WO2023132780A1

WO2023132780A1 - Measurement report storage in a wireless communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2023132780A1
Application number: PCT/SE2023/050020
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luca LUNARDI; Cecilia EKLÖF; Johan Rune; Filip BARAC
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2022-01-10
Filing date: 2023-01-09
Publication date: 2023-07-13

Abstract

A wireless communication device (12) is configured for use in a wireless communication network (10). The wireless communication device (12) receives, at a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12), from a first protocol layer (22-1) of the wireless communication device (12), control information for controlling storage of measurement reports(14) at the second protocol layer (22-N) and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1). The wireless communication device (12) in some embodiments controls storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N) according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

Description

MEASUREMENT REPORT STORAGE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to measuring reports in a wireless communication network, and relates more particularly to storage of measurement reports in a wireless communication device.

BACKGROUND

To better control the end-to-end quality experienced by a user of a wireless communication device, a wireless communication network may configure quality of experience (QoE) measurements to be performed at the wireless communication device’s application layer. The access network may transparently forward the results of the QoE measurements to a measurement collection entity outside of the access network, e.g., in an operations and maintenance (OAM) system.

QoE measurement reporting may be inappropriate or impossible under some circumstances, though, such as when the radio access network is overloaded or when the wireless communication device hands over to an access network that does not support QoE measurement reporting. In these and other circumstances, the wireless communication device may need to pause QoE measurement reporting. This may entail the wireless communication device buffering or otherwise storing QoE measurement reports until those reports can be sent to the network upon resumption of QoE measurement reporting.

Although pausing QoE measurement reporting advantageously adapts QoE measurement reporting with changing network conditions and/or device mobility, challenges exist in how to handle storage of QoE measurement reports at the wireless communication device, given limited storage capacity at the device. Such challenges exist with QoE measurement reports and other types of measurement reports, e.g., where such measurement reporting is pausable.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Some embodiments herein exploit multiple storage media at a wireless communication device for storage of measurement reports, e.g., while measurement reporting is paused. For example, some embodiments exploit storage of measurement reports across the multiple storage media, e.g., simultaneously or at different times under different circumstances. The multiple storage media may for instance be deployed at different protocol layers in a protocol stack of the wireless communication device, be deployed on different respective processing chips of the wireless communication device, and/or be associated with different respective processors of the wireless communication device. Even if measurement reports are triggered by or otherwise associated with one protocol layer, processing chip, or processor of a wireless communication device, then, some embodiments herein nonetheless exploit a storage medium deployed at another protocol layer, processing chip, or processor for storage of one or more of those measurement reports, e.g., in addition to a storage medium deployed at the protocol layer, processing chip, or processor associated with the measurement reports. Regardless, according to some embodiments herein, a wireless communication network controls, governs, and/or informs how the wireless communication device stores measurement reports across the multiple storage media. Alternatively or additionally, in embodiments where the multiple storage media are deployed at different protocol layers of the wireless communication device, information may be transmitted from a first protocol layer to a second protocol layer in order to control storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer and/or to inform the recipient layer about storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer. By exploiting multiple storage media at the wireless communication device in these and/or other ways, rather than limiting storage of measurement reports to just a single storage medium, some embodiments herein advantageously accommodate measurement report pausing (so as to account for changing network conditions and/or device mobility) in a way that proves more resilient to storage capacity limitations at the wireless communication device.

More particularly, embodiments herein include a method performed by a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network. The method comprises receiving, at a second protocol layer of the wireless communication device, from a first protocol layer of the wireless communication device, control information for controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer. The method in some embodiments also comprises controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device comprises multiple storage media, including a first storage medium at the first protocol layer and a second storage medium at the second protocol layer. In one such embodiment, said controlling comprises controlling storage of measurement reports in the second storage medium at the second protocol layer.

In some embodiments, said receiving comprises receiving the first layer storage information. In some embodiments, the first layer storage information indicates at least a storage capacity at the first protocol layer. In some embodiments, the first layer storage information alternatively indicates at least storage available at the first protocol layer for storing measurement reports.

In some embodiments, said receiving comprises receiving the control information. In some embodiments, the control information indicates at least a command as to whether, when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer is to store measurement reports. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively indicates at least a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer is to store measurement reports.

In some embodiments, said receiving comprises receiving the control information. In some embodiments, the control information comprises a start indication indicating the second protocol layer is to start storing measurement reports at the second protocol layer. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises a stop indication indicating the second protocol layer is to stop storing measurement reports at the second protocol layer. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises a pause indication indicating the second protocol layer is to pause storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises a resume indication indicating the second protocol layer is to resume storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises conditions under which the second protocol layer is to start, stop, pause, or resume storing measurement reports at the second protocol layer.

In some embodiments, the control information and/or the first layer storage information is received in a configuration message or a reconfiguration message. In some embodiments, the configuration message is an RRC message or the reconfiguration message is an RRC reconfiguration message.

In some embodiments, the measurement reports are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports.

In some embodiments, the first protocol layer is an application layer and the second protocol layer is an access stratum layer. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the second protocol layer is an application layer and the first protocol layer is an access stratum layer.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises storing measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers. In some embodiments, said storing comprises storing measurement reports according to an ordering of the multiple storage media. In some embodiments, the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium. In some embodiments, said storing comprises storing measurement reports in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, storing measurement reports in the second storage medium. In some embodiments, said storing alternatively comprises storing a threshold number of measurement reports in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports is stored in the first storage medium, storing measurement reports in the second storage medium. In some embodiments, said storing comprises storing measurement reports with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media. In some embodiments, said storing alternatively comprises storing measurement reports in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon occurrence of different respective events. In some embodiments, the method further comprises autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, from a network node in the wireless communication network, instructions as to how the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the instructions comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is to store any, all, or some measurement reports. In other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports. In yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media according to which the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions to store measurement reports with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions to store measurement reports in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events.

Other embodiments herein include a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network. The wireless communication device is configured to receive, at a second protocol layer of the wireless communication device, from a first protocol layer of the wireless communication device, control information for controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer. The wireless communication device in some embodiments is also configured to control storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device is configured to perform the steps described above for a wireless communication device.

In some embodiments, a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a wireless communication device, causes the wireless communication device to perform the steps described above for a wireless communication device. In some embodiments, a carrier containing the computer program is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

Other embodiments herein include a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network. The wireless communication device comprises communication circuitry and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to receive, at a second protocol layer of the wireless communication device, from a first protocol layer of the wireless communication device, control information for controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer. The processing circuitry in some embodiments is also configured to control storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry is configured to perform the steps described above for a wireless communication device.

Other embodiments herein include a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network. The method comprises transmitting, from a first protocol layer to a second protocol layerof the wireless communication device, control information for controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer.

Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to the above features and advantages. Indeed, those skilled in the art will recognize additional features and advantages upon reading the following detailed description, and upon viewing the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device configured for measurement report storage according to some embodiments herein.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of a baseband processor and application processor according to some embodiments.

Figure 3 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a wireless communication device according to some embodiments herein.

Figure 4 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a network node according to some embodiments herein.

Figure 5 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a wireless communication device according to other embodiments herein.

Figure 6 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a wireless communication device according to still other embodiments herein.

Figure 7 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device according to some embodiments herein.

Figure 8 is a block diagram of a network node according to some embodiments herein. Figure 9 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments

Figure 10 is a block diagram of a user equipment according to some embodiments.

Figure 11 is a block diagram of a network node according to some embodiments.

Figure 12 is a block diagram of a host according to some embodiments.

Figure 13 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to some embodiments.

Figure 14 is a block diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 shows a wireless communication network 10 configured to provide wireless communication service to a wireless communication device 12, e.g., via an air interface 11. The wireless communication device 12 as shown is configurable to perform measurement reporting. Measurement reporting in this regard may involve collecting measurements at the wireless communication device 12, forming measurement reports 14 from the collected measurements, and then transmitting the measurement reports 14 from the wireless communication device 12. The wireless communication device 12 may for example transmit the measurement reports 14 to the wireless communication network 10 or to an Operations and Maintenance (OAM) node 16 via the wireless communication network 10.

In some embodiments, the measurement reports 14 report measurements performed by the wireless communication device 12 at an application layer of a protocol stack of the wireless communication device 12. In some embodiments, the application layer as used herein hosts functions and/or entities (e.g. 'applications' or 'services') that are not associated with functionality pertaining specifically to the wireless communication network 10 that the functions and/or entities use for communication. In one embodiment, the application layer is implemented on top of a Transport Layer (e.g., hosting transport protocols such as TCP, UDP, SCTP, or RTP), which in turn is implemented on top of a Network Layer (e.g., hosting the Internet Protocol, IP). Here, TCP refers to the Transmission Control Protocol, UDP refers to the User Datagram Protocol, SCTP refers to the Stream Control Transmission Protocol, and RTP refers to the Real-time Transport Protocol.

In one embodiment, measurements reported by the measurement reports 14 may be quality of experience (QoE) measurements, i.e. , in which case the measurement reports 14 may be referred to as QoE measurement reports or simply QoE reports. The QoE measurements measure the end-to-end performance at the service level (i.e., the application layer) from the user’s perspective. As an example, in a video streaming context, the QoE measurements may measure video rebuffering, playback failures, and/or video startup time. In these or other embodiments involving measurements at the application layer, the wireless communication device 12 may be configured to report the measurements (or more particularly, report the results of the measurements) to a measurement collection entity (not shown), which may be outside of the wireless communication network’s access network, such as in an Operations and Maintenance system. Note, though, that the QoE measurement reports may include RAN-visible QoE reports and/or normal (i.e., non-RAN-visible) QoE reports, as elaborated further herein, where RAN stands for radio access network.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 12 is configured to pause measurement reporting, e.g., at the direction or command of the wireless communication network 10. This may be appropriate, for instance, if an access network of the wireless communication network 10 is overloaded or if an access node to which the wireless communication device 12 hands over does not support measurement reporting. Regardless, in these and/or other circumstances, the wireless communication device 12 may need to buffer or otherwise store measurement reports 14, e.g., at least temporarily. For example, the wireless communication device 12 may need to buffer or otherwise store measurement reports 14 until the wireless communication device 12 is able to transmit the stored measurement reports 14, e.g., once measurement reporting is resumed.

According to embodiments herein, the wireless communication device 12 advantageously exploits multiple storage media 20 for storing measurement reports 14. For example, some embodiments exploit storage of measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20, e.g., simultaneously or at different times under different circumstances. By exploiting multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12, rather than limiting storage of measurement reports 14 to just a single storage medium, some embodiments herein advantageously accommodate measurement report pausing (so as to account for changing network conditions and/or device mobility) in a way that proves more resilient to storage capacity limitations at the wireless communication device 12.

In some embodiments, the multiple storage media 20 include different storage media at different respective protocol layers in a protocol stack of the wireless communication device 12. As shown, for example, the multiple storage media 20 include storage medium 20-1 deployed at protocol layer 22-1 (e.g., the application (app) layer) and storage medium 20-N deployed at protocol layer 22-N (e.g., an access stratum (AS) layer). Where protocol layer 22-1 is the application (app) layer, storage medium 20-1 may be referred to as an application layer storage medium. Similarly, where protocol layer 22-N is an access stratum (AS) layer, storage medium 20-N may be referred to as an access stratum storage medium.

