Communication, collection of data and / or training of an ai / ML model in a network

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to a method performed by the first network node (16) for data handling in a communication network. The first network node (16) transmits an indication to a second network node (17), wherein the indication indicates collection of data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

Description

[0001] NETWORK NODES, USER EQUIPMENT, AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a first network node, a second network node, a user equipment (UE), and methods performed therein regarding communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling communication, such as data handling, in a communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical communication network, UEs, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (ST A) and / or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cells, with each service area or cell being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB (gNB), or an eNodeB (eNB). The service area or cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and investigate e.g. enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and coming 3GPP releases, such as New Radio (NR), are worked on. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as SystemArchitecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more CNs.

[0008] Fig. 1A depicts the 5G reference architecture as defined by 3GPP. The Network Functions (NF) shown in Fig. 1A are described below.

[0009] The Application Function (AF) or Application Server (AS) interacts with the 3GPP CN and allows external parties to use the Exposure Application Programming Interfaces (API) offered by the network operator. The AF provides session related information to other nodes in the 5G core network (5GC).

[0010] The Network Exposure Function (NEF) supports different functionalities and NEF supports different Exposure APIs.

[0011] Network Repository Function (NRF) works as a registration center of NF.

[0012] The Unified Data Repository (UDR) stores data grouped into distinct collections of subscription-related information: Subscription Data; Policy Data; Structured Data for Exposure; Application Data.

[0013] The Session Management Function (SMF) supports different functionalities, e.g. SMF receives Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules from the Policy Control Function (PCF) and configures the User Plane Function (UPF) accordingly.

[0014] The UPF supports handling of user plane traffic based on the rules received from the SMF, e.g., packet inspection and different enforcement actions such as Quality of Service (QoS) handling.

[0015] The PCF supports a unified policy framework to govern the network behaviour. Specifically, the PCF provides PCC rules to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF), i.e., the SMF or UPF that enforces policy and charging decisions according to provisioned PCC rules.

[0016] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) manages UE access, e.g., when a UE is connected through different access networks, and UE mobility aspects.

[0017] Charging Function (CHF) manages charging of services and / or functions.

[0018] 3GPP TS 23.288 v.19.2.0 describes a procedure to enable network data analytics function (NWDAF) to collect data from the UE Application via an intermediate Application Function called Data Collection Application Function (DCAF), the high-level procedure is shown below in Fig. 1B.

[0019] Fig. 1B shows Data Collection Procedure from the UE.

[0020] 1. An NF subscribes to analytics from the NWDAF as described in clause 6.1.1.1, that includes Analytics ID, Analytics Filter Information including, e.g., area of interest (Aol), Internal Application ID(s) and Target of Analytics Reporting. The NWDAF may also initiate the data collection prior to this subscription.Depending on local regulations and operator policy, the NWDAF checks the user consent for data collection in UDM. If the user consent is not given, the below steps are not performed.

[0021] NOTE: Subscription to analytics can be triggered directly towards NWDAF or can be done via a Data Collection Coordination Function (DCCF) using procedure in clause 6.1.4.2.

[0022] 2. NWDAF discovers and selects the AF that provides data collection (based on the AF profiles registered in NRF) as described in clause 6.3.25 of TS 23.501 [2],

[0023] Step 3a is used for the AF in trusted domain while step 3b is used for the AF in untrusted domain.

[0024] 3a. NWDAF subscribes to the AF in trusted domain for UE data collection (i.e. input data from UE for analytics), by using Naf_EventExposure_Subscribe as defined in

[0025] clause 5.2.19.2.2 of TS 23.502 [3], The NWDAF request contains an Application ID known in the core network and the UE Application provides the Application ID configured in the UE Application. The AF binds the NWDAF request for an Application ID and the UE data collection for an Application ID configured in the UE.

[0026] 3b. NWDAF subscribes to the AF in untrusted domain for UE data collection (i.e. input data from UE for analytics), by using step 2 and step 3 of the procedure that is described in Figure 6.2.2.3-1.

[0027] NOTE: For steps 3a and 3b, data collection can also be triggered using DCCF, as specified in clause 6.2.6.3.

[0028] 4. The AF collects the UE data using either direct or indirect data collection procedure in clause 6.2.8.2.1. The establishment of the connection can be performed at any time prior to this. The AF links the data collection request from step 3 to the user plane connection as described in clause 6.2.8.2.4.

[0029] NOTE 1:The Direct data collection and indirect data collection procedure is described in TS 26.531

[0032] .

[0030] Step 5a is used for the AF in trusted domain while step 5b is used for the AF in untrusted domain.

[0031] 5a. The AF in trusted domain receives the input data from the UE and processes the data (e.g. anonymizes, aggregates and normalizes) according to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that is configured in the AF described in clause 6.2.8.1 and Event ID(s) and Event Filter(s) set during step 3a. The trusted AF then notifies the NWDAF on the processed data according to the NWDAF subscription in step 3a.

[0032] 5b. The AF in untrusted domain receives the input data from the UE and processes the data (e.g. anonymizes, aggregates and normalizes) according to the SLA that is configured in the AF described in clause 6.2.8.1 and Event ID(s) and Event Filter(s) set during step 3b. The untrusted AF notifies the NWDAF on the processed data by using step 5b (i.e. Step 4 and step 5 of the procedure that described in Figure 6.2.2.3-1).NOTE 2:lfNWDAF requests the same data from multiple UEs, i.e. a determined list of UEs or "any UE" as the Target of Analytics Reporting, the AF can process (e.g. anonymize, aggregate and normalize) the data from multiple UEs according to the Event ID(s) and Event Filter(s) received from NWDAF during step 3a or 3b before notifying the NWDAF on the processed data in step 5a (if the AF is in trusted domain) or step 5b (if the AF is in untrusted domain).

[0033] 6. The NWDAF produces analytics using the UE data received from the AF.

[0034] 7. The NWDAF provides analytics to the consumer NF.

[0035] If the Target of Analytics Reporting that was received from the consumer in step 1 includes an Internal Group ID, NWDAF includes such Internal Group ID in step 3a or step 3b to AF. In the case of step 3b, NEF translates the Internal Group ID to an External Group ID.

[0036] If the Target of Analytics Reporting that was received from consumer in step 1 is "any UE", NWDAF may either set the target of event reporting to "any UE" in step 3a or 3b to AF, or may determine a list of Subscription Permanent Identifiers (SUPI) from AMF and / or SMF based on the Analytics Filter Information and sends the step 3a or 3b to AF for the determined list of UEs.

