Coordination of measurements between radio access network intelligent controllers and application servers

Abstract

A method in a first network node is described. The first network node is configured to coordinate with the at least second network node an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and additional information. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one user equipment (UE). The method includes one or both of transmitting first information to the second network node and receiving second information from the second network node. The first information is about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node, and the second information is about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node. The method also includes performing one or more first coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

Description

[0001] COORDINATION OF MEASUREMENTS BETWEEN RADIO ACCESS NETWORK INTELLIGENT CONTROLLERS AND APPLICATION SERVERS

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to management of measurements associated with radio access network (RAN) intelligent controllers (RICs) and application servers.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed and is developing standards for Fourth Generation (4G) (also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) wireless communication systems. Such systems provide, among other features, broadband communication between network nodes, such as base stations, and mobile user equipments (UE), as well as communication between network nodes and between UEs. The 3GPP is also developing standards for Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication networks.

[0006] Quality of Service vs Quality of Experience measurements

[0007] Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) may refer to two measures for the quality of a telecommunication service / application running on top of a network infrastructure. In a RAN, QoS and QoE measurements may be used to actively monitor and control the quality of the services and / or applications offered by the network to its end users, i.e., user equipments (UEs). While QoS measurements (e.g., throughput, packet-loss etc.) may be collected at the radio and transport layers of the network, the QoE measurements (e.g., application layer buffer levels, round-trip times etc.) may be collected at the application layer of the UE.

[0008] In general, it may be assumed that, when the network ensures a good QoS for the services running on the network infrastructure, the end-users also perceive a good quality of experience (i.e., QoE) at the application layer. However, this inter-dependence does not always hold in the context of certain applications. That is, a good QoS does not necessarily imply a good QoE for the end users. An example is video conferencing applications where simple QoS metrics such as throughput may not translate into good video conferencing experience.

[0009] Both QoS and QoE measurements are standardized by the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP). Nevertheless, while QoS and radio related measurements maybe gathered by the RAN independently from the user applications running on top of the UE devices (e.g., via Radio Resource Control (RRC) measurements at the radio layer), gathering QoE related measurements from the application layer is not trivial. Further, collecting application layer measurements (e.g., QoE measurements) to optimize the network performance, requires standardization, since cooperation from the user applications running on the UE device may be required for the exposure of QoE measurements (collected at the UE’s application layer). This, in general, translates into a tedious standardization process for agreeing which QoE measurements are valuable to collect from the UE for network optimization.

[0010] In addition, with respect to QoE measurements, the 3 GPP specifications may describe the collection of QoE measurements from the application layer of the UE and their reporting to the network. Further, 3GPP has specified RAN Visible QoE (RVQoE) measurements, in which the QoE measurement results are reported to the RAN. One reason for introduction of RVQoE measurements is that the RAN can correlate these QoE measurement results with QoS measurement results and / or radio measurements and perform suitable reconfiguration of the RAN to ensure both QoS and QoE are delivered as expected.

[0011] The application servers, i.e., providers to services to the end-users / UEs, may also collect different application specific QoE data from the application client software running on the UE devices, mostly performed in a proprietary manner, i.e., in non-standardized manner. An example may be a video streaming service collecting QoE related information from the video streaming clients to determine the observed QoE at the client side and to make changes to video streams accordingly, e.g., changing codecs or video stream resolution to improve the users’ QoE. The process of QoE-related data gathering at the application servers, however, is proprietary, i.e., transparent to the RAN and the mobile operator’s network, since all application layer information, including these QoE related measurements, is carried as communication payload (e.g., as user plane data) across the network. Borrowing the User-Plane (UP) and Control-Plane (CP) analogy in the RAN for user applications, e.g., video conferencing applications, then the actual audio and video streams would be mapped to UP traffic between the client application and application server while the QoE related measurements collected as part of that service would map to CP traffic meant to adapt the audio and video streams for better QoE.

[0012] FIG. 1 shows example CP and UP streams that a UE may have with a first network node (e.g., RAN / gNB) and a second network node (e.g., one or more application servers).In a first step, a UE, on start-up, establishes connectivity via a CP connection with the first network node (gNB) and, in a second step, the UE uses the network resources to establish a UP connection with application servers, e.g., video streaming servers, AR / VR servers, etc. The connection with the second network node may be viewed as comprising both UP and CP since both application data streams as well as application layer measurements such as QoE measurements may be transmitted over that same connection.

[0013] O-RAN Overview

[0014] FIG. 2 shows an example Open RAN (O-RAN) architecture. In the O-RAN architecture, extended Applications (xApps) are defined as third party applications that run on near real time RIC (Near-RT RIC) framework to provide value-added functionality for RAN performance optimization, such as better traffic steering, better QoS management, etc. FIG. 3 shows example O-RAN Near-RT RIC architecture and interfaces.

[0015] xApps may use the services offered by an open interface between two points (i. e. , E2 interface) using E2 Application Protocol (E2AP), to control the functionality of the RAN nodes (O-RAN Central Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP), O-RAN Central Unit User Plane (O-CU-UP), O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU), etc.) for the RAN performance optimization. xApps interact with the Near-RT RIC platform using Near-RT RIC Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and run as cloud-native applications on the O-RAN defined O-Cloud platform.

[0016] Further, the application layer measurements may provide an indication of user experience for the services delivered by the network. Application providers may be using proprietary mechanisms for collecting application layer measurements from the UE. In these frameworks, application layer measurements may be configured by the application provider, and results are sent from the UE to the application server via the user plane, without exposing these results to the network operator. That is, the 3GPP framework for application layer measurements (which is managed by the network operator), and the application provider’s corresponding framework, may be mutually isolated. Such lack of interaction between the control loop of application provider and the control loop of the network operator is at least suboptimal, where the network operator provides the network infrastructure for delivering to the user the content provided by the application provider.

[0017] In addition, the specified application layer measurements are strictly for the downlink (DL), i.e., executed at the UE for the DL traffic received by the UE. However, applications where a significant portion of traffic is or will be uplink (UL) are emerging,e.g., Augmented Reality (AR) and Extended Reality (XR).

[0018] RVQoE measurements for the UL traffic may also need to be performed. Taking RVQoE measurements, as an example, executing such measurements for the UL may require the measurements to be conducted outside the RAN, such as by an application server on the internet, operator’s media service cloud or at the peer user (e.g., a fellow video gamer) side. Meanwhile, the UL traffic may be carried by the RAN. That is, the RAN may impact the QoE for the UL traffic.

[0019] SUMMARY

[0020] Some embodiments advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for management of measurements associated with radio access network (RAN) intelligent controllers (RICs) and application servers.

[0021] To provide to a predetermined end user experience, one or more or all applicationlevel entities involved in an application session (e.g., the local end client, the remote end application server or peer application client) and the relevant network entities, such as the RAN or the Near-RT RIC may need to interact, which is not described in current specifications.

[0022] One or more embodiments provide a framework for QoE measurement coordination between mobile network entities (i.e., network nodes, UE, etc.). In some embodiments, the mobile network entities include a RAN entity (e.g., the gNB), a Near-RT RIC, and an application server. On or more embodiments enable configuring and collecting QoE / RVQoE measurements on the UL.

[0023] Some embodiments provide an exchange of information related to RVQoE measurement collection between the RAN (e.g., the gNB), the Near-RT RIC and some of the application-level entities involved in an application session (the local end client, the remote end application server or peer application client). Some other embodiments provide executing or performing UL QoE / RVQoE measurements, and exchanging the related information between the entities, which provides optimization of the user experience.

[0024] In current QoE / RVQoE frameworks, application layer measurements on the UL, if any, are conducted at the application server, but the results are not exposed to the RAN / Near-RT RIC. That is, the application server and the RAN / Near-RT RIC do not directly cooperate for the purpose of UL QoE optimization. By exposing the results of UL RVQoE measurements to the RAN and the Near-RT RIC, the RAN and the Near-RT RICcan make educated decisions about reconfiguring the RAN, e.g., for the purpose of UL QoE optimization.

[0025] In addition, conventional RAN / Near-RT RIC do not expose to the application server the changes in the data transport properties, such as expected bit rate changes due to scheduling priority changes, throttling changes, etc. That is, conventional applications, such as, e.g., video streaming applications, inherently perform stream adaptations based on the application data they receive and take measures in a reactive manner. Providing radio level information to an application server can provide proactive adaptations, which may be faster and better than conventional processes.

[0026] According to one aspect, a method in a first network node is described. The first network node is configured to communicate with at least a second network node and to coordinate with the at least second network node an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or more measurements are associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one user equipment (UE). The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. The method includes one or both of transmitting first information to the second network node and receiving second information from the second network node. The first information is about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node, and the second information is about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node. The method also includes performing one or more first coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

[0027] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting an enrollment request to the second network node, where the enrollment request requests the second network node to enroll in reception of the first information from the first network node via a first communication interface and transmission of the second information to the first network node via the first communication interface.

[0028] In some other embodiments, the first communication interface is an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.

[0029] In some embodiments, the method further includes discovering, via a core network node, that the second network node is configured for the at least one application session.In some other embodiments, the UE has a first application session established with the second network node and a second application session established with a third network node. The first application session and the second application session are subject to the one or more measurements, and the method further includes performing only one first coordination action between the first network node and one or both of the second network node and the third network node.

