the target access network device may further receive indication information I from the source access network device to indicate a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device and a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device, and may further receive configuration information of the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device from the source access network device.

[0308] In one possible implementation, the indication information H indicates that QoE measurements are not configured for the terminal device.

[0309] Step S804: The target access network device sends indication information J to the terminal device.

[0310] Specifically, step S804 is an optional step. The indication information J instructs the terminal device to continue performing the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device. Furthermore, the indication information J instructs the terminal device to continue performing a first QoE measurement, and the first QoE measurement is at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device. For example, the target access network device sends indication information K to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to continue a QoE measurement corresponding to a specific service type (e.g., the indication information K carries a service type) and a QoE measurement corresponding to a specific network slice (e.g., the indication information K carries a network handover identifier).

[0311] In one possible embodiment, the indication information J may alternatively instruct the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the configured QoE measurement. Furthermore, the indication information J instructs the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the first QoE measurement, where the first QoE measurement is at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device. For example, the target access network device sends indication information K to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the QoE measurement corresponding to a specific service type (e.g., the indication information K carries the service type) and the QoE measurement corresponding to a specific network slice (e.g., the indication information K carries a network handover identifier).

[0312] Step S805: The terminal device receives indication information J from the target access network device.

[0313] Specifically, step S805 is an optional step. The indication information J instructs the terminal device to continue performing the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device. Furthermore, the indication information J instructs the terminal device to continue performing the first QoE measurements, and the first QoE measurement is at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device. In one example, assume that the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device include measurement 7, measurement 8, and measurement 9. The terminal device receives indication information J from the target access network device. The indication information J instructs the terminal device to continue the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device, i.e., measurement 7, measurement 8, and measurement 9, or the indication information J instructs the terminal device to continue performing measurement 9. In one example, the terminal device receives indication information K from the target access network device and determines which measurement is the first QoE measurement based on the indication information K.

[0314] Specifically, the terminal device receiving the indication information J from the target access network device may mean that the AS of the terminal device receives the indication information J from the target access network device. After receiving the indication information J from the target access network device, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information J to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device. In one example, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information K to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0315] In one possible embodiment, the indication information J may instruct the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the configured QoE measurements. Furthermore, the indication information J instructs the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the first QoE measurement, where the first QoE measurement is at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device. In one example, it is assumed that the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device include measurement 7, measurement 8, and measurement 9. The terminal device receives indication information J from the target access network device. The indication information J instructs the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device, i.e., measurement 7, measurement 8, and measurement 9, or the indication information J instructs the terminal device to stop, pause or stop the execution of measurement 9. In one example, the terminal device receives indication information K from the target access network device and determines which measurement is the first QoE measurement based on the indication information K.

[0316] Specifically, the terminal device receiving the indication information J from the target access network device may mean that the AS of the terminal device receives the indication information J from the target access network device. After receiving the indication information J from the target access network device, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information J to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device. In one example, the AS of the terminal device sends the indication information K to the upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0317] Step S806: The terminal device performs a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device based on the indication information J and / or the indication information K. Continue to do so. or discontinued, suspended or terminated do .

[0318] Step S806 is an optional step.

[0319] The embodiment of FIG. 8 may be combined with any of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 7. For example, steps S301 to S303 and steps S801 to S806 may be combined.

[0320] In the above method, since excessively frequent QoE measurements may increase the load on the access network device and affect communication efficiency, the target access network device determines that QoE measurements are configured for the terminal device by receiving indication information H from the source access network device so that the target access network device can process the QoE measurements, for example, continue to perform, pause, or cancel the QoE measurements, in order to appropriately schedule resources.

[0321] 9 illustrates yet another method for QoE measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0322] Step S901: A source access network device decides to hand over a terminal device to a target access network device.

[0323] Specifically, the source access network device and the target access network device correspond to different systems or belong to different RATs. In one example, the source access network device belongs to a 4G base station, and the target access network device belongs to a 5G base station.

[0324] Please note that this step does not mean that the terminal device has been handed over to the target access network device, but rather that the source access network device is about to hand over the terminal device to the target access network device.

[0325] Step S902: The terminal device sends indication information H to the target access network device.

[0326] Specifically, the indication information H indicates the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0327] Specifically, for the indication information H, please refer to the indication information H in step S802. Details will not be described again here. In addition to sending the indication information H to the target access network device, the terminal device may further send indication information I to indicate a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device and a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device, and may further send configuration information corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0328] Optionally, the terminal device may report the indication information H only after receiving a request indication sent by the target access network device, or the terminal device may actively send the indication information H after receiving a handover command.