[0037] NOTE 3: It is assumed that the AF is provisioned with the list of UE IDs, such as Generic Public Subscription Identifiers (GPSI) or SUPIs, belonging to an External or Internal Group ID.

[0038] The architecture to collect data from the UE, the different services and the input and output parameters are defined in TS 26.531 v.19.2.0. The data is collected over user plane.

[0039] This architecture is defined as a generic architecture for collecting and exposing the collected UE data, via an intermediate AF that provides events to the event consumer using the event exposure service.

[0040] The study item description (SID) referred in “New SID on Core Network Enhanced Support for Artificial Intelligence (Al) / Machine Learning (ML) Phase 2” SP-250413, https: / / www.3gpp.org / ftp / Meetings_3GPP_Sync / SA / lnbox / SP-250413.zip request to study how to retrieve input data over as input for training a UE Model at the UE training center. The requirements are listed in the LS from RAN “LS from RAN on data collection: S2-2409600.” https: / / www.3gpp.org / ftp / tsg_sa / WG2_Arch / TSGS2_165_Hyderabad_2024-10 / Docs / S2-2409600.zip and LS on AI / ML UE sided data collection: RP-243316 that states: “TSG RAN kindly asks TSG SA to start studying the transfer of data over UP for solution 2 in WG SA2”.

[0041] Then RAN selected Solution 2 and the requirements to be fulfilled forthat solution are described in RAN LS RP-242389 “LS on AIML data collection” https: / / www.3gpp.org / ftp / TSG_RAN / TSG_RAN / TSGR_105 / Docs / RP-242389.zip as follows:

[0042] Solution 2: UE collects training data and transfers it to the CN. The CN transfers the training data to the server for data collection for UE-side model training and / or over the top (OTT) server. The requirements are:

[0043] - The data collected is secured and data integrity and confidentiality forthat data is ensured.

[0044] User data privacy, anonymity and user consent are respected.- The mobile network operator (MNO) has full control of the standardized data collection transfer process and can manage data transfer to the server for UE-side data collection, without the need of service level agreement (SLA) for this purpose. This includes initiating, terminating, and fully managing data transfer.

[0045] - MNO has full visibility for standardized data.

[0046] - The design is futureproof and extendable.

[0047] SUMMARY

[0048] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more issues have been identified. The list of existing EventIDs that are listed in 3GPP TS 23.288 v.19.2.0 enables NWDAF to collect input data from the UE for certain types of Analytics. However, there is no possibility to collect input data to train an Artificial Intelligence (Al) or Machine Learning (ML) model related to channel state information (CSI) predictions, CSI management, Beam Management or UE Positioning.

[0049] Furthermore, the intermediate AF, i.e., DCAF, receives instructions from the Application Server and configures the UE to trigger the data collection. However the MNO, via DCAF, has no possibility to control when the data collection from the UE needs to start.

[0050] An object of embodiments herein is to efficiently handle communication, collection of data and / or training of an AI / ML model in a network.

[0051] According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a first network node, such as an Application Function (AF) hosting a UE training center, for data handling in a communication network. The first network node transmits an indication to a second network node. The indication indicates a request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0052] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a second network node, such as DCAF, for data handling in a communication network. The second network node receives, from a first network node, an indication. The indication indicates a request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The second network node transmits, to a UE, a collect indication that indicates to provide, and / or when to provide, the requested data either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication.

[0053] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a UE for data handling in a communication network. The UE receives from a second network node a collect indication indicating to provide and / or when to provide data being CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data, either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication. The UE further collects and transmits, to the second network node, data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning based on the collect indication.It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods herein, as performed by the first network node, the second network node, and the UE, respectively.

[0054] It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods herein, as performed by the first network node, the second network node, and the UE, respectively.

[0055] Furthermore, according to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a first network node, a second network node and a UE configured to perform the methods herein, respectively.

[0056] Thus, according to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a first network node for data handling in a communication network. The first network node is configured to transmit an indication to a second network node. The indication indicates a request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0057] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a second network node for data handling in a communication network. The second network node is configured to receive, from a first network node, an indication. The indication indicates a request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The second network node is configured to transmit, to a UE, a collect indication that indicates to provide, and / or when to provide, the requested data either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication.

[0058] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a UE for data handling in a communication network. The UE is configured to receive from a second network node a collect indication indicating to provide and / or when to provide data being CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data, either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication. The UE is further configured to collect and transmit, to the second network node, data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning based on the collect indication.

[0059] Embodiments herein may provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0060] - enable Naf_EventExposure service defined in TS 23.502 v.19.2.0 and TS 29.517 v.19.2.0 to be extended with the following EventIDs: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and / or UE Positioning data;

[0061] - enable the DCAF, being an example of the second network node, to receive a request to collect data from the UE;- enable the DCAF, being an example of the second network node, to determine an appropriate time for the UE to collect the data from a gNB and for the UE to report the collected data to the DCAF;

[0062] - enable the DCAF, being an example of the second network node, to provide one or more of:

[0063] a) a provisioning information listed in clause of TS 23.531 v.19.2.0, with the addition of the timer indication to indicate to the UE when the data collection should start.

[0064] b) a notification to the UE to indicate that no configuration and reporting data is available from the network yet. The DCAF may then provide the configuration indication at a later time to the UE, when the MNO decides that it is time to start the data collection.

[0065] Thus, embodiments herein enable a more reliable collection of data and thus enable a more efficient training of an AI / ML model using the collected data.

[0066] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0068] Fig. 1 A shows an overview depicting a communication network according to prior art; Fig. 1 B shows a signaling scheme according to prior art;

[0069] Fig. 2 shows an overview depicting a communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0070] Figs. 3 shows a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to embodiments herein;

[0071] Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a first network node according to embodiments herein;

[0072] Fig. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a second network node according to embodiments herein;

[0073] Fig. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0074] Fig. 7 shows a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0075] Fig. 8A shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a first network node according to embodiments herein;

[0076] Fig. 8B shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a second network node according to embodiments herein;

[0077] Fig. 8C shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0078] Fig. 9 shows a block diagram depicting an overview of some embodiments herein;Fig. 10 shows a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0079] Fig. 11 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0080] Fig. 12 shows a communication system 15200 in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 13 shows a UE 15300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0081] Fig. 14 is a block diagram of a network node 15400 in accordance with various aspects described herein; and

[0082] Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0083] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0084] Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a communication network 1. The communication network 1 comprises one or more Radio Access Networks (RANs) and Core Networks (CNs). The communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a New Radio (NR) context, however, embodiments are also applicable in upcoming or existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. 6G, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).