Although not shown, the multiple storage media 20 may alternatively or additionally include different storage media on different respective processing chips of the wireless communication device 12 or different storage media associated with different respective processors of the wireless communication device 12. In the latter case, for instance, the different respective processing chips may include a baseband processing chip and an application processing chip, or the different respective processors may include a baseband processor and an application processor.

Generally, then, the multiple storage media 20 in some embodiments may be deployed at different protocol layers 22-1 ...22-N in a protocol stack of the wireless communication device 12, be deployed on different respective processing chips of the wireless communication device 12, and/or be associated with different respective processors of the wireless communication device 12.

In some embodiments, measurement reports 14 are storable across the multiple storage media 20 without limiting storage of any given measurement report to the protocol layer, processing chip, or processor that triggered that measurement report. Accordingly, even if a measurement report is triggered by or otherwise associated with one protocol layer, processing chip, or processor of the wireless communication device 12, then, some embodiments herein nonetheless may exploit a storage medium deployed at another protocol layer, processing chip, or processor for storage of the measurement report, e.g., in addition to a storage medium deployed at the protocol layer, processing chip, or processor associated with the measurement report.

Regardless, according to some embodiments herein, the wireless communication network 10 controls, governs, and/or informs how the wireless communication device 12 stores measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20. As shown in Figure 1 in this regard, a network node 18 in the wireless communication network 10 may transmit, to the wireless communication device 12, instructions 24 as to how the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12.

In some embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14. Alternatively or additionally, the instructions 24 may comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14. Alternatively or additionally, the instructions 24 may comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14. Alternatively or additionally, the instructions 24 may comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports 14.

In other embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise, for each storage medium of the multiple storage media 20, instructions as to whether the wireless communication device 12 is to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14 in that storage medium. Alternatively or additionally, the instructions 24 comprise, for each storage medium of the multiple storage media 20, instructions as to whether the wireless communication device 12 is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14 in that storage medium. Alternatively or additionally, the instructions 24 comprise, for each storage medium of the multiple storage media 20, instructions as to whether the wireless communication device 12 is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14 in that storage medium. Alternatively or additionally, the instructions 24 comprise, for each storage medium of the multiple storage media 20, instructions as to whether the wireless communication device 12 is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports 14 in that storage medium.

In some embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media 20 according to which the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14. For example, in some embodiments, the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium. In this case, the instructions 24 may comprise instructions to store measurement reports 14 in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, to store measurement reports 14 in the second storage medium. Or, the instructions 24 may comprise instructions to store a threshold number of measurement reports in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports is stored in the first storage medium, to store measurement reports in the second storage medium.

In some embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports 14 with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media 20. For example, measurement reports 14 with different characteristics may comprise, measurement reports of different types, measurement reports of different sizes, measurement reports generated with different frequencies, measurement reports generated in different time intervals, measurement reports to be reported with different levels of urgency, or measurement reports triggered at different protocol layers. In one embodiment in this regard, measurement reports 14 of different types may include event-triggered measurement reports and non-event- triggered measurement reports, event-triggered measurement reports and periodic measurement reports, RAN-visible measurement reports and non-RAN-visible measurement reports, or measurement reports pertaining to different types of services. In another embodiment in this regard, measurement reports 24 of different sizes may include measurement reports that have a size less than a threshold and measurement reports that have a size greater than the threshold. In another embodiment in this regard, measurement reports 14 generated with different frequencies may include measurement reports generated with a frequency less than a threshold and measurement reports generated with a frequency more than a threshold. In yet another embodiment in this regard, measurement reports 14 generated in different time intervals may include measurement reports generated for a certain amount of time after a certain event and measurement reports generated after the certain amount of time.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions as to whether the wireless communication device 12 is allowed to autonomously choose howto store measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12. Or, the instructions 24 may comprise instructions that, when measurement reporting is paused, the wireless communication device 12 is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12. In other embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions as to under which conditions, or upon which events, the wireless communication device 12 is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12.

In still other embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports 14 in different ones of the multiple storage media 20 under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events. In one embodiment, for example, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is paused and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is not paused. In another embodiment, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is operating in multi-connectivity operation and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device does not operate with multi-connectivity operation. In yet another embodiment, the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in a radio resource control, RRC, inactive state or an RRC idle state, and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in an RRC connected state. In still other embodiments, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a first network slice and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a second network slice. In a further embodiment, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when at least a certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when less than the certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium. In still another embodiment, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the first storage medium than the second storage medium and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the second storage medium than the first storage medium. In a yet further embodiment, the instructions 24 comprise instructions to store measurement reports triggered at a first protocol layer in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media and to store measurement reports triggered at a second protocol layer in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media.

Alternatively or additionally, in embodiments where the multiple storage media 20 are deployed at different protocol layers 22-1...22-N of the wireless communication device 12, control information may be transmitted from a first protocol layer to a second protocol layer in order to control storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer. Alternatively or additionally, storage information may be transmitted from the first protocol layer to the second protocol layer to inform the second protocol layer about storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer. Figure 1 for example shows that protocol layer 22-1 may transmit information 26 to protocol layer 22-N, where the information 26 may include control information and/or storage information above. For instance, such storage information may characterize storage of measurement reports 14 at protocol layer 22-1 , e.g., by characterizing a storage capacity at protocol layer 22-1 or storage available at protocol layer 22-1 for storing measurement reports 14. Such control information may be for controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at protocol layer 22-N, e.g., in the form of a command as to whether, when, and/or for how long the protocol layer 22-N is to store measurement reports 14 or in the form of a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, when, and/or for how long protocol layer 22-N is to store measurement reports 14.

Alternatively or additionally, protocol layer 22-N may transmit information 28 to protocol layer 22-1 , where that information 28 may include control information and/or storage information as described above. For instance, such storage information may characterize storage of measurement reports 14 at protocol layer 22-N, e.g., by characterizing a storage capacity at protocol layer 22-N or storage available at protocol layer 22-N for storing measurement reports 14. Such control information may be for controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at protocol layer 22-1 , e.g., in the form of a command as to whether, when, and/or for how long the protocol layer 22-1 is to store measurement reports 14 or in the form of a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, when, and/or for how long protocol layer 22-1 is to store measurement reports 14.

Consider now some embodiments herein as applicable in the following context, where the measurement reports 14 are exemplified as QoE reports, the wireless communication device 12 is exemplified as a user equipment (UE), and the protocol layers 22-1 , 22-N are exemplified as application layer and access stratum layer.

Some embodiments herein are applicable to Quality of Experience (QoE) measurements, also referred to as “application layer measurements”, as specified for Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and as are being specified for New Radi (NR) in 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) release 17. The purpose of the application layer measurements is to measure the end user experience when using certain applications. QoE measurements for streaming services and for MTSI (Mobility Telephony Service for IMS) services are supported. For NR, at least virtual reality (VR) may be added to the list of services for which QoE measurements are specified and supported.

In LTE and UMTS, Quality of Experience Measurement Collection (QMC) enables configuration of application layer measurements in the UE and transmission of QoE measurement result files (commonly referred to as QoE reports) to the network by means of RRC signalling. An application layer measurement configuration (also called QoE measurement configuration or QoE configuration) that the RAN receives from the QAM system or the core network (CN) is encapsulated in a transparent container, which is forwarded to a UE in a downlink RRC message. An application layer measurement report (also called QoE report) that the UE Access Stratum (UE AS) or UE RRC layer receives from the UE's higher layer (application layer) is encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to network in an uplink RRC message. The RAN then forwards the QoE report to a Measurement Collector Entity (MCE).

QoE management in NR will not just collect the quality of experience parameters of streaming services but also consider the typical performance requirements of diverse services (e.g., augmented reality (AR) / VR and ultra-reliable low-latency communications, URLLC, of which at least VR seems to be covered in 3GPP release 17). Based on requirements of services, QoE management schemes may be adaptive to enable network optimization to satisfy user experience for diverse services.

An extension of the QoE framework is the concept of RAN visible QoE (RVQoE). The regular QoE reports are intended for the MCE, which is an entity outside the RAN, e.g., a part of the QAM system, and the RAN cannot read the QoE reports (at least not according to specification, although gNB/eNB implementations are not prevented from doing so). In contrast, reported RVQoE metrics are intended for the RAN and are delivered to the RAN in a format that the RAN understands. The RVQoE metrics are derived from the regular QoE metrics, collected, and compiled in reports by the UE application layer and delivered to the RAN, so that the RAN may use the reports for various types of optimizations. As an example, when the RAN receives RVQoE reports during an ongoing application session, the RAN can perform adaptive actions to impact the QoE of the concerned application session while the application session is ongoing, such as change various parameters related to the scheduling of the UE and the data flows related to the application session.

In some embodiments, QoE measurements are buffered in case of pausing of QoE reports. Unlike minimization of drive tests (MDT), QoE data is generated by the application layer, and is a type of application data with a format of XMF file. The network could be overloaded for a long time; the generated QoE data could be large for UE to buffer. Besides, there is also a possibility that there are multiple application layers running in the UE simultaneously, and multiple QoE data files will be generated accordingly. Therefore, it can be expected that the QoE data which needs to be buffered may be very large.

For data buffering space, there may be different buffers in the AS layer and application layer when UE implements it. Figure 2 shows one example, where BP is the baseband processor and AP is the application processor. The baseband processor may encompass, for example, the UE’s modem or radio frequency (RF) circuitry, whereas the application processor may execute the UE’s operating system (OS), user interface (Ul), and/or application(s). If QoE data is buffered in the AS layer, then it should be buffered in the BP; if QoE data is buffered in the application layer, it should be buffered in the AP, or in storage. Usually, BP memory size is more limited and expensive than AP.

In some embodiments, such as where logged measurements is defined as shown below, the maximum memory size for QoE report storage will not be beyond 64KB.

For QoE measurement, it makes no sense to buffer a very small size when reporting is paused. If buffered in an application layer, the QoE data can be buffered in AP. AP memory is usually larger than modem memory, and it is also possible to buffer QoE data in storage in which case the QoE file is not deleted when the application is terminated. And the buffered QoE data has the change to be reported the next time the application is running.

In some embodiments, the modem memory is used for Layer 2 buffer to support Radio Link Control (RLC) transmission windows, and RLC reception and reassembly windows, and also in Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) reordering windows for all radio bearers. In addition, Layer 2 data buffering also supports preprocessing of data. If QoE data occupies the memory space in BP, then the Layer 2 buffer size will be reduced, and the data processing performance for non-QoE data will be impacted. In some embodiments, one or more indications from AS layer to application layer are needed to AT command for supporting application layer QoE buffering, e.g., as captured in SA5 TS 28.405 V17.0.0.

How to handle QoE measurement in case of buffer size limitation

When QoE reporting is paused for a long time, the collected measurement result could occupy UE storage, and it is impossible for UE to buffer all measurement results. It is worthy to be discussed how to handle this case of limited UE storage.

There could be some solutions to limit the amount of the collected measurement results, e.g., timer-based solution, or required storage size-based solution.

For timer-based solution, there is a timer running in the UE, and when the timer expires, UE stops QoE measurement, or the UE only buffers the collected measurement results in the latest time window.