[0030] In some embodiments, the one or more first coordination actions include collecting one or both of the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement in uplink for the at least one application session and deducing, based on the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement in uplink, and at least one third measurement in downlink for the at least one application session.

[0031] In some other embodiments, the method further includes receiving a first indication indicating a start of the at least one application session, and in response to the first indication, retrieving third information from the second network node.

[0032] In some embodiments, the third information is retrieved via an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.

[0033] In some other embodiments, the method further includes transmitting a coordination request including one or more of: (A) a first query requesting the second network node to indicate whether the second network node is capable of performing at least one uplink measurement associated with the one or more quality parameters; (B) a measurement request requesting the second network node to perform the at least one uplink measurement; (C) a second indication indicating an availability of one or more downlink measurements and a second query requesting one or more measurement results corresponding to the downlink measurements; (D) at least one identifier identifying at least the UE conducting at least a fourth measurement; (E) radio-level information related to the UE; and (F) a third query requesting a confirmation whether the radio-level information is to be aligned or correlated with the one or more measurements.

[0034] In some embodiments, the first information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one first measurement performed in downlink, and the second information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one second measurement performed in uplink.

[0035] In some other embodiments, the one or more first coordination actions include making an adjustment to a communication parameter to cause the at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold.In some embodiments, the first network node includes one or more of: (A) a nearReal Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC); (B) a RAN network node; and (C) an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) application, where the O-RAN application includes one or more O-RAN xApps. Further, the second network node includes an application server.

[0036] In some other embodiments, the method further includes receiving an action request requesting the first network node to perform at least one first coordination action based on one or more of: (A) which Radio Access Network (RAN) network node is configured to perform a reconfiguration of itself or a configuration of the UE; (B) which near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) is to reconfigure an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP); and (C) which O-CU-CP is configured to reconfigure the UE.

[0037] In some embodiments, the method further includes one or both of: (A) reconfiguring, requesting, or recommending a Radio Access Network (RAN) network node to reconfigure itself or the UE; and (B) configuring, requesting, or recommending an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP) to reconfigure itself or the UE.

[0038] In some other embodiments, one or more of: (A) the at least one application session is established between the second network node and the UE; (B) the one or more measurements are performed in one or both of uplink and downlink; and (C) the one or more quality parameters include one or both of Quality of Experience (QoE), and Radio Access Network (RAN) Visible QoE (RVQoE).

[0039] According to another aspect, a first network node is described. The first network node is configured to communicate with at least a second network node and to coordinate with the at least second network node an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or more measurements are associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one user equipment (UE). The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. The first network node being configured to perform any one of the steps of the method implemented in the first network node.

[0040] According to one aspect, a method in a second network node is described. The second network node is configured to communicate with at least a first network node and to coordinate with the at least first network node an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or moremeasurements are associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one user equipment (UE). The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. The method includes one or both of receiving first information from the first network node and transmitting second information to the first network node. The first information is about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node, and the second information is about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node. The method also includes performing one or more second coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

[0041] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving an enrollment request requesting the second network node to enroll in reception of the first information from the first network node via a first communication interface and transmission of the second information to the first network node via the first communication interface.

[0042] In some other embodiments, the first communication interface is an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.

[0043] In some embodiments, the UE has a first application session established with the second network node and a second application session established with a third network node. The first application session and the second application session are subject to the one or more measurements. The method further includes performing only one second coordination action between the first network node and the second network node.

[0044] In some other embodiments, the UE and another UE are peer UEs having one application session established with the second network node and a fourth network node, respectively.

[0045] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting a first indication indicating a start of the at least one application session and providing third information to the first network node.

[0046] In some other embodiments, the third information is retrieved via an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.

[0047] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving a coordination request including one or more of: (A) a first query requesting the second network node to indicate whether the second network node is capable of performing at least one uplink measurement associated with the one or more quality parameters; (B) a measurementrequest requesting the second network node to perform the at least one uplink measurement; (C) a second indication indicating an availability of one or more downlink measurements and a second query requesting one or more measurement results corresponding to the downlink measurements; (C) at least one identifier identifying at least the UE conducting at least a fourth measurement; (E) radio-level information related to the UE; and (F) a third query requesting a confirmation whether the radio-level information is to be aligned or correlated with the one or more measurements. A coordination response is transmitted based on the coordination request.

[0048] In some other embodiments, the first information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one first measurement performed in downlink, and the second information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one second measurement performed in uplink.

[0049] In some embodiments, the one or more second coordination actions include making an adjustment to a communication parameter and an application session parameter to cause the at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold and reconfiguring an application client of the UE.

[0050] In some other embodiments, the first network node includes one or more of: (A) a near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC); (B) a RAN network node; and (C) an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) application, where the O-RAN application includes one or more O-RAN xApps; and the second network node includes an application server.

[0051] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting an action request requesting the first network node to perform at least one first coordination action based on one or more of: (A) which Radio Access Network (RAN) network node is configured to perform a reconfiguration of itself or a configuration of the UE; (B) which near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) is to reconfigure an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP); and (C) which O-CU-CP is configured to reconfigure the UE.

[0052] In some other embodiments, one or more of: (A) the at least one application session is established between the second network node and the UE; (B) the one or more measurements are performed in one or both of uplink and downlink; and (C) the one or more quality parameters include one or both of Quality of Experience, QoE, and Radio Access Network (RAN) Visible QoE (RVQoE).According to another aspect, a second network node is described. The second network node is configured to communicate with at least a first network node and to coordinate with the at least first network node an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or more measurements being associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one user equipment (UE). The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. The second network node is configured to perform any one of the steps of the method implemented in the second network node.

[0053] According to one aspect, a system includes at least a first network node, a second network node, and user equipment (UE). At least the first network node and the second network node are configured to coordinate an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or more measurements are associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one UE. The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. The UE is configured to establish the at least one application session with the second network node. The first network node is configured to transmit first information to the second network node and receive second information from the second network node. The first information is about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node and performed in downlink. The second information is about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node and performed in uplink. The first network node is also configured to perform one or more first coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, the first information and the second information. The second network node is configured to receive the first information from the first network node and transmit the second information to the first network node and perform one or more second coordination actions based on the at least one quality parameter, the quality parameter threshold, the first information and the second information. The one or more first coordination actions and the one or more second coordination actions include making an adjustment to one or both of a communication parameter and an application session parameter to cause at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold.

[0054] According to another aspect, a computer program including one or more Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) xApps is described. The one or more O-RAN xAppsinclude instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to carry out the method according to the method implemented in the first network node.

[0055] According to one aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is described. The computer-readable storage medium stores an executable computer program comprising one or more Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, xApps, that, when executed by processing circuitry causes the processing circuitry to one or both perform and control a method implemented in the first network node.

[0056] According to another aspect, a computer program including one or more Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) xApps is described. The one or more O-RAN xApps include instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to carry out the method according to the method implemented in the second network node.

[0057] According to one aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is described. The computer-readable storage medium stores an executable computer program comprising one or more Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, xApps, that, when executed by processing circuitry causes the processing circuitry to one or both perform and control a method implemented in the second network node.

[0058] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0060] FIG. 1 shows example CP and UP streams associated with a UE, a first network node, and a second network node;

[0061] FIG. 2 shows an example O-RAN architecture;

[0062] FIG. 3 shows example O-RAN Near-RT RIC architecture and interfaces;

[0063] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example network architecture illustrating a communication system according to principles disclosed herein;

[0064] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network node in communication with a user equipment over a wireless connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0065] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example virtualization environmentaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0066] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process in a first network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0067] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example process in a second network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0068] FIG. 9 shows an example coordination method between components of a system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0069] FIG. 10 shows example interactions among O-RAN nodes over O-RAN interfaces according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0070] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to management of measurements associated with radio access network (RAN) intelligent controllers (RICs) and application servers. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

[0072] As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0073] In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling,infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication.

[0074] In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and / or wireless connections.

[0075] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0076] The term “network node” used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multistandard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), application server, software applications (xApps rApps, etc.), RAN intelligent Controller (RIC) (e.g., non-Real Time RIC (non-RT RIC), near-Real Time RIC (near-RT RIC), etc ), interface nodes (e g., E2 Node), CU (e.g., CU-CP, O-CU-CP, gNB-CU-CP, CU-UP, O-CU-UP, gNB-CU-UP, etc.), DU, etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a user equipment (UE) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.

[0077] In some embodiments, the term “near-RT RIC” may refer to an O-RAN near-realtime RAN Intelligent Controller which may be a logical function that enables near-realtime control and optimization of O-RAN elements and resources, e.g., via fine-graineddata collection and actions over E2 interface. In some other embodiments, the term “non-RT RIC” may refer to an O-RAN non-real-time RAN Intelligent Controller which may be a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, AI / ML workflow including model training and updates, and policy -based guidance of applications / features in near-RT RIC. In some embodiments, near-RT RIC and non-RT RIC may be implemented using hardware and / or software.

