Wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy

Abstract

A method performed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may include: receiving configuration information, one or more WLAN SP rules, and one or more URSP rules; determining a first RSD of a URSP rule for traffic associated with the first application, wherein the configuration information indicates that the first RSD is associated with a first WLAN SP rule ID; executing a first WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network Service Provider) rule evaluation process; determining that the first WLAN rule ID is associated with a first PDU session; determining a second RSD of the URSP rule for traffic associated with a second application, the configuration information indicating that the second RSD is associated with a second WLAN SP rule ID; and executing a second WLAN SP rule evaluation process.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 399,394, filed on August 19, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Background Art

[0003] A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may receive an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP). The ANDSP may contain one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy (WLANSP) rules as defined in certain wireless standards. The WLANSP rules are a set of rules used by the WTRU to select and reselect a WLAN access network to connect to. These rules may be provided to the WTRU along with priority information. Each rule may be assigned a priority. The WTRU may evaluate these rules in priority order and select an available WLAN access network that matches and / or meets the requirements of the highest priority rule. These rules may also contain information about when these rules should be considered valid (e.g., time and location validity conditions). Summary of the invention

[0004] A method performed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may include: receiving configuration information, one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy (WLANSP) rules and one or more user equipment (UE) routing selection policy (URSP) rules; determining a first routing descriptor (RSD) of the URSP rule for traffic associated with a first application, wherein the configuration information indicates that the first RSD is associated with a first WLANSP rule ID; performing a first WLANSP rule evaluation process based on the WLANSP rule associated with the first WLANSP rule ID in the first RSD; determining that the first WLAN rule ID is associated with a first PDU session; determining a second RSD of the URSP rule for traffic associated with a second application, wherein the configuration information indicates that the second RSD is associated with a second WLANSP rule ID; and performing a second WLANSP rule evaluation process based on the WLANSP rule associated with the first WLANSP rule ID in the first RSD and the second WLANSP rule ID in the second RSD.

[0005] The method may also include: establishing the first PDU session in the WLAN access network associated with the first WLANSP rule ID, and determining to release the first PDU session based on the second WLANSP rule evaluation process. Based on the second WLANSP rule evaluation process, the WTRU may determine to release the first PDU session. In addition, as part of the second WLANSP rule evaluation, the WTRU determines to establish a second PDU session in a second WLAN access network, wherein the second WLAN network is identified by the second WLANSP rule ID.

[0006] The RSD may include the configuration information. The URSP rule may include the configuration information. The configuration information may be part of an information element indicating an association between the one or more WLANSP rules and the one or more URSP rules. The configuration information may be part of an information element indicating an association between the one or more WLANSP rules and the RSD. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] A more detailed understanding may be obtained from the following description given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like elements, and in which:

[0008] Figure 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0009] Figure 1B is an example of an embodiment in which Figure 1A A system diagram of an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) for use within an illustrated communication system;

[0010] Figure 1C is an example of an embodiment in which Figure 1A A system diagram of an example Radio Access Network (RAN) and an example Core Network (CN) used within the illustrated communication system;

[0011] Figure 1D is an example of an embodiment in which Figure 1A a system diagram of another example RAN and another example CN used within the illustrated communication system; and

[0012] Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example process for a WTRU to maintain a "current matches" list; and

[0013] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example process performed by a WTRU. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Figure 1A1 is a diagram illustrating an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc. to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through sharing of system resources (including wireless bandwidth). For example, the communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero tail unique word discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (ZT-UW-DFT-S-OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, and filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), etc.

[0015] like Figure 1A As shown, the communication system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104, a core network (CN) 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110 and other networks 112, but it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d (any of which may be referred to as a station (STA)) may be configured to send and / or receive wireless signals and may include user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or automated process chain environment), consumer electronic devices, and devices operating on a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, etc. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0016] The communication system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a Home Node B, a Home evolved Node B, a Next Generation Node B (such as a gNode B (gNB)), a New Radio (NR) Node B, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it should be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0017] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), and a relay node. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to send and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage of wireless services to a specific geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. The cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Therefore, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one transceiver for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to send and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0018] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0019] More specifically, as noted above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA, among others. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), that may use Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) to establish the air interface 116. WCDMA may include communication protocols, such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0020] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) that may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or Advanced LTE (LTE-A) and / or Advanced LTE Pro (LTE-APro).

