WO2025030451A1

WO2025030451A1 - Selection of user equipment for multicast and broadcast services quality of experience configuration

Info

Publication number: WO2025030451A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/112080
Authority: WO
Inventors: Arled PAPA; Ping Yuan; Ugur Baran ELMALI; Malgorzata Tomala; Hakon Helmers; Jing He
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2023-08-09
Filing date: 2023-08-09
Publication date: 2025-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-09

Abstract

Various example embodiments described herein relate to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media for optimizing the selection of user equipment (UE) for multicast and broadcast service (MBS) quality of experience (QoE) configuration. The method comprises: transmitting, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.

Description

SELECTION OF USER EQUIPMENT FOR MULTICAST AND BROADCAST SERVICES QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE CONFIGURATION

FIELDS

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses and computer readable storage medium for optimizing the selection of user equipment (UE) for multicast and broadcast service (MBS) quality of experience (QoE) measurement configuration.

BACKGROUND

The study on new radio (NR) QoE management and optimizations for diverse services may relate to objectives such as the specification of QoE measurements, the definition of procedures to support QoE data collection in intra-system intra-radio access technology (RAT) mobility scenarios, radio access network (RAN) visible QoE (RVQoE) as well as QoE measurement collection per Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) .

The NR QoE solutions and procedures may include signaling-based procedure and management-based procedure, where in signaling-based, the core network (CN) /Access and Mobility management Function (AMF) initiates the activation of QoE measurements as configured by Operation and Management (OAM) , whereas in management-based procedure, OAM sends the QoE measurement configuration directly to radio access network (RAN) node.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: transmit, in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and receive, from the second apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: receive, from a first apparatus in an RRC connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and transmit, to the first apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, in an RRC connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a first apparatus in an RRC connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises means for transmitting, in an RRC connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.

In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first apparatus in an RRC connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.

In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling chart for optimizing the selection of UE for MBS QoE measurement configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart for optimizing the selection of UE for MBS QoE measurement configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling chart for optimizing the selection of UE for MBS QoE measurement configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first, ” “second, ” …, etc. in front of noun (s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun (s) . For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” 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/firmware 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.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As used herein, the term “resource, ” “transmission resource, ” “resource block, ” “physical resource block” (PRB) , “uplink resource, ” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and/or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication environment 100 comprises a first apparatus 110 and a second apparatus 120, which may communicate with each other.

In the following, for the purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a radio access network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a radio access network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a radio access network device may be implemented at a terminal device or other device.

It is to be understood that the number of radio access network devices and terminal devices shown in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of radio access network devices and terminal devices.

In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 is a radio access network device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL) , and a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL) . In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver) . In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver) .

Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , the fifth generation (5G) , the sixth generation (6G) , and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

As described above, the NR QoE solutions and procedures may include signaling-based procedure and management-based procedure. For both approaches, once RAN node identifies the UE or UEs that match a certain criterion, for instance area scope, service type, slice scope, then the RAN node forwards the QoE measurement configuration to UE access stratum (AS) layer, which in turn sends it to the UE application (APP) layer. The RAN node may encapsulate the configuration in a transparent container, which is then sent to the UE as an APP layer configuration in the RRC Reconfiguration message. On the other hand, all measurement reports generated from UE APP layer are encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the network in the MeasurementReportAppLayer message using Signaling Radio Bearer 4 (SRB4) .

3GPP has specified broadcast reception for the UEs that can be in IDLE/INACTIVE/CONNECTED RRC states. For the UE to receive the MBS broadcast in the RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE mode, system information block 20 (SIB20) includes the necessary information for the UE to receive the Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) information including the repetition period and configured transmission/reception window of MCCH. Furthermore, the MCCH information, that is the control information for the UE to understand which broadcast services are provided in the cell and the scheduling information to receive the broadcasted data, is transmitted periodically by a gNB using a configurable repetition period and within a configured transmission window.

MCCH may provide the information about the Multicast Traffic Channels (MTCHs) (the data channels where the broadcast services are provided) . This information includes search spaces, discontinuous reception (DRX) information, etc., for the UE to be able to receive the relevant MTCH (s) . Each temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) which is an identifier of a specific broadcast service-may be mapped to a specific MTCH.

The UE may read and decode the SIB20 message and learn the MCCH configuration/scheduling details. Then the UE may read the MCCH to learn about which services are provided in the cell and their scheduling information.

