WO2025071581A1

WO2025071581A1 - Configuring ue for collecting and reporting data associated with roaming network

Info

Publication number: WO2025071581A1
Application number: PCT/US2023/074990
Authority: WO
Inventors: Navin Hathiramani
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy; Nokia of America Corp
Current assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy; Nokia of America Corp
Priority date: 2023-09-25
Filing date: 2023-09-25
Publication date: 2025-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-25

Abstract

An example method may include receiving, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is enabled; collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

Description

CONFIGURING UE FOR COLLECTING AND REPORTING DATA ASSOCIATED WITH ROAMING NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This description relates to wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

[0002] A communication system may be a facility that enables communication between two or more nodes or devices, such as fixed or mobile communication devices. Signals can be carried on wired or wireless carriers.

[0003] An example of a cellular communication system is an architecture that is being standardized by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A recent development in this field is often referred to as the long-term evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio-access technology. E-UTRA (evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) is the air interface of 3GPP's Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for mobile networks. In LTE, base stations or access points (APs), which are referred to as enhanced Node AP (eNBs), provide wireless access within a coverage area or cell. In LTE, mobile devices, or mobile stations are referred to as user equipments (UE). LTE has included a number of improvements or developments. Aspects of LTE are also continuing to improve.

[0004] 5G New Radio (NR) development is part of a continued mobile broadband evolution process to meet the requirements of 5G, similar to earlier evolution of 3G and 4G wireless networks. In addition, 5G is also targeted at the new emerging use cases in addition to mobile broadband. A goal of 5G is to provide significant improvement in wireless performance, which may include new levels of data rate, latency, reliability, and security. 5G NR may also scale to efficiently connect the massive Internet of Things (loT) and may offer new types of mission-critical services. For example, ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) devices may require high reliability and very low latency.

6G and other wireless networks and technologies are also being developed. SUMMARY

[0005] According to another example embodiment, an apparatus may include: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receive, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is enabled; collect, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

[0006] According to an example embodiment, a method may include: receiving, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is enabled; collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network. Other example embodiments are provided or described for each of the example methods, including: means for performing any of the example methods; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to perform any of the example methods; and an apparatus including at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform any of the example methods.

[0007] The details of one or more examples of embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network according to an example embodiment.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a user device or UE according to an example embodiment.

[0010] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a network according to an example embodiment.

[0011] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a UE according to another example embodiment.

[0012] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a wireless station or node (e.g., AP, BS, RAN node, UE or user device, or network node).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network 130 according to an example embodiment. In the wireless network 130 of FIG. 1, user devices 131, 132, 133 and 135, which may also be referred to as mobile stations (MSs) or user equipment (UEs), may be connected (and in communication) with a base station (BS) 134, which may also be referred to as an access point (AP), an enhanced Node B (eNB), a gNB or a network node. The terms user device and user equipment (UE) may be used interchangeably. A BS may also include or may be referred to as a RAN (radio access network) node, and may include a portion of a BS or a portion of a RAN node, such as (e.g., such as a centralized unit (CU) and/or a distributed unit (DU) in the case of a split BS or split gNB). At least part of the functionalities of a BS (e.g., access point (AP), base station (BS) or (e)Node B (eNB), gNB, RAN node) may also be carried out by any node, server or host which may be operably coupled to a transceiver, such as a remote radio head. BS (or AP) 134 provides wireless coverage within a cell 136, including to user devices (or UEs) 131, 132, 133 and 135. Although only four user devices (or UEs) are shown as being connected or attached to BS 134, any number of user devices may be provided. BS 134 is also connected to a core network 150 via a SI interface 151. This is merely one simple example of a wireless network, and others may be used.

[0014] A base station (e.g., such as BS 134) is an example of a radio access network (RAN) node within a wireless network. A BS (or a RAN node) may be or may include (or may alternatively be referred to as), e.g., an access point (AP), a gNB, an eNB, or portion thereof (such as a /centralized unit (CU) and/or a distributed unit (DU) in the case of a split BS or split gNB), or other network node.

[0015] According to an illustrative example, a BS node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) or a radio access network (RAN) may be part of a mobile telecommunication system. A RAN (radio access network) may include one or more BSs or RAN nodes that implement a radio access technology, e.g., to allow one or more UEs to have access to a network or core network. Thus, for example, the RAN (RAN nodes, such as BSs or gNBs) may reside between one or more user devices or UEs and a core network. According to an example embodiment, each RAN node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) or BS may provide one or more wireless communication services for one or more UEs or user devices, e.g., to allow the UEs to have wireless access to a network, via the RAN node. Each RAN node or BS may perform or provide wireless communication services, e.g., such as allowing UEs or user devices to establish a wireless connection to the RAN node, and sending data to and/or receiving data from one or more of the UEs. For example, after establishing a connection to a UE, a RAN node or network node (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) may forward data to the UE that is received from a network or the core network, and/or forward data received from the UE to the network or core network. RAN nodes or network nodes (e.g., BS, eNB, gNB, CU/DU, . . .) may perform a wide variety of other wireless functions or services, e.g., such as broadcasting control information (e.g., such as system information or on-demand system information) to UEs, paging UEs when there is data to be delivered to the UE, assisting in handover of a UE between cells, scheduling of resources for uplink data transmission from the UE(s) and downlink data transmission to UE(s), sending control information to configure one or more UEs, and the like. These are a few examples of one or more functions that a RAN node or BS may perform.

[0016] A user device (user terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile terminal, handheld wireless device, etc.) may refer to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating either with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (MS), a mobile phone, a cell phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handset, a device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), a laptop and/or touch screen computer, a tablet, a phablet, a game console, a notebook, a vehicle, a sensor, and a multimedia device, as examples, or any other wireless device. It should be appreciated that a user device may also be (or may include) a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network.

