Access control of wtru to network relay relating to ai / ml service

Abstract

Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are provided for access control of a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) to a network relay relating to an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) service. A first WTRU may receive, from a first network node, a first message comprising a service authorization. The service authorization may include a first priority value associated with the first WTRU. The first WTRU may receive, from a second network node, a second message. The second message may include a supported service indication and a second priority value associated with a second WTRU. The first WTRU may determine, based on the supported service indication and the second priority value, the second WTRU. The first WTRU may establish a direct connection with the second WTRU based on the determination.

Description

ACCESS CONTROL OF WTRU TO NETWORK RELAY RELATING TO AI / ML SERVICE CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63 / 444,395, filed February 9, 2023, the contents of which is incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND

[0002] Mobile communications using wireless communication continue to evolve. A fifth generation of mobile communication radio access technology (RAT) may be referred to as 5G new radio (NR). A previous (legacy) generation of mobile communication RAT may be, for example, fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE). Wireless communication devices may establish communications with other devices and data networks, e.g., via an access network, such as a radio access network (RAN). SUMMARY

[0003] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are provided for access control of a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) to a network relay relating to an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) service. A first WTRU may receive, from a first network node, a first message comprising a service authorization. The service authorization may include a first priority value associated with the first WTRU. The first WTRU may receive, from a second network node, a second message. The second message may include a supported service indication and a second priority value associated with a second WTRU. The first WTRU may determine that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value. The first WTRU may determine, based on the supported service indication and the determination that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value, that the second WTRU supports an authorized service associated with the service authorization. The first WTRU may establish a direct connection with the second WTRU based on the determination.

[0004] The first WTRU may establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a second network node. The first WTRU may send, to a third network node, a third message including a NAS message. The first WTRU may send, to a fourth network node, a fourth message. The fourth message may indicate a session establishment procedure.

[0005] The first network node may include a policy control function (PCF). The second network node may be associated with a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN. The third network node may include an access management function (AMF) associated with the first WTRU. The fourth network node may include a user plane function (UPF) associated with the first WTRU.

[0006] The first message may include a relay service code (RSC) associated with a service. The first priority value may be associated with the RSC. The second priority value may be associated with an active role of the second WTRU. The first WTRU may include a remote WTRU. The second WTRU may include a relay WTRU. The first network node may include a policy control function (PCF). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Furthermore, like reference numerals in the figures indicate like elements, and wherein:

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

[0009] FIG.1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG.1A according to an embodiment;

[0010] FIG.1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG.1A according to an embodiment;

[0011] FIG.1D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG.1A according to an embodiment;

[0012] FIG.2 illustrates an example network.

[0013] FIG.3 illustrates an example connection setup (e.g., including a layer 2 WTRU-to-NW relay with a priority value).

[0014] FIG.4 illustrates an example connection setup (e.g., including a layer 3 WTRU-to-NW relay with a priority value). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] FIG.1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 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 DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0016] As shown in FIG.1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104 / 113, a CN 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated 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. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or a “STA”, may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, 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, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a WTRU.

[0017] The communications systems 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 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0018] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, 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), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit 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 licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one foreach 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 transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0019] 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).

[0020] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). 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 UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0021] 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), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0022] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access , which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0023] 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 implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0024] 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, CDMA20001X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System forMobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0025] The base station 114b in FIG.1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. 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 (LAN) (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 femtocell. As shown in FIG.1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0026] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, 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 varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG.1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0027] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit- switched telephone networks that provide 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), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications 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 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0028] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications 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 over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG.1A 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.

[0029] FIG.1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG.1B, the WTRU 102 may include 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, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0030] 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 in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, 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. While FIG.1B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0031] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0032] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG.1B as a single element, 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.

[0033] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0034] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or 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 the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), 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, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0035] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the 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, and the like.

[0036] 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 over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location- determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0037] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software 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 e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Extended Reality (VR / AR / XR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0038] 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 particular subframes for both the uplink (UL) (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0039] FIG.1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to 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.

[0040] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-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 eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0041] Each of the eNode-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, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG.1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0042] The CN 106 shown in FIG.1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0043] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c 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, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. 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.

[0044] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the 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 user planes during inter- eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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 communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves 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 the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0047] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS.1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0048] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0049] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out ofthe BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to- peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an “ad- hoc” mode of communication.