For required storage size-based solution, UE stores the QoE measurement results up to the required storage size, and this required storage size can be defined in specification or configured to the UE. When the required storage size is full, the UE can stop QoE measurement.

In an application layer, periodical or event-trigger QoE measurement reporting is defined. If an event-trigger method is applied, then there could be no QoE measurement reporting for a long time if the triggering event does not happen. Thus, if a time-based solution is adopted, then it is possible there is no or less measurement buffered when the timer expires or during the latest time window.

From the operator perspective, there could be priority differentiation between different types. For example, Multimedia Telephony Service for Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (MTSI) service quality may be more important than streaming; URLLC slice service quality is more important than enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB). Therefore, when storage is full, there should be a mechanism to allow the higher priority QoE measurement to overwrite the lower priority measurement.

Some embodiments herein address certain challenge(s) in this context. Considering storage at the application layer and storage at the access stratum (RRC or Layer 2) as mutually exclusive options for storing QoE measurements provides limited flexibility as it restricts the QoE report storage to the characteristics of this storage medium. In contrast, embodiments herein exploit the presence of more than one storage medium to store and retrieve QoE measurements (QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports).

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). One advantage of some embodiments is to allow the use of multiple (e.g., all) storage media available at a UE for storing QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports. Another advantage is also the possibility to maintain a larger amount of QoE reports compared to other solutions only restricting the storage to one medium. With this, more QoE reports can be provided to the consumers of QoE measurements, either via MCE or a RAN node.

The higher availability of QoE measurements can follow the priority assigned for certain services (e.g., LIRLLC) compared to others (e.g., Mobile Broadband) which provides a network operator with better input for radio resource optimization and service level agreement monitoring.

With combined storage in several mediums, the advantages of all mediums can be obtained, e.g., storage in RRC layer allows quick access to the reports and storage in the application layer allows a larger storage capability.

Embodiment for a network node

Consider now some example embodiments for the instructions 24 from network node 18 to wireless communication device 12 in Figure 1.

In one embodiment, the network node 14 sends to a UE Access Stratum (AS) a (re)configuration message (e.g., an RRCReconfiguration message) comprising instructions 24 that are related to storage of QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports. The instructions 24 can comprise one or more or any combination of the following indications and/or conditions/events:

Indications

The instructions 24 may be an indication that storing all/any/some QoE reports at UE Application Layer is allowed/recommended/needed/prohibited.

The instructions 24 may be an indication that storing all/any/some RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer is allowed/recommended/needed/prohibited.

The instructions 24 may be an indication that storing all/any/some of QoE reports at UE AS is allowed/recommended/needed/prohibited.

The instructions 24 may be an indication that storing all/any/some of RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS is allowed/recommended/needed/prohibited.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to first store QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS, and if needed store QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer. In one example, a RAN node can configure the UE for storing QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS until the maximum storage size at UE AS is reached, and then, additional QoE and/or RAN Visible QoE reports should be stored at UE Application Layer. The UE AS, upon reaching maximum storage size (or a certain percentage of it) can indicate to the UE Application Layer (e.g. using AT commands with a first option of “start”) to start storing of QoE and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer. Later, the UE AS can issue a subsequent indication to the UE Application Layer to indicate a stop in storing RAN Visible QoE reports (e.g. using the same AT command as before, but with a different option - e.g. “stop”, or a different AT command). The instructions 24 may be an indication to first store QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer and if needed store QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS. for example, a RAN node can configure the UE for storing QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer until the RAN provides to the UE AS a subsequent configuration/request/command, based on which the UE AS sends a command (e.g. an AT command) to the UE Application Layer indicating the UE Application Layer to transfer at least part of QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports to the UE AS.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to alternate the storage of QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer and the storage of QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS. In one example, a RAN node can configure a UE to store RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS until the UE AS receives an indication to pause QoE reporting and/or pause RAN Visible QoE reports (as a whole or selectively per service type, or on a per service subtype or per subservice type). When the pause indication is received, the RAN Visible QoE reports should be stored at UE Application Layer instead. Later, when a RAN node sends the UE AS a further indication to resume QoE reporting and/or resume RAN Visible QoE reporting (as a whole or selectively per service type, or on a per service subtype or per subservice type), the UE AS can start again to store RAN Visible QoE reports. In another example, a RAN node can configure a UE to store RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS when multi-connectivity is used (e.g. NR-DC) and (re)configure the UE to store RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer when single connectivity is used. A possible rationale for this could be that a UE in multi-connectivity operation can exploit the availability of multiple connectivity and deliver to a RAN node the QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports faster than an UE in single connectivity.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer and/or at UE AS based on one or more conditions/events (conditions/events are specified below, e.g. the UE can store RAN Visible QoE reports at the UE AS when it has an Inactive UE context stored in the AS, e.g. when UE is in RRCJNACTIVE or RRCJDLE, or when the UE is using a specific network slice, etc).

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store event-triggered reports at the UE AS layer and non-event-triggered reports at the UE Application layer, or vice versa.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, for event-triggered QoE and RVQoE reporting, store the QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports on the layer which determines the fulfillment of the triggering event. For example, the reports triggered by a video stalling, which is a trigger determined at the Application layer, are to be stored at the Application layer.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store QoE reports at UE Application Layer and RAN Visible QoE at UE AS. The instructions 24 may be an indication to store RAN Visible QoE reports only at the

UE AS.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store RAN Visible QoE reports only at the UE Application Layer.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store RAN Visible QoE reports only at the UE AS.

The instructions 24 may be an explicit configuration received by UE AS from RAN to store QoE reports only at the UE Application Layer.

The instructions 24 may be an explicit configuration received by UE AS from RAN to store QoE reports only at the UE AS.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store all QoE reports and all RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store all QoE reports and all RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store the reports up to certain size at the AS layer and above that size at the Application layer, or vice versa.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store the reports that are sent more often than certain periodicity at the AS layer and those sent less often at the Application layer, or vice versa.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store periodic reports at the Application layer and event-triggered reports at the AS layer or vice versa.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store a certain number of reports at the AS layer and the subsequent reports at the Application layer, or vice versa.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to store at the UE AS layer for a certain amount of time, and then subsequent reports at the Application Layer, or vice versa. The time could be defined in specification, configured in the RRC message or hard coded.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, in the choice of storage medium, optimize a certain aspect or optimize a tradeoff between different aspects, e.g., optimize storage utilization, optimize speed of report delivery, optimize the tradeoff between storage utilization and speed of report delivery, etc.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (e.g., as instructed by the network), store the QoE and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS, otherwise store the QoE and/or RVQoE reports at the UE Application Layer.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (e.g., as instructed by the network), store the QoE and/or RVQoE reports at the UE Application Layer, otherwise store the QoE and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS. The instructions 24 may be an indication to store the QoE and/or RVQoE reports according to UE implementation specific preferences or criteria (i.e., fully UE autonomous choice of storage medium for QoE reports and RVQoE reports respectively.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to use a combination of two of the above storage options (the instruction may indicate any combination), where one storage option should be used for QoE reports and another storage option should be used for RVQoE reports.

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (or in other situations where storing of QoE reports or RVQoE reports is applicable), store QoE reports according to UE implementation specific preference (i.e., the choice of storage location is an autonomous choice of the UE).

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (or in other situations where storing of QoE reports or RVQoE reports is applicable), store QoE reports at the UE AS and/or at the UE Application Layer according to UE implementation specific preferences, also taking configured (e.g., included in the indication) conditions into account (i.e., the choice of storage location is the choice of the UE, but taking the configured conditions into account to a UE implementation specific extent).

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (or in other situations where storing of QoE reports or RVQoE reports is applicable), store RVQoE reports according to UE implementation specific preference (i.e., the choice of storage location is an autonomous choice of the UE).

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (or in other situations where storing of QoE reports or RVQoE reports is applicable), store RVQoE reports at the UE AS and/or at the UE Application Layer according to UE implementation specific preferences, also taking configured (e.g., included in the indication) conditions into account (i.e., the choice of storage location is the choice of the UE, but taking the configured conditions into account to a UE implementation specific extent).

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (or in other situations where storing of QoE reports or RVQoE reports is applicable), store QoE reports and RVQoE reports according to UE implementation specific preference (i.e., the choice of storage location is an autonomous choice of the UE).

The instructions 24 may be an indication to, when QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting is paused (or in other situations where storing of QoE reports or RVQoE reports is applicable), store QoE reports and RVQoE reports at the UE AS and/or at the UE Application Layer according to UE implementation specific preferences, also taking configured (e.g., included in the indication) conditions into account (i.e. the choice of storage location is the choice of the UE, but taking the configured conditions into account to a UE implementation specific extent). The instructions 24 may be any combination of any of the above criteria.

Conditions/Events

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on service types I service subtypes I subservice type.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on network slice.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on radio access network procedures (e.g., handover or resume).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on the UE being in a specific RRC state (any RRC state, e.g., NR RRC_CONNECTED, NR RRCJNACTIVE, NR RRCJDLE).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on the UE transitioning between any RRC states (e.g., from NR RRC_CONNECTED to NR RRCJNACTIVE or vice versa).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of Multi-connectivity or Carrier Aggregation.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of a specific radio access technology (RAT).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of a specific public land mobile network (PLMN).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of a specific cell and/or timing advance (TA).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on report size.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on UE mobility state.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on mobility restrictions.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of a specific CN type.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of Unlicensed Spectrum.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on use of Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on cell type (e.g., a cell part of a Non-Public networks (NPN) network, a cell with High Speed Dedicated Network (HSDN) characteristic).

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on remaining memory available for report storage at the UE AS (an absolute or relative threshold - configured, specified or UE implementation specific - may be used). As an option, the “remaining memory” may be the amount of memory remaining after storing the report(s) under consideration. The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on remaining memory available for report storage at the UE Application Layer (an absolute or relative threshold - configured, specified or UE implementation specific - may be used). As an option, the “remaining memory” may be the amount of memory remaining after storing the report(s) under consideration.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on a relation between the remaining memory available for report storage at the UE AS and the remaining memory available for report storage at the UE Application Layer. As one option, a threshold (which may be configured, specified or UE implementation specific) defined for the ratio between the two remaining memory amounts may be used. As another option, a threshold (which may be configured, specified or UE implementation specific) defined for the difference between the two remaining memory amounts may be used.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on reporting periodicity, whether reporting is periodic or event-triggered, the number of reports, and/or a layer at which the triggering event for reporting is determined.

The instructions 24 may comprise a condition based on urgency condition(s), for the UE AS to obtain from UE Application Layer QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports previously stored at UE Application Layer. Here, urgency conditions can be determined based on a priority associated to a certain service type or group of service types), service subtypes or group of service subtypes, to a certain RAT, a certain PLMN, a certain network slice, a certain cell type (e.g. a cell part of a Non-Public networks (NPN) network, a cell with High Speed Dedicated Network (HSDN) characteristic), a certain UE mobility state, wherein the priority can be configured I preconfigured. In some embodiments, urgency conditions can be determined based on an event or trigger, for example, at handover. In other embodiments, urgency conditions can occur in case of modification or override of a QoE configuration or a RAN Visible QoE configuration.

The instructions 24 may comprise condition(s) for withholding QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS or UE Application Layer, e.g., until a configured timer expires or an ongoing procedure (e.g. handover) is completed.

