Vendor-specific data collection

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for vendor-specific data collection. The method comprises: receiving, from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; receiving, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; determining whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, selecting the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and transmitting, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

Description

VENDOR-SPECIFIC DATA COLLECTIONFIELDS

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for vendor specific data collection.BACKGROUND

[0002] During a study of data collection for artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML), whether the existing data collection frameworks should be modified has been studied. Based on the study, Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) is eligible to be studied for enhancement.SUMMARY

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a network node. The network node comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network node at least to: receive, from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; receive, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; determine whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, select the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and transmit, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a management entity. The management entity comprises at least one processor; and at least one memorystoring instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the management entity at least to: configure, for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; and transmit, to the network node, information on the at least one vendorspecific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment. The user equipment comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: transmit, to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; receive, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the one or more vendorspecific configurations; and carry out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, by a network node from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; receiving, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; determining whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, selecting the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and transmitting, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendorspecific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0007] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: configuring, by a management entity for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specificconfiguration; and transmitting, to the network node, information on the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0008] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, from a user equipment to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; receiving, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the one or more vendor-specific configurations; and carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0009] In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a network node. The network node comprises means for receiving, from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; means for receiving, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; means for determining whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; means for in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, selecting the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and means for transmitting, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0010] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a management entity. The management entity comprises means for configuring, for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendorspecific configuration; and means for transmitting, to the network node, information on the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0011] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment.The user equipment comprises means for transmitting, to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; means for receiving, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the one or more vendor-specific configurations; and means for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0012] In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0013] In an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fifth aspect.

[0014] In a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the sixth aspect.

[0015] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Some examples will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which examples of the present disclosure can be carried out;

[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling chart of an example process of a subscription of a vendor server to a management entity according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart of an example process of the data collection based on vendor-specific configuration according to some examples of the presentdisclosure;

[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling chart of an example process of retrieving the UE identifier by a network node according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates a signaling chart of another example process of retrieving the UE identifier by a network node according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example process of forwarding the collected vendor-specific data according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method carried out at a first device according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method carried out at a second device according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method carried out at a third device according to some examples of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 10 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for carrying out examples of the present disclosure; and

[0027] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some examples of the present disclosure.

[0028] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some examples. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be carried out in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0030] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0031] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0032] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of examples. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0033] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0034] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, carrying out a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is carried out immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0035] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of examples. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0036] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and(c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0037] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As an example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0038] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Additionally, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be carried out according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G),4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0039] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. As an example, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at a gNB. As an example, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0040] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment(CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0041] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for carrying out a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some examples of the present disclosure. It is noted that examples of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0042] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which examples of the present disclosure can be carried out. The communication environment 100 comprises a network node 110 and a management entity 120, which may communicate with each other. The network node 110 hereinafter may also be referred to as e.g., a RAN node, a gNB or a base station. The management entity 120 hereinafter may also be referred to as e.g., a management function or a management system. Specifically, the management entity 120 may be referred to as an Operation Administration and Maintenance (0AM).

[0043] The communication environment 100 comprises UEs 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, each of the UEs 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3 may communicate with the network node 110. Hereinafter each of the UEs 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3 may also be referred to as a terminal device, a user terminal, or a user device. The UEs 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3 hereinafter may also be referred to as the UE 130 collectively.

[0044] As an example, a link from the network node 110 to the UE 130 is referred to as a downlink (DL), and a link from the UE 130 to the network node 110 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the network node 110 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the UE 130 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the UE 130 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the network node 110 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0045] Additionally, the communication environment 100 may comprise a vendor server 140, which may communicate with the management entity 120.

[0046] It is to be understood that the number of network nodes, UEs, management entities and / or vendor servers shown in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network nodes, UEs, management entities and / or vendor servers.

[0047] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be carried out according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0048] According to the discussion of non-standardized measurement data collection, two requirements are raised, namely the ability to collect data at a server that may not be part of the operator network and the ability to collect vendor-proprietary data and target the configuration to specific types of UEs.

[0049] The term “non-standardized measurement data collection” herein used may be referred to a collection of one or more specific data. In relation to carrying out measurement to obtain data that is vendor or user equipment specific, there is a need toenable collecting data that may not be obtained by standardized measurements but using vendor-specific measurements and measurement configurations. The data may be used in training or executing an AI / ML model either on the UE side or on a vendor server.

[0050] The “non-standardized measurement data collection” may be carried out by one or more UEs. “non-standardized measurement data collection” hereinafter may also be referred to as vendor-proprietary data collection or vendor-specific data collection. In this situation, the one or more UEs carrying out the “non-standardized measurement data collection” may also be referred to as one or more data collection device. The data collected by the non-standardized measurement data collection may also be referred to as “non-standardized measurement data”, “vendor-proprietary data”, “proprietary data” or “proprietary measurement data”.

[0051] The “standardized measurement data collection” used herein may refer to at least one of radio measurement data collection, sensor data collection or device state data collection, such as battery level or temperature.

[0052] The “non-standardized measurement data collection” may be required by a data collection entity from the one or more data collection device. For example, the data collection entity may be located at the vendor server and / or at the management entity.