[0050] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every 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.

[0051] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0052] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0053] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. The 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 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non- TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah may support Meter Type Control / Machine-Type Communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0054] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest 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, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0055] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0056] FIG.1D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0057] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 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 MIMOtechnology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit 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, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the 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, the 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).

[0058] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the 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 gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0059] 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 the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0060] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E- UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control planeinformation towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG.1D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0061] The CN 115 shown in FIG.1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a,184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0062] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 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, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 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.

[0063] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating WTRU IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0064] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an 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 downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0065] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0066] In view of Figures 1A-1D, and the corresponding description of Figures 1A-1D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0067] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, 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. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and / or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0068] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0069] As described herein, the term “rule” may be used interchangeably with the term “a packet detection rule (PDR)”. An identifier may be associated with one or more of a Quality of Service (QoS) flowidentifier (QFI) or a service set identifier (SSID). A WTRU-to-NW relay may be associated with a relay WTRU.

[0070] Features described herein may be associated with access control of a WTRU (e.g., a remote WTRU to a network relay (e.g., relating to AI / ML) (e.g., a relay WTRU). WTRU-to-NW relay discovery and connection setup procedures may be described herein. A WTRU capability update and protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment procedure may be described herein.

[0071] As described herein, WTRU-to-NW may be referred to as UE-to-NW, and vise versa. For example, a UE-to-NW WTRU may be a WTRU-to-NW WTRU, a UE-to-NW relay WTRU may be a WTRU- to-NW relay WTRU, etc.

[0072] An example WTRU-to-NW relay may include a relay WTRU’s (which may be referred to as WTRU-to-NW relay) computational resource and priority per relay service code (RSC) in a WTRU-to-NW relay Discovery message (which may be referred to as a WTRU-to-NW relay), as described herein. A remote WTRU may be assigned a priority value for an RSC authorized to access. Based on the priority value, a WTRU-to-NW relay may make admission control on a remote WTRU per RSC and may perform load balancing. A core network (e.g., 5GC) and WTRU-to-NW relay (e.g., a UE-to-NW relay) may verify a priority value of a remote WTRU while a connection setup procedure is performed.

[0073] FIG.2 illustrates an example reference model of a network (e.g., a 5G / NextGen network).

[0074] A radio access network (RAN) may be based on a RAT (e.g., a 5G RAT) or Evolved E-UTRA that connects to a core network (e.g., a NextGen core network).

[0075] The access control and mobility management function (AMF) may include one or more of the following functionalities: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, etc.

[0076] The session management function (SMF) may include one or more of the following functionalities: session management (including session establishment, modify and release), WTRU IP address allocation, selection and control of UP function, etc.

[0077] The user plane function (UPF) may include one or more of the following functionalities: packet routing & forwarding, packet inspection, traffic usage reporting, etc.

[0078] Features described herein may be associated with AI / ML. Support for AI / ML operation may be observed (e.g., how to support AI / ML splitting operation). Performance of AI / ML applications, including split computing and model transfer examples, may be modified when the estimation of the network conditions may be given to the AI / ML applications before / during the operations. Examples may be associated with how to monitor the performance data and / or analytic data on performance between a WTRU and a corenetwork and how to expose the result to a WTRU or AF, so that the WTRU or AF may initiate an AI / ML splitting operation.

[0079] For example, AI / ML image recognition work may be split when uplink end-to-end (E2E) latency is under 2ms and the data rate is over 1.08 Gbps, and that information may be provided to the WTRU or AF to initiate the operation.

[0080] In examples, it may be determined how to enhance AI / ML operation with device-to-device (D2D). For example, it may be decided that a WTRU / or application server (AS) splits (e.g., decided to split) AI / ML operation such that for AI / ML splitting, e.g. a WTRU (e.g., WTRU-A), will be responsible for the calculation of layers 1-15, and an application server will be responsible for the calculation of layers 16-24. The WTRU (e.g., WTRU-A) may offload AI / ML operation to another WTRU (e.g., WTRU-B) nearby when the PC5 connection is performing above a threshold (e.g., the PC5 connection is good and / or good enough). In examples, WTRU-B may be responsible for the calculation of layers 5-15, and WTRU-A may be responsible for the calculation of layers 1-4. This may be plausible and beneficial to WTRU-A, as this case may use less power consumption in WTRU-A and provide better AI / ML service, such as reduced delay). An AI / ML operation using multiple WTRUs in connection with a PC5 connection may be called a PC5-based AI / ML operation. An AI / ML operation using an application server in the network may be called a server- based AI / ML operation.