[0021] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology (such as NR radio access) that may establish the air interface 116 using NR.

[0022] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may together implement LTE radio access and NR radio access, for example using the dual connectivity (DC) principle. Thus, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions transmitted to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0023] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN).

[0024] Figure 1A The base station 114b in may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or an access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in local areas such as commercial venues, homes, vehicles, campuses, industrial facilities, sky corridors (e.g., for use by drones), and roads. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology (such as IEEE 802.11) to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology (such as IEEE 802.15) to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or a femtocell. As Figure 1A As shown, the base station 114 b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Therefore, the base station 114 b may not need to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106.

[0025] The RAN 104 may be in communication with the CN 106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have different quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, etc. The CN 106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although Figure 1AAlthough not shown in the figure, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 and / or the CN 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) that employs GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0026] The CN 106 may also act as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or the Internet Protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired communication networks and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT.

[0027] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communication system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks via different wireless links). Figure 1A The illustrated WTRU 102c may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0028] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. Figure 1B As shown, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0029] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), any other type of integrated circuit (IC), state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal decoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although Figure 1B The processor 118 and the transceiver 120 are depicted as separate components, but it is understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0030] The send / receive element 122 may be configured to send a signal to a base station (e.g., base station 114a) or receive a signal from a base station via an air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the send / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to send and / or receive an RF signal. In an embodiment, the send / receive element 122 may be a transmitter / detector configured to send and / or receive, for example, an IR, UV, or visible light signal. In another embodiment, the send / receive element 122 may be configured to send and / or receive both an RF signal and an optical signal. It should be understood that the send / receive element 122 may be configured to send and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0031] Although the transmit / receive element 122 Figure 1B Although depicted as a single element in the figure, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0032] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. For example, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0033] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user input data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as a non-removable memory 130 and / or a removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, and a secure digital (SD) memory card, among others. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in a memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0034] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel cadmium (NiCd), nickel zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0035] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0036] The processor 118 may also be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software modules and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, Modules, frequency modulation (FM) radio units, digital music players, media players, video game player modules, Internet browsers, virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) devices and activity trackers, etc. The peripheral device 138 may include one or more sensors. The sensor may be one or more of the following: a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geographic location sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and a humidity sensor, etc.

[0037] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for both UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit for reducing and / or substantially eliminating self-interference via signal processing performed by hardware (e.g., a choke) or via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via the processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for both UL (e.g., for transmission) or DL ​​(e.g., for reception)) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous.

[0038] Figure 1C 1 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 in accordance with an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0039] The RAN 104 may include evolved Node-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of evolved Node-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The evolved Node-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the evolved Node-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the evolved Node-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a.

[0040] Each of the evolved Node Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, and scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, among other things. Figure 1C As shown, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another via an X2 interface.

[0041] Figure 1C The illustrated CN 106 may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. Although the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it should be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0042] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the evolved Node-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, and selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0043] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the evolved Node-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during an inter-evolved Node-B handover, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0044] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0045] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may be in communication with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired networks and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0046] Although the WTRU Figures 1A to 1D Although described as wireless terminals, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments, such terminals may (eg, temporarily or permanently) use a wired communications interface with a communications network.

[0047] In a representative embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0048] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for a BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic to and / or carries traffic away from the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS and destined for the STA may be reached by the AP and may be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from the STA and destined for a target outside the BSS may be transmitted to the AP to be delivered to the corresponding target. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be transmitted by the AP, for example, wherein the source STA may transmit traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver traffic to the target STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as point-to-point traffic. Point-to-point traffic may be transmitted between the source STA and the target STA (e.g., directly between them) using a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunnel DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs within or using the IBSS (eg, all STAs in the STA) may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad hoc" communication mode.