The instructions 24 may comprise condition(s) for flushing QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports previously stored at UE AS and/or at UE Application Layer.

Some non-limiting examples of resulting instructions to the UE based on conditions/events can be: (i) store (or not store) QoE reports pertaining to certain service type or service subtype or subservice types at the UE Application Layer; (ii) store RAN Visible QoE reports pertaining to certain service type or service subtype or subservice types at the UE AS; (iii) store (or not store) QoE reports pertaining to certain network slice at the UE Application Layer; (iv) store RAN Visible QoE reports pertaining to certain network slice at the UE AS. Embodiments related to UE AS In some embodiments, the instructions 24 are received by the UE AS. For example, in one embodiment, the UE AS receives from the network node 18 a (re)configuration message (e.g. an RRCReconfiguration message) comprising instructions 24 that are related to storage of QoE reports and/or RAN Visible QoE reports at UE AS. The instruction 24 can comprise one or more or any combination of the indications and/or conditions/events as detailed in the embodiments for the network node.

Consider next some example embodiments of information 26, 28 where the information 26, 28 is sent from the UE AS protocol layer.

In one embodiment, the UE AS sends to the UE Application Layer information 26, 28 in the form of instructions/commands (e.g., AT commands) comprising one or more of the following.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of indications to start/stop/continue/pause/resume storing QoE reports at UE Application Layer.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of indications to start/stop/continue/pause/resume storing RAN Visible QoE reports at UE Application Layer.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of indications for how long QoE reports are stored at the UE AS layer.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of conditions for starting/stopping/continuing/pausing/resuming storing of QoE reports at the UE Application Layer (e.g., applicable ones of the conditions listed above).

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of conditions for starting/stopping/continuing/pausing/resuming storing of RAN Visible QoE reports at the UE Application Layer (e.g., applicable ones of the conditions listed above).

Additional information associated to the above commands can be included, such as service types, service types, subservice types, network slices, PLMNs, RATs, cell type, UE mobility state, QoS parameters, use of a specific cell and/or Tracking Area, report size, reporting periodicity, number of reports, layer at which the triggering event for reporting is determined, and whether reporting is periodic or event-triggered. Such additional information may for instance be used to distinguish QoE/RVQoE reports that should be stored at the UE Application Layer from QoE/RVQoE reports that should be stored at the UE AS (i.e., which from the UE Application Layer’s perspective should be sent to the UE AS). As an example, the additional information may indicate that QoE/RVQoE reports pertaining to a certain service type should be stored at (and thus sent to) the UE AS, while other QoE/RVQoE reports should be stored at the UE Application Layer.

Embodiments related to UE Application

Consider next corresponding example embodiments of information 26, 28 where the information 26, 28 is sent from the UE AS protocol layer. In one embodiment, the UE Application Layer receives from the UE AS instructions/commands (e.g., AT commands) comprising one or more of the following.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of indications to start/stop/continue/pause/resume storing QoE reports at the UE Application Layer.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of indications to start/stop/continue/pause/resume storing RAN Visible QoE reports at the UE Application Layer.

In some embodiments, the information 26, 28 takes the form of indications for how long QoE reports are stored at the UE Application Layer.

Additional information associated to the above commands can be included, such as service types, service subtypes, subservice types, network slices, PLMNs, RATs, UE mobility state, cell type, QoS parameters, use of a specific cell or Tracking Area, report size, reporting periodicity, number of reports, layer at which the triggering event for reporting is determined, whether reporting is periodic or event-triggered. The additional information may for instance be used to distinguish QoE/RVQoE reports that should be stored at the UE Application Layer from QoE/RVQoE reports that should be stored at the UE AS (i.e. , which from the UE Application Layer’s perspective should be sent to the UE AS), and the UE Application Layer will act accordingly. As an example, if the additional information indicates that QoE/RVQoE reports pertaining to a certain service subtype should be stored at the UE AS, while other QoE/RVQoE reports should be stored at the UE Application Layer, the UE Application Layer acts accordingly and sends QoE/RVQoE reports pertaining to the indicated service subtype to the UE AS, while it stores any other QoE/RVQoE report(s) at the UE Application Layer.

Embodiments for the UE (not related specifically to the UE AS or the UE Application Layer)

In some embodiments, the choice of storage location for QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports to be stored in the UE is determined by UE implementation specific preferences, criteria or algorithms.

As an example, the UE’s choice of storage location may be based on the remaining memory available for storage of reports of the concerned type(s) (i.e., QoE reports or RVQoE reports or both QoE reports and RVQoE reports) at respectively the UE AS and at the UE Application Layer. As a related example, the UE’s choice of storage location may be based on the amount of memory that would be available (e.g., unused) at respectively the UE AS and at the UE Application Layer after storing of the report(s) for which the choice of storage location is being considered.

As yet another related example, the UE’s choice of storage location may be based on a relation between the memory available for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at respectively the UE AS and the UE Application Layer. This relation may for instance be a difference between the sizes of the memory available for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS and at the UE Application Layer. In other embodiments, the relation may be a ratio between the sizes of the memory available for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS and at the UE Application Layer. In still other embodiments, the relation may be a difference between the amount of memory remaining until a minimum (UE determined) threshold is reached at the UE AS and the UE Application Layer (where different thresholds may be determined for the UE AS and the UE Application Layer). In yet other embodiments, the relation may be a ratio between the amounts of memory remaining until a minimum (UE determined) threshold is reached at the UE AS and the UE Application Layer (where different thresholds may be determined for the UE AS and the UE Application Layer). In other embodiments, the relation may be a difference between the fraction of the full memory that is used at respectively the UE AS and the UE Application Layer. In yet other embodiments, the relation may be a difference between the fraction of memory available for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports that is used at respectively the UE AS and the UE Application Layer. In still other embodiments, the relation may be a difference between the fraction of the memory below a (UE determined) memory utilization threshold (e.g. a certain percentage, e.g. 80%, of the full memory capacity) that is used at respectively the UE AS and the UE Application Layer (where different utilization thresholds may be used at the UE AS and the UE Application Layer). In yet other embodiments, the relation may be a difference between the fraction of the memory below a (UE determined) memory utilization threshold (e.g. a certain percentage, e.g. 80%, of the memory available for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports) that is used at respectively the UE AS and the UE Application Layer (where different utilization thresholds may be used at the UE AS and the UE Application Layer). In further embodiments, the relation may be a difference or ratio between the amount of memory used for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at respectively at UE AS and the UE Application Layer.

The above examples may for instance result in that the UE starts storing QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS, but when the remaining memory at the UE AS becomes smaller than a predetermined or dynamically determined size (optionally considered in relation to the available memory at the UE Application Layer), the UE starts storing subsequently generated QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE Application Layer. If the remaining available memory at the UE Application Layer later also becomes undesirably small, the UE may revert to storing subsequently generated QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS. This opposite is of course also conceivable, i.e. , that the UE starts storing QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE Application Layer and later - due to little remaining memory at the UE Application Layer - switches to storing new QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS. Which location the UE starts storing the QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at may e.g., be determined by how close the remaining available memory is to a UE determined threshold (as a relative or absolute measure).

The UE may also take into account the time (delay) needed for the UE AS retrieve a QoE report and/or a RVQoE report from the UE Application Layer, when the report is to be sent to the RAN. For instance, QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports that are urgent to send once such reporting is allowed may be stored at the UE AS, while other QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports are stored at the UE Application Layer.

As another embodiment example, the UE may, in its choice of storage location for QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports, aim to optimize a certain aspect, or optimize a tradeoff between different aspects, where such aspects may include e.g., storage utilization and/or speed of report delivery.

In its choice of storage location for QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports, the UE may also take security concerns into account. For instance, if/when RAN node has paused QoE reporting and/or RVQoE reporting from the UE to avoid that such reporting would worsen an existing (or lead to an) overload condition in the cell or in the RAN node, the UE may choose to store QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports primarily at the UE AS, in order not to expose to applications that the RAN is experiencing an overload condition (which may be information that a network operator and/or network equipment vendor may regard as sensitive).

The responsibility for determining the choice of storage location may reside at the UE AS or at the UE Application Layer or it may be handled by the UE AS and the UE Application Layer in combination/cooperation. As another alternative, the UE AS may be responsible for determining the choice of storage location, but the UE Application Layer may provide suggestions and/or recommendations. As yet another alternative, the UE Application Layer may be responsible for determining the choice of storage location, but the UE AS may provide suggestions and/or recommendations.

As an example, the UE AS may be the entity that determines the choice of storage location for QoE reports and RVQoE reports and, for instance, base the decision on the available storage capacity in the UE AS, possibly in relation to the amount of data to be stored, e.g., choosing to store the QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE AS if enough memory/capacity (e.g., above a threshold) is available, or will be left after storing the QoE report(s) and/or RVQoE report(s) for which the storage location is being considered, and otherwise the UE AS would choose to let the UE Application Layer store the concerned QoE report(s) and/or RVQoE report(s).

As an example, the UE Application Layer may be the entity that determines the choice of storage location for QoE reports and RVQoE reports and, for instance, base the decision on the available storage capacity in the UE Application Layer, possibly in relation to the amount of data to be stored, e.g., choosing to store the QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports at the UE Application Layer if enough memory/capacity (e.g., above a threshold) is available, or will be left after storing the QoE report(s) and/or RVQoE report(s) for which the storage location is being considered, and otherwise the UE Application Layer would choose to let the UE AS store the concerned QoE report(s) and/or RVQoE report(s).

To support the above embodiments and examples, AT commands may be introduced (or existing AT commands may be extended) for exchanging between the UE AS and the UE Application Layer, information about storage capacity and/or available memory (that may be used for storage of QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports). For instance, an AT command may be introduced (or an existing AT command may be extended) to allow the UE AS to retrieve and/or request such information from the UE Application Layer. As another example, an AT command may be introduced (or an existing AT command may be extended) to allow the UE Application Layer to retrieve and/or request such information from the UE AS. Furthermore, an AT command may be introduced (or an existing AT command may be extended) to allow the UE AS to send such memory related information to the UE Application Layer, and/or an AT command may be introduced (or an existing AT command may be extended) to allow the UE Application Layer to send such memory related information to the UE AS.

One or more additional AT command(s) may also be introduced (or one or more existing AT command(s) may be extended) to allow the UE Application Layer to provide to the UE AS suggestions or recommendations related to the choice of storage location for QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports. Similarly, one or more additional AT command(s) may be introduced (or one or more existing AT command(s) may be extended) to allow the UE AS to provide to the UE Application Layer suggestions or recommendations related to the choice of storage location for QoE reports and/or RVQoE reports.

In some embodiments, the terms “UE”, “terminal equipment”, “wireless terminal”, and “terminal” are used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the term “legacy QoE metrics” refers to the application layer measurements for different services defined in 3GPP SA4 specifications (e.g., TS 26.247 v16.5.1 for 3GP-DASH streaming service and progressive download, or TS 26.118 v17.0.0 for VR profiles for streaming application), which are delivered from the UE to a network entity via RAN, where RAN is unable to read the QoE reports containing the measured values of these metrics. In some embodiments, the term “RAN visible QoE” and the corresponding abbreviation “RV-QOE” or “rvqoe” are used interchangeably.

