Interworking function selection by remote UE

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for interworking function selection by a remote user equipment (UE) for UE-to-network side row link relay access. A method, which may be performed by a remote user equipment (UE), includes receiving a plurality of interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for relaying UE access to a network via a sidelink. A remote UE determines a service to be used for communication in a network. The remote UE selects one of a plurality of interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.

Description

This application is a divisional application of an application with a filing date of December 22, 2020, application number 202080089821.0, and name “Intercommunication Function Selection by Remote UE”. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority to Greek Patent Application No. 2020 / 0100003, filed on January 3, 2020, which is hereby assigned to the assignee of this application, and which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications and, more particularly, to techniques for interworking functionality selection by a remote user equipment (UE) for UE-to-network sidelink relay access. Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems, and Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) systems, to name a few.

[0004] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. New radio (e.g., 5G NR) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is an enhancement set to the LTE mobile standard released by 3GPP. NR is designed to better integrate with other open standards by improving spectrum efficiency, reducing costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, and using OFDMA with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink (UL), so as to better support mobile broadband Internet access. To this end, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

[0005] However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, there is a need for further improvements to NR and LTE technologies. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ them. Summary of the invention

[0006] The systems, methods, and devices of the present disclosure each have several aspects, no single aspect being solely responsible for its desirable attributes. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled "Detailed Description," those skilled in the art will understand how the features of the present disclosure provide advantages including interworking between an untrusted non-3GPP network and a 5G core network via a sidelink.

[0007] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a remote user equipment (UE). The method generally includes receiving a plurality of interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for relaying UE access to a network via a sidelink. The method generally includes determining a service to be used for communication in the network. The method generally includes selecting one of the plurality of interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.

[0008] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communications by a sidelink relay UE. The method generally includes receiving one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for providing a remote UE with access to a network via a sidelink. The method generally includes providing an indication of a location of the sidelink relay UE to the remote UE. The method generally includes receiving data and an identifier of one of the interworking functions associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations from the remote UE. The method generally includes forwarding data to one of the interworking functions based on the identifier.

[0009] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a method for wireless communication by a network entity. The method generally includes: configuring one or more UEs as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs. The method generally includes: providing one or more remote UEs and sidelink relay UEs with one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for accessing a network by the one or more remote UEs via one or more sidelink relay UEs. The method generally includes: receiving data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one sidelink relay UE in the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

[0010] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes a receiver configured to receive a plurality of interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for relaying UE access to a network via a sidelink. The apparatus generally includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The memory coupled to the at least one processor generally includes code executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to determine a service to be used for communication in the network. The memory coupled to the at least one processor generally includes code executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to select one of the plurality of interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.

[0011] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes a receiver configured to receive one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for providing a remote UE with access to a network via a sidelink. The apparatus generally includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The memory coupled to the at least one processor generally includes code executable by the at least one processor so that the apparatus provides an indication of the location of a sidelink relay UE to the remote UE. The receiver is generally configured to receive data and an identifier of one of the interworking functions associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations from the remote UE. The memory coupled to the at least one processor generally includes code executable by the at least one processor so that the apparatus forwards data to one of the interworking functions based on the identifier.

[0012] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The memory coupled to the at least one processor generally includes a code executable by the at least one processor so that the apparatus configures one or more UEs as remote UEs and configures one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs. The memory coupled to the at least one processor generally includes a code executable by the at least one processor so that the apparatus performs the following operations: providing one or more remote UEs and sidelink relay UEs with one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for accessing a network by one or more remote UEs via one or more sidelink relay UEs. The apparatus generally includes a receiver configured to receive data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one sidelink relay UE in the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

[0013] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes: means for receiving a plurality of interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for relaying UE access to a network via a sidelink. The apparatus generally includes: means for determining a service to be used for communication in the network. The apparatus generally includes: means for selecting one of the plurality of interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.

[0014] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for receiving one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for providing a remote UE with access to a network via a sidelink. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for providing an indication of a location of a sidelink relay UE to the remote UE. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for receiving data and an identifier of one of the interworking functions associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations from the remote UE. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for forwarding data to one of the interworking functions based on the identifier.

[0015] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for configuring one or more UEs as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for providing one or more remote UEs and sidelink relay UEs with one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for accessing a network by the one or more remote UEs via one or more sidelink relay UEs. The apparatus generally includes: a unit for receiving data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one sidelink relay UE in the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

[0016] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer-readable medium having computer-executable code stored thereon for wireless communication. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for receiving a plurality of interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for relaying UE access to a network via a sidelink. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for determining a service to be used for communication in the network. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for selecting one of the plurality of interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.

[0017] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer-readable medium having computer-executable code stored thereon for wireless communication. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for receiving one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for providing a remote UE with access to a network via a sidelink. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for providing an indication of a location of a sidelink relay UE to the remote UE. The computer-readable medium generally stores: code for receiving data and an identifier of one of the interworking functions associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations from the remote UE. The computer-readable medium generally stores: code for forwarding data to one of the interworking functions based on the identifier.

[0018] One aspect of the subject matter described in the present disclosure may be implemented in a computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon for wireless communication. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for configuring one or more UEs as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for providing one or more remote UEs and sidelink relay UEs with one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for accessing a network by one or more remote UEs via one or more sidelink relay UEs. The computer-readable medium generally stores code for receiving data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one sidelink relay UE in the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

[0019] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features are indicative of only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to understand the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure in detail, the above briefly summarized content can be described in more detail by referring to various aspects, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings show only some aspects of the present disclosure, as the description may allow other equally effective aspects.

[0021] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example telecommunications system in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating designs of example base stations (BSs) and user equipment (UEs) in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 3 is an example frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 4 An example non-roaming architecture for a remote UE in an untrusted non-3GPP network with a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to a 5G core (5GC) via a PC5 connection to another UE and an N3 interworking function (N3IWF) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 5is a call flow diagram showing example signaling for remote UE NAS through PC5 UE UE to network access via N3IWF.

[0026] Figure 6 is a call flow diagram illustrating example signaling for a remote UE NAS for network access through a PC5 UE UE via an N3IWF utilizing N3IWF selection by the remote UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications by a remote UE in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications by a BS in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations for wireless communications by a sidelink relay UE in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Fig.10 A communication device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown and may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein.

[0031] Fig.11 A communication device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown and may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein.

[0032] Fig.12 A communication device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown and may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein.

[0033] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for interworking function selection by a remote user equipment (UE) for UE-to-network access via a sidelink relay UE.

[0035] A UE that is not within the coverage area of ​​the network (such as a UE outside the coverage of a next generation Node B (gNB) in a 5G network) may be referred to herein as a remote UE. The remote UE may still wish to send traffic on the network. The remote UE may send traffic on the network via a relay UE. The relay UE may act as a router and route traffic based on an address. However, since the remote UE is not within the coverage of the network, the network does not have remote control.