[0017] In LTE (as an illustrative example), core network 150 may be referred to as Evolved Packet Core (EPC), which may include a mobility management entity (MME) which may handle or assist with mobility/handover of user devices between BSs, one or more gateways that may forward data and control signals between the BSs and packet data networks or the Internet, and other control functions or blocks. Other types of wireless networks, such as 5G (which may be referred to as New Radio (NR)) may also include a core network.

[0018] Embodiments described herein may be applied to the above-described wireless network or to another wireless network. The wireless network may be or may include a radio access network of a cellular communication system.

[0019] In addition, the techniques described herein may be applied to various types of user devices or data service types, or may apply to user devices that may have multiple applications running thereon that may be of different data service types. New Radio (5G) development may support a number of different applications or a number of different data service types, such as for example: machine type communications (MTC), enhanced machine type communication (eMTC), Internet of Things (loT), and/or narrowband loT user devices, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC). Many of these new 5G (NR) - related applications may require generally higher performance than previous wireless networks.

[0020] loT may refer to an ever-growing group of objects that may have Internet or network connectivity, so that these objects may send information to and receive information from other network devices. For example, many sensor type applications or devices may monitor a physical condition or a status, and may send a report to a server or other network device, e.g., when an event occurs. Machine Type Communications (MTC, or Machine to Machine communications) may, for example, be characterized by fully automatic data generation, exchange, processing and actuation among intelligent machines, with or without the intervention of humans. Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) may support much higher data rates than currently available in LTE.

[0021] Ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) is a new data service type, or new usage scenario, which may be supported for New Radio (5G) systems. This enables emerging new applications and services, such as industrial automations, autonomous driving, vehicular safety, e-health services, and so on. 3GPP targets in providing connectivity with reliability corresponding to block error rate (BLER) of 10'⁵ and up tol ms U-Plane (user/data plane) latency, by way of illustrative example. Thus, for example, URLLC user devices/UEs may require a significantly lower block error rate than other types of user devices/UEs as well as low latency (with or without requirement for simultaneous high reliability). Thus, for example, a URLLC UE (or URLLC application on a UE) may require much shorter latency, as compared to a eMBB UE (or an eMBB application running on a UE).

[0022] The techniques described herein may be applied to a wide variety of wireless technologies or wireless networks, such as LTE, LTE-A, 5G (New Radio (NR)), cmWave, and/or mmWave band networks, loT, MTC, eMTC, eMBB, 6G, URLLC, ambient wireless networks such as ambient loT wireless networks or systems, etc., or any other wireless network or wireless technology. These example networks, technologies or data service types are provided only as illustrative examples.

[0023] In some cases, a wireless network may use minimization of drive test (MDT) mechanisms or techniques to configure the UE and then for the UE to report or provide feedback to the network. MDT may be or may include a standardized mechanism or protocol to allow the UE to generally provide network data or feedback to the network, e.g., where the network (e.g., gNB or 0AM (Operations, Administration, and Maintenance) or other network entity) configures the UE with a configuration, and the UE reports measurement logs with the requested data or information that was configured for measurement and reporting.

[0024] According to an example embodiment, to conserve energy, a first wireless network operator, or a first wireless network (e.g., a home network) may configure its UEs to roam to another network(s) (e.g., to roam to a gNB of another wireless network operator). This may allow the home network to shut down parts of its network during certain time periods when its users or UEs have roamed to a second network or to a gNB of a second wireless network operator. Network sharing may be used to allow wireless network operators to shut down parts of their network in certain areas during certain times of the day with low traffic. The users of the operator(s) who shut down their network would then be served by a/the remaining active network(s). This enables to reduce the amount of actively transmitting base stations/gNBs during low traffic periods resulting in energy consumption reductions. The roaming in this context may thus be understood to mean that the UE resides in a coverage area of the home network but is still configured to roam to the second network in order to enable the shut down in the home network. This distinguishes from roaming scenarios where the UE resides outside the coverage area of the home network.

[0025] For energy efficiency purposes, a home public land mobile network (Home PLMN or HPLMN) may want to switch off part of its network during periods of low traffic and configure its subscribers or UEs to use the network of other mobile network operators (e.g., have its subscribers or UEs roam to a roaming network).

[0026] In another embodiment, a first wireless network operator may configure some of its UEs to roam to another networks(s) of another wireless operator for certain services not provided by the home network. For example, a standalone private network could have a network sharing agreement with a wireless network operator to provide high capacity.

[0027] There may be an agreement provided between operators to facilitate these network sharing scenarios. For example, a service level agreement (SLA) may be provided between operators that may define the fee for network sharing and a minimum performance or quality of service (QoS) to be provided to UEs when they roam to the roaming network. There should be a way for the HPLMN to confirm the performance or QoS that has been provided to its UEs when they roam to the roaming network.

[0028] During network sharing scenarios, the home network (e.g., HPLMN) for a UE or subscriber does not know if the UE is being served by the roaming network with a QoS or performance level as provided by the SLA. For example, the home network may not know if the UE was able to establish a connection to the roaming network, was in or out of coverage, whether the UE was disconnected from the roaming network a number of times, whether the UE experienced high latency or long call setup times, etc., during the network sharing period. All of these factors may have a very negative impact on subscriber retention. A home network needs to be able to determine the QoS being experienced by its users while those users or UEs are camping on or connected to a roaming network. For example, if the QoS provided by a roaming network is subpar or does not meet the agreed performance requirements of the SLA, then the home network (e.g., HPLMN) may lose subscribers, which is unacceptable.

[0029] According to an example embodiment, a UE may collect measurement values with respect to the roaming network and report these measurement values to its home network (e.g., HPLMN). The UE may be configured by the home network as to which networks the UE can roam to, and/or what measurements the UE should collect with respect to the roaming network and report to the home network. Also, in some cases, e.g., to maintain privacy or confidentiality of the roaming network information or measurement values obtained with respect to the roaming network, it may be necessary for the UE to receive information indicating for which PLMNs or networks to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is enabled (or may be performed). This information, e.g., from the roaming network may inform the UE of which networks or PLMNs (such as the UE’s home network) the UE may report or share measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network. Also, for example, the roaming network may inform the UE as to which measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network may be reported to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed. Thus, for example, in some cases, the roaming network may configure the UE with a list of PLMNs (e.g., which may include the UE’s home network or home PLMN) to which reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is enabled or allowed by the roaming network, and/or one or more measurement types for which measurement values may be reported by the UE to a network on the list of PLMNs.

