WO2025094134A1

WO2025094134A1 - Buffer mechanism in data collection and further enhancement of the mdt

Info

Publication number: WO2025094134A1
Application number: PCT/IB2024/060820
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mahmood Reza ALIZADEH ASHRAFI; Endrit DOSTI
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2023-11-02
Filing date: 2024-11-01
Publication date: 2025-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2026-05-02
Also published as: GB2635187A; GB202316783D0

Abstract

An apparatus configured to: transmit, to a base station, at least: at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus, and at least one data sample size; receive, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmit, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmit, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples.

Description

BUFFER MECHANISM IN DATA COLLECTION AND FURTHER

ENHANCEMENT OF THE MDT

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] Thi s application claims priority to GB Application No . 2316783 . 6 filed November 2 , 2023 , which i s incorporated herein by reference in its entirety .

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The example and non-limiting embodiments relate generally to data collection and, more particularly, to buffering of collected data .

BACKGROUND

[0003] It is known, in cellular communication, to store measurement data in a buf fer for a predetermined time period .

SUMMARY

[0004] The following summary is merely intended to be illustrative . The summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims .

[0005] In accordance with one aspect , an apparatus compri sing : at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the apparatus at least to : transmit , to a base station, at least : at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size; receive , from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmit , to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[0006] In accordance with one aspect , a method comprising : transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to , at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[0007 ] In accordance with one aspect , an apparatus compri sing means for : transmitting, to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size ; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[0008] In accordance with one aspect , a non-transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; causing receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; causing transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[0009] In accordance with one aspect , an apparatus compri sing : at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the apparatus at least to : receive , from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; transmit , to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receive, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples i s based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[0010] In accordance with one aspect , a method comprising : receiving, with a base station from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receiving, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples i s based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples . [0011] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising means for: receiving, from a user equipment, at least: at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and at least one data sample size; transmitting, to the user equipment, a configuration for performing data collection; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the user equipment, an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples, wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples is based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples.

[0012] In accordance with one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: causing receiving, from a user equipment, of at least: at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and at least one data sample size; causing transmitting, to the user equipment, of a configuration for performing data collection; causing receiving, from the user equipment, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the user equipment, of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples, wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples is based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples.

[0013] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message comprises , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buf fering policy; determine respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; transmit , to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size as sociated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and transmit , to the base station, a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample compri ses , at least , the determined content .

[0014 ] In accordance with one aspect , a method comprising : receiving, with a user equipment from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage compri ses , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; transmitting, to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage compri ses at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample , wherein the at least one sample comprises , at least , the determined content .

[0015] In accordance with one aspect , an apparatus compri sing means for : receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message comprises , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; transmitting, to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage compri ses at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buf fering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier as sociated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample comprises , at least , the determined content .

[0016] In accordance with one aspect , a non-transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage comprises , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of: an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases, at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment, and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report comprising, at least, an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample comprises, at least, the determined content.

[0017] In accordance with one aspect, an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace session activation comprises, at least, a minimization of drive test configuration; transmit, to a user equipment, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message comprises, at least, the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receive, from the user equipment, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of: an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receive, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample ; and transmit , to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[0018] In accordance with one aspect , a method comprising : receiving, with a base station from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace ses sion activation compri ses , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; transmitting, to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage compri ses , at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receiving, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage compri ses at least one of : an indi cation of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receiving, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample ; and transmitting, to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[0019] In accordance with one aspect , an apparatus compri sing means for : receiving, from a management system, a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation compri ses , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; transmitting, to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message compri ses , at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receiving, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze as sociated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receiving, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample ; and transmitting, to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[0020] In accordance with one aspect , a non-transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing receiving, from a management system, of a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation compri ses , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to a user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message compri ses , at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of at least one measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample; and causing transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[0021] According to some aspect s , there i s provided the subj ect matter of the independent claims . Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The foregoing aspects and other features are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings , wherein :

[0023] FIG . 1 is a block diagram of one possible and nonlimiting example system in which the example embodiment s may be practiced;

[0024] FIG . 2 i s a diagram illustrating features as described herein;

[0025] FIG . 3 i s a diagram illustrating features as described herein;

[0026] FIG . 4 i s a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein; [0027] FIG . 5 i s a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0028] FIG . 6 i s a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0029] FIG . 7 i s a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0030] FIG . 8 i s a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0031] FIG . 9 i s a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0032] FIG . 10 is a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0033] FIG . 11 is a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0034] FIG . 12 is a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein;

[0035] FIG . 13 is a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein; and

[0036] FIG . 14 is a flowchart illustrating steps as described herein .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0037] The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined as follows :

3GPP third generation partnership project

5G fifth generation 5GC 5G core network

ACK acknowledgement

Al artificial intelligence

AMF access and mobility management function

BM beam management

CE control element

CIR channel impulse response

CQI channel quality indicator cRAN cloud radio access network

CRI CSI reference signal resource indicator

CSI channel state information cu central unit

DCI downlink control information

DU distributed unit eNB (or eNodeB) evolved Node B (e.g., an LTE base station)

EN-DC E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity en-gNB or En-gNB node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and acting as secondary node in EN-DC

E-UTRA evolved universal terrestrial radio access, i.e., the LTE radio access technology gNB (or gNodeB) base station for 5G/NR, i.e., a node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected via the NG interface to the 5GC

ID identification

IE information element

I/F interface

IP internet protocol

LI layer 1

LCM lifecycle management

LMF location management function

LTE long term evolution

MAC medium access control MaS management system

MDT minimization of drive test

ML machine learning

MME mobility management entity

MSE mean squared error ng or NG new generation ng-eNB or NG-eNB new generation eNB

NN neural network

NR new radio

N/W or NW network

OAM operations, administration, and management

0-RAN open radio access network

OTT over the top

PBCH physical broadcast channel

PDCP packet data convergence protocol

PHY physical layer

PRS positioning reference signal

RAN radio access network

RF radio frequency

RLC radio link control

RRC radio resource control

RRH remote radio head

RRM radio resource management

RS reference signal

RSRP reference signal received power

RSRQ reference signal received quality

RU radio unit

Rx receiver

SDAP service data adaptation protocol

SGW serving gateway

SMF session management function

SNR signal-to-noise ratio

SON self-optimizing networks ss synchronization signal

SSBRI SS/PBCH block resource indicator

TCE trace collection entity

TRP total radiated power

Tx transmitter

UE user equipment (e.g., a wireless, typically mobile device)

UDM unified data management

UPF user plane function

VNR virtualized network function

[0038] Turning to FIG. 1, this figure shows a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting example in which the examples may be practiced. A user equipment (UE) 110, radio access network (RAN) node 170, and network element (s) 190 are illustrated. In the example of FIG. 1, the user equipment (UE) 110 is in wireless communication with a wireless network 100. A UE is a wireless device that can access the wireless network 100. The UE 110 includes one or more processors 120, one or more memories 125, and one or more transceivers 130 interconnected through one or more buses 127. Each of the one or more transceivers 130 includes a receiver, Rx, 132 and a transmitter, Tx, 133. The one or more buses 127 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optics or other optical communication equipment, and the like. A "circuit" may include dedicated hardware or hardware in association with software executable thereon. The one or more transceivers 130 are connected to one or more antennas 128. The one or more memories 125 include computer program code 123. The UE 110 includes a module 140, comprising one of or both parts 140-1 and/or 140-2, which may be implemented in a number of ways.

The module 140 may be implemented in hardware as module 140- 1, such as being implemented as part of the one or more processors 120. The module 140-1 may be implemented also as an integrated circuit or through other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, the module 140 may be implemented as module 140-2, which is implemented as computer program code 123 and is executed by the one or more processors 120. For instance, the one or more memories 125 and the computer program code 123 may be configured to, with the one or more processors 120, cause the user equipment 110 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein. The UE 110 communicates with RAN node 170 via a wireless link 111.

[0039] The RAN node 170 in this example is a base station that provides access by wireless devices such as the UE 110 to the wireless network 100. The RAN node 170 may be, for example, a base station for 5G, also called New Radio (NR) . In 5G, the RAN node 170 may be a NG-RAN node, which is defined as either a gNB or a ng-eNB . A gNB is a node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected via the NG interface to a 5GC (such as, for example, the network element (s) 190) . The ng-eNB is a node providing E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected via the NG interface to the 5GC. The NG-RAN node may include multiple gNBs, which may also include a central unit (CU) (gNB-CU) 196 and distributed unit(s) (DUs) (gNB-DUs) , of which DU 195 is shown. Note that the DU may include or be coupled to and control a radio unit (RU) . The gNB-CU is a logical node hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP protocols of the gNB or RRC and PDCP protocols of the en-gNB that controls the operation of one or more gNB- DUs. The gNB-CU terminates the Fl interface connected with the gNB-DU. The Fl interface is illustrated as reference 198, although reference 198 also illustrates a link between remote elements of the RAN node 170 and centralized elements of the RAN node 170, such as between the gNB-CU 196 and the gNB-DU 195. The gNB-DU is a logical node hosting RLC, MAC and PHY layers of the gNB or en-gNB, and its operation is partly controlled by gNB-CU. One gNB-CU supports one or multiple cells. One cell is supported by only one gNB-DU. The gNB-DU terminates the Fl interface 198 connected with the gNB-CU. Note that the DU 195 is considered to include the transceiver 160, e.g., as part of a RU, but some examples of this may have the transceiver 160 as part of a separate RU, e.g., under control of and connected to the DU 195. The RAN node 170 may also be an eNB (evolved NodeB) base station, for LTE (long term evolution) , or any other suitable base station, access point, access node, or node.

[0040] The RAN node 170 includes one or more processors 152, one or more memories 155, one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s) ) 161, and one or more transceivers 160 interconnected through one or more buses 157. Each of the one or more transceivers 160 includes a receiver, Rx, 162 and a transmitter, Tx, 163. The one or more transceivers 160 are connected to one or more antennas 158. The one or more memories 155 include computer program code 153. The CU 196 may include the processor (s) 152, memories 155, and network interfaces 161. Note that the DU 195 may also contain its own memory/memories and processor (s) , and/or other hardware, but these are not shown.

[0041] The RAN node 170 includes a module 150, comprising one of or both parts 150-1 and/or 150-2, which may be implemented in a number of ways. The module 150 may be implemented in hardware as module 150-1, such as being implemented as part of the one or more processors 152. The module 150-1 may be implemented also as an integrated circuit or through other hardware such as a programmable gate array . In another example, the module 150 may be implemented as module 150-2 , which is implemented as computer program code 153 and is executed by the one or more processors 152 . For instance, the one or more memories 155 and the computer program code 153 are configured to, with the one or more processors 152 , cause the RAN node 170 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein . Note that the functionality of the module 150 may be di stributed, such as being distributed between the DU 195 and the CU 196 , or be implemented solely in the DU 195 .

[0042 ] The one or more network interfaces 161 communicate over a network such as via the links 176 and 131 . Two or more gNBs 170 may communicate using, e . g . , link 176 . The link 176 may be wired or wireless or both and may implement , for example, an Xn interface for 5G, an X2 interface for LTE, or other suitable interface for other standards .

[0043] The one or more buses 157 may be addres s , data, or control buses , and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit , fiber optics or other optical communication equipment , wireles s channels , and the like . For example, the one or more transceivers 160 may be implemented as a remote radio head (RRH) 195 for LTE or a distributed unit (DU) 195 for gNB implementation for 5G, with the other elements of the RAN node 170 possibly being physically in a dif ferent location from the RRH/DU, and the one or more buses 157 could be implemented in part as , for example , fiber optic cable or other suitable network connection to connect the other elements (e . g . , a central unit (CU) , gNB-CU) of the RAN node 170 to the RRH/DU 195 . Reference 198 also indicates those suitable network link ( s ) . [0044] It is noted that description herein indicates that "cells" perform functions, but it should be clear that equipment which forms the cell will perform the functions. The cell makes up part of a base station. That is, there can be multiple cells per base station. For example, there could be three cells for a single carrier frequency and associated bandwidth, each cell covering one-third of a 360 degree area so that the single base station' s coverage area covers an approximate oval or circle. Furthermore, each cell can correspond to a single carrier and a base station may use multiple carriers. So if there are three 120 degree cells per carrier and two carriers, then the base station has a total of 6 cells.

[0045] The wireless network 100 may include a network element or elements 190 that may include core network functionality, and which provides connectivity via a link or links 181 with a further network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communications network (e.g., the Internet) . Such core network functionality for 5G may include access and mobility management function (s) (AMF(s) ) and/or user plane functions (UPF(s) ) and/or session management function (s) (SMF(s) ) . Such core network functionality for LTE may include MME (Mobility Management Entity) /SGW (Serving Gateway) functionality. These are merely illustrative functions that may be supported by the network element (s) 190, and note that both 5G and LTE functions might be supported. The RAN node 170 is coupled via a link 131 to a network element 190. The link 131 may be implemented as, e.g., an NG interface for 5G, or an SI interface for LTE, or other suitable interface for other standards. The network element 190 includes one or more processors 175, one or more memories 171, and one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s) ) 180, interconnected through one or more buses 185. The one or more memories 171 include computer program code 173. The one or more memories 171 and the computer program code 173 are configured to, with the one or more processors 175, cause the network element 190 to perform one or more operations.

[0046] The wireless network 100 may implement network virtualization, which is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization is categorized as either external, combining many networks, or parts of networks, into a virtual unit, or internal, providing network-like functionality to software containers on a single system. For example, a network may be deployed in a tele cloud, with virtualized network functions (VNF) running on, for example, data center servers. For example, network core functions and/or radio access network(s) (e.g. CloudRAN, O-RAN, edge cloud) may be virtualized. Note that the virtualized entities that result from the network virtualization are still implemented, at some level, using hardware such as processors 152 or 175 and memories 155 and 171, and also such virtualized entities create technical effects.