[0081] Federated learning (FL) may be a machine learning service. The synchronous FL (sync-FL) may use (e.g., be associated with) a (e.g., strict) communication quality for a WTRU in order to get (e.g., all) the intermediate results to the FL server in time. The sync-FL may be vulnerable to the unpredicted wireless condition and the divergence of the WTRUs’ capabilities. The asynchronous FL (async-FL) may be used (e.g., in order to resolve the limitation of the sync-LF). Async-FL may let a WTRU report its result when the WTRU is ready (e.g., free from a strict time constraint), and the FL server may refresh the model without waiting for the (e.g., all) intermediates results to be collected. The sync-FL and async-FL may have pros and cons, as depicted in Table 1. Table 1: comparison of sync-FL and async-FL Sync-FL Async-FL Total computation workload Lower. Higher. The WTRU may get a new model for training when it uploads the result without waiting for other WTRU’s result, allowing to increase the computation workload and processor utilization in a WTRU.Communication requirement Higher. WTRUs (e.g., all Lower. WTRUs) report its result before next FL round starts

[0082] A WTRU-to-NW Relay may be involved for delivery of AI / ML service when a remote WTRU is not in direct coverage of NG-RAN for the service.

[0083] Based on the service requirement and characteristics of AI / ML services, the operation of a relay may be to provide (e.g., optimized) resource management.

[0084] In examples, for sync FL, a WTRU involved in FL may be requested to report its result in a preassigned time slot. This condition (e.g., the preassigned time slot) may impose a (e.g., strict) QoS requirement to support. A WTRU-to-NW relay may try to provide a connection satisfying the QoS requirements.

[0085] In examples, for async FL, a WTRU may not (e.g., every WTRU may not) report the result at the same time. When a WTRU is available, it may report the result and download the updated model. For model downloading, a WTRU may establish a connection to model downloading with high bandwidth. High computing power supported by the relay may be used (e.g., required).

[0086] In a remote WTRU’s perspective, a service remote WTRU may select a WTRU-to-NW relay, which may provide services reflecting characteristics of the service while satisfying the QoS requirements. A relay may support multiple services, e.g., async FL and sync FL, and its QoS characteristics may temporarily vary.

[0087] With multiple relays, supporting multiple services with (e.g., different) QoS capabilities may be available, and a remote WTRU may select a (e.g., proper) relay for AI / ML operation.

[0088] With multiple relay services for AI / ML available, e.g., relay service for sync FL and relay service for async FL, a relay and core network may control the access and resource utilization for a best QoS and throughput.

[0089] Features described herein may be associated with an access control operation between a WTRU-to-NW relay and a remote WTRU (e.g., by enforcing priority value per relay service). The priority value may be validated during connection setup between a relay WTRU and a remote WTRU via a core network.

[0090] A WTRU-to-Network (e.g., UE-to-Network) relay discovery may be based on the relay’s capability. For example, for Proximity Services (ProSe) WTRU-to-Network relay discovery, a WTRU-to-Network relay may broadcast an announcement that includes a relay service code (RSC) to indicate the connectivity service that the ProSe WTRU-to-Network relay provides to the core network.

[0091] To use a discovery method, a remote WTRU may send a WTRU-to-Network relay discovery solicitation message, which includes an intended RSC. When receiving a discovery solicitation message, a WTRU-to-Network relay that supports the RSC may send a WTRU-to-Network delay discovery response message, including RSC and relay information.

[0092] When a WTRU-to-Network relay supports relay service to transfer traffic relating to AI / ML operation (e.g., sync FL and async FL), a WTRU-to-Network relay may be assigned an RSC to indicate supporting AI / ML operation. An RSC for a (e.g., different) AI / ML service may be assigned (e.g., RSC for sync FL and RSC for async FL may be assigned).

[0093] The WTRU-to-Network relay may be assigned with an RSC that indicates whether the WTRU-to- Network relay is capable of supporting specific capabilities, e.g., whether the WTRU-to-Network relay is able to meet a QoS and latency (e.g., latency requirement), without indicating its support for (e.g., specific) application traffic.