[0036] According to certain aspects, a remote UE may be provided with a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to a 5G core network via an N3 interworking function (N3IWF) over a UE-to-network relay on a PC5 sidelink. Aspects of the present disclosure provide for interworking function selection by a remote UE.

[0037] The following description provides an example of interworking function selection performed by a remote UE for UE-network access via a sidelink relay UE in a communication system. Without departing from the present disclosure, changes may be made in the functions and arrangements of the elements discussed. Various examples may omit, replace or add various processes or components as appropriate. For example, the method described may be performed in an order different from the order described, and various steps may be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, a device may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of aspects set forth herein. In addition, the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods practiced using other structures, functions, or structures and functions other than or different from the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "used as an example, instance or illustration". Any aspect described as "exemplary" herein is not necessarily to be interpreted as being preferred or having advantages over other aspects.

[0038] The technology described herein can be used for various wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, although various aspects may be described herein using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G and / or 5G wireless technologies, various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to communication systems based on other generations, including later technologies.

[0039] Typically, any number of wireless networks can be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network can support a specific radio access technology (RAT) and can operate on one or more frequencies. RAT can also be referred to as radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency can also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, frequency channel, tone, subband, etc. Each frequency can support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks with different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks can be deployed.

[0040] NR access (e.g., 5G NR) can support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth, millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency, massive machine type communication MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC technology, and / or mission critical services targeting ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTIs) to meet their respective quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition, these services can coexist in the same subframe.

[0041] NR can support beamforming, and the beam direction can be dynamically configured. NR can support multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission with precoding. MIMO configuration in the downlink can support up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer downlink transmission of up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per user equipment (UE). NR can support multi-layer transmission with up to 2 streams per UE. NR can support aggregation of up to 8 serving cells.

[0042] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network 100 is shown in which aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be a NR system (e.g., a 5G NR network). Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication network 100 may communicate with a core network 132. The core network 132 may communicate with one or more base stations (BSs) 110a-z (each also individually referred to herein as BS 110 or collectively referred to herein as BS 110) and / or user equipments (UEs) 120a-y (each also individually referred to herein as UE 120 or collectively referred to herein as UE 120) in the wireless communication network 100 via one or more interfaces.

[0043] BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area (sometimes referred to as a "cell"), which may be fixed or may be mobile depending on the location of mobile BS 110. In some examples, BS 110 may be interconnected with each other and / or with one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces (e.g., direct physical connections, wireless connections, virtual networks, etc.) using any suitable transport network. Figure 1 In the example shown, BSs 110a, 110b, and 110c may be macro BSs for macro cells 102a, 102b, and 102c, respectively. BS 110x may be a pico BS for pico cell 102x. BSs 110y and 110z may be femto BSs for femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. A BS may support one or more cells.

[0044] The BS 110 communicates with the UE 120 in the wireless communication network 100. The UEs 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE 120 may be fixed or mobile. The wireless communication network 100 may also include a relay station (e.g., relay station 110r) (also referred to as a repeater, etc.) that receives transmissions of data and / or other information from an upstream station (e.g., BS 110a or UE 120r) and sends transmissions of data and / or other information to a downstream station (e.g., UE 120 or BS 110), or relays transmissions between UEs 120 to facilitate communication between devices.

[0045] The network controller 130 may communicate with a set of BSs 110 and provide coordination and control (e.g., via a backhaul) for the BSs 110. In various aspects, the network controller 130 may communicate with a core network 132 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)), which provides various network functions such as access and mobility management, session management, user plane functions, policy control functions, authentication server functions, unified data management, application functions, network open functions, network warehousing functions, network slice selection functions, etc.

[0046] According to certain aspects, BS 110 and UE 120 may be configured to utilize remote UE N3IWF to select interworking between an untrusted non-3GPP network and 5GC. Figure 1 As shown, according to aspects of the present disclosure, BS 110a includes an IWF manager 112a; UE 120a includes an IWF manager 122a; and UE 120b includes an IWF manager 122b, which may be configured for IWF selection by a remote UE for UE-to-network sidelink relay access.

[0047] Figure 2 BS 110a and UE 120a (eg, Figure 1 The present invention provides example components of the wireless communication network 100 of the present invention, which can be used to implement various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0048] At BS110a, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller / processor 240. The control information may be for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. A medium access control (MAC)-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes. For example, BS110a may send a MAC CE to UE 120a to place UE 120a in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode to reduce power consumption of the UE. The MAC-CE may be carried in a shared channel such as a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). The MAC-CE may also be used to convey information that facilitates communications, such as information about buffer status and available power headroom.

[0049] The processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) data and control information respectively to obtain data symbols and control symbols. The processor 220 may also generate reference signals such as for primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), and channel state information reference symbols (CSI-RS). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols (if applicable), and may provide an output symbol stream to a modulator (MOD) in a transceiver 232a-232t. Each modulator may process its own output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signal from the modulator in the transceiver 232a-232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a-234t, respectively.

[0050] At UE 120a, antennas 252a-252r can receive downlink signals from BS 110 and can provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 254a-254r, respectively. Each demodulator can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the respective received signals to obtain input samples. Each demodulator can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 254a-254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. Receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120a to data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to controller / processor 280.

[0051] On the uplink, at the UE 120a, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for a sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by a modulator (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.) in a transceiver 254a-254r, and transmitted to the BS 110a. At the BS 110a, the uplink signal from the UE 120a may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the modulator 232, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 120a. Receive processor 238 may provide decoded data to a data sink 239 and decoded control information to controller / processor 240 .

[0052] Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for BS 110a and UE 120a, respectively.A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0053] The antennas 252, processors 266, 258, 264 and / or controller / processor 280 and / or other components of UE 120a may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein for UE antenna grouping for uplink transmissions. The antennas 234, processors 220, 230, 238 and / or controller / processor 240 and / or other components of BS 110a may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein for UE antenna grouping for uplink transmissions. For example, according to various aspects described herein, such as Figure 2 As shown, the processor 280 of the UE 120a has an IWF manager 281, which can be configured to utilize the untrusted non-3GPP and 5GC interworking selected by the IWF. According to various aspects described herein, Figure 2 As shown, the processor 240 of the BS 110a has an IWF configuration manager 241, which may be configured for IWF selection for UE-to-network sidelink relay access.

[0054] NR can utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) with cyclic prefix (CP) on uplink and downlink. NR can support half-duplex operation using time division duplex (TDD). OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers, also called tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers can depend on the system bandwidth. In NR, the minimum resource allocation (e.g., resource block (RB)) can be 12 consecutive subcarriers (or 180kHz). The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands, and a subband can cover multiple RBs (e.g., 6 RBs). NR may support a basic subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 15 KHz, and other SCSs may be defined with respect to the basic SCS (e.g., 30 KHz, 60 KHz, 120 KHz, 240 KHz, etc.).