[0085] In the communication network 1, a user equipment (UE) 10 exemplified herein as a wireless device such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA and / or a wireless terminal, is comprised communicating via e.g. one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more CNs. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a nonlimiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, narrowband internet of things (NB-loT) device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, smart watch, vehicle, smart glasses, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node.

[0086] The communication network 1 comprises a first radio network node 12 or just radio network node, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as 6G, NR, LTE, or similar. The radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access pointor any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE within the area served by the first radio network node 12 depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The first radio network node 12 may be referred to as a serving radio network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a serving cell, and the serving network node communicates with the UE 10 in form of DL transmissions to the UE 10 and UL transmissions from the UE 10. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage. The first radio network node 12 may be a source node or serving node.

[0087] The communication network 1 may further comprise a number of network nodes such as core network nodes providing, e.g. in NR, network functions (NF) or actually instantiations of NFs also referred to as NF instances, such as a first network node 16 providing, for example, an instantiation of an AF hosting a UE training center such as hosting an Artificial Intelligence (Al) and / or Machine Learning (ML) model, and a second network node 17 providing an instantiation of a AF for collecting data such as a Data Collection Application Function (DCAF). The different NF instances may have different tasks. Other functions may be for LTE such as mobility management entity (MME) or similar.

[0088] The respective node may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in e.g. hyper-cloud networks.

[0089] According to embodiments herein the first network node 16 transmits an indication to the second network node 17. The indication indicates a request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data. For example, Naf_EventExposure service defined in TS 23.502 v.19.2.0 and TS 29.517 v.19.2.0 may be extended with one or more of the following EventIDs: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data and UE Positioning data.

[0090] According to example embodiments herein, the second network node 17, such as e.g., DCAF, receives the indication from the first network node 16 requesting for provision of data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The second network node 17 may then determine an appropriate time which is the time when the UE 10 collects data e.g., from the first radio network node 12, such as a gNB, and / or when to report collected data to the second network node 17. The second network node 17 transmits, to the UE 10, a collect indication that indicates to provide, and / or when to provide, the requested data either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication. The second network node 17, e.g., a DCAF, may provide any one out of:

[0091] a provisioning information listed in clause of TS 23.531 v.19.2.0, with the addition of the timer indication to indicate to the UE 10 when the data collection shall start, ora notification to the UE 10 to indicate that no configuration and reporting data is available from the network yet. The second network node 17 e may then provide the configuration indication at a later time to the UE 10, when the MNO decides that it is time to start the data collection. That is, the indication to provide the requested data. The UE 10 may then provide the data to the second network node 17 based on the timer indication or the configuration indication, which data may be forwarded to the first network node 16. Thus, the embodiments herein enable the first network node 16 to train an Al model or ML model based on the data such as CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and / or UE Positioning data.

[0092] Fig. 3 shows a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to some embodiments herein.

[0093] Action 301. The first network node 16 may select the second network node 17 to subscribe to for data collection based on a profile registered in an NRF.

[0094] Action 302. The first network node 16 transmits the indication to the second network node 17. The indication indicates the collection of data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0095] Action 303. The second network node 17 may decide whether to initiate the data transfer, as such if the data collection and reporting should not be started at the time a UE 10 requested. The second network node 17 may base the decision on network conditions and UE capabilities.

[0096] Action 304. The second network node 17 may indicate to the UE 10, to provide, and / or when to provide, requested data either with the timer indication or with the configuration indication.

[0097] Action 305. The UE 10 may collect and transmit, to the second network node 17, data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The UE 10 collects and transmits the data as indicated by the second network node 17.

[0098] Action 306. The second network node 17 may transmit to the first network node 16 the requested data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0099] Action 307. The first network node 16 may train an Al model or ML model using the received data.

[0100] The method actions performed by the first network node 16, such as an AF with an Al model or ML model and / or a UE training center, for data handling in the communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

[0101] Action 401. The first network node 16 may select the second network node 17 for subscription to collect data based on a profile registered in the NRF. The profile may comprise information to indicate collection of CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam managementdata, or UE Positioning data or combinations of those. The profile of the second network node 17 may be extended to indicate the EventIDs that the second network node 17 supports comprising one or more out of: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning data.

[0102] Action 402. The first network node 16 may inform the second network node 17 about provision, for data collection, per Event ID to be configured at the UE 10.

[0103] Action 403. The first network node 16 transmits the indication to the second network node 17, wherein the indication indicates a request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data. The first network node 16 may subscribe to the second network node 17 for UE data collection for an event, the event being one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data.

[0104] Action 404. The first network node 16 may receive, from the second network node 17, the requested data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0105] Action 405. The first network node 16 may train an Al model or ML model using the received data.

[0106] The method actions performed by the second network node 17, such as the DCAF, for data handling in the communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 5. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

[0107] Action 501. The second network node 17 may receive from the first network node 16, information related to the per Event ID to be configured at the UE 10.

[0108] Action 502. The second network node 17 receives from the first network node 16 the indication. The indication indicates the request to collect data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data.

[0109] Action 503. The second network node 17 may decide whether to initiate the data transfer, as such, if the data collection and reporting should not be started at the time the UE 10 requested.

[0110] Action 504. The second network node 17 transmits, to the UE 10, a collect indication that indicates to provide, and / or when to provide, the requested data either with the timer indication or with the configuration indication. Thus, the second network node 17 transmits, to the UE 10, the collect indication that indicates what to provide and / or when to provide the requested data.Action 505. The second network node 17 may receive from the UE 10, the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0111] Action 506. The second network node 17 may transmit to the first network node 16 the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0112] The method actions performed by the UE 10 for data handling in the communication network according to embodiments herein will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 6. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below but may be taken in any suitable order. Actions performed in some embodiments are marked with dashed boxes.

[0113] Action 601. The UE 10 may setup a connection to the second network node 17. The second network node 17 may provide provisioning information to the UE 10 and the second network node 17 knows what provisioning information to provide and the events that the first network node 16 have subscribed to. The second network node 17 may inform with an indication for the UE 10 to collect CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data and UE Positioning data.