[0078] In some other embodiments, O-CU may refer to an O-RAN Central Unit which may be a logical node hosting various protocols such as RRC, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols. In some embodiments, O-CU-CP may refer to O-RAN Central Unit - Control Plane which may be a logical node hosting the RRC and the control plane part of the PDCP protocol. In some embodiments, O-CU-UP may refer to O-RAN Central Unit - User Plane which may be a logical node hosting the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol. In some other embodiments, O-DU may refer to O-RAN Distributed Unit which may be a logical node hosting RLC / MAC / High-PHY layers based on a lower layer functional split. Any of the O-CU, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, and O-DU may be implemented using hardware and / or software.

[0079] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The UE herein can be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another UE over radio signals, such as a wireless device (WD). The UE may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and / or low-complexity UE, a sensor equipped with UE, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, or a Narrowband loT (NB-IOT) device etc.

[0080] Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of a base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

[0081] Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or New Radio (NR) and / or 6G, may be used in this disclosure,this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. It is contemplated that other 3GPP systems may make use of the concepts and arrangements disclosed herein. For example, a disclosure relating to NR may also be implementable in a 6G system and / or an LTE system, a disclosure relating to 6G may also be implementable in a NR and / or LTE system, and a disclosure relating to LTE may also be implementable in a NR and / or 6G system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure. Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a user equipment or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of user equipments and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and user equipment described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.

[0082] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0083] Referring again to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 4 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, according to an embodiment, such as a 3 GPP-type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G), which comprises an access network 12, such as a radio access network (RAN) 12, and a core network 14. The access network 12 comprises a plurality of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as network nodes 16), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas 18). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 over a wired or wireless connection 20. A first user equipment (UE) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 16a. A second UE 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16b. While a plurality of UEs 22a, 22b (collectively referredto as user equipments 22) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding network node 16. Note that although only two UEs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more UEs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0084] Also, it is contemplated that a UE 22 can be in simultaneous communication and / or configured to separately communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16. For example, a UE 22 can have dual connectivity with a network node 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different network node 16 that supports NR. As an example, UE 22 can be in communication with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR / NG-RAN.

[0085] A network node 16 is configured to include a node management unit 24 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., network node functions. A user equipment 22 is configured to include a UE management unit 26 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., UE functions.

[0086] Further, any of the radio access network 12 (and / or its components such as network nodes 16 and / or UEs 22) and / or core network 14 may be in communication with network 15. Network 15 may be a remote network such as a cloud network. Although not shown, any of core network 14 and network 15 may include one or more network nodes 16 (and / or UEs 22).

[0087] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE 22 and network node 16 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 5.

[0088] The communication system 10 includes a network node 16 provided in a communication system 10. Network node 16 includes hardware 28 enabling it to communicate with the UE 22. The hardware 28 may include a radio interface 30 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 32 with a UE 22 located in a coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. The radio interface 30 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 30 includes an array of antennas 34 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves. The hardware 28 may also include a communication interface 31 for setting up and maintaining at least awireless / wired connection with a UE 22 and / or other network nodes 16. Any one of the radio interface 30 and communication interface 31 may include any of the interfaces shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, e.g., Al, El, E2, Fl-c, Fl-u, NG-u, NG-c, 01, 02, X2-u, X2-c, Xn-u, Xn-c, Yl, and / or any other interface. For example, the Y1 interface may refer to an interface between the Near-RT RIC and other functions or entities denoted as ‘Yl consumers”, which may be internal and / or external functions or entities.

[0089] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 28 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may include a processor 38 and a memory 40. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 36 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 38 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) the memory 40, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0090] The hardware 28 of the network node 16 further includes application server 100 and / or RIC 102 and / or interface node 104 and / or CU 106 (which may include CU-CP 108 and / or CU-UP 110) and / or DU 112. Application server 100 may be configured as a service provider and provide a service to UE 22 and / or collect different application specific QoE data from the application client running on the UE 22 and / or coordinate measurements and / or provide related information to other network nodes 16 and / or UEs 22 and / or application 120 functions and / or application server functions described herein and / or any other application server functions. RIC 102 may include a near-RT RIC and / or a non-RT RIC and / or any other type of RIC. RIC 102 may be configured to perform near-RT RIC and / or a non-RT RIC functions and / or execute applications such as xApps and / or rApps and / or any other applications. Interface node 104 may be configured to perform interface node functions (e.g., comprise one or more E2 nodes and perform functions associated with E2 Nodes). CU 106 may be configured to perform CU functions (e.g., O-CU functions, gNB-CU functions, etc.). CU-CP 108 may be configured to perform CU-CP functions and / or CU-UP 110 may be configured to perform CU- functions. DU 112 may be configured to perform DU functions. Interface node 104 may include any of CU 106 and / or CU-CP 108 and / or CU-UP 110 and / or DU 112.Thus, the network node 16 further has software 42 stored internally in, for example, memory 40, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software may include applications 120 which may include xApps, rApps, and / or any other type of software application. In some embodiments, applications 120 may be referred to as xApps 120 or rApps 120. In some embodiments, xApps may refer to independent software plug-ins to the Near-RT RIC platform to provide functional extensibility to the RAN by third parties. In some embodiments, xApps and / or rApps or any other applications may be implemented using hardware and / or software.

[0091] The software 42 may be executable by the processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by network node 16. Processor 38 corresponds to one or more processors 38 for performing network node 16 functions described herein. The memory 40 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 42 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36, causes the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16. For example, processing circuitry 36 of the network node 16 may include anode management unit 24 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., network node functions.

[0092] The communication system 10 further includes the UE 22 already referred to. The UE 22 may have hardware 44 that may include a radio interface 46 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 32 with a network node 16 serving a coverage area 18 in which the UE 22 is currently located. The radio interface 46 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 46 includes an array of antennas 48 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves.

[0093] The hardware 44 of the UE 22 further includes processing circuitry 50. The processing circuitry 50 may include a processor 52 and memory 54. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 50 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 52 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) memory 54, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0094] Thus, the UE 22 may further comprise software 56, which is stored in, for example, memory 54 at the UE 22, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the UE 22. The software 56 may be executable by the processing circuitry 50. The software 56 may include an application client 58. The application client 58 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 22 and / or be configured to provide application client functions, e.g., associated with application server 100.

[0095] The processing circuitry 50 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by UE 22. The processor 52 corresponds to one or more processors 52 for performing UE 22 functions described herein. The UE 22 includes memory 54 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 56 and / or the client application 58 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 52 and / or processing circuitry 50, causes the processor 52 and / or processing circuitry 50 to perform the processes described herein with respect to UE 22. For example, the processing circuitry 50 of the user equipment 22 may include UE management unit 26 which is configured to perform any step and / or task and / or process and / or method and / or feature described in the present disclosure, e.g., UE functions.

[0096] In some embodiments, the inner workings of the network node 16 and UE 22 may be as shown in FIG. 5 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 4.

[0097] The wireless connection 32 between the UE 22 and the network node 16 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc. In some embodiments, a measurement procedure may be provided for thepurpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.

[0098] Although FIGS. 4 and 5 show various “units” such as node management unit 24 and UE management unit 26 as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0099] In some embodiments, the telecommunication system 10 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes 16. An ORAN network node 16 is a node in the telecommunication system 10 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication system 10, including one or more network nodes 16 in the access network 12 and / or core network nodes 14.

[0100] Examples of an ORAN network node 16 include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 02 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 16 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 22a, 22b, 22c (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 22) to the core network 14 over one or more wireless connections.

[0101] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 200 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context,virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 200 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 200 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 02 interface.

[0102] Applications 202 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 200 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0103] Hardware 204 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth.

[0104] Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 206 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 208a and 208b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 208), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 206 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 208.

[0105] The VMs 208 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 206. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 202 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 208, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

[0106] Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physicalstorage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0107] In the context of NFV, a VM 208 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 208, and that part of hardware 204 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 208 on top of the hardware 204 and corresponds to the application 202.

[0108] Hardware 204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 204 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 204 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 210, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 202. In some embodiments, hardware 204 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 205 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0109] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process in a first network node 16 (e.g., comprising RIC 102 and / or applications 120 (e.g., xApps)). The first network node 16 is configured to communicate with at least a second network node 16 and to coordinate with the at least second network node 16 an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or more measurements are associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node 16 and at least one UE 22. The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by processing circuitry 36 (including the node management unit 24) and / or processor 38 and / or radio interface 30 and / or communication interface 31 and / or application server 100 and / or RIC 102 and / or applications 120, etc. The first network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 36 and / or processor 38and / or radio interface 30 is configured to one or both of transmit (Block S100) first information to the second network node 16 and receive second information from the second network node 16. The first information is about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node 16, and the second information is about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node 16. The first network node 16 is also configured to perform (Block SI 02) one or more first coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

[0110] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting an enrollment request to the second network node 16, where the enrollment request requests the second network node 16 to enroll in reception of the first information from the first network node 16 via a first communication interface 31 and transmission of the second information to the first network node via the first communication interface 31.

[0111] In some other embodiments, the first communication interface 31 is an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.

[0112] In some embodiments, the method further includes discovering, via a core network node 16, that the second network node 16 is configured for the at least one application session.

[0113] In some other embodiments, the UE 22 has a first application session established with the second network node 16 and a second application session established with a third network node 16. The first application session and the second application session are subject to the one or more measurements, and the method further includes performing only one first coordination action between the first network node 16 and one or both of the second network node 16 and the third network node 16.

