Method and System for Collecting Terminal Measurement Data

• US 20120315949A1
• Filed: 08/22/2012
• Published: 12/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Hongzhuo, Zou, Lan, Jin, Lei, Shi, Xiaoli
• Granted Patent: US 9,807,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/525
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for collecting terminal measurement data, an integration reference point manager system, an integration reference point agent system, a home subscriber server, a mobility management entity, a NodeB and a user equipment. Specifically, an integration reference point agent (IRP Agent) receives a terminal measurement data start operation or terminal measurement data stop operation sent by an integration reference point manager (IRP Manager), where the terminal measurement data start operation is used to start terminal measurement data collection and carries configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the terminal measurement data stop operation is used to instruct stop of terminal measurement collection. The present invention enables a terminal to collect and report terminal measurement data

Claims

1. A method for collecting terminal measurement data, comprising:

receiving, by an integration reference point agent (IRP Agent), a terminal measurement data start operation or terminal measurement data stop operation sent by an integration reference point manager (IRP Manager), wherein the terminal measurement data start operation is used to start terminal measurement data collection and carries configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the terminal measurement data stop operation is used to instruct stop of terminal measurement data collection.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal measurement data stop operation carries a terminal measurement stop indicator.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the integration reference point agent (IRP Agent), the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator carried in the terminal measurement data stop operation to a user equipment (UE) over a network, so that the UE initiates terminal measurement data collection according to the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or stops terminal measurement data collection according to the terminal measurement stop indicator.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the integration reference point agent (IRP Agent) notifies the UE of stopping terminal measurement data collection according to the terminal measurement data stop operation.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the sending, by the IRP Agent, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the UE over the network comprises:

sending, by the IRP Agent, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the UE through a home subscriber server (HSS), or mobility management entity (MME), or serving GPRS support node (SGSN), or mobile switching center (MSC), or NodeB, or radio network controller.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

sending, by the IRP Agent, a Trace Session Activation or Trace Session Deactivation message to the home subscriber server (HSS), or MME, or SGSN, or MSC, or NodeB, or radio network controller, wherein the Trace Session Activation message carries the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the Trace Session Deactivation message carries the terminal measurement stop indicator.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein when the IRP Agent sends the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the HSS, the method further comprises:

sending, by the HSS, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the MME, or SGSN, or MSC by using an Update Location Answer (Update Location Answer) message; and

sending, by the entity receiving the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the NodeB or radio network controller by using an Initial Context Setup (Initial Context Setup) Request or CN Invoke Trace (CN Invoke Trace) message.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein when the IRP Agent sends the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the HSS, the method further comprises:

sending, by the HSS, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the MME, or SGSN, or MSC by using insert subscriber data (Insert subscriber data); and

sending, by the entity receiving the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the NodeB or radio network controller by using a Trace Start (Trace Start) or CN Invoke Trace (CN Invoke Trace) message.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein when the IRP Agent sends the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the HSS, the method further comprises:

sending, by the HSS, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the MME, or SGSN, or MSC by using other messages for initiating terminal measurement data collection; and

initiating, by the entity receiving the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, paging and, after receiving a paging response returned by the user equipment, sending the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the NodeB or radio network controller by using an Initial Context Setup (Initial Context Setup) Request or CN Invoke Trace (CN Invoke Trace) message.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

sending, by the NodeB or radio network controller, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the UE by using radio resource control signaling.

11. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

sending, by the MME or SGSN, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the UE by using non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by the IRP Agent, the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the UE comprises:

sending, by the IRP Agent, a Cell Traffic Trace (Cell Traffic Trace) or Trace Session Activation (Trace Session Activation) message to a NodeB or radio network controller, wherein the message carries the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, so that the NodeB or radio network controller delivers the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to a UE in a cell.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein

a HANDOVER REQUEST command sent by a source NodeB or MME/SGSN/MSC to a destination NodeB carries the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by a NodeB, a terminal measurement data report returned by a UE and forwarding the report to a trace data collection entity.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the terminal measurement data report comprises any combination of the following information:

interface type, message type, unique call identity, measured cell IDs corresponding to UE measurements respectively or other UE location information, time information, location information, and specific measurement values.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data comprise any combination of the following parameters:

terminal measurement data indicator, UE measurement data collection criteria, reported UE measurements information, address to report terminal measurement data, scope list of terminal measurement data collection, start time of terminal measurement data collection, end time of terminal measurement data collection, scheduling period of terminal measurement data, priority of terminal measurement data collection, and target user identity (IMSI, IMEI) or list of target user identities.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the scope list of terminal measurement data collection comprises one or more of the following options:

cell identity, cell identity list, trace area identity, trace area identity list, NodeB identity, and NodeB identity list.

18. The method according to claim 13, wherein the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data comprise any combination of the following parameters:

measurement data collection identifier of terminal;

measurement data collection capability information of terminal;

locating capability information of terminal;

measurement item being measured by terminal;

measuring mode, period, events, or periodical events of measurement item; and

reporting mode, period, events, or periodical events of measurement item.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the reported UE measurements information comprises any combination of the following parameters:

UE location, time information, measurement item of serving cell, and measurement item of one or more neighbor cells.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the measurement item of serving cell comprises any combination of the following options:

global cell identity (CGI, Global Cell Identity), physical cell identity (PCI, Physical Cell Identity), reference signal received power (RSRP, Reference Signal Received Power), reference signal received quality (RSRQ, Reference Signal Received Quality), power headroom report (PHR, Power Headroom Report), timing advance (TA, Timing Advance), signal to interference-plus-noise ratio SINR, signal-to-noise ratio SNR, and signal-to-interference ratio SIR.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the measurement item of one or more neighbor cells comprises any combination of the following options:

global cell identity (CGI), physical cell identity (PCI), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and frequency point information.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein the UE measurement data collection criteria comprise any combination of the following options:

data collection mode, data reporting mode and logging triggering event, period of UE measurement data collection, period of UE measurement data reporting, collection time segment, collection stop trigger condition, coverage of selected UE, and mobile phone performance indexes.

23. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal measurement data start operation is:

an Active Trace Job (Active Trace Job) message of a trace northbound interface;

or

a Create Measurement Job (CreateMeasurementJob) message of a performance management northbound interface;

or

a message of a terminal data collection northbound interface.

24. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the IRP Manager, a List Activated Trace Jobs (ListActivatedTraceJobs) operation to the IRP Agent; and

outputting, by the IRP Agent, the number of terminals that are carrying out measurement.

25. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

sending, by the HSS, to the IRP Agent a Trace Session Activation Response which carries a cause value indicating that the UE location is unknown, or the UE is detached, or the UE is idle.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising:

sending, by the IRP Agent, to the IRP Manager the Trace Session Activation Response which carries a cause value indicating that the UE location is unknown, or the UE is detached, or the UE is idle.

27. A system for collecting terminal measurement data, comprising an integration reference point manager (IRP Manager) and an integration reference point agent (IRP Agent), wherein

the IRP Manager is configured to send a terminal measurement data start operation or terminal measurement data stop operation to the IRP Agent, wherein the terminal measurement data start operation is used to start terminal measurement data collection and carries configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the terminal measurement data stop operation is used to instruct stop of terminal measurement data collection;

and

the IRP Agent is configured to notify, over a network, a UE of initiating terminal measurement data collection or terminating terminal measurement data collection.

28. The system according to claim 27, further comprising:

a home subscriber server (HSS), configured to receive the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or a terminal measurement stop indicator sent by the IRP Agent, and forward the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the user equipment (UE).

29. The system according to claim 27, further comprising:

a mobility management entity (MME) or SGSN, configured to receive the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator sent by the IRP Agent through the HSS or sent directly by the IRP Agent, and forward the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the UE.