[0055] Figure 3300 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a frame format for NR. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink can be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame can have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and can be divided into 10 subframes with indices from 0 to 9, each subframe being 1 ms. In NR, the basic TTI is called a slot. Each subframe can include a variable number of slots depending on the SCS. Each slot can include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols) depending on the SCS. The symbol periods in each slot can be assigned an index. The subslot structure can include a transmission time interval having a duration less than the slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). Each symbol in the slot can indicate a link direction (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible) for data transmission, and the link direction for each subframe can be dynamically switched. The link direction can be based on the slot format. Each slot can include DL / UL data and / or DL / UL control information.

[0056] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled. The scheduling entity (e.g., BS110) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment in its service area or cell. The scheduling entity can be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communications, the subordinate entity utilizes the resources allocated by the scheduling entity. BS110 is not the only entity that can play the role of a scheduling entity. In some examples, UE 120 can play the role of a scheduling entity, and resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UE 120) can be scheduled, and other UE 120 can utilize the resources scheduled by UE 120 for wireless communication. In some examples, UE 120 can play the role of a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and / or in a mesh network. In the mesh network example, in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity, UE 120 can communicate directly with each other.

[0057] In some examples, the communication between UE 120 and BS 110 is referred to as an access link. The access link may be provided via a Uu interface. The communication between devices may be referred to as a sidelink.

[0058] In some examples, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UE 120) can communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-life applications of such sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE to network relay, vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical networks, and / or various other appropriate applications. Typically, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal transmitted from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE 120a) to another subordinate entity (e.g., another UE 120) without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE 120 or BS110), even if the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and / or control purposes. In some examples, the sidelink signal may be transmitted using a licensed spectrum (unlike a wireless local area network, which typically uses an unlicensed spectrum). An example of a sidelink communication is PC5, for example, as used in V2V, LTE, and / or NR.

[0059] Various sidelink channels may be used for sidelink communications, including a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH). The PSDCH may carry discovery expressions that enable neighboring devices to discover each other. The PSCCH may carry control signaling, such as sidelink resource configuration and other parameters for data transmission, and the PSSCH may carry data transmission. The PSFCH may carry feedback, such as CSI related to sidelink channel quality.

[0060] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to interworking. Interworking can be performed between an untrusted non-3GPP network and a 5G core network (5GC). A 5GC (e.g., CN 132 such as a wireless communication network 100) can support the connection of a UE via a non-3GPP access network. In some examples, a remote UE (not within the coverage of a gNB in ​​the 5GC) can access the 5GC via a UE-to-network relay and a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF). The N3IWF can be an element of a 5G SBA (service-based architecture). The N3IWF is responsible for interworking between an untrusted non-3GPP network and the 5GC. The N3IWF can support connections to the 5GC based on both the N2 interface and the N3 interface, and can support Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) connections.

[0061] Figure 4 4 is an example non-roaming architecture 400 for a remote UE 402 having a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to a 5GC via a PC5 connection to another relay UE 406 and an N3IWF 414 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0062] 5GC can be implemented by one or more network entities that perform network functions (NFs) including access and mobility management function (AMF) and user plane function (UPF).

[0063] AMF may include the following functions (some or all of the AMF functions may be supported in one or more instances of AMF): termination of RAN control plane interface (N2); termination of NAS (N1), NAS encryption and integrity protection; registration management; connection management; reachability management; mobility management; lawful interception (for AMF events and interface to LI system); transmission of SM messages between UE and session management function (SMF); transparent proxy for routing SM messages; access authentication; access authorization; transmission of SMS messages between UE and SMSF; security anchor function (SEAF); security context management (SCM), which receives keys from SEAF for deriving access network specific keys; location service management for regulatory services; transmission of location service messages between UE and LMF and between RAN and LMF; EPS bearer ID allocation for interworking with EPS; and UE mobility event notification.

[0064] In addition to the functions of AMF described above, AMF may include functions to support non-3GPP access networks: support for N2 interface with N3IWF; support for NAS signaling with UE through N3IWF; support for authentication of UE connected through N3IWF; management of mobility, authentication and separate security context states for UE connected via non-3GPP access or simultaneously via 3GPP and non-3GPP access; support for coordinated RM management context valid on 3GPP and non-3GPP access; and support for dedicated CM management context for UE connected via non-3GPP access.

[0065] like Figure 4As shown, NAS registration and connection management are extended for UE to NW relay path using N3IWF 414 through sidelink UE to NW relay access. In other words, N3IWF 414 should be reachable by remote UE 402 through UE to NW relay access path. Remote UE 402 can also support independent 5G registration and connection management processes through Uu (via RAN 404, AMF 410 and UPF 416 to data network 418) and UE to NW relay through PC5 (via relay UE 407, RAN 408, AMF 410, UPF 412 and N3IWF 414 to data networks 418 and 420). Therefore, 5GC can authorize and authenticate remote UE operations through UE to NW relay path. Remote UE discovers N3IWF and sends NAS signaling to N3IWF IP address. The relay UE establishes a relay protocol data unit (PDU) session and relays NAS and UP services to the N3IWF.

[0066] In some examples, existing N3IWF technology can be extended to support new functionality for UE-to-NW access to 5GC via N3IWF, or new networking functionality deployed in 5GC to support UE-to-NW access to 5GC. In some examples, the remote UE also has a direct connection to 5GC and / or N3IWF (e.g., via uU), and can also access the network via a sidelink relay UE and / or N3IWF for UE-to-NW access to 5GC.

[0067] In some examples, the remote UE 402 may perform registration with the 5GC during an Internet Key Exchange, IKEv2 secure access establishment procedure (e.g., as specified in 3GPP TS24.501). After registration, the UE supports NAS signaling with the 5GC using the N1 reference point (e.g., as specified in 3GPP TS24.501). The N3IWF interfaces with the 5GC control protocol (CP) function via the N2 interface to the AMF, and interfaces with the 5GC UP function via the N3 interface to the user plane function (e.g., as described in 3GPP TS23.501).

[0068] When the network has an N3IWF deployed for UE to NW relay access, the network can route remote UE UP traffic for certain relay service codes via the N3IWF after the network authorizes the remote UE via NAS (e.g., not before). This can provide end-to-end security for remote UE UP traffic via an IPSec tunnel.

[0069] Figure 5is a call flow diagram showing example signaling for a remote UE NAS for PC5 UE-to-network access via N3IWF. The control plane signaling may include remote UE and network procedures for supporting 5G System (5GS) registration and connection management from the remote UE to the network via UE-to-NW relay access (e.g., as defined in Section 4.12 of TS 23.502).

