SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NORMALIZING NETWORK DEVICE COMMUNICATION CAPABILITIES

Systems, methods, and processing nodes for managing wireless network communications perform and/or comprise: establishing a trace session; and while the trace session is active: receiving a plurality of message reports, wherein respective ones of the plurality of message reports correspond to protocol interactions between an access node and a wireless device, determining whether the wireless device is technically capable of communicating using a communication technique, determining, from the plurality of message reports, whether the wireless device is communicating with the access node using the communication technique, and in response to a determination that the wireless device is capable of communicating using the communication technique and that the wireless device is not communicating with the access node using the communication technique, initiating an over-the-air upgrade process to enable the communication technique in the wireless device.