WO2024098580A1

WO2024098580A1 - Reporting mechanism for ai/ml related information

Info

Publication number: WO2024098580A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/076882
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jiajun Chen; Dapeng Li; Yin Gao
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2023-02-17
Filing date: 2023-02-17
Publication date: 2024-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 2025-08-17
Also published as: EP4652763A1; CN120712819A

Abstract

A method includes a first wireless access network node providing, as part of a request message transmitted to a second wireless access network node, a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second wireless access network node to perform, and a Partial Reporting Indication Information Element (IE) indicating whether partial reporting is allowed. Alternatively or additionally, the method includes the second wireless access network node determining which of the one or more requested measurements it is capable of performing, and transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, a message request response, including a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated, or an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated.

Description

Reporting Mechanism for AI/ML Related Information

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to mechanisms for reporting Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning (AI/ML) related information.

BACKGROUND

In a cellular network, base stations (also referred to as wireless access network nodes or WANNs, often request various reports from other base stations, as well as receive reports from other base stations. One such example report is a resource status report initiated between base stations. As is shown in FIG. 3, a first base station 302 (e.g., a first Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) node may utilize a resource status initiation procedure to request a resource status report from a second base station 304 (e.g., a second NG-RAN node) . The first base station 302 may initiate the procedure by sending a RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message 306 to the second base station 304 to start a measurement involving requested characteristics per the request message 306. The type of the report characteristics information element (IE) is bit string. Each position in the bitmap indicates a measurement object that the second base station 304 is requested to report. If the second base station 304 is capable of providing all the requested resource status information, it will initiate the measurement as requested by first base station 302 and respond with a RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE message 308. However, if it cannot provide all of the requested resource status information, the second base station 304 will respond with a RESOURCE STATUS FAILURE message 310. The second base station 304 then will measure the requested resource statuses 312, and will then initiate a RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE message 314 to the first base station 302 to report the result of measurements. Other requests and procedures are also known.

SUMMARY

This disclosure generally relates to mechanisms for reporting Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning (AI/ML) related information. AI and ML functions are being implemented in base stations with increasing frequency to analyze and provide predictions on networks and device information. It may be beneficial to share such AI/ML information between different base stations. As such, the present disclosure is directed to mechanisms for providing such AI/ML related information.

As discussed above, various reporting mechanisms are known to report various information (e.g., resource status) , for example, as part of the current NR specification. In various embodiments, procedures for reporting AI/ML related information may generally follow known reporting mechanisms. However, AI/ML related information is not similar to the traditional resource status measurements. Traditional measurements are generally directed to historical information, which means such information always exists in normal situations. However, whether or not AI/ML predicted information can be generated is based on the AI capabilities of the base station (e.g., the capabilities of the second base station 304 in the above example) . With respect to the procedure used for AI/ML information, a base station (e.g., the second base station 304) may not be able to satisfy all the requested measurements in a request.

For example, with reference again to FIG. 3, the first base station 302 may request the second base station 304 to provide predicted resource status, a predicted number of active UEs, and predicted RRC Connections. However, at the time of the request, the second base station 304 may only be able provide the predicted resource status, and may not have the capability to predict the other requested measurement. As such, under existing reporting mechanisms, the overall AI/ML information initiation procedure would fail. Further, despite the fact that the second base station 304 may be able to perform the predicted resource status measurement, it will not provide that report because the overall reporting procedure will fail. Importantly, the first base station 302, which requested the measurement, will not be able to understand which specific information the second base station 304 cannot provide. As such, at a next time, the procedure will still fail because all of the requested measurements cannot be initiated. From the AI/ML perspective, there is no need that the AI/ML model, which generates the reporting information and decisions, achieves all the requested AI/ML information. However, there is a need for a mechanism for the base stations to be able to provide the information that they are capable of reporting to each other. As such, partial reporting mechanisms are disclosed herein, which are supported at least with respect to procedures for requesting and reporting AI/ML information.