For the UEs in RRC_CONNECTED mode, SIB reading may be bypassed, as the UE is provided with the search space configuration to receive MCCH within PDCCH_ConfigCommon.

According to further study on MBS, the reception of MBS multicast services by the UEs in RRC_INACTIVE will be specified. Towards reception of the PTM configuration two approaches have been widely agreed upon for further studies. One of them is direct RRC signalling through which the MCCH contents will be delivered to the UE and the second approach is similar to broadcast reception in RRC_INACTIVE. For broadcast in RRC_INACTIVE, the UE may read the SIB20 block to obtain some of the important parameters like configuration of the MCCH repetition scheduling, window duration and the respective start slot. The MCCH contents and the repetition window of the MCCH do not change within the modification period.

Furthermore, support of NR QoE Measurement Collection (QMC) for MBS is currently being standardized in 3GPP. Both management-based (area based) activation and signalling-based activation of MBS QMC will be supported. MBS may be provided via broadcast, and in this case the RAN is not aware of UEs receiving broadcast service.

In case of legacy management-based activation (e.g., MDT and QMC) , the underlying principle is that the gNBs that have received management-based configuration for measurement collection select which UEs will participate in the measurement collection. Often only some of the served or camping UEs will participate in such measurement collection to keep the amount of collected measurement data at a reasonable level, and hence avoid overload of the network and post-processing systems due to a too high amount of measurement data.

When UE is in connected state then network can know the UE capability for reception of broadcast services, but the network might not know if a certain UE is receiving MBS services (and in particular broadcast services) . The reason stems from the fact that only the UE can indicate its current interest in a specific MBS session identifier (ID) via the MBS interest indication, but this is only optional. Moreover, there is neither precise nor reliable mean to indicate the actual involvement of the UE in an MBS session.

A UE can only indicate the MBS interest in current RRC state (connected state) for a certain session ID that is about to start or that is ongoing –a single indication is used for any of the conditions, without distinction whether the MBS session is of interest for the future or other RRC states such as IDLE/INACTIVE. Once gNB receives this information it can configure the UE with QoE measurement configuration, by knowing that UE is interested in a specific MBS broadcast service. However, the gNB does not know if the UEs might interested in an MBS session also in the future when the UE is in IDLE/INACTIVE state (without any possibility to inform the network about UE interest in MBS session) .

In that case, the network can use blind configuration, i.e., the network may configure all MBS broadcast QoE measurement configurations received from the OAM to all MBS broadcast QoE capable UEs which move to RRC_CONNECTED state, but this means most of these configurations will never be used by the UEs. Also, the network does not really know how many of the configured UEs will actually perform the QoE measurements for a specific MBS session.

Alternatively, the network could wait for the MBS session to start and when a UE receiving such session moves to RRC_CONNECTED state, it could be configured with proper QoE measurement configuration. However, most of the UEs receiving MBS broadcast session will remain in RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE as much as possible and will only connect to the network due to other reasons. This means that the network may have very limited opportunities to configure QoE measurements for an already ongoing MBS session and applying QoE measurements from the beginning of the session would also be very hard. Thus, will only blindly configure the UEs with QoE configuration.

In this situation, the network, e.g., RAN does not have a precise nor reliable mean to determine the actual involvement of the UE in MBS session. The problem is even more emphasized for UEs in IDLE/INACTIVE RRC states where there is no possibility for the network to be informed about the UE interest even for ongoing MBS sessions. That could lead to unnecessary signaling and configuration that will never be used by the UEs. Additionally, the network cannot guarantee the reception of QoE measurement reports from UEs and thus the processing data will be limited.

According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a solution for optimizing the selection of UE for MBS QoE measurememnt configuration. In this solution, the first apparatus 110 in an RRC connected state transmits, to a second apparatus 120, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions. The indication may include respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus 110 to receive the one or more MBS sessions. The second apparatus 120 then transmits at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions to the first apparatus 110.

In this way, the network may determine the actual involvement of the UE in MBS session (s) and therefore unnecessary signaling and configuration can be avoided for those MBS session (s) the UE is not indicating to receive in the future. On the other hand, it is enabled to provide to UE the QoE measurement configuration for the indicated MBS session (s) , especially in connection with the UE being in RRC IDLE/INACTIVE state.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling chart 200 for optimizing the selection of UEs for MBS QoE measurement configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling chart 200 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1, for example, by using the first apparatus 110 (e.g., a UE) and the second apparatus 120 (e.g., a gNB) . The process may also involve an OAM 130, which can communicate with the second apparatus 120.