When used herein, the term “RAN visible QoE” may comprise RAN visible QoE measurement, RAN visible QoE measurement reporting, RAN visible QoE parameters and metrics, processing of information to derive RAN visible QoE parameters/metrics/information/data, and the term “RAN visible QoE” may also be used to refer to the overall framework for RAN visible QoE. When used herein, the term “RAN visible QoE measurement” is sometimes used as a synonym to “RAN visible QoE” (as described above) and otherwise used to refer specifically to measurements performed within the RAN visible QoE framework.

In some embodiments, the terms “QoE measurement report” and “QoE report” are used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the terms “measurement report” and “report” are used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the terms “QoE measurement configuration”, QoE measurement and reporting configuration”, “QoE measurement”, and “QoE configuration” are used interchangeably. Note that the term “QoE measurement” also can refer to a measurement or data collection performed for the purpose of determining a QoE metric.

In some embodiments, the terms “service” and “application” are used interchangeably.

In some embodiments, the terms “MCE” and “TCE” are used interchangeably.

Although the embodiments herein are described on an example of the streaming service, they are equally applicable to other types of services e.g., services whose QoE metrics are a subset or a superset of the QoE metrics defined for the streaming service, even if this applicability is not explicitly indicated in the text of the invention.

In some embodiments, a network node can be a RAN node, a gNB, eNB, en-gNB, ng- eNB, gNB-CU, gNB-CU-CP, gNB-CU-UP, eNB-CU, eNB-CU-CP, eNB-CU-UP, lAB-node, IAB- donor DU, lAB-donor-CU, IAB-DU, IAB-MT, O-CU, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, O-DU, O-RU, O-eNB. Here, CU stands for central unit and DU stands for distributed unit in a split radio network architecture. UP stands for user plane and CP stands for control plane. RU stands for remote unit, and MT stands for mobile termination.

In view of the modifications and variations herein, Figure 3 depicts a method performed by a wireless communication device 12 configured for use in a wireless communication network 10 in accordance with particular embodiments. The method includes receiving, from a network node 18 in the wireless communication network 10, instructions 24 as to how the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12 (Block 300). The method alternatively or additionally includes storing measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20, e.g., according to the received instructions 24 (Block 310).

Alternatively or additionally, in embodiments where the multiple storage media 20 are deployed at different protocol layers 22-1...22-N of the wireless communication device 12, control information may be transmitted from a first protocol layer to a second protocol layer in order to control storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer. Alternatively or additionally, storage information may be transmitted from the first protocol layer to the second protocol layer to inform the second protocol layer about storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer. Figure 1 for example shows that protocol layer 22-1 may transmit information 26 to protocol layer 22-N, where the information 26 may include control information and/or storage information above. For instance, such storage information may characterize storage of measurement reports 14 at protocol layer 22-1 , e.g., by characterizing a storage capacity at protocol layer 22-1 or storage available at protocol layer 22-1 for storing measurement reports 14. Such control information may be for controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at protocol layer 22-N, e.g., in the form of a command as to whether, when, and/or for how long the protocol layer 22-N is to store measurement reports 14 or in the form of a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, when, and/or for how long protocol layer 22-N is to store measurement reports 14. Additional aspects of the method in Figure 3 are enumerated in GROUP A EMBODIMENTS in the EMBODIMENTS section herein.

Figure 4 depicts a method performed by a network node 18 configured for use in a wireless communication network 10 in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes transmitting, to a wireless communication device 12, instructions 24 as to how the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12 (Block 400). In some embodiments, the method also comprises receiving, from the wireless communication device 12, measurement reports 14 as stored according to the instructions 24 (Block 410).

Additional aspects of the method in Figure 4 are enumerated in GROUP B EMBODIMENTS in the EMBODIMENTS section herein.

Figure 5 depicts a method performed by a wireless communication device 12 configured for use in a wireless communication network 10 in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes receiving, at a second protocol layer 22-N of the wireless communication device 12, from a first protocol layer 22-1 of the wireless communication device 12, control information for controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N (Block 510) and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports 14 at the first protocol layer 22-1 (Block 520). The method in some embodiments also includes controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information (Block 530).

In some embodiments, the method further comprises autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12, e.g., distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers 22-1 , 22-N (Block 550). In other embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, from a network node 18 in the wireless communication network 12, instructions as to how the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12, e.g., distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers 22-1 , 22-N (Block 560). In either case, the method may further comprise storing measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12 distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers 22-1 , 22-N (Block 540).

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 12 comprises multiple storage media 20, including a first storage medium at the first protocol layer 22-1 and a second storage medium at the second protocol layer 22-N. In one such embodiment, said controlling comprises controlling storage of measurement reports 14 in the second storage medium at the second protocol layer 22-N.

In some embodiments, said receiving comprises receiving the first layer storage information. In some embodiments, the first layer storage information indicates at least a storage capacity at the first protocol layer 22-1. In some embodiments, the first layer storage information alternatively indicates at least storage available at the first protocol layer 22-1 for storing measurement reports 14. In some embodiments, said receiving comprises receiving the control information. In some embodiments, the control information indicates at least a command as to whether, when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer 22-N is to store measurement reports 14. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively indicates at least a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer 22-N is to store measurement reports 14.

In some embodiments, said receiving comprises receiving the control information. In some embodiments, the control information comprises a start indication indicating the second protocol layer 22-N is to start storing measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises a stop indication indicating the second protocol layer 22-N is to stop storing measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises a pause indication indicating the second protocol layer 22-N is to pause storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises a resume indication indicating the second protocol layer 22-N is to resume storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N. In some embodiments, the control information alternatively comprises conditions under which the second protocol layer 22-N is to start, stop, pause, or resume storing measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N.

In some embodiments, the measurement reports 14 are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports.

In some embodiments, the first protocol layer 22-1 is an application layer and the second protocol layer 22-N is an access stratum layer. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the second protocol layer 22-N is an application layer and the first protocol layer 22-1 is an access stratum layer.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises storing measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12 distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers. In some embodiments, said storing comprises storing measurement reports 14 according to an ordering of the multiple storage media 20. In some embodiments, the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium. In some embodiments, said storing comprises storing measurement reports 14 in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, storing measurement reports 14 in the second storage medium. In some embodiments, said storing alternatively comprises storing a threshold number of measurement reports 14 in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports 14 is stored in the first storage medium, storing measurement reports 14 in the second storage medium. In some embodiments, said storing comprises storing measurement reports 14 with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media 20. In some embodiments, said storing alternatively comprises storing measurement reports 14 in different ones of the multiple storage media 20 under different respective conditions or upon occurrence of different respective events. In some embodiments, the method further comprises autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports 14 across the multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, from a network node in the wireless communication network, instructions as to how the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12. In some embodiments, the instructions comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14. In other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports 14. In yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to which of the multiple storage media 20 the wireless communication device 12 is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports 14. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media 20 according to which the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions to store measurement reports 14 with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media 20. In still yet other embodiments, the instructions alternatively or additionally comprise instructions to store measurement reports 14 in different ones of the multiple storage media 20 under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events.

Figure 6 depicts a method performed by a wireless communication device 12 configured for use in a wireless communication network 10 in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes transmitting, from a first protocol layer 22-1 to a second protocol layer 22-N of the wireless communication device 12, control information for controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N (Block 610) and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports 14 at the first protocol layer 22-1 (Block 620). In some embodiments, the method further comprises generating the control information for controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at the second protocol layer 22-N and/or the first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports 14 at the first protocol layer 22-1 (Block 600). In one embodiment, the control information and/or the first layer storage information may be generated based on the wireless communication device 12 autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12, e.g., distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers 22-1 , 22-N (Block 600A). In other embodiments, the control information and/or the first layer storage information may be generated based on the wireless communication device 12 receiving, from a network node 18 in the wireless communication network 12, instructions as to how the wireless communication device 12 is to store measurement reports 14 across multiple storage media 20 at the wireless communication device 12, e.g., distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers 22-1 , 22-N (Block 600B).

In some embodiments, the method also comprises controlling storage of measurement reports 14 at the first protocol layer 22-1 , e.g., according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information (Block 630).

Embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatuses. Embodiments herein for instance include a wireless communication device 12 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless communication device 12.

Embodiments also include a wireless communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless communication device 12. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the wireless communication device 12.

Embodiments further include a wireless communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless communication device 12. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 12 further comprises communication circuitry.

Embodiments further include a wireless communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the wireless communication device 12 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless communication device 12.

Embodiments moreover include a user equipment (UE). The UE comprises an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals. The UE also comprises radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless communication device 12. In some embodiments, the UE also comprises an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may comprise an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may also comprise a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

Embodiments herein also include a network node 18 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 18.

Embodiments also include a network node 18 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 18. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the network node 18.

Embodiments further include a network node 18 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 18. In some embodiments, the network node 18 further comprises communication circuitry.

Embodiments further include a network node 18 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node 18 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 18.

More particularly, the apparatuses described above may perform the methods herein and any other processing by implementing any functional means, modules, units, or circuitry. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatuses comprise respective circuits or circuitry configured to perform the steps shown in the method figures. The circuits or circuitry in this regard may comprise circuits dedicated to performing certain functional processing and/or one or more microprocessors in conjunction with memory. For instance, the circuitry may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory may include program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In embodiments that employ memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, carries out the techniques described herein.

Figure 7 for example illustrates a wireless communication device 12 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the wireless communication device 12 includes processing circuitry 710 and communication circuitry 720. The communication circuitry 720 (e.g., radio circuitry) is configured to transmit and/or receive information to and/or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. Such communication may occur via one or more antennas that are either internal or external to the wireless communication device 12. The processing circuitry 710 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 3, 5, and/or 6, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 730. The processing circuitry 710 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

Figure 8 illustrates a network node 18 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the network node 18 includes processing circuitry 810 and communication circuitry 820. The communication circuitry 820 is configured to transmit and/or receive information to and/or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. The processing circuitry 810 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 4, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 830. The processing circuitry 810 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that embodiments herein further include corresponding computer programs.

A computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out any of the respective processing described above. A computer program in this regard may comprise one or more code modules corresponding to the means or units described above.

Embodiments further include a carrier containing such a computer program. This carrier may comprise one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

In this regard, embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable (storage or recording) medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform as described above.

Embodiments further include a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. This computer program product may be stored on a computer readable recording medium.

Figure 9 shows an example of a communication system 900 in accordance with some embodiments.

In the example, the communication system 900 includes a telecommunication network 902 that includes an access network 904, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 906, which includes one or more core network nodes 908. The access network 904 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 910a and 910b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 910), or any other similar 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes 910 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 912a, 912b, 912c, and 912d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 912) to the core network 906 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 900 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 900 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

The UEs 912 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 910 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 910 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 912 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 902 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 902.

In the depicted example, the core network 906 connects the network nodes 910 to one or more hosts, such as host 916. 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 906 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 908) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 908. Example core network nodes include 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 Deconcealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

The host 916 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 904 and/or the telecommunication network 902, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 916 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.

As a whole, the communication system 900 of Figure 9 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 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 (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, the telecommunication network 902 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 902 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 902. For example, the telecommunications network 902 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)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, the UEs 912 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 904 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 904. 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).