[0047] It may also be noted that operations of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be carried out by a plurality of cooperating devices (e.g. cRAN) .

[0048] The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be means for performing storage functions. The processors 120, 152, and 175 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The processors 120, 152, and 175 may be means for performing functions, such as controlling the UE 110, RAN node 170, and other functions as described herein.

[0049] In general, the various example embodiments of the user equipment 110 can include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones such as smart phones, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs) having wireless communication capabilities, portable computers having wireless communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital cameras having wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices having wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback appliances having wireless communication capabilities, Internet appliances permitting wireless Internet access and browsing, tablets with wireless communication capabilities, as well as portable units or terminals that incorporate combinations of such functions.

[0050] Having thus introduced one suitable but non-limiting technical context for the practice of the example embodiments of the present disclosure, example embodiments will now be described with greater specificity.

[0051] Features as described herein may generally relate to data collection. Collected data may be used for the offline training of a UE-side model (i.e., models for which inference is performed on the UE) , a NW-sided model, the UE-part of a two-sided model, and/or the NW-part of a two-sided model. The use of collected data for training of UE-sided models is an ongoing topic in 3GPP RAN2. The agreed way forward for the study item includes "[considering] the use of existing frameworks as starting points to be considered for data collection." Examples of models include artificial intelligence (Al) and/or machine learning (ML) models.

[0052] For example, AI/ML model (s) may be located with each of a UE and a base station (e.g. split between multiple nodes, or a separate model at each node) ; in other words, there may be a UE-part of a two-sided model and a NW-part of a two-sided model. Alternatively, an AI/ML model may be located with one of a UE or a base station; in other words, there may be a UE- sided model or a NW-sided model.

[0053] In the present disclosure, the term "model" may refer to any of: a UE-sided model, a UE-part of a two-sided model, a NW-sided model, or a NW-part of a two-sided model. In the present description, the terms "model", "Al model", and "ML model" may be interchanged with each other; where an example embodiment is described with reference to one type of model, another type of model may be substituted.

[0054] An example of an AI/ML model is a neural network. A neural network (NN) is a computation graph consisting of two or more layers of computation. Each layer may consist of one or more units, where each unit may perform an elementary computation. A unit may be connected to one or more other units, and the connection may have a weight associated with it. The weight may be used for scaling the signal passing through the associated connection. Weights may be learnable parameters, i.e., values which can be learned from training data. There may be other learnable parameters, such as those of batch-normalization layers. [0055] Two of the most widely used architectures for neural networks are feed-forward and recurrent architectures. Feedforward neural networks do not comprise a feedback loop; each layer takes input from one or more of the previous layers and provides output, which is used as the input for one or more of the subsequent layers. Units within a layer take input from unit (s) in one or more preceding layers, and provide output to unit(s) of one or more following layers.

[0056] Initial layers, i.e. layers close to the input data, extract semantically low-level features from received data, and intermediate and final layers extract more high-level features. After the feature extraction layers there may be one or more layers performing a certain task, such as classification, semantic segmentation, object detection, denoising, style transfer, super-resolution, etc. In recurrent neural networks, there is a feedback loop, so that the network becomes stateful, i.e., it is able to memorize or retain information or a state.

[0057] Neural networks may be utilized in an ever increasing number of applications for many different types of device, such as mobile phones, as described above. Examples of applications may include image and video analysis and processing, social media data analysis, device usage data analysis, etc.

[0058] Neural networks, and other machine learning tools, may be able to learn properties from input data, either in a supervised way or in an unsupervised way. Such learning may be the result of a training algorithm, or of a meta-level neural network providing a training signal.

[0059] A training algorithm may consist of changing some properties of the neural network so that the output of the neural network is as close as possible to a desired output. Training may comprise changing properties of the neural network so as to minimize or decrease the output's error, also referred to as the loss. Examples of losses include mean squared error (MSE) , cross-entropy, etc. In recent deep learning techniques, training is an iterative process, where, at each iteration, the algorithm modifies the weights of the neural network to make a gradual improvement of the network's output, i.e., to gradually decrease the loss.

[0060] Training a neural network comprises an optimization process, but the final goal of machine learning is different from the typical goal of optimization. In optimization, the goal is to minimize loss. In machine learning generally, in addition to the goal of optimization, the goal is to make the model learn the properties of the data distribution from a limited training dataset. In other words, the training process is additionally used to ensure that the neural network learns to use a limited training dataset in order to learn to generalize to previously unseen data, i.e., data which was not used for training the model. This additional goal is usually referred to as generalization. In practice, data may be split into at least two sets, the training set and the validation set. The training set may be used for training the network, i.e., for modification of its learnable parameters in order to minimize the loss. The validation set may be used for checking the performance of the neural network with data which was not used to minimize the loss (i.e. which was not part of the training set) , where the performance of the neural network with the validation set may be an indication of the final performance of the model. The errors on the training set and on the validation set may be monitored during the training process to understand if the neural network is learning at all and if the neural network is learning to generalize. In the case that the network is learning at all, the training set error should decrease. If the network is not learning, the model may be in the regime of underf itting . In the case that the network is learning to generalize, validation set error should decrease and not be much higher than the training set error. If the training set error is low, but the validation set error is much higher than the training set error, or the validation set error does not decrease, or it even increases, the model may be in the regime of overfitting. Overfitting may mean that the model has memorized the training set's properties and performs well only on that set, but performs poorly on a set not used for tuning its parameters. In other words, the model has not learned to generalize.

[0061] A technical effect of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be to enhance the existing RAN-centric frameworks (e.g., minimization of drive test (MDT) , LI, L3 measurements) to support buffering of RRM-measurements in a buffer (e.g. application-layer buffer, enhanced version of a legacy RRC buffer, etc.) , and transmission of this data based on instructions provided by the NW (other than the legacy predefined timers) .

[0062] In RAN2#121, the following agreement was made:

"...Proposal 1 RAN 2 to simultaneously focus on studying data collection solutions for both NW- and UE-sided AIML models, including assistance signalling and (dataset) reporting from the concerning entity.

Proposal 2 Study RAN2 implications of data collection for all concerning LCM purpose, e.g. , model training/monitoring/selection/update/inference/etc.

Proposal 3 RAN2 to separately analyse the data collection requirements and solutions for the different LCM purposes . FFS i f general f rameworks / solutions could be adopted .

Proposal 4 Wait for RANI requirements before discussing specific data collection solutions for use cases and for the related ( LCM) procedures . In the meantime, RAN2 can summarize the implementation of exi sting frameworks while focusing on di f ferent performance metrics .

Proposal 5 When summari zing the di fferent data collection frameworks , RAN2 can start by considering the following metrics : a) the content of the data, b ) the data si ze , c ) latency and periodicity, d) signalling, entities involved, and configuration aspects . FFS on how to handle security/privacy .

Proposal 6 Consider the following existing frameworks as starting points to be considered for data collection : SON & MDT, UE assistance information, RRM measurement reports , CSI reporting framework, LPP Provide location information . FFS whether other frameworks should be discussed.

Proposal 7 Upon receiving specific (RANI) requirements , RAN2 to decide whether the existing frameworks can be reused/ extended, or whether a new framework is required.

Proposal 8 For data collection, RAN2 will simply keep progressing and will inform of concerning agreements to RANI when necessary .

P1-P8 are loosely endorsed with the understanding that we can also go beyond, e . g . analyse other methods..."

[0063] According to latest RAN2#122 agreements : "...Proposal 5a : For the data generation entity and termination entity deployed at different entities , RAN2 assumes :

For CS I enhancement and beam management use cases :

For model training, training data can be generated by UE/gNB and terminated at gNB/OAM/OTT server .

For NW-sided model inference , input data can be generated by UE and terminated at gNB .

For UE-side model inference, input data/assistance information can be generated by gNB and terminated at UE .

For model monitoring at NW side , performance metrics can be generated by UE and terminated at gNB .

For model monitoring at UE side , performance metrics can be generated by gNB and terminated at the UE .

For positioning enhancement use case :

For model training, training data can be generated by UE/gNB and terminated at LMF/OTT server .

For NW-sided model inference , input data can be generated by UE/gNB and terminated at LMF .

For UE-side model inference, input data/assistance information can be generated by LMF/gNB and terminated at the UE . For model monitoring at NW side, performance metrics can be generated by UE/gNB and terminated at LMF.

For model monitoring at UE side, performance metrics can be generated by gNB/LMF and terminated at UE.

P5b: LS to RANI to confirm the WA (in P5a) on the generation entity and termination entity of the identified data content and ask for supplement, if any.

P6a: RAN2 assumes that the analysis/selection of the data collection frameworks should focus on the RRC_CONNECTED state (for both data generation and reporting) . Analysis and potential enhancement on the non-connected state can be revisited when needed..."

[0064] During the last RAN2-123 meeting, it was considered desirable that collected data also be available for use by the network, for example for AI/ML model training. Thus, it may be desirable to have a solution that is suitable for training UE-sided models, NW-sided models, and/or two-sided models (e.g. NW-part of a two-sided model, UE-part of a two-sided model) .

[0065] In an example embodiment, a network-controlled data collection approach may be used, in which the network may be aware of the ongoing data collection process for collecting data for UE-sided models, NW-sided models, and/or two-sided models. A technical effect of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be to enable the network to store the collected data even if the eventual target of the data collection is external to the network. [0066] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be presented in the context of the minimization of drive test (MDT) framework, since this framework has collected the most attention among the frameworks currently being studied in RAN2. However, this is not limiting; example embodiments of the present disclosure may be applicable to other frameworks as well.

[0067] The purpose of MDT is to use in-field UEs (e.g. fielded UEs, live or deployed UEs, etc. ) to perform the function of a drive test by reporting signal measurements, such as reference symbol received power (RSRP) and reference symbol received quality (RSRQ) , on nearby gNBs. The collected data is used to optimize network configurations and increase reliability. MDT is initiated in operations, administration, and management (0AM) , which triggers radio access network (RAN) -based measurements via the 5G core network. The measurement configuration is propagated from 0AM to the access and mobility function (AMF) , which configures a gNB to provide a UE with a measurement configuration. The UE transmits measurement reports to the gNB, and the gNB forwards those measurements to a trace collection entity (TOE) with which it has been configured.

[0068] Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrated is a call flow for signaling-based immediate MDT trace session activation toward a gNB and a UE (see, e.g., Figure 4.1.2.17.3.1 from TS32.422 (vl7.10.0) , Example of MDT activation in 5GC and NG- RAN after UE attachment) . Note that the configuration procedure essentially begins with the propagation of a trace session activation, or MDT configuration, from the management system (MaS) to the unified data management (UDM) , from the UDM to the AMF, and the AMF to the gNB. From that point, MDT simply reuses the measurement configuration and collection procedures defined for radio resource control (RRC) in

TS38.331.

[0069] At 205, the UE may access the network by an attach procedure. At 210, the MaS may transmit, to the UDM, a trace session activation message, which may include the MDT configuration. At 215, the UDM may store the trace control and configuration. At 220, the UDM may transmit, to the AMF, an insert subscriber data message, which may include the MDT configuration. At 225, the AMF may store the trace control and configuration parameters. At 230, the AMF may transmit, to the gNB, a trace start message, which may include the MDT configuration. At 235, the gNB may check the MDT criteria. At 240, the gNB may store the trace control and configuration parameters. At 245, the gNB may start a trace recording session. At 250, the gNB may transmit, to the UE, a RRC connection reconfiguration message, which may include the MDT configuration. At 255, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message. At 260, the UE my check the MDT criteria, for example only in case of logged MDT.

[0070] Part of the MDT configuration is the IP address of the TCE, which is used by the gNB to forward measurements collected from the UE . An example of the measurement transmission process is depicted in FIG. 3 (see, e.g., Figure 6.4.1 from TS 32.422 (vl7.10.0) ) . More details about MDT can be found in TS37.320 and TS32.422.

[0071] At 305, MDT configuration may be performed. At 310, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, an MDT report. At 315, the gNB may save the MDT measurements. At 320, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, an MDT report. At 325, the gNB may save the MDT measurements. At 330, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, an MDT report . At 335, the gNB may save the MDT measurements. At 340, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, an MDT report. At 345, in one alternative, at 350, the gNB may transmit, to the management system, a sending trace record message. At 355, the management system may transmit, to the TCE, a sending trace record message. At 360, in another alternative, at 365, the gNB may transmit, to the TCE, a sending trace record message.

[0072] It may be noted that legacy immediate MDT (defined in TS32.422 and TS37.320) is being considered by the 3GPP RAN2 working group. Immediate MDT is currently used to collect physical layer measurement data from UEs for the purpose of network optimization, but it only supports communication with the gNB. The problem with legacy immediate MDT is that it does not support buffering, logging, and transmission of measurements without any time constrains.

[0073] It may be noted that, in the existing RRC specification defined in TS38.331, it is allowed to store the RRM-related measurements for a certain amount of time. However, it is not possible to store the measurements in a buffer and transmit them based on instructions provided by the NW (other than a pre-defined timer) .

[0074] It may be noted that, in [Postl23] [059] [AIML] Data Collection, the idea of logging measurements has been touched upon in the e-mail discussion. However, no details were given as per how the procedure of buffering the measurements in the UE have been given. Also, no details related to the procedures/ signaling needed for configuring the UE to empty its buffer have been provided.

[0075] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may relate to procedures/ signaling for configuring the UE to empty its buffer. [0076] As stated above, different aspects of data collection (specifically for training) are currently a major focus in the 3GPP forums. The immediate challenge, however, is the amount/volume of the collected data, which might be very high; therefore, it raises challenges in (over-the-air ) transmission. Furthermore, if the data is collected and transmitted in smaller volumes (e.g. multiple subsets) , it may create an extra dimension of overhead for the NW on configuring, coordination, and scheduling of several UE in different phases of the data collection.

[0077] Another major issue that arises is that the collected data may be expected to be useful for different purposes. For instance, the NW may need to schedule the transmission of data that is useful for training NW-sided model or the NW-part of two-sided models, and might require the UE to buffer/log the data that is not useful for the NW.