[0070] In some examples, when the remote UE and the relay UE are within the coverage of a BS (e.g., a gNB), the remote UE and the relay UE may perform Uu registration ( Figure 5 As part of registration, the UE obtains N3IWF policy information.

[0071] like Figure 5 As shown, as part of registration via the UPF (at boxes 1a and 1b), the remote UE and / or relay may indicate the capability to support connection to 5GC via N3IWF (e.g., support for using IKE procedures to establish IPSec tunnels with N3IWF), such as an indication in a Uu registration message. In some examples, during Uu registration, the AMF provides the UE with policies / parameters for proximity security (ProSe) communications. The ProSe policy for relay operation may indicate to the relay UE whether the network supports UE-to-NW relay path access to 5GC via N3IWF and whether it is allowed to support access to 5GC via N3IWF. A remote UE operating outside the coverage (OOC) of a gNB may be pre-configured with N3IWF policy information even without Uu registration.

[0072] In some examples, the relay service code may be used to identify the connection service provided by the ProSe relay UE. Figure 5 As shown, the relay UE may be provided with relay discovery parameters including a relay service code (at box 2a), and the remote UE may be provided with relay discovery parameters including a relay service code (at box 2b). A remote UE interested in a connection service in the UE-to-NW relay may discover the relay UE by monitoring the corresponding relay service code (at box 3). The relay UE may then establish a dedicated PDN connection over Uu for each supported relay service for the UE-to-network relay connection (at box 4a). For example, the relay UE may establish a dedicated PDU session for each relay service code during PC5 unicast link establishment with the remote UE (at box 4b).

[0073] The remote UE may establish a PC5 connection with the UE to NW relay and obtain an IP address (at box 5). The remote UE may establish an IPsec tunnel with the N3IWF over the PC5 relay path (e.g., using an IKE process, at box 6). Subsequent NAS messages between the UE and the N3IWF may be exchanged over TCP / IP via a signaling IPsec SA. Authentication and authorization of the remote UE by the 5GC may be supported (e.g., similar to Uu). In the user plane, the relay UE may carry the remote UE user plane and NAS services to the N3IWF via a relay PDU session via an IPSec tunnel. The N3IWF delivers NAS services to the UPF.

[0074] What are needed are techniques and devices for IWF selection. Example interworking function selection by remote UE

[0075] Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for interworking function (IWF) selection by a remote user equipment (UE).

[0076] In some examples, IWF selection may include a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) selection procedure for untrusted non-3GPP access (e.g., in Section 6.3.6.2 of TS 23.501). For example, the IWF selection procedure may include an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) selection procedure (e.g., in Section 4.5.4 of TS 23.402). Additional signaling and information may also be used for IWF selection by a remote UE having a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to a 5G core network (5GC) via a sidelink (e.g., PC5) with a sidelink relay UE and an IWF.

[0077] As discussed above, as part of the registration process, the UE (e.g., remote UE and / or relay UE) may be configured with policy information. The policy information may include parameters for IWF selection. If the remote UE is out of coverage of the network, the UE may be pre-configured with policy information. The policy information may include N3IWF configuration information, sidelink policy information, proximity security (ProSe) communication policy information, etc.

[0078] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the policy information may (e.g., additionally) include UE to NW relay access IWF identifier configuration information and IWF selection information. The policy information may configure supported services. The policy information may configure the UE as a remote UE, a relay UE, or both.

[0079] In some examples, the UE to NW relay access IWF identifier configuration information may be provided for an associated home public land mobile network (HPLMN). In some examples, the UE to NW relay access IWF identifier configuration information includes a single IWF identifier configuration for an IWF in the HPLMN. The IWF identifier configuration may include a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the IWF.

[0080] In some examples, the UE to NW relay access IWF identifier configuration information may include multiple IWF identifier configurations. Each IWF identifier configuration may be associated with a specific relay service code. In some examples, certain sidelink relay UEs and associated IWFs may be configured for only police services, only public safety services, and / or other types of services and / or services.

[0081] In some examples, the UE to NW relay access IWF identifier configuration information may include a relay service code. In this case, the remote UE may use the relay service code to derive the IWF identifier configuration. For example, the relay service code configured by the operator may have an operator / PLMN specific identifier as part of the relay service code.

[0082] In some examples, the UE to NW relay access IWF selection configuration information may include a priority list of PLMNs that are preferred for IWF selection. The UE to NW relay access IWF selection configuration information may include an indication of whether the IWF selection in the PLMN should be based on a tracking area identifier (TAI) and / or a location area identifier (e.g., a TAI FQDN) or an operator identifier (e.g., an FQDN associated with an operator). The priority list of preferred PLMNs may include an entry indicating "any PLMN" that matches any PLMN to which the UE is connected except the HPLMN. In some examples, the PLMN included in the IWF selection information may be a PLMN that has a roaming agreement with the HPLMN for interworking with the UE to the NW relay UE.

[0083] According to certain aspects, the remote UE selects an IWF, and then constructs an identifier (e.g., FQDN or IP address) using the TAI or operator identifier based on instructions in the policy information. For example, the remote UE may construct an IWF identifier based on the tracking area in which the UE is located. The remote UE may use the 5GS TAI when the UE registers with the 5GS. The remote UE may construct an N3IWF identifier based on an operational identifier using the PLMN ID in which the UE is located as an operator identifier.

[0084] In some cases, the remote UE may not have information about the relay UE PLMN or TAI to perform IWF selection and construct an IWF identifier (e.g., FQDN). According to certain aspects, the relay UE may provide the remote UE with the PLMN and / or TAI information of the relay UE, for example, to assist the remote UE in performing N3IWF selection and constructing an IWF identifier. In some examples, the relay UE may provide its PLMN ID and / or TAI to the remote UE in a broadcast message to the remote UE. For example, the relay UE may provide its PLMN ID and / or TAI to the remote UE in a PC5 UE to NW discovery announcement message, in a UE to NW relay discovery response message, or in a relay discovery additional information message. In some examples, the relay UE may provide its PLMN ID and / or TAI to the remote UE in a unicast message to the remote UE. For example, the relay UE may provide its PLMN ID and / or TAI to the remote UE in a PC5-S direct communication acceptance message, and the PC5-S direct communication acceptance message may be sent after a successful unicast link establishment.

[0085] Once the remote UE has the relay UE location information, the remote UE can select an IWF. When the remote UE determines that the relay UE is in the remote UE's HPLMN, the remote UE can use the HPLMN IWF identifier configuration to select the IWF and connect to the 5GC via the relay UE. When the remote UE determines that the relay UE is in a different PLMN than the remote UE (e.g., the relay UE is not the remote UE's HPLMN), the remote UE can select a PLMN and an IWF based on a priority list of preferred PLMNs.

[0086] In some examples, after performing discovery and based on the priority list, the remote UE may decide to establish unicast links only with specific sidelink relay UEs having PLMNs included in the priority list.

