MDT reporting method, communication device, apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an MDT reporting method, a communication device, an apparatus, and a storage medium. The method comprises: a first communication device receiving an MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device, wherein the MDT configuration comprises region range information, the region range information comprises slice information, and the indication information is used for indicating that the slice information is carried when the first communication device performs MDT reporting; and reporting MDT measurement information on the basis of the MDT configuration or the indication information, wherein the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

Description

MDT reporting method, communication device, apparatus, and storage medium

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410640541.4, filed on May 22, 2024, and entitled "MDT reporting method, communication device, apparatus, and storage medium", which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and particularly relates to an MDT reporting method, a communication device, an apparatus, and a storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0004] In a New Radio (NR) system, a network can implement network slicing by scheduling and providing different configurations, and different slices correspond to different requirements. How to enable the network to identify the real slice deployment situation through minimization of drive tests (MDT) reporting to achieve optimization of slice deployment is a technical problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0005] The present disclosure provides an MDT reporting method, a communication device, an apparatus, and a storage medium to enable the network to identify the real slice deployment situation to achieve optimization of slice deployment.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides an MDT reporting method applied to a first communication device, comprising:

[0007] receiving an MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device, wherein the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0008] reporting MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, and the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0009] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information; or,

[0010] The area range information is existing area range information.

[0011] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0012] measurement results of a cell or a beam supporting a specified slice;

[0013] measurement information of the slice.

[0014] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice comprises one or more of:

[0015] average throughput per slice;

[0016] data volume per slice;

[0017] packet loss rate per slice;

[0018] data packet delay per slice;

[0019] zero resource cell per slice.

[0020] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement triggering conditions is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0021] layer one event triggering;

[0022] periodic triggering;

[0023] out-of-coverage triggering;

[0024] slice detection triggering.

[0025] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement contents is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0026] measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices;

[0027] measurement information of the slice.

[0028] In some embodiments, the slice information comprises one or more of:

[0029] single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0030] network slice access layer group (NSAG) identifier;

[0031] NSAG slice support list.

[0032] In a second aspect, the disclosure also provides an MDT reporting method, applied to a second communication device, comprising:

[0033] sending an MDT configuration or indication information to a first communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0034] receiving MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, the MDT measurement information carrying the slice information.

[0035] In some embodiments, the area scope information is slice-based area scope information; or

[0036] The area scope information is existing area scope information.

[0037] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0038] Supporting measurement results of cells or beams designated by slices;

[0039] Measurement information of slices.

[0040] In some embodiments, the measurement information of slices includes one or more of the following:

[0041] Average throughput per slice;

[0042] Data volume per slice;

[0043] Packet loss rate per slice;

[0044] Data packet delay per slice;

[0045] Zero-resource cells per slice.

[0046] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement triggering conditions:

[0047] Layer one event triggering;

[0048] Periodic triggering;

[0049] Out-of-coverage triggering;

[0050] Detecting a slice triggering.

[0051] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents:

[0052] Supporting measurement results of cells or beams designated by slices;

[0053] Measurement information of slices.

[0054] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following:

[0055] Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0056] Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identifier;

[0057] NSAG slice support list.

[0058] In a third aspect, the present disclosure also provides a first communication device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor.

[0059] a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

[0060] receiving MDT configuration or indication information sent by the second communication device; the MDT configuration containing area range information, the area range information containing slice information, and the indication information being used to indicate the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0061] reporting MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, the MDT measurement information carrying the slice information.

[0062] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information; or,

[0063] the area range information is existing area range information.

[0064] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0065] measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices;

[0066] measurement information of the slices.

[0067] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slices includes one or more of the following:

[0068] average throughput per slice;

[0069] data volume per slice;

[0070] packet loss rate per slice;

[0071] data packet delay per slice;

[0072] zero-resource cells per slice.

[0073] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions:

[0074] layer one event triggering;

[0075] periodic triggering;

[0076] out-of-coverage triggering;

[0077] detecting a slice triggering.

[0078] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents:

[0079] measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices;

[0080] measurement information of the slice.

[0081] In some embodiments, the slice information comprises one or more of:

[0082] single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0083] network slice access group (NSAG) identifier;

[0084] NSAG slice support list.

[0085] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a second communication device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

[0086] a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

[0087] sending, to a first communication device, MDT configuration or indication information; the MDT configuration containing area scope information, the area scope information containing slice information, and the indication information being used to instruct the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0088] receiving MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, the MDT measurement information carrying the slice information.

[0089] In some embodiments, the area scope information is slice-based area scope information; or,

[0090] the area scope information is existing area scope information.

[0091] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of:

[0092] measurement results of a cell or beam supporting a specified slice;

[0093] measurement information of the slice.

[0094] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice comprises one or more of:

[0095] average throughput per slice;

[0096] data volume per slice;

[0097] packet loss rate per slice;

[0098] data packet delay per slice;

[0099] zero-resource cell per slice.

[0100] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement triggering conditions is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0101] Layer one event triggering;

[0102] Periodic triggering;

[0103] Out-of-coverage triggering;

[0104] Detection of a slice triggering.

[0105] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement contents is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0106] Supporting measurement results of a cell or a beam specified by a slice;

[0107] Measurement information of a slice.

[0108] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following:

[0109] Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0110] Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identification;

[0111] NSAG slice support list.

[0112] In a fifth aspect, the present disclosure also provides an MDT reporting device, comprising:

[0113] A first receiving unit configured to receive MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device, wherein the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0114] A reporting unit configured to report MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, wherein the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0115] Based on a slice

[0116] In a sixth aspect, the present disclosure also provides an MDT reporting device, comprising:

[0117] A sending unit configured to send MDT configuration or indication information to a first communication device, wherein the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0118] A second receiving unit configured to receive MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, wherein the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0119] Based on a slice

[0120] In a seventh aspect, the present disclosure also provides a non-transitory readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program being configured to cause a processor to perform the MDT reporting method according to the first aspect or the MDT reporting method according to the second aspect.

[0121] In an eighth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a communication device storing a computer program, the computer program being configured to cause the communication device to perform the MDT reporting method according to the first aspect or the MDT reporting method according to the second aspect.

[0122] In a ninth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program being configured to cause a processor to perform the MDT reporting method according to the first aspect or the MDT reporting method according to the second aspect.

[0123] In a tenth aspect, the present disclosure also provides a chip product storing a computer program, the computer program being configured to cause the chip product to perform the MDT reporting method according to the first aspect or the MDT reporting method according to the second aspect.

[0124] The MDT reporting method, the communication device, the apparatus and the storage medium provided by the present disclosure can send the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information to the first communication device by the second communication device, and the first communication device can carry the slice information when reporting the MDT measurement information based on the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information after receiving the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information, so that the network can identify the real slice deployment situation and realize the optimization of the slice deployment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0125] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure or the related art, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or the related art description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to these drawings without creative labor.