[0049] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure operating mode or a similar operating mode, the AP may send beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width. The primary channel may be an operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STA to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. For CSMA / CA, a STA (e.g., each STA) (including the AP) may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0050] High throughput (HT) STAs may communicate using a 40 MHz wide channel (eg, via a combination of a primary 20 MHz channel and adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channels) to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0051] Very high throughput (VHT) STA can support 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz and / or 160MHz wide channels. 40MHz channels and / or 80MHz channels can be formed by combining continuous 20MHz channels. 160MHz channels can be formed by combining 8 continuous 20MHz channels, or by combining two non-continuous 80MHz channels (this can be called 80+80 configuration). For 80+80 configuration, after channel coding, the data can pass through a segment parser that can divide the data into two streams. Each stream can be processed by inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) and time domain processing separately. These streams can be mapped to two 80MHz channels, and the data can be sent by the transmitter STA. At the receiver of the receiver STA, the above-mentioned operation for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be transmitted to the medium access control (MAC).

[0052] 802.11af and 802.11ah support operating modes below 1GHz. Channel operating bandwidths and carriers are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5MHz, 10MHz, and 20MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1MHz, 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, and 16MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah may support meter type control / machine type communication (MTC), such as MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, such as limited capabilities, including support for (e.g., only support for) certain bandwidths and / or limited bandwidths. MTC devices may include batteries with battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain very long battery life).

[0053] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths (such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah) include channels that can be designated as primary channels. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA (which supports the minimum bandwidth operating mode) from all STAs operating in the BSS. In the example of 802.11ah, for STAs (e.g., MTC-type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1MHz mode, the primary channel may be 1MHz wide, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, 16MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings may depend on the state of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, because a STA (which only supports a 1MHz operating mode) is transmitting to the AP, all available bands may be considered busy even if most of the available bands remain idle.

[0054] In the United States, the available frequency band for 802.11ah is 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz, depending on the country code.

[0055] Figure 1D1 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 in accordance with an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0056] The RAN 104 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to send signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a may, for example, use multiple antennas to send wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement coordinated multi-point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0057] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with parameter sets that may be scalable. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., containing different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or varying absolute time lengths over time).

[0058] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while not accessing other RANs (e.g., such as the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may use one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate / connect with the gNB 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating / connecting with another RAN, such as the eNodeB 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement the DC principle to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNodeB 160a, 160b, 160c may act as a mobility anchor for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the gNB 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for serving the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0059] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, interworking between DC, NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards a user plane function (UPF) 184a, 184b and routing of control plane information towards an access and mobility management function (AMF) 182a, 182b, etc. Figure 1D As shown, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may communicate with each other via an Xn interface.

[0060] Figure 1DThe illustrated CN 106 may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possible data networks (DNs) 185a, 185b. Although the aforementioned elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it should be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0061] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via the N2 interface and may act as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, support of network slicing (e.g., handling of different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a specific SMF 183a, 183b, management of registration areas, termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, and mobility management, etc. The AMF 182a, 182b may use network slicing to customize CN support for the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of services used by the WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, and services for MTC access. The AMF 182a, 182b may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0062] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to the AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 106 via the N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to the UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 106 via the N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b, and configure traffic routing through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions such as managing and allocating UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy implementation and QoS, and providing DL data notifications. The PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0063] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via the N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering DL packets, and providing mobility anchoring, etc.

[0064] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may include or may communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired networks and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to the DNs 185a, 185b via the UPFs 184a, 184b via the N3 interfaces to the UPFs 184a, 184b and the N6 interfaces between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the local DNs 185a, 185b.

[0065] Given that Figures 1A to 1D as well as Figures 1A to 1D Corresponding to the description of the present invention, one or more or all of the functions described herein with reference to one or more of the following may be performed by one or more simulation devices (not shown): WTRU102a to 102d, base station 114a to 114b, evolved Node B 160a to 160c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB180a to 180c, AMF 182a to 182b, UPF 184a to 184b, SMF 183a to 183b, DN 185a to 185b and / or any other device described herein. The simulation device may be one or more devices configured to mimic one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, the simulation device may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0066] The simulation device may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a laboratory environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, one or more simulation devices may perform one or more functions or all functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. One or more simulation devices may perform one or more functions or all functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. A simulation device may be directly coupled to another device for the purpose of testing and / or performing tests using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0067] One or more simulation devices can perform one or more (including all) functions without being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the simulation device can be used in a test scenario in a test laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. One or more simulation devices can be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuits (e.g., which can include one or more antennas) can be used by the simulation device to send and / or receive data.