[0329] In one possible implementation, the indication information H indicates that QoE measurements are not configured for the terminal device.

[0330] Step S903: The target access network device receives indication information H from the terminal device.

[0331] Specifically, the indication information H indicates a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device. In addition to determining that a QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device by receiving the indication information H from the terminal device, the target access network device may indirectly determine that a QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device by receiving the indication information A from the terminal device. Furthermore, the target access network device may further receive indication information I from the terminal device to indicate a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device and a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device, and may further receive configuration information of the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device from the terminal device.

[0332] In one possible implementation, the indication information H indicates that QoE measurements are not configured for the terminal device.

[0333] For steps S904 to S906, please refer to steps S804 to S806, and the details will not be described again here.

[0334] The embodiment of FIG. 9 may be combined with any of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 7. For example, steps S301 to S303 and steps S901 to S906 may be combined.

[0335] In the above method, since excessively frequent QoE measurements may increase the load on the access network device and affect communication efficiency, the target access network device determines that QoE measurements are configured for the terminal device by receiving indication information H from the terminal device so that the target access network device can process the QoE measurements, for example, continue to perform, pause, or cancel the QoE measurements, in order to appropriately schedule resources.

[0336] It should be understood that in order to implement the functions in the foregoing embodiments, the target access network device, the source access network device, and the terminal device include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules to perform the functions. In combination with the example units and method steps described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, those skilled in the art should easily understand that the present application can be implemented by using hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether the functions are performed by using hardware or by using hardware driven by computer software depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0337] 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams of possible device structures for measuring quality of experience QoE according to an embodiment of the present application, respectively. These devices for quality of experience QoE measurement may be configured to implement the functions of target access network device, source access network device, terminal device, access network device, network management device, or TCE in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and thus can also implement the beneficial effects of the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0338] As shown in Fig. 10, the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement includes a processing module 1001 and a communication module 1002. The apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform functions of a target access network device in the method embodiments shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, or Fig. 9.

[0339] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of a target access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the processing module 1001 is configured to determine that the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, the processing module 1001 is configured to obtain first indication information by using the communication module 1002, and the first indication information is configured to indicate a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0340] In one possible embodiment, the communication module 1002 is configured to send a first message to the terminal device based on the first instruction information, the first message instructing the terminal device to pause or cancel at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being initiated.

[0341] In another possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive a first indication from the source access network device.

[0342] In yet another possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive a first indication from the terminal device.

[0343] In yet another possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0344] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module 1002 is further configured to obtain second instruction information, the second instruction information indicating that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0345] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session record instruction, the communication module 1002 is configured to obtain third instruction information or fourth instruction information, where the third instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, and the fourth instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been stopped or is in a completed state.

[0346] In yet another possible embodiment, the second instruction information, the third instruction information, or the fourth instruction information includes a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record instruction.

[0347] In yet another possible embodiment, before receiving the first instruction information from the terminal device, the communication module 1002 is further configured to send fifth instruction information to the access stratum AS of the terminal device, where the fifth instruction information instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target access network device.

[0348] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being initiated and performed by the terminal device.

[0349] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of the source access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the processing module 1001 is configured to determine that the terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to the target access network device, and the communication module 1002 is configured to send first instruction information to the target access network device, where the first instruction information instructs a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0350] In one possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0351] In another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module 1002 is further configured to send second instruction information to the target access network device, where the second instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been initiated and is in an ongoing state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0352] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session record instruction, the communication module 1002 is further configured to send third instruction information or fourth instruction information to the target access network device, where the third instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, and the fourth instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session record instruction has been stopped or is in a completed state.

[0353] In yet another possible embodiment, the second instruction information, the third instruction information, or the fourth instruction information includes a service type corresponding to the session corresponding to the session record instruction.

[0354] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of a terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the processing module 1001 is configured to perform a handover from a source access network device to a target access network device, and the communication module 1002 is configured to send first instruction information to the target access network device, where the first instruction information instructs a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0355] In one possible embodiment, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive a first message from the target access network device, the first message instructing to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being initiated.

[0356] In another possible embodiment, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive fifth instruction information from the target access network device, where the fifth instruction information instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target access network device.