[0094] A remote WTRU may select a WTRU-to-NW relay WTRU based on signal quality between a remote WTRU and a relay WTRU. A good (e.g., better) link quality may provide a good (e.g., better) communication performance.

[0095] For AI / ML services, for the selection of a relay WTRU at a remote WTRU, factors other than link quality between a relay WTRU and a remote WTRU may be considered. For example, for async FL, once a WTRU reports its result, data (e.g., large amounts of data) for an AI / ML model may be downloaded, and the performance of downloading the data may rely on the computing power and available resource of relay WTRU.

[0096] To improve relay service for AI / ML, information (e.g., additional information) indicating a WTRU- to-Network relay’s capability (e.g., available memory and / or computing power) may be delivered to a remote WTRU during discovery (e.g., for examples as described herein).

[0097] For example, a relay’s capability class may be defined and / or preconfigured. A class value (e.g., a preconfigured class value) of a relay may be included in an announcement message. For example, a class based on the relay’s capability may represent the combination of capabilities (e.g., battery power, available memory, and / or computing power).

[0098] In examples, class one may include the following: Battery Power > 80%, Available memory > 16GB, Computing power > 8core*1GHz.

[0099] In examples, class two may include the following: Battery Power > 80%, Available memory > 12GB, Computing power > 4core*1GHz • Class 3: Battery Power > 80%, Available memory > 8GB, Computing power > 4core*1GHz.

[0100] When a remote WTRU discovers and selects a WTRU-to-Network relay, based on the application, the remote WTRU may select a WTRU-to-Network relay based on the relay’s capability class. For example, a remote WTRU may select a relay for async FL service, and a remote WTRU may select a relay based on the relay’s available memory and computing power rather than based on a signal quality of link between relay and remote WTRU.

[0101] Admission control of a WTRU-to-Network relay may be based on a WTRU’s priority value.

[0102] Unified access control may assign priority value per device class, e.g., an MPS Public Safety device may have a higher priority (e.g., per application or network slice, per access type (e.g. access for mobile originated signaling)) or access for mobile terminated signaling, access for a voice call, or access for a delay tolerant service.

[0103] In ProSe, a WTRU-to-NW relay may support multiple relay services, and a remote WTRU may be authorized to access multiple relay services. An access control mechanism supporting multiple services at the same time may be considered.

[0104] For a relay service, a supported application may request (e.g., may require) a resource control based on status (e.g., a difference resource control based on status). Controlling the priority of an application based on the status of the application may provide efficiency. For example, for sync FL, there may be a specified time interval to collect a result for a model update. A resource other than the required time interval may not be requested (e.g., may not be required).

[0105] As an admission control to a WTRU-to-Network relay, a remote WTRU may be assigned a priority value per RSC. When a remote WTRU is authorized for multiple relay services, the remote WTRU may be assigned a (e.g., different) priority value for an RSC.

[0106] A priority value of a remote WTRU may be assigned by the core network during registration or by an AF and may be updated during operation. Based on the application or remote WTRU’s role at the application, a different priority value may be assigned to the remote WTRU. For example, when a relay service is for AI / ML operation, a volunteer WTRU for AI / ML model distribution may be responsible for forwarding AI / ML model to WTRUs (e.g., other WTRUs), and the volunteer WTRU may be assigned a higher priority value than other WTRUs.

[0107] During discovery, a WTRU-to-Network relay may report an allowed priority value based on an RSC. When a remote WTRU attempts to access the WTRU-to-Network relay for a given RSC, the remoteWTRU may select the WTRU-to-Network relay to report a lower value as an allowed priority value than the priority value assigned to remote WTRU.

[0108] When a WTRU-to-Network relay (e.g., UE-to-Network relay) WTRU registers with a core network, the relay WTRU may be authorized to operate as a WTRU-to-Network relay. The supported RSC and allowed priority value may be provisioned to the relay. When authorized as a WTRU-to-Network relay, based on a relay WTRU’s capability, an (e.g., different) RSC may be configured. For example, when a relay WTRU computational resource or relay’s capability class is high, the relay WTRU may be assigned the RSC with high computational resources (e.g., RSC for async FL).