[0030] In an embodiment, the one or more measurement types include one or more of the following: the UE is in coverage of the roaming network, the UE is not in the coverage of the roaming network, quality-of-service (QoS), call set up time, accessibility success etc.

[0031] In an embodiment, the measurement values may characterize one or more of the following measurable parameters associated with the measurement types: times and/or number of instances of being connected to the roaming network (associated with the UE in the coverage of the roaming network), times and/or number of instances of being disconnected from the roaming network (associated with the UE not in the coverage of the roaming network), latency for data transferred through the roaming network (associated with the QoS), latency of calls in the roaming network (associated with the call setup time), data rate in the roaming network (associated with the QoS), number of radio link failures (associated with the accessibility success). These measurement values characterize the connectivity in the roaming network and may be directly related to the SLA described above.

[0032] In summary, the measurement type may be understood as a measurable parameter while the measurement value is a numerical value or another value that characterizes measurement(s) of a particular measurement type.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a user device or UE according to an example embodiment. Operation 210 include receiving, by a user device (e.g., UE) from a home network (e.g., a gNB of a home network or home PLMN of the UE), a configuration (e.g., a roaming network measurement configuration) to perform measurements in a roaming network. Operation 220 includes receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed. Operation 230 includes collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network. And, operation 240 includes transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

[0034] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed may be indicated by at least one of the following: a list of allowed PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks including the home network to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; and/or a list of prohibited PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks, not including the home network, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is prohibited or not allowed, wherein any PLMNs or networks that are not on the list of prohibited PLMNs are allowed to receive measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network.

[0035] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the receiving the roaming network policy may include: receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, the roaming network policy, wherein the roaming network policy further includes a list of one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0036] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the collecting may include: collecting, by the user device, measurement values with respect to the roaming network of the one or more measurement types for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0037] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the transmitting may include: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0038] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the roaming network policy may include or may be transmitted via system information broadcast by the roaming network.

[0039] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the transmitting may include: establish, by the user device, a connection with the home network; determine that the home network is one of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values of the one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0040] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the receiving from the home network the configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network may include: receiving, by the user device from the home network, a roaming network measurement configuration including: an extended list of PLMNs to which the user device may roam, and one or more measurement types for which measurement values are to be: 1) collected by the user device with respect to a roaming network on the extended list of PLMNs to which the user device roams, and 2) reported to the home network .

[0041] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the transmitting the measurement report may include: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, the measurement report including collected measurement values of one or more measurement types that are both: 1) measurement types indicated by the roaming network measurement configuration to be reported to the home network , and 2) are on the list of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that may be reported to the network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0042] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the measurement report transmitted to the home network omits collected measurement values that are requested by the home network to be reported to the home network based on roaming network measurement configuration, but are not the one or more measurement types indicated in the roaming network policy for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0043] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, further including transmitting, by the user device to the home network, an indication that one or more measurement types for which the user device has collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network as requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration, but these measurement values cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy received by the user device from the roaming network. [0044] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, including transmitting to the home network an identification of the one more measurement types that have been collected with respect to the roaming network but cannot be reported to the home network.

[0045] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the roaming network policy further includes an indication that the user device, after collecting measurement values with respect to the roaming network, should establish a connection to the roaming network and send an indication or a report to the roaming network including at least one of the following: an indication that measurement values have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; an indication of one or more types of measurement values that have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; and/or the measurement values of one or more measurement types collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network.

[0046] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, further including omitting collecting or storing, by the user device, measurement values of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that are requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration but cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy from the roaming network.

[0047] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are for a different radio access technology than that of the home network transmitting the roaming network measurement configuration.

[0048] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are configured as pervasive and cannot be overwritten by a different network.

[0049] With respect to the method of FIG. 2, the transmitted measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network are transmitted with an encoding associated with or used by a radio access technology of the roaming network.

[0050] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustration operation of a network according to an example embodiment. A UE 310 may be in communication with a home network 312 (e.g., a home PLMN or a gNB of a home PLMN) and a roaming network 314 (e.g., a roaming PLMN or a gNB of a roaming PLMN).

[0051] As shown in FIG. 3, at step 1, the UE is configured with roaming network measurement configuration, e.g., including 1) an extended list of PLMNs (or networks) to which the UE 310 may roam (the roaming network 314 is on this extended list of PLMNs to which the UE 310 may roam), and 2) one or more measurement types for which measurement values are to be: 1) collected by the UE with respect to a roaming network (such as roaming network 314) on the extended list of PLMNs to which the user device roams, and 2) reported to the home network 312.

[0052] At step 2 of FIG. 3, upon the UE triggering mobility to a roaming network during a network sharing period, the UE 310 roams to roaming network 314, and searches for and acquires system information (SI, or system information block (SIB)) broadcast by roaming network 314.

[0053] At step 3 of FIG. 3, the UE receives the system information from roaming network 314, including a roaming network policy that includes 1) PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network 314 is allowed (the home network 312 is on this list of PLMNs), and 2) a list of one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network on the list of PLMNs is enabled (e.g., this indicates that the UE may collect measurement values of this measurement type(s) with respect to the roaming network 314 and share or report these measurement values to the home network 312). Note that the PLMNs (part of the roaming network policy provided by the roaming network 314) to which data collected from the roaming network may be shared or reported to may include multiple networks (such as the home network 310), since the roaming network 314 may be used to offload traffic from multiple networks.