In the example, the hub 914 communicates with the access network 904 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 912c and/or 912d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 910b). In some examples, the hub 914 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 914 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 906 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 914 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 910, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 914. As another example, the hub 914 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 914 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 914 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 914 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 914 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

The hub 914 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 910b. The hub 914 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub 914 and UEs (e.g., UE 912c and/or 912d), and between the hub 914 and the core network 906. In other examples, the hub 914 is connected to the core network 906 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 914 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 904 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 910 while still connected via the hub 914 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 914 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 910b. In other embodiments, the hub 914 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 910b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Figure 10 shows a UE 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a UE 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-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any 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.

A UE 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, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE 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, a UE 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).

The UE 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input/output interface 1006, a power source 1008, a memory 1010, a communication interface 1012, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The processing circuitry 1002 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 1010. The processing circuitry 1002 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 1002 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

In the example, the input/output interface 1006 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. 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 the UE 1000. 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. In some embodiments, the power source 1008 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. The power source 1008 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1008 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1000 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1008. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1008 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1000 to which power is supplied.

The memory 1010 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 1010 includes one or more application programs 1014, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1016. The memory 1010 may store, for use by the UE 1000, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

The memory 1010 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 1010 may allow the UE 1000 to access instructions, application 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 1010, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

The processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1012. The communication interface 1012 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1022. The communication interface 1012 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 UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1018 and/or a receiver 1020 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1018 and receiver 1020 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1022) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1012 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, 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 in 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.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1012, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The 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).

As another example, a UE 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, the UE 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.

A UE, 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, city 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 head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), 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. A UE in the form of an loT device 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 UE 1000 shown in Figure 10.

As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE 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 UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE 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.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE 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 UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

Figure 11 shows a network node 1100 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 telecommunication network. 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)).

Base stations 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. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units 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).

Other examples of network nodes 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, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

The network node 1100 includes a processing circuitry 1102, a memory 1104, a communication interface 1106, and a power source 1108. The network node 1100 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1100 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components 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 1100 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1104 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1110 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1100 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1100, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, 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 1100.

The processing circuitry 1102 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 network node 1100 components, such as the memory 1104, to provide network node 1100 functionality.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and the baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

The memory 1104 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 non-volatile, 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 1102. The memory 1104 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 1102 and utilized by the network node 1100. The memory 1104 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1102 and/or any data received via the communication interface 1106. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 and memory 1104 is integrated.

The communication interface 1106 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1106 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1116 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1106 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1118 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1110. Radio front-end circuitry 1118 comprises filters 1120 and amplifiers 1122. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may be connected to an antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 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 1118 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1120 and/or amplifiers 1122. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1110. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1110 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1118. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1102. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1100 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1118, instead, the processing circuitry 1102 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1110. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1112 is part of the communication interface 1106. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1106 includes one or more ports or terminals 1116, the radio front-end circuitry 1118, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1112, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1106 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1114, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

The antenna 1110 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1110 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1118 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1110 is separate from the network node 1100 and connectable to the network node 1100 through an interface or port.

The antenna 1110, communication interface 1106, and/or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1110, the communication interface 1106, and/or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

The power source 1108 provides power to the various components of network node 1100 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1108 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1100 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1100 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 1108. As a further example, the power source 1108 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.

Embodiments of the network node 1100 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11 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 1100 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1100 and to allow output of information from the network node 1100. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1100.

Figure 12 is a block diagram of a host 1200, which may be an embodiment of the host 916 of Figure 9, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1200 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1200 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

The host 1200 includes processing circuitry 1202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1204 to an input/output interface 1206, a network interface 1208, a power source 1210, and a memory 1212. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 10 and 11 , such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1200.

The memory 1212 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1214 and data 1216, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1200 or data generated by the host 1200 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1200 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1214 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAG, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1214 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1200 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1214 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1300 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 1300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

Applications 1302 (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.

Hardware 1304 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 1306 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1308a and 1308b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1308), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1306 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1308.

The VMs 1308 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1306. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1302 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1308, 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.

In the context of NFV, a VM 1308 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 1308, and that part of hardware 1304 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1308 on top of the hardware 1304 and corresponds to the application 1302.

Hardware 1304 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1304 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1304 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 1310, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1302. In some embodiments, hardware 1304 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 1312 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Figure 14 shows a communication diagram of a host 1402 communicating via a network node 1404 with a UE 1406 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 912a of Figure 9 and/or UE 1000 of Figure 10), network node (such as network node 910a of Figure 9 and/or network node 1100 of Figure 11), and host (such as host 916 of Figure 9 and/or host 1200 of Figure 12) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 14.

Like host 1200, embodiments of host 1402 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1402 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1402 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1406 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1450 extending between the UE 1406 and host 1402. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1450.

The network node 1404 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1402 and UE 1406. The connection 1460 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 906 of Figure 9) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

The UE 1406 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1406 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1406 with the support of the host 1402. In the host 1402, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1450 terminating at the UE 1406 and host 1402. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1450 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1450.

The OTT connection 1450 may extend via a connection 1460 between the host 1402 and the network node 1404 and via a wireless connection 1470 between the network node 1404 and the UE 1406 to provide the connection between the host 1402 and the UE 1406. The connection 1460 and wireless connection 1470, over which the OTT connection 1450 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1402 and the UE 1406 via the network node 1404, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1450, in step 1408, the host 1402 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1406. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1406 that shares data with the host 1402 without explicit human interaction. In step 1410, the host 1402 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1406. The host 1402 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1406. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1406 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1406. The transmission may pass via the network node 1404, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1412, the network node 1404 transmits to the UE 1406 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1402 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1414, the UE 1406 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1406 associated with the host application executed by the host 1402.

In some examples, the UE 1406 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1402. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1402. Accordingly, in step 1416, the UE 1406 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE 1406. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1406 initiates, in step 1418, transmission of the user data towards the host 1402 via the network node 1404. In step 1420, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1404 receives user data from the UE 1406 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1402. In step 1422, the host 1402 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1406.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1406 using the OTT connection 1450, in which the wireless connection 1470 forms the last segment.

In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1402. As another example, the host 1402 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1402 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1402 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1402 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1402 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.

In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1450 between the host 1402 and UE 1406, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1402 and/or UE 1406. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1450 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1450 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1404. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1402. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1450 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

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.

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.

Notably, modifications and other embodiments of the present disclosure will come to mind to one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Example embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:

Group A Embodiments

A1 . A method performed by a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from a network node in the wireless communication network, instructions as to how the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

A2. The method of embodiment A1 , wherein the multiple storage media include different storage media at different respective protocol layers in a protocol stack of the wireless communication device. A3. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2, wherein the multiple storage media include an application layer storage medium at an application layer of the wireless communication device and an access stratum storage medium at an access stratum layer of the wireless communication device.

A4. The method of any of embodiments A1-A3, wherein the multiple storage media include different storage media on different respective processing chips of the wireless communication device or different storage media associated with different respective processors of the wireless communication device.

A5. The method of embodiment A4, wherein the different respective processing chips include a baseband processing chip and an application processing chip or wherein the different respective processors include a baseband processor and an application processor.

A6. The method of any of embodiments A1-A5, wherein the instructions comprise: instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is to store any, all, or some measurement reports; instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports; instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports; and/or instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports.

A7. The method of any of embodiments A1-A6, wherein the instructions comprise, for each storage medium of the multiple storage media: instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is to store any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium; instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium; instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium; and/or instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium. A8. The method of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the instructions comprise instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media according to which the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports.

A9. The method of embodiment A8, wherein the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium, wherein the instructions comprise: instructions to store measurement reports in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, to store measurement reports in the second storage medium; or instructions to store a threshold number of measurement reports in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports is stored in the first storage medium, to store measurement reports in the second storage medium.

A10. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media.

A11. The method of embodiment A10, measurement reports with different characteristics comprise: measurement reports of different types; measurement reports of different sizes; measurement reports generated with different frequencies; measurement reports generated in different time intervals; measurement reports to be reported with different levels of urgency; or measurement reports triggered at different protocol layers.

A12. The method of embodiment A11 , wherein measurement reports of different types include: event-triggered measurement reports and non-event-triggered measurement reports; event-triggered measurement reports and periodic measurement reports;

RAN-visible measurement reports and non-RAN-visible measurement reports; or measurement reports pertaining to different types of services.

A13. The method of embodiment A11 , wherein measurement reports of different sizes include measurement reports that have a size less than a threshold and measurement reports that have a size greater than the threshold. A14. The method of embodiment A11 , wherein measurement reports generated with different frequencies include measurement reports generated with a frequency less than a threshold and measurement reports generated with a frequency more than a threshold.

A15. The method of embodiment A11 , wherein measurement reports generated in different time intervals include measurement reports generated for a certain amount of time after a certain event and measurement reports generated after the certain amount of time.

A16. The method of any of embodiments A1-A15, wherein the instructions comprise instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

A17. The method of any of embodiments A1-A16, wherein the instructions comprise instructions as to under which conditions, or upon which events, the wireless communication device is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

A18. The method of any of embodiments A1-A17, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when measurement reporting is paused, the wireless communication device is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

A19. The method of any of embodiments A1-A18, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events.

A20. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is paused and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is not paused.

A21. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is operating in multi-connectivity operation and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device does not operate with multi-connectivity operation. A22. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in a radio resource control, RRC, inactive state or an RRC idle state, and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in an RRC connected state.

A23. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a first network slice and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a second network slice.

A24. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when at least a certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when less than the certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium.

A25. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the first storage medium than the second storage medium and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the second storage medium than the first storage medium.

A26. The method of embodiment A19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports triggered at a first protocol layer in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media and to store measurement reports triggered at a second protocol layer in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media.

A27. The method of any of embodiments A1-A26, further comprising storing measurement reports across the multiple storage media according to the received instructions.

A28. The method of any of embodiments A1-A27, further comprising, based on the received instructions, transmitting, from a first protocol layer to a second protocol layer at the wireless communication device, instructions as to how the second protocol layer is to store measurement reports in a storage medium at the second protocol layer. A29. The method of any of embodiments A1-A28, wherein said measurement reports comprise RAN-visible measurement reports.

A30. The method of any of embodiments A1-A28, wherein said measurement reports comprise non-RAN-visible measurement reports.

A31. The method of any of embodiments A1-A30, wherein said instructions comprise instructions as to how the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device when QoE reporting is paused.

A32. The method of any of embodiments A1-A31 , wherein the measurement reports are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports.

A33. The method of any of embodiments A1-A32, wherein the measurement reports are application layer measurement reports.

AA1 . A method performed by a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: storing quality of experience, QoE, reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

AA2. The method of embodiment AA1 , wherein the multiple storage media include different storage media at different respective protocol layers in a protocol stack of the wireless communication device.

AA3. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA2, wherein the multiple storage media include an application layer storage medium at an application layer of the wireless communication device and an access stratum storage medium at an access stratum layer of the wireless communication device.

AA4. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA3, wherein the multiple storage media include different storage media on different respective processing chips of the wireless communication device or different storage media associated with different respective processors of the wireless communication device. AA5. The method of embodiment AA4, wherein the different respective processing chips include a baseband processing chip and an application processing chip or wherein the different respective processors include a baseband processor and an application processor.