In some exemplary implementations, a method performed by a first wireless access network node (e.g., first base station) is disclosed. The method may include the first wireless access network node providing, as part of a request message to a second wireless access network node (e.g., a second base station) , a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second wireless access network node to perform. In certain embodiments, the request message may also include a Partial Reporting Indication Information Element (IE) , wherein the Partial Reporting Indication IE indicates whether partial reporting responsive to the request message is allowed. The method may also include transmitting the request message to the second wireless access network node. Similarly, a method performed by the second wireless access network node is also disclosed, which may include the second wireless access network node receiving the request message. The method may further include the second wireless access network node determining whether the second wireless access network node is able to perform the one or more requested measurements.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the method also includes the second wireless access network node transmitting a message request response to the first wireless access network node, and the first wireless access network node receiving the message request response. The message request response may indicate that the second wireless access network node is able to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the method also includes the second wireless access network node transmitting a message request failure response to the first wireless access network node, and the first wireless access network node receiving the message request failure response. The message request response failure response may indicate that the second wireless access network node is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node. In some implementations, the message request failure response may include a cause value indicating a partial reporting failure.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the method also includes the first wireless access network node providing, as part of the request message to the second wireless access network node, a timing information IE indicating a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the method also includes the second wireless access network node performing at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements. The method may also include the second wireless access network node transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, a request message information update/report response, and the first wireless access network node receiving the request message information update/report response. The request message information update/report response may include at least one result of the at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be independent of or combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the method also includes the second wireless access network node determining which of the one or more requested measurements the second wireless access network node is capable of performing. The method also includes the second wireless access network node transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, as part of the message request response, at least one of a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated, or an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated. The method may also include the first wireless access network node receiving such a message request response.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be independent of or combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the request message may be an Artificial Intelligence /Machine Learning (AI/ML) Information Request message, the message request response may be an AI/ML Information Response message, the message request failure response may be an AI/ML Information Failure message, and the request message information update/report response may be an AI/ML Information Update/Report message.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be independent of or combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the request message may be Handover Request message, the message request response may be a Handover Request Acknowledge message, the message request failure response may be a Handover Preparation Failure message, and the request message information update/report response may be an AI/ML Information Update/Report message.

In some exemplary implementations, which may be independent of or combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the first wireless access network node may be a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) , and the second wireless access network node may be a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) . Similarly, in other implementations, the first wireless access network node may be a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) , and the second wireless access network node may be a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) .

In some other implementations, an apparatus for wireless communication such as a network device is disclosed. The network device main include one or more processors and one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to read computer code from the one or more memories to implement any one of the methods above. The apparatus for wireless communication may be the wireless access network node.

In yet some other implementations, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer code stored thereupon, the computer code, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to implement any one of the methods above.

The above embodiments and other aspects and alternatives of their implementations are explained in greater detail in the drawings, the descriptions, and the claims below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a wireless access network with exemplary wireless communications in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows various example processing components of the devices shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows communications between a first and second base station in accordance with a known mechanism.

FIG. 4 shows communications between a first and second base station in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 shows communications between the first and second base station in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 shows communications between the first and second base station in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7 shows communications between the first and second base station in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technology and examples of implementations and/or embodiments described in this disclosure can be used to facilitate channel and interference measurement in wireless access networks. The term “exemplary” is used to mean “an example of” and unless otherwise stated, does not imply an ideal or preferred example, implementation, or embodiment. Section headers are used in the present disclosure to facilitate understanding of the disclosed implementations and are not intended to limit the disclosed technology in the sections only to the corresponding section. The disclosed implementations may be further embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, the scope of this disclosure or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any of the embodiments set forth below. The various implementations may be embodied as methods, devices, components, systems, or non-transitory computer readable media. Accordingly, embodiments of this disclosure may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof.

Disclosed herein are new mechanisms for reporting AI/ML related information. As part of these reporting mechanisms, mechanisms to enable partial reporting are disclosed herein, which are supported at least with respect to procedures for requesting and reporting AI/ML information. This enables base stations and UEs having different measurement and reporting capabilities to still be able to provide such measurement results and reporting in accordance with their ability, thereby still allowing for the exchange of information when requested.