[0087] Figure 6 6 is a call flow diagram illustrating example signaling 600 for a remote UE NAS for UE-to-network access via an IWF with IWF selection by a remote UE 602 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6As shown, at 612, the remote UE 602 registers with the AMF 610. At 614, the remote UE 602 receives policy information from the AMF 610. In some examples, the policy information is pre-configured (e.g., when the remote UE 602 is out of coverage). In some examples, at 612, the policy information is provided during the registration process. The policy information includes an IWF ID configuration and an IWF selection information. As discussed above, the IWF ID configurations can each be associated with a relay service code. As discussed above, the IWF selection information can include a priority list of preferred PLMNs. The policy information can further configure whether to use a TAI or an operator ID to determine the IWF ID.

[0088] like Figure 6 As shown, at 616, the remote UE 602 may receive location information from the sidelink relay UE 604. For example, the remote UE 602 may indicate a PLMN ID or a TAI.

[0089] like Figure 6 As shown, the remote UE 602 selects an IWF. For example, if the PLMN of the sidelink relay UE 604 is the HPLMN of the remote UE 602, the remote UE may select an IWF from the PLMN. If the PLMN of the sidelink relay UE 604 is not in the HPLMN of the remote UE 602, the remote UE 602 selects an IWF (e.g., N3IWF) from the PLMN in the priority list of the preferred PLMN.

[0090] Once the remote UE 602 selects an IWF, the remote UE 602 constructs an ID (eg, FQDN or IP address) of the selected IWF, for example, using the TAI or operator ID.

[0091] The remote UE 602 may then send traffic (e.g., traffic type associated with the relay service code and IWF configuration) and include the IWF ID to the sidelink relay UE 604. The sidelink relay UE 604 forwards the traffic to the IWF 606 based on the indicated IWF ID, and the IWF 606 then forwards the traffic to the network (e.g., gNB 608).

[0092] Figure 7 700 for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 700 may be performed, for example, by a remote UE (e.g., such as UE 120b in wireless communication network 100). Operations 700 may be operations performed by the remote UE that are complementary to operations 800 performed by a network entity and operations 900 performed by a sidelink relay UE. Operations 700 may be implemented as a process executed on one or more processors (e.g., Figure 2 Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the remote UE in operation 700 may be, for example, via one or more antennas (e.g., Figure 2 In some aspects, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the remote UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (eg, controller / processor 280) for obtaining and / or outputting signals.

[0093] At box 705, operation 700 may begin by receiving multiple interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for UE access to the network via a sidelink relay. The network may be a 3GPP network (e.g., 5G). Each interworking function configuration may be associated with a relay service code. Multiple interworking function configurations may include one or more N3IWF configurations. Multiple interworking functions and multiple relay service codes may be received in sidelink policy information. The sidelink policy information may be configured by a network entity such as an authorization and management function (AMF) or a policy control function (PCF). Multiple interworking functions and multiple relay service codes may be received during a NAS registration process or a preconfiguration process. Multiple interworking function configurations may include an FQDN or IP address of an interworking function. In some examples, the remote UE derives the FQDN or IP address based on the relay service code.

[0094] In some examples, the remote UE further receives interworking function configuration selection information (e.g., in the sidelink policy information). For example, the interworking function configuration selection information may include a priority list of preferred PLMNs for interworking function selection. The list may include a HPLMN associated with the PLMN. The interworking function configuration selection information may include an indication for selecting an interworking function configuration based on a TAI, a location area identifier, or an operator identifier.

[0095] At block 710, the remote UE determines a service to use for communications in a network.

[0096] At block 715, the remote UE selects one of a plurality of interworking functionality configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.For example, the UE may select the interworking functionality configuration associated with the relay service code for the determined service.

[0097] The remote UE may determine the FQDN for the selected interworking functionality configuration as the FQDN of the TAI or location area identifier of the area in which the remote UE is located or as the operator's FQDN using the ID of the PLMN associated with the selected interworking functionality configuration.

[0098] In some examples, at block 720, the remote UE receives an indication from the sidelink relay UE of a PLMN and TAI corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE to which the sidelink remote UE is connected for network access. The indication may be received in a broadcast discovery announcement message, a relay discovery additional information message, or a unicast direct communication accept message sent by the sidelink relay UE.

[0099] In some examples, when the remote UE and the sidelink relay UE associated with the selected interworking function configuration are located in the same HPLMN, the remote UE selects the interworking function configuration based on the HPLMN interworking function identifier. In some examples, when the remote UE and the sidelink relay UE associated with the selected interworking function configuration are located in different HPLMNs, the remote UE selects the interworking function configuration based on a priority list of preferred PLMNs.

[0100] After performing the sidelink relay discovery procedure, the remote UE may determine to establish a sidelink unicast link only with relay UEs in the PLMNs in the priority list, and the remote UE selects an interworking function configuration associated with one of the relay UEs.

[0101] According to certain aspects, the remote UE accesses the network via an access link (eg, uU) or via PC5 sidelink UE to NW relay access provided by a sidelink relay UE.The remote UE may include the determined FQDN for the selected interworking function.

[0102] Figure 8 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 800 for wireless communication in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 800 may be performed, for example, by a network entity (e.g., an entity in CN 132 such as BS 110a or wireless communication network 100). Operations 800 may be operations performed by the network entity that are complementary to operations 700 performed by a remote UE and / or operations 900 performed by a sidelink relay UE.

[0103] At block 805, operations 800 may begin by configuring one or more UEs as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs.

[0104] At box 810, the network entity provides one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for accessing the network by one or more remote UEs via one or more sidelink relay UEs to one or more remote UEs and one or more sidelink relay UEs. The network can be a 3GPP network (e.g., 5G). The one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes can be provided in the sidelink policy information. Each interworking function configuration can be associated with a relay service code. The sidelink policy information can further include additional information as discussed above.

[0105] At box 815, the network entity receives data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one of the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

[0106] Fig. 9 900 for wireless communications in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 900 may be performed, for example, by a sidelink relay UE (e.g., such as UE 120a in wireless communication network 100). Operations 900 may be operations performed by a sidelink relay UE that are complementary to operations 700 performed by a remote UE and / or operations 800 performed by a network entity. Operations 900 may be implemented as a process executed on one or more processors (e.g., Figure 2 Further, the sending and receiving of signals by the UE in operation 900 may be, for example, through one or more antennas (e.g., Figure 2 In some aspects, the transmission and / or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (eg, controller / processor 280) for obtaining and / or outputting signals.

[0107] At block 905, operations 900 may begin by receiving one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for providing access to a network to a remote UE via a sidelink. The network may be a 3GPP network (e.g., 5G). The one or more interworking function configurations and the plurality of relay service codes may be received in sidelink policy information. Each interworking function configuration may be associated with a relay service code.