[0078] Also, the collected data, which may ultimately be utilized in UE-sided, NW-sided, and/or UE-part of two-sided models, might contain duplicated or futile samples for the other entity, which may be responsible for the storage or the training of the model; therefore, a considerable amount of air interface resources (either in the user plane or the control plane) may be wasted on data samples that may not be effectively utilized.

[0079] A sample may be a set of information needed to train a model. For example a sample may include multiple measurements and/or multiple types of measurements. A UE may be aware of what information is needed to train a model. For UE-sided models, the UE may know what samples are needed for training the model for one or more use cases. For other type of models (e.g. NW-sided or 2-sided) , the UE may be provided with a configuration defining what samples are needed to train the model (s) for one or more use cases.

[0080] A technical effect of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be to address one or more of the aforementioned issues.

[0081] In an example embodiment, a new MDT-based data logging scheme in RRC_CONNECTED mode may be used, which may consist of several novel signaling and information elements.

[0082] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may relate to the problem of configuration and coordination, by the NW, of the data collection for UE-sided, NW-sided, and two-sided models.

[0083] In Rel 18, the application use cases that are being considered are channel state information (CSI) feedback, beam management (BM) , and positioning enhancements. A use case may be considered an ML feature. Depending on the use-case, the collected data/metadata needed for building the models may have different fields. For instance, in the case of the CSI compression use-case, based also on the RANI evaluations presented in 3GPP, the inputs may consist of ground-truth CSI (e.g. channel eigenvectors) and compressed CSI. For the BM use case, examples of the content of the data may be expected to be at least Ll-RSRP and Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) . For the positioning use case, the content of the data may be expected to consist of at least channel impulse response (CIR) and total radiated power (TRP) information. Additional auxiliary information coming from internal measurements conducted by the NW may not be precluded. Similarly, measurements that are made by the UE (e.g., sensor information, temperature, Doppler, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , etc. ) may also be included in the list of possible metadata. [0084] The collection of aforementioned measurements might occur in multiple episodes and/or throughout a wide time frame. It is assumed that the NW might not necessarily have knowledge about, and/or access to, the collected measurements themselves; however, through some capability information from the UE side, which may for instance be set up during the RRC configuration, the NW may gain sufficient knowledge of the UE' s data collection capabilities, and therefore may optimally configure the UE for this task, which may have the technical effect of resulting in a lower over-the-air data transmission and lower synchronization and configuration overhead on the NW side. It may be noted that while the NW may not have access to the raw measurements collected by the UE directly, the UE may provide, to the NW, metadata information or description of the collected measurements.

[0085] In an example embodiment, the UE, through the RRC UE Capability message, may share, with the NW, its AI/ML data buffering capability, and also its data sample sizes per configuration (e.g., data collection campaign and/or session) , where the data buffering capability is greater than or equal to the data sample size. In other, words, the UE may be able to buffer data from more than one data collection session. Possible examples of the collected data, for example to fill the data sample size, may be presented in accordance with different use cases in Release 18 focused on AI/ML studies.

[0086] In an example embodiment, the UE may have a single buffer for holding the samples and/or collected measurements. Alternatively, the UE may have multiple buffers, for example a buffer for each use case for which the UE is configured to make measurements. Accordingly, the UE may indicate a data buffering capability for each buffer and/or for each use case. [0087] In an example embodiment, the NW, upon receiving this information, may know/determine the number of samples that may be collected by a specific UE . In other words, the NW may determine the number of parts/campaigns/sessions into which the UE may split the data collection task. The NW may set up the counter to keep track of the number of the data collection campaigns (sessions) , where for any given time, the counter may be greater than or equal to zero, and the counter may be less than or equal to a ratio of the data buffering capability to the data sample size. With this set up, the NW may have full knowledge of the UE's buffering status, and whenever it receives an uplink indication of a filled buffer (i.e., collected data samples) , the counter may be changed accordingly. When the counter reaches the maximum value, i.e., a ratio of the data buffering capability to the data sample size, the NW may know/determine that the whole data collection campaign for that specific UE is concluded.

[0088] In an example embodiment, the NW may also know/determine how much of the collected data has been received. Therefore, if the amount of received data matches with the data buffering sessions counter, all the configured data may have been collected and transmitted.

[0089] In an example embodiment, the buf fered/logged UE data, or some portion of it, may not be transmitted to the NW in time (e.g., due to the NW congestion, etc. ) . Therefore, in order to collect new data samples, the buffered data may be overwritten/discarded, (i.e., buffer may be emptied) . In an example embodiment, the UE may share the metadata of the buffered data (without necessarily disclosing the content itself) with the NW, which may help the NW to prioritize specific portions of the buffered data to be transmitted within a lower overhead yet higher priority, while the rest may be discarded.

[0090] Referring now to FIG. 4, illustrated is a call diagram for a data collection scheme according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure (counter mechanism) . At 410, the UE may exchange/transmit its capability to the gNB (e.g. via the RRC) . At 420, the UE' s AI/ML data buffering capability/capacity, and its data sample sizes for each specific use case, may be exposed/transmitted to the gNB. Alternatively, the UE may simply expose/transmit a generic sampling size for all use cases. It may be noted that 410 and 420 may be separate messages, or part of the same message.

[0091] For example, in the case of a CSI compression use case, which may be enabled by a two-sided model, the UE may need to indicate the size of the ground-truth CSI (e.g. channel eigenvectors) and compressed CSI that it can collect. This may be, for example, the size of one sample. Similarly, for the BM use case, the UE may need to indicate at least the size of the Ll-RSRP and Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) that it collects. For the positioning use case, the UE may be expected to report the size of the CIR and TRP information that it collects (i.e., the size of 1 sample consisting of such information) . The UE may also need to provide information on the size of additional information that it collects per sample.

[0092] At 430, for data collected for different use-cases, the gNB may initiate the counter for the UE . For example, the counter may start at zero, and its value may be increased depending on the information received from the UE . Each counter may be configured to reflect how much data has been collected by the UE, relative to the buffer, for an associated use case. [0093] At 440, the gNB may configure the UE for the data collection task. For example, this may be done by adding an information element in the downlink control information (DCI) , MAC CE, or RRC Reconfiguration message.

[0094] At 450, the UE, upon receiving the configuration, may start the data collection campaign/task .

[0095] At 460, the UE may indicate to the gNB when each data sample has been collected. This indication may be transmitted via RRC signaling, MAC signaling, or DCI signaling. For example, this may be done by appending an information element in the last measurement report (either over RRC or MAC messages) that is sent by the UE to the NW. Alternatively, this may be done by a dedicated message sent from the UE to the NW. For example, this may be a MAC-layer message. The indication may be periodic (e.g., for each data sample or every n samples collected) , aperiodic, or semi -persistent (e.g., event-based after observing an event by the UE, it may start to periodically indicate/report ) .

[0096] In an example embodiment, the UE may use different encoding for different use cases. For example, if the UE collects nothing, it may send 00 in the corresponding information element to the NW. If the UE collects a sample for a CSI use case, the UE may send 01. If the UE collects a sample for a BM use case, it may send 10. If the UE collects a sample for a positioning use case, it may send 11.

[0097] At 470, the gNB may update the corresponding counter, i.e., the counter may be incremented by one.

[0098] At 480, the gNB may command the UE to transmit its collected samples to the gNB. The gNB may infer the amount of data received based on one or more different methods. For example, based on the size of the payload and gNB' s knowledge of the UE' s data sample size, the gNB may calculate how many of the samples have been received through the uplink. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may tell the gNB how much data it intends to send; based on this information, but gNB may determine how many samples have been received from the UE (e.g. after the UE has fulfilled its stated intention) . Additionally or alternatively, the gNB may initially have configured the UE for the data collection task, and the configuration may indicate how much data should be transmitted in the uplink. In other words, the NW may schedule any form of transmission from the UE . The NW may configure how often the UE sends each type of data/measurement (e.g. NW may configure UE to send legacy RRM measurement in a similar way as in legacy, and may also configure periodic transmission of the UE-proprietary data on certain intervals) . Based on this information, the gNB may determine how many samples have been received from the UE (e.g. the gNB may be able to determine the rate at which the UE transmits collected samples to the NW, and so how many samples have been received by the gNB at a given time) .

[0099] At 490, the UE may transmit the collected data. If a data transmission command is not given by the gNB, the UE may transfer the collected data to its buffer for the future transmission interval. Note that data transmission may also occur in a periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent/event-based manner (e.g. in response to a determined trigger) . Previously, the collected data may have been stored in a legacy mechanism; RRC is capable of storing a limited amount of data.

[00100] Once the gNB' s counter has reached its maximum value and it has successfully received the whole data, the configured data collection task may be concluded. [00101] Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrated is a call diagram for a data collection scheme according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure (without counter mechanism) . At 510, the UE may exchange/transmit its capability to the gNB (e.g. via the RRC) . At 520, the data sample sizes for each specific use case may be exposed/transmitted to the gNB. Alternatively, the UE may simply expose/transmit a generic sampling size for all use cases. It may be noted that 510 and 520 may be separate messages, or part of the same message.

[00102] At 530, the gNB may configure the UE for the data collection task. For example, this may be done by adding an information element in the DCI, MAC CE or RRC Reconfiguration message .

[00103] At 540, the UE, upon receiving the configuration, may start the data collection campaign.

[00104] At 550, the UE may collect samples and buffer them. When the buffer is getting out of storage (i.e. is running out of free space, or is at or close to capacity) , the UE may notify the NW of the state of the buffer.

[00105] At 560, the gNB may command the UE to transmit its collected data/samples to the gNB.

[00106] At 570, the UE may transmit the collected data/samples. The UE may transmit the data in response to the received command to transmit the data. If the UE does not receive a command to transmit its collected data, the UE may store the collected data in one or more buffers for future transmission and/or deletion.

[00107] In an alternative example embodiment, the UE may transmit the collected data even if a data transmission command is not given by the gNB. For example, this may be the case if the NW pre-configures slots in which the UE may transmit certain types of data (e.g. collected data/ samples ) .

[00108] When comparing the example embodiments illustrated in FIGs. 4 and 5, the NW's knowledge of the UE' s buffer status may not exist; therefore, the NW may rely on the UE' s indication. However, there may be situations where the full buffer indication from the UE may come when the NW cannot schedule a transmission session; therefore, there may be a risk of data loss.

[00109] Occasionally, the collected data samples (e.g., the ground-truth CSI (e.g. channel eigenvectors) and compressed CSI in the CSI use case) on the UE side may not be transmitted, and the UE may store it until the next transmission attempt. Therefore, the allocated AI/ML data collection buffer may be getting full (e.g. at or nearing capacity) , and to acquire new data samples, the previous data samples (or some portion of the stored data) must be discarded/overwritten . The examples of FIGs. 6-7 may occur during the examples of FIGs. 4-5.

[00110] A technical effect of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be to ensure the minimal effect of such data loss.

[00111] Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrated is an example embodiment of the present disclosure that may have the technical effect of reducing data collection overhead. Although some portion of the collected data at the UE side might be proprietary measurements, some of those measurement might also be available at the NW side. Therefore, by identifying the similar/duplicate measurements, the UE may safely discard the duplicate values, and the rest of the data of lower size may be transmitted with a higher priority. An example of this may be uplink beam measurements, which in addition to being performed by the UE, may also be performed at the NW side.

[00112] At 610, the NW may infer if/whether the AI/ML data collection buffer is getting full (i.e. is at or near capacity) . For example, the NW may determine how many samples may be collected for the UE buffer to fill up (e.g. a ratio of the data buffering capability to the data sample size) . As the UE may inform the NW of its buffer capacity and of each time it collects a sample, and the NW may determine how much data has been transmitted by the UE, the NW may be able to determine how much empty buffer is at the UE side.

[00113] At 620, the NW may tell the UE to share the metadata of the collected data (e.g., type of data/measurements , proprietary data, a description of the measurements that does not include the measurements themselves, etc. ) . This step does not necessarily need to occur (i.e. it may be optional) , for example when the NW knows that the UE' s AI/ML data buffer is running out of space, the NW may ask the UE to share the metadata information when configuring the UE for a data collection task. At 630, the UE may share the metadata info with the NW. At 640, the NW may check for similar data clusters, for example if it also records/has access to data fields/types that the UE records, some of which might be nonstandardized and/or proprietary data. At 650, the NW may inform the UE of its common data fields overlapping with the UE logs. Therefore, the UE may safely discard that data from the buffer, for example in order to clear out its storage and reduce the amount of data to be transmitted over-the-air . At 660, the UE may discard/overwrite the common data fields based on the NW's command, as illustrated in the figure. Alternatively, the trigger for discarding/overwriting data may be defined in the configuration set by the NW. [00114] Referring now to FIG. 7, illustrated is an example embodiment of the present disclosure that may have the technical effect of reducing data collection overhead.

[00115] At 710, the UE may directly inform the NW of its buffer status, for example if the NW is not equipped with the counter mechanism. At 720, the NW may tell the UE to share the metadata of the collected data (e.g., type of data/measurements) . This step does not necessarily need to occur (i.e. it may be optional) , for example when the NW knows that the UE' s AI/ML data buffer is running out of space, the NW may ask the UE to share the metadata information when configuring the UE for a data collection task. At 730, the UE may share the metadata info with the NW. At 740, the NW may check for similar data clusters, for example if it also records/has access to data fields/types that the UE records, some of which might be non-standardized and/or proprietary data. At 750, the NW may inform the UE of its common data fields overlapping with the UE logs. Therefore, the UE may safely discard that data from the buffer, for example in order to clear out its storage and reduce the amount of data to be transmitted over-the-air . At 760, the UE may discard/overwrite the common data fields based on the NW' s command, as illustrated in the figure. Alternatively, the trigger for discarding/overwriting data may be defined in the configuration set by the NW.

[00116] Features as described herein may relate to enhancements to MDT. At noted above, the MDT framework is being considered for collecting data for UE-sided models, NW- sided models, and two-sided models. In the context of MDT, a technical effect of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be to enable the buffering and control of the transmitted data which may be available in the UE during different RRC states.