[0068] The following abbreviations and acronyms may be used for reference:

[0069] ANDSP access network discovery and selection strategy

[0070] DNN data network name

[0071] NAS Non-Access Stratum

[0072] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0073] RSD Routing Descriptor

[0074] S-NSSAI Single Network Slice Selection Auxiliary Information

[0075] SSC Services and Service Continuity

[0076] UE User Equipment

[0077] URSP UE routing strategy

[0078] WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

[0079] WLANSP WLAN selection strategy

[0080] WTRU Wireless Transmit / Receive Unit

[0081] A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may receive an access network discovery and selection policy (ANDSP). The ANDSP may contain one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy (WLANSP) rules as defined in certain wireless standards. The WLANSP rules are a set of rules used by the WTRU to select and reselect a WLAN access network to connect to. These rules may be provided to the WTRU along with priority information. Each rule may be assigned a priority. The WTRU may evaluate these rules in priority order and select an available WLAN access network that matches and / or meets the requirements of the highest priority rule. These rules may also contain information about when these rules should be considered valid (e.g., time and location validity conditions).

[0082] The ANDSP may be received by the WTRU via NAS messaging. For example, the ANDSP may be received in a policy section received in a WTRU configuration update procedure, which may be defined in certain wireless standards.

[0083] User Equipment (UE) Routing Policy (URSP) rules may be defined as in the wireless standards. When traffic is initiated by a WTRU application, the WTRU may use the URSP rules to determine the desired characteristics of the PDU session that will carry the application traffic. Examples of characteristics of a PDU session may be the DNN, S-NSSAI, and SSC mode that may be associated with the PDU session.

[0084] URSP rules may be policies used by the WTRU to determine how to route outgoing traffic. Traffic may be routed to an established PDU session, may be offloaded to a non-3GPP access outside of a PDU session, may be routed outside of a PDU session via a ProSe layer 3 WTRU to network relay, or may trigger the establishment of a new PDU session.

[0085] Each URSP rule may consist of two parts. The first part of the URSP rule may be a traffic descriptor used to determine when the rule is applicable. When each component in the traffic descriptor matches the corresponding information from the application, it may be determined that the URSP rule is applicable.

[0086] The second part of the URSP rule may be a list of routing descriptors (RSDs). The RSD list may contain one or more RSDs. The RSDs may be listed in priority order and describe the characteristics of PDU sessions that may be used to carry uplink application data. The characteristics of a PDU session may include an SSC mode, a DNN, and an S-NSSAI. The RSD may alternatively include a non-seamless offload indication indicating that traffic may be transmitted outside of any PDU session via a non-3GPP access (e.g., WiFi).

[0087] For each newly detected application, the WTRU may evaluate the URSP rules in order of rule precedence and may determine whether the application matches the traffic descriptor of any URSP rule. When a URSP rule is determined to be applicable for a given application, the WTRU may select an RSD within the URSP rule in order of route selection descriptor precedence.

[0088] When a valid RSD is found, the WTRU may determine if there is an existing PDU Session that matches all the components in the selected RSD. When there is a matching PDU Session, the WTRU may associate the application with the existing PDU Session (i.e., the WTRU may route the detected application's traffic over the already existing PDU Session). If none of the existing PDU Sessions match the RSD, the WTRU may attempt to establish a new PDU Session using the values ​​specified by the selected RSD.

[0089] If the RSD includes a non-seamless offload indication, the WTRU may attempt to use a WLAN access network to send data outside of any PDU session. WLAN SP rules may have been used to select a WLAN access network.