[0108] At block 910, the sidelink relay UE provides an indication of the location of the sidelink relay UE to the remote UE. As shown at block 925, the sidelink relay UE may send an indication of the TAI corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE and the PLMN to which the sidelink relay UE is connected for access to the network to the remote UE.

[0109] At 915, the sidelink relay UE receives data and an identifier of an interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking functions from the remote UE.

[0110] At 920, the sidelink relay UE forwards the data to the interworking function based on the identifier.

[0111] Fig.10 A communication device 1000 is shown, which may include a processor configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein (such as Figure 7 1000 includes various components (e.g., corresponding to functional module components) for the operations shown in the figure. The communication device 1000 includes a processing system 1002 coupled to a transceiver 1008 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1008 is configured to send and receive signals for the communication device 1000 via an antenna 1010, such as various signals described herein. The processing system 1002 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1000, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1000.

[0112] The processing system 1002 includes a processor 1004 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1012 via a bus 1006. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1012 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1004, cause the processor 1004 to perform Figure 7The operations shown or other operations for performing the various techniques for interworking function selection discussed herein. In certain aspects, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the computer-readable medium / memory 1012 stores: code 1014 for receiving (e.g., code for receiving multiple interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for accessing a network via a sidelink relay UE); code 1016 for determining (e.g., code for determining a service to be used for communication in the network); code 1018 for selecting (e.g., code for selecting one of multiple interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service); and / or code 1020 for receiving (e.g., code for receiving from the sidelink relay UE an indication of a TAI corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE and a PLMN to which the sidelink relay UE is connected for access to the network). In certain aspects, the processor 1004 has circuits configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1012. According to aspects of the present disclosure, processor 1004 includes: circuitry 1022 for receiving; circuitry 1024 for determining; circuitry 1026 for selecting; and / or circuitry 1028 for receiving.

[0113] Fig.11 A communication device 1100 is shown, which may include a processor configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein (such as Figure 8 The communication device 1100 includes various components (e.g., corresponding to functional module components) for the operations shown. The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 coupled to a transceiver 1108 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1108 is configured to send and receive signals for the communication device 1100 via an antenna 1110, such as various signals described herein. The processing system 1102 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1100, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1100.

[0114] The processing system 1102 includes a processor 1104 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1112 via a bus 1106. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1104, cause the processor 1104 to perform Figure 8The operations shown or other operations for performing the various techniques for interworking function selection discussed herein. In certain aspects, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the computer-readable medium / memory 1112 stores: code 1114 for configuration (e.g., code for configuring one or more UEs as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs); code 1116 for providing (e.g., code for providing one or more remote UEs and sidelink relay UEs with one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for accessing a network by one or more remote UEs via one or more sidelink relay UEs); and / or code 1118 for receiving (e.g., code for receiving data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one sidelink relay UE in one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations). In certain aspects, the processor 1104 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1112. According to aspects of the present disclosure, processor 1104 includes: circuitry 1120 for configuring; circuitry 1122 for providing; and / or circuitry 1123 for receiving.

[0115] Fig.12 A communication device 1200 is shown, which may include a processor configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein (such as Fig. 9 1200 includes various components (e.g., corresponding to functional module components) for the operations shown. The communication device 1200 includes a processing system 1202 coupled to a transceiver 1208 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1208 is configured to send and receive signals for the communication device 1200 via an antenna 1210, such as various signals described herein. The processing system 1202 can be configured to perform processing functions for the communication device 1200, including processing signals received and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1200.

[0116] The processing system 1202 includes a processor 1204 coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1212 via a bus 1206. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1212 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the processor 1204, cause the processor 1204 to perform Fig. 9The operations shown or other operations for performing the various techniques for interworking function selection discussed herein. In certain aspects, according to various aspects of the present disclosure, the computer-readable medium / memory 1212 stores: code 1214 for receiving (e.g., code for receiving one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for providing access to a network to a remote UE via a sidelink); code 1016 for providing (e.g., code for providing an indication of the location of a sidelink relay UE to the remote UE); code 1018 for receiving (e.g., code for receiving data and an identifier of one of the interworking functions associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations from the remote UE); code 1020 for forwarding (e.g., code for forwarding data to one of the interworking functions based on the identifier); and / or code 1020 for sending (e.g., code for sending to the remote UE an indication of a TAI corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE and a PLMN to which the sidelink relay UE is connected for access to the network). In certain aspects, processor 1004 has circuitry configured to implement code stored in computer readable medium / memory 1012. According to aspects of the present disclosure, processor 1004 includes: circuitry for receiving 1024; circuitry for providing 1026; circuitry for receiving 1028; circuitry for forwarding 1030; and / or circuitry for transmitting 1032. Example aspects

[0117] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0118] 1. A method for wireless communication by a remote user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a plurality of interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for UE access to a network via a sidelink relay; determining a service to be used for communication in the network; and selecting one of the plurality of interworking function configurations based on the relay service code for the determined service.

[0119] 2. The method of Example 1, wherein each of the plurality of interworking function configurations is associated with one or more relay service codes of the plurality of relay service codes.

[0120] 3. A method according to any one of Examples 1-2, wherein multiple interworking function configurations are received in sidelink policy information.

[0121] 4. A method according to Example 3, wherein: the sidelink strategy information also includes interworking function configuration selection information; and selecting one of the multiple interworking function configurations is still based on the interworking function configuration selection information.

[0122] 5. The method of Example 4, wherein the interworking function configuration selection information includes a priority list of preferred public land mobile networks (PLMNs) for interworking function selection.

[0123] 6. The method of example 5, wherein the interworking function configuration selection information further includes a home PLMN (HPLMN) associated with a PLMN in the priority list of preferred PLMNs.

[0124] 7. The method of example 6, wherein the plurality of interworking function configurations include a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or an Internet Protocol (IP) address of an interworking function in the HPLMN.

[0125] 8. The method according to any one of Examples 6-7 further includes: deriving a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or Internet Protocol (IP) address of an interworking function in the HPLMN based on the relay service code.

[0126] 9. A method according to any one of Examples 6-8, wherein: the selected interworking function configuration is associated with the interworking function in the HPLMN; and the method further comprises: using the identifier configuration of the selected interworking function configuration to determine the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the interworking function in the HPLMN.

[0127] 10. A method according to any one of Examples 4-9, wherein the interworking function configuration selection information includes an indication for selecting an interworking function configuration based on a tracking area identifier (TAI), a location area identifier, or an operator identifier.

[0128] 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the selected interworking function configuration using a tracking or location area identifier FQDN of a tracking area in which the remote UE is located; or determining the FQDN for the selected interworking function configuration using an operator identifier of a PLMN associated with the selected interworking function configuration.

[0129] 12. The method according to any one of Examples 10-11 further includes: receiving, from the sidelink relay UE, an indication of a TAI corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE and a PLMN to which the sidelink relay UE is connected for access to a network.