[00117] Referring now to FIG. 8, illustrated is an example of data collection in the MDT framework. At 805, the management system may send the trace session activation message containing the MDT configuration to the gNB. At 810, the gNB may configure the UE with MDT and inform about the measurements it should report. For example, the gNB may transmit, to the UE, a RRC connection reconfiguration message, which may comprise a MDT configuration and/or a data buffering policy. A data buffering policy may include information on how many samples the UE can buffer (i.e. data buffering capability) . Additionally or alternatively, the data buffering policy may include information on how the UE can report the buffered samples (e.g. time/f requency slot in which the different types of data may be reported) .

[00118] Examples of these measurements may depend on the use case that is being considered. In the case of the CSI use case, these may be (but are not limited to) CQI, LI RSRP measurements, etc. In the BM use case, these may be (but are not limited to) set A and set B beam configurations. For the positioning use case, these may be (but are not limited to) SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, PRS, etc. For each use case, the gNB may also instruct the UE which subset of the data it must report within a certain amount of time (e.g. in a similar way to legacy reporting) . As an example, these may be measurements which may be used by the NW for different purposes, such as monitoring, fine-tuning of the NW-side models, etc. For example, in the case of the CSI compression use case, which may be enabled by a two-sided model, the UE may need to indicate the size of the ground-truth CSI (e.g. channel eigenvectors) and compressed CSI that it can collect (this may be the size of one sample) . Similarly, for the BM use case, the UE may need to indicate at least the size of the Ll-RSRP and Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) that it collects. For the positioning use-case, the UE may be expected to report the size of the CIR and TRP information that it collects (i.e., the size of 1 sample consisting of such information) . The configuration given by the gNB may also contain information on the data fields which the UE can simply buffer and transmit at a later moment in time. Examples of such measurements may include proprietary UE measurements, sensor information, etc.

[00119] At 815, the UE may determine the content of each sample for each of the use cases. For example, in addition to the measurements configured by the gNB, for the different use cases the UE may decide to also report proprietary Ll- measurements, SNR, Doppler, temperature information, etc. The UE may determine which measurements to make, and what collected data, from the measurements, to record and/or buffer. The UE may also determine what information to record in addition to the data it is configured to record.

[00120] At 820, the UE may acknowledge the MDT configuration provided by the NW, for example through an RRC reconfiguration complete message, and may inform the NW about the content of each sample for each use case. For example, for the case of beam management, the UE may report that a full sample may consist of Ll-RSRP, Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) , proprietary Ll- measurements, temperature, and SNR. The UE may also report the size of collected data per use case.

[00121] At 825, based on the information received by the UE, the gNB may set up the counter. In an example embodiment, this may be a counter for all use cases, which may account for the UE data collection storage capacity and the data buffer needs for each use case. Based on these parameters, the gNB may know/determine whether the buffer at the UE is full.

[00122] In an alternative example embodiment, the NW may initiate multiple counters, for example one counter per use case for which the UE collects measurements/samples/data .

[00123] For example, each use case (ML feature, e.g., CSI or beam management etc.) may use similar samples to train a model (s) , or different samples. The UE may indicate its supported features during the UE capability exchange. In an example embodiment, the NW may set up a single counter for every sample the UE collects, or a different counter for different use cases.

[00124] In another example embodiment, the UE may have reported a certain buffer size for each of the use cases. In this case, the gNB may maintain separate counters for each of the use cases, and may use the reporting on the collected samples from the UE to keep track of the storage space that is available in the UE . For example, the UE may report buffering capacity for all three use cases. Moreover, the UE may report collecting samples of size 1MB, 10MB, and 50MB for the CSI, BM, and positioning use case. Based on this information, the gNB may know/determine how many samples the UE may collect for each use case before its buffer (s) become full .

[00125] At 830, the UE may send a measurement report based on the configuration provided by the gNB. The report may consist of, at least, the information that is mandatory for the gNB (e.g. legacy LI measurement reports) . Different from legacy, the UE may also collect additional measurements (e.g. proprietary LI measurements, temperature, SNR, Doppler, etc. ) . The UE may report, to the gNB, that it has collected a training sample; however, the UE may not transmit the training sample itself. In an example embodiment, this may be done by including an additional IE in the LI or L3 measurement report (s) , which may be transmitted via L1/L2 or L3 signaling. For example, the UE may use a simple encoding scheme to inform the gNB about the type of sample that was collected, for example: 00 -> CSI-compression sample; 01 -> CSI prediction sample; 10 -> BM sample; 11 -> Positioning sample.

[00126] If the UE collects multiple samples for one reporting/report , the UE may inform the gNB by including a longer sequence. For example, if the IE contains the sequence "0011", it may mean that the UE has collected data for CSI- compression and positioning in its buffer. Since the data fields comprising a complete sample may be reported to the NW at different points in time, the UE may need to also associate a sample ID with the data fields that it reports so that the receiving entity may combine the right fields and form the complete sample.

[00127] At 835, the gNB may collect the data field (s) in the MDT report (s) from the UE, together with the sample ID(s) , and forward them to the management system or TCE . At 840, based on the reporting from the UE, the gNB may update the counter information for the status of the buffer (s) available in the UE . This way, the gNB may know/determine whether there is room in the UE to store more measurements. In an example embodiment, the counter may be updated, based on the reports coming from the UE, on the amount of data it has collected. For instance, if the UE reports to have collected data, the counter may be changed/updated. In this context, the following two options are possible:

[00128] a) the UE may collect more data than it reports (e.g.,

45kb, and reports 9kb) , which may result in an increase of the counter because more data has been collected than what was sent (so, the UE is still buffering) .

[00129] b) the UE may collect less data than it reports (e.g., UE collects and logs/buffers 9kb, and reports 45kB.) , which may result in a decrease of the counter. For example, during a specific time period, the UE may collect a smaller amount of data than it transmits (e.g. data from previous measurements) . The UE may determine how many measurements to make during a time period, and how much data to transmit during the time period.

[00130] At 845, the gNB may schedule the transmission of some of the data fields that are buffered in the UE . In an example embodiment, this may happen when the cell load is low. In this case, the gNB may schedule the transmission of the fields that are relevant for training the UE-sided model (e.g., proprietary LI measurements, temperature, etc. ) . Depending on the UE buffer status information, the gNB may decide to prioritize samples related to particular use cases. As an example, if the UE has collected a lot of data for the BM use case, the gNB may schedule the transmission of those samples to allow room for the UE to collect more data. Examples of messages which may be used by the gNB to provide the configuration information may include DCI, MAC CE, or RRC message .

[00131] At 850, based on the gNB configuration, the UE may forward the measurements, ID(s) of the sample (s) to which the measurements belong to, and/or the buffer status. This may be done/perf ormed using L1/L2 or L3 signaling. At 855, the gNB may collect the data fields in the MDT report from the UE (together with the sample ID(s) ) , and forwards those to the management system or TCE . At 860, the gNB may update its counter according to different situations, i.e., the collected data at the UE side is equal, less, or more than what it reports .

[00132] In the example of FIG. 8, the gNB may forward the collected subsets of the sample, together with the sample ID, to the management system, which may combine the different data fields and build the complete sample. In a different example, the gNB may instead combine the different fields and build the complete sample, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

[00133] At 905, the management system may send the trace session activation message containing the MDT configuration to the gNB. At 910, the gNB may configure the UE with MDT and inform about the measurements it should report. For example, the gNB may transmit, to the UE, a RRC connection reconfiguration message, which may comprise a MDT configuration and/or a data buffering policy.

[00134] Examples of these measurements may depend on the use case that is being considered. In the case of the CSI use case, these may be (but are not limited to) CQI, LI RSRP measurements, etc. In the BM use case, these may be (but are not limited to) set A and set B beam configurations. For the positioning use case, these may be (but are not limited to) SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, PRS, etc. For each use case, the gNB may also instruct the UE which subset of the data it must report within a certain amount of time (e.g. in a similar way to legacy reporting) . As an example, these may be measurements which may be used by the NW for different purposes, such as monitoring, fine-tuning of the NW-side models, etc. For example, in the case of the CSI compression use case, which may be enabled by a two-sided model, the UE may need to indicate the size of the ground-truth CSI (e.g. channel eigenvectors) and compressed CSI that it can collect (this may be the size of one sample) . Similarly, for the BM use case, the UE may need to indicate at least the size of the Ll-RSRP and Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) that it collects. For the positioning use-case, the UE may be expected to report the size of the CIR and TRP information that it collects (i.e., the size of 1 sample consisting of such information) . The configuration given by the gNB may also contain information on the data fields which the UE can simply buffer and transmit at a later moment in time. Examples of such measurements may include proprietary UE measurements, sensor information, etc.

[00135] At 915, the UE may determine the content of each sample for each of the use cases. For example, in addition to the measurements configured by the gNB, for the different use cases the UE may decide to also report proprietary Ll- measurements, SNR, Doppler, temperature information, etc.

[00136] At 920, the UE may acknowledge the MDT configuration provided by the NW, for example through an RRC reconfiguration complete message, and may inform the NW about the content of each sample for each use case. For example, for the case of beam management, the UE may report that a full sample may consist of Ll-RSRP, Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) , proprietary Ll- measurements, temperature, and SNR.

[00137] At 925, based on the information received by the UE, the gNB may set up the counter. In an example embodiment, this may be a counter for all use cases, which may account for the UE data collection storage capacity and the data buffer needs for each use case. Based on these parameters, the gNB may know/determine whether the buffer at the UE is full. In another example embodiment, the UE may have reported a certain buffer size for each of the use cases. In this case, the gNB may maintain separate counters for each of the use cases, and may use the reporting on the collected samples from the UE to keep track of the storage space that is available in the UE . For example, the UE may report buffering capability/capacity for all three use cases. Moreover, the UE may report collecting samples of size 1MB, 10MB, and 50MB for the CSI, BM, and positioning use case. Based on this information, the gNB may know/determine how many samples the UE may collect for each use case before its buffer (s) become full.

[00138] At 930, the UE may send a measurement report based on the configuration provided by the gNB. The report may consist of, at least, the information that is mandatory for the gNB (e.g. legacy LI measurement reports) . Different from legacy, the UE may also collect additional measurements (e.g. proprietary LI measurements, temperature, SNR, Doppler, etc. ) . The UE may report, to the gNB, that it has collected a training sample; however, the UE may not transmit the training sample itself. In an example embodiment, this may be done by including an additional IE in the LI or L3 measurement report (s) , which may be transmitted via L1/L2 or L3 signaling. For example, the UE may use a simple encoding scheme to inform the gNB about the type of sample that was collected, for example: 00 -> CSI-compression sample; 01 -> CSI prediction sample; 10 -> BM sample; 11 -> Positioning sample.

[00139] If the UE collects multiple samples for one reporting/report , the UE may inform the gNB by including a longer sequence. For example, if the IE contains the sequence "0011", it may mean that the UE has collected data for CSI- compression and positioning in its buffer. Since the data fields comprising a complete sample may be reported to the NW at different points in time, the UE may need to also associate a sample ID with the data fields that it reports so that the receiving entity may combine the right fields and form the complete sample. [00140] At 935, the gNB may collect the data fields in the MDT reports from the UE together with the sample ID(s) . Different from the previous example, the gNB may not forward the measurements to the management system or TCE, but instead may buffer them and wait until the reception of the complete sample from the UE .

[00141] At 940, the UE may indicate to the gNB that further samples have been collected. Depending on the configuration provided by the gNB, these samples may consist of data fields complementary to the measurements sent in step 6 (930) , or new measurements. As an example of complementary measurements, in the case of BM, in step 6 (930) the UE may have sent data fields that may be relevant to be used by the NW (e.g., measurements included in legacy LI measurement reporting framework) . In step 8 (940) , the UE may send the remaining data fields of the sample, i.e., information that might be relevant for the UE-sided model, such as proprietary LI measurements, temperature, SNR, etc.

[00142] At 945, the gNB may store the additional measurements received in step 8 (940) and check if a complete sample has been received. In the context of this example, a complete sample may be a data point that has all the entries needed for training a UE and NW-sided model. For instance, in the case of a BM use case described in the earlier steps, it may consist of entries collected in step 7 (935) (i.e., measurements sent through the legacy LI reporting framework) , together with the data fields sent in step 8 (940) (i.e., proprietary LI measurements, temperature, and SNR) , for the same sample ID. The gNB may then collect this complete sample and forward it to the management system or the TCE.

[00143] At 950, the gNB may transmit, to the management system or TCE, a trace record for the complete sample (s) . At 955, the gNB may transmit, to the UE, a configuration for transmission of certain category (ies ) of data. At 960, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, data, sample ID(s) , and/or buffer status information. At 965, the gNB may update the counter. At 970, the gNB may transmit, to the management system or TCE, a trace record for the complete sample (s) .

[00144] Referring now to FIG. 10, illustrated is an example of full buffer handling according to example embodiments of the present disclosure. At 1005, the management system may send the trace session activation message containing the MDT configuration to the gNB. At 1010, the gNB may configure the UE with MDT and inform about the measurements it should report. For example, the gNB may transmit, to the UE, a RRC connection reconfiguration message, which may comprise a MDT configuration and/or a data buffering policy.

[00145] Examples of these measurements may depend on the use case that is being considered. In the case of the CSI use case, these may be (but are not limited to) CQI, LI RSRP measurements, etc. In the BM use case, these may be (but are not limited to) set A and set B beam configurations. For the positioning use case, these may be (but are not limited to) SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, PRS, etc. For each use case, the gNB may also instruct the UE which subset of the data it must report within a certain amount of time (e.g. in a similar way to legacy reporting) . As an example, these may be measurements which may be used by the NW for different purposes, such as monitoring, fine-tuning of the NW-side models, etc. For example, in the case of the CSI compression use case, which may be enabled by a two-sided model, the UE may need to indicate the size of the ground-truth CSI (e.g. channel eigenvectors) and compressed CSI that it can collect (this may be the size of one sample) . Similarly, for the BM use case, the UE may need to indicate at least the size of the Ll-RSRP and Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) that it collects. For the positioning use-case, the UE may be expected to report the size of the CIR and TRP information that it collects (i.e., the size of 1 sample consisting of such information) . The configuration given by the gNB may also contain information on the data fields which the UE can simply buffer and transmit at a later moment in time. Examples of such measurements may include proprietary UE measurements, sensor information, etc.