[0090] Once traffic from an application is associated with a PDU session, an event may cause the WTRU to re-evaluate the URSP rules and associate the traffic from the application with a different PDU session. Two examples of events that may trigger a URSP re-evaluation may be: (1) a re-evaluation timer that depends on the specific implementation; and (2) the WTRU establishes access to a Wi-Fi network that provides Internet access without using the 5G system (i.e., non-seamless offload becomes possible).

[0091] Traffic descriptors can be application descriptors, IP descriptors, domain descriptors, non-IP descriptors, DNNs, or connection capabilities. IP descriptors can be the destination IP 3-tuple (i.e., IP address or IPv6 network prefix, port number, protocol ID for protocols over IP).

[0092] Some applications may have specific requirements for any access network used to deliver traffic from the application. An application may require that an access network used to deliver data for the application have certain characteristics.

[0093] When a WTRU performs WLAN access network selection, the WTRU may evaluate WLAN SP rules without regard to which applications may be running or will be running in the WTRU. As a result, the WTRU may sometimes select a WLAN access network that is not well suited to carry traffic generated by some of the applications running on the WTRU.

[0094] Multiple applications may be running on the WTRU. When a new WTRU application is started and the WTRU detects newly generated application traffic, the WTRU may preferably consider the needs of all running applications when evaluating the WLAN SP rules and selecting a WLAN access network.

[0095] The RSD of the URSP rules may be enhanced so that it may include the WLANSP rule ID. When the WTRU receives the RSD with the WLANSP rule ID and detects that the RSD is valid for a newly detected application, the WTRU may determine that the WLANSP rules identified in the RSD are well suited to carry traffic associated with the application.

[0096] The WTRU may then perform WLANSP rule evaluation only on the WLANSP rules included in the RSD and exclude the WLANSP rules that have been transmitted to the WTRU but are not part of the RSD identified in the RSD. The WTRU may choose to do this so that it will select the WLAN access network that best suits the newly detected application layer traffic (i.e., the first application).

[0097] Later, the second application may start generating traffic. When this happens, the WTRU may perform a new WLAN SP evaluation operation, and the evaluation operation may take into account the preferences of both the first application and the second application.

[0098] For example, the WTRU may determine that a second RSD is valid for a second application and that the second RSD includes a second WLAN SP PID. When this occurs, the WTRU may determine to perform a WLAN SP rule evaluation procedure that considers only the first WLAN SP rule and the second WLAN SP rule. Thus, the evaluation operation will only consider WLAN SP rules that meet the requirements of at least one application running on the WTRU.

[0099] Whenever the WTRU determines that an RSD is valid for traffic of a running application and the RSD includes a WLANSP rule ID and a PDU session matching the RSD is used to carry traffic of the application, the WTRU may add the WLANSP rule ID to the "current matches" list. When the PDU session is released, the WTRU may remove the WLANSP rule ID if it is not associated with any other PDU session of the WTRU.

[0100] Whenever the WTRU detects new application traffic and determines that an RSD is valid for the new application traffic and the RSD includes a WLANSP rule ID, the WTRU may determine to perform WLANSP rule evaluation and only consider WLANSP rules from the "current matching" list and the rules identified in the RSD.

[0101] This method allows the WTRU to evaluate only the WLANSP rules that may be a good fit for currently running applications and newly detected applications. If the WTRU determines that it is able to route the newly detected application traffic over the WLAN access network, the WTRU may add the WLANSP rule ID from the RSD to the "currently matching" list. Once the RSD including the WLANSP rule ID is considered a match, and a matching PDU session that meets the criteria of the WLANSP rule is used to transmit application traffic, the WLANSP rule may be considered "currently matching" as long as the PDU session remains active via the same non-3GPP access.

[0102] By maintaining a “currently matching” list and only evaluating WLANSP rules that may be in the “currently matching” list and that match newly detected applications, the WTRU may be more likely to select a WLAN access network that is well suited for all applications currently running in the WTRU and that can utilize WLAN access.

[0103] Figure 2 2 is an example flow chart 200 for maintaining a "current matches" list as described above. At 202, the WTRU may receive WLAN SP rules. At 204, an event at the WTRU may cause the WTRU to perform a WLAN SP rule evaluation and consider all WLAN SP rules. An example event is the WTRU being powered on. The result of the WLAN SP rule evaluation may be that the WTRU selects a WLAN access network and connects to the WLAN access network.