[0053] As described above, based on the discussion of data collection for AI / ML, MDT is eligible to be studied for enhancement. The MDT feature is currently widely used by operators who want feedback on the coverage on a particular area of their network (Management-based MDT) or feedback on the radio conditions experienced by some specific UE(s) in a given coverage area of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) (signaling based MDT).

[0054] There are two types of MDT, namely logged MDT and immediate MDT. The logged MDT applies for idle or inactive mode (i.e., RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE mode). For logged MDT, the UE, when it is in a connected mode (i.e., RRC CONNECTED), receives a logged MDT configuration from the network. The logged MDT configuration may be stored in the UE. The configured logged measurement associated with MDT configuration are carried out when the UE is in RRC IDLE / RRC INACTIVE mode during the configured logging duration (max. 2 hours in current specification), and measurement results are buffered in the UE. When the UE reconnects, the availability of buffered measurements is signaled to the network whichmay retrieve the logs and forward to OAM (e.g., to the Trace Collection Entity (TCE)). In RRC CONNECTED mode the logged MDT configuration is simply kept, but the measurements are not carried out, however the network may be configured with immediate MDT configuration. The latter may result the UE to be configured with RRC measurements, however the UE is not aware whether the purpose of these RRC measurements is RRM (Radio Resource Management) or MDT.

[0055] For management-based MDT data collection, the UE selection can be done in the radio network at gNB based on the input information received from management system and the user consent information stored in the gNB.

[0056] However, current management-based data collection methods do not allow configuration of measurements towards specific UEs or UE types, e.g., UE hardware models, UE chipset models or UE firmware versions, in a vendor-specific way.

[0057] It is not possible for a RAN node to configure measurements, that may be proprietary or non-proprietary, towards specific UEs or specific UE types with a vendorspecific configuration. It is not possible for the network to configure a UE, transparently to the network, with vendor-specific, proprietary measurements.

[0058] According to some examples of the present disclosure, there is provided a UE- centric solution enabling a network node (e.g., a RAN node) to configure measurements, that may be associated with non-standardized measurement data collection or standardized measurement data collection, towards specific UEs or specific UE types with a vendorspecific configuration.

[0059] Examples of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0060] Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates a signaling chart 200 of an example process of a subscription of a vendor server to a management entity according to some examples of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the signaling chart 200 involves the vendor server 140 and the management entity 120 (e.g., an OAM).

[0061] Upon the vendor server 140 subscribing to the operator’s network, the vendor server 140 may subscribe (205) to the management entity 120 associated with the operator’s network. The management entity 120 may be provided with a data collection device identifier corresponding to a non-standardized measurement data collection fromthe vendor server 140 requesting data collection. An allowed set of data collection device identifiers for the non-standardized measurement data collection may be assumed to be known to the management entity 120 when the vendor server 140 subscribes to the operator’s network. Upon the subscription, the vendor server 140 may initiate (210) at least one vendor specific configuration towards the management entity 120 by including the at least data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor specific configuration.

[0062] It is to be understood that a plurality of vendor servers may be subscribed at the same time to the management entity 120. The example shown in FIG. 2 is only for the propose of illustration. Upon receiving the at least one vendor specific configuration and the at least data collection device identifier, the network node may enable device(s) associated with the at least data collection device identifier to carry out the data collection according to the at least one vendor specific configuration. A process of data collection based on vendor-specific configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 as below.

[0063] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which illustrates a signaling chart 300 of an example process of the data collection based on vendor-specific configuration according to some examples of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the signaling chart 300 involves the network node 110 (e.g., a gNB), the management entity 120 (e.g., an 0AM) and a user equipment 130. Reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 300.

[0064] The process may also involve a data collection entity 301, which can be considered as being co-located with the management entity 120 or co-located with the vendor server 140.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 3, the management entity 120 may transmit (305), to the network node 110, at least one at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection from at least one data collection device along with at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0066] For example, the data collection from at least one data collection device may be referred to as a collection of proprietary data (e.g., vendor-specific data required for the UE side model) from the at least one data collection device according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration. Hereinafter the at least one data collection device may be referred to as at least one UE. The at least one vendor-specific configuration maycomprise at least one vendor-specific measurement configuration.

[0067] By configuring the at least one vendor-specific configuration and the associated data collection device identifier(s), the vendor sensor may request non-standardized measurement data collection which can be used for enhancing specific performance at data collection device(s). For example, the proprietary data may be used for training a UE side model that requests data from non-standardized measurement data collection as the training data.

[0068] The at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration may refer to identifier(s) of one or more devices on which the at least one vendor-specific configuration is to be applied. That is, one or more devices configured with the at least one vendor-specific configuration may collect data according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0069] The at least one data collection device identifier may refer to one or more identifier types.

[0070] In some embodiments, the at least one data collection device identifier may have an identifier type of a permanent identifier. As an example, the permanent identifier may be international mobile equipment identities (IMEIs) associated with one or more data collection devices and / or an IMEI type allocation code (IMEI-TAC) associated with one or more data collection devices. An IMEI having 14-digit or 15-digit numbers may serve as a distinct identifier for the device, to guaranteed to be globally unique. The first eight digits of an IMEI make up the Type Allocation Code (TAC), which may indicate the manufacturer and model of the particular device. Therefore, device models from a particular manufacturer may have the same TAC.