[0054] In addition, the roaming network policy provided by the roaming network 314 may include information indicating to the UE events or circumstances that would cause the UE to establish a connection to the roaming network 314 and transmit a measurement report including measurement values and/or measurement types that have been collected by the UE 310 with respect to the roaming network 314. Thus, for example, the roaming network policy provided by the roaming network 314 may indicate which specific circumstances or events it is interested in MDT logged data of the UE (that was collected with respect to the roaming network 314). In these cases, the UE could be configured to transition to RRC connected to specifically provide the measurement reports. For example, a UE could be configured by the home network 312 to measure the time it takes to re-select to a cell of the roaming network 314 and register with the roaming network. In some cases, for example, a roaming network may only be interested in this information or RACH (random access) failure information when it impacts the agreed SLA and hence can inform the UE to not set information elements in the “measurements available” IE to true unless certain configured thresholds are met, or if certain types of measurements have been logged by the UE with respect to the roaming network 314.

[0055] At step 4 of FIG. 3, the UE 310 logs MDT data or measurement values (collected with respect to the roaming network 314) configured by the UE’s home network 312. In some cases, UE 310 may decide not to log data which is set as non-shareable by the roaming network policy provided by the roaming network 314.

[0056] At step 5 of FIG. 3, the UE upon determining it needs to transition to RRC connected mode in the roaming network, the UE 310 may provide to the roaming network 314 an indication of available measurements performed in the roaming network and conf igured by the home network 312 of the UE. The roaming network 312 may retrieve these measurements from the UE. Thus, at step 6 of FIG. 3, the UE 310 may transmit to the roaming network 314 a report that includes the measurement values and/or measurement types that were collected by the UE 310 with respect to the roaming network 314.

[0057] At step 7 of FIG. 3, the UE returns to its home network 312, e.g., after the network sharing period ends. At step 8 of FIG. 3, the UE 310 detects a need to transition to RRC connected mode with respect to the home network and/or detects that a report retrieval event has been triggered for the home network 312. At step 9 of FIG. 3, the UE transitions to a RRC connected state with respect to the home network 312. The UE 310 may report to the home network 312 the availability of measurement values collected with respect to a roaming network. The home network 312 may request from the UE 310 and/or may obtain a measurement report(s) from the UE 310. At step 10 of FIG. 3, the UE may report measurement values (e.g., MDT measurements or measurement values) configured by the home network 312 and collected by the UE 310 with respect to the roaming network 314, which are permitted to be shared or reported per the roaming network policy. These collected measurements that are reported to the home network 312 were measurements collected by the UE from the roaming network 314 while the UE was roaming to the roaming network 314 (e.g., while the UE was camping on or connected to the roaming network 314).

[0058] At step 11 of FIG. 3, the UE 310 may report to the home network 312 one or more measurement types configured by the home network 312 (for measurement and reporting) and collected by the UE with respect to the roaming network 314 which are not permitted to be shared or reported as per the roaming network policy provided by the roaming network. For example, if there are one or more measurement types that are collected, but unable to be reported, the home network or home PLMN may indicate to the roaming network or roaming PLMN a request for this information, e.g., per the SLA, or as information needed to confirm services were provided by the roaming network that met the SLA between operators or PLMNs.

[0059] With respect to FIG. 3, according to an example embodiment: at step 1, the UE may be in a connected state, and configured with the roaming network measurement configuration by the home network; at step 2 of FIG. 3, the UE may transition to idle or inactive state; and, at step 7, before mobility to the home network, the UE may transition to idle or inactive state.

[0060] As noted, the UE may receive from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed. The roaming network policy may include a list (e.g., an allowed list) of networks to which the sharing is allowed and, based on the home network being on this allowed list, the UE collects the measurement values with respect to the roaming network and reports them to the home network. Alternatively (or in addition), the roaming network policy may include a list (e.g., a prohibited list) of networks to which sharing of measurements collected with respect to the roaming network is prohibited and, based on the home network not being on this prohibited list, the UE collects the measurement values with respect to the roaming network and reports them to the home network.

[0061] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a UE according to another example embodiment. At 10, the UE is connected to a gNB in its home network (e.g., home PLMN). At 20, the UE may be in a connected state and may be configured with a roaming network measurement configuration by the home network, e.g., which may include: an extended list of PLMNs (or networks) to which the UE may roam, and measurement types to be collected with respect to roaming network and reported to home network. At 25, the UE may transition to idle or inactive state, and then may roam to the roaming network. At 30 of FIG. 4, the UE acquires from the roaming network system information regarding MDT data collection: UE acquires roaming network policy from roaming network via system information (e.g., via SIB broadcast by the roaming network), which may include or may indicate PLMNs (e.g., including the home network or home PLMN for the UE) to which reporting of measurement values with respect to the roaming network is allowed, one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that may be reported or shared, and/or reporting conditions (or report retrieval events) to cause the UE to report measurements to the roaming network (e.g., which may cause or trigger the UE to establish a connection to and/or to report to the roaming network the measurements, measurement values and/or measurement types collected by the UE with respect to the roaming network).

[0062] At 40 of FIG. 4, the UE logs MDT data (collected measurement values) configured by its home network (UE logs data collected by UE with respect to the roaming network). At 50 of FIG. 4, the UE determines if there is a need for it to transition to RRC connected on roaming network or a report retrieval event has occurred. If yes at block 50, then process proceeds to block 60. At 50 of FIG. 4, if the UE does not detect a need to transition to RRC connected with respect to the roaming network, the process proceeds to block 100. At 60, the UE provides MDT measurements or collected measurement values or measurement types configured by UE’ s home network and collected with respect to the roaming network to the roaming network. At 70, the UE may continue collecting and logging measurement values with respect to the roaming network, as configured by its home network. At 80, the UE transitions to Idle or inactive state, and then returns to block 40.

[0063] At 100, the UE determines if it needs to trigger mobility to the home network. At 100, if the UE does not need to trigger mobility to the home network, then the process returns to block 40. If the UE needs to trigger mobility to the home network, then flow proceeds to blocks 120 and 130.