The OAM 130 may provide (202) QoE measurement configuration (s) at the second apparatus 120 such that the second apparatus 120 may configure UEs that fulfill the criteria to start QoE measurements and provide the measurement results to the network for further analysis.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the first apparatus 110 in an RRC connected state and served by a cell in the second apparatus 120, in response to receiving QoE measurement configuration from OAM 130, the second apparatus 120 may request (205) the first apparatus 110, e.g., via RRC signaling or broadcast signaling, to report an indication of one or more MBS session IDs for MBS service (s) for which the first apparatus 110 may likely be interested in receiving in the future, which may also be called as “likely interest in MBS session indication” .

Specifically, the second apparatus 120 may request the first apparatus 110 to report in case that it has some MBS session ID (s) it is potentially interested in receiving the future, for instance when the first apparatus 110 might be in RRC IDLE or Inactive states which could be tied to QoE measurement configuration.

In some embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may request all UEs (including the first apparatus 110) to provide such indication or the second apparatus 120 may enable some filtering in terms of selection of UEs. For example, the second apparatus 120 may decide to request only those UEs (e.g. that have been participating in a previous MBS session) . Alternatively, the second apparatus 120 may use some MBS history information or the second apparatus 120 may be configured by OAM for which UEs it should request such indication.

Besides the one or more MBS sessions for which the first apparatus 110 will likely be interested in receiving MBS services for in the future, the first apparatus 110 may also provide a time point at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start as well as the RRC state that it will likely or is interested in receiving the MBS service at.

Then the first apparatus 110 may transmit (210) , to the second apparatus 120, the indication of the list of future interest in MBS service IDs along with the time when the MBS session is about to start and the RRC state that it will likely or is interested in receiving the MBS service at.

Once the second apparatus 120 receives the indication from the first apparatus 110 with respect to the likelihood of receiving future MBS services, their corresponding MBS session ID, start time and the potential RRC state where the service will be received, then the second apparatus 120 may decide (215) to configure the first apparatus 110 with corresponding QoE measurement.

In this case, when the first apparatus 110 is still in an RRC connected state, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (220) , to the first apparatus 110. at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions indicated by the first apparatus 110, via an RRC reconfiguration signaling.

In some embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may not know an association between an MBS session ID and the QoE measurement configuration, if it does not receive the appropriate information from OAM 130. Thus, one approach would be that the second apparatus 120 may provide the QoE measurement configuration to any UE that reported at least one MBS session ID. Therefore, based on this approach, the second apparatus 120 may provide the QoE measurement configuration to the first apparatus 110.

Alternatively, the OAM 130 may indicate to the second apparatus 120 the meaning of MBS session ID, the QoE measurement configuration and the corresponding MBS session ID that this configuration holds for. The second apparatus 120 then only configures UEs with the QoE measurement configuration if it relates to the MBS session ID they have indicated interest for. In this situation, if the second apparatus 120 determines that the QoE measurement configuration relates to the one or more MBS sessions indicated by the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120 may provide the QoE measurement configuration to the first apparatus 110.

When the second apparatus 120 provides the QoE measurement configuration to the first apparatus 110, in some embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may also preconfigure, e.g., via the RRC reconfiguration signaling, the first apparatus 110 with QoE measurement configuration for an MBS session that starts in the future when the first apparatus 110 will be in Idle/Inactive state and for which the first apparatus 110 has indicated interest for.

Furthermore, the second apparatus 120 may in that case provide the list of QoE measurement configuration together with the relation to the corresponding MBS session ID as well as a potential indication of the RRC state for which this QoE measurement configuration should be activated.

Then the first apparatus 110 may transit (222) to an RRC idle or inactive mode.

In some embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may indicate (225) , by broadcasting, e.g., via a MCCH broadcast channel or paging signaling, the ID of the QoE measurement configuration it has preconfigured the first apparatus 110 with a certain MBS session. Then the first apparatus 110 may activate (230) the corresponding QoE measurement configuration.

In some other embodiments, the second apparatus 120 may indicate (235) , by broadcasting, e.g., via a MCCH broadcast channel or paging signaling, the MBS session ID that it starts, the first apparatus 110 may determine the start of the MBS session ID and activate (240) the corresponding QoE measurement configuration provided by the second apparatus 120 when the UE was in RRC connected state.

