Minimization of drive test configuration coverage protection and user grouping method

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the technical field of wireless communications and relates to a minimization of drive test (MDT) configuration coverage protection and user grouping method. The method comprises: performing information collection; receiving memory information of a UE; according to the memory information of the UE, determining whether it is possible to store both LTE extended configuration information and NR extended configuration information; if both the LTE extended configuration information and the NR extended configuration information can be stored, sending configuration content of the two pieces of configuration information to the UE; and if it is not possible to store both the LTE extended configuration information and the NR extended configuration information, determining whether one piece of the LTE extended configuration information and the NR extended configuration information can be stored. The present invention is applicable to a large-scale wireless sensor network, and solves the problem of logged MDT configuration coverage to a certain extent.

Description

A method for minimizing drive test configuration coverage protection and user grouping Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of wireless communications and relates to a method for minimizing drive test configuration, coverage protection and user grouping. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication refers to the transmission of information over long distances without the aid of wires, cables, or any other form of electrical conductor. Transmission distances can range from a few meters to thousands of kilometers. Wireless communication technology typically involves the transmission of information between two or more points without any physical connection. It is used in applications such as cellular phones, Wi-Fi, and wireless home networks. Due to the lack of physical infrastructure, wireless communication offers certain advantages, such as low cost, convenience, flexibility, and high speed. In current wireless network planning, performance is affected by many different factors. To effectively assess network performance, simple radio measurements are not sufficient, hence the development of drive testing. Traditional drive testing is a manual process. To gather network quality information, operators typically dispatch engineers to the relevant areas and manually obtain radio measurement data. However, obtaining reliable data through traditional drive testing requires significant time and effort, as the data typically only covers specific areas of the network, such as roads and highways. To address these challenges and needs, operators introduced a solution called Minimization of Drive Testing (MDT) in 3GPP Release 10, which involves two radio access technologies (RATs): Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). MDT primarily leverages the measurement capabilities and geographical distribution of commercial user equipment (UE) to collect radio measurement data for network performance assessment. Compared to traditional drive testing, MDT offers numerous advantages, including reduced drive testing overhead, shorter optimization cycles, energy savings, and lower emissions. Furthermore, MDT can collect measurement information in areas not accessible through traditional drive testing methods (such as narrow roads, forests, and private locations), thereby reducing network optimization and maintenance costs for mobile operators.

[0003] MDT can be divided into recorded MDT and immediate MDT. Among them, immediate MDT is the MDT measurement performed by the UE in the RRC connected state (RRC-CONNECTED); recorded MDT is the MDT measurement performed by the UE in the idle state (RRC-IDLE) or inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE). Immediate MDT is generally used to measure one or more of the UE's data volume, network throughput, packet transmission delay, packet loss rate or processing delay; while recorded MDT generally refers to the UE's measurement of the received signal strength. The above-mentioned recorded MDT can also be divided into signaling-based MDT and management-based MDT; similarly, the above-mentioned immediate MDT can also be divided into signaling-based MDT and management-based MDT. From the perspective of core network MDT configuration, signaling-based MDT is targeted at a specific UE, while management-based MDT is not. In signaling-based MDT, the core network transmits the UE's MDT configuration to the base station via signaling on the corresponding UE interface between the base station and the core network. In management-based MDT, the network management system directly sends configuration information to the base station, which then selects a UE for MDT measurements based on this information. Compared to conventional drive testing, MDT offers many advantages, including reduced drive testing overhead, shorter optimization cycles, resource conservation, and the collection of full-area measurement information that traditional drive testing methods cannot obtain, thereby reducing network optimization and maintenance costs for mobile communication operators. However, in practical applications, there are still some shortcomings.

[0004] The current protocol requires that when configuring MDT for a UE, the network ensure that management-based MDT does not overwrite previously configured signaling-based MDT. This is because Logged MDT configurations can be used to prevent a higher-priority Logged MDT configuration from being overwritten by another Logged MDT configuration. However, when the UE reselects a network, a previously configured Logged MDT configuration may be overwritten. For example, if the eNB (eNodeB) selects the UE for Logged MDT, the previous gNB (gNodeB) configuration and network measurement results will be lost. Therefore, a signaling-based Logged MDT configuration overwrite protection method is needed.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for minimizing coverage protection and user grouping of drive test configurations. When the UE reselects a network, the new MDT configuration received by the UE may overwrite the original MDT configuration, causing the previously collected data to be unavailable or lost. The main scenario is to configure signaling-based MDT in E-UTRAN: 1) When collecting recorded measurement values, the terminal reselects the network; 2) After collecting recorded measurement values ​​but before uploading recorded MDT reports, the terminal reselects the network. In response to the above problems, the present invention proposes a signaling-based recorded MDT configuration coverage protection and user grouping method, which fully considers the UE storage performance and MDT configuration process, and is suitable for large-scale wireless sensor networks. The network changes the logged MDT measurement configuration in the terminal by sending the LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message to the terminal, replacing the previous configuration. In Rel-17, an extended variable is added to the LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message, which indicates the logged MDT type. The extended variable is stored in the terminal. This extension helps the network determine what type of configuration to use for the terminal. The terminal can return a flag to the network to notify it that a valid priority MDT configuration exists, which requires terminal support.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0008] A method for minimizing drive test configuration, coverage protection, and user grouping, the method comprising the following steps:

[0009] S1: The user equipment UE establishes a connection with the base station, and the UE enters the radio resource control RRC connected state;

[0010] S2: The base station requests the UE's memory information to prepare for determining the configuration extension content;

[0011] S3: UE responds to the base station and sends its own memory information;

[0012] S4: The base station determines the extension content by comprehensively considering the UE memory information and the network coverage of the target cell;

[0013] S5: Send the configuration content determined in S4 to the UE via Logged Measurement Configuration signaling, where the extended content includes the determined extended configuration content and MDT type;

[0014] S6: Release the RRC connection;

[0015] S7: The UE enters the RRC idle state or the non-connected state and performs recorded MDT measurement data according to the configuration content received previously;

[0016] S8: When the set time is reached or the UE memory is full, the measurement ends and the RRC connection is established;

[0017] S9: UE enters RRC connected state;

[0018] S10: The UE uploads the measurement results collected previously.

[0019] Optionally, the logged MDT measurement data includes measurements from the same RAT type and different RAT types; the release operation of the measurement configuration in the UE is implemented by configuration replacement when the configuration is overwritten, or by configuration clearing when the duration timer stop or expiration condition is met.

[0020] Optionally, the UE is classified according to memory capability:

[0021] Storing both LTE and NR configurations simultaneously does not make any changes to RRC signaling, network procedures, or interfaces.

[0022] If the eNB configures the UE for logged MDT, the UE applies the configuration and continues to execute the configuration;

[0023] When selecting the gNB, the UE does not change any information about participating in the MDT session.

[0024] Optionally, performing the recorded MDT measurement data according to the previously received configuration content specifically includes the following steps:

[0025] S11: Information collection phase, receiving UE memory information;

[0026] S12: Determine whether both LTE and NR extended configuration information can be stored based on the UE memory information;

[0027] S13: If both LTE and NR extended configuration information can be stored, the configuration contents of both configuration information are sent to the UE;

[0028] S14: If both LTE and NR extended configuration information cannot be stored, determine whether one of the configuration information can be stored;

[0029] S15: If one of the configuration information cannot be stored, it means that the UE memory is insufficient to store the logged MDT configuration, and the result is fed back to the user;

[0030] S16: If one type of configuration information can be stored, determine which type of configuration information to store; collect network usage information of the UE's cells along the way and the target cell;

[0031] S17: After collecting the information, determine whether the NR network has a larger coverage area than the LTE network by calculating the total network coverage area;

[0032] S18: If the NR network has a larger coverage area than the LTE network, the configuration extension content of the logged MDT is determined to be NR extension information;

[0033] S19: If the NR network has a smaller coverage area than the LTE network, the configuration extension content of the logged MDT is determined to be LTE extension information.

[0034] The present invention provides the following benefits: Continuing with the Rel-17 solution, the Logged MDT configuration can enhance UE support for both LTE and NR Logged MDT configurations by storing Logged MDT contexts. To address the situation where some UEs lack sufficient memory to store numerous configurations, the present invention categorizes UEs by capabilities (e.g., memory). Furthermore, the RAT measurement configurations and information are ranked, taking into account the RAT usage of surrounding cells and the memory size of their respective measurement configurations. Finally, the relevant configurations to be stored for each UE category are determined.

[0035] Other advantages, objects, and features of the present invention will be described in part in the following description and, in part, will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following description or may be learned from practice of the present invention. The objects and other advantages of the present invention may be realized and obtained through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clear, the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0037] Figure 1 shows the measurement configuration of the logging MDT;

[0038] FIG2 is a flow chart of the present invention;

[0039] FIG3 is a flowchart of a process for determining the extended content of a logged MDT configuration. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The following describes the embodiments of the present invention by means of specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments are only schematic illustrations of the basic concept of the present invention, and the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

[0041] Among them, the accompanying drawings are only for illustrative purposes and represent only schematic diagrams rather than actual pictures, and should not be understood as limiting the present invention. In order to better illustrate the embodiments of the present invention, some parts of the accompanying drawings may be omitted, enlarged or reduced, and do not represent the dimensions of actual products. For those skilled in the art, it is understandable that some well-known structures and their descriptions may be omitted in the accompanying drawings.