[0064] At 120 of FIG. 4, the UE reports to the home network measurement values for measurements collected on the roaming network which are allowed to be shared per the roaming network policy provided by the roaming network. At 130 of FIG. 4, the UE reports to the home network measurement types for which data is available (measurement values of this measurement type were collected by UE with respect to the roaming network) but which are Not allowed to be shared as per the roaming network policy of the roaming network.

[0065] Various features or advantages may be provided, such as, for example:

[0066] A UE driven solution may be provided, and may, for example, be based on the MDT framework is provided for SLA monitoring in roaming networks during network sharing periods.

[0067] The home network may configure the UE with a roaming network measurement configuration, e.g., which may be used for MDT reporting for roaming networks triggered by home network energy saving states or network sharing. Thus, the UE may be configured by its home network with a roaming network measurement configuration, which may include, for example: a list (e.g., an extended list) of PLMNs (or networks) to which UE may roam, and measurement types to be collected with respect to the roaming network and reported to the home network. [0068] The measurement types to be collected with respect to the roaming network (part of the roaming network measurement configuration), e.g., a MDT configuration for logged measurements, may not be RAT specific and can include RRC connected mode measurements in addition to RRC idle and inactive.

[0069] A roaming network may broadcast in a System Information (SI) (e.g., such as in a system information block (SIB)) message including the roaming network policy for the roaming network, that may indicate a PLMNs where its collected MDT data may be reported (e.g., a list of PLMNs to which reporting of measurement values with respect to the roaming network is allowed). UE can report logged MDT (e.g., collected measurement values) of a roaming network configured by the home network to the home network if its PLMN is included in the PLMNs to which reporting of measurement values is allowed (which is included in the roaming network policy of the roaming network). A UE may report roaming network data collected in the roaming network but configured by a different PLMN (e.g., configured by a home network of the UE).

[0070] The use of the SI may allow or ensure MDT data privacy is maintained between PLMNs with network sharing agreements or different SLAs. In addition, by broadcasting this information, UEs in RRC Idle need not transition out of RRC Idle to be informed of how MDT data collected in (or with respect to) the roaming network should be handled and reported. This step avoids a UE reporting roaming PLMN#1 logged data to another roaming PLMN#2.

[0071] As noted, the roaming network may broadcast a roaming network policy. The roaming network policy may also include one or more measurement types that may be collected with respect to the roaming network and reported to a network on the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed (e.g., such as to the home network if it is on this PLMN list). Thus, the roaming network policy may broadcast via SI the type(s) of data (or measurement type(s)) collected within the roaming network that may be shared with other networks or PLMNs. This enables the roaming network to further control its data privacy based on individual operator agreements. A UE may stop logging of non- shareable measurements (or the UE may omit or skip collecting or logging of measurements of types that are not shareable or reportable to other networks) based on this information.

[0072] The roaming network policy broadcast by a roaming network may also indicate or include a UE data retrieval policy, or in other words, reporting conditions that may cause or allow the UE to report measurement values or collected data to the roaming network. Thus, the roaming network may broadcast whether a roaming UE (which has roamed to the roaming network and is collecting data or measurement values with respect to the roaming network) should initiate an RRC connection to the roaming network indicating logged MDT data or collected measurement values have been collected with respect to the roaming network, in order to allow the roaming network to retrieve the data or measurement values from the roaming UE. The need for this UE initiated process is to allow the roaming network to receive or retrieve certain types of measurements or data that have been collected by a UE, at least in certain situations or when one or more conditions are met, or when a certain type of data or measurement value(s) have been collected by the UE. For example, the roaming network retrieving collected data or measurement values may be triggered or made available to the roaming network when certain events logged by the UE. For example, if the UE experienced out of coverage for over 50% of the time while camping on the roaming network, the roaming network may want a report for this. If the UE just has MDT data of the number of C/U (control/user) plane transactions it performed, the roaming network may consider this low priority for which it does not want to waste energy or c-plane (control plane) resources to specifically only retrieve this.

[0073] A UE may be configured by its home network to measure various measurement types (or types of data), such as, for example: The RAT (radio access technology) of the roaming PLMN (roaming network) it camped on, and time spent on the RAT. Note: UE may switch off after some time for some period of time, so reporting this type of data may be used to prevent the home network from being charged for periods where a UE was in a suboptimal RAT (e.g., a lower bandwidth or lower data rate RAT); In/out of coverage events and duration/distribution; Number of C-plane (control-plane) transactions performed which may assist the home network and roaming network to understand the cost of network sharing; Number of U-plane (user-plane) data transferred, which may be used to assist in evaluating change in end user behavior during network sharing periods; Type of MDT data (or measurement type) configured to be collected on roaming network as per configured MDT measurements (or per the roaming network measurement configuration provided by the home network), but without roaming network consent to share with home network. Here, as an example, a UE may indicate that it collected (or was instructed to collect) data for c- plane transactions but it has no permission to share it. This allows home network and roaming network to detect misconfiguration in policies or disagreement on SLA terms, and not assume that the lack of data is because of a no measurements to report when its due to data being not shareable. [0074] A UE can be configured with a pervasive MDT configuration for network sharing, i.e., it can’t be overwritten by a different network. Thus, for example, the UE may be configured by the roaming network with a roaming network policy that may indicate measurement types that may be reported or shared with other networks or PLMNs. Also, the UE may be configured by the home network with a roaming network measurement configuration including one or more measurement types that should be collected and reported by the UE to the home network when roaming. These configurations may be pervasive, or non-modifiable by other networks, for example.

[0075] A UE can report MDT (measurement values to be collected and reported) configured in one RAT of the home network to a different RAT in the roaming network via using a transparent container to the roaming network RAT. The UE would indicate the type of RAT and a transparent container would be encoded using the configured RAT. It is up to the roaming network to decode the information correctly. In the same manner the UE could report measurements collected to the home network in a RAT different from the one it was configured in. In these inter-RAT scenarios, some measurements may not be applicable if they are RAT specific.

[0076] Also, for example, as additional data or measurements that may be collected by the UE with respect to a roaming network and reported to its home network: If the UE was never camping on the roaming network and/or never connected to the roaming network, the UE may also report this to the home network when it returns. In this case the UE may have never acquired the SI from the roaming network with the roaming network policy or MDT policy for network sharing.