[0357] In yet another possible embodiment, before sending the first indication information to the target access network device, the communication module 1002 is further configured to send fifth indication information to an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0358] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being initiated and performed by the terminal device.

[0359] In yet another possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive first indication information from an upper layer of the AS of the terminal device.

[0360] In yet another possible embodiment, the first instruction information includes at least one of a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated, and a session recording instruction of the terminal device.

[0361] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module 1002 is further configured to send second instruction information to the source access network device, where the second instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, a stopped state, or a completed state.

[0362] In yet another possible embodiment, when the first instruction information includes a session recording instruction, the communication module 1002 is further configured to send third instruction information or fourth instruction information to the source access network device, where the third instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been started and is in an ongoing state, and the fourth instruction information indicates that QoE measurement of the session corresponding to the session recording instruction has been stopped or is in a completed state.

[0363] Please note that for the implementation and beneficial effects of the modules, please refer to the corresponding descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 or FIG.

[0364] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of an access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive priority information from a network management device, where the priority information indicates a priority of at least one quality of experience QoE measurement, and the processing module 1001 is configured to decide, based on the priority information, whether to process a QoE measurement performed by the terminal device.

[0365] In one possible embodiment, when deciding to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, the processing module 1001 is further configured to send instruction information to the terminal device by using the communication module 1002, the instruction information instructing the terminal device to pause or stop the QoE measurement.

[0366] In other possible implementations, the priority information includes at least one of service type priority information, network slice priority information, and terminal device priority information.

[0367] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the function of a network management device in the method embodiment shown in Fig. 5, the processing module 1001 is configured to determine priority information. The communication module 1002 is configured to send the priority information to an access network device, where the priority information indicates a priority of at least one quality of experience QoE measurement, and the priority information is used by the access network device to decide whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device.

[0368] In one possible embodiment, the priority information includes at least one of service type priority information, network slice priority information, and terminal device priority information.

[0369] Please note that for the implementation and beneficial effects of the modules, please refer to the corresponding descriptions in the method embodiment shown in FIG.

[0370] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the processing module 1001 is configured to receive first indication information from the terminal device by using the communication module 1002, where the first indication information indicates a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device. The communication module 1002 is configured to send at least one of access stratum AS configuration information and AS measurement results to the trace collection entity TCE, where at least one of the AS configuration information and AS measurement results is used by the TCE to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0371] In one possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is further configured to transmit the first indication to the TCE.

[0372] In another possible embodiment, before sending the first instruction information to the TCE, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive second instruction information from the terminal device, the second instruction information indicating that the QoE measurement corresponding to the first session is in a stopped or completed state.

[0373] In yet another possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is further configured to transmit a second indication to the TCE.

[0374] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of the TCE in the method embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the processing module 1001 is configured to receive first indication information from the access network device by using the communication module 1002, where the first indication information indicates a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device. The communication module 1002 is configured to receive at least one of access stratum AS configuration information and AS measurement results from the access network device, and the TCE determines, based on at least one of the AS configuration information and the AS measurement results, the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the initiated QoE measurement.

[0375] In one possible embodiment, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive second indication information from the access network device, the second indication information indicating that the QoE measurement corresponding to the first session is in a stopped or completed state.

[0376] Please note that for the implementation and beneficial effects of the modules, please refer to the corresponding descriptions in the method embodiment shown in FIG.

[0377] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of the access network device in the method embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the processing module 1001 is configured to send access layer AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results to the trace collection entity TCE by using the communication module 1002. The communication module 1002 is further configured to send a first message to the TCE, the first message including first indication information, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, the first message including identification information, the identification information being used to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0378] In one possible implementation, before sending the first message to the TCE, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive first indication information from the terminal device.

[0379] In other possible implementations, the identification information includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or time information, the time information indicating a time when the apparatus receives the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0380] In yet another possible embodiment, before sending the first message to the TCE, the communication module 1002 is further configured to receive second indication information from the terminal device, the second indication information indicating that the QoE measurement corresponding to the first session is in a stopped or completed state.

[0381] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the function of the TCE in the method embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the processing module 1001 is configured to receive access stratum AS configuration information and / or AS measurement results from an access network device by using the communication module 1002. The communication module 1002 is further configured to receive a first message from the access network device, the first message including first indication information, the first indication information indicating a quality of experience QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device, the first message including identification information, and the identification information being used to determine the AS configuration information and / or the AS measurement results corresponding to the measurement results of the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device.