[0071] It is to be understood that the at least one data collection device identifier provided by the management entity 120 may correspond to one or more UEs. For example, one IMEI-TAC provided by the management entity 120 may correspond to one or more UEs whose IMEI-TAC field matches the provided IMEI-TAC. This means that the vendor-specific configuration provided by the management entity 120 may not need to be aware of the UE’s IMEI.

[0072] Additionally, the permanent identifier may also be a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices.

[0073] As another example, the permanent identifier may also be a chipset hardware model and / or a type identifier of the data collection associated with one or more data collection devices. That is, one or more data collection devices having a same chipset hardware model and / or a same type identifier of the data collection may have a same data collection device identifier.

[0074] In some other embodiments, the at least one data collection device identifier may have an identifier type of a semi-permanent identifier. The semi -permanent identifier herein used may be a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

[0075] In some still other embodiments, the at least one data collection device identifier may have an identifier type of a temporary identifier. For example, the temporary identifier may be assigned by a vendor server based on one or more of hardware models, one or more chipset hardware models and / or a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device. Additionally, the temporary identifier may also be assigned based on a machine learning-based data collection and may be provided by an entity owning a data collection process (e.g., a data collection entity) based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

[0076] In some embodiments, the at least one data collection device identifier, provided by the management entity 120, may refer to one of the identifiers as described above. In some embodiments, the at least one data collection device identifier may also refer to a range of one of the identifiers as described above. For example, the at least one data collection device identifier may be IMEI-TAC 0-10.

[0077] It is also possible that the at least one data collection device identifier, provided by the management entity 120, may refer to a list of one or more of the identifiers as described above or the at least one data collection device identifier may also refer to a list of ranges of more than one of the identifiers as described above. The at least one data collection device identifier may comprise a combination of a list of ranges of more than one of the identifiers as described above and a list of one or more of the identifiers as described above.

[0078] As described, the at least one data collection may comprise one or more identifiers of same or different identifier types, which is beneficial for the vendor server to request a set of devices with a same type. For example, a vendor server may requestthe data collection from devices having a same hardware model or a same firmware version. In this case, the vendor server cannot provide data collection device identifier for each device. Therefore, a signaling overhead may also be reduced.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 3, the management entity 120 may transmit (305) at least one at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration to the network node 110 through a trace activation message. For example, this trace activation message may be associated with a new trace job type for the data collection according to the vendor-specific configuration.

[0080] The management entity 120 may transmit (310) to the network node 110, an MDT configuration configuring the network node 110 with a configuration requesting radio measurements of device(s) (e.g., UE(s)). In this case, the at least one at least one vendor-specific configuration and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration may be transmitted from the management entity 120 to the network node 110 along with an MDT configuration.

[0081] For example, the management entity 120 may transmit the at least one at least one vendor-specific configuration and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration along with an MDT configuration through two separate trace activation messages or a same trace activation message.

[0082] It is also possible that a new trace job type may be introduced to request both non-standardized measurement data collection and standardized measurement data collection (e.g., measurement(s) associated with the MDT configuration) from the network node 110. That is, the management entity 120 may transmit the at least one at least one vendor-specific configuration and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration along with an MDT configuration through a same trace activation message associated with this new introduced trace job type.

[0083] Upon receiving the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration, the network node 110 may store (315) them. The network node 110 may also store (320) an MDT configuration if the MDT configurationhad also been provided by the management entity 120.

[0084] The user equipment 130 transmits (325), to the network node 110, at least one UE identifier associating the user equipment 130 with the data collection. For the purpose of illustration, the signaling chart 300 involves only one user equipment 130. It is to be understood that the operation carried out by the user equipment 130 may also carried out by other user equipment(es).

[0085] In some embodiments, the user equipment 130 may transmit the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 without any request from the network node 110.

[0086] For example, the user equipment 130 may provide the at least one UE identifier through an RRC setup complete message or an RRC reconfiguration complete message but without being requested, e.g., each time the user equipment 130 enters RRC connected state. It is to be understood that the user equipment 130 may provide the at least one UE identifier not every time the user equipment 130 enters RRC connected state, but every time the identifier changes from a previous identifier.

[0087] As another option, the user equipment 130 may transmit the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 via a new introduced message related to the UE identifier provision without a request.

[0088] In some other embodiments, the user equipment 130 may transmit the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 upon a request from the network node 110. FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling chart 400 of an example process of retrieving the UE identifier by a network node according to some examples of the present disclosure.

[0089] The signaling chart 400 involves the network node 110 and a user equipment 130. Reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 400. Although the signaling chart 400 involves only one user equipment 130, it is to be understood that the operation carried out by the user equipment 130 may also carried out by other user equipment(es).

[0090] As shown in FIG. 4, the network node 110 may transmit (405), to the user equipment 130, a request for retrieving the at least one UE identifier. Such request may be transmitted by the network node 110 to the user equipment 130 through an RRC message, i.e., through an RRC setup message or an RRC reconfiguration message during an RRC connection establishment procedure.

[0091] If the user equipment 130 determines that the at least one UE identifier is available, i.e., the at least one UE identifier for associating the user equipment 130 to the data collection has been obtained, the user equipment 130 transmits (410) the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 as a response for the request.