[0126] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of the MDT reporting method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0127] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of the MDT reporting method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0128] FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of the first communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0129] FIG. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a second communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0130] FIG. 5 is a structural schematic diagram of an MDT reporting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0131] FIG. 6 is another structural schematic diagram of an MDT reporting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0132] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean that there are three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it.

[0133] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "a plurality of" means two or more, and other quantifiers are similar.

[0134] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first", "second" are usually of the same type and do not limit the number of objects, for example, the first object can be one or more.

[0135] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0136] In order to more clearly understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, first, some technical contents related to the embodiments of the present disclosure are introduced.

[0137] 1. Network slice

[0138] In NR, the network can implement network slicing by scheduling and providing different configurations, and different slices correspond to different requirements. Services of different slices are processed through different PDU sessions, that is, each slice corresponds to a PDU session. Each slice is identified by S-NSSAI, and each S-NSSAI can be composed of two parts:

[0139] Mandatory SST (Slice / Service Type): identifies the type of slice;

[0140] Optional SD (Slice Differentiator): further distinguishes slices of the same SST.

[0141] The network can support hundreds of slices, but a terminal (or UE) can only support a maximum of 8 slices at the same time.

[0142] When the UE requests to access the network, the UE can include the requested slice information in the RRCSetupComplete message, and the network feeds back the allowed slice information and the rejected slice information to the UE in the subsequent downlink message.

[0143] It is generally considered that the deployment of slice is per TA, that is, the cells in a TA support the same slice. After enhancement in the related art, the service area of a specific slice is allowed to be inconsistent with the TA defined on the RAN side, that is, when a cell is in a TA but not in the service area of a slice, the cell can use the method of defining the cell to provide zero resources for the slice to represent the support of the cell for the slice, and the cell will not use any resource of the slice. Adjacent nodes also interactively configure the slice zero resource cell for UE to move and make decisions.

[0144] 2. MDT

[0145] 2.1 Immediate MDT

[0146] The measurement contents supported by the immediate MDT mainly include the following parts, some of which are UE measurements and some of which are base station measurements:

[0147] (1) M1: Downlink signal measurement results of a serving cell and intra-frequency / inter-frequency / inter-RAT neighbor cells. For an NR cell, the measurement results include cell or beam level measurement results.

[0148] The M1 measurement reporting contents are related to the UE, and the UE reports the following contents:

[0149] Radio resource management (RRM) measurement results (including measurement results related to a serving cell and neighbor cells);

[0150] Geographical location information;

[0151] Blue Tooth (BT) or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) measurement information;

[0152] Sensor related information, including the following: air pressure related information obtained by a terminal internal sensor, terminal motion direction information, and terminal speed direction information.

[0153] (2) M2: UE performs power headroom measurement;

[0154] (3) M3: void (long term evolution (LTE) defines received interference power measured by a base station, but there is no such definition in NR RAN1);

[0155] (4) M4: Data volume measurement, divided into downlink (DL) and uplink (UL), per DRB (Data Radio Bearer) per UE;

[0156] (5) M5: UE average throughput measurement, divided into DL and UL, for DL, per UE, for UL, per DRB per UE and per UE, measured by a base station;

[0157] (6) M6: Data packet delay measurement, divided into DL and UL, per DRB per UE;

[0158] (7) M7: Data packet loss rate measurement, DL and UL separately, per DRB per UE;

[0159] (8) M8: UE performs Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) measurement (for BT / WLAN measurement);

[0160] (9) M9: UE performs Round Trip Time (RTT) measurement (for WLAN measurement).

[0161] Immediate MDT measurement reporting trigger conditions:

[0162] For M1:

[0163] a. Event-triggered measurement reporting based on the currently existing RRM configured events A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, B1, B2.

[0164] b. Periodic, A2 event-triggered or A2 event-triggered periodic measurement reporting based on the measurement configuration indicated by MDT.

[0165] For M2: Power Headroom Report (PHR) based on the current RRM configuration.

[0166] For M4-M9: Measurement collection period ends.

[0167] 2.2 Logged (recorded) MDT

[0168] The measurement content supported by Logged MDT includes:

[0169] (1) Trace and absolute timestamp configuration parameters.

[0170] (2) Relative timestamp information.

[0171] (3) UE location information.

[0172] (4) Identity (ID) information of the serving cell associated with the recorded data;

[0173] (5) Measurement results of the serving cell associated with the recorded data, including:

[0174] Serving cell cell-level measurement results;

[0175] Identity information of the best beam of the serving cell signal quality;

[0176] Beam level measurement result of the best beam of the serving cell signal quality;

[0177] Number of beams of good serving cell signal quality.

[0178] (6) Neighbor cell measurement result, including: NR neighbor cell measurement result, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) neighbor cell measurement result.

[0179] The neighbor cell measurement result is adaptively enhanced for the interoperability between NR and LTE. For the NR neighbor cell measurement result, it also includes the number of beams of good neighbor cell signal quality data.

[0180] (7) Any Cell Selection (ACS) indication.

[0181] Logged MDT measurement event type configuration information:

[0182] (1) Periodic Logged MDT measurement event type.

[0183] (2) Event-triggered Logged MDT measurement event type, currently including two event-triggered types:

[0184] Out of Coverage (OOC) event triggering;

[0185] Layer One (L1) event triggering, the L1 event means that the serving cell signal quality is lower than a specific threshold.

[0186] 2.3 Configuration range of Immediate MDT and Logged MDT

[0187] The configuration range of Immediate MDT and Logged MDT includes:

[0188] (1) Cell based: refers to that the UE only measures in some cells.

[0189] (2) TAI (Tracking Area Identity, TAI) based: refers to that the UE only measures in some TAIs.

[0190] (3) PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN) based: refers to that the UE only measures in some PLMNs.

[0191] (4) NPN (Non-Public Network, non-public network) related based, including PNI-NPN (Public Network Integrated Non-Public Network, public network private network combination) based MDT, SNPN (Stand-alone Non-Public Network, independent non-public network) cell based MDT, SNPN TAI based MDT, SNPN based MDT.

[0192] In the related art, MDT does not support any slice-related content, which causes the network to be unable to identify the real slice deployment situation, and the UE will cause service interruption and affect performance when at a slice vulnerability or without enough slice resources. Therefore, the present disclosure provides an MDT reporting method, which enables the network to identify the real slice deployment situation to realize optimization of slice deployment.

[0193] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an MDT reporting method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is applied to a first communication device. As shown in FIG. 1, the method comprises the following steps:

[0194] Step 100: receiving MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device; the MDT configuration contains area scope information, the area scope information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0195] Specifically, the first communication device is a terminal or an access network device (for example, a base station).

