Method of network management by assistance from terminal using control-plane signaling between terminal and network

• US 8,780,732 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2009
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Song, Osok, Kitazoe, Masato, Flore, Oronzo, Grilli, Francesco, Mishra, Anjali
• Primary Examiner(s): Yuen, Kan
• Application Number:
  US12/403,925
• Publication Number:
  US 20090257353A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,950 Days
• Field of Search: 370/216, 370229-235, 370241-252, 370310-350, 455/418, 455/423
• US Class Current: 370/242
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/14 Monitoring arrangements for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate network management and optimization. As described herein, a network and a device communicating with the network can exchange network management information, thereby supporting a Self Organized Network (SON) architecture for improved network management and optimization performance. A Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer protocol and/or an Internet Protocol (IP) application, in combination with a set of associated network management messages, can be utilized to exchange network management information between a device and a network. As further described herein, various procedures can be utilized to install a SON policy to a device in order to define device behavior for operations such as collecting and reporting information related to network management. Additionally, a set of standardized events can be defined, based on which a device can detect the occurrence of an event and report the occurrence to an associated network.

Claims

1. A method for logging and reporting network events, comprising:

receiving a Self Organized Network (SON) policy from a network that specifies a list of definitions for respective network events, a list of measurements to be performed that are associated with the respective network events, and instructions for reporting performed measurements associated with the respective network events;

detecting an occurrence of a network event defined by the SON policy, wherein detecting an occurrence of a network event comprises detecting an occurrence of a radio link failure (RLF);

performing one or more measurements associated with the detected network event based on the SON policy;

storing information associated with the RLF in a register; and

reporting the one or more measurements to the network based on the instructions for reporting measurements specified in the SON policy, wherein the reporting comprises

identifying a time of occurrence of at least one predefined triggering event, the at least one triggering event comprising at least one of quality of a communication link with the network having at least a predetermined threshold quality or the register becoming full; and

transferring at least a portion of information stored in the register to the network based on at least one of quality of a communication link or the register being full, and wherein the portion of information includes a timestamp indicating the identified time of occurrence.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective network events include one or more of hardware failure, connection failure, radio link failure (RLF), a change to observed network topology, and a change to utilized communication resources.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing one or more measurements comprises determining one or more of a time of an event, resources utilized at a time associated with an event, observed network location at a time associated with an event, or channel information at a time associated with an event.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving comprises receiving the SON policy in one or more paging messages from the network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting further comprises tunneling the one or more measurements to a SON server.

6. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

a memory that stores data relating to a Self Organized Network (SON) entity; and

a processor configured to receive an event definition list and a respective set of associated measurements to be performed from the SON entity, to detect occurrence of a defined event, wherein detecting an occurrence of a network event comprises detecting an occurrence of a radio link failure (RLF), to store information associated with the RLF in a register, to log performed measurements from a set of measurements associated with the detected event, and to report the logged measurements to the SON entity, wherein the reporting comprises identifying a time of occurrence of at least one predefined triggering event, the at least one triggering event comprising at least one of quality of a communication link with the network having at least a predetermined threshold quality or the register becoming full and transferring at least a portion of information stored in the register to the network based on at least one of quality of a communication link or the register being full, and wherein the portion of information includes a timestamp indicating the identified time of occurrence.

7. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 6, wherein the event definition list obtained from the SON entity defines a set of events including one or more of a hardware failure, a connection failure, a radio link failure (RLF), a change to observed network topology, and a change to utilized communication resources.

8. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 6, wherein the set of associated measurements obtained from the SON entity includes one or more of timestamp information corresponding to an event, resources utilized by the wireless communications apparatus corresponding to an event, network topology information associated with an event as observed by the wireless communications apparatus, or channel information associated with an event as observed by the wireless communications apparatus.

9. An apparatus that facilitates implementation of a Self Organized Network (SON), the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a set of event definitions, sets of measurements to be performed that are related to respective defined events, and a reporting schedule from a network;

means for logging performed measurements upon occurrence of a defined event based on a set of measurements related to the event, wherein occurrence of a defined event comprises an occurrence of a radio link failure (RLF);

means for storing information associated with the RLF in a register; and

means for communicating the logged measurements to the network according to the reporting schedule, wherein the communicating comprises

identifying a time of occurrence of at least one predefined triggering event, the at least one triggering event comprising at least one of quality of a communication link with the network having at least a predetermined threshold quality or the register becoming full; and

transferring at least a portion of information stored in the register to the network based on at least one of quality of a communication link or the register being full, and wherein the portion of information includes a timestamp indicating the identified time of occurrence.

10. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for receiving a set of standardized network events, lists of measurements

to be performed that are respectively associated with the network events, and instructions for reporting performed measurements associated with the network events to one or more of a network management entity or an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device management (DM) server;

code for detecting an event from the set of standardized network events, wherein detecting an occurrence of a network event comprises detecting an occurrence of a radio link failure (RLF);

code for performing measurements in a list of measurements corresponding to the detected event;

code for storing information associated with the RLF in a register; and

code for reporting the performed measurements to the network management entity or the OMA DM server based on the received instructions, wherein the reporting comprises

identifying a time of occurrence of at least one predefined triggering event, the at least one triggering event comprising at least one of quality of a communication link with the network having at least a predetermined threshold quality or the register becoming full; and

transferring at least a portion of information stored in the register to the network based on at least one of quality of a communication link or the register being full, and wherein the portion of information includes a timestamp indicating the identified time of occurrence.