METHODS, APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS FOR MINIMIZATION OF DRIVE TESTS (MDT) BASED ON QOS VERIFICATIONS

• US 20130114446A1
• Filed: 10/24/2012
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: LIU, Kai, PELLETIER, Ghyslain, WANG, Peter S., MARINIER, Paul, KAUR, Samian J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,264,928 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports

Abstract

A method of managing one or more test measurements associated with a communication system using a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) is disclosed. The method includes receiving, by the WTRU, a measurement configuration including at least a trigger indicating a condition or event for initiation of the one or more test measurements; determining, by the WTRU, whether the trigger has been satisfied, as a determination result; initiating the one or more test measurements in accordance with the determination result; and measuring, by the WTRU, the one or more test measurements.

Claims

1. A method of managing one or more test measurements associated with a communication system using a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising:

receiving, by the WTRU, a measurement configuration including at least a trigger indicating a condition or event for initiation of the one or more test measurements;

determining, by the WTRU, whether the trigger has been satisfied, as a determination result; and

initiating, by the WTRU, measurement the one or more test measurements in accordance with the determination result.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising

wirelessly reporting, by the WTRU to a network resource, the one or more test measurements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the measurement configuration includes:

obtaining the trigger indicating any of;

(1) a geographic region in which the test measurements are to be taken;

(2) a location at which the test measurements are to be taken;

(3) a time at which the test measurements are to be taken;

(4) a tracking area in which the test measurements are to be taken;

or (5) a cell identifier associated with a serving cell of which the test measurements are to be taken.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a channel condition exceeds a threshold,

wherein the channel condition includes at least one of;

(1) a channel quality indicator;

(2) power headroom;

(3) throughput of a communication link to the communication system;

(4) a NACK rate;

or (5) a buffer availability of the WTRU.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the WTRU, a message including an Testing Condition Satisfied (TCS) indicator indicating whether the WTRU is available/ready to take the test measurements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the receiving of the measurement configuration is in response to the transmitting of the message including the TCS indicator.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the WTRU being in an idle mode, logging the test measurements; and

reporting, by the WTRU to a network resource, the logged test measurements.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transitioning, by the WTRU, to connected mode prior to reporting the logged test measurements.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the WTRU being in a connected mode, reporting, by the WTRU to a network resource, the test measurements.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to a handover of the WTRU from a first cell to a second cell, delaying, by the WTRU, the measurement of the test measurements until the handover is completed.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a quality of service for the WTRU based on any of:

(1) uplink data loss over a specified period;

(2) uplink data loss rate over the specified period;

(3) uplink data discarded over the specified period at a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer;

(4) uplink data discarded rate over the specified period at the PDCP layer;

(5) uplink data loss over the specified period;

(6) uplink data loss rate over the specified period;

(7) uplink data discarded over the specified period at a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer;

or (8) uplink data discarded rate over the specified period at the PDCP layer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement of the test measurements includes periodically taking the test measurements.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating of the measurement of the one or more test measurements is based on user input.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

setting, by user input, an availability flag whether to enable or disable test measurements,

wherein the initiating of the measurement is responsive to the availability flag indicating to enable the test measurements.

15. A method of managing a plurality of quality of service (QoS) test measurements associated with a communication system using a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising:

receiving, by the WTRU, a measurement configuration indicating parameters for taking the test measurements; and

taking, by the WTRU, the test measurements including at least one of the test measurements associated with non-user data.

16. A method of communicating test information between an evolved Node B (eNB) and a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising:

receiving, by the WTRU from the eNB, an instruction to establish a test data radio bearer (DRB) between the eNB and the WTRU for communications therebetween of test information;

establishing, by the WTRU, the test DRB in accordance with the instruction; and

exchanging, by the WTRU via the test DRB, the test information.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising

sending, by the WTRU to the eNB, a test bearer resource allocation request message to request the instruction.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the establishing of the test DRB includes setting up, by the WTRU a test bearer resource separate from other data bearer resources based on the instruction.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising

conducting, by the WTRU, QoS measurements using test data sent via the test DRB;

and

sending, by the WTRU to the eNB, the QoS measurements via the test DRB.

20. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for measuring one or more test measurements associated with a communication system, comprising:

a transmit/receive unit configured to receive a measurement configuration including at least a trigger indicating a condition or event for initiation of the one or more test measurements; and

a processor configured to determine whether the trigger has been satisfied, as a determination result and to control initiation of the one or more test measurements in accordance with the determination result.

21. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein the transmit/receive unit is configured to wirelessly report the one or more test measurements to a network resource.

22. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein:

the transmit/receive unit is configured to receive the measurement configuration including the trigger indicating any of;

(1) a geographic region in which the test measurements are to be taken;

(2) a location at which the test measurements are to be taken;

(3) a time at which the test measurements are to be taken;

(4) a tracking area in which the test measurements are to be taken;

or (5) a cell identifier associated with a serving cell of which the test measurements are to be taken; and

the processor is configured to obtain the test measurements in accordance with the trigger.

23. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein:

the processor is configured to determine whether a channel condition exceeds a threshold; and

the channel condition includes any of;

(1) a channel quality indicator;

(2) power headroom;

(3) throughput of a communication link to the communication system;

(4) a NACK rate;

or (5) a buffer availability of the WTRU.

24. The WTRU of claim 20, further comprising a memory configured to store test measurements, wherein:

the processor is configured to control storage to the memory and timing of reporting of the test measurements to a network resource based on a mode of operation of the WTRU.

25. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein, responsive to a handover of the WTRU from a first cell to a second cell, the processor is configured to delay taking of the test measurements until the handover is completed.

26. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to determine a quality of service for the WTRU based on any of:

(1) uplink data loss over a specified period;

(2) uplink data loss rate over the specified period;

(3) uplink data discarded over the specified period at a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer;

(4) uplink data discarded rate over the specified period at the PDCP layer;

(5) uplink data loss over the specified period;

(6) uplink data loss rate over the specified period;

(7) uplink data discarded over the specified period at a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer;

or (8) uplink data discarded rate over the specified period at the PDCP layer.

27. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to control the initiation of the measurement of the one or more test measurements based on user input.

28. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to set, via user input, a measurement flag indicating whether to enable or disable test measurements and to disable initiation of the measurement of the test measurements responsive to the measurement flag indicating to disable the test measurements.

29. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for measuring one or more Quality of Service (QoS) test measurements associated with a communication system, comprising:

a transmit/receive unit configured to receive a measurement configuration indicating parameters for taking the test measurements; and

a processor configured to control taking of the test measurements including at least one of the test measurements associated with non-user data.

30. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for communicating test information between an evolved Node B (eNB) and the WTRU, comprising:

a transmit/receive unit configured to receive from the eNB an instruction to establish a test data radio bearer (DRB) between the eNB and the WTRU for communications therebetween of test information; and

a processor configured to control establishment of the test DRB for the WTRU in accordance with the instruction, wherein the transmit/receive unit is configured to exchange via the test DRB the test information.