[0196] In the case where the first communication device is a terminal, the second communication device is an access network device, and the terminal receives the MDT configuration or indication information sent by the access network device, the MDT configuration contains area scope information, the area scope information contains slice information (the MDT configuration is enhanced), and the indication information is used to indicate the terminal to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0197] In a case that the first communication device is an access network device, the second communication device is a core network network element and / or an Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM), the access network device receives MDT configuration or indication information sent by the core network network element and / or the OAM, the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the access network device carries the slice information when performing MDT reporting. The access network device can further send the MDT configuration or the indication information to the terminal, the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the terminal carries the slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0198] In step 101, MDT measurement information is reported based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, and the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0199] Specifically, after the first communication device receives the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information, the first communication device can report the slice information together when reporting the MDT measurement information based on the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information.

[0200] For example, the terminal carries the slice information in the MDT measurement information reported to the access network device.

[0201] For another example, the access network device carries the slice information in the MDT measurement information reported to the core network and / or the OAM.

[0202] The MDT reporting method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can send enhanced MDT configuration or indication information to the first communication device by the second communication device, and after the first communication device receives the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information, the first communication device can report the slice information together when reporting the MDT measurement information based on the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information, so that the network can identify the real slice deployment situation and thus realize the optimization of the slice deployment.

[0203] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information, or the area range information is existing area range information.

[0204] Specifically, the enhancement of the MDT configuration can have different schemes. One scheme can be to define a new area scope for the slice, and the slice information is contained in the newly defined area range information for the slice. For example, a new area scope is added to the MDT configuration, the area scope is slice based, and the area scope contains slice information. The first communication device only performs measurement within the range of the slice corresponding to the slice information.

[0205] Another solution can be to include slice information in the existing area scope information, or can be understood as combining the slice with the existing area scope, adding the slice information to the existing area scope, and the first communication device only measures within the configured existing area scope and within the configured slice (the slice corresponding to the slice information) range that supports the configured slice.

[0206] For example, the MDT combined with the slice and the existing area scope can include one or more of the following: Cell based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing cell based area scope), TAI based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing TAI based area scope), PLMN based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing PLMN based area scope), SNPN based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing SNPN based area scope), PNI-NPN based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing PNI-NPN based area scope), SNPN Cell based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing SNPN Cell based area scope), SNPN TAI based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing SNPN TAI based area scope).

[0207] Cell based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured cell range and within the configured slice cell that supports the configured slice.

[0208] TAI based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured TAI range and within the configured slice range that supports the configured slice.

[0209] PLMN based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured PLMN range and within the configured slice range that supports the configured slice.

[0210] SNPN based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured SNPN range and within the configured slice range that supports the configured slice.

[0211] PNI-NPN based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured PNI-NPN range and supports the configured slice range.

[0212] SNPN Cell based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured specific cell range of the SNPN and supports the configured slice range.

[0213] SNPN TAI based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured specific TAI range of the SNPN and supports the configured slice range.

[0214] By different MDT configuration enhancement methods, the flexibility of MDT configuration is improved.

[0215] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0216] (1) Measurement results of cells or beams supporting a specified slice.

[0217] Specifically, the specified slice refers to the slice corresponding to the slice information included in the MDT configuration, i.e., the slice configured by the network.

[0218] Supporting a cell or beam of a specified slice can also include allowing a cell or beam of a specified slice, a cell or beam available for a specified slice, and a cell or beam capable of measuring a specified slice.

[0219] The cell can be a serving cell, a neighbor cell, or a camped cell.

[0220] For example, the MDT configuration adds an area scope, which is slice based, and includes slice information slice 1. The MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device can carry measurement results of cells or beams supporting the slice 1.

[0221] For another example, the MDT configuration adds slice information in an existing area scope. Assuming it is a Cell based slice MDT, the slice information slice 1 is added in the Cell based area scope. The MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device can carry measurement results of cells or beams supporting the slice 1 within the Cell based area scope.

[0222] (2) Measurement information of a slice.

[0223] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice can be per-slice measurement information. For example, it can be the measurement information of each slice corresponding to the slice information contained in the MDT configuration, or it can be the measurement information of each slice supported by the cell or beam in the MDT measurement information.

[0224] By carrying more detailed slice-related information in the MDT measurement information, it is beneficial for the network to better optimize slice deployment.

[0225] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the following:

[0226] average throughput per slice;

[0227] data volume per slice;

[0228] packet loss rate per slice;

[0229] data packet delay per slice;

[0230] zero resource cell per slice. Wherein, the zero resource cell means that the cell resource cannot be used for a certain slice.

[0231] For example, in the case where the MDT configuration contains slice information, assuming that the slice information corresponds to slice 1 and slice 2, the first communication device can report one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 1, and one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 2.

[0232] For example, if the first communication device performs MDT reporting according to the indication information sent by the second communication device, assuming that the measurement result of cell 1 is carried in the reported MDT measurement information, and the slice supported by the cell 1 is slice 1 and slice 2, the first communication device can report one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 1, and one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 2.

[0233] The measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information per slice, which not only improves the flexibility of MDT reporting, but also enables the network to better understand the actual situation of slice deployment, thereby facilitating the network to better optimize slice deployment.

[0234] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions:

[0235] Layer one event trigger;

[0236] Periodic trigger;

[0237] Out of coverage trigger;

[0238] Detecting slice trigger.

[0239] Specifically, for the enhanced scheme that the slice information is contained in the MDT configuration, in addition to the existing measurement trigger conditions (L1 event trigger, periodic trigger, out of coverage trigger), the disclosure also introduces a new measurement trigger condition, i.e., detecting slice trigger. For example, the first communication device detects that a specific cell (such as a serving cell, a current UE camped cell, etc.) supports a specified slice, and then triggers measurement reporting (or logging).

[0240] The MDT in the disclosure can be Immediate MDT and / or Logged MDT, without limitation.

[0241] By introducing the slice-related measurement trigger condition, the MDT can more effectively report the slice-related content, thereby facilitating the network to better optimize the slice deployment.

[0242] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents:

[0243] Measurement results of a cell or a beam supporting a specified slice;

[0244] Measurement information of a slice.

[0245] Specifically, the second communication device can configure the first communication device with slice-related measurement content, and the first communication device performs measurement and reporting according to the configured measurement content. For example, the first communication device measures and reports the measurement results of a cell or a beam supporting a specified slice according to the configured measurement content, or measures and reports the measurement information of a slice according to the configured measurement content. The measurement information of a slice includes at least one of the following information: average throughput per slice, data volume per slice, packet loss rate per slice, data packet delay per slice, and zero resource cell per slice.

[0246] By configuring the slice-related measurement content, the first communication device can more effectively perform slice-related measurement and reporting, thereby facilitating the network to better optimize the slice deployment.