FIG. 3 illustrates a signaling chart 300 for optimizing the selection of UE for MBS QoE measurement configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling chart 300 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1, for example, by using the first apparatus 110 (e.g., a UE) and the second apparatus 120 (e.g., a gNB) . The process may also involve an OAM 130, which can communicate with the second apparatus 120.

The OAM 130 may provide (302) QoE measurement configuration (s) at the second apparatus 120 such that the second apparatus 120 may configure UEs that fulfill the criteria to start QoE measurements and provide the measurement results to the network for further analysis.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the first apparatus 110 is in an RRC idle or inactive state (304) , in response to receiving QoE measurement configuration from OAM 130, the second apparatus 120 may transmit (305) , to the first apparatus 110, e.g., via RRC signaling or broadcast signaling, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated. The indication may indicate a RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus 110 to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus 110. Furthermore, the indication may further indicate the first apparatus 110 to report information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future. For example, the indication, indicating that first apparatus 100 can resume the connection for the purpose of indicating the MBS ID of interest, may be indicated to the second apparatus to the first apparatus with a flag.

Then if the first apparatus 110 determines that there is no QoE measurement configuration available, the first apparatus 110 may resume (310) the RRC connection.

After resuming the connection, the first apparatus 110 may provide (315) , to the second apparatus, together with the list of future interest in MBS service IDs also the start time of the MBS service as well as the RRC state that it will likely or is interested in receiving the MBS service.

In some embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may also indicate the cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to the RRC connected state. For example, the cause may indicate there is no QoE measurement configuration available at the first apparatus 110 and/or the one or more MBS sessions are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

For example, indicating the cause of resumption of the RRC connection could be done by enhancing the RRC resume message with a new cause such as “QoE response” .

This allows the second apparatus 120 to determine, e.g., which RRC connections are for the purpose of QoE measurement configuration as a response to the action (305) .

In this way, the second apparatus 120 may decide to allow RRC resume for a limited number of UEs, e.g., if the second apparatus 120 wants to configure only 30 UEs with QoE configuration and not more, it can reject RRC resume requests from subsequent UEs.

Then the second apparatus 120 may determine (320) to configure the QoE measurement configuration for the first apparatus 110 and may also preconfigure the first apparatus 110 with QoE measurement configuration for an MBS session that starts in the future when the first apparatus 110 will be in idle/inactive state and for which the first apparatus 110 has indicated interest for. The subsequent step (s) /action (s) in FIG. 3 are similar with process described with reference to FIG. 2, which may be omitted here.

FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling chart 400 for optimizing the selection of UEs for MBS QoE measurement configuration (s) according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling chart 400 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1, for example, by using the first apparatus 110 (e.g., a UE) and the second apparatus 120 (e.g., a gNB) . The process may also involve an OAM 130, which can communicate with the second apparatus 120.

In this case, the first apparatus 110 is in an RRC connected or an RRC idle or inactive state and is configured by the second apparatus 120 to maintain an MBS (mobility) history information.

The first apparatus 110 may record (405) in the MBS history information the MBS session ID, the cell where it received this session ID as well as the time.

Current state of MBS history information may be empty as the first apparatus 110 has not received any MBS service yet.

When the first apparatus 110 is in an RRC connected or idle/inactive state and is receiving MBS session ID A, the first apparatus 110 may start to populate (410) the MBS history information list with the particular MBS session. Then current state of the MBS history information is = {MBS Session A, cell 2, time = x. y} .

When the first apparatus 110 is in RRC connected state or goes to connected state from idle/inactive state, the first apparatus 110 may provide (415) to the network the MBS history information that contains all the received MBS services, e.g., {MBS Session A, cell 2, time = x. y} .

The OAM 130 may provide (420) QoE measurement configurations at the second apparatus 120 such that the second apparatus 120 may configure UEs that fulfill the criteria to start QoE measurements and provide the measurement results for the network for further analysis.

Then the second apparatus 120 may utilize the MBS history information to determine (425) whether it should configure the first apparatus 110 with MBS QoE measurement or not.

The second apparatus 120 may also utilize the MBS history information for selecting which UEs it shall request to indicate the likelihood of receiving future MBS services.

Once the second apparatus 120 has determined that it should configure the first apparatus 110 with QoE measurement configuration, it may provide (430) the QoE measurement configuration via RRC signaling to the first apparatus 110 together with optional indication of the state where the configuration applies for.