[0104] The WTRU may detect new application traffic and determine that an RSD is valid for the newly detected application traffic from the application at 206. The RSD may include a WLANSP rule ID.

[0105] At 208, the presence of the WLANSP rule ID in the RSD may trigger the WTRU to perform a WLANSP rule evaluation and only consider the WLANSP rule identified by the WLANSP rule ID in the RSD. The WLANSP rule evaluation may cause the WTRU to disconnect from the WLAN access network selected at 204 and connect to a different WLAN access network that is more suitable for the newly detected application traffic and establish a PDU session for the traffic from the application using the WLAN access network. The WTRU may add the WLANSP rule ID to the "current matches" list.

[0106] The WTRU may detect new application traffic from a second application and determine that a second RSD is valid for the newly detected application traffic from the second application at 210. The RSD may include a second WLAN SP rule ID.

[0107] At 212, the presence of the second WLANSP rule ID in the second RSD may trigger the WTRU to perform a WLANSP rule evaluation and consider only the WLANSP rules from the "currently matching" list and the second WLANSP rule identified by the second WLANSP rule ID in the RSD. The rules may be evaluated in order of priority. The WLANSP rule evaluation may cause the WTRU to disconnect from the WLAN access network selected at 208, connect to a different WLAN access network that is more suitable for the application traffic detected at both 206 and 210, and establish a PDU session for the traffic from the second application using the WLAN access network.

[0108] At 214, the PDU session established at 208 may be released. For example, the release may be triggered by terminating an application that is using the PDU session. Releasing the PDU session may cause the WTRU to remove the associated WLAN SPID from the current matching list. The process may return to 210 whenever new application traffic is detected, or 214 may be repeated whenever a PDU session is released.

[0109] The WLANSP rule ID may be part of the RSD. However, it may be encoded in a different information element. For example, the network may alternatively transmit to the WTRU an information element indicating which WLANSP rule ID may be associated with each URSP rule or each RSD. The benefit of encoding the information in a separate information element in this way is that a non-supporting WTRU may ignore the information element and still understand the URSP rules and RSD that may be associated with the WLANSP rule ID. Such a WTRU may not benefit from knowing which WLANSP rules may be associated with each application, but backward compatibility may be maintained in this way.

[0110] The above describes how to use the WLAN access network to establish a PDU session. Alternatively, traffic can be carried outside the PDU session on the WLAN access network (i.e., non-seamless offloading can be used). When this method is adopted, the WLANSP rule ID can be added to the "current matching" list when the application uses the access network, and the WLANSP rule ID can be removed from the "current matching" list when the application no longer uses the access network.

[0111] In an example embodiment, the WTRU may: (1) receive one or more WLANSP rules, each of the one or more WLANSP rules being identified by a WLANSP rule ID and associated with a priority; (2) receive information indicating that a first RSD is associated with the first WLANSP rule; (3) receive information indicating that a second RSD is associated with a second WLANSP rule; (4) determine to use a first PDU session that matches the first RSD, and add the first WLANSP rule ID of the first WLANSP rule to a current matching list; and (5) determine that the second RSD is valid for a newly detected application. Based on determining that the second RSD is valid for the newly detected application, the WTRU may determine to evaluate the WLANSP rules in a priority order, wherein the evaluation operation is performed for the second WLANSP rule and WLANSP rules from the current matching list, and wherein the evaluation operation excludes at least one WLANSP rule from the evaluation process; wherein the at least one WLANSP rule is excluded because it is not in the current matching list and is not the second WLANSP rule.

[0112] Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example process performed by a WTRU.

[0113] At 302, the WTRU may receive configuration information, WLANSP rules, and URSP rules.

[0114] At 304, the WTRU may determine a first RSD of a URSP rule for traffic associated with the first application, wherein the configuration information indicates that the first RSD is associated with a first WLAN SP rule ID.

[0115] At 306, the WTRU may perform a first WLAN SP rule evaluation procedure based on the WLAN SP rule associated with the first WLAN SP rule ID in the first RSD.