[0247] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following: S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list (i.e., a list of slices supported by the NSAG, including a list of slices belonging to the NSAG).

[0248] For example, the first communication device receives the MDT configuration sent by the second communication device, and the area range information of the MDT configuration includes slice information, which can be one or more of S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list. The one or more slice information can be used to identify or indicate a specific slice, and the first communication device can determine the slice configured by the network through the one or more slice information.

[0249] For another example, the MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device carries slice information, which can be one or more of S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list. The network can determine which slice information is included in the MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device according to the one or more slice information.

[0250] In some embodiments, the slice information can be a list, which includes a plurality of S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, or NSAG slice support list.

[0251] For the slice information in the MDT configuration and the slice information carried in the MDT measurement information, the identification or indication of the slice is performed through one or more of S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list. The MDT configuration and MDT reporting can have higher flexibility.

[0252] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for MDT reporting provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is applied to a second communication device. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes the following steps:

[0253] In step 200, MDT configuration or indication information is sent to a first communication device. The MDT configuration includes area range information, and the area range information includes slice information. The indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0254] In step 201, MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device is received, and the MDT measurement information carries slice information.

[0255] Specifically, the first communication device is a terminal or an access network device (for example, a base station).

[0256] In a case that the first communication device is a terminal, the second communication device is an access network device, and the terminal receives MDT configuration or indication information sent by the access network device, the MDT configuration contains area scope information, and the area scope information contains slice information (the MDT configuration is enhanced), and the indication information is used to indicate the terminal to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0257] In a case that the first communication device is an access network device, the second communication device is a core network element and / or OAM, and the access network device receives MDT configuration or indication information sent by the core network element and / or OAM, the MDT configuration contains area scope information, and the area scope information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate the access network device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting. The access network device can further send MDT configuration or indication information to the terminal, the MDT configuration contains area scope information, and the area scope information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate the terminal to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0258] After the first communication device receives the enhanced MDT configuration or indication information, the first communication device can report the slice information together with MDT measurement information based on the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information.

[0259] For example, the terminal carries the slice information in the MDT measurement information reported to the access network device.

[0260] For another example, the access network device carries the slice information in the MDT measurement information reported to the core network and / or OAM.

[0261] The MDT reporting method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can send enhanced MDT configuration or indication information to the first communication device by the second communication device, and after the first communication device receives the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information, the first communication device can report the slice information together with MDT measurement information based on the enhanced MDT configuration or the indication information, so that the network can identify the real slice deployment situation and thus optimize the slice deployment.

[0262] In some embodiments, the area scope information is slice based area scope information, or the area scope information is existing area scope information.

[0263] Specifically, the enhancement of the MDT configuration can have different schemes. One scheme can be to define a new area scope for the slice, and the slice information is contained in the newly defined area scope information for the slice. For example, the MDT configuration adds an area scope, and the area scope is slice based, which contains slice information, and the first communication device only performs measurement within the range of the slice corresponding to the slice information.

[0264] Another solution can be to include slice information in the existing area scope information, or can be understood as combining the slice with the existing area scope, adding the slice information to the existing area scope, and the first communication device only measures within the configured existing area scope and within the configured slice (the slice corresponding to the slice information) range that supports the configured slice.

[0265] For example, the MDT combined with the slice and the existing area scope can include one or more of the following: Cell based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing cell based area scope), TAI based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing TAI based area scope), PLMN based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing PLMN based area scope), SNPN based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing SNPN based area scope), PNI-NPN based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing PNI-NPN based area scope), SNPN Cell based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing SNPN Cell based area scope), SNPN TAI based slice MDT (MDT combined with the slice and the existing SNPN TAI based area scope).

[0266] Cell based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured cell range and within the configured slice cell that supports the configured slice.

[0267] TAI based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured TAI range and within the configured slice range that supports the configured slice.

[0268] PLMN based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured PLMN range and within the configured slice range that supports the configured slice.

[0269] SNPN based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured SNPN range and within the configured slice range that supports the configured slice.

[0270] PNI-NPN based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured PNI-NPN range and within the configured slice range.

[0271] SNPN Cell based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured SNPN specific cell range and within the configured slice range.

[0272] SNPN TAI based slice MDT: The first communication device only measures within the configured SNPN specific TAI range and within the configured slice range.

[0273] By different MDT configuration enhancement ways, the flexibility of MDT configuration is improved.

[0274] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0275] (1) Measurement results of cells or beams supporting a specified slice.

[0276] Specifically, the specified slice refers to a slice corresponding to the slice information included in the MDT configuration, i.e., a network-configured slice.

[0277] Supporting a specified slice of a cell or beam can also include allowing a specified slice of a cell or beam, a specified slice of an available cell or beam, a specified slice of a measurable cell or beam, etc.

[0278] The cell can be a serving cell, a neighbor cell, or a camped cell.

[0279] For example, the MDT configuration adds an area scope, which is slice based, and includes slice information slice 1. The MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device can carry measurement results of cells or beams supporting the slice 1.

[0280] For another example, the MDT configuration adds slice information in an existing area scope. Assuming it is a Cell based slice MDT, the slice information slice 1 is added in the Cell based area scope. The MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device can carry measurement results of cells or beams supporting the slice 1 within the Cell based area scope.

[0281] (2) Measurement information of a slice.

[0282] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice can be per-slice measurement information. For example, it can be the measurement information of each slice corresponding to the slice information contained in the MDT configuration, or it can be the measurement information of each slice supported by the cell or beam in the MDT measurement information.

[0283] By carrying more detailed slice-related information in the MDT measurement information, it is beneficial for the network to better optimize slice deployment.

[0284] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the following:

[0285] average throughput per slice;

[0286] data volume per slice;

[0287] packet loss rate per slice;

[0288] data packet delay per slice;

[0289] zero resource cell per slice. Wherein, the zero resource cell means that the cell resource cannot be used for a certain slice.

[0290] For example, in the case where the MDT configuration contains slice information, assuming that the slice information corresponds to slice 1 and slice 2, the first communication device can report one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 1, and one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 2.

[0291] For example, if the first communication device performs MDT reporting according to the indication information sent by the second communication device, assuming that the measurement result of cell 1 is carried in the reported MDT measurement information, and the slice supported by the cell 1 is slice 1 and slice 2, the first communication device can report one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 1, and one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information of slice 2.

[0292] The measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the average throughput, data volume, packet loss rate, data packet delay, and zero resource cell information per slice, which not only improves the flexibility of MDT reporting, but also enables the network to better understand the actual situation of slice deployment, thereby facilitating the network to better optimize slice deployment.

[0293] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions:

[0294] Layer one event trigger;

[0295] Periodic trigger;

[0296] Out-of-coverage trigger;

[0297] Detecting slice trigger.