[0092] Correspondingly, if the network node 110 request the at least one UE identifier through an RRC connection establishment procedure, the user equipment 130 may transmit the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 through an RRC setup complete message or an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

[0093] It is also possible that the network node 110 may request the at least one UE identifier from the user equipment 130 after the RRC connection establishment. For example, a new message / procedure may be introduced for the identifier retrieval from the user equipment 130 to the network node 110.

[0094] In some other embodiments, the at least one UE identifier may be unavailable at the user equipment 130. FIG. 5 illustrates a signaling chart 500 of another example process of retrieving the UE identifier by a network node according to some examples of the present disclosure.

[0095] The signaling chart 500 involves the network node 110, a user equipment 130 and a vendor server 140. Reference is made to FIG. 1 to describe the signaling chart 500. Although the signaling chart 500 involves only one user equipment 130, it is to be understood that the operation carried out by the user equipment 130 may also carried out by other user equipment(es).

[0096] For example, if the user equipment 130 determines (510) that the at least one UE identifier is unavailable at the user equipment 130, the user equipment 130 may transmit (515), to the vendor server 140, a request for retrieving the at least one UE identifier.

[0097] As an option, the user equipment 130 may request the at least one UE identifier from the vendor server 140 upon receiving (505) a request for retrieving the at least one UE identifier from the network node 110.

[0098] Then the vendor server 140 may provide (520) the at least one UE identifier to the user equipment 130. The user equipment 130 transmits (525) the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 as a response for the request for retrieving the at least one UE identifier from the network node 110. As another option, the user equipment 130may transmit (525) the at least one UE identifier to the network node 110 without the request for retrieving the at least one UE identifier from the network node 110.

[0099] It is also possible that the user equipment 130 may be provided with the at least one UE identifier by the vendor server 140 without a request. For example, when the vendor server 140 updates its data collection policies, the vendor server 140 may provide (520) the at least one UE identifier to the user equipment 130.

[0100] The “at least one UE identifier associating the user equipment 130 with the data collection” used herein may be associated with the at least one data collection identifier as described above.

[0101] Similarly, the at least one UE identifier may refer to one or more identifier types.

[0102] In some embodiments, the at least one UE identifier may have an identifier type of a permanent identifier. As an example, the permanent identifier may be international mobile equipment identities (IMEIs) associated with one or more data collection devices and / or an IMEI type allocation code (IMEI-TAC) associated with one or more data collection devices. An IMEI having 14-digit or 15-digit numbers may serve as a distinct identifier for the device, to guaranteed to be globally unique. The first eight digits of an IMEI make up the Type Allocation Code (TAC), which may indicate the manufacturer and model of the particular device. Therefore, device models from a particular manufacturer may have the same TAC. It is to be understood that one IMEI-TAC provided by the user equipment 130 may correspond to one or more UEs whose IMEI-TAC field matches the provided IMEI-TAC.

[0103] Additionally, the permanent identifier may also be a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices.

[0104] As another example, the permanent identifier may also be a chipset hardware model and / or a type identifier of the data collection associated with one or more data collection devices. That is, one or more data collection devices having a same chipset hardware model and / or a same type identifier of the data collection may have a same data collection device identifier.

[0105] In some other embodiments, the at least one UE identifier may have an identifier type of a semi-permanent identifier. The semi-permanent identifier herein used may be a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

[0106] In still other embodiments, the at least one UE identifier may have an identifier type of a temporary identifier. For example, the temporary identifier may be assigned by a vendor server based on one or more of hardware models, one or more chipset hardware models and / or a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device. Additionally, the temporary identifier may also be assigned based on a machine learningbased data collection and may be provided by an entity owning a data collection process (e.g., a data collection entity) based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

[0107] Referring back to FIG. 3, upon receiving the at least one UE identifier from the user equipment 130, the network node 110 may store (330) the at least one UE identifier in the UE content.

[0108] Then a selection of a device for the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration may be carried out at the network node 110. The network node 110 may determine whether the at least one received UE identifier, provided by the user equipment 130, is among / associated with / maps to the at least one data collection device identifier provided by the management entity 120.

[0109] As described above, the at least one data collection device identifier may comprise a single data collection device identifier of an identifier type (such as an IMEI) or may comprise a plurality of data collection device identifiers of an identifier type (such as a range of IMEI-TAC (e.g., taking values in the range 0-10).

[0110] Alternatively, the at least one data collection device identifier may comprise a plurality of data collection device identifiers of more than one identifier types. That is, a set of data collection device identifiers in the plurality of data collection device identifiers may be the permanent identifiers and the other set of data collection device identifiers in the plurality of data collection device identifiers may be the temporary identifiers.