[0114] In some embodiments, the one or more first coordination actions include collecting one or both of the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement in uplink for the at least one application session and deducing, based on the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement in uplink, and at least one third measurement in downlink for the at least one application session.

[0115] In some other embodiments, the method further includes receiving a first indication indicating a start of the at least one application session, and in response to the first indication, retrieving third information from the second network node 16.

[0116] In some embodiments, the third information is retrieved via an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.In some other embodiments, the method further includes transmitting a coordination request including one or more of: (A) a first query requesting the second network node 16 to indicate whether the second network node 16 is capable of performing at least one uplink measurement associated with the one or more quality parameters; (B) a measurement request requesting the second network node 16 to perform the at least one uplink measurement; (C) a second indication indicating an availability of one or more downlink measurements and a second query requesting one or more measurement results corresponding to the downlink measurements; (D) at least one identifier identifying at least the UE 22 conducting at least a fourth measurement; (E) radio-level information related to the UE 22; and (F) a third query requesting a confirmation whether the radiolevel information is to be aligned or correlated with the one or more measurements.

[0117] In some embodiments, the first information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one first measurement performed in downlink, and the second information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one second measurement performed in uplink.

[0118] In some other embodiments, the one or more first coordination actions include making an adjustment to a communication parameter to cause the at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold.

[0119] In some embodiments, the first network node 15 includes one or more of: (A) a near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) 102; (B) a RAN network node 16; and (C) an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) application 120, where the O-RAN application 120 includes one or more O-RAN xApps. Further, the second network node 16 includes an application server 100.

[0120] In some other embodiments, the method further includes receiving an action request (e.g., from the second network node) requesting the first network node 16 to perform at least one first coordination action based on one or more of: (A) which Radio Access Network (RAN) network node 16 is configured to perform a reconfiguration of itself or a configuration of the UE 22; (B) which near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) 102 is to reconfigure an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP) 108; and (C) which O-CU-CP 108 is configured to reconfigure the UE 22.

[0121] In some embodiments, the method further includes one or both of: (A) reconfiguring, requesting, or recommending a Radio Access Network (RAN) network node 16 to reconfigure itself or the UE 22; and (B) configuring, requesting, orrecommending an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP) 108 to reconfigure itself or the UE 22.

[0122] In some other embodiments, one or more of: (A) the at least one application session is established between the second network node and the UE 22; (B) the one or more measurements are performed in one or both of uplink and downlink; and (C) the one or more quality parameters include one or both of Quality of Experience (QoE), and Radio Access Network (RAN) Visible QoE (RVQoE).

[0123] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example process in a second network node 16 (e.g., comprising an application server 100). The second network node 16 is configured to communicate with at least a first network node 16 and to coordinate with the at least first network node 16 an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information. The one or more measurements are associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters. At least one application session is associated with the second network node and at least one UE 22 . The additional information pertains to the one or more application sessions. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by processing circuitry 36 (including the node management unit 24) and / or processor 38 and / or radio interface 30 and / or communication interface 31 and / or application server 100 and / or RIC 102 and / or applications 120, etc. The second network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 36 and / or processor 38 and / or radio interface 30 is configured to one or both of receive (Block S 104) first information from the first network node 16 and transmitting second information to the first network node 16. The first information is about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node 16, and the second information is about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node 16. The second network node 16 is also configured to perform (Block SI 06) one or more second coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

[0124] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving an enrollment request requesting the second network node 16 to enroll in reception of the first information from the first network node 16 via a first communication interface 31 and transmission of the second information to the first network node 16 via the first communication interface 31.

[0125] In some other embodiments, the first communication interface 31 is an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.In some embodiments, the UE 22 has a first application session established with the second network node 16 and a second application session established with a third network node 16. The first application session and the second application session are subject to the one or more measurements. The method further includes performing only one second coordination action between the first network node 16 and the second network node 16.

[0126] In some other embodiments, the UE 22 and another UE 22 are peer UEs 22 having one application session established with the second network node 16 and a fourth network node 16, respectively.

[0127] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting a first indication indicating a start of the at least one application session and providing third information to the first network node 16.

[0128] In some other embodiments, the third information is retrieved via an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Y1 interface.

[0129] In some embodiments, the method further includes receiving a coordination request including one or more of: (A) a first query requesting the second network node 16 to indicate whether the second network node 16 is capable of performing at least one uplink measurement associated with the one or more quality parameters; (B) a measurement request requesting the second network node 16 to perform the at least one uplink measurement; (C) a second indication indicating an availability of one or more downlink measurements and a second query requesting one or more measurement results corresponding to the downlink measurements; (C) at least one identifier identifying at least the UE 22 conducting at least a fourth measurement; (E) radio-level information related to the UE 22; and (F) a third query requesting a confirmation whether the radiolevel information is to be aligned or correlated with the one or more measurements. A coordination response is transmitted based on the coordination request.

[0130] In some other embodiments, the first information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one first measurement performed in downlink, and the second information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one second measurement performed in uplink.

[0131] In some embodiments, the one or more second coordination actions include making an adjustment to a communication parameter and an application session parameter to cause the at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold and reconfiguring an application client 58 of the UE 22.In some other embodiments, the first network node includes one or more of: (A) a near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) 102; (B) a RAN network node 16; and (C) an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) application 120, where the O-RAN application 120 includes one or more O-RAN xApps; and the second network node 16 includes an application server 100.

[0132] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting an action request requesting the first network node 16 to perform at least one first coordination action based on one or more of: (A) which Radio Access Network (RAN) network node 16 is configured to perform a reconfiguration of itself or a configuration of the UE 22; (B) which near-Real Time Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (near-RT RIC) 102 is to reconfigure an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane (O-CU-CP) 108; and (C) which O-CU-CP 108 is configured to reconfigure the UE 22.

[0133] In some other embodiments, one or more of: (A) the at least one application session is established between the second network node 16 and the UE 22; (B) the one or more measurements are performed in one or both of uplink and downlink; and (C) the one or more quality parameters include one or both of Quality of Experience (QoE) and Radio Access Network (RAN) Visible QoE (RVQoE).

[0134] In some embodiments, the first network node 16 receives from the second network node 16 information (or an indication) of an action that the second network node 16 has performed or intends to perform. In some other embodiments, the first network node 16 sends an action request to the second network node 16 or sends information (or an indication) of an action that the first network node 16 has performed or intends to perform.

[0135] Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for management of measurements associated with radio access network (RAN) intelligent controllers (RICs) and application servers.

[0136] In some embodiments, actions performed by the Near-RT RIC 102 may apply to the xApps. For example, the Near-RT RIC 102 receiving an indication from the O-CU-CP may comprise the xApp 120 also being notified about the content thereof. In addition, the Near-RT RIC 102 transmitting an indication to another node may refer to the xApp running on top of the Near-RT RIC 102 as being the originator of the information. In some embodiments, the terms “E2” and “E2AP” may be used interchangeably. Further, the terms “Yl” and “Y1AP” may be used interchangeably. In some other embodiments, theterm “QoE / RVQoE configuration” may refer to a QoE / RVQoE measurement configuration. In some other embodiments, the term “RAN” may refer to one or more network nodes 16 and / or interface nodes 104 such as E2 nodes (or e2Node). For example, the E2 nodes may include CU 106 (e.g., gNB-CU, ng-eNB-CU, etc.), CU-CP 108 (e.g., O-CU-CP, gNB-CU-CP, etc ), CU-UP 110 (e g., O-CU-UP, gNB-CU-UP, etc ), DU 112 (e.g., gNB-DU, O-DU, ng-eNB-DU, etc.), and / or other network nodes such as O-eNB, gNB, etc.

[0137] In some embodiments, the term “legacy QoE measurements” may refer to the QoE measurements standardized by 3GPP, where the measurement configuration is received by the RAN 12 (e.g., network nodes 16 associated with the RAN 12) directly from the Operations And Management (0AM) or via the core network (CN) 14. These measurements may be performed by the UE 22 and reported to the measurement collector entity in the network, e.g., transparent to the RAN.

[0138] Some embodiments apply to QoE, RVQoE and any type of application layer measurements, standardized or application-specific. In some other embodiments, the terms “server”, “application server” and “media server” are used interchangeably and may refer to application server 100. The information described in one or more embodiments may be transmitted in newly defined messages or in existing messages of the relevant application protocol.

[0139] In some embodiments, aNear-RT RIC 102 and / or RAN 12 (e.g., network nodes 16 associated with the RAN 12, E2 nodes, etc.) and an application server 100 both control a UE 22 or an application client 58 in a UE 22 to make the UE 22 measure or collect QoE / RVQoE data and / or information and report the result. In some other embodiments, the terms “QoE” and “RVQoE” are not limited to the definition and scope provided in 3GPP standard specifications. For example, the terms “QoE” and “RVQoE” may refer to types of measurements and metric collection pertaining to an application session that are not (yet) specified in any standard or implemented in any application. Furthermore, the term “QoE” may also be used to refer to the concept of quality of experience in its literal sense, e.g., as would be experienced by a human user, without referring to any specific measurement or metric.