[0298] Specifically, for the enhanced scheme that the slice information is included in the MDT configuration, in addition to the existing measurement trigger conditions (L1 event trigger, periodic trigger, out-of-coverage trigger), the disclosure also introduces a new measurement trigger condition, i.e., detecting slice trigger. For example, the first communication device detects that a specific cell (such as a serving cell, a current UE camped cell, etc.) supports a specified slice, and then triggers measurement reporting (or logging).

[0299] By introducing the slice-related measurement trigger condition, the MDT can more effectively report the slice-related content, thereby facilitating the network to better optimize the slice deployment.

[0300] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents:

[0301] Measurement results of a cell or a beam supporting a specified slice;

[0302] Measurement information of a slice.

[0303] Specifically, the second communication device can configure the first communication device with slice-related measurement content, and the first communication device performs measurement and reporting according to the configured measurement content. For example, the first communication device measures and reports the measurement results of a cell or a beam supporting a specified slice according to the configured measurement content, or measures and reports the measurement information of a slice according to the configured measurement content. The measurement information of a slice includes at least one of the following information: average throughput per slice, data volume per slice, packet loss rate per slice, data packet delay per slice, and zero-resource cell per slice.

[0304] By configuring the slice-related measurement content, the first communication device can more effectively perform slice-related measurement reporting, thereby facilitating the network to better optimize the slice deployment.

[0305] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned slice information includes one or more of the following: S-NSSAI; NSAG identifier; and NSAG slice support list (i.e., a list of slices supported by the NSAG, including a list of slices belonging to the NSAG).

[0306] For example, the first communication device receives the MDT configuration sent by the second communication device, and the slice information in the area scope information of the MDT configuration can be one or more of S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list, which can be used to identify or indicate a specific slice, and the first communication device can determine the slice configured by the network through the one or more slice information.

[0307] For another example, the MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device carries slice information, which can be one or more of S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list, and the network can determine which slice information is included in the MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device according to the one or more slice information.

[0308] In some embodiments, the above slice information can be a list containing a plurality of S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, or NSAG slice support list.

[0309] For the slice information in the MDT configuration and the slice information carried in the MDT measurement information, the identification or indication of the slice is performed through one or more of S-NSSAI, NSAG identifier, and NSAG slice support list, and the MDT configuration and MDT reporting can have higher flexibility.

[0310] The methods provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are based on the same application concept, and the implementation of each method can be referred to each other, and the repeated parts will not be described again.

[0311] The methods provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure are exemplified below through specific application scenarios.

[0312] Example 1: Defining a new area scope of MDT for a slice.

[0313] The core network and / or OAM sends the MDT configuration to the base station, and the base station can further send the MDT configuration to the UE (through RRC message, dedicated signaling, system information block (SIB), etc.), and the MDT configuration includes at least one of the following: area scope information of MDT, measurement trigger condition of the UE and / or base station, and content that needs to be measured by the UE and / or base station.

[0314] When the area scope information sent by the core network and / or OAM to the base station is “based on slice”, the slice information is included. Specifically, a new area scope is added, which is slice based, and contains slice information.

[0315] The slice information includes one or more of the following: S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, NSAG slice support list (including the list of slices belonging to the NSAG). The slice information can be a list containing multiple S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, and NSAG slice support list.

[0316] The UE and / or the base station only perform measurements within the scope of the slice (the slice corresponding to the slice information) configured.

[0317] For example, the core network and / or OAM configures the base station with an area scope of slice 1, and the base station further sends the configuration to the UE. Then, the UE and / or the base station only consider performing MDT when slice 1 can be measured.

[0318] The measurement triggering condition for the UE and / or the base station to perform MDT can be that the core network and / or OAM configures the base station with a measurement triggering condition, and the base station further sends the configuration information to the UE. The measurement triggering condition includes: L1 event triggering, periodic triggering, out-of-coverage triggering, and detection of a slice trigger.

[0319] For example, if the UE and / or the base station monitor that a specific cell supports the slice that needs to be measured (the specific cell can be interpreted as the serving cell and / or the current UE camping cell), the UE and / or the base station perform measurement reporting (or logging); or if the UE and / or the base station monitor that a specific cell supports the slice that needs to be measured (the specific cell can be interpreted as the serving cell and / or the current UE camping cell), and the L1 event / periodic / out-of-coverage triggering condition is met, the UE and / or the base station perform measurement reporting (logging).

[0320] The core network and / or OAM also sends the measurement content to the base station, i.e., the measurement content that needs to be collected by the base station / UE, which can be further sent to the UE by the base station.

[0321] The measurement content includes one or more of the following: Immediate MDT measurement quantity, Logged MDT measurement quantity, measurement result of the cell / beams supporting the slice (the slice corresponding to the slice information), per slice average throughput, per slice data volume, per slice packet loss rate, per slice packet delay, and per slice zero-resource cell.

[0322] When the UE and / or the base station reports MDT, it carries the measurement-related information and the slice information that the core network and / or OAM wants it to measure.

[0323] The measurement-related information includes at least one of the following: a measured Immediate MDT measurement quantity, a measured Logged MDT measurement quantity, a measurement result of a cell / wave beam supporting the slice, a per-slice average throughput, a per-slice data quantity, a per-slice packet loss rate, a per-slice packet delay, and a per-slice zero resource cell.

[0324] The slice information is slice information set for an area scope.

[0325] For example, the core network and / or OAM configure the base station with an area scope of slice 1, and the base station further sends the configuration to the UE, so that the UE and / or the base station should report the slice 1 measurement-related information and the slice 1 slice information.

[0326] Example 2: Adding slice information based on an existing area scope.

[0327] The core network and / or OAM send an MDT configuration to the base station, and the base station can further send the MDT configuration to the UE (through an RRC message, dedicated signaling, an SIB, etc.), and the MDT configuration includes at least one of the following: area scope information of MDT, measurement triggering conditions of the UE and / or the base station, and content to be measured by the UE and / or the base station.

[0328] When the area scope information is cell based slice MDT, the core network and / or OAM need to send slice information in addition to the cell ID contained in the cell based area scope to the base station.

[0329] The slice information includes one or more of the following: S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, and NSAG slice support list (including a list of slices belonging to the NSAG). The slice information can be a list containing multiple S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, and NSAG slice support list.

[0330] The UE and / or the base station only perform measurement on cells within the configured cell range and supporting the configured slice.

[0331] For example, the core network and / or OAM configure the base station with an area scope of cell based slice MDT, specifically cell 1-10 and slice 1, and the base station further sends the configuration to the UE, so that the UE and / or the base station only consider performing MDT on slice 1 within cell 1-10.

[0332] The measurement triggering condition for the UE and / or the base station to perform MDT can be that the core network and / or OAM configures the measurement triggering condition to the base station, the base station further sends the configuration information to the UE, and the measurement triggering condition includes: L1 event triggering, periodic triggering, and out-of-coverage triggering.