[0114] Action 602. The UE 10 receives from the second network node 17 the collect indication indicating to provide and / or when to provide requested data being CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data, either with the timer indication or with the configuration indication. The configuration indication may comprise the response to the request from the UE 10. The response may indicate that the configuration and reporting instructions are not available yet, thus postponing the reporting. The timer indication may be a timer in the provisioning information to indicate to the UE 10 to report measurements when the timer expires.

[0115] Action 603. The UE 10 collects and transmits to the second network node 17, data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning, such as one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data and UE Positioning data, based on the collect indication. This may be triggered and performed as indicated in action 602. Thus, the UE 10 may provide the data to the second network node based on the timer indication or the configuration indication.

[0116] Fig. 7 shows a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to some embodiments herein. The first network node 16 may herein be referred to as the AF hosting the UE training center or the UE training center. The second network node 17 may herein be referred to as DCAF. The actions illustrated in Fig 7 are described in detail below.

[0117] 71: This action is similar to Action 401 described above. The first network node 16 e.g., the AF hosting the UE training center discovers and selects the second network node 17 e.g., the DCAF that provides data collection based on the profiles of the second network nodes 17registered in the NRF. The profile of the second network node 17 is extended to indicate the EventIDs that the second network node 17 supports comprising one or more out of: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning data.

[0118] 72. As described in Action 402, the first network node 16 provisions per Event ID information to be configured at the UE 10, to enable the UE 10 to report the required input data to the first network node 16. The event IDs may be CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning.

[0119] 73. The first network node 16 subscribes to the second network node 17 for UE data collection, possibly via NEF, using Naf_EventExposure Subscribe comprising the Target for Event Reporting i.e. GPSI or SUPI, Internal or External Group Identifier or any UE, both Event ID(s), Event Filters such as UE location to enable to collect data in certain areas only as listed in clause 5.2.19.2.1 in TS 23.502 v.19.2.0 . As mentioned earlier in Actions 403 and 501, the event IDs may be CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning.

[0120] 74. At the time that the UE 10 needs to train a ML Model, it establishes a protocol data unit (PDU) Session according to the provisioned UE route selection policy (URSP) Rules that enables the establishment of a PDU Session and a user plane connection to retrieve the provisioning information and report collected measurements to the second network node 17. Thus, the UE 10 may transmit provisioning configuration indication to the second network node 17. The second network node 17 provides the provisioning information to the UE 10 if both actions 72 and 73 are performed and the second network node 17 knows what provisioning information to provide and the events that the first network node 16 subscribed to.

[0121] 75. The second network node 17 decides whether to initiate the data transfer, as such, if the data collection and reporting should not be started at the time the UE 10 requested.

[0122] 76. As described in Action 504, the second network node 17 may perform any one out of 76a or 76b.

[0123] 76a. The second network node 17 may provide a provisioning information, being an example of the collect indication, being a response to the provisioning request indicating that the configuration and reporting instructions are not available yet, or

[0124] 76b. The second network node 17 may provide a provisioning information, being an example of the collect indication, comprising a timer to indicate to the UE 10 to report measurements when the timer expires.

[0125] 77. When the UE 10 receives the provisioning information from the second network node 17, and if the time indicated by the timer comprised in the provisioning information expires, the UE 10 starts data collection from UE application and reports to the second network node 17. In some embodiments, the UE 10 requests the first radio network node 12, e.g., gNB, for radio resources. The first radio network node 12 may provide reference signals and necessary configuration to the UE 10 for data collection. When the UE 10 gets the radio resources and configuration information,then the UE 10 may report the requested data to the second network node 17. This is an example of the action 603.

[0126] 78. The second network node 17 may transmit collected CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning in Naf_Event_Exposure_Notify to the first network node 16. The second network node 17 may perform aggregation of the UE data depending on the Target for Event reporting, i.e. when the Target for Event Reporting is an Internal-Group-ID provided in action 72.

[0127] 79. The first network node 16 trains the Al model or ML Model with the input data provided by the second network node 17. This is an example of the action 405.

[0128] Thus, same method flow when the first network node 16 comprises a UE training center, and the second network node 17 comprises a DCAF:

[0129] 71. The UE training center discovers and selects the DCAF that provides data collection (based on the DCAF profiles registered in NRF). “The DCAF profile is extended to indicate the new EventIDs that DCAF supports include CSI compression data, CSI prediction data. Beam management, or UE Positioning or combinations of those.”

[0130] 72. The UE training center provisioning per Event ID information to be configured to the UE to enable the UE to report the required input data to the UE training center. “Event IDs may be CSI compression data, CSI prediction data. Beam management, or UE Positioning”

[0131] 73. The UE training center subscribes to the DCAF for UE data collection, possibly via NEF, using Naf_EventExposure Subscribe including the Target for Event Reporting (i.e. GPSI or SUPI, Internal or External Group Identifier or any UE), both Event ID(s), Event Filters such as UE location (to enable to collect data in certain areas only) listed in clause 5.2.19.2.1 in TS 23.502 v.19.2.0. “Event IDs may be CSI compression data, CSI prediction data. Beam management, or UE Positioning.”

[0132] 74. At the time that the UE needs to train a ML Model, it establishes a PDU Session according to the provisioned URSP Rules that enables the establishment of a PDU Session and a user plane connection to retrieve the provisioning information and report collected measurements to the DCAF. The DCAF provides the provisioning information to the UE if both steps 72 and 73 happened and DCAF knows what provisioning information to provide and the Events that the UE training center subscribed to.

[0133] 75. The DCAF decides whether to initiate the data transfer, as such if the data collection and reporting should not be started at the time the UE requested, the DCAF may either “76a) provide a response to the provisioning reguest indicating that the configuration and reporting instructions are not available vet, or

[0134] 76b) the DCAF can include a timer in the provisioning information to indicate to the UE to report measurements when the timer expires.”

[0135] 77. When the UE receives the provisioning information from DCAF and “if the timer is included in the provisioning information the time expires, the UE starts data collection and reporting to DCAF.”

[0136] NOTE: The UE requests the gNB for radio resources, then gNB provides reference signals and necessary configuration to the UE for data collection, when the UE gets radio resources ad configuration information then the UE can report to DCAF.78. The DCAF may perform aggregation of the UE data depending on the Target for Event reporting, i.e. when the Target for Event Reporting is an Internal-Group-ID provided in step 72.

[0137] 79. The UE training center trains the ML Model with the input data provided by DCAF.