[00146] At 1015, the UE may determine the content of each sample for each of the use cases. For example, in addition to the measurements configured by the gNB, for the different use cases the UE may decide to also report proprietary Ll- measurements, SNR, Doppler, temperature information, etc.

[00147] At 1020, the UE may acknowledge the MDT configuration provided by the NW, for example through an RRC reconfiguration complete message, and may inform the NW about the content of each sample for each use case. For example, for the case of beam management, the UE may report that a full sample may consist of Ll-RSRP, Beam_ID (CRI/SSBRI) , proprietary Ll- measurements, temperature, and SNR.

[00148] At 1025, based on the information received by the UE, the gNB may set up the counter. In an example embodiment, this may be a counter for all use cases, which may account for the UE data collection storage capacity and the data buffer needs for each use case. Based on these parameters, the gNB may know/determine whether the buffer at the UE is full. In another example embodiment, the UE may have reported a certain buffer size for each of the use cases. In this case, the gNB may maintain separate counters for each of the use cases, and may use the reporting on the collected samples from the UE to keep track of the storage space that is available in the UE . For example, the UE may report buffering capacity for all three use cases. Moreover, the UE may report collecting samples of size 1MB, 10MB, and 50MB for the CSI, BM, and positioning use case. Based on this information, the gNB may know/determine how many samples the UE may collect for each use case before its buffer(s) become full.

[00149] At 1030, the UE may send a measurement report based on the configuration provided by the gNB. The report may consist of, at least, the information that is mandatory for the gNB (e.g. legacy LI measurement reports) . Different from legacy, the UE may also collect additional measurements (e.g. proprietary LI measurements, temperature, SNR, Doppler, etc. ) . The UE may report, to the gNB, that it has collected a training sample; however, the UE may not transmit the training sample itself. In an example embodiment, this may be done by including an additional IE in the LI or L3 measurement report (s) , which may be transmitted via L1/L2 or L3 signaling. For example, the UE may use a simple encoding scheme to inform the gNB about the type of sample that was collected, for example: 00 -> CSI-compression sample; 01 -> CSI prediction sample; 10 -> BM sample; 11 -> Positioning sample.

[00150] If the UE collects multiple samples for one reporting/report , the UE may inform the gNB by including a longer sequence. For example, if the IE contains the sequence "0011", it may mean that the UE has collected data for CSI- compression and positioning in its buffer. Since the data fields comprising a complete sample may be reported to the NW at different points in time, the UE may need to also associate a sample ID with the data fields that it reports so that the receiving entity may combine the right fields and form the complete sample. [00151] At 1035, the gNB may collect the data fields in the MDT reports from the UE together with the sample ID(s) . The gNB may buffer the measurements and waits until the reception of the complete sample from the UE . The gNB may update the counter as appropriate.

[00152] At 1040, the gNB may transmit, to the management system or TCE, a trace record for the complete sample (s) . At 1045, the UE may indicate that it has reached its maximum capacity. In another example embodiment, the gNB may also infer if/whether the UE' s buffer has run out of storage (e.g. without requiring an indication of a full buffer from the UE) . At 1050, the NW may command the UE to either empty its buffer or some part of the logged data, for example where duplicate information may be available to the gNB. This may or may not be similar to the examples of FIGs. 6-7. At 1055, the UE may empty the buffer according to the gNB' s command.

[00153] At 1060, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, an MDT report, which may comprise an indicator of collected samples and/or sample IDs; however, the UE may not transmit the collected samples themselves. At 1065, the gNB may store the received data fields and update the counter. At 1070, the gNB may configure, at the UE, transmission of certain categories of data. At 1075, the UE may transmit, to the gNB, data, sample ID(s) , and/or buffer status information. At 1080, the gNB may update the counter. At 1085, the gNB may transmit, to the management system or TCE a trace record for the complete sample ( s ) .

[00154] A technical effect of example embodiments of the present disclosure may be to alleviate the current data buffer (e.g., RRC buffer status report) size and temporal limitations, which may not be primarily designed with considerations for AI/ML training data collection (both in terms of the amount of data that can be buf fered/logged, as well as the time constrains present for buf fering/ logging the data ) .

[00155] A technical ef fect of example embodiment s of the present disclosure may be to reduce the complexity of configuration and synchronization tasks at the NW side throughout the data collection phases .

[00156] A technical ef fect of example embodiment s of the present di sclosure may be to reduce the potential air interface resource waste when transmitting a large volume of data .

[00157 ] A technical ef fect of example embodiment s of the present di sclosure may be to enable the synchronization and sharing of the metadata information and/or common measurement s that are common between the UE and NW, to reduce the exchange of data/inf ormation over the air interface .

[00158] FIG . 11 illustrates the potential steps of an example method 1100 . The example method 1100 may include : transmitting, to a base station, at least : at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size , 1110 ; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection, 1120 ; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection, 1130 ; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples , 1140 . The example method 1100 may be performed, for example, with a UE .

[00159] FIG . 12 illustrates the potential steps of an example method 1200 . The example method 1200 may include : receiving, from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze , 1210 ; transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection, 1220 ; receiving, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection, 1230 ; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples i s based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples , 1240 . The example method 1200 may be performed, for example, with a base station, an eNB, a gNB, a network element , a network node, etc .

[00160] FIG . 13 illustrates the potential steps of an example method 1300 . The example method 1300 may include : receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message comprises , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy, 1310 ; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration, 1320 ; transmitting, to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buf fering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases , 1330 ; and transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample comprises , at least , the determined content, 1340. The example method 1300 may be performed, for example, with a UE .

[00161] FIG. 14 illustrates the potential steps of an example method 1400. The example method 1400 may include: receiving, from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace session activation comprises, at least, a minimization of drive test configuration, 1410; transmitting, to a user equipment, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message comprises, at least, the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy, 1420; receiving, from the user equipment, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message comprises at least one of: an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases, 1430; receiving, from the user equipment, at least one measurement report comprising, at least, an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, 1440; and transmitting, to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report, 1450. The example method 1400 may be performed, for example, with a base station, an eNB, a gNB, a network element, a network node, et .

[00162] In accordance with one example embodiment, an apparatus may comprise: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit, to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size ; receive, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmit , to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00163] The example apparatus may be in a radio resource control connected mode .

[00164 ] Transmitting the at least one sample may compri se the example apparatus being further configured for : receive, from the base station, an indication to transmit the data of the at least one sample, wherein the data may be transmitted based, at least partially, on the received indication to transmit the data .

[00165] Transmitting the at least one sample may compri se the example apparatus being further configured for : determine to transmit the data of the at least one sample based, at least partially, on at least one of : the received configuration for performing data collection, a determination to transmit the data periodically, a determination to transmit the data aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the data, or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the data .

[00166] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , or a data sample size for a determined use case .

[00167 ] The determined use case may compri se one of : a channel state information use case , a beam management use case , or a positioning use case . [00168] The determined use case may comprise the channel state information use case, wherein the data sample size may compri se at least one of : a size o f ground-truth channel state information, a size of compres sed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00169] The determined use case may compri se the beam management use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of : a size of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a si ze of beam identifier information, a si ze of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchronization signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00170] The determined use case may compri se the positioning use case, wherein the data sample si ze may comprise at least one of : a si ze of channel impulse response information, a si ze of total radiated power information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00171] The configuration for performing data collection may be received via one of : downlink control information, a medium access control control element , or a radio resource control reconfiguration message .

[00172 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be transmitted via a measurement report .

[00173] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be transmitted on at least one of : a periodic basi s , an aperiodic basis , or a semi -persistent basis . [00174 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00175] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication that at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00176] The example apparatus may be further configured to : transmit , to the base station, an indication of an amount of data of the one or more samples the apparatus intends to transmit .

[00177 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : buffer at least some data of the one or more samples .

[00178] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the base station, a request for metadata as sociated with the one or more samples .

[00179] The example apparatus may be further configured to : transmit , to the base station, metadata as sociated with the one or more samples ; and receive, from the base station, an indication to discard at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with data stored at the base station .

[00180] The example apparatus may be further configured to : di scard the at least part of the one or more samples .

[00181] The metadata may comprise, at least , a type of the one or more samples .

[00182 ] The configuration for performing data collection may compri se, at least , an indication of an amount of the one or more samples to be transmitted from the apparatus to the base station . [00183] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine one or more measurement s to be performed based, at least partially, on the configuration for performing data collection; determine additional information to be collected along with the one or more determined measurements , wherein the additional information may comprise at least one of : at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noise ratio , doppler information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the one or more measurement s are performed; perform the one or more determined measurement s ; and collect the additional information, wherein the one or more samples may comprise , at least , the one or more determined measurement s and the additional information .

[00184 ] In accordance with one aspect , an example method may be provided compri sing : transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to , at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00185] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode .

[00186] The transmitting of the at least one sample may compri se : receiving, from the base station, an indication to transmit the data of the at least one sample, wherein the data may be transmitted based, at least partially, on the received indication to transmit the data . [00187 ] The transmitting of the at least one sample may compri se : determining to transmit the data of the at least one sample based, at least partially, on at least one of : the received configuration for performing data collection, a determination to transmit the data periodically, a determination to transmit the data aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the data, or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the data .

[00188] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , or a data sample size for a determined use case .

[00189] The determined use case may compri se one of : a channel state information use case , a beam management use case , or a positioning use case .

[00190] The determined use case may comprise the channel state information use case, wherein the data sample size may compri se at least one of : a size o f ground-truth channel state information, a size of compres sed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00191] The determined use case may compri se the beam management use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of : a size of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a si ze of beam identifier information, a si ze of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchronization signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00192 ] The determined use case may compri se the positioning use case, wherein the data sample si ze may comprise at least one of : a si ze of channel impulse response information, a si ze of total radiated power information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00193] The configuration for performing data collection may be received via one of : downlink control information, a medium access control control element , or a radio resource control reconfiguration message .

[00194 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be transmitted via a measurement report .

[00195] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be transmitted on at least one of : a periodic basi s , an aperiodic basis , or a semi -persistent basis .

[00196] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00197 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication that at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00198] The example method may further comprise : transmitting, to the base station, an indication of an amount of data of the one or more samples the user equipment intends to transmit .

[00199] The example method may further comprise : buffering at least some data of the one or more samples .

[00200] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the base station, a request for metadata associated with the one or more samples . [00201] The example method may further comprise : transmitting, to the base station, metadata associated with the one or more samples ; and receiving, from the base station, an indication to di scard at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with data stored at the base station .

[00202 ] The example method may further compri se : discarding the at least part of the one or more samples .

[00203] The metadata may comprise, at least , a type of the one or more samples .

[00204 ] The configuration for performing data collection may compri se, at least , an indication of an amount of the one or more samples to be transmitted from the user equipment to the base station .

[00205] The example method may further comprise : determining one or more measurements to be performed based, at least partially, on the configuration for performing data collection; determining additional information to be collected along with the one or more determined measurements , wherein the additional information may comprise at least one of : at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noise ratio, doppler information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the one or more measurement s are performed; performing the one or more determined measurements ; and collecting the additional information, wherein the one or more samples may comprise , at least , the one or more determined measurement s and the additional information .

[00206] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to a base station, at least : at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment, and at least one data sample size; circuitry configured to perform: receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; circuitry configured to perform: transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the received configuration for performing data collection; and circuitry configured to perform: transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples.

[00207] In accordance with one example embodiment, an apparatus may comprise: processing circuitry; memory circuitry including computer program code, the memory circuitry and the computer program code configured to, with the processing circuitry, enable the apparatus to: transmit, to a base station, at least: at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus, and at least one data sample size; receive, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmit, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmit, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples.

[00208] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" or "means" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) : (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/f irmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation." This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[00209] In accordance with one example embodiment, an apparatus may comprise means for: transmitting, to a base station, at least: at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus, and at least one data sample size; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples.

[00210] The apparatus may be in a radio resource control connected mode.

[00211] The means configured for transmitting the at least one sample may comprise means configured for: receiving, from the base station, an indication to transmit the data of the at least one sample, wherein the data may be transmitted based, at least partially, on the received indication to transmit the data .

[00212 ] The means configured for transmitting the at least one sample may compri se means configured for : determining to transmit the data of the at least one sample based, at least partially, on at least one of : the received configuration for performing data collection, a determination to transmit the data periodically, a determination to transmit the data aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the data, or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the data .

[00213] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , or a data sample size for a determined use case .

[00214 ] The determined use case may compri se one of : a channel state information use case , a beam management use case , or a positioning use case .

[00215] The determined use case may comprise the channel state information use case, wherein the data sample size may compri se at least one of : a size o f ground-truth channel state information, a size of compres sed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00216] The determined use case may compri se the beam management use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of : a size of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a si ze of beam identifier information, a si ze of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchronization signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples . [00217 ] The determined use case may compri se the positioning use case, wherein the data sample si ze may comprise at least one of : a si ze of channel impulse response information, a si ze of total radiated power information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00218] The configuration for performing data collection may be received via one of : downlink control information, a medium access control control element , or a radio resource control reconfiguration message .

[00219] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be transmitted via a measurement report .

[00220] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be transmitted on at least one of : a periodic basi s , an aperiodic basis , or a semi -persistent basis .

[00221] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00222 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication that at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00223] The means may be further configured for : transmitting, to the base station, an indication of an amount of data of the one or more samples the apparatus intends to transmit .

[00224 ] The means may be further configured for : buf fering at least some data of the one or more samples .