While in the previous alternatives the second apparatus 120 triggers the first apparatus 110 to report the likely interest in future MBS services, in some other embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may trigger this indication towards the network autonomously. In that scenario, memory or a machine-learning model might be required at the first apparatus 110. Potentially, the first apparatus 110 can judge by the number of MBS sessions it took part in, recently. Then the first apparatus 110 may learn a certain behavior and will report a likelihood of receiving MBS session in the future to the network without the need to asked for.

It is to be understood that the solution of the present disclosure has been described with respect to the QMC for MBS, however, the same solutions may also apply to NR minimization of drive test (MDT) .

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a first device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

At block 510, the first apparatus 110 transmits, in an RRC connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions.

At block 520, the first apparatus 110 receives, from the second apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions. Block 520 may also be performed while the first apparatus 110 is in the RRC connected state.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: receiving, from the second apparatus via an RRC signaling, a request indicating the first apparatus to report the indication of the future reception of the one or more MBS sessions; and transmitting the indication in response to the request.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: receiving, in an RRC idle or inactive state from the second apparatus, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated via paging or broadcast signaling, wherein the indication at least indicating an RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the indication further indicates the first apparatus to report information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: transmitting, to the second apparatus, an indication of a cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to an RRC connected state, wherein the cause comprises at least one the following: the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus; or the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

In some example embodiments, the information further includes respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is caused to receive the at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions via an RRC reconfiguration signaling when the first apparatus is in RRC connected state.

In some example embodiments, the RRC reconfiguration signaling indicates one or more preconfigured QoE measurement configurations for an MBS session that is likely to be of interest by the first apparatus and starts in the future when the first apparatus is in RRC idle or inactive state.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: receiving, the at least one QoE measurement configuration together with an association to respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions and an indication of respective RRC states for which the at least one QoE measurement configuration is to be activated.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: in response to receiving an indication of a start of a QoE measurement configuration preconfigured to the first apparatus with a specific MBS session from the second apparatus via broadcast or paging signaling, activating the QoE measurement configuration.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: in response to receiving an indication of a start of an MBS session, activating a QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: in an RRC idle or inactive state, maintaining an MBS history information including at least one MBS session identifier, a cell where the first apparatus had received the at least one MBS service related to the one MBS session identifier and the time when the first apparatus had received the at least one MBS service related to the one MBS session identifier.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: transmitting the maintained MBS history information to the second apparatus when transiting to the RRC connected state from the RRC IDLE/INACTIVE state.

In some example embodiments, the method 500 further comprises: triggering, at least based on a history configuration of a MBS session report, a report to the second apparatus indicating the information of the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a second device in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

At block 610, the second apparatus 120 receives, from a first apparatus in an RRC connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session.

At block 620, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to the first apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus via an RRC signaling, a request indicating the first apparatus to report the indication of the future reception of the one or more MBS sessions; and receiving the indication in response to the request.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus has been participating in a previous MBS session, transmitting the request to the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus in an RRC idle or inactive state, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated via paging or broadcast signaling, wherein the indication at least indicating an RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication of a cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to an RRC connected state, wherein the cause comprises at least one the following: the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus; or the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: obtaining, from an operation administration and maintenance, OAM, a description of an MBS session identifier and a QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session identifier; and in accordance with a determination that the information includes the MBS session identifier, providing the QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session identifier to the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus, the at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions via an RRC reconfiguration signaling.

In some example embodiments, the RRC configuration signaling comprises one or more preconfigured QoE measurement configurations for an MBS session that is likely to be of interest by the first apparatus and starts in the future when the first apparatus is in an RRC idle or inactive state.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, the at least one QoE measurement configuration together with an association to respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions and an indication of respective RRC states for which the at least one QoE measurement configuration is to be activated.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus, an indication of a start of a QoE measurement configuration preconfigured to the first apparatus with a specific MBS session via broadcast or paging signaling.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: transmitting, to the first apparatus, an indication of a start of an MBS session.

In some example embodiments, the method 600 further comprises: receiving MBS history information maintained by the first apparatus when the first apparatus transits to the RRC connected state; and determining, based on the MBS history information, at least one of whether the first apparatus is to be configured with an MBS QoE measurement; whether a request of reporting the information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest in the future, is to be transmitted to the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 500 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for transmitting, in an RRC connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus via an RRC signaling, a request indicating the first apparatus to report the indication of the future reception of the one or more MBS sessions; and means for transmitting the indication in response to the request.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, in an RRC idle or inactive state from the second apparatus, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated via paging or broadcast signaling, wherein the indication at least indicating an RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, an indication of a cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to an RRC connected state, wherein the cause comprises at least one the following: the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus; or the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus is caused to receive the at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions via an RRC reconfiguration signaling when the first apparatus was in RRC connected state.