[0333] For example, if the UE and / or the base station monitor that a specific cell supports a slice that needs to be measured (the specific cell can be interpreted as a serving cell and / or a current UE camping cell), and the triggering condition of the L1 event / periodic / out-of-coverage is met, the UE and / or the base station perform measurement logging.

[0334] The core network / OAM also sends the measurement content, i.e., the measurement content that needs to be collected by the base station / UE, to the base station, which can further send it to the UE.

[0335] The measurement content includes one or more of the following: Immediate MDT measurement quantity, Logged MDT measurement quantity, measurement result of a cell / beam supporting the slice (slice information corresponds to the slice), per slice average throughput, per slice data volume, per slice packet loss rate, per slice packet delay, and per slice zero resource cell.

[0336] When the UE and / or the base station performs MDT logging, it carries the measurement-related information and the slice information that the core network and / or OAM wants it to measure.

[0337] The measurement-related information includes at least one of the following: Immediate MDT measurement quantity, Logged MDT measurement quantity, measurement result of a cell / beam supporting the slice (slice information corresponds to the slice), per slice average throughput, per slice data volume, per slice packet loss rate, per slice packet delay, and per slice zero resource cell measured in the cell area scope (configured cell range).

[0338] Note: Similar for other granularity area scopes, which will not be repeated. For example, for a TAI-based area scope, it is: report the measured Immediate MDT measurement quantity, Logged MDT measurement quantity, measurement result of a cell / beam supporting the slice (slice information corresponds to the slice), per slice average throughput, per slice data volume, per slice packet loss rate, per slice packet delay, and per slice zero resource cell in the TAI area scope (configured TAI range).

[0339] The slice information is the slice information contained in the cell based area scope.

[0340] For example, the core network and / or OAM configures the area scope of the base station as cell 1-10 and slice 1, and the base station further sends the configuration to the UE. Then the UE and / or the base station should report the slice 1 measurement related information and slice 1 slice information that can be measured in cell 1-10.

[0341] For other granularity, refer to the cell based slice MDT, the difference is:

[0342] TAI based slice MDT: According to the configuration of the core network and / or OAM, the UE / base station only measures within the configured TAI range and supports the configured slice range.

[0343] PLMN based slice MDT: According to the configuration of the core network and / or OAM, the UE / base station only measures within the configured PLMN range and supports the configured slice range.

[0344] SNPN based slice MDT: According to the configuration of the core network and / or OAM, the UE / base station only measures within the configured SNPN range and supports the configured slice range.

[0345] PNI-NPN based slice MDT: According to the configuration of the core network and / or OAM, the UE / base station only measures within the configured PNI-NPN range and supports the configured slice range.

[0346] SNPN Cell based slice MDT: According to the configuration of the core network and / or OAM, the UE / base station only measures within the configured specific cell range of the SNPN and supports the configured slice range.

[0347] SNPN TAI based slice MDT: According to the configuration of the core network and / or OAM, the UE / base station only measures within the configured specific TAI range of the SNPN and supports the configured slice range.

[0348] Example 3: Send indication information.

[0349] The core network and / or OAM sends MDT configuration to the base station, which can further send the MDT configuration to the UE (through RRC message, dedicated signaling, SIB, etc.), the MDT configuration including at least one of: area scope information of MDT, measurement triggering condition of the UE and / or the base station, and content to be measured by the UE and / or the base station. (For example 3, the area scope information of MDT is not enhanced, and the existing mechanism is used, i.e., the UE performs measurement within the configured area scope. The measurement triggering condition of the UE and / or the base station is also not enhanced, and the existing mechanism is used.)

[0350] The core network and / or OAM sends indication information to the base station, which is used to indicate that the UE and / or the base station carries slice information when performing MDT reporting. The base station sends the indication information to the UE, which is used to indicate that the UE carries slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0351] The slice information includes one or more of: S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, and NSAG slice support list (including a list of slices belonging to the NSAG). The slice information can be a list containing multiple S-NSSAI, NSAG ID, and NSAG slice support list.

[0352] The core network and / or OAM also sends measurement content to the base station, i.e., the measurement content to be collected by the base station / UE, which can be further sent to the UE by the base station.

[0353] The measurement content includes one or more of: Immediate MDT measurement quantity, Logged MDT measurement quantity, per slice average throughput, per slice data volume, per slice packet loss rate, per slice packet delay, and per slice zero resource cell.

[0354] The UE and / or the base station carries measurement-related information and slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0355] The measurement-related information includes at least one of: measured Immediate MDT measurement quantity, measured Logged MDT measurement quantity, per slice average throughput, per slice data volume, per slice packet loss rate, per slice packet delay, and per slice zero resource cell.

[0356] The slice information is the slice information corresponding to the measurement-related information.

[0357] For example, the core network and / or OAM indicates to the base station to let the base station and / or UE carry slice information when reporting MDT, and the base station further sends the indication to the UE. The UE and / or base station need to carry the slice information supported by the cell / the beam when reporting the cell / beam measurement result, such as cell 1 + the slice 1, 2, 3 supported by the cell + measurement result. When the UE and / or base station report per DRB throughput, it is per UE per slice for DL, and the UE reports per slice throughput, such as how much is the throughput of slice 1 of the UE, how much is the throughput of slice 2 of the UE, and it is per DRB per UE per slice for UL, and the UE reports per DRB per slice throughput, such as the throughput of DRB1 and the slice information slice 1 used by the DRB1, the throughput of DRB2 and the slice information used by the DRB2, and so on. The reporting of other measurement quantities is the same, and details are not described herein.

[0358] The method and device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are based on the same application concept, and the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other because the principles of the method and the device for solving problems are similar, and details are not described herein.

[0359] FIG. 3 is a structural schematic diagram of a first communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 3, the first communication device includes a memory 320, a transceiver 310 and a processor 300; wherein the processor 300 and the memory 320 can also be arranged physically separately.

[0360] The memory 320 is configured to store a computer program; and the transceiver 310 is configured to transceive data under the control of the processor 300.

[0361] Specifically, the transceiver 310 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 300.

[0362] In FIG. 3, the bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and various circuits of the one or more processors represented by the processor 300 and the memory represented by the memory 320 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage stabilizers and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, the present disclosure will not further describe them. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 310 can be multiple elements, that is, it includes a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables and other transmission media.

[0363] The processor 300 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 320 can store data used by the processor 300 when performing operations.

[0364] The processor 300 can be a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), and the processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0365] The processor 300 invokes the computer program stored in the memory 320 to execute any of the methods provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure according to the obtained executable instructions, for example:

[0366] Receiving MDT configuration or indication information sent by the second communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, the area range information contains slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0367] Reporting MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, and the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0368] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information; or,

[0369] The area range information is existing area range information.