Wireless Network Overview

A wireless communication network may include a radio access network for providing network access to wireless terminal devices, and a core network for routing data between the access networks or between the wireless network and other types of data networks. In a wireless access network, radio resources are provided for allocation and used for transmitting data and control information. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless access network 100 including a first wireless access network node (WANN) or first base station 102 (herein referred to as first wireless base station, first base station, first wireless access node, first wireless access network node, first WANN, or first NG-RAN node) . The wireless access network 100 may also include a second wireless access network node (WANN) or second wireless base station 108 (herein referred to as second wireless base station, second base station, second wireless access node, second wireless access network node, second WANN, or second NG-RAN node) . In various embodiments, the first base station 102 and the second base station 108 may communicate with each other, for example, using request messages 112 and response messages 114. The present disclosure provides improvements to these messages.

The wireless access network 100 may also include a wireless terminal device or user equipment (UE) 104 (herein referred to as user equipment, UE, terminal device, or wireless terminal device) . The first base station 102, second base station 108, and/or the UE 104 communicate with each other via over-the-air (OTA) radio communication resources 106. The wireless access network 100 may be implemented as, as for example, a 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, or 5G cellular radio access network. Correspondingly, the first base station 102 and/or the second base station 108 may be implemented as a 2G base station, a 3G node B, an LTE eNB, or a 5G New Radio (NR) gNB. The UE 104 may be implemented as mobile or fixed communication devices installed with mobile identity modules for accessing the base station 102. The user equipment 104 may include but is not limited to mobile phones, laptop computers, tablets, personal digital assistants, wearable devices, distributed remote sensor devices, and desktop computers. Alternatively, the wireless access network 100 may be implemented as other types of radio access networks, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiMax networks.

FIG. 2 further shows example processing components of the first base station 102 and the UE 104 of FIG. 1. The processing components of the first base station 102 are the same as those of the second base station 108 in various embodiments. The UE 104, for example, may include transceiver circuitry 206 coupled to one or more antennas 208 to effectuate wireless communication with the WANN 102 (or to other UEs) . The transceiver circuitry 206 may also be coupled to a processor 210, which may also be coupled to a memory 212 or other storage devices. The memory 212 may be transitory or non-transitory and may store therein computer instructions or code which, when read and executed by the processor 210, cause the processor 210 to implement various ones of the, functions, methods, and processes described herein. Likewise, the first base station 102 and the second base station 108 may each include transceiver circuitry 214 coupled to one or more antennas 216, which may include an antenna tower 218 in various forms, to effectuate wireless communications with the UE 104 and/or with the other base station (e.g., so that the first base station 102 can communicate with the second base station 108) . The transceiver circuitry 214 may be coupled to one or more processors 220, which may further be coupled to a memory 222 or other storage devices. The memory 222 may be transitory or non-transitory and may store therein instructions or code that, when read and executed by the one or more processors 220, cause the one or more processors 220 to implement various functions, methods, and processes of the first base station 102 or the second base station 108 described herein.

Description of New Mechanisms for Reporting

As mentioned above, in accordance with various embodiments, new mechanisms are disclosed for reporting AI/ML related information. As part of these reporting mechanisms, mechanisms to enable partial reporting are disclosed herein. This enables base stations having different measurement and reporting capabilities to still provide measurement results and reporting in accordance with their ability, thereby still allowing for the exchange of information even when all of the requested or desired reporting cannot be provided.

FIG. 4 illustrates communications between the first base station 102 and the second base station 108 in accordance with various embodiments. In various embodiments, a method performed by the first base station 102 (e.g., a WANN) and/or the second base station 108 for reporting AI/ML related information is disclosed. In one approach, the new reporting mechanism follows a similar reporting mechanism as the Resource Status Initiation procedure, with significant differences and improvements.

In various embodiments, the first base station 102 initiates a request message (e.g., an AI/ML information request message) 406 to the second base station 108. As part of that request message 406, the first base station 102 may provide a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second base station 108 to perform (e.g., the type of objects the second wireless base station 108 shall perform measurements on) . Further, the request message 406 may also include a Partial Reporting Indication Information Element (IE) , which indicates whether partial reporting responsive to the request message is allowed. The first base station 102 may then transmit this request message 406 to the second base station 108, which in turn receives the request message 406.