[0077] Some examples will now be described:

[0078] Example 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receive, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; collect, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that the sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network. [0079] Example 2. The apparatus of example 1, wherein the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed is indicated by at least one of the following: a list of allowed PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks including the home network to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; and/or a list of prohibited PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks, not including the home network, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is prohibited, wherein any PLMNs or networks that are not on the list of prohibited PLMNs are allowed to receive measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network.

[0080] Example 3. The apparatus of example 1, wherein the apparatus caused to receive the roaming network policy comprises the apparatus caused to: receive, by the user device from the roaming network, the roaming network policy, wherein the roaming network policy further includes a list of one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0081] Example 4. The apparatus of example 3, wherein the apparatus caused to collect comprises the apparatus caused to: collect, by the user device, measurement values with respect to the roaming network of the one or more measurement types for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0082] Example 5. The apparatus of example 4, wherein the apparatus caused to transmit comprises the apparatus caused to: transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0083] Example 6. The apparatus of any of examples 1-5, wherein the roaming network policy comprises system information broadcast by the roaming network.

[0084] Example 7. The method of any of examples 3-6, wherein the apparatus caused to transmit comprises the apparatus caused to: establish, by the user device, a connection with the home network; determine that the home network is one of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values of the one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0085] Example 8. The apparatus of any of examples 1-7, wherein the apparatus caused to receive from the home network the configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network comprises the apparatus caused to: receive, by the user device from the home network, a roaming network measurement configuration including: an extended list of PLMNs to which the user device may roam, and one or more measurement types for which measurement values are to be: 1) collected by the user device with respect to a roaming network on the extended list of PLMNs to which the user device roams, and 2) reported to the home network.

[0086] Example 9. The apparatus of example 8, wherein the apparatus caused to transmit the measurement report comprises the apparatus caused to: transmit, by the user device to the home network, the measurement report including collected measurement values of one or more measurement types that are both: 1) measurement types indicated by the roaming network measurement configuration to be reported to the home network, and 2) are on the list of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that may be reported to the network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0087] Example 10. The apparatus of example 9, wherein the measurement report transmitted to the home network omits collected measurement values that are requested by the home network to be reported to the home network based on roaming network measurement configuration, but are not the one or more measurement types indicated in the roaming network policy for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0088] Example 11. The apparatus of any of examples 1-10, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: transmit, by the user device to the home network, an indication that one or more measurement types for which the user device has collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network as requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration, but these measurement values cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy received by the user device from the roaming network.

[0089] Example 12. The apparatus of any of examples 1-11, wherein the apparatus is caused to transmit to the home network an identification of the one more measurement types that have been collected with respect to the roaming network but cannot be reported to the home network.

[0090] Example 13. The apparatus of any of examples 1-12, wherein the roaming network policy further comprises an indication that the user device, after collecting measurement values with respect to the roaming network, should establish a connection to the roaming network and send an indication or a report to the roaming network including at least one of the following: an indication that measurement values have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; an indication of one or more types of measurement values that have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; and/or the measurement values of one or more measurement types collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network.

[0091] Example 14. The apparatus of any of examples 3-13, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: omit collecting or storing, by the user device, measurement values of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that are requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration but cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy from the roaming network.

[0092] Example 15. The apparatus of example 8, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are for a different radio access technology than that of the home network transmitting the roaming network measurement configuration.

[0093] Example 16. The apparatus of example 8, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are configured as pervasive and cannot be overwritten by a different network.

[0094] Example 17. The apparatus of example 9, wherein the transmitted measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network are transmitted with an encoding associated with or used by a radio access technology of the roaming network.

[0095] Example 18. A method comprising: receiving, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

[0096] Example 19. The method of example 18, wherein the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed is indicated by at least one of the following: a list of allowed PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks including the home network to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; and/or a list of prohibited PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks, not including the home network, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is prohibited, wherein any PLMNs or networks that are not on the list of prohibited PLMNs are allowed to receive measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network.

[0097] Example 20. The method of example 19, wherein the receiving the roaming network policy comprises: receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, the roaming network policy, wherein the roaming network policy further includes a list of one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0098] Example 21. The method of example 20, wherein collecting comprises: collecting, by the user device, measurement values with respect to the roaming network of the one or more measurement types for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0099] Example 22. The method of example 21, wherein the transmitting comprises: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0100] Example 23. The method of any of examples 19-21, wherein the roaming network policy comprises system information broadcast by the roaming network.

[0101] Example 24. The method of any of examples 20-23, wherein the transmitting comprises: establish, by the user device, a connection with the home network; determine that the home network is one of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values of the one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0102] Example 25. The method of any of examples 19-24, wherein the receiving from the home network the configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network comprises: receiving, by the user device from the home network, a roaming network measurement configuration including: an extended list of PLMNs to which the user device may roam, and one or more measurement types for which measurement values are to be: 1) collected by the user device with respect to a roaming network on the extended list of PLMNs to which the user device roams, and 2) reported to the home network .

[0103] Example 26. The method of example 25, wherein the transmitting the measurement report comprises: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, the measurement report including collected measurement values of one or more measurement types that are both: 1) measurement types indicated by the roaming network measurement configuration to be reported to the home network , and 2) are on the list of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that may be reported to the network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0104] Example 27. The method of example 26, wherein the measurement report transmitted to the home network omits collected measurement values that are requested by the home network to be reported to the home network based on roaming network measurement configuration, but are not the one or more measurement types indicated in the roaming network policy for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

[0105] Example 28. The method of any of examples 19-27, further comprising: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, an indication that one or more measurement types for which the user device has collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network as requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration, but these measurement values cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy received by the user device from the roaming network.

[0106] Example 29. The method of any of examples 19-28, comprising transmitting to the home network an identification of the one more measurement types that have been collected with respect to the roaming network but cannot be reported to the home network.