[0370] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0371] Supporting measurement results of cells or beams of specified slices;

[0372] Measurement information of the slice.

[0373] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the following:

[0374] Average throughput per slice;

[0375] Data volume per slice;

[0376] Packet loss rate per slice;

[0377] Data packet delay per slice;

[0378] Zero-resource cell per slice.

[0379] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement triggering conditions is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0380] Layer 1 event triggering;

[0381] Periodic triggering;

[0382] Out-of-coverage triggering;

[0383] Detecting a slice triggering.

[0384] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement contents is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0385] Supporting measurement results of cells or beams of a specified slice;

[0386] Measurement information of a slice.

[0387] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following:

[0388] Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0389] Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identifier;

[0390] NSAG slice support list.

[0391] FIG. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a second communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 4, the second communication device includes a memory 420, a transceiver 410 and a processor 400; wherein the processor 400 and the memory 420 can also be arranged physically separately.

[0392] The memory 420 is configured to store a computer program; and the transceiver 410 is configured to transceive data under the control of the processor 400.

[0393] Specifically, the transceiver 410 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 400.

[0394] In FIG. 4, the bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, which are specifically linked together by various circuits of the processor 400 representing one or more processors and the memory 420 representing a memory. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage stabilizers and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, the present disclosure will not further describe them. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 410 can be a plurality of elements, i.e., including a transmitter and a receiver, which provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables and other transmission media.

[0395] The processor 400 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 420 can store data used by the processor 400 in performing operations.

[0396] The processor 400 can be a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a CPLD, and the processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0397] The processor 400, by invoking a computer program stored in the memory 420, is configured to perform any of the methods provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure according to the executable instructions obtained, for example:

[0398] The MDT configuration or indication information is sent to the first communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, and the area range information contains slice information; the indication information is used to indicate the first communication device to carry the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0399] The MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device is received, and the MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0400] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information; or,

[0401] The area range information is existing area range information.

[0402] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0403] Supporting measurement results of cells or beams of specified slices;

[0404] Measurement information of the slice.

[0405] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the following:

[0406] Average throughput per slice;

[0407] Data volume per slice;

[0408] Packet loss rate per slice;

[0409] Data packet delay per slice;

[0410] Zero-resource cell per slice.

[0411] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions:

[0412] Layer one event triggering;

[0413] Periodic triggering;

[0414] Out-of-coverage triggering;

[0415] A slice is detected.

[0416] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement contents is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0417] Measurement results of a cell or a beam that supports a specified slice;

[0418] Measurement information of a slice.

[0419] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following:

[0420] Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0421] Network slice access group (NSAG) identification;

[0422] A NSAG slice support list.

[0423] It should be noted that the first communication device and the second communication device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps achieved by the method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. Therefore, the same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0424] FIG. 5 is a structural schematic diagram of an MDT reporting device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the device includes:

[0425] A first receiving unit 500 is configured to receive an MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device. The MDT configuration contains area range information, and the area range information contains slice information. The indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries the slice information when performing MDT reporting.

[0426] A reporting unit 510 is configured to report MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information. The MDT measurement information carries the slice information.

[0427] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information; or,

[0428] The area range information is existing area range information.

[0429] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0430] Measurement results of a cell or a beam that supports a specified slice;

[0431] Measurement information of a slice.

[0432] In some embodiments, the measurement information of the slice includes one or more of the following:

[0433] average throughput per slice;

[0434] data volume per slice;

[0435] packet loss rate per slice;

[0436] packet delay per slice;

[0437] zero resource cell per slice.

[0438] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement triggering conditions is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0439] layer one event triggering;

[0440] periodic triggering;

[0441] out-of-coverage triggering;

[0442] slice detection triggering.

[0443] In some embodiments, one or more of the following measurement contents is configured in the MDT configuration:

[0444] measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices;

[0445] measurement information of slices.

[0446] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following:

[0447] single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0448] network slice access layer group (NSAG) identifier;

[0449] NSAG slice support list.

[0450] FIG. 6 is a second structural schematic diagram of an MDT reporting device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the device includes:

[0451] a sending unit 600 configured to send an MDT configuration or indication information to a first communication device, the MDT configuration containing area range information, the area range information containing slice information, and the indication information being used to indicate that the first communication device carries the slice information when performing MDT reporting;

[0452] a second receiving unit 610 configured to receive MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, the MDT measurement information carrying the slice information.

[0453] In some embodiments, the area range information is slice-based area range information; or,

[0454] the area range information is existing area range information.

[0455] In some embodiments, the MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following:

[0456] Measurement results of cells or beams of a specified slice;

[0457] Measurement information of a slice.

[0458] In some embodiments, the measurement information of a slice includes one or more of the following:

[0459] Average throughput per slice;

[0460] Data volume per slice;

[0461] Packet loss rate per slice;

[0462] Data packet delay per slice;

[0463] Zero-resource cells per slice.

[0464] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement triggering conditions:

[0465] Layer one event triggering;

[0466] Periodic triggering;

[0467] Out-of-coverage triggering;

[0468] Detection of a slice triggering.

[0469] In some embodiments, the MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents:

[0470] Measurement results of cells or beams of a specified slice;

[0471] Measurement information of a slice.

[0472] In some embodiments, the slice information includes one or more of the following:

[0473] Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);

[0474] Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identification;

[0475] NSAG slice support list.

[0476] It should be noted that the division of the units in the embodiments of the present disclosure is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present disclosure can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0477] When the integrated unit is realized in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present disclosure, essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions to make a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present disclosure. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0478] It should be noted that the above device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps achieved by the method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. The same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments in the embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0479] On the other hand, the embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a non-transitory readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. The computer program is used to make a processor execute the MDT reporting method provided by each of the above embodiments.

[0480] It should be noted that the non-transitory readable storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can realize all the method steps achieved by the method embodiments and achieve the same technical effects. The same parts and beneficial effects of the method embodiments in the embodiments will not be described in detail.

[0481] The non-transitory readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a computer, including but not limited to a magnetic storage (e.g., floppy diskette, hard disk, tape, MO, etc.), an optical storage (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and a semiconductor storage (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, NAND FLASH, SSD, etc.), etc.

[0482] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, the applicable systems can be global system of mobile communication (GSM) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) general packet radio service (GPRS) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) systems, universal mobile systems (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) systems, 5G new radio (NR) systems, etc. The various systems all include terminal devices and network devices. The system can also include a core network part, such as an evolved packet system (EPS), a 5G system (5GS), etc.