[0109] Based on an application function’s request or core network’s control, an allowed priority value per RSC of each WTRU-to-Network relay may change. For example, on async FL service, training results may be collected, and an allowed priority value of an RSC for the async FL may be set to high to reduce the service traffic.

[0110] By adjusting an allowed priority value per RSC, admission control or resource control among relay service may be achieved. For example, if more user traffic for async FL is expected for a (e.g., some) time (e.g., a time duration), an allowed priority value for the sync FL may be lowered, or a higher priority value may be assigned to the relay WTRU for the RSC for the sync FL.

[0111] A relay may adjust the priority level for RSC dynamically, (e.g., increase priority value to restrict lower priority remote WTRUs when busy or decrease when less busy). The relay may inform of an (e.g., current) adjusted priority value during discovery or a direct communication rejection if the remote WTRU’s priority does not satisfy a priority level, so that the remote WTRU may retry (e.g., later). Within an allowed remote WTRU at a WTRU-to-Network relay (e.g., in overload case), based on a priority value of a WTRU, overload control or congestion control in a WTRU-to-Network relay may be performed. For example, the connection of a remote WTRU with a lower priority value than another remote WTRU connection may be dropped first.

[0112] If a priority value is reported per RSC during discovery of a relay WTRU-to-Network relay, a priority value of the remote WTRU may be included in the connection setup request. The priority value of the remote WTRU may be verified by a WTRU-to-Network relay and core network (e.g., if the priority value of the remote WTRU is not an authorized value by the core network or AF). If the priority value of remote WTRU is lower than the allowed priority value of RSC at the WTRU-to-Network relay, the remote WTRU connection request may be rejected, and a PDU session setup for the remote WTRU may be rejected.

[0113] FIG.3 illustrates a connection setup (e.g., with a layer 2 WTRU-to-NW relay with a priority value).

[0114] At 1, a ProSe layer-2 remote WTRU (e.g., a first WTRU, such as a remote WTRU) and a ProSe layer-2 WTRU-to-Network relay (e.g., a second WTRU, such as a relay WTRU) may independently receive service authorization for a ProSe layer-2 WTRU-to-Network relay operation from the network.

[0115] When WTRUs are authorized as a WTRU-to-NW relay, they may be provisioned with parameters such as a relay service code (RSC) associated with a service and a priority value per RSC (e.g., the priority value may be associated with the RSC for control of accessing the relay (e.g., the parameters may be received in a first message). When provisioning of RSC and priority value, a policy control function (PCF) (e.g., a first network node) may provide (e.g., in a first message to the remote WTRU) a default priority value (e.g., a first priority value associated with the remote WTRU) for an RSC (e.g., a service authorization) and / or may provide a (e.g., different) priority value for an RSC based on input from an AF. A preconfigured priority value may be used.

[0116] When WTRUs are authorized as remote WTRUs, the WTRUs may be provisioned with parameters such as RSC (Relay Service Code) and priority value per RSC. When provisioning of RSC and priority value, the PCF may provide a default priority value for an (e.g., different) RSC or may provide a (e.g., each) priority value for an (e.g., each) RSC based on authorized WTRU’s role in the service or based on input from AF. A preconfigured priority value may be used.

[0117] If a WTRU is accessing a relay service for a federated AI / ML service, the WTRU may be authorized as a volunteer WTRU for distribution of an AI / ML model. Based on the WTRU’s role as a volunteer WTRU, the WTRU may be assigned a higher priority value for the relay service supporting federated AI / ML service.

[0118] When a WTRU is authorized for multiple roles per application, a (e.g., different) priority value for (e.g., each) authorized role may be assigned. When selecting and accessing a WTRU-to-NW relay, a priority value (e.g., the second priority value) relating to an (e.g., current) active role may be used. Whether the WTRU is using a correct priority value may be verified during a (e.g., PC5) connection setup with a WTRU-to-NW relay.

[0119] At 2, the ProSe layer-2 remote WTRU and ProSe layer-2 WTRU-to-Network relay may perform ProSe WTRU-to-Network relay discovery and selection.

[0120] When priority value(s) (e.g., a second priority value) and a supported service indication of a relay are informed (e.g., received by the remote WTRU in a second message from an NG-RAN) during a discovery phase of a WTRU-to-NW relay, the remote WTRU may select (e.g., based on the supported service indication and the second priority value associated with the second WTRU) a WTRU-to-NW relay (e.g., the second WTRU). The remote WTRU may determine that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value. The remote WTRU may determine the second WTRU based on the remote WTRUdetermining that the relay WTRU indicates a lower priority value than the assigned priority value of the WTRU for the interested RSC (e.g., the second priority value being lower than the first priority value).