[0111] For example, in a case where the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a plurality of data collection device identifiers of an identifier type, if a received UE identifier of the identifier type is among / is associated with / maps to the plurality of data collection device identifiers of this identifier type, at least one UE associated with the received UE identifier may be selected as a device for the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0112] As another example, in a case where at least one data collection device identifier comprises a plurality of data collection device identifiers of more than one identifier types, if a received UE identifier of the identifier type is among / is associated with / maps to the plurality of data collection device identifiers of any of the more than one identifier types, at least one UE associated with the received UE identifier may be selected as a device for the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration. For example, the received UE identifier may be an IMEI and the plurality of data collection device identifiers may comprise a range of IMEI-TACs and a set of hashed IMEIs, if the received IMEI is among / is associated with / maps to the range of IMEI-TACs and / or the set of hashed IMEIs, the UE associated with the IMEI may be selected as a device for the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0113] It is also possible that the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a single data collection device identifier of an identifier type. In this case, as one option, if the received UE identifier of a same identifier type is among / is associated with / maps to the single data collection device identifier, at least one UE associated with the received UE identifier may be selected as a device for the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0114] As another option, the received UE identifier may have a different identifier type with that of the single data collection device identifier. For example, the received UE identifier may be an IMEI and the single data collection device identifier may be an IMEI- TAC. As described above, an IMEI TAC may be first 8-digit of an IMEI. That is, even if the received UE identifier may have a different identifier type with that of the single data collection device identifier, if the received IMEI has same first 8-digit with the IMEI TAC that provided as a data collection device identifier, the received UE identifier (i.e., the IMEI) may also be considered as being matched with the single data collection device identifier.

[0115] In this way, the selection of UE, by matching identifiers from UE and management entity with same or different identifier types, can be achieved more flexible.

[0116] In addition to the mapping of the at least one received UE identifier to the at least one data collection device identifier, the network node 110 may also consider user capability and user consent for the selection of a device for the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0117] Based on the determination of the mapping and the user capability and user consent, the network node 110 may select (335) the user equipment 130 as the device for the data collection according to the vendor-specific configuration.

[0118] If the network node 110 has received an MDT configuration, the network node 110 may also determine (340) the user equipment 130 to be configured with one or more measurements associated with MDT configuration, e.g., based on a consideration of the user consent or UE capability information.

[0119] Upon selecting the user equipment 130 as the device for the data collection according to the vendor-specific configuration, the network node 110 may transmit (345), to the user equipment 130, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0120] If the network node 110 has received an MDT configuration, the network node 110 may also transmit (350) the MDT configuration to the user equipment 130.

[0121] The user equipment 130 then may perform the data collection based on the at least one vendor-specific configuration. Specifically, the user equipment 130 may perform one or more vendor-specific measurements associated with the at least one vendor-specific configuration. The user equipment 130 may generate (355) a report of the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration and transmit (360) the same to the network node 110. The report of the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration may not be decodable by the network node 110, because the data collected based on the at least one vendor-specific configuration is to be used by data collection entity or by the vendor server.

[0122] If the at least one UE 130 is configured with a MDT configuration, the at least one UE 140 may also perform one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection according to the MDT configuration. The at least one UE 130 generate (365) a report of the one or more one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection and transmit (370) the same to the network node 110. The report of the one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection is decodable by the network node 110.

[0123] The user equipment 130 may transmit the report of the one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection along with thedata collected according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration. Alternatively, the user equipment 130 may transmit the report of the one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection and the data collected according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration separately.

[0124] The network node 110 may store (375) the report of the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration and the report of the one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection (if exists) at the network node 110.

[0125] Then the network node 110 may transmit the report of the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration to the management entity 120. If exists, the report of the one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection may also be transmitted from the network node 110 to the management entity 120. If a same trace job type is used for at least one vendor-specific configuration and an MDT configuration, then they may be transmitted in a common MDT report.

[0126] As shown, the network node 110 may transmit (380) the report of the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration and the report of the one or more measurements associated with a standardized measurement data collection (if exists) to a TCE in the data collection entity 301 within the management entity 120.

[0127] In some scenarios, the TCE and UE vendor-specific Data Collection (UEvsDC) may not be collocated. FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of an example process of forwarding the collected vendor-specific data according to some examples of the present disclosure.

[0128] In this case, the report of the data collection according to the at least one vendorspecific configuration may be forwarded from of a data collection entity 601 within the management entity 120 (e.g., a management entity) to a UEvsDC located at a data collection entity 602 within the vendor server 140 (e.g., the vendor server) subscribed to the management entity 120.

[0129] Based on the solutions, a configuration of measurements towards specific UEs or UE types, e.g., UE hardware models, UE chipset models or UE firmware versions, in a vendor-specific way can be achieved. In this way, non-standardized measurement data collection and standardized measurement data collection associated with specific UEs orspecific UE Types may be collected according to a vendor-specific configuration and therefore the performance of UE side model may be enhanced.

[0130] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 of a network node 110 that may carry out in accordance with examples and embodiments described above by means of FIG. 1-6. The method 700 will be described from the perspective of the network node 110 in FIG. 1.

[0131] At block 710, the network node 110 receives, from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0132] At block 720, the network node 110 receives, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection.

[0133] At block 730, the network node 110 determines whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier.

[0134] At block 740, in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, the network node 110 selects the at least one user equipment for the data collection.

[0135] At block 750, the network node 110 transmits, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

[0136] As an example, the method 700 comprises: transmitting, to the user equipment, a request for retrieving the at least one user equipment identifier from the at least one user equipment.