[00225] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the base station, a request for metadata associated with the one or more samples . [00226] The means may be further configured for : transmitting, to the base station, metadata as sociated with the one or more samples ; and receiving, from the base station, an indication to discard at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with data stored at the base station .

[00227 ] The means may be further configured for : discarding the at least part of the one or more samples .

[00228] The metadata may comprise, at least , a type of the one or more samples .

[00229] The configuration for performing data collection may compri se, at least , an indication of an amount of the one or more samples to be transmitted from the apparatus to the base station .

[00230] The means may be further configured for : determining one or more measurements to be performed based, at least partially, on the configuration for performing data collection; determining additional information to be collected along with the one or more determined measurements , wherein the additional information may comprise at least one of : at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noise ratio, doppler information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the one or more measurement s are performed; perform the one or more determined measurement s ; and collect the additional information, wherein the one or more samples may comprise , at least , the one or more determined measurement s and the additional information .

[00231] A processor, memory, and/or example algorithms (which may be encoded as instructions , program, or code ) may be provided as example means for providing or causing performance of operation .

[00232 ] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions stored thereon which, when executed with at least one proces sor, cause the at least one processor to : cause transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; cause receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; cause transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to , at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and cause transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00233] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; causing receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; causing transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00234 ] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory program storage device readable by a machine may be provided, tangibly embodying instructions executable by the machine for performing operations , the operations comprising : causing transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size ; causing receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; causing transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00235] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions that , when executed by an apparatus , cause the apparatus to perform at least the following : causing transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; causing receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; causing transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00236] A computer implemented system compri sing : at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the system at least to perform : causing transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; causing receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; causing transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to , at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00237 ] A computer implemented system compri sing : means for causing transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, of at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze; means for causing receiving, from the base station, of a configuration for performing data collection; means for causing transmitting, to the base station, of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and means for causing transmitting, to the base station, of data of at least one of the one or more samples .

[00238] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may compri se : at least one proces sor; and at least one memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to : receive , from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; transmit , to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receive, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples . [00239] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode.

[00240] The example apparatus may be further configured to: receive, from the user equipment, the data.

[00241] The at least one data sample size may comprise at least one of: a generic sampling size, or a data sample size for a determined use case.

[00242] The determined use case may comprise one of: a channel state information use case, a beam management use case, or a positioning use case.

[00243] The determined use case may comprise the channel state information use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of: a size of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples.

[00244] The determined use case may comprise the beam management use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of: a size of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identifier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a size of a synchronization signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples.

[00245] The determined use case may comprise the positioning use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of: a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00246] The configuration for performing data collection may be transmitted via one of : downlink control information, a medium acces s control control element , or a radio resource control reconfiguration message .

[00247 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be received via a measurement report .

[00248] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be received on at least one of : a periodic basis , an aperiodic basis , or a semi -persistent basis .

[00249] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication of a number of samples the user equipment has collected .

[00250] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication that at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00251] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine that the at least one buffer at the user equipment is at or near capacity based, at least partially, on the indication that the at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00252 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on an amount of data received from the user equipment , the at least one data buffering capability, and the at least one data sample si ze . [00253] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on the configuration for performing data collection .

[00254 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : transmit , to the user equipment , a request for metadata as sociated with the one or more samples .

[00255] The request for metadata may be transmitted in response to a determination that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity .

[00256] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the user equipment , metadata as sociated with the one or more samples ; determine based, at least partially, on the received metadata, at least part of the one or more samples that overlap with data stored at the apparatus ; and transmit , to the user equipment , an indication to discard the at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with the data stored at the apparatus .

[00257 ] The metadata may comprise, at least , a type of the one or more samples .

[00258] The example apparatus may be further configured to : initiate at least one counter associated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00259] The at least one counter may be initiated with a value of zero .

[00260] The at least one counter may be configured to indicate at least one of : a number of samples the user equipment has collected, or a number of samples the user equipment has collected for a respective use case of one or more use cases indicated with the configuration for performing data collection .

[00261] The example apparatus may be further configured to : update the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00262 ] The indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be transmitted in response to at least one of : a determination that the at least one counter has reached a maximum value , or a value of the at least one counter .

[00263] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine whether all data of the one or more samples has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on a comparison of the at least one counter with an amount of data received from the user equipment .

[00264 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine a number of the one or more samples that has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on a size of a payload received from the user equipment and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00265] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the user equipment , an indication of an amount of data of the one or more samples the user equipment intends to transmit ; and determine an amount of the one or more samples that has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on the indicated amount .

[00266] The configuration for performing data collection may compri se, at least , an indication of an amount of the one or more samples to be transmitted from the user equipment to the apparatus . [00267] In accordance with one aspect, an example method may be provided comprising: receiving, with a base station from a user equipment, at least: at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and at least one data sample size; transmitting, to the user equipment, a configuration for performing data collection; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least, the configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the user equipment, an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples, wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples.

[00268] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode.

[00269] The example method may further comprise: receiving, from the user equipment, the data.

[00270] The at least one data sample size may comprise at least one of: a generic sampling size, or a data sample size for a determined use case.

[00271] The determined use case may comprise one of: a channel state information use case, a beam management use case, or a positioning use case.

[00272] The determined use case may comprise the channel state information use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of: a size of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples. [00273] The determined use case may compri se the beam management use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of : a size of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a si ze of beam identifier information, a si ze of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchronization signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00274 ] The determined use case may compri se the positioning use case, wherein the data sample si ze may comprise at least one of : a si ze of channel impulse response information, a si ze of total radiated power information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00275] The configuration for performing data collection may be transmitted via one of : downlink control information, a medium acces s control control element , or a radio resource control reconfiguration message .

[00276] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be received via a measurement report .

[00277 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be received on at least one of : a periodic basis , an aperiodic basis , or a semi -persistent basis .

[00278] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication of a number of samples the user equipment has collected .

[00279] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication that at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity . [00280] The example method may further comprise : determining that the at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on the indication that the at least one buffer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00281] The example method may further comprise : determining that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on an amount of data received from the user equipment , the at least one data buffering capability, and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00282 ] The example method may further comprise : determining that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on the configuration for performing data collection .

[00283] The example method may further comprise : transmitting, to the user equipment , a request for metadata as sociated with the one or more samples .

[00284 ] The request for metadata may be transmitted in response to a determination that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity .

[00285] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the user equipment , metadata as sociated with the one or more samples ; determining based, at least partially, on the received metadata, at least part of the one or more samples that overlap with data stored at the base station; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to discard the at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with the data stored at the base station .

[00286] The metadata may comprise, at least , a type of the one or more samples . [00287 ] The example method may further compri se : initiating at least one counter as sociated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00288] The at least one counter may be initiated with a value of zero .

[00289] The at least one counter may be configured to indicate at least one of : a number of samples the user equipment has collected, or a number of samples the user equipment has collected for a respective use case of one or more use cases indicated with the configuration for performing data collection .

[00290] The example method may further comprise : updating the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00291] The indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be transmitted in response to at least one of : a determination that the at least one counter has reached a maximum value , or a value of the at least one counter .

[00292 ] The example method may further comprise : determining whether all data of the one or more samples has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on a comparison of the at least one counter with an amount of data received from the user equipment .

[00293] The example method may further comprise : determining a number of the one or more samples that has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on a size of a payload received from the user equipment and the at least one data sample si ze . [00294 ] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the user equipment , an indication of an amount of data of the one or more samples the user equipment intends to transmit ; and determining an amount of the one or more samples that has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on the indicated amount .

[00295] The configuration for performing data collection may compri se, at least , an indication of an amount of the one or more samples to be transmitted from the user equipment to the base station .

[00296] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : circuitry configured to perform : receiving, from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; circuitry configured to perform : receiving, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00297 ] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : processing circuitry; memory circuitry including computer program code, the memory circuitry and the computer program code configured to, with the proces sing circuitry, enable the apparatus to : receive , from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size ; transmit , to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receive, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00298] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may compri se means for : receiving, from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size ; transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receiving, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00299] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode .

[00300] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the user equipment , the data .

[00301] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , or a data sample size for a determined use case . [00302 ] The determined use case may compri se one of : a channel state information use case , a beam management use case , or a positioning use case .

[00303] The determined use case may comprise the channel state information use case, wherein the data sample size may compri se at least one of : a size o f ground-truth channel state information, a size of compres sed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00304 ] The determined use case may compri se the beam management use case, wherein the data sample size may comprise at least one of : a size of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a si ze of beam identifier information, a si ze of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchronization signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00305] The determined use case may compri se the positioning use case, wherein the data sample si ze may comprise at least one of : a si ze of channel impulse response information, a si ze of total radiated power information, or a si ze of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00306] The configuration for performing data collection may be transmitted via one of : downlink control information, a medium acces s control control element , or a radio resource control reconfiguration message .

[00307 ] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be received via a measurement report . [00308] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may be received on at least one of : a periodic basis , an aperiodic basis , or a semi -persistent basis .

[00309] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication of a number of samples the user equipment has collected .

[00310] The indication with respect to the one or more samples may compri se an indication that at least one buf fer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00311] The means may be further configured for : determining that the at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on the indication that the at least one buffer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity .

[00312 ] The means may be further configured for : determining that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on an amount of data received from the user equipment , the at least one data buffering capability, and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00313] The means may be further configured for : determining that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity based, at least partially, on the configuration for performing data collection .

[00314 ] The means may be further configured for : transmitting, to the user equipment , a request for metadata associated with the one or more samples .

[00315] The request for metadata may be transmitted in response to a determination that at least one buf fer at the user equipment i s at or near capacity . [00316] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the user equipment , metadata as sociated with the one or more samples ; determining based, at least partially, on the received metadata, at least part of the one or more samples that overlap with data stored at the apparatus ; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to discard the at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with the data stored at the apparatus .

[00317 ] The metadata may comprise, at least , a type of the one or more samples .

[00318] The means may be further configured for : initiating at least one counter as sociated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00319] The at least one counter may be initiated with a value of zero .

[00320] The at least one counter may be configured to indicate at least one of : a number of samples the user equipment has collected, or a number of samples the user equipment has collected for a respective use case of one or more use cases indicated with the configuration for performing data collection .

[00321] The means may be further configured for : updating the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00322 ] The indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be transmitted in response to at least one of : a determination that the at least one counter has reached a maximum value , or a value of the at least one counter . [00323] The means may be further configured for : determining whether all data of the one or more samples has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on a comparison of the at least one counter with an amount of data received from the user equipment .

[00324 ] The means may be further configured for : determining a number of the one or more samples that has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on a size of a payload received from the user equipment and the at least one data sample si ze .

[00325] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the user equipment , an indication of an amount of data of the one or more samples the user equipment intends to transmit ; and determining an amount of the one or more samples that has been received from the user equipment based, at least partially, on the indicated amount .

[00326] The configuration for performing data collection may compri se, at least , an indication of an amount of the one or more samples to be transmitted from the user equipment to the apparatus .

[00327 ] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions stored thereon which, when executed with at least one proces sor, cause the at least one processor to : cause receiving, from a user equipment , of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; cause transmitting, to the user equipment , of a configuration for performing data collection; cause receiving, from the user equipment , of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to , at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and cause transmitting, to the user equipment , of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00328] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing receiving, from a user equipment , of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of a configuration for performing data collection; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00329] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory program storage device readable by a machine may be provided, tangibly embodying instructions executable by the machine for performing operations , the operations comprising : causing receiving, from a user equipment , of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of a configuration for performing data collection; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to , at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00330] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions that , when executed by an apparatus , cause the apparatus to perform at least the following : causing receiving, from a user equipment , of at least : at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size ; causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of a configuration for performing data collection; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00331] A computer implemented system compri sing : at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the system at least to perform : causing receiving, from a user equipment , of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of a configuration for performing data collection; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00332 ] A computer implemented system compri sing : means for causing receiving, from a user equipment , of at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze ; means for causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of a configuration for performing data collection; means for causing receiving, from the user equipment , of an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and means for causing transmitting, to the user equipment , of an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples may be based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

[00333] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may compri se : at least one proces sor; and at least one memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to : receive , from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may comprise , at least , a minimization of drive test configuration and a data buf fering policy; determine respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; transmit , to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may compri se at least one of: an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases, at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus, and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases; and transmit, to the base station, a measurement report comprising, at least, an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample may comprise, at least, the determined content.

[00334] The example apparatus may be in a radio resource control connected mode.

[00335] The minimization of drive test configuration may comprise, at least, for the respective ones of the one or more use cases, an indication of a subset of data to be reported within a defined time period.

[00336] The at least one data sample size may comprise at least one of: a generic sampling size, a data sample size for all of the one or more use cases, or a data sample size for respective ones of the one or more use cases.

[00337] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration may comprise at least one of: a channel state information feedback enhancement use case, a beam management enhancement use case, or a positioning enhancement use case.

[00338] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration may comprise the channel state information feedback enhancement use case, wherein the minimization of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of: a channel quality indicator, or a layer 1 reference signal received power . [00339] A data sample size for the channel state information use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a size of additional information collected .

[00340] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se the beam management enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a first set of beam configurations , and a second set of beam configurations .

[00341] A data sample size for the beam management enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identi fier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchroni zation signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected .

[00342 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the positioning enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a synchronization signal reference signal received power, a synchroni zation signal reference signal received quality, or a positioning reference signal .

[00343] A data sample si ze for the positioning enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples . [00344 ] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , an indication of data fields that are able to be buf fered for later transmis sion .

[00345] The determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases may compri se at least one of : at least one measurement of a parameter indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noise ratio, doppler information, sensor information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the at least one measurement is performed .

[00346] The at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus may comprise at least one of : a buffering capability for all of the one or more use cases , or a buf fering capability for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00347 ] The at least one sample may comprise a sample for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00348] The measurement report may comprise an indication of at least one type of the at least one sample .

[00349] The measurement report may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00350] The measurement report may comprise an indication of an amount of data of the at least one sample the apparatus intends to transmit .