[0138] Fig. 8A is a block diagram depicting the first network node 16, such as an AF hosting a UE training center or core network node, for data handling in the communication network in the communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0139] The first network node 16 may comprise processing circuitry 801, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0140] The first network node 16 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to transmit the indication to the second network node 17. The indication indicates the request to collect the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data and UE Positioning data. The first network node 16 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to subscribe to the second network node 17 for UE data collection for an event, the event being related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data. The first network node 16 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to select the second network node 17 for subscription to collect data based on a profile registered in the NRF. The profile may comprise information to indicate collection of CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, UE Positioning, or combinations of those. The first network node 16 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to inform the second network node 17 about provision, for data collection, per Event ID to be configured at the UE 10. The first network node 16 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to receive from the second network node 17 data related to the requested data such as CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data. The first network node 16 may further be configured to train an Al model using the received data.

[0141] The first network node 16 may comprise a memory 805. The memory 805 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, ML / AI model, indications, event IDs, events, collected data and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the first network node 16 may comprise a communication interface 806 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0142] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first network node 16 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 807 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, asperformed by the first network node 16. The computer program product 807 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 808, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 808, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first network node 16. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the first network node 16 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the first network node 16 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said first network node 16 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0143] Fig. 8B is a block diagram depicting the second network node 17, such as e.g., a DCAF, for data handling in the communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0144] The second network node 17 may comprise processing circuitry 811 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0145] The second network node 17 and / or the processing circuitry 811 is configured to receive from the first network node 16 the indication. The indication indicates the request to collect the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data.

[0146] Additionally, the second network node 17 and / or the processing circuitry 811 is configured to transmit the collect indication to indicate to the UE 10 to provide and / or when to provide the requested data either with the timer indication or with the configuration indication. The second network node 17 and / or the processing circuitry 811 may be configured to receive from the first network node 16 information related to the per Event ID to be configured at the UE 10. The second network node 17 and / or the processing circuitry 811 may be configured to decide whether to initiate the data transfer, as such if the data collection and reporting should not be started at the time the UE 10 requested. The second network node 17 and / or the processing circuitry 811 may be configured to receive from the UE 10, the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning. The second network node 17 and / or the processing circuitry 811 may be configured to transmit to the first network node 16 the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

[0147] The second network node 17 may comprise a memory 815. The memory 815 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, indications of support, indications, collected data, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the second network node 17 may comprise acommunication interface 816 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0148] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the second network node 17 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 817 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second network node 17. The computer program product 817 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 818, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 818, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second network node 17. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the second network node 17 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the second network node 17 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said second network node 17 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0149] Fig. 8C is a block diagram depicting UE 10 for data handling in the communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0150] The UE 10 may comprise processing circuitry 821, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0151] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 821 is configured to receive from the second network node 17 the collect indication indicating to provide and / or when to provide requested data being CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data, either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication. The configuration indication may comprise a response to a request from the UE 10. The response may indicate that the configuration and reporting instructions are not available yet. The timer indication may be a timer in the provisioning information to indicate to the UE 10 to report measurements when the timer expires. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 821 may be configured to setup a connection to the second network node 17. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 821 may be configured to receive provisioning information from the second network node 17. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 821 may be configured to receive information with an indication for the UE 10 to collect CSI related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data. The indication may indicate identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 821 is configured to collect and transmit, to the second network node 17, the data related to CSI, beammanagement, and / or positioning, such as one or more of the following: compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data, based on the collect indication.

[0152] The UE 10 may comprise a memory 825. The memory 825 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, collected data, event IDs, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the UE 10 may comprise a communication interface 826 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0153] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the UE 10 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 827 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. The computer program product 827 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 828, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 828, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the UE 10 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the UE 10 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said UE 10 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0154] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and / or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNB, Secondary eNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node e.g. Mobility Switching Center (MSC), Mobile Management Entity (MME) etc., Operation and Maintenance (O&M), Operation Support System (OSS), Self-Organizing Network (SON), positioning node e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC), Minimizing Drive Test (MDT), etc.

[0155] In some embodiments, the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device-to-device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UEcapable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0156] The embodiments are described for 5G. However, the embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the UE receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. LTE, LTE FDD / TDD, WCDMA / HSPA, GSM / GERAN, Wi Fl, WLAN, CDMA2000 etc.

[0157] Some embodiments propose a solution for Kl#1 for FS_AIML_CN:

[0158] 1. Introduction

[0159] This solution describes how to address KI# 1 : Data collection over user plane for UE side model training, reusing the generic data collection procedure from the UE application using an intermediate Application Function that is described inTS 26.531 and TS 23.288.

[0160] In order to use the Data collection architecture, new EventIDs to allow collection of UE data that is needed for training ML Models at the UE training center are defined.

[0161] Based on the RAN requirements and the WT#1 description the following solution is proposed:

[0162] The intermediate Application Function part of the generic architecture for data collection is only located in the MNO domain.

[0163] o This is to comply with requirements for “the MNO has full control of the standardized data collection transfer process and can manage data transfer to the server for UE-side data collection, without the need of SLA for this purpose. This includes initiating, terminating, and fully managing data transfer”, Given that DCAF in the MNO domain initiates and terminates the UE data collection, the MNO has full visibility for standardized data.

[0164] The information security model defined in TS 26.531, under SA4 scope, is understood to cover the following, may need validation with SA4:

[0165] o The data collected is secured and data integrity and confidentiality for that data is ensured.

[0166] The solution proposed in this contribution is on high level, while additional aspects need to be covered, as such those are documented in the clause “Aspects for further consideration”.

[0167] 2. Text Proposal

[0168] It is proposed to agree the following solution to be part of TR 23.700-04.

[0169]

[0170] 6.x Solution #N: User Plane solution for Data collection for UE- side model training

[0171] 6.x.1 Description

[0172] This solution is addressing KI#X: Data collection over user plane for UE side model training.

[0173] According to RAN LS, RP-243316. the following is requested by TSG RAN kindly asks TSG SA to start studying the transfer of data over UP for solution 2 in WG SA2. Then solution 2 and the requirements to be fulfilled for the solution is described in RAN LS RP-242389 as follows:

[0174] Solution 2: UE collects training data and transfers it to Core Network. Core Network transfers the training data to the server for data collection for UE-side model training / OTT server, the requirements agreed by RAN are:The data collected is secured and data integrity and confidentiality for that data is ensured.

[0175] User data privacy, anonymity and user consent is respected.

[0176] The MNO has full control of the standardized data collection transfer process and can manage data transfer to the server for UE-side data collection, without the need of SLA for this purpose. This includes initiating, terminating, and fully managing data transfer.