[0137] As an example, the request may be transmitted to the user equipment through a RRC procedure and / or a dedicated procedure associated with a retrieval of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0138] As an example, the method 700 comprises: receiving, from the at least one user equipment, the at least one user equipment identifier through a RRC message upon a request from the network node or without the request, and / or a dedicated message for aprovision of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0139] As an example, the method 700 comprises: receiving the at least one data collection device identifier associated with at least one identifier type comprising a permanent identifier, a semi-permanent identifier, and / or a temporary identifier.

[0140] As an example, the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a plurality of data collection device identifiers associated with an identifier type, and the method 700 comprises: in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier of the identifier type is among the plurality of data collection device identifiers of the identifier type or a received user equipment identifier of another identifier type is associated with the plurality of data collection device identifiers of the identifier type, select at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

[0141] As an example, the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a plurality of data collection device identifiers associated with a plurality of identifier types, and the method 700 comprises: in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier of an identifier type is among the plurality of data collection device identifiers of one of the plurality of identifier types, select at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

[0142] As an example, the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a data collection device identifier of an identifier type, and the method 700 comprises: in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier of the identifier type equals to the data collection device identifier of the identifier type, or a received user equipment identifier of another identifier type is associated with the data collection device identifier of the identifier type, select at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

[0143] As an example, the permanent identifier comprises: an IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an IMEI type allocation code, IMEI-TAC associated with one or more data collection devices, a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an identifier of a chipset hardware model associated with one or more data collection devices, and / or a type identifier of a data collection associated with one or more data collection devices.

[0144] As an example, the semi-permanent identifier is based on a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

[0145] As an example, the temporary identifier is assigned by a vendor server based on one or more of hardware models associated with a data collection device; one or more chipset hardware models associated with a data collection device; a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device, and / or a machine learning-based data collection and is provided by an entity owning a data collection process based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

[0146] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 of a management entity 120 that may carry out in accordance with examples and embodiments described above by means of FIG. 1-6. The method 800 will be described from the perspective of the management entity 120 in FIG. 1.

[0147] At block 810, the management entity 120 configures, for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendorspecific configuration.

[0148] At block 820, the management entity 120 transmits, to the network node, information on the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendorspecific configuration.

[0149] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of an example method 900 of a user equipment 130 that may carry out in accordance with examples and embodiments described above by means of FIG. 1-6. The method 900 will be described from the perspective of the user equipment 130 in FIG. 1.

[0150] At block 910, the user equipment 130 transmits, to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection.

[0151] At block 920, the user equipment 130 receives, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the one or more vendor-specific configurations.

[0152] As an example, the method 900 comprises: receiving, from the network node, arequest for retrieving the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0153] As an example, the request is received from the network node through: a radio resource control, RRC, procedure, and / or a dedicated procedure associated with a retrieval of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0154] As an example, the method 900 comprises: transmitting, to the network node, the at least one user equipment identifier through a RRC message upon a request from the network node or without the request, and / or a dedicated message for a provision of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0155] As an example, the method 900 comprises: requesting the at least one user equipment identifier from a vendor server.

[0156] As an example, the method 900 comprises: performing the data collection based on the one or more target vendor-specific configurations associated with the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0157] As an example, the at least one user equipment identifier has an identifier type of a permanent identifier that comprises an IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an IMEI type allocation code, IMEI-TAC associated with one or more data collection devices, a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an identifier of a chipset hardware model associated with one or more data collection devices, and / or a type identifier of a data collection associated with one or more data collection devices.

[0158] As an example, the at least one user equipment identifier is related to a semipermanent identifier that is based on a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

[0159] As an example, the at least one user equipment identifier has an identifier type of a temporary identifier that is assigned by a vendor server based on one or more of hardware models associated with a data collection device; one or more chipset hardware models associated with a data collection device; a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device, and / or a machine learning-based data collection and is provided by an entity owning a data collection process based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

[0160] As an example, an apparatus capable of carrying out any of the method 700 (forexample, the network node 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for carrying out the respective operations of the method 700. The means may be carried out in any suitable form. For example, the means may be carried out in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be carried out as or included in the network node 110 in FIG. 1.

[0161] As an example, the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; means for receiving, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; means for determining whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; means for, in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, selecting the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and means for transmitting, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendorspecific configuration.

[0162] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for transmitting, to the user equipment, a request for retrieving the at least one user equipment identifier from the at least one user equipment.

[0163] As an example, the request is transmitted to the user equipment through a radio resource control, RRC, procedure, and / or a dedicated procedure associated with a retrieval of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0164] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from the at least one user equipment, the at least one user equipment identifier through a RRC message upon a request from the network node or without the request, and / or a dedicated message for a provision of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0165] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving the at least one data collection device identifier associated with at least one identifier type comprising a permanent identifier, a semi-permanent identifier, and / or a temporary identifier.