30. The system according to claim 27, further comprising:

a NodeB/RNC, configured to receive the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator sent by the IRP Agent directly or sent by the IRP Agent through the HSS, MME, or SGSN, and forward the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the UE.

31. An integration reference point manager system, comprising:

an integration reference point manager (IRP Manager), configured to configure configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or a terminal measurement stop indicator; and

a transmitter, configured to send a terminal measurement data start operation or terminal measurement data stop operation to an IRP Agent, wherein the terminal measurement data start operation is used to start terminal measurement data collection and carries the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the terminal measurement data stop operation is used to instruct stop of terminal measurement data collection and carries the terminal measurement stop indicator, so that the IRP Agent sends the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to a UE.

32. An integration reference point agent system, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive a terminal measurement data start operation or terminal measurement data stop operation sent by an IRP Manager, wherein the terminal measurement data start operation is used to start terminal measurement data collection and carries configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the terminal measurement data stop operation is used to instruct stop of terminal measurement data collection; and

an integration reference point agent (IRP Agent), configured to notify, over a network, a UE of initiating terminal measurement data collection or terminating terminal measurement data collection.

33. The integration reference point agent system according to claim 32, wherein the terminal measurement data stop operation carries a terminal measurement stop indicator, and the IRP Agent is configured to send a Trace Session Activation or Trace Session Deactivation message to an HSS, an MME, an SGSN, an eNodeB or an RNC, wherein the Trace Session Activation message is used to trigger a signaling trace procedure for a specific user or device and carries the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the Trace Session Deactivation message carries the terminal measurement stop indicator, so that the entity receiving the Trace Session Activation or Trace Session Deactivation message sends the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the UE.

34. The integration reference point agent system according to claim 32, wherein the IRP Agent is configured to send the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the UE by using a Cell Traffic Trace (Cell Traffic Trace) message, and notify the UE of measuring the terminal measurement data.

35. A home subscriber server, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive a Trace Session Activation or Trace Session Deactivation message sent by an IRP Agent, wherein the Trace Session Activation message is used to trigger a signaling trace procedure for a specific user or device and carries configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, and the Trace Session Deactivation message carries a terminal measurement stop indicator used to instruct termination of terminal measurement data collection; and

a transmitter, configured to send the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to a UE through an MME or SGSN.

36. The home subscriber server according to claim 35, further comprising:

a processor, configured to, when a user to trace accesses the network, check whether the user needs tracing, wherein if yes, the transmitter is further configured to send the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the MME by using an Update Location Answer, and further send the configuration parameters to the UE through the MME.

37. The home subscriber server according to claim 35, wherein when the UE is already located in the network, the transmitter is further configured to send the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data to the MME by using an insert subscriber data (Insert subscriber data) or Update Location Answer message, and further send the configuration parameters to the UE through the MME.

38. A mobility management entity, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or a terminal measurement stop indicator sent by an IRP Agent; and

a transmitter, configured to send the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to a UE through a NodeB.

39. A NodeB, comprising:

a receiver, configured to receive configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or a terminal measurement stop indicator sent by an IRP Agent, and receive a terminal measurement data report returned by a UE; and

a transmitter, configured to send the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator to the UE, and send the terminal measurement data report returned by the UE to a trace data collection entity.

40. The NodeB according to claim 39, further comprising:

a processor, configured to, when the UE undergoes a handover procedure, configure the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or the terminal measurement stop indicator in a handover command, so that the transmitter sends the handover command to a destination NodeB.

41. A user equipment, comprising:

a transceiver, configured to receive configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data or a terminal measurement stop indicator sent by a NodeB, and send a terminal measurement data report to the NodeB; and

a processor, configured to measure terminal measurement data according to the configuration parameters used to collect terminal measurement data, or terminate measurement of the terminal measurement data according to the terminal measurement stop indicator.