[0042] The same or similar numbers in the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention correspond to the same or similar parts; in the description of the present invention, it should be understood that if there are terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", etc. indicating directions or positional relationships, they are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operate in a specific direction. Therefore, the terms describing the positional relationship in the drawings are only used for illustrative purposes and cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0043] In the following embodiments, the terminal may be a mobile terminal (e.g., a mobile phone or tablet computer) or another type of terminal. The operating system running on the terminal may also be various systems, such as the currently widely used Android system, or the Windows operating system and the iOS system, but is not limited to these systems.

[0044] The basic concept of MDT technology is that operators partially replace traditional drive testing with measurement reporting through commercial terminals, enabling the automatic collection of terminal measurement data to detect and optimize problems and faults in the wireless network. MDT can be divided into logged MDT and immediate MDT. Immediate MDT is MDT measurements performed by UEs in the RRC-connected state (RRC-CONNECTED); logged MDT is MDT measurements performed by UEs in the idle state (RRC-IDLE) or inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE). The aforementioned logged MDT can be further divided into signaling-based MDT and management-based MDT; similarly, the aforementioned immediate MDT can be divided into signaling-based MDT and management-based MDT. From the perspective of core network configuration of MDT, signaling-based MDT is MDT for a specific UE, while management-based MDT is not MDT for a specific UE.

[0045] Currently, Rel-17 specifies that signaling-based Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT) takes precedence over management-based MDT. This means that when configuring MDT for a terminal device, the network must ensure that management-based MDT does not overwrite any previously configured signaling-based MDT for the terminal device. Logged MDT configuration can be used to ensure that a higher-priority Logged MDT configuration is not overwritten by another Logged MDT configuration, but this may occur when the UE reselects a network. Rel-17 introduces Logged MDT type information into the MDT configuration. This information is stored in UE variables, along with other logged measurement information.

[0046] Figure 1 illustrates the measurement configuration for Logged MDT. The base station sends the LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message to the Logged MDT terminal device via the network. This message is stored in UE variables and is used to transmit the configuration parameters for Logged MDT, enabling changes to the Logged MDT measurement configuration in the terminal. The Logged MDT type was extended in Rel-17. This extension helps the network decide not to configure the UE with a Logged MDT configuration triggered by management-based MDT, even if the UE has not yet managed to collect any data. The UE returns a flag to the network to notify the network of the existence of a valid priority MDT session configuration. The UE uses the stored parameters to indicate the availability of the signaling-based MDT configuration in RRCSetupComplete and RRCResumeComplete.

[0047] The present invention designs a signaling-based logging-type MDT configuration coverage protection and user grouping method. The present invention mainly targets two scenarios: 1) when collecting recorded measurement values, the terminal reselects the network; 2) after collecting recorded measurement values ​​but before uploading the recorded MDT report, the terminal reselects the network. The present invention fully considers the memory status of the logging-type MDT terminal equipment, classifies and sets the measurement configuration extension content of the logging-type MDT, and considers the coverage status of the target cell base station and the terminal memory status. This is to solve the problem that when the network provides a new configuration, the old configuration is replaced by the new configuration, resulting in the clearing of measurement records.

[0048] The present invention provides an MDT method. FIG2 shows a flowchart of the present invention. The flowchart includes the following steps:

[0049] S1: The UE establishes a connection with the base station and enters the RRC connected state.

[0050] S2: The base station requests to obtain the memory information of the UE in preparation for determining the configuration extension content.

[0051] S3, UE responds to the base station and sends its own memory information.

[0052] S4: The base station determines the extension content by comprehensively considering the UE memory information and the network coverage of the target cell.

[0053] S5: Send the configuration content determined in S4 to the UE via LoggedMeasurementConfiguration signaling, where the extended content includes not only the determined extended configuration content but also the MDT type.

[0054] S6, release the RRC connection.

[0055] S7: The UE enters the RRC idle state or the non-connected state and performs recorded MDT measurement data according to the configuration content received previously.

[0056] S8: When the set time is reached or the UE memory is full, the measurement ends and the RRC connection is established.

[0057] S9, UE enters RRC connected state.

[0058] S10, the UE uploads the measurement results collected previously.

[0059] It should be noted that the base station that sends the logged MDT measurement configuration to the UE may be different from the base station to which the UE reports the measurement results; and when the UE reconnects to the network, the base station it connects to may also be different from the base station that sends the logged MDT measurement configuration to the UE.

[0060] For logged MDT, configuration is always performed in the cell of the same RAT type. Each time the UE reconnects to the network, the previous configuration may be overwritten. Measurements reported in logged MDT include measurements from both the same RAT type and different RAT types. The UE releases the measurement configuration by replacing the configuration when it is overwritten or by clearing the configuration when the duration timer stops or expires.