[0483] The terminal involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can refer to a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, etc. In different systems, the name of the terminal can also be different, for example, in the 5G system, the terminal can be called user equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device can communicate with one or more core networks (CN) through a radio access network (RAN), and the wireless terminal device can be a mobile terminal device, such as a mobile phone (or called "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal device, for example, it can be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchanges language and / or data with the radio access network. For example, personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. The wireless terminal device can also be called a system, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, an access point, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0484] The access network device involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be a base station, which can include multiple cells serving terminals. According to different application scenarios, the base station can also be called an access point, or can be a device in an access network that communicates with wireless terminal devices through one or more sectors over an air interface, or other names. The network device can be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets as a router between wireless terminal devices and the rest of the access network, which can include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The access network device can also coordinate the management of the properties of the air interface. For example, the access network device involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be an access network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and can also be an access network device (NodeB) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and can also be an evolved access network device (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a next generation system (next generation system), and can also be a Home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a femto, a pico, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure. In some network structures, the access network device can include a centralized unit (CU) node and a distributed unit (DU) node, and the centralized unit and the distributed unit can also be arranged geographically apart.

[0485] The access network device and the terminal can each use one or more antennas for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission, which can be single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) or multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). According to the shape and number of the root antenna combination, the MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, and can also be diversity transmission or precoding transmission or beamforming transmission, etc.

[0486] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the disclosure can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Accordingly, the disclosure can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the disclosure can take the form of a computer program product on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, and optical storage) embodying computer-usable program code.

[0487] The disclosure is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams according to the embodiments of the disclosure. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and the combination of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams can be implemented by computer executable instructions. These computer executable instructions can be provided to a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus produce a device that implements the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0488] These processor executable instructions can also be stored in a processor readable memory that can direct the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the processor readable memory produce a manufactured product including instruction devices that implement the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0489] These processor executable instructions can also be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that a series of operation steps are performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0490] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the disclosure cover the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for minimum drive test (MDT) reporting, applied to a first communication device, comprising: receiving MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device, wherein the MDT configuration comprises area scope information, the area scope information comprises slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting; and reporting MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, wherein the MDT measurement information carries slice information. The area scope information is slice-based area scope information; or The area scope information is existing area scope information.

2. The MDT reporting method of claim 1, wherein, The MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; 3. The MDT reporting method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, Measurement information of slices. The measurement information of slices comprises one or more of the following: Average throughput per slice; 4. The MDT reporting method of claim 3, wherein, Data volume per slice; Packet loss rate per slice; Data packet delay per slice; Zero-resource cells per slice. The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions: Layer one event triggering; 5. The MDT reporting method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, Periodic triggering; Out-of-coverage triggering; Slice detection triggering. The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; 6. The MDT reporting method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, Measurement information of slices. The slice information comprises one or more of the following: Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); 7. The MDT reporting method of claim 1, wherein, Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identification; NSAG slice support list. 8.A method for minimum drive test (MDT) reporting, applied to a second communication device, comprising: sending MDT configuration or indication information to a first communication device, wherein the MDT configuration comprises area scope information, the area scope information comprises slice information, and the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting; and receiving MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, wherein the MDT measurement information carries slice information. The area scope information is slice-based area scope information; or The area scope information is existing area scope information. The MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; 9. The MDT reporting method of claim 8, wherein, Measurement information of slices. The measurement information of slices comprises one or more of the following:

10. The MDT reporting method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein, Average throughput per slice; Data volume per slice; Packet loss rate per slice; 11. The MDT reporting method of claim 10, wherein, Data packet delay per slice; Zero-resource cells per slice. The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions: Layer one event triggering; Periodic triggering; Out-of-coverage triggering; 12. The MDT reporting method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein, Slice detection triggering. The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; Measurement information of slices. The slice information comprises one or more of the following:

13. The MDT reporting method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein, Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identification; NSAG slice support list.

14. The MDT reporting method of claim 8, wherein, 15.A first communication device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor; the memory is used to store a computer program; ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ The transceiver is used for transceiving data under the control of the processor; the processor is used for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations: Receiving a minimum route test (MDT) configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, and the area range information contains slice information; the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting; Reporting MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, and the MDT measurement information carries slice information.

16. The first communication device of claim 15, wherein, The area range information is slice-based area range information; or The area range information is existing area range information.

17. The first communication device as claimed in claim 15 or 16, wherein, The MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; Measurement information of slices.

18. The first communication device of claim 17, wherein, The measurement information of the slices includes one or more of the following: Average throughput per slice; Data volume per slice; Packet loss rate per slice; Data packet delay per slice; Zero-resource cells per slice.

19. The first communication device as claimed in claim 15 or 16, wherein, The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions: Layer one event triggering; Periodic triggering; Out-of-coverage triggering; Slice detection triggering.

20. The first communication device of claim 15 or 16, wherein, The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; Measurement information of slices.

21. The first communication device of claim 15, wherein, The slice information includes one or more of the following: Single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); Network slice access layer group (NSAG) identification; NSAG slice support list.

22. A second communication device, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor; The memory is used for storing a computer program; The transceiver is used for transceiving data under the control of the processor; the processor is used for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations: Sending a minimum route test (MDT) configuration or indication information to a first communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, and the area range information contains slice information; the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting; Receiving MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, and the MDT measurement information carries slice information.

23. The second communication device of claim 22, wherein, The area range information is slice-based area range information; or The area range information is existing area range information.

24. The second communication device of claim 22 or 23, wherein, The MDT measurement information further carries one or more of the following: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; Measurement information of slices.

25. The second communication device of claim 24, wherein, The measurement information of the slices includes one or more of the following: Average throughput per slice; Data volume per slice; Packet loss rate per slice; Data packet delay per slice; Zero-resource cells per slice.

26. The second communication device of claim 22 or 23, wherein, The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement trigger conditions: Layer one event triggering; Periodic triggering; Out-of-coverage triggering; Slice detection triggering.

27. The second communication device of claim 22 or 23, wherein, The MDT configuration configures one or more of the following measurement contents: Measurement results of cells or beams supporting specified slices; Measurement information of slices.

28. The second communication device of claim 22, wherein, The slice information includes one or more of the following: Single-network slice selection assistance information, S-NSSAI; Network slice access group, NSAG, identifier; NSAG slice support list.

29. An MDT reporting apparatus, comprising: a first receiving unit, configured to receive MDT configuration or indication information sent by a second communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, and the area range information contains slice information; the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting; a reporting unit, configured to report MDT measurement information based on the MDT configuration or the indication information, and the MDT measurement information carries slice information.

30. An MDT reporting apparatus, comprising: a sending unit, configured to send MDT configuration or indication information to a first communication device; the MDT configuration contains area range information, and the area range information contains slice information; the indication information is used to indicate that the first communication device carries slice information when performing MDT reporting; a second receiving unit, configured to receive MDT measurement information reported by the first communication device, and the MDT measurement information carries slice information.

31. A non-transitory readable storage medium, the non-transitory readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program being used to make a processor execute the method in any one of claims 1 to 7, or execute the method in any one of claims 8 to 14.

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