[0382] In one possible implementation, the identification information includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or time point information, the time point information indicating a time point when the access network device receives the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0383] Please note that for the implementation and beneficial effects of the modules, please refer to the corresponding descriptions in the method embodiment shown in FIG.

[0384] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the function of the target access network device in the method embodiment shown in Fig. 8 or Fig. 9, the processing module 1001 is configured to obtain first instruction information, where the first instruction information instructs the terminal device to perform the configured QoE measurement. The communication module 1002 is configured to send second instruction information to the terminal device, where the second instruction information instructs the terminal device to continue performing, cancel, pause, or stop the configured QoE measurement.

[0385] In one optional manner, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive first indication information from the source access network device.

[0386] In another optional manner, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive first indication information from the terminal device.

[0387] In one optional manner, the processing module 1001 is configured to obtain configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurement.

[0388] In one possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurements from a source access network device.

[0389] In one possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive configuration information corresponding to configured QoE measurements from a terminal device.

[0390] In yet another optional manner, the second instruction information instructs the terminal device to continue performing a first QoE measurement, the first QoE measurement being at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the terminal device.

[0391] In yet another optional manner, the first indication information includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0392] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of a source access network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9, the processing module 1001 is configured to determine that the terminal device is handed over from the apparatus to a target access network device, and the communication module 1002 is configured to send first instruction information to the target access network device, where the first instruction information indicates a QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0393] In one possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is configured to send configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurements to the target access network device.

[0394] In another possible embodiment, the first indication information includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the terminal device.

[0395] When the apparatus 1000 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the functions of a terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9, the processing module 1001 is configured to determine to hand over from the source access network device to the target access network device, and the communication module 1002 is configured to send first instruction information to the target access network device, where the first instruction information instructs the QoE measurement configured for the apparatus.

[0396] In one possible embodiment, the communication module 1002 is configured to receive second instruction information from the target access network device, the second instruction information instructing the apparatus to continue performing, discontinue, pause, or stop the configured QoE measurement.

[0397] In one possible implementation, the communication module 1002 is configured to send configuration information corresponding to the configured QoE measurements to the target access network device.

[0398] In another optional manner, the second instruction information instructs the device to continue performing a first QoE measurement, the first QoE measurement being at least one of the QoE measurements configured for the device.

[0399] In yet another possible embodiment, the first indication includes a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement configured for the device.

[0400] As shown in Fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 for quality of experience QoE measurement includes a processor 1101 and an interface circuit 1103. The processor 1101 and the interface circuit 1103 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the interface circuit 1103 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the apparatus 1100 for quality of experience QoE measurement may further include a memory 1102 configured to store instructions to be executed by the processor 1101, to store input data required to execute the instructions by the processor 1101, or to store data generated after the processor 1101 executes the instructions.

[0401] When the apparatus 1100 for quality of experience QoE measurement is configured to perform the method shown in Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8 or Figure 9, the processor 1101 is configured to perform the functions of the processing module 1001 and the interface circuit 1103 is configured to perform the functions of the communication module 1002.

[0402] It will be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general-purpose processor, Digital Signal Processor (DSP), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0403] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in a hardware manner or in a manner of executing software instructions by a processor. The software instructions may include corresponding software modules. The software modules may be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. For example, the storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium or write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may be located in a network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may exist as separate components in the network device or the terminal device.

[0404] All or part of the above-mentioned embodiments may be implemented by using software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded into a computer and executed, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are fully or partially implemented. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable device. The computer programs or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or may be transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer programs or instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer, or may be a data storage device, such as a server or a data center, that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital versatile disk; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid state drive.

[0405] In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical contradiction, the terms and / or descriptions in different embodiments are consistent and may be mutually referenced, and the technical features in different embodiments may be combined based on their internal logical relationships to form a new embodiment.

[0406] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The term "and / or" describes an association relationship to describe associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent the following cases: only A is present, both A and B are present, and only B is present, where A and B may be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between associated objects. In the formulas of this application, the character " / " indicates a "division by" relationship between associated objects.