In some example embodiments, the RRC reconfiguration signaling indicates one or more preconfigured QoE measurement configurations for an MBS session that is likely to be of interest by the first apparatus and starts in the future when the first apparatus is in an RRC idle or inactive state.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, the at least one QoE measurement configuration together with an association to respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions and an indication of respective RRC states for which the at least one QoE measurement configuration is to be activated.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for, in response to receiving an indication of a start of a QoE measurement configuration preconfigured to the first apparatus with a specific MBS session from the second apparatus via broadcast or paging signaling, activating the QoE measurement configuration.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving an indication of a start of an MBS session, activating a QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for, maintaining in an RRC idle or inactive state an MBS history information including at least one MBS session identifier, a cell where the first apparatus had received the at least one MBS session identifier and the time when the first apparatus had received the at least one MBS session identifier.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting the maintained MBS history information to the second apparatus when transiting to the RRC connected state.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for triggering, at least based on a history information of a MBS sessions, a report to the second apparatus indicating the information of the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 500 or the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first apparatus in an RRC connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more MBS sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus via an RRC signaling, a request indicating the first apparatus to report the indication of the future reception of the one or more MBS sessions; and means for receiving the indication in response to the request.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for, in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus has been participating in a previous MBS session, transmitting the request to the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus in an RRC idle or inactive state, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated via paging or broadcast signaling, wherein the indication at least indicating an RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, an indication of a cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to an RRC connected state, wherein the cause comprises at least one the following: the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus; or the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for obtaining, from an operation administration and maintenance, OAM, a description of an MBS session identifier and a QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session identifier; and means for in accordance with a determination that the information includes the MBS session identifier, providing the QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session identifier to the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, the at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions via an RRC reconfiguration signaling.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, the at least one QoE measurement configuration together with an association to respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions and an indication of respective RRC states for which the at least one QoE measurement configuration is to be activated.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, an indication of a start of a QoE measurement configuration preconfigured to the first apparatus with a specific MBS session via broadcast or paging signaling.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, an indication of a start of an MBS session.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving MBS history information maintained by the first apparatus when the first apparatus transits to the RRC connected state; and means for determining, based on the MBS history information, at least one of whether the first apparatus is to be configured with an MBS QoE measurement; whether a request of reporting the information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest in the future, is to be transmitted to the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises means for performing other operations in some example embodiments of the method 600 or the second apparatus 120. In some example embodiments, the means comprise at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the performance of the second apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the processor 710.

The communication module 740 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 740 may include at least one antenna.

The processor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 724, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The instructions of the program 730 may include instructions for performing operations/acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 730 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 730 so that the device 700 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 6. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 722 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. 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) .

FIG. 8 shows an example of the computer readable medium 800 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 800 has the program 730 stored thereon.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A first apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:

transmit, in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more Multicast and Broadcast Service, MBS, sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and

receive, from the second apparatus, at least one quality of experience, QoE, measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.
The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

receive, from the second apparatus via an RRC signaling, a request indicating the first apparatus to report the indication of the future reception of the one or more MBS sessions; and

transmit the indication in response to the request.
The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

receive, in an RRC idle or inactive state from the second apparatus, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated via paging or broadcast signaling, wherein the indication at least indicating a RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus.
The first apparatus of claim 3, wherein the indication further indicates the first apparatus to report information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.
The first apparatus of claim 3 or 4, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

transmit, to the second apparatus, an indication of a cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to an RRC connected state, wherein the cause comprises at least one the following:

the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus; or

the one or more MBS sessions are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein the information further includes respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-6, wherein the first apparatus is caused to receive the at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions via an RRC reconfiguration signaling when the first apparatus is in RRC connected state.
The first apparatus of the claim 7, wherein the RRC reconfiguration signaling indicates one or more preconfigured QoE measurement configurations for an MBS session that is likely to be of interest by the first apparatus and starts in the future when the first apparatus is in an RRC idle or inactive state.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-8, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

receive, the at least one QoE measurement configuration together with an association to respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions and an indication of respective RRC states for which the at least one QoE measurement configuration is to be activated.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