[0107] Example 30. The method of any of examples 19-29, wherein the roaming network policy further comprises an indication that the user device, after collecting measurement values with respect to the roaming network, should establish a connection to the roaming network and send an indication or a report to the roaming network including at least one of the following: an indication that measurement values have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; an indication of one or more types of measurement values that have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; and/or the measurement values of one or more measurement types collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network.

[0108] Example 31. The method of any of examples 20-30, further comprising: omitting collecting or storing, by the user device, measurement values of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that are requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration but cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy from the roaming network.

[0109] Example 32. The method of example 26, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are for a different radio access technology than that of the home network transmitting the roaming network measurement configuration.

[0110] Example 33. The method of example 26, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are configured as pervasive and cannot be overwritten by a different network.

[0111] Example 34. The method of example 27, wherein the transmitted measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network are transmitted with an encoding associated with or used by a radio access technology of the roaming network.

[0112] Example 35. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to: receive, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receive, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; collect, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

[0113] Example 36. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; means for receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; means for collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and means for transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

[0114] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a wireless station (e.g., AP, BS or user device/UE, or other network node) 1500 according to an example embodiment. The wireless station 1500 may include, for example, one or more (e.g., two as shown in FIG. 5) RF (radio frequency) or wireless transceivers 1502A, 1502B, where each wireless transceiver includes a transmitter to transmit signals and a receiver to receive signals. The wireless station also includes a processor or control unit/entity (controller) 1504 to execute instructions or software and control transmission and receptions of signals, and a memory 1506 to store data and/or instructions.

[0115] Processor 1504 may also make decisions or determinations, generate frames, packets or messages for transmission, decode received frames or messages for further processing, and other tasks or functions described herein. Processor 1504, which may be a baseband processor, for example, may generate messages, packets, frames or other signals for transmission via wireless transceiver 1502 (1502A or 1502B). Processor 1504 may control transmission of signals or messages over a wireless network, and may control the reception of signals or messages, etc., via a wireless network (e.g., after being down- converted by wireless transceiver 1502, for example). Processor 1504 may be programmable and capable of executing software or other instructions stored in memory or on other computer media to perform the various tasks and functions described above, such as one or more of the tasks or methods described above. Processor 1504 may be (or may include), for example, hardware, programmable logic, a programmable processor that executes software or firmware, and/or any combination of these. Using other terminology, processor 1504 and transceiver 1502 together may be considered as a wireless transmitter/receiver system, for example.

[0116] In addition, referring to FIG. 5, a controller (or processor) 1508 may execute software and instructions, and may provide overall control for the station 1500, and may provide control for other systems not shown in FIG. 5, such as controlling input/output devices (e.g., display, keypad), and/or may execute software for one or more applications that may be provided on wireless station 1500, such as, for example, an email program, audio/video applications, a word processor, a Voice over IP application, or other application or software.

[0117] In addition, a storage medium may be provided that includes stored instructions, which when executed by a controller or processor may result in the processor 1504, or other controller or processor, performing one or more of the functions or tasks described above.

[0118] According to another example embodiment, RF or wireless transceiver(s) 1502A/1502B may receive signals or data and/or transmit or send signals or data. Processor 1504 (and possibly transceivers 1502A/1502B) may control the RF or wireless transceiver 1502 A or 1502B to receive, send, broadcast or transmit signals or data.

[0119] The embodiments are not, however, restricted to the system that is given as an example, but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems. Another example of a suitable communications system is the 5G concept. It is assumed that network architecture in 5G will be quite similar to that of the LTE-advanced. 5G is likely to use multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and perhaps also employing a variety of radio technologies for better coverage and enhanced data rates.

[0120] It should be appreciated that future networks will most probably utilise network functions virtualization (NFV) which is a network architecture concept that proposes virtualizing network node functions into “building blocks” or entities that may be operationally connected or linked together to provide services. A virtualized network function (VNF) may comprise one or more virtual machines running computer program codes using standard or general type servers instead of customized hardware. Cloud computing or data storage may also be utilized. In radio communications this may mean node operations may be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts. It should also be understood that the distribution of labour between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent.

[0121] Embodiments of the various techniques described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Embodiments may be implemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, a data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. Embodiments may also be provided on a computer readable medium or computer readable storage medium, which may be a non-transitory medium. Embodiments of the various techniques may also include embodiments provided via transitory signals or media, and/or programs and/or software embodiments that are downloadable via the Internet or other network(s), either wired networks and/or wireless networks. In addition, embodiments may be provided via machine type communications (MTC), and also via an Internet of Things (IOT).

[0122] The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, distribution medium, or computer readable medium, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, photoelectrical and/or electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst a number of computers.

[0123] Furthermore, embodiments of the various techniques described herein may use a cyber-physical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computational elements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable the embodiment and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, . . .) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals. The rise in popularity of smartphones has increased interest in the area of mobile cyber-physical systems. Therefore, various embodiments of techniques described herein may be provided via one or more of these technologies. [0124] A computer program, such as the computer program(s) described above, can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit or part of it suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

[0125] Method steps may be performed by one or more programmable processors executing a computer program or computer program portions to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. Method steps also may be performed by, and an apparatus may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application- specific integrated circuit).

[0126] Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer, chip or chipset. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. Elements of a computer may include at least one processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer also may include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Information carriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

[0127] To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments may be implemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, for displaying information to the user and a user interface, such as a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input. [0128] Embodiments may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an embodiment, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. Components may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet.

[0129] While certain features of the described embodiments have been illustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the various embodiments.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receive, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; collect, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that the sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed is indicated by at least one of the following: a list of allowed PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks including the home network to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; and/or a list of prohibited PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks, not including the home network, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is prohibited, wherein any PLMNs or networks that are not on the list of prohibited PLMNs are allowed to receive measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus caused to receive the roaming network policy comprises the apparatus caused to: receive, by the user device from the roaming network, the roaming network policy, wherein the roaming network policy further includes a list of one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the apparatus caused to collect comprises the apparatus caused to: collect, by the user device, measurement values with respect to the roaming network of the one or more measurement types for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the apparatus caused to transmit comprises the apparatus caused to: transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1-5, wherein the roaming network policy comprises system information broadcast by the roaming network.