[0177] MNO has full visibility for standardized data.

[0178] The design is futureproof and extendable.

[0179] Then, R2-2411152 states:

[0180] ’’Data collection initiation and configmation for data collection is under network control”.

[0181] o FFS how the NW determines whether data collection should be initiated (e.g., via UE requests (UE directly or UE server)),

[0182] “SA2 can assume that the gNB is involved in providing radio measurement configmation (if needed) for beam management use case and LMF is involved in providing PRS measurement configuration (if needed).

[0183] o However, RAN2 has not agreed that the gNB / LMF is in charge of “initiating, terminating and fully managing data transfer”

[0184] “Standardized data refers to data whose format / content is explicitly defined in 3GPP specifications, allowing the network to understand its content and meaning.”

[0185] 6.x.2 High-level solution principles

[0186] This solution reuses the generic architecture for collecting and exposing the collected UE data, via an intermediate Application Function that provides events to the event consumer using the event exposme service, defined in TS 23.288 and in SA4 TS 26.531 and TS 26.532 with the following considerations:

[0187] The intermediate Application Function, i.e. DCAF :

[0188] o is located in the MNO to fulfil the requirements on visibility and controllability of the data collection procedure.

[0189] o Receives configuration data from the UE training center per each of the EventIDs.

[0190] o Receives request to collect input data from the UE for model training, via existing Naf EventExposure service.

[0191] o Decides whether and when to initiate and terminate the data collection from the UE, e.g. the DCAF may use e.g. PDTQ to determine when to start or whether to terminate data collection.

[0192] The UE training center:

[0193] o may be located in the trusted MNO domain or in an untrusted MNO domain.

[0194] o provides configuration information to DCAF.

[0195] o Triggers the request for data collection towards the DCAF.

[0196] o Checks user consent before requesting data from DCAF.

[0197] - The UE:

[0198] o request configuration information from DCAF.

[0199] o performs data collection and provides it to the DCAF as indicated in the configuration information. How the data collected is secured and how data integrity and confidentiality for that data is ensured is described in TS 26.531, clause 4.5 Information security model, no additional requirements are foreseen.The figure below schematically shows the solution for data collection from the UE via user plane, reusing the reference architecture defined in TS 26.531. Note that the interface between the UE Application and the Direct Data collection is internal to the UE, as such this solution considers the UE only with no distinction between both. Interactions at R8 reference point are out the scope of 3GPP, according to 26.531.

[0200] Figure 9 or 6.x.2_1. Data Collection from the UE Applications and transfer to the UE training center for Model training (Data collection via UP-EVEX-DCAF in MNO domain) 6.x.3 Procedure for collecting UE data and reporting to the UE training center

[0201] This procedure follows TS 26.531 and 23.288 for data collection from the UE and reporting the data collected to the UE training center.

[0202] The UE training center discovers the DCAF that can expose input data for training their ML Model, then provisions (subject of user consent), over R1 reference point, the Event ID, e.g. CSI, Beam Management or Positioning, the processing of the input data and exposure instructions at the UE. The DCAF stores this data.

[0203] The UE determines that a model needs to be trained with the UE training center, then establishes a user plane connection to DCAF via a new or existing PDU Session depending on the URSP Rules in the UE. The DCAF provisions the stored data to the UE. The DCAF may also update this data at anytime.

[0204] Once the UE receives the provisioning information it may start collecting measurements, as such it may request RAN to start transmitting reference signalling in order to allow the UE to collect the necessary measurements, or the UE may request RAN to provide the UE with certain radio configurations such that it can perform the data collection. This implies that RAN may encounter situations with a large amount of signalling due to the UE side data collection, in order to manage this situation where the UE request for data collection for model training cannot be fulfilled due to local constraints at RAN, an indicator to provide a priority, e.g. for PRUs UE when measurements for positioning are requested, is provided to RAN out of the list of UEs that are configured by DCAF.

[0205] Once the data collection is completed according to the processing instructions the collected data should transferred the UE training center which will be in charge of training / retraining / finetune the UE-side model based on the collected measurements and possibly on network assistance information such that the collected data measurements can be categorized by the training entity. The transfer of the data requires that the UE training center subscribes to Event Exposure to DCAF for a Target for Event Exposure, as such the DCAF can notify about the collected data, and the DCAF may also aggregate the collected data when the Target for Event Exposure is an Intemal-Group-Id or any UE.

[0206] Figure 10 or 6.x.3_1 : UE training center triggers data collection from the UE

[0207] 101. The UE training center discovers and selects the DCAF that provides data collection (based on the DCAF profiles registered in NRF). The DCAF profile is extended to indicate the new EventIDs that DCAF supports include CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning or combinations of those.

[0208] 102. The UE training center provisioning per Event ID information to be configured to the UE, possibility, to enable the UE to report the required input data to the UE training center.

[0209] 103. The UE training center subscribes to the DCAF for UE data collection, possibly via NEF, using

[0210] Naf EventExposure Subscribe including the Target for Event Reporting (i.e. GPSI or SUPI, Internal or External Group Identifier or any UE), both Event ID(s), Event Filters listed in clause 5.2.19.2.1 in

[0211] TS 23.502 [3],

[0212] 104. At the time that the UE needs to train a ML Model, it contacts DCAF to retrieve the provisioning information.

[0213] The DCAF provides the provisioning information to the UE if both steps 102 and 103 happened before the UE requests provisioning information from DCAF. The DCAF decides whether to initiate the data transfer, as such it may either a) provide an response to the provisioning request indicating that the configuration and reporting instructions are not available yet, then when DCAF decides that the data transfer should start, it provides the provisioning information to the UE, or b) the DCAF can include a timer in the provisioning information to indicate to the UE to report measurements when the timer expires.

[0214] 105. When the UE receives the provisioning information from DCAF and if the timer is included in the provisioning information the time expires, the UE starts data collection and reporting to DCAF.106. The DCAF may perform aggregation of the UE data depending on the Target for Event reporting provided in step 102.

[0215] 107. The UE training center trains the ML Model with the input data provided by DCAF.

[0216] 6.x.4 Aspects for further consideration

[0217] RAN requirements on User data privacy, anonymity and user consent is respected, whether SA4 TSs can cover this requirement or part of it.

[0218] Relation with the LCS privacy profile when requesting positioning data.

[0219] 6.x.5 Impacts on services, entities and interfaces

[0220] DCAF:

[0221] Extensions to the AF exposure service with new EventIDs and configmation parameters from the UE training center, including registration in NRF, and subscription and notify service operations.