In response to receiving the request message 406, the second base station 108 may determine whether it is able to perform the one or more requested measurements. If the Partial Reporting Indication IE is set to “true, ” and the second base station 108 determines that, based on its capability, it is able to perform all or some of the one or more requested measurements and provide all or part of the requested information, the second base station 108 may respond back to the first base station 102 with a message request response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION RESPONSE) message 408 indicating that it is configured successfully, for example, that it is able to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node 102.

If the Partial Reporting Indication IE in the request message 406 is set to “false” or is not included in the request message 406, and the second base station 108 determines that, based on its capability, it is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and can only provide part of the requested information back to the first wireless access network node, then the second base station 108 may respond with a message request failure response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION FAILURE) message 410. The second base station 108 may transmit the message request failure response 410 to the first base station 102, which is received by the first base station 102, wherein the message request response failure response 410 indicates that the second base station 108 is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.

In various embodiments, only when the second base station 108 is able to provide all of the requested information, will it send the message request response (e.g., the AI/ML INFORMATION RESPONSE) message 408 indicating that it is configured successfully. Otherwise, the second base station 108 will send the message request failure response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION FAILURE) message 410.

In various embodiments, the second base station 108 may include in the message request failure response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION FAILURE) message 410 an appropriate cause value indication a partial reporting failure. In various examples, the cause value may be “Partial Reporting Failure. ”

In certain embodiments, the first base station 102 may provide, and the second base station 108 may receive, as part of the request message (e.g., the AI/ML information request message) 406, a timing information IE. The timing information IE may indicate a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration.

If configured successfully, the second base station 108 may perform at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements (as shown at 412) , which may include measuring the requested resource status AI/ML related information. Then, the second base station 108 may transmit to the first base station 102 a request message information update/report response (e.g., AI/ML INFORMATION UPDATE/REPORT) message 414, which is received by the first base station 102. By this, the request message information update/report response message 414 may be either or both of an AI/ML INFORMATION UPDATE message, or an AI/ML INFORMATION REPORT message. The request message information update/report response 414 may include at least one result of the at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements.

Accordingly, base stations are enabled to provide partial reporting. This new mechanism enables base stations having different measurement and reporting capabilities to still be able to provide measurement results and reporting in accordance with their ability, even if providing less results than originally requested, thereby still allowing for the exchange of information when requested.

FIG. 5 illustrates communications between the first base station 102 and the second base station 108 in accordance with an alternative embodiment. In various embodiments, unlike FIG. 4, a request message (e.g., an AI/ML information request message) 506 may omit or otherwise not include the Partial Reporting Indication IE. The request message 506 may include the Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second base station to perform. Accordingly, in such an approach, in order to still allow for partial reporting, the second base station 108 will indicate which of the requested measurements or reports it is able to provide in a message request response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION RESPONSE) message 508. More specifically, the second base station 108 may determine which of the one or more requested measurements the second base station 108 is capable of performing. Then, the second base station 108 may transmit to the first base station 102, as part of the message request response 506, a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated. Alternatively, or additionally, the second base station 108 may transmit to the first base station 102, as part of the message request response 506, an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated. This allows for partial reporting by virtue of the message request response 506 send by the second base station 108.

The remainder of the steps and communications are identical or similar to those illustrated with respect to FIG. 4. That is, the second base station 108 may respond to the first base station 102 with a message request failure response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION FAILURE) message 410, which is received by the first base station 102, which message request response failure response 410 may indicate that the second base station 108 is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first base station 102. The second base station 108 may include in the message request failure response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION FAILURE) message 410 an appropriate cause value indication a partial reporting failure. The first base station 102 may provide, and the second base station 108 may receive, as part of the request message (e.g., the AI/ML information request message) 506, a timing information IE, which may indicate a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration. The second base station 108 may perform at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements (as shown at 412) . Then, the second base station 108 may transmit to the first base station 102 the request message information update/report response (e.g., AI/ML INFORMATION UPDATE/REPORT) message 414, which is received by the first base station 102, and which may include at least one result of the at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements.