[0166] As an example, the at least one data collection device identifier comprises aplurality of data collection device identifiers associated with an identifier type, and the apparatus comprises: means for, in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier of the identifier type is among the plurality of data collection device identifiers of the identifier type or a received user equipment identifier of another identifier type is associated with the plurality of data collection device identifiers of the identifier type, selecting at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

[0167] As an example, the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a plurality of data collection device identifiers associated with a plurality of identifier types, and the apparatus comprises: means for, in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier of an identifier type is among the plurality of data collection device identifiers of one of the plurality of identifier types, selecting at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

[0168] As an example, the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a data collection device identifier of an identifier type, and the apparatus comprises: means for, in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier of the identifier type equals to the data collection device identifier of the identifier type, or a received user equipment identifier of another identifier type is associated with the data collection device identifier of the identifier type, selecting at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

[0169] As an example, the permanent identifier comprises an IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an IMEI type allocation code, IMEI-TAC associated with one or more data collection devices, a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an identifier of a chipset hardware model associated with one or more data collection devices, and / or a type identifier of a data collection associated with one or more data collection devices.

[0170] As an example, the semi-permanent identifier is based on a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

[0171] As an example, the temporary identifier is assigned by a vendor server based on one or more of hardware models associated with a data collection device; one or more chipset hardware models associated with a data collection device; a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device, and / or a machine learning-based datacollection and is provided by an entity owning a data collection process based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

[0172] As an example, the apparatus comprises means for carrying out other operations As an example of the method 700 or the network node 110. As an example, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

[0173] As an example, an apparatus capable of carrying out any of the method 800 (for example, the management entity 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for carrying out the respective operations of the method 800. The means may be carried out in any suitable form. For example, the means may be carried out in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be carried out as or included in the management entity 120 in FIG. 1.

[0174] As an example, the apparatus comprises means for configuring, for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; and means for transmitting, to the network node, information on the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendorspecific configuration.

[0175] As an example, the apparatus comprises means for carrying out other operations As an example of the method 800 or the management entity 120. As an example, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

[0176] As an example, an apparatus capable of carrying out any of the method 900 (for example, the user equipment 130 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for carrying out the respective operations of the method 900. The means may be carried out in any suitable form. For example, the means may be carried out in a circuitry or software module. The apparatus may be carried out as or included in the user equipment 130 in FIG. 1.

[0177] As an example, the apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; means for receiving, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the datacollection according to the one or more vendor-specific configurations.

[0178] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from the network node, a request for retrieving the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0179] As an example, the request is received from the network node through a RRC procedure, and / or a dedicated procedure associated with a retrieval of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0180] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for transmitting, to the network node, the at least one user equipment identifier through a RRC message upon a request from the network node or without the request, and / or a dedicated message for a provision of the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0181] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for requesting the at least one user equipment identifier from a vendor server.

[0182] As an example, the apparatus comprises: means for performing the data collection based on the one or more target vendor-specific configurations associated with the at least one user equipment identifier.

[0183] As an example, the at least one user equipment identifier has an identifier type of a permanent identifier that comprises an IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an IMEI type allocation code, IMEI-TAC associated with one or more data collection devices, a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an identifier of a chipset hardware model associated with one or more data collection devices, and / or a type identifier of a data collection associated with one or more data collection devices.

[0184] As an example, the at least one user equipment identifier is related to a semipermanent identifier that is based on a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

[0185] As an example, the at least one user equipment identifier has an identifier type of a temporary identifier that is assigned by a vendor server based on one or more of hardware models associated with a data collection device; one or more chipset hardware models associated with a data collection device; a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device, and / or a machine learning-based data collection and is provided by an entity owning a data collection process based on an identifier of amachine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

[0186] As an example, the apparatus comprises means for carrying out other operations As an example of the method 900 or the user equipment 130. As an example, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

[0187] FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1000 that is suitable that is suitable for carrying out examples and embodiments described above by means of FIG. 1- 6. The device 1000 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the network node 110 or the management entity 120 or the user equipment 130 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010, one or more memories 1020 coupled to the processor 1010, and one or more communication modules 1040 coupled to the processor 1010.

[0188] The communication module 1040 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1040 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. As an example, the communication module 1040 may include at least one antenna.

[0189] The processor 1010 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1000 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0190] The memory 1020 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1024, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 1022 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0191] A computer program 1030 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1010. The instructions of the program 1030 may include instructions for carrying out operations / acts of some examples of the present disclosure. The program 1030 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1024. The processor 1010 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1030 into the RAM 1022.

[0192] The examples of the present disclosure may be carried out by means of the program 1030 so that the device 1000 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 9. The examples of the present disclosure may also be carried out by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0193] As an example, the program 1030 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1000 (such as in the memory 1020) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1000. The device 1000 may load the program 1030 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1022 for execution. As an example, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0194] FIG. 11 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1100 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1100 has the program 1030 stored thereon.

[0195] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be carried out in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be carried out in hardware, and other aspects may be carried out in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be carried out in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0196] Some examples of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machineexecutable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0197] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be carried out. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0198] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0199] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing.

[0200] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be carried out in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be carried out, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be carried out in combination in a single embodiment.Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be carried out in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0201] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of carrying out the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A network node comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network node at least to: receive, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; receive, from a management entity, at least one vendor specific configuration for data collection and at least one data collection device identifier in association with at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection; determine whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is associated with the at least one data collection device identifier; in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is associated with the at least one data collection device identifier, select the user equipment for the data collection; and transmit, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection.

2. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node is caused to: transmit, to the at least one user equipment, a request for retrieving the at least one user equipment identifier from the at least one user equipment.