[0130] 13. A method according to Example 12, wherein the indication from the sidelink relay UE is received in a broadcast discovery announcement message, a relay discovery additional information message, or a unicast direct communication acceptance message.

[0131] 14. A method according to any one of Examples 6-13, wherein the selection includes: when the remote UE and the sidelink relay UE are located in the same HPLMN, selecting an interworking function configuration associated with the HPLMN; and when the remote UE and the sidelink relay UE are located in different HPLMNs, selecting the interworking function configuration based on a priority list of preferred PLMNs.

[0132] 15. A method according to any one of Examples 6-14, wherein the selection includes: performing a sidelink relay discovery process; determining to establish a sidelink unicast link only with a relay UE in a PLMN in a priority list of preferred PLMNs; and selecting an interworking function configuration associated with one of the sidelink relay UEs.

[0133] 16. A method according to any one of Examples 1-15, wherein: the network is a 3GPP network; and the multiple interworking function configurations include one or more non-3GPP interworking function configurations.

[0134] 17. The method according to Examples 1-16 also includes: accessing the network via an access link or via a sidelink UE to network relay access provided by a sidelink relay UE.

[0135] 18. A method for wireless communication by a sidelink relay user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving one or more interworking function configurations and multiple relay service codes for providing a remote UE with access to a network via a sidelink; providing an indication of the location of the sidelink relay UE to the remote UE; receiving data and an identifier of an interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations from the remote UE; and forwarding the data to the interworking function based on the identifier.

[0136] 19. The method according to Example 18 also includes: sending to the sidelink remote UE an indication of a tracking area identifier (TAI) corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE and a public land mobile network (PLMN) to which the sidelink relay UE is connected for access to the network.

[0137] 20. The method of Example 19, wherein the indication from the sidelink relay UE is sent in a broadcast discovery announcement message, a relay discovery additional information message, or a unicast direct communication accept message.

[0138] 21. A method according to any one of Examples 18-20, wherein: the network is a 3GPP network; and the multiple interworking function configurations include one or more non-3GPP interworking function configurations.

[0139] 22. A method according to any one of Examples 18-21, wherein the multiple interworking function configurations include fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the interworking functions.

[0140] 23. A method for wireless communication performed by a network entity, comprising: configuring one or more user equipments (UEs) as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs; providing one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for the one or more remote UEs to access a network via the one or more sidelink relay UEs to the one or more remote UEs and the one or more sidelink relay UEs; and receiving data from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one of the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

[0141] 24. The method of Example 23, wherein each of the plurality of interworking function configurations is associated with one or more relay service codes of the plurality of relay service codes.

[0142] 25. A method according to any one of Examples 23-24, wherein multiple interworking function configurations are provided in the sidelink policy information.

[0143] 26. A method according to Example 25, wherein the sidelink policy information also includes a priority list of preferred public land mobile networks (PLMNs) for interworking function selection.

[0144] 27. The method of Example 26, wherein the sidelink policy information further includes a home PLMN (HPLMN) associated with a PLMN in the priority list of preferred PLMNs.

[0145] 28. A method according to any of Examples 26-27, wherein the sidelink policy information includes an indication for selecting an interworking function configuration based on a tracking area identifier (TAI), a location area identifier, or an operator identifier.

[0146] 29. A method according to any one of Examples 23-28, wherein: the network is a 3GPP network; and the multiple interworking function configurations include one or more non-3GPP interworking function configurations.

[0147] 30. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 22.

[0148] 31. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 23 to 29.

[0149] 32. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory comprising code executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 22.

[0150] 33. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory comprising code executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of aspects 23 to 29.

[0151] 34. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code for wireless communication, the computer executable code when executed by at least one processor causing an apparatus to perform the method of any one of aspects 1 to 22.

[0152] 35. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code for wireless communication, the computer executable code when executed by at least one processor causing an apparatus to perform a method according to any one of aspects 23 to 29. Additional considerations

[0153] The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as NR (e.g., 5G NR), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, and the like. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). OFDMA networks may implement radio technologies such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). NR is an emerging wireless communication technology under development.

[0154] In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to the coverage area of ​​a Node B (NB) and / or a NB subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the terms "cell" and BS, next generation Node B (gNB or gNodeB), access point (AP), distributed unit (DU), carrier or transmit receive point (TRP) may be used interchangeably. A BS may provide communication coverage for macro cells, pico cells, femto cells and / or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and may allow restricted access by UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in a residence, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be called a femto BS or a home BS.

[0155] UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a customer premises equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an appliance, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor / device, a wearable device (such as a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, a satellite wireless unit, etc.), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, an industrial manufacturing device, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs may be considered machine type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., which can communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node can provide, for example, a connection to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as the Internet or a cellular network) or to a network via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs can be considered Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which can be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

[0156] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled. The scheduling entity (e.g., BS) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment in its service area or cell. The scheduling entity can be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communications, the subordinate entity utilizes the resources allocated by the scheduling entity. The base station is not the only entity that can play the role of a scheduling entity. In some examples, the UE can play the role of a scheduling entity, and resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs) can be scheduled, and other UEs can utilize the resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. In some examples, the UE can play the role of a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and / or in a mesh network. In the mesh network example, the UE can also communicate directly with each other in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity.

[0157] In some examples, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) can communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-world applications of such sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relay, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical networks, and / or various other appropriate applications. Typically, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal transmitted from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying the communication through a scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and / or control purposes. In some examples, the sidelink signal may be transmitted using a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, which typically use unlicensed spectrum).

[0158] The method disclosed herein includes one or more steps or actions for implementing the method. Without departing from the scope of the claims, the method steps and / or actions can be interchangeable with each other. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and / or use of specific steps and / or actions can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0159] As used herein, a phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0160] As used herein, the term "determining" includes a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. In addition, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. In addition, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0161] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are given the full scope consistent with the language expression of the claims, wherein unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to an element in the singular form is not intended to mean "one and only one", but "one or more". Unless otherwise specifically stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout the present disclosure are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are intended to be included by the claims, and these structural and functional equivalents are known or will be known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, there is no disclosure herein that is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recorded in the claims. No claim element is to be interpreted according to the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f), unless the element is explicitly recorded using the phrase "unit for...", or in the case of a method claim, the element is recorded using the phrase "step for...".

[0162] The various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable unit capable of performing the corresponding functions. The unit may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to: circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors. Generally, where there are operations shown in the accompanying drawings, those operations may have corresponding paired functional module components with similar numbers.

[0163] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0164] If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may include a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented using a bus architecture. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of the processing system, the bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges. The bus may connect various circuits including a processor, a machine-readable medium, and a bus interface. In addition, the bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In a user terminal (see Figure 1 ), a user interface (e.g., a keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also connect various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described any further. The processor may be implemented using one or more general and / or special purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuits that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how to best implement the functionality described for the processing system depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the entire system.