FIG. 6 illustrates communications between the first base station 102 and the second base station 108 in accordance with another alternative embodiment. This alternative embodiment includes aspects of both the embodiments of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 together. Although the embodiment of FIG. 5 is discussed above in the context of a request message (e.g., an AI/ML information request message) 506 that omits or otherwise does not include the Partial Reporting Indication IE, the embodiment of FIG. 6 combines the message request response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION RESPONSE) message 508 of FIG. 5 with the method disclosed in FIG. 4. That is, in various embodiments, the method and mechanism as discussed above with respect to FIG. 4 may be further altered to include the message request response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION RESPONSE) message 508 of FIG. 5, including the Successful Reporting Characteristic IE and/or the Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE. Put another way, in various embodiments, the message request response (e.g., an AI/ML INFORMATION RESPONSE) message 508 of FIG. 5, including the Successful Reporting Characteristic IE and/or the Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, may be provided in response to the request message (e.g., an AI/ML information request message) 406 as described in FIG. 4, which includes the Partial Reporting Indication IE. The remainder of the signals and communications are as discussed above.

FIG. 7 illustrates communications between the first base station 102 and the second base station 108 in accordance with another alternative embodiment. In this alternative embodiment, the reporting is conducted in the context of a handover request instead of an AI/ML information request. The same teachings discussed above with respect to the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4-6, but merely in the context of the handover request. That is, while the various disclosed method steps and information elements included within the messages are identical to those discussed above, the messages in which they are sent are different. Specifically, in this embodiment, the request message may be a HANDOVER REQUEST message 706. The message request response may be a HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message 708. The message request failure response may be a HANDOVER PREPARATION FAILURE message 710. Similarly, the request message information update/report response may be an AI/ML INFORMATION UPDATE/REPORT message 714.

In the various embodiments discussed above, in certain approaches, the first base station 102 may be a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) , and the second base station 108 may be a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) . Alternatively, the first base station 102 may be a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) , and the second base station 108 may be a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) .

The description and accompanying drawings above provide specific example embodiments and implementations. The described subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein. A reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, systems, or non-transitory computer-readable media for storing computer codes. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware, storage media or any combination thereof. For example, the method embodiments described above may be implemented by components, devices, or systems including memory and processors by executing computer codes stored in the memory.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment/implementation/example/approach” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment/implementation/example/approach” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter includes combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage in context. For example, terms, such as “and” , “or” , or “and/or, ” as used herein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a, ” “an, ” or “the, ” may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at least in part on context.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present solution should be or are included in any single implementation thereof. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present solution. Thus, discussions of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout the specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages and characteristics of the present solution may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize, in light of the description herein, that the present solution can be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present solution.

Claims

A method performed by a first wireless access network node, the method comprising:

providing, as part of a request message to a second wireless access network node:

a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second wireless access network node to perform; and

a Partial Reporting Indication Information Element (IE) , wherein the Partial Reporting Indication IE indicates whether partial reporting responsive to the request message is allowed; and

transmitting the request message to the second wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a message request response from the second wireless access network node, wherein the message request response indicates that the second wireless access network node is able to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a message request failure response from the second wireless access network node, wherein the message request response failure response indicates that the second wireless access network node is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the message request failure response includes a cause value indicating a partial reporting failure.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing, as part of the request message to the second wireless access network node:

a timing information IE, wherein the timing information IE indicates a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the second wireless access network node, a request message information update/report response, wherein the request message information update/report response includes at least one result of at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements performed by the second wireless access network node responsive to the request message.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the second wireless access network node, as part of the message request response, at least one of:

a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated; or

an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated.
A method performed by a first wireless access network node, the method comprising:

providing, as part of a request message to a second wireless access network node:

a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second wireless access network node to perform;

transmitting the request message to the second wireless access network node; and

receiving, from the second wireless access network node, a message request response including at least one of:

a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated; or

an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated.
The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a message request failure response from the second wireless access network node, wherein the message request response failure response indicates that the second wireless access network node is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the message request failure response includes a cause value indicating a partial reporting failure.
The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

providing, as part of the request message to the second wireless access network node:

a timing information IE, wherein the timing information IE indicates a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration.
The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, from the second wireless access network node, a request message information update/report response, wherein the request message information update/report response includes at least one result of at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements performed by the second wireless access network node responsive to the request message.
A method performed by a second wireless access network node, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first wireless access network node, a request message including:

a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second wireless access network node to perform; and

a Partial Reporting Indication Information Element (IE) , wherein the Partial Reporting Indication IE indicates whether partial reporting responsive to the request message is allowed; and

determining whether the second wireless access network node is able to perform the one or more requested measurements.
The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting a message request response to the first wireless access network node, wherein the message request response indicates that the second wireless access network node is able to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting a message request failure response to the first wireless access network node, wherein the message request response failure response indicates that the second wireless access network node is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 15, further comprising:

including a cause value indicating a partial reporting failure as part of the message request failure response.
The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, as part of the request message from the first wireless access network node:

a timing information IE, wherein the timing information IE indicates a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration.
The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

performing at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements; and

transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, a request message information update/report response, wherein the request message information update/report response includes at least one result of the at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements.
The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

determining which of the one or more requested measurements the second wireless access network node is capable of performing; and

transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, as part of the message request response, at least one of:

a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated; or

an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated.
A method performed by a second wireless access network node, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first wireless access network node, a request message including:

a Report Characteristics indication, indicating one or more requested measurements for the second wireless access network node to perform;

determining which of the one or more requested measurements the second wireless access network node is capable of performing; and

transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, a message request response including at least one of:

a Successful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are successfully indicated; or

an Unsuccessful Reporting Characteristic IE, indicating which of the one or more requested measurements of the request message are unsuccessfully indicated.
The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

transmitting a message request failure response to the first wireless access network node, wherein the message request response failure response indicates that the second wireless access network node is unable to perform the one or more requested measurements and provide at least one measurement result back to the first wireless access network node.
The method according to claim 21, further comprising:

including a cause value indicating a partial reporting failure as part of the message request failure response.
The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, as part of the request message from the first wireless access network node:

a timing information IE, wherein the timing information IE indicates a time range of requested information pertinent to the request message, including at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration.
The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

performing at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements; and

transmitting, to the first wireless access network node, a request message information update/report response, wherein the request message information update/report response includes at least one result of the at least one requested measurement of the one or more requested measurements.
The method according to any of claims 1-24, wherein the request message is an Artificial Intelligence /Machine Learning (AI/ML) Information Request message.
The method according to any of claims 2, 7, 8, 14, 19, or 20-25, wherein the message request response is an AI/ML Information Response message.
The method according to any of claims 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 16, 21, 22, or 25, wherein the message request failure response is an AI/ML Information Failure message.
The method according to any of claims 6, 12, 18, 24, or 25, wherein the request message information update/report response is an AI/ML Information Update/Report message.
The method according to any of claims 1-24, wherein the request message is Handover Request message.
The method according to any of claims 2, 7, 8, 14, 19, 20-24, or 29, wherein the message request response is a Handover Request Acknowledge message.
The method according to any of claims 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 16, 21, 22, or 29, wherein the message request failure response is a Handover Preparation Failure message.
The method according to any of claims 6, 12, 18, 24, or 29, wherein the request message information update/report response is an AI/ML INFORMATION UPDATE/REPORT message.
The method according to any of claims 1-32, wherein the first wireless access network node is a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) , and wherein the second wireless access network node is a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) .
The method according to any of claims 1-32, wherein the first wireless access network node is a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) , and wherein the second wireless access network node is a gNB Centralized Unit (gNB-CU) .
An apparatus for wireless communication comprising a processor that is configured to carry out the method of any of claims 1 to 34.
A non-transitory computer readable medium having code stored thereon, the code when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement the method recited in any of claims 1 to 34.