[0061] In addition, there may be an issue where management-based MDT overrides signaling-based MDT. Signaling-based MDT and management-based MDT can be configured for a base station at the same time, but the existing MDT configuration principle states that a base station only configures MDT for a terminal based on its own state, and the terminal will apply the latest MDT configuration upon receiving it.

[0062] Therefore, the present invention is classified according to the UE memory capacity. Storing both LTE and NR configurations simultaneously does not make any changes to RRC signaling, network procedures, or interfaces. Once the eNB configures the UE for logged MDT, the UE applies the configuration and continues to execute the configuration. When selecting the gNB, the UE does not change any information about participating in the MDT session. Therefore, it is more convenient to store both LTE and NR configurations simultaneously, but it places higher requirements on the UE memory. The stronger the UE storage capacity, the more extended variables can be added. In view of the above ideas, the present invention provides the following specific execution process, as shown in Figure 3, which shows a process flow chart for determining the extended content of the logged MDT configuration. The flow chart includes the following steps:

[0063] S11, information collection phase, receiving UE memory information.

[0064] S12: Determine whether both LTE and NR extended configuration information can be stored based on the UE memory information.

[0065] S13: If both LTE and NR extended configuration information can be stored, the configuration contents of both configuration information are sent to the UE.

[0066] S14: If both LTE and NR extended configuration information cannot be stored, determine whether one of the configuration information can be stored.

[0067] S15: If one of the configuration information cannot be stored, it means that the memory of the UE is insufficient to store the logged MDT configuration, and this result is fed back to the user.

[0068] S16: If one of the configuration information can be stored, we need to determine which configuration information to store. Therefore, we need to collect network usage information of the cells along the UE and the target cell.

[0069] S17: After collecting the information, determine whether the NR network coverage area is larger than the LTE network coverage area by calculating the total network coverage area.

[0070] S18: If the NR network has a larger coverage area than the LTE network, the configuration extension content of the logged MDT is determined to be NR extension information.

[0071] S19: If the NR network has a smaller coverage area than the LTE network, the configuration extension content of the logged MDT is determined to be LTE extension information.

[0072] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not limiting. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions of the present invention can be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the purpose and scope of the technical solutions, which should all be included in the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for minimizing drive test configuration, coverage protection and user grouping, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: S1: The user equipment UE establishes a connection with the base station, and the UE enters the radio resource control RRC connected state; S2: The base station requests to obtain the memory information of the UE in preparation for determining the configuration extension content; S3: UE responds to the base station and sends its own memory information; S4: The base station determines the extension content by comprehensively considering the UE memory information and the network coverage of the target cell; S5: Send the configuration content determined in S4 to the UE via Logged Measurement Configuration signaling, where the extended content includes the determined extended configuration content and MDT type; S6: Release the RRC connection; S7: The UE enters the RRC idle state or the non-connected state and performs recorded MDT measurement data according to the configuration content received previously; S8: When the set time is reached or the UE memory is full, the measurement ends and the RRC connection is established; S9: UE enters RRC connected state; S10: The UE uploads the measurement results collected previously.

2. The method for minimizing drive test configuration coverage protection and user grouping according to claim 1, characterized in that: The recorded MDT measurement data includes measurements from the same RAT type and different RAT types; the release operation of the measurement configuration in the UE is implemented by configuration replacement when the configuration is overwritten, or by configuration clearing when the duration timer stops or expires.

3. The method for minimizing drive test configuration coverage protection and user grouping according to claim 1, characterized in that: The UE is classified according to memory capacity: Storing both LTE and NR configurations simultaneously does not make any changes to RRC signaling, network procedures or interfaces; If the eNB configures the UE for logged MDT, the UE applies the configuration and continues to execute the configuration; When selecting the gNB, the UE does not change any information about participating in the MDT session.

4. The method for minimizing drive test configuration coverage protection and user grouping according to claim 1, characterized in that: The recording of MDT measurement data according to the previously received configuration content specifically includes the following steps: S11: Information collection phase, receiving UE memory information; S12: Determine whether two types of extended configuration information, LTE and NR, can be stored according to the UE memory information; S13: If both LTE and NR extended configuration information can be stored, the configuration contents of the two configuration information are sent to the UE; S14: If both LTE and NR extended configuration information cannot be stored, determine whether one of the configuration information can be stored; S15: If one of the configuration information cannot be stored, it means that the memory of the UE is insufficient to store the log-based MDT configuration, and the result is fed back to the user; S16: If one of the configuration information can be stored, determine which configuration information to store; collect network usage information of the UE's cells along the way and the target cell; S17: After collecting the information, determine whether the NR network has a larger coverage area than the LTE network by calculating the total network coverage area; S18: If the NR network has a larger coverage area than the LTE network, the configuration extension content of the logged MDT is determined to be the NR extension information; S19: If the NR network has a smaller coverage area than the LTE network, the configuration extension content of the recorded MDT is determined to be LTE extension information.

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