AA6. Reserved.

AA7. Reserved.

AA8. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA7, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports according to an ordering of the multiple storage media.

AA9. The method of embodiment AA8, wherein the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium, wherein said storing comprises: storing measurement reports in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, storing measurement reports in the second storage medium; or storing a threshold number of measurement reports in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports is stored in the first storage medium, storing measurement reports in the second storage medium.

AA10. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA9, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media.

AA11. The method of embodiment AA10, measurement reports with different characteristics comprise: measurement reports of different types; measurement reports of different sizes; measurement reports generated with different frequencies; measurement reports generated in different time intervals; measurement reports to be reported with different levels of urgency; or

QoE report triggered at different protocol layers.

AA12. The method of embodiment AA11 , wherein measurement reports of different types include: event-triggered measurement reports and non-event-triggered measurement reports; event-triggered measurement reports and periodic measurement reports; RAN-visible measurement reports and non-RAN-visible measurement reports; or measurement reports pertaining to different types of services.

AA13. The method of embodiment AA11 , wherein measurement reports of different sizes include measurement reports that have a size less than a threshold and measurement reports that have a size greater than the threshold.

AA14. The method of embodiment AA11 , wherein measurement reports generated with different frequencies include measurement reports generated with a frequency less than a threshold and measurement reports generated with a frequency more than a threshold.

AA15. The method of embodiment AA11 , wherein measurement reports generated in different time intervals include measurement reports generated for a certain amount of time after a certain event and measurement reports generated after the certain amount of time.

AA16. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA15, further comprising autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

AA17. Reserved.

AA18. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA17, further comprising, when measurement reporting is paused, autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

AA19. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA18, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon occurrence of different respective events.

AA20. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is paused and storing measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is not paused.

AA21. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is operating in multi-connectivity operation and storing measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device does not operate with multi-connectivity operation.

AA22. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in a radio resource control, RRC, inactive state or an RRC idle state, and storing measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in an RRC connected state.

AA23. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a first network slice and storing measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a second network slice.

AA24. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when at least a certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium and storing measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when less than the certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium.

AA25. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the first storage medium than the second storage medium and storing measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the second storage medium than the first storage medium.

AA26. The method of embodiment AA19, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports triggered at a first protocol layer in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media and storing measurement reports triggered at a second protocol layer in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media.

AA27. Reserved.

AA28. Reserved. AA29. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA28, wherein said measurement reports comprise RAN-visible measurement reports.

AA30. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA28, wherein said measurement reports comprise non-RAN-visible measurement reports.

AA31. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA30, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device when measurement reporting is paused.

AA32. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA31 , wherein the measurement reports are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports.

AA33. The method of any of embodiments AA1-AA32, wherein the measurement reports are application layer measurement reports.

AAA1 . A method performed by a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, from a first protocol layer to a second protocol layer of the wireless communication device: control information for controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer; and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer.

AAA2. A method performed by a wireless communication device configured for use in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, at a second protocol layer of the wireless communication device, from a first protocol layer of the wireless communication device: control information for controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer; and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports at the first protocol layer.

AAA3. The method of embodiment AAA2, further comprising controlling storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information. AAA4. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA3, wherein the wireless communication device comprises multiple storage media, including a first storage medium at the first protocol layer and a second storage medium at the second protocol layer.

AAA5. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA4, wherein the first layer storage information indicates one or more of: a storage capacity at the first protocol layer; or storage available at the first protocol layer for storing measurement reports.

AAA6. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA5, wherein the control information indicates one or more of: a command as to whether, when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer is to store measurement reports; or a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer is to store measurement reports.

AAA7. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA6, wherein the control information comprises: a start indication indicating the second protocol layer is to start storing measurement reports at the second protocol layer; a stop indication indicating the second protocol layer is to stop storing measurement reports at the second protocol layer; a pause indication indicating the second protocol layer is to pause storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer; or a resume indication indicating the second protocol layer is to resume storage of measurement reports at the second protocol layer.

AAA8. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA6, wherein the control information indicates conditions under which the second protocol layer is to start, stop, pause, or resume storing measurement reports at the second protocol layer.

AAA9. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA8, wherein the control information and/or the first layer storage information is received in a configuration message or a reconfiguration message.

AAA10. The method of embodiment AAA9, wherein the configuration message is an RRC message or the reconfiguration message is an RRC reconfiguration message. AAA11 . The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA10, wherein the measurement reports are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports.

AAA12. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA11 , wherein said measurement reports comprise RAN-visible measurement reports.

AAA13. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA12, wherein said measurement reports comprise non-RAN-visible measurement reports.

AAA14. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA13, wherein the first protocol layer is an application layer and the second protocol layer is an access stratum layer.

AAA15. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA13, wherein the second protocol layer is an application layer and the first protocol layer is an access stratum layer.

AAA16. The method of any of embodiments AAA1-AAA15, wherein the measurement reports are application layer measurement reports.

AA. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to a base station.

Group B Embodiments

B1. A method performed by a network node configured for use in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a wireless communication device, instructions as to how the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

B2. The method of embodiment B1 , wherein the multiple storage media include different storage media at different respective protocol layers in a protocol stack of the wireless communication device.

B3. The method of any of embodiments B1-B2, wherein the multiple storage media include an application layer storage medium at an application layer of the wireless communication device and an access stratum storage medium at an access stratum layer of the wireless communication device.

B4. The method of any of embodiments B1-B3, wherein the multiple storage media include different storage media on different respective processing chips of the wireless communication device or different storage media associated with different respective processors of the wireless communication device.

B5. The method of embodiment B4, wherein the different respective processing chips include a baseband processing chip and an application processing chip or wherein the different respective processors include a baseband processor and an application processor.

B6. The method of any of embodiments B1-B5, wherein the instructions comprise: instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is to store any, all, or some measurement reports; instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports; instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports; and/or instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports.

B7. The method of any of embodiments B1-B6, wherein the instructions comprise, for each storage medium of the multiple storage media: instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is to store any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium; instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium; instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium; and/or instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports in that storage medium.

B8. The method of any of embodiments B1-B7, wherein the instructions comprise instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media according to which the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports. B9. The method of embodiment B8, wherein the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium, wherein the instructions comprise: instructions to store measurement reports in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, to store measurement reports in the second storage medium; or instructions to store a threshold number of measurement reports in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports is stored in the first storage medium, to store measurement reports in the second storage medium.

B10. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media.

B11. The method of embodiment B10, measurement reports with different characteristics comprise: measurement reports of different types; measurement reports of different sizes; measurement reports generated with different frequencies; measurement reports generated in different time intervals; measurement reports to be reported with different levels of urgency; or measurement reports triggered at different protocol layers.

B12. The method of embodiment B11 , wherein measurement reports of different types include: event-triggered measurement reports and non-event-triggered measurement reports; event-triggered measurement reports and periodic measurement reports;

B13. The method of embodiment B11 , wherein measurement reports of different sizes include measurement reports that have a size less than a threshold and measurement reports that have a size greater than the threshold.

B14. The method of embodiment B11 , wherein measurement reports generated with different frequencies include measurement reports generated with a frequency less than a threshold and measurement reports generated with a frequency more than a threshold. B15. The method of embodiment B11 , wherein measurement reports generated in different time intervals include measurement reports generated for a certain amount of time after a certain event and measurement reports generated after the certain amount of time.

B16. The method of any of embodiments B1-B15, wherein the instructions comprise instructions as to whether the wireless communication device is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

B17. The method of any of embodiments B1-B16, wherein the instructions comprise instructions as to under which conditions, or upon which events, the wireless communication device is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

B18. The method of any of embodiments B1-B17, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when measurement reporting is paused, the wireless communication device is allowed to autonomously choose how to store measurement reports across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device.

B19. The method of any of embodiments B1-B18, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events.

B20. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is paused and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when measurement reporting is not paused.

B21. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is operating in multi-connectivity operation and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device does not operate with multi-connectivity operation.

B22. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in a radio resource control, RRC, inactive state or an RRC idle state, and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is in an RRC connected state.

B23. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a first network slice and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when the wireless communication device is using a second network slice.

B24. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when at least a certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when less than the certain amount or percentage of memory remains in the first storage medium.

B25. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the first storage medium than the second storage medium and to store measurement reports in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media when more memory remains in the second storage medium than the first storage medium.

B26. The method of embodiment B19, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to store measurement reports triggered at a first protocol layer in a first storage medium of the multiple storage media and to store measurement reports triggered at a second protocol layer in a second storage medium of the multiple storage media.

B27. Reserved.

B28. Reserved.

B29. The method of any of embodiments B1-B28, wherein said measurement reports comprise RAN-visible measurement reports.

B30. The method of any of embodiments B1-B28, wherein said measurement reports comprise non-RAN-visible measurement reports. B31. The method of any of embodiments B1-B30, wherein said instructions comprise instructions as to how the wireless communication device is to store measurement reports across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device when QoE reporting is paused.

B32. The method of any of embodiments B1-B31 , wherein the measurement reports are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports.

B33. The method of any of embodiments B1-B32, wherein the measurement reports are application layer measurement reports.

B34. The method of any of embodiments B1-B33, further comprising receiving, from the wireless communication device, measurement reports as stored according to the instructions.

BB. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless communication device.

Group C Embodiments

C1. A wireless communication device configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

C2. A wireless communication device comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

C3. A wireless communication device comprising: communication circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

C4. A wireless communication device comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless communication device.

C5. A wireless communication device comprising: processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the wireless communication device is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

C6. A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

C7. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a wireless communication device, causes the wireless communication device to carry out the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

C8. A carrier containing the computer program of embodiment C7, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

C9. A network node configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

C10. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

C11. A network node comprising: communication circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

C12. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the network node.

C13. A network node comprising: processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

C14. The network node of any of embodiments C9-C13, wherein the network node is a base station.

C15. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a network node, causes the network node to carry out the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

C16. The computer program of embodiment C14, wherein the network node is a base station.

C17. A carrier containing the computer program of any of embodiments C15-C16, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

Group D Embodiments

D1 . A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

D2. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

D3. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

D4. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

D5. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

D6. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.

D7. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application.

D8. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the previous 3 embodiments.

D9. A communication system including a host computer comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE’s components configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

D10. The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

D11 . The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

D12. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (LIE), the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the LIE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the LIE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

D13. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the LIE, receiving the user data from the base station.

D14. A communication system including a host computer comprising: communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (LIE) to a base station, wherein the LIE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

D15. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the UE.

D16. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station.

D17. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.

D18. The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data.

D19. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (LIE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the LIE, wherein the LIE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

D20. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the LIE, providing the user data to the base station.

D21 . The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the LIE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

D22. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising: at the LIE, executing a client application; and at the LIE, receiving input data to the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.

D23. A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (LIE) to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

D24. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

D25. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the LIE, wherein the LIE is configured to communicate with the base station.

D26. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.

D27. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

D28. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.

D29. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

ABBREVIATIONS

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s).