[0140] One or more embodiments applies to both the 3 GPP and O-RAN architecture (or any other architecture). Some embodiments provide interactions between an application server 100 and aNear-RT RIC 102 (e.g., an xApp 120 in the Near-RT RIC 102). In some cases, these interactions may instead be between an application server 100 and a RANnetwork node 16 such as e.g., a gNB or a gNB-CU, or a gNB-CU-UP, or a gNB-CU-CP (e.g., in a RAN not implementing the O-RAN architecture).

[0141] For the cases where deployments are based on 3GPP architecture (e.g., no near-RT RIC 102 and no O-RAN architecture at all), the network node 16 (e.g., gNB) may be responsible for information exchange with the application server 100. In this case, a new interface (e.g., communication interface 31) between application servers 100 and the concerned RAN network node(s) 16 may be specified. As an alternative to specifying a new signaling interface between the application server and the concerned RAN node(s), an existing interface (e.g., a user plane interface) can be used.

[0142] In some embodiments, the term “configured” is used and may refer to a node (e.g., network node 16) or device (e.g., UE 22) being prepared for, or capable of, or supporting, arranged for performing one or more actions. In one nonlimiting example, a first network node 16 and a second network node 16 may discover each other and set up coordination, i.e., the network node 16 are capable of finding each other on the network and establishing communication with each other.

[0143] In one or more embodiments, information is exchanged between network nodes 16 (and / or any other components of system 10). The information may include information about measurements that are associated with quality parameters, one or more application sessions, etc. However, the exchange of information is not limited as such, and the exchanged information may also include information pertaining to application sessions such as configuration settings, codec used, etc., or any other type of information.

[0144] In some embodiments, a first network node 16 comprises one or more of: (A) a near-RT RIC; (B) a RAN network node; and (C) an O-RAN application including one or more O-RAN xApps that run on the near-RT RIC.

[0145] In one or more embodiments, quality parameters include QoE, RVQoE, etc., but the quality parameters are not limited as such and may include any other parameters such as other QoE RVQoE metrics that may be specified, as well as application-specific metrics, etc.

[0146] OoE / RVQoE coordination between the RAN / Near-RT RIC and the application server

[0147] FIG. 9 shows an example coordination method between components of system 10. The method includes, at step S108, identifying Y1 producers and application server enrollment, at step SI 10, initiating coordination, and at step SI 12, exchanging measurement results. Additional details relating to each step is as follows.Step S108: Identifying Y 1 producers and application server enrollment

[0148] One or more embodiments provide coordination, for the sake of QoE / RVQoE measurements, between the RAN 12 (or RAN network nodes 16 and / or their components) and / or Near-RT RIC 102 and the application server 100, e.g., a server residing on the internet. The coordination may be performed such that the actions performed by the application server 100 and actions performed by the Near-RT RIC 102 and / or RAN 12 efficiently work together to optimize the QoE of an application session (and in turn as experienced by a user). For example, the application server 100 may establish, with the UE 22, the application session subject to QoE / RVQoE measurements, e.g., on request from the application client 58 in the UE 22.

[0149] In some embodiments, to enable an external application server 100 to know that it can and should send (or retrieve) information to (and from) a Near-RT RIC 102 via the Y1 interface, or to / from RAN network node 16 (e.g., via a newly defined interface), the application server 100 is informed, instructed, or enrolled. For example, the external application server 100 may need to be informed about when and where to transmit its collected QoE / RVQoE information. If this is to be done over Yl, enhancements of Y1 interface may be used, e.g., given that the conventional Yl interface is only an information exposure interface and not a control / activation interface.

[0150] In some embodiments, the discovery of the right Near-RT RIC 102 for specific UEs 22 and / or discovery of the right application server for specific UEs 22 may be coordinated via the core network 14, i.e., Yl exposure goes via core network 14. The right Near-RT RIC 102 may refer to the Near-RT RIC 102 that can impact the UE QoE via E2 nodes. In other embodiments, this may occur via Service Management and Orchestration (SMO). i.e., an rApp 120 acts as Yl termination point and then relays communication between Near-RT RIC 102 and application server(s) 100.

[0151] In some embodiments (e.g., for the case where there is no Near-RT RIC 102 in the network), communication between the RAN 12 and the application server 100 may require defining a new interface between the two. In some embodiments, the RAN 12 and the application server 100 may communicate indirectly, e.g., via another node / entity.

[0152] Coordination may take place between the application server 100 and an xApp 120 in the Near-RT RIC 102 or between the application server 100 and functionality in the RAN 12, e.g. in the network node 16, e.g., gNB, serving the UE 22. Additionally, in peer-to-peer scenarios (e.g., a gaming session or a video call between two UEs 22), coordination can be between two or more Near-RT RICs 102. In addition, for a peer-to-peer scenario, only one Near-RT RIC 102 may be used (e.g., if the two user devices or UEs 22 are served by the same RAN 12 node, and therefore the same Near-RT RIC 102 is involved, or the two UEs 22 are served by different RAN 12 nodes controlled by the same Near-RT RIC 102).

[0153] Where a single UE 22 has two or more application sessions established which are subject to QoE / RVQoE measurements and the established application sessions are between the UE 22 and different application servers 100, a coordination can be performed for the purpose of QoE / RVQoE measurements between the RAN 12 / Near-RT RIC 102 and the application servers 100.

[0154] Further, the UE 22 may have two or more application sessions established, or that are going to be established or being established with at least two different application servers 100. One of the application sessions carries traffic whose impact on end-user experience is larger compared to another application session (or one of the application session carries traffic whose impact on end-user experience is the largest impact on enduser experience compared to the other application sessions). Only one coordination for the purpose of QoE / RVQoE measurement can be executed between the Near-RT RIC 102 and the application server 100 carrying the application session whose traffic is known to have the larger impact (or the largest impact) on end-user experience. For example, if the UE 22 has two application sessions established (e.g., one carrying interactive video traffic delivered by a first application server 100, and another application session carrying text content or graphic content delivered by a second application server 100 and associated with the video traffic carried with the first application server 100), the coordination associated with QoE / RVQoE can be executed only between Near-RT RIC 102 and the application server 100 providing the video content (instead of between the Near-RT RIC 102 and the two application servers 100).

[0155] In some embodiments, the UE 22 may have two application sessions established with two application servers 100. If the QoE / RVQoE measurements of one session can be deduced (or reasonably approximated, e.g., with an accuracy higher than a certain threshold value, or an error less than a certain threshold value) based on the QoE / RVQoE measurement of another session, only one coordination for the purpose of QoE / RVQoE measurement can be executed between the Near-RT RIC 102 and one of the application servers 100, e.g. the one establishing / managing the application session whose QoE / RVQoE measurement can be used to deduce the QoE / RVQoE measurements of the other application session.In some other embodiments, the UE 22 may have one application session established with an application servers 100, and , e.g., to a reciprocity / symmetry in the Uplink and Downlink traffic, the QoE / RVQoE measurements in Uplink for the application session can be deduced / inferred based on the QoE / RVQoE measurement in Downlink (or reasonably approximated, e.g., with an accuracy higher than a predetermined threshold value, or an error less than a predetermined threshold value). The Near-RT RIC 102 can execute a coordination with application server 100 for the purpose of collecting QoE / RVQoE measurements in Uplink for the application session and use such measurements to deduce / infer the QoE / RVQoE measurements in Downlink for the application session.

[0156] In some embodiments, a UE 22 has two or more application sessions established which are subject to QoE / RVQoE measurements, and the established application sessions are between the UE 22 and the same application server 100. A coordination can be performed for the purpose of QoE / RVQoE measurements (for at least one of the application sessions) between the RAN 12 / Near-RT RIC 102 and the application server 100.

[0157] An xApp 120 hosted by a Near-RT RIC 102 may be informed of the start of an application session, e.g., by leveraging the session start indications specified in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.331 version 18.2.0. Then the xApp 120 may, via the Y1 interface, retrieve information from an O-RAN external application server 100 or a remote-end Near-RT RIC 102 (e.g., rather than a conventional xApp onboarded in O-RAN interacting with other entities over E2, Al and 01 interfaces). An xApp 120 may also indicate which information the xApp 120 consumes over Y1 and may identify specific Y1 producers that are external to the RAN 12 / Network (e.g., Application servers 100). In the peer-to-peer scenario, an xApp 120 may indicate the same to another Near-RT RIC 102.

[0158] Step SI 10: Initiation of coordination

[0159] In some embodiments, the RAN 12 and / or Near-RT RIC 102 and / or xApps 120 initiate the RVQoE-related coordination with the application server 100. The coordination may include one or more of the following:

[0160] • A query, asking the application server 100 about whether the application server 100 is capable of performing UL QoE measurements. This may include a query about which of the UL QoE metrics can be measured by the application server 100.

[0161] • A request for the application server 100 to perform UL QoE measurements.The request may include an indication indicating that the application server 100 is implicitly or explicitly requested to inform the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 about the results of the UL QoE measurements, e.g. report the UL QoE measurement results to the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12. The application server 100 may not be requested to inform the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 about the results of the UL QoE measurements in an unsolicited manner, but, instead, the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 may retrieve the UL QoE measurement results from the application server 100, e.g., by requesting the application server 100 to send logged UL QoE measurement results.

