Method and apparatus for tracking device management data changes

1. A method comprising:

receiving a communication at a Device Management (DM) client on a user equipment (UE), the communication being from a DM server and commanding a change to a DM tree on the UE;

modifying the DM tree based on the communication;

creating a delta record that indicates the change made to the DM tree; and

sending the delta record to the DM server.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, storing the delta record in the UE.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein creating comprises associating an identifier with the delta record, the identifier being at least one of a sequence number and a timestamp.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, receiving from the DM server a request regarding a status of the DM tree, and wherein the sending is performed in response to the request.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the change comprises one of: adding a Management Object (MO) to the DM tree; deleting a MO from the DM tree; and updating a value of a MO of the DM tree.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the DM client, DM server and DM tree are compliant with an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DM specification.

7. A user equipment comprising:

a network interface configured to receive a communication from a Device Management (DM) server, the communication commanding a change to a DM tree on the user equipment; and

a processor configured to execute a DM client, the DM client being operable to: modify the DM tree based on the communication; and create a delta record that indicates the change made to the DM tree,

wherein the processor is in communication with the network interface for sending the delta record to the DM server.

8. The user equipment of claim 7 wherein the DM client is further operable for storing the delta record in the user equipment.

9. The user equipment of claim 7 wherein the DM client associates an identifier with the delta record, the identifier being at least one of a sequence number and a timestamp.

10. The user equipment of claim 7 wherein the network interface is further configured to receive from the DM server a request regarding a status of the DM tree, and wherein the network interface is further configured to send the delta record in response to the request.

11. The user equipment of claim 7 wherein the change comprises one of: adding a Management Object (MO) to the DM tree; deleting a MO from the DM tree; and updating a value of a MO of the DM tree.

12. The user equipment of claim 7 wherein the DM client, DM server and DM tree are compliant with an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DM specification.

13. A method comprising:

generating, at a Device Management (DM) server, a communication commanding a change to a DM tree on a user equipment (UE);

sending the communication to a DM client which manages the DM tree on the UE; and

receiving from the DM client a delta record that indicates the change made to the DM tree.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the delta record includes an identifier, the identifier being usable by the DM server for retrieval of the delta record.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a sequence number and a timestamp.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising sending a request to the DM client to retrieve a status of the DM tree, wherein the receiving occurs based on the request.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising updating a second DM tree according to the delta record.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the change comprises one of: adding a Management Object (MO) to the DM tree; deleting a MO from the DM tree; and updating a value of a MO of the DM tree.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein the DM client, DM server and DM tree are compliant with an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DM specification.

20. A network component comprising:

a processor configured to execute a Device Management (DM) server, the DM server being operable for commanding a change to a DM tree on a user equipment (UE); and

a network interface in communication with the processor, the network interface being configured to: send a communication to a DM client on the UE, the communication commanding the change to a DM tree on the UE; and receive from the DM client a delta record that indicates the change made to the DM tree.

21. The network component of claim 20 wherein the delta record includes an identifier, the identifier being usable by the DM server for retrieval of the delta record.

22. The network component of claim 21 wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a sequence number and a timestamp.

23. The network component of claim 20 wherein the network interface is further configured to send a request to the DM client to retrieve a status of the DM tree, wherein the network interface receives the delta record in response to the request.

24. The network component of claim 20 wherein the DM server is further configured to update a second DM tree according to the delta record.

25. The network component of claim 20 wherein the change comprises one of: adding a Management Object (MO) to the DM tree; deleting a MO from the DM tree; and updating a value of a MO of the DM tree.

26. The network component of claim 20 wherein the DM client, DM server and DM tree are compliant with an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DM specification.

27. A tangible computer readable medium storing instructions thereon which when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the operations of:

receiving a communication at a Device Management (DM) client on the UE, the communication being from a DM server and commanding a change to a DM tree on the UE;

modifying the DM tree based on the communication;

creating a delta record that indicates the change made to the DM tree; and

sending the delta record to the DM server.

28. A tangible computer readable medium storing instructions thereon which when executed by a network component, cause the network component to perform the operations of:

generating, at a Device Management (DM) server, a communication commanding a change to a DM tree on a user equipment (UE);

sending the communication to a DM client which manages the DM tree on the UE; and

receiving from the DM client a delta record that indicates the change made to the DM tree.