3GPP 3^rd Generation Partnership Project

5GCN 5G Core Network

5GS 5G System

AF Application Function

AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

AN Access Network

API Application Programming Interface

CA Carrier Aggregation

CGI Cell Global Identity

CHO Conditional Handover

CN Core Network

CP Control Plane

CPC Conditional PSCell Change

CU Central Unit

DAPS Dual Active Protocol Stacks

DC Dual Connectivity

DU Distributed Unit eNB E-UTRAN NodeB

EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN gNB Radio base station in NR

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GPS Global Positioning System

ID Identifier/ldentity

IE Information Element

LTE Long Term Evolution

MBS Multicast Broadcast Service

MCE Measurement Collector Entity

MME Mobility Management Entity

MN Master Node

MR-DC Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity

NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity

NEF Network Exposure Function

NG Next Generation

NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

NG-RAN NG Radio Access Network

NR New Radio

OAM/O&M Operation and Maintenance

PCell Primary Cell

PCF Policy Control Function

PCI

PSCell Primary Secondary Cell

QCI QoS Class Identifier

QMC QoE Measurement Collection

QoE Quality of Experience

QoS Quality of Service

RACH Random Access Channel

RAN Radio Access Network

RAT Radio Access Technology

RRC Radio Resource Control

RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RV-QOE RAN Visible QoE

S1 The interface between the RAN and the CN in LTE.

S1AP S1 Application Protocol SCell Secondary Cell

SCG Secondary Cell Group

SINR Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio

SMF Session Management Function

SMO Service Management and Orchestration

SN Secondary Node

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

TA Terminal Adaptor

TCE Trace Collector Entity

TE Terminal Equipment

UE User Equipment

1x RTT CDMA2000 1x Radio Transmission Technology

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

5G 5th Generation

6G 6^th Generation

ABS Almost Blank Subframe

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel

CA Carrier Aggregation

CC Carrier Component

CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU

CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access

CGI Cell Global Identifier

CIR Channel Impulse Response

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPICH Common Pilot Channel

CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band

CQI Channel Quality information

C-RNTI Cell RNTI

CSI Channel State Information

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel

DL Downlink

DM Demodulation

DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

DRX Discontinuous Reception DTX Discontinuous Transmission DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel DUT Device Under Test E-CID Enhanced Cell-1 D (positioning method) eMBMS evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre ECGI Evolved CGI eNB E-UTRAN NodeB ePDCCH Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel E-SMLC Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center E-UTRA Evolved UTRA E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN FDD Frequency Division Duplex FFS For Further Study gNB Base station in NR GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request HO Handover HSPA High Speed Packet Access HRPD High Rate Packet Data LOS Line of Sight LPP LTE Positioning Protocol LTE Long-Term Evolution MAC Medium Access Control MAC Message Authentication Code MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe MDT Minimization of Drive Tests MIB Master Information Block MME Mobility Management Entity MSC Mobile Switching Center NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel NR New Radio OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access OSS Operations Support System OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival O&M Operation and Maintenance PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel PCell Primary Cell PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol PDP Power Delay Profile PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel PGW Packet Gateway PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel PLMN Public Land Mobile Network PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator PRACH Physical Random Access Channel PRS Positioning Reference Signal PSS Primary Synchronization Signal PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RACH Random Access Channel QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation RAN Radio Access Network RAT Radio Access Technology RLC Radio Link Control RLM Radio Link Management RNC Radio Network Controller RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier RRC Radio Resource Control RRM Radio Resource Management RS Reference Signal RSCP Received Signal Code Power RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR

Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR

Reference Symbol Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference SCH Synchronization Channel SCell Secondary Cell SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol SDU Service Data Unit

SFN System Frame Number

SGW Serving Gateway

SI System Information

SIB System Information Block

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

SON Self Optimized Network

SS Synchronization Signal

SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

TDD Time Division Duplex

TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

TOA Time of Arrival

TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal

TTI Transmission Time Interval

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival

WCDMA Wide CDMA

WLAN Wide Local Area Network

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . A method performed by a wireless communication device (12) configured for use in a wireless communication network (10), the method comprising: receiving (500), at a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12), from a first protocol layer (22-1) of the wireless communication device (12): control information for controlling storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1); and controlling (530) storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N) according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication device (12) comprises multiple storage media, including a first storage medium at the first protocol layer (22-1) and a second storage medium at the second protocol layer (22-N), and wherein said controlling comprises controlling storage of measurement reports (14) in the second storage medium at the second protocol layer (22-N).

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein said receiving comprises receiving the first layer storage information, and wherein the first layer storage information indicates one or more of: a storage capacity at the first protocol layer (22-1); or storage available at the first protocol layer (22-1) for storing measurement reports (14).

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein said receiving comprises receiving the control information, and wherein the control information indicates one or more of: a command as to whether, and/or when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer (22-N) is to store measurement reports (14); or a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, and/or when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer (22-N) is to store measurement reports (14).

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein said receiving comprises receiving the control information, and wherein the control information comprises: a start indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to start storing measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N);

82 a stop indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to stop storing measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); a pause indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to pause storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); a resume indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to resume storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); or conditions under which the second protocol layer (22-N) is to start, stop, pause, or resume storing measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N).

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the control information and/or the first layer storage information is received in a configuration message or a reconfiguration message, wherein the configuration message is an RRC message or the reconfiguration message is an RRC reconfiguration message.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the measurement reports (14) are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports, wherein the QoE measurement reports include radio access network, RAN, -visible QoE, RVQoE, measurement reports and/or non-RAN-visible QoE measurement reports.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein: the first protocol layer (22-1) is an application layer and the second protocol layer (22-N) is an access stratum layer; or the second protocol layer (22-N) is an application layer and the first protocol layer (22-1) is an access stratum layer.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, further comprising storing measurement reports (14) across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device (12) distributed amongst the first and second protocol layers (22-1 , 22-N).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said storing comprises storing measurement reports (14) according to an ordering of the multiple storage media, wherein the ordering comprises a first storage medium ordered before a second storage medium, wherein said storing comprises: storing measurement reports (14) in the first storage medium until a storage threshold is reached and, after the storage threshold is reached for the first storage medium, storing measurement reports (14) in the second storage medium; or

83 storing a threshold number of measurement reports (14) in the first storage medium and, after the threshold number of measurement reports (14) is stored in the first storage medium, storing measurement reports (14) in the second storage medium.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said storing comprises: storing measurement reports (14) with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media; or storing measurement reports (14) in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon occurrence of different respective events.

12. The method of any of claims 9-11 , further comprising autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports (14) across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device (12).

13. The method of any of claims 9-11 , further comprising receiving, from a network node in the wireless communication network (10), instructions as to how the wireless communication device (12) is to store measurement reports (14) across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device (12).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the instructions comprise: instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is to store any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media according to which the wireless communication device (12) is to store measurement reports (14); instructions to store measurement reports (14) with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media; and/or instructions to store measurement reports (14) in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events.

84

15. A wireless communication device (12) configured for use in a wireless communication network (10), the wireless communication device (12) configured to: receive, at a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12), from a first protocol layer (22-1) of the wireless communication device (12): control information for controlling storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1); and control storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N) according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

16. The wireless communication device (12) of claim 15, configured to perform the method of any of claims 2-14.

17. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a wireless communication device (12), causes the wireless communication device (12) to perform the method of any of claims 1-14.

18. A carrier containing the computer program of claim 17, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

19. A wireless communication device (12) configured for use in a wireless communication network (10), the wireless communication device (12) comprising: communication circuitry (720); and processing circuitry (710) configured to: receive, at a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12), from a first protocol layer (22-1) of the wireless communication device (12): control information for controlling storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1); and control storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N) according to the control information and/or based on the first layer storage information.

85

20. The wireless communication device (12) of claim 19, the processing circuitry (710) configured to perform the method of any of claims 2-14.

21. A method performed by a wireless communication device (12) configured for use in a wireless communication network (10), the method comprising: transmitting (600), from a first protocol layer (22-1) to a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12): control information for controlling storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1).

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the first layer storage information, and wherein the first layer storage information indicates one or more of: a storage capacity at the first protocol layer (22-1); or storage available at the first protocol layer (22-1) for storing measurement reports (14).

23. The method of any of claims 21-22, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the control information, and wherein the control information indicates one or more of: a command as to whether, and/or when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer (22-N) is to store measurement reports (14); or a suggestion or recommendation as to whether, and/or when, and/or for how long the second protocol layer (22-N) is to store measurement reports (14).

24. The method of any of claims 21-23, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the control information, and wherein the control information comprises: a start indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to start storing measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); a stop indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to stop storing measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); a pause indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to pause storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); a resume indication indicating the second protocol layer (22-N) is to resume storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); or conditions under which the second protocol layer (22-N) is to start, stop, pause, or resume storing measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N).

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25. The method of any of claims 21-24, wherein the control information and/or the first layer storage information is transmitted in a configuration message or a reconfiguration message, wherein the configuration message is an RRC message or the reconfiguration message is an RRC reconfiguration message.

26. The method of any of claims 21-25, wherein the measurement reports (14) are quality of experience, QoE, measurement reports, wherein the QoE measurement reports include radio access network, RAN, -visible QoE, RVQoE, measurement reports and/or non-RAN-visible QoE measurement reports.

27. The method of any of claims 21-26, wherein: the first protocol layer (22-1) is an application layer and the second protocol layer (22-N) is an access stratum layer; or the second protocol layer (22-N) is an application layer and the first protocol layer (22-1) is an access stratum layer.

28. The method of any of claims 21-27, further comprising autonomously choosing how to store measurement reports (14) across the multiple storage media at the wireless communication device (12), and wherein the method further comprises generating the control information based said autonomously choosing.

29. The method of any of claims 21-27, further comprising receiving, from a network node in the wireless communication network (10), instructions as to how the wireless communication device (12) is to store measurement reports (14) across multiple storage media at the wireless communication device (12), and wherein the method further comprises generating the control information based on the instructions.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the instructions comprise: instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is to store any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is allowed to store any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is recommended to store any, all, or some measurement reports (14); instructions as to which of the multiple storage media the wireless communication device (12) is prohibited from storing any, all, or some measurement reports (14);

87 instructions as to an ordering of the multiple storage media according to which the wireless communication device (12) is to store measurement reports (14); instructions to store measurement reports (14) with different characteristics in different respective ones of the multiple storage media; and/or instructions to store measurement reports (14) in different ones of the multiple storage media under different respective conditions or upon the occurrence of different respective events.

31. A wireless communication device (12) configured for use in a wireless communication network (10), the wireless communication device (12) configured to: transmit, from a first protocol layer (22-1) to a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12): control information for controlling storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1).

32. The wireless communication device (12) of claim 31 , configured to perform the method of any of claims 22-30.

33. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a wireless communication device (12), causes the wireless communication device (12) to perform the method of any of claims 21-30.

34. A carrier containing the computer program of claim 33, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

35. A wireless communication device (12) configured for use in a wireless communication network (10), the wireless communication device (12) comprising: communication circuitry (720); and processing circuitry (710) configured to transmit, from a first protocol layer (22-1) to a second protocol layer (22-N) of the wireless communication device (12): control information for controlling storage of measurement reports (14) at the second protocol layer (22-N); and/or first layer storage information characterizing storage of measurement reports (14) at the first protocol layer (22-1).

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36. The wireless communication device (12) of claim 35, the processing circuitry (710) configured to perform the method of any of claims 22-30.