[0162] • An indication of the availability of DL QoE / RVQoE measurements, and a query about which of the corresponding measurement results are of interest for the application server 100. The term “availability of QoE / RVQoE measurements” may refer to the collection of QoE / RVQoE measurements being possible, whereas the measurements may or may not already be configured and may or may not already be ongoing with the measurement results available.

[0163] • An identifier of the UE 22 conducting the measurements and / or an indication of service type and / or an identifier of the concerned application session (if any).

[0164] • Radio level information of the UE 22 in question, e.g., radio channel quality.

[0165] • An identity / identifier identifying that radio level information is associated with / aligned with / correlated with the QoE measurement (and / or with RVQoE measurements).

[0166] • A query / request asking whether radio level information is to be aligned / correlated with QoE / RVQoE measurements.

[0167] • An indication indicating that radio level information is to be aligned / correlated with QoE / RVQoE measurements.

[0168] In some embodiments, the Near-RT RIC 102 becomes aware of RVQoE measurement availability from another network entity (e.g., from the O-CU-CP) or from the UE 22 (e.g. from the application client in the UE 22) or it can leam about their availability by itself. In some other embodiments, the Near-RT RIC 102 becomes aware from another network entity (e.g., an SMO) of the availability of RVQoE metrics that can be measured. The term “availability of QoE / RVQoE measurements” may refer to the collection of QoE / RVQoE measurements is possible, whereas the measurements may ormay not already be configured and may or may not already be ongoing with the measurement results available.

[0169] Upon receiving the coordination request, the application server 100 may reply by sending a coordination response, with the content corresponding to the coordination request.

[0170] In some embodiments, the metrics for which QoE measurements are requested can be standardized QoE / RVQoE metrics or can be application-specific metrics, e.g., negotiated between the RAN 12 / Near-RT RIC 102 (e.g. an xApp 120 on the Near-RT RIC 102), and the server, or a newly defined metrics.

[0171] In some embodiments, the application server 100 may initiate the coordination with the Near-RT RIC 102 and / or the RAN 12 and include any of the above-described information into the request. The application server 100 may, e.g., request DL QoE / RVQoE measurements at the UE - it can request from the RAN 12 / Near-RT RIC 102 to request the UE 22 to initiate QoE / RVQoE measurements or configure the UE 22 with QoE / RVQoE configuration(s). Alternatively, or at the same time, the server can offer UL QoE / RVQoE measurement results. In some embodiments, the Near-RT RIC 102 may act as a proxy for the communication between the application server 100 and the O-CU-CP 108 and / or between the application server 100 and the O-DU 112.

[0172] In one embodiment, as a result of the coordination, the QoE and / or RVQoE measurements are configured at the UE 22 and / or at the application server 100.

[0173] In another embodiment, as a result of the coordination, the use of previously configured QoE and / or RVQoE measurement configuration(s) at the UE 22 and / or at the application server 100 is activated (or reactivated).

[0174] Step SI 12: Exchanging the measurement results.

[0175] In some embodiments, upon collecting the UL measurement results and analyzing them, the application server 100 may forward the results to the RAN 12 and / or Near-RT RIC 102. The application server 100 may also send a request / suggestion to the RAN 12 based on which RAN 12 can perform reconfiguration of itself or of the UE 22. The request / suggestion may be sent to the Near-RT RIC 102 based on which the Near-RT RIC 102 should reconfigure the O-CU-CP 108 (where the application server 100 bases this request / suggestion on the collected UL measurements results) and / or based on which the O-CU-CP 108 can reconfigure the UE 22.

[0176] Alternatively, the application server 100 may, using the collected UL measurement results as a basis, request / suggest the Near-RT RIC 102 to reconfigure the way the O-CU-CP 108 treats the UE 22, or the application’s data flow to and from the UE 22, e.g. in terms of scheduling priority, throttling (if any) average or minimum bitrate, delay, etc. (note that this may involve that the O-CU-CP 108 instructs / reconfigures the O-DU 112 to execute / perform some or all of the changes implied by the reconfiguration). As an option, the application server 100 may send both the collected UL measurement results (or a subset thereol) and one of the above-described requests / suggestions to the Near-RT RIC 102 and / or to the RAN 12. The application server 100 may further reconfigure the application client at the UE’s application layer accordingly e.g., adapt the encoding rate.

[0177] In some embodiments, upon collecting the UL measurement results and analyzing them, the application server 100 may send a request / suggest! on to the Near-RT RIC 102 based on which the Near-RT RIC 102 notifies the O-DU serving the UE 22, and / or based on which the O-DU can change lower layer parameters or scheduling decisions for the UE 22.

[0178] In some embodiments, upon receiving the DL measurement results from the O-CU-CP 108 or from the UE 22 and / or application client 58 in the UE 22 and analyzing them, the Near-RT RIC 102 may either forward the results to the application server 100 or may send a request / suggest! on to the application server 100 (wherein the Near-RT RIC 102 bases this request / suggestion on the DL measurements results) based on which the application server 100 should reconfigure the application client at the UE’s application layer and change the settings of the application session in the DL direction. Alternatively, the RAN 12 (e.g., network nodes 16) may, upon receiving the DL measurement results from the UE 22 and / or application client 58 in the UE 22 and analyzing them, either forward the results to the application server 100 or may send a request / suggestion to the application server 100 based on which the application server 100 should reconfigure the application client at the UE’s application layer and change the settings of the application session in the DL direction e.g., adapt the encoding rate.

[0179] In some other embodiments, the request / suggestion to the application server 100 may also involve or trigger that the application server 100 reconfigures or changes / adapts the way it treats the concerned application session, e.g. in terms of encoding format or coding rate. The RAN 12 and / or Near-RT RIC 102 may send the DL measurement results (or a subset thereol) and the above-described request / suggestion to the Near-RT RIC 102.

[0180] In some embodiments, upon receiving the DL measurement results from the O-CU-CP 108 or from the UE 22 and / or application client 58 in the UE 22, over a period of time, and analyzing them, the Near-RT RIC 102 may forward a prediction of future DLperformance to the application server 100 based on which the application server 100 may reconfigure the application client 58 at the UE application layer and change the settings of the application session in the DL direction (which may involve reconfiguring / changing the way the application server 100 treats the concerned application session, e.g. in terms of encoding format or coding rate). Further, at least the forwarding may be performed by the RAN 12, after receiving the DL measurement results from the UE 22 and / or application client 58 in the UE 22, e.g., over a predetermined time.

[0181] In some embodiments, the application server 100, upon collecting (by itself) and analyzing UL measurement results and / or upon receiving DL measurement results from the Near-RT RIC 102 and analyzing them, the application server 100 may send a request / suggestion to the Near-RT RIC 102 based on which the Near-RT RIC 102 should reconfigure the O-CU-CP 108, and / or based on which the O-CU-CP 108 can reconfigure the UE 22 and / or application client 58. In some embodiments, the application server 100 may send the request / suggestion to the RAN 12 node, based on which the RAN 12 node can perform reconfiguration of itself and / or of the UE 22. The application server 100 may further reconfigure the application client 58 at the UE application layer accordingly e.g., adapt the encoding rate.

[0182] In some embodiments, the application server 100, upon collecting (itself) and analyzing UL measurement results and / or upon receiving and analyzing DL measurement results from the Near-RT RIC 102, the application server 100 may send a request / suggestion to the Near-RT RIC 102 based on which the Near-RT RIC 102 notifies the O-DU 112 serving the UE 22, based on which the O-DU 112 may change lower layer parameters or scheduling decisions for the UE 22. In some embodiments, the application server 100 may send the request / suggestion to the RAN 12 node, based on which the RAN 12 node can perform reconfiguration of itself and / or another RAN 12 node and / or of the UE (e.g., a gNB-CU may reconfigure itself and / or the gNB-DU serving the UE 22).

[0183] In some other embodiments, for an external application (e.g., for a video call), an intermediate server (e.g., a network node 16) mediating sessions between end users may act on behalf of the remote peer user, e.g., requesting from the RAN 12 / Near-RT RIC 102 additional UL resources (or otherwise request a changed (e.g. improved or more beneficial) treatment of the UL data flows of the concerned UE 22 or the UL application data flows of the concerned application session) when the QoE / RVQoE of the remote peer user indicates that improvement is needed, or when the peer remote user has started or is about to start an additional media flow, e.g., showing a video clip to the local device.Correspondingly, if the remote peer user is connected to a RAN 12 (e.g. an O-RAN) with an integrated or associated Near-RT RIC 102, the intermediate server may ask the remote Near-RT RIC 102 to provide / allocate more DL resources (or otherwise request a changed (e.g. improved or more beneficial) treatment of the DL data flows of the concerned UE 22 (associated with the remote peer user) or the DL application data flows of the concerned application session).

[0184] In some embodiments, together with, or separately from the QoE / RVQoE measurement results, an external application server 100 serving a single end user could receive RAN information from the Near-RT RIC 102, e.g., the present resource and channel status (or its effect in terms of bitrate, delay, and jitter), and could adapt application configurations, such as video encoding rate accordingly.