[0222] Determines when to start and terminate the data collection, notifies the UE when the data collection and reporting to the UE training center.

[0223] Determines what information to configure to the UE based on the provisioning request from the UE training center.

[0224] UE:

[0225] Receive provisioning information for the new EventIDs.

[0226] May receive a timer to indicate that reporting the data collected should start when the timer expires.

[0227] May receive an indication that the provisioning of configmation an reporting information is not available yet, as such the UE will receive it when the DCAF decides that the collecting of training data should start.

[0228]

[0229] Fig. 11 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0230] In the example, the communication system 15100 includes a telecommunications network 15102 that includes an access network 15104, such as a RAN, and a core network 15106, which includes one or more core network nodes 15108. The access network 15104 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 15110A and 15110B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 15110 or radio network node 12), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 15104 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 15110 of access network 15104 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as UEs, such as by connecting UEs 15112A, 15112B, 15112C, and 15112D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 15112 being examples of the UE 10) to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections.Moreover, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 15102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 15102 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 network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 15102, including one or more access network nodes 15110 and / or core network nodes 15108 being examples of the first / second network node 16,17.

[0231] Examples of an ORAN network node 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). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1 , F1 , W1 , E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network 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 O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0232] The network nodes 15110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 15112 to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 15100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 15100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0233] The UEs 15112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes15110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 15108, 15110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 15102) with the UEs 15112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 15102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 15102. More specifically, UEs 15112 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 15108, 15110 or other elements of the telecommunications network 15102 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 15108, 15110 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 151122, other network nodes 15108, 15110, and other devices in telecommunications network 15102 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 15112 by transmitting the message to an access network node 15110 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 15112.

[0234] Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 15112 by receiving the message from an access network node 15110 that itself received the message from the UE 15112.

[0235] In the depicted example, the core network 15106 connects elements of the access network 15104 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 15110) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 15116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 15106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 15108) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 15108.

[0236] Network nodes 15108 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 15108 being examples of the first network node 140. Example core network nodes provide functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0237] The host 15116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 15104 and / or the telecommunications network 15102. The host 15116 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Thehost 15116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0238] As a whole, the communication system 15100 of Fig. 11 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 15100 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 15100 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 15100 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0239] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 15104 may contain some access network nodes 15110 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 15110 support (or the same access network nodes 15110 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 15102 may support multiple generations of related communication standards, e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards, and, as a result, may include an access network 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0240] Telecommunications network 15102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 15102. For example, the telecommunications network 15102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0241] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 15112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmitinformation to the access network 15104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 15104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0242] In the example, the hub 15114 communicates with the access network 15104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 15110B). In some examples, the hub 15114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 15114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 15106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 15114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 15110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 15114.

[0243] As another example, the hub 15114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 15114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 15114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 15114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 15114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0244] The hub 15114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 15110B. The hub 15114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 15114 and UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D), and between the hub 15114 and the core network 15106. In other examples, the hub 15114 is connected to the core network 15106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 15114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 15104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 15110 while still connected via the hub 15114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 15114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 15110B. In other embodiments, the hub 15114 may be a non-dedicated hub -that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 15110B, butwhich is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0245] Fig. 12 is another example of a communication system 15200 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 15200 includes multiple access points (APs) 15210 (with four exemplary APs 15210A, 15210B, 15210C, and 15210D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 15200 as stations (STAs) 15212 (referred to individually as STA 15212A, STA 15212B, STA 15212C, STA 15212D, and STA 15212E). STA 15212A is served by AP 15210A in a first basic service set (BSS) 15220A. STA 15210B and STA 15210C are served by AP 15210B in a second BSS, BSS 15220B. STA 15212D is served by AP 15210C in a third BSS, BSS 15220C. STA 15212E is served byAP 15210D in a fourth BSS, BSS 15220D. Stations 15212 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations 15212 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0246] Each of STAs 15212 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 15210. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 15212, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0247] Each AP 15210 may provide data connectivity to STAs 15212 connected to a particular AP 15210. As illustrated, APs 15210 may be connected to a data network 15230. In this way, APs 15210 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 15212 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 15212 and its serving AP 15210 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 15212, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 15212 and / or on a device linked to STA 15212. Byway of example, Fig. 12 illustrates an application service platform 15232 provided in data network 15230. The application(s) executed on STA 15212 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 15212 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 15212 and / or the application service platform 15232, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 15212.

[0248] Fig. 13 shows a wireless device 15300 being an example of the UE 10, which may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Fig. 11 or in communication system15200 of Fig. 12. The wireless device 15300 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 15300, like a UE 15112 within the context of communication system 15100, or as a station (ST A) 15300 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP ST A) 15300, like a STA 15212 within the context of the communication system 15200, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0249] A wireless device 15300 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device 15300 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 15300 may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, wireless device 15300 may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0250] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 includes processing circuitry 15302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 15304 to an input / output interface 15306, a power source 15308, a memory 15310, a communication interface 15312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 15300 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 13. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 15300 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 15300, processing circuitry 15302, input / output interface 15306, power source 15308, memory 15310, and communication interface 15312 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 15300. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 15300 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.The processing circuitry 15302 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 15310. The processing circuitry 15302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 15302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0251] In the example, the input / output interface 15306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices.

[0252] Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device 15300. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0253] In some embodiments, the power source 15308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 15308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 15308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 15300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 15308 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 15300 to which power is supplied.

[0254] The memory 15310 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 15310 includes one or more programs 15314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, andcorresponding data 15316. The memory 15310 may store, for use by wireless device 15300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0255] The memory 15310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 15310 may allow wireless device 15300 to access instructions, programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 15310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0256] The processing circuitry 15302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 15312. The communication interface 15312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 15322. The communication interface 15312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 15318 and / or a receiver 15320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 15318 and receiver 15320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 15322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0257] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 15312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11 , Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet,transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0258] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 15312, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 15300 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 15300. In particular embodiments, such output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0259] As another example, wireless device 15300 comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, wireless device 15300 may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0260] Wireless device 15300, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 represents an loT device that comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the example embodiment of wireless device 15300 shown in Figure 13.

[0261] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 15300 may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another wireless device and / or a network node.