[0165] If implemented with software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted through a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language or other terms, software should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, data or any combination thereof. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that facilitates the transmission of computer programs from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on a machine-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be a component of the processor. For example, the machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a carrier modulated by data, and / or a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon separated from a wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor through a bus interface. Alternatively or in addition, the machine-readable medium or any part thereof may be integrated into the processor, such as a cache and / or a general register file in this case. For example, examples of machine-readable storage media may include RAM (random access memory), flash memory, ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable read-only memory), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage media, or any combination thereof. Machine-readable media may be embodied in a computer program product.

[0166] A software module may include a single instruction or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. A computer-readable medium may include multiple software modules. A software module includes instructions that, when executed by a device such as a processor, cause a processing system to perform various functions. A software module may include a sending module and a receiving module. Each software module may be located in a single storage device or distributed across multiple storage devices. For example, when a triggering event occurs, a software module is loaded from a hard drive into a RAM. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into a cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functions of a software module below, it will be understood that such functions are implemented by the processor when executing instructions from the software module.

[0167] Additionally, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies (such as infrared (IR), radio and microwave), then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies (such as infrared, radio and microwave) are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Optical disks, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks utilize lasers to reproduce data optically. Thus, in some aspects, computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). Additionally, for other aspects, computer-readable media may include transitory computer-readable media (e.g., signals). Combinations of the above should be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0168] Thus, certain aspects may include a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and / or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein, such as for performing the operations described herein and in Figure 7-Figure 9 The operations are shown in the instructions.

[0169] Further, it should be understood that the modules and / or other appropriate units for performing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and / or otherwise obtained by the user terminal and / or base station where applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transmission of the unit for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, the various methods described herein can be provided via a storage unit (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or a floppy disk, etc.), so that the user terminal and / or base station can obtain the various methods when the storage unit is coupled to or provided to the device. In addition, any other appropriate technology for providing the methods and techniques described herein to the device can be utilized.

[0170] It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components shown above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a remote user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a plurality of interworking function configurations for relaying a UE to access a network via a sidelink and a plurality of relay service codes associated with a plurality of services; as well as An interworking function of the plurality of interworking function configurations is selected for communication with the network based on a relay service code for a service of the plurality of services in the plurality of relay service codes.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Each interworking function configuration of the plurality of interworking function configurations is associated with one or more relay service codes of the plurality of relay service codes.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The plurality of interworking function configurations are received in sidelink policy information.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The sidelink policy information also includes interworking function configuration selection information; and The selecting of the one interworking function configuration among the plurality of interworking function configurations is also based on the interworking function configuration selection information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The interworking function configuration selection information includes a priority list of preferred public land mobile networks (PLMNs) for interworking function selection.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The interworking function configuration selection information further includes a home PLMN (HPLMN) associated with the PLMN in the priority list of the preferred PLMN.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The plurality of interworking function configurations include fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the interworking functions in the HPLMN.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or Internet Protocol (IP) address of the interworking function is derived.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The selected interworking function is in a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN); and The method also includes determining an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the interworking function in the HPLMN using an identifier configuration of the selected interworking function configuration.

10. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: An indication is received to select an interworking function configuration based on a tracking area identifier (TAI), a location area identifier, or an operator identifier.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) configured for a selected interworking function using the tracking or location area identifier of the tracking area in which the remote UE is located; or The FQDN for the selected interworking functionality configuration is determined using the operator identifier of the PLMN associated with the selected interworking functionality configuration.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: An indication of the TAI corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE is received from the sidelink relay UE.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The indication from the sidelink relay UE is received in a broadcast discovery announcement message, a relay discovery additional information message, or a unicast direct communication accept message.

14. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The options include: When the remote UE and the sidelink relay UE are located in the same HPLMN, selecting an interworking function configuration associated with the HPLMN; and When the remote UE and the sidelink relay UE are located in different HPLMNs, the interworking function configuration is selected based on a priority list of the preferred PLMNs.

15. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The options include: performing a sidelink relay discovery procedure; Determining to establish a sidelink unicast link only with a relay UE in a PLMN in a priority list of the preferred PLMN; and An interworking functionality configuration associated with one of the sidelink relay UEs is selected.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein: The network is a 3GPP network; and The multiple interworking function configurations include one or more non-3GPP interworking function configurations.

17. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The network is accessed via an access link or via a sidelink UE-to-network relay access provided by the sidelink relay UE.

18. A method for wireless communication by a sidelink relay user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving one or more interworking function configurations and a plurality of relay service codes for providing a remote UE with access to a network; providing an indication of the location of the sidelink relay UE to the remote UE; receiving, from the remote UE, data and identifiers of the interworking functions of the one or more interworking function configurations; and The data is forwarded to the interworking function based on the identifier.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: A tracking area identifier (TAI) corresponding to the location of the sidelink relay UE and an indication of a public land mobile network (PLMN) to which the sidelink relay UE is connected for access to the network is sent to the sidelink remote UE.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The indication from the sidelink relay UE is sent in a broadcast discovery announcement message, a relay discovery additional information message, or a unicast direct communication accept message.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein: The network is a 3GPP network; and The multiple interworking function configurations include one or more non-3GPP interworking function configurations.

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein: The plurality of interworking function configurations include fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the interworking functions.

23. A method for wireless communication by a network entity, comprising: configuring one or more user equipments (UEs) as remote UEs and configuring one or more UEs as sidelink relay UEs; providing, to the one or more remote UEs and the one or more sidelink relay UEs, one or more interworking function configurations for accessing a network by the one or more remote UEs via the one or more sidelink relay UEs and a plurality of relay service codes associated with a plurality of services; as well as Data is received from at least one of the one or more remote UEs via at least one of the one or more sidelink relay UEs and at least one interworking function associated with one of the one or more interworking function configurations.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: Each interworking function configuration of the plurality of interworking function configurations is associated with one or more relay service codes of the plurality of relay service codes.

25. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The multiple interworking function configurations are provided in the sidelink policy information.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein: The sidelink policy information also includes a priority list of preferred public land mobile networks (PLMNs) for interworking function selection.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein: The sidelink policy information also includes a home PLMN (HPLMN) associated with the PLMN in the priority list of preferred PLMNs.

28. The method according to claim 26, wherein: The sidelink policy information includes an indication of selecting an interworking function configuration based on a tracking area identifier (TAI), a location area identifier, or an operator identifier.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein: The network is a 3GPP network; and The multiple interworking function configurations include one or more non-3GPP interworking function configurations.

30. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a plurality of interworking function configurations for accessing a network via a sidelink relay user equipment (UE) and a plurality of relay service codes associated with a plurality of services; at least one processor; as well as A memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory comprising code executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: An interworking function of the plurality of interworking function configurations is selected for communication with the network based on a relay service code for a service of the plurality of services in the plurality of relay service codes.

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