[0185] In some embodiments, the Near-RT RIC 102 can use the received QoE / RVQoE measurement results, e.g., from many application sessions, to adapt the capacity of the links / transport between the O-RAN entities (e.g., network nodes 16) and / or between O-RAN entity / entities and the core network 14, or, as another option, may recommend an 0AM entity (e.g. in an 0AM system) to adapt the capacity of the links / transport between the O-RAN entities and / or between O-RAN entity / entities and the core network 14. In some other embodiments, the RAN 12 can use the received QoE / RVQoE measurement results, e.g., from many application sessions, to adapt the capacity of the links / transport between the RAN nodes and / or between RAN entity / entities and the core network 14, or, as another option, may recommend an 0AM entity (e.g. in an 0AM system) to adapt the capacity of the links / transport between the RAN entities and / or between RAN entity / entities and the core network 14.

[0186] OoE coordination between two Near-RT RICs 102

[0187] In some embodiments, two Near-RT RICs 102 can coordinate with regards to QoE / RVQoE measurements, which may be relevant in scenarios where there is one Near-RT RIC 102 at each end of an application session’s communication, e.g., for a peer-to-peer application session. Then, each Near-RT RIC 102 may be responsible for collecting or may collect information at its own end. The Near-RT RICs 102 may exchange such information (e.g., via the Y1 interface). After the measurements are initiated, the two Near-RT RICs 102 can also exchange the QoE / RVQoE reports and act upon the exchanged and collected information. In such an embodiment, the two Near-RT RICs 102 may act as both service producers and service consumers for Y1 interface services pertaining to QoE / RVQoE exposure. Furthermore, the two Near-RT RICs 102 maycoordinate their respective adaptive actions based on the exchanged QoE / RVQoE information / measurement results. For instance, one Near-RT RIC 102 may suggest actions to performed by itself and / or the other Near-RT RIC 102, and the other Near-RT RIC 102 may accept / confirm this suggestion or may provide a suggestion on alternative actions.

[0188] Al aspects

[0189] In one embodiment, the Near-RT RIC 102 receives an application identifier (and / or an application session identifier) resolves it into one UE 22 or a set of UEs 22 that are served by the nodes controlled by the Near-RT RIC 102. The Near-RT RIC 102 may apply a policy statement to the UE 22 or the set of UEs 22.

[0190] An example of implementation is provided below as an extension of the Al General aspects and principle (ref. to ORAN TS 0-RAN.WG2.AlGAP-R003-v03.03):

[0191] »»»»»»Start of implementation example«««<«<«

[0192] 5.1.x.y Identification of application(s) or application session(s)

[0193] When the Near-RT RIC 102 receives an application identifier in an Al policy, it may resolve it into a set of UEs and a set of QoS flows that are present in the nodes controlled by the Near-RT RIC 102 and applies the policy statements to each one of the UEs or the QoS flows.

[0194] »»»»»»End of implementation example«««<«<« Coordination of actions between the application server 100 and the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12

[0195] Although information is described as being provided by the application server 100 to the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12, the embodiments are not limited as such, and the information may be provided in any other direction. For example, the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 may inform the application server 100 of planned / intended changes in the data transport properties, such as expected bit rate changes due to scheduling priority changes, throttling changes, etc. The Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 may also inform the application server 100 of measured QoE / RVQoE. The application server 100 may also inform the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 about planned actions, e.g. encoding changes, and their estimated impact on the application data flow properties, e.g., a changed bit rate.

[0196] Some embodiments provide structure and rules governing the coordination (e.g., to avoid race conditions (uncertainty of who takes adaptive actions) and runaway spirals). For example, if the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 informs the application server 100 of coming changes in the data transport properties or informs the application server 100 of measured QoE / RVQoE, the application server 100 may take this into account and respondto the Near-RT / RIC 102 / RAN 12 to inform it of adaptive actions (or lack of actions) the application server 100 will perform based on the information received from the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12, and vice versa. That is, one peer provides information, and the other peer reacts to the information. This may be performed to avoid the peers exchanging information and then both performing uncoordinated actions based on the information they received.

[0197] An example of a “runaway spiral” may, e.g., be that an application server’s actions to push properties in a certain direction make the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 perform actions which make the properties go in the opposite direction (i.e., counteracts the application server’s actions). As a result, the application server 100 may take adaptive actions to push the properties in the direction it desires, which may make the Near-RT RIC 102 / RAN 12 increase the level of its counteracting actions, etc.

[0198] FIG. 10 shows interactions among O-RAN network nodes 16 over O-RAN interfaces (e.g., radio interface 30, communication interface 31, radio interface 46, CU 106, DU 112, etc.). Application server 100, NRT-RIC 102, Interface Node 104, Application Client 58, and UE 22 are shown. Application server 100, NRT-RIC 102, Interface Node 104 may be comprised in one or more network nodes 16. The method includes, at step SI 14, performing Y1AP interactions, at step SI 16, performing E2AP interactions, and at step SI 16, performing RAN CP / UP interactions.

[0199] More specifically, the method may involve discovery, exchange of information and request / response interactions between an application server 100 and the Near-RT-RIC 102 as Y1 service producer. In an O-RAN implementation, these interactions may be facilitated by an intermediate exposure function which may, for example, be a network node 16 (network exposure function (NEF)) in the core network 14 where the NEF acts as Y1 interface consumer and exposes Y1 interaction to / with the application server 100 outside the network. The same exposure function may be realized by the SMO / rApp 120 in a different implementation.

[0200] E2AP is defined by O-RAN and the QoE / RVQoE related measurements and controls of the present disclosure may be implemented using the basic E2AP procedures but with new or enhanced E2 Service Models (E2SMs) to address the requirements of the proposed embodiments. The CP / UP interactions between the RAN nodes (E2 nodes 104) and UE 22 may be standardized in 3GPP. In an O-RAN implementation of one or more embodiments, enhancements to these interactions may be needed for configuring the UEs 22 for QoE and RVQoE related measurements and potentially for conveyingmessages / information between xApps 120 in the Near-RT RIC 102 and UEs 22, e.g. application clients in UEs 22.

[0201] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and / or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and / or functionality described herein may be performed by, and / or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

[0202] Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0203] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0204] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to beperformed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0205] It is to be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0206] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0207] Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and / or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

[0208] Abbreviations that may be used in the preceding description include:

[0209] 3 GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

[0210] API Application Programming InterfaceAS Access Stratum

[0211] CE Control Element

[0212] CP Control Plane

[0213] CU Central Unit

[0214] DL Downlink

[0215] DRB Data Radio Bearer

[0216] DU Distributed Unit

[0217] El The interface between a CU-CP and a CU-UP. E1AP El Application Protocol

[0218] E2AP E2 Application Protocol

[0219] E2SM E2 Service Model

[0220] eNB Evolved NodeB (Radio base station in LTE.) F1AP Fl Application Protocol

[0221] Fl-c The control plane part of Fl.

[0222] Fl-u The user plane part of Fl .

[0223] FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name

[0224] gNB Radio base station in NR.

[0225] ID Identity / Identifier

[0226] IE Information Element

[0227] IP Internet Protocol

[0228] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0229] MAC Medium Access Control

[0230] Near-RT RIC Near Real-Time RAN Intelligent Controller NEF Network Exposure Function

[0231] NR New Radio

[0232] 0AM Operation and Maintenance

[0233] O-CU-CP O-RAN CU-CP

[0234] O-CU-UP O-RAN CU-UP

[0235] 0-DU O-RAN DU

[0236] O-RAN Open RAN

[0237] QoE Quality of Experience

[0238] QoS Quality of Service

[0239] RAN Radio Access Network

[0240] RIC RAN Intelligent ControllerRRC Radio Resource Control

[0241] RT Real-Time

[0242] RVQoE RAN Visible QoE

[0243] OSM Service Management and Orchestration

[0244] TR Technical Report

[0245] TS Technical Specification

[0246] UE User Equipment

[0247] UL Uplink

[0248] UP User Plane

[0249] xAPP extended application

[0250] Y1 The interface between the Near-RT RIC and other functions or entities denoted as “Y1 consumers”, which may be internal and / or external functions or entities. An O-RAN specification providing standardized information types that can be exposed over Y1 interface.

[0251] Y1AP Y1 Application Protocol

[0252] Y1TD Y1 Type Definition.

[0253] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings and following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method in a first network node (16) configured to communicate with at least a second network node (16) and to coordinate with the at least second network node (16) an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information, the one or more measurements being associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters, at least one application session being associated with the second network node (16) and at least one user equipment, UE, (22) the additional information pertaining to the one or more application sessions, the method comprising:one or both of transmitting (SI 00) first information to the second network node (16) and receiving second information from the second network node (16), the first information being about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node (16), the second information being about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node (16); andperforming (SI 02) one or more first coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the method further includes: transmitting an enrollment request to the second network node (16), the enrollment request requesting the second network node (16) to enroll in:reception of the first information from the first network node (16) via a first communication interface (31); andtransmission of the second information to the first network node (16) via the first communication interface (31).

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the first communication interface (31) is an Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, Y1 interface.

4. The method of any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the method further includes: discovering, via a core network node (16), that the second network node (16) is configured for the at least one application session.

5. The method of any one of Claims 1-4, wherein the UE (22) has a first application session established with the second network node (16) and a second application session established with a third network node (16), the first application session and the second application session being subject to the one or more measurements, the method further including:performing only one first coordination action between the first network node (16) and one or both of the second network node (16) and the third network node (16).

