Minimization of drive tests uplink measurements

1. An apparatus comprising:

one or more non-transitory, computer readable media including instructions; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media to execute the instructions to cause an access node of a radio access network to:

separate a network measurement configuration command into at least first network measurement parameters and second network measurement parameters, wherein the second network parameters include a first parameter to turn on or off uplink received interference power (RIP) measurements on a physical layer and a second parameter to provide a threshold value;

forward the first network measurement parameters of the network measurement configuration command over an air interface to a user equipment to perform first network measurements on downlink communication channels;

receive, from the user equipment, the first network measurements on downlink communication channels to form first network measurement results;

perform, based on the second network measurement parameters, second network measurements on uplink communication channels to form second network measurement results, the second network measurement results to include a measured value of RIP;

compare the measured value to the threshold value; and

transmit the second network measurement results to a core network entity based on comparison of the measured value to the threshold value.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to execute the instructions to further cause the access node to:

combine, in the radio access network, the first network measurement results from the user equipment with the second network measurement results from the radio access network to form an aggregated network measurement report.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to execute the instructions to further cause the access node to:

receive, from a core network entity, the network measurement configuration command.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are to execute the instructions to further cause the access node to:

submit the aggregated network measurement report from the radio access network to the core network entity.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are to execute the instructions to further cause the access node to combine the first network measurement results with the second network measurement results based on said comparison of the measured value to threshold value.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to execute the instructions to further cause the access node to:

keep the second network measurements of the network measurement configuration command inside the radio access network.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein to keep the second network measurements inside the radio access network comprises:

distribute the second network measurements of the network measurement configuration command among different radio access network entities.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the radio access network is an E-UTRAN according to LTE standards.

9. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the access node is an eNodeB according to LTE standards.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the radio access network is a UTRAN according to UMTS standards.

11. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the access node is at least one entity according to the UMTS standard selected from a group consisting of a NodeB and an RNC.

12. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the core network entity is selected from a group consisting of an MDT Server, a Trace Collection Entity, and an Element Manager.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second network measurements on uplink communication channels are collected in accordance with a parameter from a group consisting of UL Coverage Optimization, QoS Verification, and IP Throughput Measurement.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the UL Coverage Optimization comprises Reference Signal Received Power and Power Headroom.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the QoS Verification and IP Throughput Measurement comprises IP throughput measurements.

16. A radio access network device, comprising:

a memory element; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory element, the processing unit to:

separate a network measurement configuration command into at least first network measurement parameters and second network measurement parameters wherein the second network parameters include a first parameter to turn on or off uplink received interference power (RIP) measurements on a physical layer and a second parameter to provide a threshold value;

forward the first network measurement parameters of the network measurement configuration command over an air interface to a user equipment to perform first network measurements on downlink communication channels;

receive, from the user equipment, the first network measurements on downlink communication channels to form first network measurement results;

perform, based on the second network measurement parameters, second network measurements on uplink communication channels to form second network measurement results, the second network measurement results to include a measured value of RIP;

compare the measured value to the threshold value; and

combine, based on said comparison, the first network measurement results from the user equipment with the second network measurement results from the radio access network device to form an aggregated network measurement report.

17. The radio access network device according to claim 16 , wherein the processing unit is to:

receive, at the radio access network device from a core network entity, the network measurement configuration command; and

submit the aggregated network measurement report from the radio access network device to the core network entity.