[0407] It should be understood that various numbers in the embodiments of the present application are only used for distinction to facilitate description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logic of the processes. [Explanation of symbols]

[0408] 100 Systems 101 Terminal Device 102 Access Network Devices 103 Access Network Devices 104 Core Network Devices 1000 Equipment for measuring quality of experience (QoE) 1001 Processing Module 1002 Communication module 1100 Equipment for measuring quality of experience (QoE) 1101 Processor 1102 Memory 1103 Interface circuit 1104 Bus

Claims

1. A method for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE), comprising: A method comprising: receiving, by a target access network device, first indication information from a source access network device on a condition that a terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device, the first indication information indicating a Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device, the method comprising: The method comprises: The method further includes a step of sending a first message by the target access network device to the terminal device based on the first instruction information, the first message instructing the terminal device to pause or cancel at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement that has been started.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first indication information includes at least one of: a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device; and identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated.

3. The method comprises: receiving, by the target access network device, priority information from a network management device, the priority information indicating a priority of at least one QoE measurement; The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: determining, by the target access network device, whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device based on the priority information.

4. The method comprises: The method of claim 3, further comprising: a step of sending, by the target access network device, second instruction information to the terminal device when deciding to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, the second instruction information instructing the terminal device to pause or cancel the QoE measurement.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the priority information includes at least one of priority information of a service type, priority information of a network slice, and priority information of the terminal device.

6. The method comprises: The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: determining, by the target access network device, based on the first indication information, that the QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device.

7. The method comprises:

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: sending, by the target access network device, third instruction information to the terminal device, the third instruction information instructing the terminal device to stop or pause the QoE measurement.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being started and performed by the terminal device.

9. A method for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE), comprising: determining, by a source access network device, that a terminal device is to be handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device; sending, by the source access network device, first indication information to the target access network device, the first indication information indicating a Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device; A method according to claim 1, wherein a first message transmitted based on the first instruction information instructs the terminal device to pause or cancel at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement that has been started.

10. The first instruction information is The method of claim 9, further comprising: identifying information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device; and / or a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being started and performed by the terminal device.

12. An apparatus for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE), comprising: An apparatus comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive first indication information from a source access network device on a condition that a terminal device is handed over from the source access network device to a target access network device, the first indication information indicating a Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device, the receiving unit comprising: a sending unit configured to send a first message to the terminal device based on the first instruction information, the first message instructing the terminal device to pause or stop at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement being started; The apparatus further comprising:

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first indication information includes at least one of: a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device; and identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated.

14. The receiving unit is further configured to receive priority information from a network management device, the priority information indicating a priority of at least one QoE measurement; The apparatus further includes a processing unit configured to determine whether to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device based on the priority information.

14. Apparatus according to claim 12 or 13.

15. a sending unit configured to send second instruction information to the terminal device when deciding to process the QoE measurement performed by the terminal device, the second instruction information instructing the terminal device to pause or stop the QoE measurement; 15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

16. The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the priority information includes at least one of priority information of a service type, priority information of a network slice, and priority information of the terminal device.

17. a processing unit configured to determine, based on the first indication, that the QoE measurement is configured for the terminal device; 17. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

18. a transmitting unit configured to transmit third instruction information to the terminal device, the third instruction information instructing the terminal device to stop or pause the QoE measurement; 18. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

19. 19. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being started and performed by the terminal device.

20. An apparatus for measuring Quality of Experience (QoE), comprising: A processing unit configured to determine that a terminal device is to be handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device; a transmitting unit configured to transmit first indication information to the target access network device, the first indication information instructing a Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement being initiated by the terminal device, The apparatus, wherein a first message transmitted based on the first instruction information instructs the terminal device to pause or cancel at least one QoE measurement other than the QoE measurement that has been started.

21. The first instruction information is The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: at least one of: a service type corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated by the terminal device; and identification information of a network slice corresponding to the QoE measurement being initiated.

22. The apparatus according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the first indication information indicates a QoE measurement currently being started and performed by the terminal device.

23. An apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE, included in the terminal device, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit configured to receive a signal from a device other than the device and transmit the signal to the processor or transmit the signal from the processor to the device other than the device, and the processor configured to implement a method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 by using logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

24. An apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE, included in the source access network device, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit configured to receive a signal from a device other than the device and transmit the signal to the processor or transmit the signal from the processor to the device other than the device, and the processor configured to implement a method according to any one of claims 9 to 11 by using logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, the storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, the computer program or the instructions being executed by the terminal device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, the storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, the computer program or the instructions causing a method according to any one of claims 9 to 11 to be performed when executed by the source access network device.

27. A system for measuring quality of experience QoE, comprising: an apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE according to any one of claims 12 to 19; and an apparatus for measuring quality of experience QoE according to any one of claims 20 to 22.

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