3. The network node of claim 2, wherein the request is transmitted to the at least one user equipment through: a radio resource control, RRC, procedure, and / or a dedicated procedure associated with a retrieval of the at least one user equipment identifier.

4. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node is caused to: receive, from the at least one user equipment, the at least one user equipment identifier through: a RRC message upon a request from the network node or without the request, and / or a dedicated message for a provision of the at least one user equipment identifier.

5. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node is caused to: receive the at least one data collection device identifier associated with at least one identifier type comprising a permanent identifier, a semi-permanent identifier, and / or a temporary identifier.

6. The network node of claim 5, wherein the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a plurality of data collection device identifiers associated with one or more identifier types, and wherein the network node is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier maps to the plurality of data collection device identifiers of at least one of the one or more identifier types, select at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

7. The network node of claim 5, wherein the at least one data collection device identifier comprises a data collection device identifier of an identifier type, and wherein the network node is caused to: in accordance with a determination that a received user equipment identifier maps to the data collection device identifier of the identifier type, select at least one user equipment associated with the received user equipment identifier for the data collection.

8. The network node of claim 5, wherein the permanent identifier comprises: international mobile equipment identities, IMEIs, associated with one or more data collection devices,an IMEI type allocation code, IMEI-TAC, associated with one or more data collection devices, a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an identifier of a chipset hardware model associated with one or more data collection devices, and / or a type identifier of a data collection associated with one or more data collection devices.

9. The network node of claim 5, wherein the semi-permanent identifier is based on a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

10. The network node of claim 5, wherein the temporary identifier is assigned by a vendor server based on: one or more of hardware models associated with a data collection device; one or more chipset hardware models associated with a data collection device; a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device, and / or a machine learning-based data collection and is provided by an entity owning a data collection process based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

11. A management entity comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the management entity at least to: configure, for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; and transmit, to the network node, information on the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifierin association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

12. A user equipment comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: transmit, to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; receive, from the network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration; and carry out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

13. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the user equipment is caused to: receive, from the network node, a request for retrieving the at least one user equipment identifier.

14. The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the request is received from the network node through: a radio resource control, RRC, procedure, and / or a dedicated procedure associated with a retrieval of the at least one user equipment identifier.

15. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the user equipment is caused to: transmit, to the network node, the at least one user equipment identifier through: a RRC message upon a request from the network node or without the request, and / or a dedicated message for a provision of the at least one user equipment identifier.

16. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the user equipment is caused to: request the at least one user equipment identifier from a vendor server.

17. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the user equipment is caused to: perform the data collection based on the one or more target vendor-specific configurations associated with the at least one user equipment identifier.

18. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the at least one user equipment identifier has an identifier type of a permanent identifier that comprises: international mobile equipment identities, IMEIs, associated with one or more data collection devices, an IMEI type allocation code, IMEI-TAC, associated with one or more data collection devices, a hashed IMEI associated with one or more data collection devices, an identifier of a chipset hardware model associated with one or more data collection devices, and / or a type identifier of a data collection associated with one or more data collection devices.

19. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the at least one user equipment identifier is related to a semi-permanent identifier that is based on a firmware and / or a firmware version associated with a data collection device.

20. The user equipment of claim 12, wherein the at least one user equipment identifier has an identifier type of a temporary identifier that is assigned by a vendor server based on: one or more of hardware models associated with a data collection device; one or more chipset hardware models associated with a data collection device; a requirement of data collection associated with a data collection device, and / ora machine learning-based data collection and is provided by an entity owning a data collection process based on an identifier of a machine learning model and / or machine learning capability.

21. A method comprising: receiving, by a network node from a management entity, information on at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendorspecific configuration; receiving, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; determining whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, selecting the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and transmitting, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendor-specific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendorspecific configuration.

22. A method comprising: configuring, by a management entity for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; and transmitting, to the network node, information on the at least one vendor-specific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

23. A method comprising: transmitting, from a user equipment to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; receiving, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the one or more vendor-specific configurations; and carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

24. A network node comprising: means for receiving, from a management entity, information on at least one vendorspecific configuration for data collection from at least one data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendorspecific configuration; means for receiving, from at least one user equipment, at least one user equipment identifier for associating the at least one user equipment with the data collection; means for determining whether the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier; means for in accordance with a determination that the at least one received user equipment identifier is among the at least one data collection device identifier, selecting the at least one user equipment for the data collection; and means for transmitting, to the at least one user equipment, the at least one vendorspecific configuration for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

25. A management entity comprising: means for configuring, for a network node, at least one vendor-specific configuration for data collection from a data collection device and at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration; andmeans for transmitting, to the network node, information on the at least one vendorspecific configuration for the data collection and the at least one data collection device identifier in association with the at least one vendor-specific configuration.

26. A user equipment comprising: means for transmitting, to a network node, at least one user equipment identifier of the user equipment for associating the user equipment with data collection; means for receiving, from the network node, one or more vendor-specific configurations allocated for the user equipment for carrying out the data collection according to the one or more vendor-specific configurations; and means for carrying out the data collection according to the at least one vendorspecific configuration.

27. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 22 or the method of claim 23 or the method of claim 24.

Images