[0116] At 308, the WTRU may determine that the first WLAN rule ID is associated with the first PDU session.

[0117] At 310, the WTRU may determine a second RSD of the URSP rule for traffic associated with the second application, wherein the configuration information indicates that the second RSD is associated with a second WLAN SP rule ID.

[0118] At 312, the WTRU may perform a second WLAN SP rule evaluation procedure based on the WLAN SP rule associated with the first WLAN SP rule ID in the first RSD and the second WLAN SP rule ID in the second RSD.

[0119] Although features and elements are described above in specific combinations, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (sent via a wired or wireless connection) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media (such as built-in hard disks and removable disks), magneto-optical media, and optical media (such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs)). A processor associated with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for a WTRU, WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

1. A method performed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receiving configuration information, one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy (WLANSP) rules, and one or more user equipment (UE) routing selection policy (URSP) rules; determining, for traffic associated with a first application, a first routing descriptor (RSD) of a URSP rule, wherein the configuration information indicates that the first RSD is associated with a first WLANSP rule ID; performing a first WLANSP rule evaluation process based on the WLANSP rule associated with the first WLANSP rule ID in the first RSD; determining that the first WLAN rule ID is associated with a first protocol data unit (PDU) session; determining, for traffic associated with a second application, a second RSD of the URSP rule, wherein the configuration information indicates that the second RSD is associated with a second WLANSP rule ID; and A second WLAN SP rule evaluation process is performed based on the WLAN SP rules associated with the first WLAN SP rule ID in the first RSD and the second WLAN SP rule ID in the second RSD.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The first PDU session is established in a WLAN access network associated with the first WLAN SP rule ID, and the first PDU session is released based on the second WLAN SP rule evaluation process.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: Determining to release the first PDU session is based on the second WLAN SP rule evaluation process.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: As part of the second WLAN SP rule evaluation, it is determined to establish a second PDU session in a second WLAN access network, wherein the second WLAN network is identified by the second WLAN SP rule ID. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RSD includes the configuration information. The method of claim 1 , wherein the URSP rule comprises the configuration information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information is part of an information element indicating an association between the one or more WLANSP rules and the one or more URSP rules.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information is part of an information element indicating an association between the one or more WLANSP rules and the RSD.

9. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: Transceiver; and processor; Wherein the transceiver and the processor are configured to: receiving configuration information, one or more wireless local area network (WLAN) selection policy (WLANSP) rules, and one or more user equipment (UE) routing selection policy (URSP) rules; determining, for traffic associated with a first application, a first routing descriptor (RSD) of a URSP rule, wherein the configuration information indicates that the first RSD is associated with a first WLANSP rule ID; performing a first WLANSP rule evaluation process based on the WLANSP rule associated with the first WLANSP rule ID in the first RSD; determining that the first WLAN rule ID is associated with a first protocol data unit (PDU) session; determining, for traffic associated with a second application, a second RSD of the URSP rule, wherein the configuration information indicates that the second RSD is associated with a second WLANSP rule ID; and A second WLAN SP rule evaluation process is performed based on the WLAN SP rules associated with the first WLAN SP rule ID in the first RSD and the second WLAN SP rule ID in the second RSD.

10. The transceiver and the processor according to claim 9, the transceiver and the processor being further configured to: The first PDU session is established in a WLAN access network associated with the first WLAN SP rule ID, and the first PDU session is released based on the second WLAN SP rule evaluation process.

11. The transceiver and the processor according to claim 10, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: Determining to release the first PDU session is based on the second WLAN SP rule evaluation process.

12. The transceiver and the processor according to claim 9, wherein the transceiver and the processor are further configured to: As part of the second WLAN SP rule evaluation, it is determined to establish a second PDU session in a second WLAN access network, wherein the second WLAN network is identified by the second WLAN SP rule ID.

13. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein the RSD includes the configuration information.

14. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein the URSP rules include the configuration information.

15. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein the configuration information is part of an information element indicating an association between the one or more WLANSP rules and the one or more URSP rules.

16. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein the configuration information is part of an information element indicating an association between the one or more WLAN SP rules and the one or more RSDs.

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