in response to receiving an indication of a start of a QoE measurement configuration preconfigured to the first apparatus with a specific MBS session from the second apparatus via broadcast or paging signaling, activate the QoE measurement configuration.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

in response to receiving an indication of a start of an MBS session, activate a QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-9, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

in an RRC idle or inactive state, maintain an MBS history information including at least one MBS session identifier, a cell where the first apparatus had received the at least one MBS session identifier and the time when the first apparatus had received the at least one MBS session identifier.
The first apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

transmit the maintained MBS history information to the second apparatus when transiting to the RRC connected state.
The first apparatus of any of claims 1-13, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:

trigger, at least based on a history configuration of a MSB session report, a report to the second apparatus indicating the information of the one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.
A second apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:

receive, from a first apparatus in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more Multicast and Broadcast Service, MBS, sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and

transmit, to the first apparatus, at least one quality of experience, QoE, measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.
The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

transmit, to the first apparatus via an RRC signaling, a request indicating the first apparatus to report the indication of the future reception of the one or more MBS sessions; and

receive the indication in response to the request.
The second apparatus of claim 16, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

in accordance with a determination that the first apparatus has been participating in a previous MBS session, transmit the request to the first apparatus.
The second apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

transmit, to the first apparatus in an RRC idle or inactive state, an indication associated with the QoE measurement configuration to be activated via paging or broadcast signaling, wherein the indication at least indicating a RRC connection to be resumed by the first apparatus to be configured with the QoE measurement configuration if the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus.
The second apparatus of claim 18, wherein the indication further indicates the first apparatus to report information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.
The second apparatus of claim 18 or 19, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

receive, from the first apparatus, an indication of a cause of resumption of the RRC connection while transitioning to an RRC connected state, wherein the cause comprises at least one the following:

the QoE measurement configuration to be activated is not available at the first apparatus; or

the one or more MBS sessions are likely to be of interest by the first apparatus in the future.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-20, wherein the information further includes respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-21, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

obtain, from an operation administration and maintenance, OAM, a description of an MBS session identifier and a QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session identifier; and

in accordance with a determination that the information includes the MBS session identifier, provide the QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the MBS session identifier to the first apparatus.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-22, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

transmit, to the first apparatus, the at least one QoE measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more MBS sessions via an RRC reconfiguration signaling.
The second apparatus of claim 23, wherein the RRC configuration signaling comprises one or more preconfigured QoE measurement configurations for an MBS session that is likely to be of interest by the first apparatus and starts in the future when the first apparatus is in an RRC idle or inactive state.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-24, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

transmit, the at least one QoE measurement configuration together with an association to respective identifiers of the one or more MBS sessions and an indication of respective RRC states for which the at least one QoE measurement configuration is to be activated.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-25, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

transmit, to the first apparatus, an indication of a start of a QoE measurement configuration preconfigured to the first apparatus with a specific MBS session via broadcast or paging signaling.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-25, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

transmit, to the first apparatus, an indication of a start of an MBS session.
The second apparatus of any of claims 15-27, wherein the second apparatus is caused to:

receive MBS history information maintained by the first apparatus when the first apparatus transits to the RRC connected state; and

determine, based on the MBS history information, at least one of the following:

whether the first apparatus is to be configured with an MBS QoE measurement;

whether a request of reporting the information of one or more MBS sessions that are likely to be of interest in the future, is to be transmitted to the first apparatus.
A method comprising:

transmitting, in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more Multicast and Broadcast Service, MBS, sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and

receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one quality of experience, QoE, measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.
A method comprising:

receiving, from a first apparatus in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more Multicast and Broadcast Service, MBS, sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and

transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one quality of experience, QoE, measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.
A first apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting, in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state, to a second apparatus, an indication of future reception of one or more Multicast and Broadcast Service, MBS, sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS sessions; and

means for receiving, from the second apparatus, at least one quality of experience, QoE, measurement configuration corresponding to the indicated one or more MBS sessions.
A second apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, from a first apparatus in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state, an indication of future reception of one or more Multicast and Broadcast Service, MBS, sessions, the indication including respective time point or time points at which the one or more MBS sessions are about to start and at least one RRC state for the first apparatus to receive the one or more MBS session; and

means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, at least one quality of experience, QoE, measurement configuration corresponding to the one or more indicated MBS sessions.
A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 29 or the method of claim 30.