7. The method of any of claims 3-6, wherein the apparatus caused to transmit comprises the apparatus caused to: establish, by the user device, a connection with the home network; determine that the home network is one of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values of the one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1-7, wherein the apparatus caused to receive from the home network the configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network comprises the apparatus caused to: receive, by the user device from the home network, a roaming network measurement configuration including: an extended list of PLMNs to which the user device may roam, and one or more measurement types for which measurement values are to be: 1) collected by the user device with respect to a roaming network on the extended list of PLMNs to which the user device roams, and 2) reported to the home network.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus caused to transmit the measurement report comprises the apparatus caused to: transmit, by the user device to the home network, the measurement report including collected measurement values of one or more measurement types that are both: 1) measurement types indicated by the roaming network measurement configuration to be reported to the home network, and 2) are on the list of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that may be reported to the network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the measurement report transmitted to the home network omits collected measurement values that are requested by the home network to be reported to the home network based on roaming network measurement configuration, but are not the one or more measurement types indicated in the roaming network policy for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

11. The apparatus of any of claims 1-10, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: transmit, by the user device to the home network, an indication that one or more measurement types for which the user device has collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network as requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration, but these measurement values cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy received by the user device from the roaming network.

12. The apparatus of any of claims 1-11, wherein the apparatus is caused to transmit to the home network an identification of the one more measurement types that have been collected with respect to the roaming network but cannot be reported to the home network.

13. The apparatus of any of claims 1-12, wherein the roaming network policy further comprises an indication that the user device, after collecting measurement values with respect to the roaming network, should establish a connection to the roaming network and send an indication or a report to the roaming network including at least one of the following: an indication that measurement values have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; an indication of one or more types of measurement values that have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; and/or the measurement values of one or more measurement types collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network.

14. The apparatus of any of claims 3-13, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: omit collecting or storing, by the user device, measurement values of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that are requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration but cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy from the roaming network.

15. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are for a different radio access technology than that of the home network transmitting the roaming network measurement configuration.

16. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are configured as pervasive and cannot be overwritten by a different network.

17. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the transmitted measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network are transmitted with an encoding associated with or used by a radio access technology of the roaming network.

18. A method comprising : receiving, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed is indicated by at least one of the following: a list of allowed PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks including the home network to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; and/or a list of prohibited PLMNs, including one or more PLMNs or networks, not including the home network, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is prohibited, wherein any PLMNs or networks that are not on the list of prohibited PLMNs are allowed to receive measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the receiving the roaming network policy comprises: receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, the roaming network policy, wherein the roaming network policy further includes a list of one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein collecting comprises: collecting, by the user device, measurement values with respect to the roaming network of the one or more measurement types for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the transmitting comprises: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

23. The method of any of claims 19-21, wherein the roaming network policy comprises system information broadcast by the roaming network.

24. The method of any of claims 20-23, wherein the transmitting comprises: establish, by the user device, a connection with the home network; determine that the home network is one of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values of the one or more measurement types for which reporting of measurement values to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

25. The method of any of claims 19-24, wherein the receiving from the home network the configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network comprises: receiving, by the user device from the home network, a roaming network measurement configuration including: an extended list of PLMNs to which the user device may roam, and one or more measurement types for which measurement values are to be: 1) collected by the user device with respect to a roaming network on the extended list of PLMNs to which the user device roams, and 2) reported to the home network .

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the transmitting the measurement report comprises: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, the measurement report including collected measurement values of one or more measurement types that are both: 1) measurement types indicated by the roaming network measurement configuration to be reported to the home network , and 2) are on the list of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that may be reported to the network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the measurement report transmitted to the home network omits collected measurement values that are requested by the home network to be reported to the home network based on roaming network measurement configuration, but are not the one or more measurement types indicated in the roaming network policy for which reporting to a network of the PLMNs to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed.

28. The method of any of claims 19-27, further comprising: transmitting, by the user device to the home network, an indication that one or more measurement types for which the user device has collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network as requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration, but these measurement values cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy received by the user device from the roaming network.

29. The method of any of claims 19-28, comprising transmitting to the home network an identification of the one more measurement types that have been collected with respect to the roaming network but cannot be reported to the home network.

30. The method of any of claims 19-29, wherein the roaming network policy further comprises an indication that the user device, after collecting measurement values with respect to the roaming network, should establish a connection to the roaming network and send an indication or a report to the roaming network including at least one of the following: an indication that measurement values have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; an indication of one or more types of measurement values that have been collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network; and/or the measurement values of one or more measurement types collected by the user device with respect to the roaming network.

31. The method of any of claims 20-30, further comprising: omitting collecting or storing, by the user device, measurement values of one or more measurement types with respect to the roaming network that are requested by the home network based on the roaming network measurement configuration but cannot be reported by the user device to the home network based on the roaming network policy from the roaming network.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are for a different radio access technology than that of the home network transmitting the roaming network measurement configuration.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network measurement configuration are configured as pervasive and cannot be overwritten by a different network.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the transmitted measurement types and measurement values of the roaming network are transmitted with an encoding associated with or used by a radio access technology of the roaming network.

35. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to: receive, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; receive, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; collect, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and transmit, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.

36. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving, by a user device from a home network, a configuration to perform measurements in a roaming network; means for receiving, by the user device from the roaming network, a roaming network policy indicating the home network as one of public land mobile networks, PLMNs, to which sharing or reporting of measurement values collected with respect to the roaming network is allowed; means for collecting, by the user device based on the roaming network policy indicating that sharing or reporting of measurement values to the home network is allowed, measurement values with respect to the roaming network; and means for transmitting, by the user device to the home network, a measurement report including at least some of the collected measurement values with respect to the roaming network.