[00351] The example apparatus may be further configured to : buffer at least some data of the at least one sample . [00352 ] The data buffering policy may compri se at least one of : an indication of an amount of the at least one sample to be transmitted from the apparatus to the base station, or an indication of a type of measurement to be collected for the at least one sample .

[00353] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the base station, a configuration for transmission of at least one of : at least part of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , or samples of at least one use case of the one or more use cases .

[00354 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : transmit , to the base station, at least one message, wherein the at least one mes sage may comprise at least one of : the at least part of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the at least part of the determined content , the samples of the at least one use case, one or more sample identi fiers associated with the samples of the at least one use case, or at least one buffer status .

[00355] The at least one message may be transmitted in response to a received configuration for transmi ssion .

[00356] The at least one mes sage may be transmitted based, at least partially, on at least one of : the minimi zation of drive test configuration, the data buf fering policy, a determination to transmit the at least one message periodically, a determination to transmit the at least one mes sage aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the at least one message , or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the at least one message . [00357 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : transmit , to the base station, an indication that at least one buffer storing the at least one sample is at or near capacity .

[00358] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the base station, an indication to di scard at least part of the at least one sample; and discard the at least part of the at least one sample .

[00359] In accordance with one aspect , an example method may be provided compri sing : receiving, with a user equipment from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may comprise , at least , a minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; transmitting, to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may compri se at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identi fier as sociated with the at least one sample , wherein the at least one sample compri ses , at least , the determined content .

[00360] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode . [00361] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , for the respective ones of the one or more use cases , an indication of a subset of data to be reported within a defined time period .

[00362 ] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , a data sample si ze for all of the one or more use cases , or a data sample size for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00363] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se at least one of : a channel state information feedback enhancement use case , a beam management enhancement use case , or a positioning enhancement use case .

[00364 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the channel state information feedback enhancement use case, wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se an indication to measure at least one of : a channel quality indicator, or a layer 1 reference signal received power .

[00365] A data sample size for the channel state information use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a size of additional information collected .

[00366] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se the beam management enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a first set of beam configurations , and a second set of beam configurations . [00367 ] A data sample size for the beam management enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identi fier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchroni zation signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected .

[00368] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the positioning enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a synchronization signal reference signal received power, a synchroni zation signal reference signal received quality, or a positioning reference signal .

[00369] A data sample si ze for the positioning enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00370] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , an indication of data fields that are able to be buf fered for later transmis sion .

[00371] The determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases may compri se at least one of : at least one measurement of a parameter indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noise ratio, doppler information, sensor information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the at least one measurement is performed .

[00372 ] The at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment may comprise at least one of : a buffering capability for all of the one or more use cases or a buf fering capability for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00373] The at least one sample may comprise a sample for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00374 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of at least one type of the at least one sample .

[00375] The measurement report may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00376] The measurement report may comprise an indication of an amount of data of the at least one sample the user equipment intends to transmit .

[00377 ] The example method may further comprise : buffering at least some data of the at least one sample .

[00378] The data buffering policy may compri se at least one of : an indication of an amount of the at least one sample to be transmitted from the user equipment to the base station, or an indication of a type of measurement to be collected for the at least one sample .

[00379] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the base station, a configuration for transmi ssion of at least one of : at least part of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , or samples of at least one use case of the one or more use cases . [00380] The example method may further comprise : transmitting, to the base station, at least one message , wherein the at least one mes sage may compri se at least one of : the at least part of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , one or more sample identi fiers associated with the at least part of the determined content , the samples of the at least one use case, one or more sample identi fiers as sociated with the samples of the at least one use case, or at least one buf fer status .

[00381] The at least one message may be transmitted in response to a received configuration for transmi ssion .

[00382 ] The at least one mes sage may be transmitted based, at least partially, on at least one of : the minimi zation of drive test configuration, the data buf fering policy, a determination to transmit the at least one message periodically, a determination to transmit the at least one mes sage aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the at least one message , or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the at least one message .

[00383] The example method may further comprise : transmitting, to the base station, an indication that at least one buffer storing the at least one sample is at or near capacity .

[00384 ] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the base station, an indication to discard at least part of the at least one sample ; and discarding the at least part of the at least one sample .

[00385] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : circuitry configured to perform : receiving, with a user equipment from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may comprise , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; circuitry configured to perform : determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may comprise at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size as sociated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample comprises , at least , the determined content .

[00386] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : processing circuitry; memory circuitry including computer program code, the memory circuitry and the computer program code configured to, with the proces sing circuitry, enable the apparatus to : receive , from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determine respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration; transmit , to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may comprise at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size as sociated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and transmit , to the base station, a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample may comprise, at least , the determined content .

[00387 ] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may compri se means for : receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buf fering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration; transmitting, to the base station, a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may comprise at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size as sociated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and transmitting, to the base station, a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample may comprise, at least , the determined content .

[00388] The apparatus may be in a radio resource control connected mode . [00389] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , for the respective ones of the one or more use cases , an indication of a subset of data to be reported within a defined time period .

[00390] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , a data sample si ze for all of the one or more use cases , or a data sample size for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00391] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se at least one of : a channel state information feedback enhancement use case , a beam management enhancement use case , or a positioning enhancement use case .

[00392 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the channel state information feedback enhancement use case, wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se an indication to measure at least one of : a channel quality indicator, or a layer 1 reference signal received power .

[00393] A data sample size for the channel state information use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a size of additional information collected .

[00394 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se the beam management enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a first set of beam configurations , and a second set of beam configurations . [00395] A data sample size for the beam management enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identi fier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchroni zation signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected .

[00396] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the positioning enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a synchronization signal reference signal received power, a synchroni zation signal reference signal received quality, or a positioning reference signal .

[00397 ] A data sample si ze for the positioning enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00398] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , an indication of data fields that are able to be buf fered for later transmis sion .

[00399] The determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases may compri se at least one of : at least one measurement of a parameter indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noise ratio, doppler information, sensor information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the at least one measurement is performed .

[00400] The at least one data buffering capability of the apparatus may comprise at least one of : a buffering capability for all of the one or more use cases , or a buf fering capability for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00401] The at least one sample may comprise a sample for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00402 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of at least one type of the at least one sample .

[00403] The measurement report may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00404 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of an amount of data of the at least one sample the apparatus intends to transmit .

[00405] The means may be further configured for : buf fering at least some data of the at least one sample .

[00406] The data buffering policy may compri se at least one of : an indication of an amount of the at least one sample to be transmitted from the apparatus to the base station, or an indication of a type of measurement to be collected for the at least one sample .

[00407 ] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the base station, a configuration for transmi ssion of at least one of : at least part of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , or samples of at least one use case of the one or more use cases . [00408] The means may be further configured for : transmitting, to the base station, at least one mes sage, wherein the at least one message may compri se at least one of : the at least part of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the at least part of the determined content , the samples of the at least one use case, one or more sample identi fiers associated with the samples of the at least one use case, or at least one buffer status .

[00409] The at least one message may be transmitted in response to a received configuration for transmi ssion .

[00410] The at least one mes sage may be transmitted based, at least partially, on at least one of : the minimi zation of drive test configuration, the data buf fering policy, a determination to transmit the at least one message periodically, a determination to transmit the at least one mes sage aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the at least one message , or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the at least one message .

[00411] The means may be further configured for : transmitting, to the base station, an indication that at least one buffer storing the at least one sample i s at or near capacity .

[00412 ] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the base station, an indication to discard at least part of the at least one sample ; and discarding the at least part of the at least one sample .

[00413] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions stored thereon which, when executed with at least one proces sor, cause the at least one processor to : cause receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage may compri se, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determine respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration; cause transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may compri se at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and cause transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier as sociated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample may compri se, at least , the determined content .

[00414 ] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may comprise at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment , and at least one data sample size as sociated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample may comprise, at least , the determined content .

[00415] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory program storage device readable by a machine may be provided, tangibly embodying instructions executable by the machine for performing operations , the operations comprising : causing receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may compri se at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier as sociated with the at least one sample, wherein the at least one sample may compri se, at least , the determined content .

[00416] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions that , when executed by an apparatus , cause the apparatus to perform at least the following : causing receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buf fering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may compri se at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identi fier as sociated with the at least one sample , wherein the at least one sample may compri se , at least , the determined content .

[00417 ] A computer implemented system compri sing : at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the system at least to perform : causing receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may comprise , at least , a minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buf fering capability of a user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and causing transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample , wherein the at least one sample may comprise, at least , the determined content .

[00418] A computer implemented system compri sing : means for causing receiving, from a base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; means for determining respective content for samples of one or more use cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration; means for causing transmitting, to the base station, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may comprise at least one of : an indication of the determined respective content for the samples of the one or more uses cases , at least one data buffering capability of a user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; and means for causing transmitting, to the base station, of a measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample , wherein the at least one sample may comprise, at least , the determined content . [00419] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may compri se : at least one proces sor; and at least one memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to : receive , from a management system, a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; transmit , to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se, at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receive, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may comprise at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receive , from the user equipment , at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier as sociated with the at least one sample ; and transmit , to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00420] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode .

[00421] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , for the respective ones of the one or more use cases , an indication of a subset of data to be reported within a defined time period . [00422 ] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , a data sample si ze for all of the one or more use cases , or a data sample size for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00423] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se at least one of : a channel state information feedback enhancement use case , a beam management enhancement use case , or a positioning enhancement use case .

[00424 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the channel state information feedback enhancement use case, wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se an indication to measure at least one of : a channel quality indicator, or a layer 1 reference signal received power .

[00425] A data sample size for the channel state information feedback enhancement use case may compri se at least one of : a si ze of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected .

[00426] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se the beam management enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a first set of beam configurations , and a second set of beam configurations .

[00427 ] A data sample size for the beam management enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identi fier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchroni zation signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected .

[00428] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the positioning enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a synchronization signal reference signal received power, a synchroni zation signal reference signal received quality, or a positioning reference signal .

[00429] A data sample si ze for the positioning enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples .

[00430] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , an indication of data fields that are able to be buf fered for later transmis sion .

[00431] The respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases may compri se at least one of : at least one measurement of a parameter indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noi se ratio, doppler information, sensor information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the at least one measurement is performed .

[00432 ] The at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment may comprise at least one of : a buffering capability for all of the one or more use cases or a buf fering capability for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00433] The at least one sample may comprise a sample for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00434 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of at least one type of the at least one sample .

[00435] The measurement report may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00436] The measurement report may comprise an indication of an amount of data of the at least one sample the user equipment intends to transmit .

[00437 ] The data buffering policy may compri se at least one of : an indication of an amount of the at least one sample to be transmitted by the user equipment , or an indication of a type of measurement to be collected for the at least one sample .

[00438] The example apparatus may be further configured to : transmit , to the user equipment , a configuration for transmission of at least one of : at least part of the respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , or samples of at least one use case of the one or more use cases .

[00439] The configuration for transmi ssion may be transmitted in response to a determination that the user equipment is buffering data associated with the one or more use cases .

[00440] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the user equipment , at least one message, wherein the at least one mes sage may comprise at least one of : the at least part of the respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the at least part of the determined content , the samples of the at least one use case, one or more sample identi fiers associated with the samples of the at least one use case , or at least one buffer status of the user equipment .

[00441] The example apparatus may be further configured to : receive, from the user equipment , an indication that at least one buffer of the user equipment storing the at least one sample is at or near capacity .

[00442 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : determine that at least one buffer of the user equipment storing the at least one sample i s at or near capacity; determine at least part of the at least one sample that overlaps with data stored at the apparatus ; and transmit , to the user equipment , an indication to di scard the at least part of the at least one sample that overlaps with the data stored at the apparatus .

[00443] The at least one trace record may compri se, at least , the at least one sample and the at least one sample identifier .

[00444 ] The example apparatus may be further configured to : store the at least one sample and the at least one sample identi fier; and determine at least one completed sample from stored data, wherein the at least one trace record may compri se, at least , the at least one completed sample .

[00445] The at least one completed sample may compri se a sample including information needed for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00446] The example apparatus may be further configured to : initiate at least one counter associated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage .

[00447 ] The at least one counter may be as sociated with the one or more use cases .

[00448] The at least one counter may comprise a plurality of counters associated with respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00449] The at least one counter may be determined based, at least partially, on the at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment and the at least one data sample size as sociated with the at least one use case .

[00450] The at least one counter may be initiated with a value of zero .

[00451] The example apparatus may be further configured to : update the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the at least one measurement report .

[00452 ] In accordance with one aspect , an example method may be provided compri sing : receiving, with a base station from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; transmitting, to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se, at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receiving, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may comprise at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receiving, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier as sociated with the at least one sample; and transmitting, to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00453] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode .

[00454 ] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , for the respective ones of the one or more use cases , an indication of a subset of data to be reported within a defined time period .

[00455] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , a data sample si ze for all of the one or more use cases , or a data sample size for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00456] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se at least one of : a channel state information feedback enhancement use case , a beam management enhancement use case , or a positioning enhancement use case .

[00457 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the channel state information feedback enhancement use case, wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se an indication to measure at least one of : a channel quality indicator, or a layer 1 reference signal received power . [00458] A data sample size for the channel state information feedback enhancement use case may compri se at least one of : a si ze of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected .

[00459] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se the beam management enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a first set of beam configurations , and a second set of beam configurations .

[00460] A data sample size for the beam management enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identi fier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchroni zation signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected .

[00461] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the positioning enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a synchronization signal reference signal received power, a synchroni zation signal reference signal received quality, or a positioning reference signal .

[00462 ] A data sample si ze for the positioning enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples . [00463] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , an indication of data fields that are able to be buf fered for later transmis sion .

[00464 ] The respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases may compri se at least one of : at least one measurement of a parameter indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noi se ratio, doppler information, sensor information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the at least one measurement is performed .

[00465] The at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment may comprise at least one of : a buffering capability for all of the one or more use cases or a buf fering capability for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00466] The at least one sample may comprise a sample for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00467 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of at least one type of the at least one sample .