6. The method of any one of Claims 1-5, wherein the one or more first coordination actions include:collecting one or both of the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement in uplink for the at least one application session; anddeducing, based on the at least one first measurement and the at least one second measurement in uplink, and at least one third measurement in downlink for the at least one application session.

7. The method of any one of Claims 1-6, wherein the method further includes: receiving a first indication indicating a start of the at least one application session; andin response to the first indication, retrieving third information from the second network node (16).

8. The method of Claim 7, wherein the third information is retrieved via an Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, Y1 interface.

9. The method of any one of Claims 1-8, wherein the method further includes transmitting a coordination request including one or more of:a first query requesting the second network node (16) to indicate whether the second network node (16) is capable of performing at least one uplink measurement associated with the one or more quality parameters;a measurement request requesting the second network node (16) to perform the at least one uplink measurement;a second indication indicating an availability of one or more downlink measurements and a second query requesting one or more measurement resultscorresponding to the downlink measurements;at least one identifier identifying at least the UE (22) conducting at least a fourth measurement;radio-level information related to the UE (22); anda third query requesting a confirmation whether the radio-level information is to be aligned or correlated with the one or more measurements.

10. The method of any one of Claims 1-9, wherein the first information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one first measurement performed in downlink, and the second information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one second measurement performed in uplink.

11. The method of any one of Claims 1-10, wherein the one or more first coordination actions include making an adjustment to a communication parameter to cause the at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold.

12. The method of any one of Claims 1-11, wherein:the first network node (16) comprises one or more of:a near-Real Time Radio Access Network, RAN, Intelligent Controller, near-RT RIC (102);a RAN network node (16); andan Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, application, the O-RAN application 120 including one or more O-RAN xApps; andthe second network node (16) comprises an application server (100).

13. The method of any one of Claims 1-12, wherein the method further includes:receiving an action request requesting the first network node (16) to perform at least one first coordination action based on one or more of:which Radio Access Network, RAN, network node (16) is configured to perform a reconfiguration of itself or a configuration of the UE (22);which near-Real Time Radio Access Network, RAN, Intelligent Controller,near-RT RIC, (102) is to reconfigure an 0-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane, O-CU-CP, (108); andwhich O-CU-CP (108) is configured to reconfigure the UE (22).

14. The method of any one of Claims 1-13, wherein the method further includes one or both of:reconfiguring, requesting, or recommending a Radio Access Network, RAN, network node (16) to reconfigure itself or the UE (22); andconfiguring, requesting, or recommending an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane, O-CU-CP, (108) to reconfigure itself or the UE (22).

15. The method of any one of Claims 1-14, wherein one or more of:the at least one application session is established between the second network node (16) and the UE (22);the one or more measurements are performed in one or both of uplink and downlink; andthe one or more quality parameters include one or both of Quality of Experience, QoE, and Radio Access Network, RAN, Visible QoE, RVQoE.

16. A first network node (16) configured to communicate with at least a second network node (16) and to coordinate with the at least second network node (16) an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information, the one or more measurements being associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters, at least one application session being associated with the second network node (16) and at least one user equipment, UE (22), the additional information pertaining to the one or more application sessions, the first network node (16) being configured to perform the steps of any one of Claims 1-15.

17. A method in a second network node (16) configured to communicate with at least a first network node (16) and to coordinate with the at least first network node (16) an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information, the one or more measurements being associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters, at least one application session being associated with the second network node (16) and at least one user equipment, UE,(22) the additional information pertaining to the one or more application sessions, the method comprising:one or both of receiving (S104) first information from the first network node (16) and transmitting second information to the first network node (16), the first information being about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node (16), the second information being about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node (16); andperforming (SI 06) one or more second coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, and one or both of the first information and the second information.

18. The method of Claim 17, wherein the method further includes: receiving an enrollment request requesting the second network node (16) to enroll in:reception of the first information from the first network node (16) via a first communication interface (31); andtransmission of the second information to the first network node (16) via the first communication interface (31).

19. The method of Claim 18, wherein the first communication interface (31) is an Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, Y1 interface.

20. The method of any one of Claims 17-19, wherein the UE (22) has a first application session established with the second network node (16) and a second application session established with a third network node, the first application session and the second application session being subject to the one or more measurements, the method further including:performing only one second coordination action between the first network node (16) and the second network node (16).

21. The method of any one of Claims 17-20, wherein the UE (22) and another UE (22) are peer UEs (22) having one application session established with the second network node (16) and a fourth network node (16), respectively.

22. The method of any one of Claims 17-21, wherein the method further includes:transmitting a first indication indicating a start of the at least one application session; andproviding third information to the first network node (16).

23. The method of Claim 22, wherein the third information is retrieved via an Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, Y1 interface.

24. The method of any one of Claims 17-23, wherein the method further includes:receiving a coordination request including one or more of:a first query requesting the second network node (16) to indicate whether the second network node (16) is capable of performing at least one uplink measurement associated with the one or more quality parameters;a measurement request requesting the second network node (16) to perform the at least one uplink measurement;a second indication indicating an availability of one or more downlink measurements and a second query requesting one or more measurement results corresponding to the downlink measurements;at least one identifier identifying at least the UE (22) conducting at least a fourth measurement;radio-level information related to the UE (22); anda third query requesting a confirmation whether the radio-level information is to be aligned or correlated with the one or more measurements; andtransmitting a coordination response based on the coordination request.

25. The method of any one of Claims 17-24, wherein the first information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one first measurement performed in downlink, and the second information includes one or more measurement results corresponding to the at least one second measurement performed in uplink.

26. The method of any one of Claims 17-25, wherein the one or more secondcoordination actions include:making an adjustment to a communication parameter and an application session parameter to cause the at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold; andreconfiguring an application client (58) of the UE (22).

27. The method of any one of Claims 17-26, wherein:the first network node (16) comprises one or more of:a near-Real Time Radio Access Network, RAN, Intelligent Controller, near-RT RIC (102);a RAN network node (16); andan Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, application, the O-RAN application (120) including one or more O-RAN xApps; andthe second network node (16) comprises an application server (100).

28. The method of any one of Claims 17-27, wherein the method further includes:transmitting an action request requesting the first network node (16) to perform at least one first coordination action based on one or more of:which Radio Access Network, RAN, network node (16) is configured to perform a reconfiguration of itself or a configuration of the UE (22);which near-Real Time Radio Access Network, RAN, Intelligent Controller, near-RT RIC, (102) is to reconfigure an O-RAN Centralized Unit Control Plane, O-CU-CP, (108); andwhich O-CU-CP (108) is configured to reconfigure the UE (22).

29. The method of any one of Claims 17-28, wherein one or more of:the at least one application session is established between the second network node (16) and the UE (22);the one or more measurements are performed in one or both of uplink and downlink; andthe one or more quality parameters include one or both of Quality of Experience, QoE, and Radio Access Network, RAN, Visible QoE, RVQoE.

30. A second network node (16) configured to communicate with at least a first network node (16) and to coordinate with the at least first network node (16) an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information, the one or more measurements being associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters, at least one application session being associated with the second network node (16) and at least one user equipment, UE, (22) the additional information pertaining to the one or more application sessions, the second network node (16) being configured to perform the steps of any one of Claims 17-29.

31. A system (10) comprising at least a first network node (16), a second network node (16), and user equipment, UE, (22) at least the first network node (16) and the second network node (16) being configured to coordinate an exchange of information about one or more measurements, and the exchange of additional information, the one or more measurements being associated with one or more application sessions and one or more quality parameters, at least one application session being associated with the second network node (16) and at least one UE (22), the additional information pertaining to the one or more application sessions:the UE (22) being configured to:establish the at least one application session with the second network node (16);the first network node (16) being configured to:transmit first information to the second network node (16) and receive second information from the second network node (16), the first information being about at least one first measurement associated with the first network node (16) and being performed in downlink, the second information being about at least one second measurement associated with the second network node (16) and being performed in uplink; andperform one or more first coordination actions based on at least one quality parameter, a quality parameter threshold, the first information and the second information; andthe second network node (16) being configured to:receive the first information from the first network node (16) and transmit the second information to the first network node (16); andperform one or more second coordination actions based on the at least onequality parameter, the quality parameter threshold, the first information and the second information, the one or more first coordination actions and the one or more second coordination actions include making an adjustment to one or both of a communication parameter and an application session parameter to cause at least one quality parameter to exceed, be equal to, or be less than the quality parameter threshold.

32. A computer program comprising one or more Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, xApps, the one or more O-RAN xApps comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (36), cause the processing circuitry (36) to carry out the method according to any of Claims 1-15.

33. A computer-readable storage medium storing an executable computer program comprising one or more Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, xApps, that, when executed by processing circuitry (36) causes the processing circuitry (36) to one or both perform and control a method according to any of Claims 1-15.

34. A computer program comprising one or more Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, xApps, the one or more O-RAN xApps comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (36), cause the processing circuitry (36) to carry out the method according to any of Claims 17-29.

35. A computer-readable storage medium storing an executable computer program comprising one or more Open Radio Access Network, O-RAN, xApps, that, when executed by processing circuitry (36) causes the processing circuitry (36) to one or both perform and control a method according to any of Claims 17-29.

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