[0262] Wireless device 15300 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context bereferred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, wireless device 15300 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 15300 may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0263] In practice, any number of wireless devices 15300 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 15300 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 15300 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device 15300 may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second wireless device 15300 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 15300 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0264] Fig. 14 shows a network node 15400, being an example of the first network node 16 and the second network node 17, in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 15400 may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Figure 11 , like network nodes 15108 or 15110, or in communication system 15200 of Figure 12, like an AP 15210 ora station 15212. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0265] Network nodes 15400 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Network node 15400 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 15400 may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0266] Other examples of network nodes 15400 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations(BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, SelfOrganizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0267] In particular embodiments, network node 15400 includes a processing circuitry 15402, a memory 15404, a communication interface 15406, and a power source 15408. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 15400, processing circuitry 15402, memory 15404, communication interface 15406, and power source 15408 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 15400.

[0268] The network node 15400 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 15400 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 15400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 15404 or portions of memory 15404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 15410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 15400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 15400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 15400.

[0269] The processing circuitry 15402 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 15404, to provide network node 15400 functionality.

[0270] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 and the baseband processing circuitry 15414 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. Inalternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0271] The memory 15404 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or nonvolatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 15402. The memory 15404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 15402 and utilized by the network node 15400. The memory 15404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 15402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 15406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 and memory 15404 is integrated.

[0272] The communication interface 15406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 15406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 15416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 15300 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 15406 may also include radio front-end circuitry 15418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 15410. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 15418 include filter(s) 15420 and amplifier(s) 15422. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may be connected to an antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 15420 and / or amplifiers 15422. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 15410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 15410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 15418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 15402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0273] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 15400 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 15418, instead, the processing circuitry 15402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna15410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 is part of the communication interface 15406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 15406 includes one or more ports or terminals 15416, the radio front-end circuitry 15418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 15412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 15406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 15414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0274] The antenna 15410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 15410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 15418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 15410 is separate from the network node 15400 and connectable to the network node 15400 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0275] The antenna 15410, communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 15410, the communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0276] The power source 15408 provides power to the various components of network node 15400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 15408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 15400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 15400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 15408. As a further example, the power source 15408 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0277] Embodiments of the network node 15400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 14 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 15400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 15400 and to allow output of information from the network node 15400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 15400.Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 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 15500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a 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 15500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0278] Applications 15502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0279] Hardware 15504 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. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 15506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 15508A and VM 15508B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 15508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 15506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 15508.

[0280] The VMs 15508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 15506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 15502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 15508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. 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 physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0281] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 15508 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 15508, and that part of hardware 15504 that executes that VM, be ithardware 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 of the VMs 15508 on top of the hardware 15504 and corresponds to an application 15502.

[0282] Hardware 15504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 15504 may implement some functions via virtualization.

[0283] Alternatively, hardware 15504 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 15510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 15502. In some embodiments, hardware 15504 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 15512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0284] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0285] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or moremicrocontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a radio network node, for example.

[0286] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications receiverswill appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0287] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0288] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by the first network node (16) for data handling in a communication network, the method comprising- transmitting (403) an indication to a second network node (17), wherein the indication indicates collection of data related to channel state information, CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the indication indicates identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and user equipment, UE, Positioning data.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein transmitting (403) the indication to the second network node (17) further comprises subscribing to the second network node (17) for UE data collection for an event, wherein the event being one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, further comprising- selecting (401) the second network node (17) for subscription to collect databased on a profile registered in a Network Repository Function, NRF, wherein the profile comprises information to indicate collection of CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management, or UE Positioning, or combinations of those.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, further comprising- informing (402) the second network node (17) about provision, for data collection, per Event ID to be configured at a UE (10).

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, further comprising- receiving (404), from the second network node (17), the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising- training (405) an artificial intelligence, Al, model or machine learning, ML, model using the received data.

8. A method performed by a second network node (17) for data handling in a communication network, the method comprising:- receiving (502) from a first network node (16) an indication, wherein the indication indicates requested data related to channel state information, CSI, beam management, and / or positioning; and- transmitting (504), to a user equipment, UE, (10), a collect indication that indicates to provide and / or when to provide requested data either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the indication indicates identity of an event related to one or more of the following: CSI compression data, CSI prediction data, Beam management data, and UE Positioning data.

10. The method according to any of the claims 8-9, further comprisingreceiving (501) from the first network node (16), information related to per Event ID to be configured at the UE (10).

11. The method according to any of the claims 8-10, further comprising- deciding (503) whether to initiate a data transfer, as such if the data collection and reporting should not be started at a time the UE (10) requested.

12. The method according to any of the claims 8-11, further comprising- receiving (505) from the UE (10), the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

13. The method according to any of the claims 8-12, further comprising- transmitting (506) to the first network node (16) the data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

14. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (10) for handling communication in a communication network, the method comprising:- receiving (602) from a second network node (17) a collect indication indicating to provide and / or when to provide requested data being channel state information, CSI, related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data, wherein the indication comprises a timer indication ora configuration indication; and- collecting and transmitting (603), to the second network node (17), data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning, based on the collect indication.

15. The method according to claim 14, whereinthe configuration indication comprises a response to a request from the UE (10), wherein the response indicates that the configuration and reporting instructions are not available yet, and / or the timer indication is a timer in provisioning information to indicate to the UE (10) to report measurements when the timer expires.

16. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-15, as performed by the first network node, the second network node and the UE, respectively.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-15, as performed by the first network node, the second network node and the UE, respectively..

18. A first network node (16) for data handling in a communication network, wherein the first network node (16) is configured totransmit an indication to a second network node (17), wherein the indication indicates collection of data related to channel state information, CSI, beam management, and / or positioning.

19. The first network node (16) according to claim 18, wherein the first network node (16) is configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 2-7.

20. A second network node (17) for data handling in a communication network, wherein the second network node (17) is configured to :receive from a first network node (16) an indication, wherein the indication indicates requested data related to channel state information, CSI, beam management, and / or positioning; andtransmit to a user equipment, UE, (10), a collect indication that indicates to provide and / or when to provide requested data either with a timer indication or with a configuration indication.

21. The second network node (17) according to claim 20, wherein the second network node (17) is configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 9-13.

22. A user equipment, UE, (10) for data handling in a communication network, wherein the UE (10) is configured to:receive from a second network node (17) a collect indication indicating to provide, and / or when to provide, requested data being channel state information, CSI, related data, beam management data, and / or positioning data, wherein the indication comprises a timer indication or a configuration indication; andcollect and transmit, to the second network node (17), data related to CSI, beam management, and / or positioning, based on the collect indication.

23. The UE (10) according to claim 22, wherein the UE (10) is configured to perform the method according to claim 15.

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