[00468] The measurement report may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00469] The measurement report may comprise an indication of an amount of data of the at least one sample the user equipment intends to transmit .

[00470] The data buffering policy may compri se at least one of : an indication of an amount of the at least one sample to be transmitted by the user equipment , or an indication of a type of measurement to be collected for the at least one sample .

[00471] The example method may further comprise : transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for transmission of at least one of : at least part of the respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , or samples of at least one use case of the one or more use cases .

[00472 ] The configuration for transmi ssion may be transmitted in response to a determination that the user equipment is buffering data associated with the one or more use cases .

[00473] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the user equipment , at least one mes sage , wherein the at least one message may compri se at least one of : the at least part of the respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the at least part of the determined content , the samples of the at least one use case , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the samples of the at least one use case, or at least one buf fer status of the user equipment .

[00474 ] The example method may further compri se : receiving, from the user equipment , an indication that at least one buffer of the user equipment storing the at least one sample is at or near capacity .

[00475] The example method may further comprise : determining that at least one buffer of the user equipment storing the at least one sample i s at or near capacity; determining at least part of the at least one sample that overlaps with data stored at the base station; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to discard the at least part of the at least one sample that overlaps with the data stored at the base station . [00476] The at least one trace record may compri se, at least , the at least one sample and the at least one sample identifier .

[00477 ] The example method may further comprise : storing the at least one sample and the at least one sample identifier; and determining at least one completed sample from stored data, wherein the at least one trace record may comprise , at least , the at least one completed sample .

[00478] The at least one completed sample may compri se a sample including information needed for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00479] The example method may further compri se : initiating at least one counter as sociated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage .

[00480] The at least one counter may be as sociated with the one or more use cases .

[00481] The at least one counter may comprise a plurality of counters associated with respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00482 ] The at least one counter may be determined based, at least partially, on the at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment and the at least one data sample size as sociated with the at least one use case .

[00483] The at least one counter may be initiated with a value of zero .

[00484 ] The example method may further comprise : updating the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the at least one measurement report . [00485] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : circuitry configured to perform : receiving, with a base station from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace ses sion activation may compri se, at least , a minimization of drive test configuration; circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se, at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buf fering policy; circuitry configured to perform : receiving, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may comprise at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; circuitry configured to perform : receiving, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample ; and circuitry configured to perform : transmitting, to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00486] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise : processing circuitry; memory circuitry including computer program code, the memory circuitry and the computer program code configured to, with the proces sing circuitry, enable the apparatus to : receive, from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace ses sion activation may comprise, at least , a minimization of drive test configuration; transmit , to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , the minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receive, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receive, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample ; and transmit , to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00487 ] In accordance with one example embodiment , an apparatus may comprise means for : receiving, from a management system, a trace session activation, wherein the trace ses sion activation may comprise, at least , a minimization of drive test configuration; transmitting, to a user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , the minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; receiving, from the user equipment , a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; receiving, from the user equipment , at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample ; and transmitting, to the management system, at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00488] The user equipment may be in a radio resource control connected mode .

[00489] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , for the respective ones of the one or more use cases , an indication of a subset of data to be reported within a defined time period .

[00490] The at least one data sample size may compri se at least one of : a generic sampling si ze , a data sample si ze for all of the one or more use cases , or a data sample size for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00491] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se at least one of : a channel state information feedback enhancement use case , a beam management enhancement use case , or a positioning enhancement use case .

[00492 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the channel state information feedback enhancement use case, wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se an indication to measure at least one of : a channel quality indicator, or a layer 1 reference signal received power . [00493] A data sample size for the channel state information feedback enhancement use case may compri se at least one of : a si ze of ground-truth channel state information, a size of compressed channel state information, or a si ze of additional information collected .

[00494 ] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may compri se the beam management enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a first set of beam configurations , and a second set of beam configurations .

[00495] A data sample size for the beam management enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a si ze of layer 1 reference signal received power information, a size of beam identi fier information, a size of a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, a si ze of a synchroni zation signal block resource indicator, a size of a physical broadcast channel block resource indicator, or a size of additional information collected .

[00496] The one or more use cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise the positioning enhancement use case , wherein the minimi zation of drive test configuration may comprise an indication to measure at least one of : a synchronization signal reference signal received power, a synchroni zation signal reference signal received quality, or a positioning reference signal .

[00497 ] A data sample si ze for the positioning enhancement use case may comprise at least one of : a size of channel impulse response information, a size of total radiated power information, or a size of additional information collected for respective samples of the one or more samples . [00498] The minimization of drive test configuration may compri se, at least , an indication of data fields that are able to be buf fered for later transmis sion .

[00499] The respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases may compri se at least one of : at least one measurement of a parameter indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one proprietary user equipment measurement , at least one proprietary LI measurement , one or more additional measurement s , at least one signal to noi se ratio, doppler information, sensor information, temperature information, or at least one condition under which the at least one measurement is performed .

[00500] The at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment may comprise at least one of : a buffering capability for all of the one or more use cases or a buf fering capability for respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00501] The at least one sample may comprise a sample for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00502 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of at least one type of the at least one sample .

[00503] The measurement report may comprise an indication of a number of samples that have been collected .

[00504 ] The measurement report may comprise an indication of an amount of data of the at least one sample the user equipment intends to transmit .

[00505] The data buffering policy may compri se at least one of : an indication of an amount of the at least one sample to be transmitted by the user equipment , or an indication of a type of measurement to be collected for the at least one sample .

[00506] The means may be further configured for : transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for transmi ssion of at least one of : at least part of the respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , or samples of at least one use case of the one or more use cases .

[00507 ] The configuration for transmi ssion may be transmitted in response to a determination that the user equipment is buffering data associated with the one or more use cases .

[00508] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the user equipment , at least one mes sage , wherein the at least one message may compri se at least one of : the at least part of the respective content for the samples of the one or more use cases , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the at least part of the determined content , the samples of the at least one use case , one or more sample identifiers as sociated with the samples of the at least one use case, or at least one buf fer status of the user equipment .

[00509] The means may be further configured for : receiving, from the user equipment , an indication that at least one buffer of the user equipment storing the at least one sample is at or near capacity .

[00510] The means may be further configured for : determining that at least one buffer of the user equipment storing the at least one sample i s at or near capacity; determining at least part of the at least one sample that overlaps with data stored at the apparatus ; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to di scard the at least part of the at least one sample that overlaps with the data stored at the apparatus . [00511] The at least one trace record may compri se, at least , the at least one sample and the at least one sample identifier .

[00512 ] The means may be further configured for : storing the at least one sample and the at least one sample identifier; and determining at least one completed sample from stored data, wherein the at least one trace record may comprise , at least , the at least one completed sample .

[00513] The at least one completed sample may compri se a sample including information needed for training an arti ficial intelligence and/or machine learning model .

[00514 ] The means may be further configured for : initiating at least one counter as sociated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage .

[00515] The at least one counter may be as sociated with the one or more use cases .

[00516] The at least one counter may comprise a plurality of counters associated with respective ones of the one or more use cases .

[00517 ] The at least one counter may be determined based, at least partially, on the at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment and the at least one data sample size as sociated with the at least one use case .

[00518] The at least one counter may be initiated with a value of zero .

[00519] The means may be further configured for : updating the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the at least one measurement report . [00520] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions stored thereon which, when executed with at least one proces sor, cause the at least one processor to : cause receiving, from a management system, of a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; cause transmitting, to a user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , the minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; cause receiving, from the user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; cause receiving, from the user equipment , of at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample; and cause transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00521] In accordance with one example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following : causing receiving, from a management system, of a trace session activation, wherein the trace ses sion activation may compri se, at least , a minimization of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to a user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration message , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may comprise, at least , the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage , wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may comprise at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of at least one measurement report compri sing, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample; and causing transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[ 00522 ] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory program storage device readable by a machine may be provided, tangibly embodying instructions executable by the machine for performing operations , the operations comprising : causing receiving, from a management system, of a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise , at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to a user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , the minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of at least one measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample; and causing transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[ 00523 ] In accordance with another example embodiment , a non- transitory computer-readable medium compri sing instructions that , when executed by an apparatus , cause the apparatus to perform at least the following : causing receiving, from a management system, of a trace session activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to a user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , the minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of at least one measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample; and causing transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00524 ] A computer implemented system compri sing : at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the system at least to perform : causing receiving, from a management system, of a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise, at least , a minimi zation of drive test configuration; causing transmitting, to a user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may compri se , at least , the minimi zation of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete mes sage may compri se at least one of : an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimi zation of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample si ze associated with at least one of the one or more use cases ; causing receiving, from the user equipment , of at least one measurement report comprising, at least , an indication with respect to at least one sample , and at least one sample identi fier associated with the at least one sample; and causing transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00525] A computer implemented system compri sing : means for causing receiving, from a management system, of a trace ses sion activation, wherein the trace session activation may comprise, at least, a minimization of drive test configuration; means for causing transmitting, to a user equipment, of a radio resource control reconfiguration message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration message may comprise, at least, the minimization of drive test configuration and a data buffering policy; means for causing receiving, from the user equipment, of a radio resource control reconfiguration complete message, wherein the radio resource control reconfiguration complete message may comprise at least one of: an indication of respective content for samples of one or more uses cases indicated with the minimization of drive test configuration, at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and at least one data sample size associated with at least one of the one or more use cases; means for causing receiving, from the user equipment, of at least one measurement report comprising, at least, an indication with respect to at least one sample, and at least one sample identifier associated with the at least one sample; and means for causing transmitting, to the management system, of at least one trace record based, at least partially, on the at least one received measurement report .

[00526] The term "non-transitory, " as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e. tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs . ROM) .

[00527] It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art. For example, features recited in the various dependent claims could be combined with each other in any suitable combination ( s ) . In addition, features from different embodiments described above could be selectively combined into a new embodiment . Accordingly, the description is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modification and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims .

Claims

CLAIMS What i s claimed is :

1 . An apparatus comprising means for : transmitting, to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus i s in a radio resource control connected mode .

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 or 2 , wherein the means configured for transmitting the at least one sample compri ses means configured for : receiving, from the base station, an indication to transmit the data of the at least one sample, wherein the data is transmitted based, at least partially, on the received indication to transmit the data .

4. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the means configured for transmitting the at least one sample comprises means configured for: determining to transmit the data of the at least one sample based, at least partially, on at least one of : the received configuration for performing data collection, a determination to transmit the data periodically, a determination to transmit the data aperiodically , a determined trigger for transmitting the data, or a preconfigured slot for transmitting the data.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 4, wherein the at least one data sample size comprises at least one of : a generic sampling size, or a data sample size for a determined use case.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 5, wherein the indication with respect to the one or more samples is transmitted via a measurement report.

7. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 6, wherein the indication with respect to the one or more samples is transmitted on at least one of: a periodic basis an aperiodic basis, or a semi -persistent basis.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 7, wherein the indication with respect to the one or more samples comprises an indication of a number of samples that have been collected.

9. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 8, wherein the indication with respect to the one or more samples comprises an indication that at least one buffer storing the one or more samples is at or near capacity.

10. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 9, wherein the means are further configured for: buffering at least some data of the one or more samples .

11. The apparatus of any of claims 1 through 10, wherein the means are further configured for: transmitting, to the base station, metadata associated with the one or more samples; and receiving, from the base station, an indication to discard at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with data stored at the base station.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the means are further configured for: discarding the at least part of the one or more samples .

13. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the apparatus at least to : transmit , to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the apparatus , and at least one data sample size; receive, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmit , to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples .

14 . A method comprising : transmitting, with a user equipment to a base station, at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; receiving, from the base station, a configuration for performing data collection; transmitting, to the base station, an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the received configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the base station, data of at least one of the one or more samples

15 . An apparatus compri sing means for : receiving, from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; transmitting, to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receiving, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmitting, to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples is based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the indication with respect to the one or more samples is received via a measurement report .

17 . The apparatus of claim 15 or 16 , wherein the indication with respect to the one or more samples compri ses an indication of a number of samples the user equipment has collected .

18. The apparatus of any of claims 15 through 17, wherein the means are further configured for: transmitting, to the user equipment, a request for metadata associated with the one or more samples.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the request for metadata is transmitted in response to a determination that at least one buffer at the user equipment is at or near capacity.

20. The apparatus of any of claims 15 through 19, wherein the means are further configured for: receiving, from the user equipment, metadata associated with the one or more samples; determining based, at least partially, on the received metadata, at least part of the one or more samples that overlap with data stored at the apparatus; and transmitting, to the user equipment, an indication to discard the at least part of the one or more samples that overlaps with the data stored at the apparatus .

21. The apparatus of any of claims 15 through 20, wherein the means are further configured for: initiating at least one counter associated with the user equipment based, at least partially, on the at least one data buffering capability of the user equipment, and the at least one data sample size.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one counter is configured to indicate at least one of: a number of samples the user equipment has collected, or a number of samples the user equipment has collected for a respective use case of one or more use cases indicated with the configuration for performing data collection .

23 . The apparatus of claim 21 or 22 , wherein the means are further configured for : updating the at least one counter based, at least partially, on the indication with respect to the one or more samples .

24 . The apparatus of any of claims 21 through 23 , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples is transmitted in response to at least one of : a determination that the at least one counter has reached a maximum value , or a value of the at least one counter .

25 . An apparatus compri sing : at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that , when executed by the at least one proces sor, cause the apparatus at least to : receive, from a user equipment , at least : at least one data buf fering capability of the user equipment , and at least one data sample size; transmit , to the user equipment , a configuration for performing data collection; receive, from the user equipment , an indication with respect to one or more samples collected according to, at least , the configuration for performing data collection; and transmit , to the user equipment , an indication to transmit data of at least one of the one or more samples , wherein the indication to transmit the data of the one or more samples i s based, at least partially, on the received indication with respect to the one or more samples .