[0121] At 3, the ProSe layer-2 remote WTRU (e.g., the first WTRU) may initiate a one-to-one communication connection (e.g., a direct connection) with the selected ProSe Layer-2 WTRU-to-Network Relay (e.g., the second WTRU) over PC5.

[0122] During a connection setup procedure, the remote WTRU may be authenticated and authorized by the relay WTRU and core network.

[0123] An RSC and a priority value of a remote WTRU for the RSC may be included in a direct communication request to the WTRU-to-NW relay.

[0124] A remote WTRU’s request on a PC5 connection setup may be allowed when an indicated priority value of a remote WTRU is greater than the priority value of a relay WTRU for the RSC.

[0125] The relay WTRU may forward the priority value of the remote WTRU to verify its validity. An NF in the core network(e.g., PCF, UDM, or AMF) may verify the validity of the priority value of the remote WTRU.

[0126] During authorization, the relay WTRU may obtain the remote WTRU’s priority value from the AMF when CP based security is used or from the PKMF when UP-based security is used. Based on the received priority value, the relay WTRU may verify whether the remote WTRU is allowed to access the relay WTRU for the RSC.

[0127] When the priority value of a remote WTRU cannot be successfully validated, the relay WTRU may reject the connection setup request from the remote WTRU.

[0128] At 4, the remote WTRU may establish an RRC Connection with the same RAN (e.g., NG-RAN, such as a second network node) serving the selected ProSe Layer-2 WTRU-to-Network relay.

[0129] For verification of a priority of the remote WTRU, the remote WTRU and / or relay may provide the priority value of remote WTRU to the RAN.

[0130] At 5, the remote WTRU may send (e.g., in a third message) a non-access stratum (NAS) message to the serving third network node (e.g., access management function (AMF)). The NAS message may be encapsulated in a Uu RRC message sent over PC5 to the relay, and the relay may forward the Uu RRC message to the RAN. The RAN may select the ProSe layer-2 remote WTRU’s serving AMF and forward the NAS message to the WTRU-to-Network relay’s AMF. For verification of the priority value of the remote WTRU, the remote WTRU and / or relay WTRU may provide the priority value of the remote WTRU to the AMF.

[0131] At 6, the ProSe Layer-2 remote WTRU may trigger (e.g., by sending, in a fourth message) a session establishment procedure (e.g., a PDU session establishment procedure).

[0132] At 7, the data may be transferred between the remote WTRU and a fourth network node (e.g., a UPF) via the relay and NG-RAN.

[0133] FIG.4 illustrates a connection setup (e.g., with a layer 3 WTRU-to-NW relay with a priority value).

[0134] At 0, a ProSe layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay may be authorized and provisioned with parameters for acting as an L3 WTRU-to-NW relay. The provisioned parameters may include the RSC with a priority value. When provisioning the RSC and priority value, a (e.g., different) priority value may be provided for an RSC based on input from the AF, and a default priority value may be provided for other RSCs which are not assigned individual priority values. A preconfigured priority value may be used.

[0135] At 1, a ProSe layer-3 remote WTRU may be authorized and provisioned with parameters for acting as a remote WTRU, which may include an RSC with a priority value. When provisioning an RSC and priority value, a (e.g., different) priority value may be provided for an (e.g., each) RSC based on the authorized WTRU’s role in the service or based on input from AF. A default priority value may be provided for RSCs that are not assigned individual priority values. A preconfigured priority value may be used.

[0136] When a WTRU is authorized multiple roles for an application, a (e.g., different) priority value for an (e.g., different) authorized role may be assigned. When selecting and accessing a WTRU-to-NW relay, a priority value relating to a current active role may be used. Whether a WTRU is using a correct priority value may be verified during a PC5 connection setup with the WTRU-to-NW relay.

[0137] At 2, the ProSe Layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay may establish a PDU Session for relaying. In examples (e.g., for IPv6), the ProSe layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay may obtain the prefix, which may be an IPv6, prefix via a prefix delegation function from the network.

[0138] At 3, the ProSe layer-3 remote WTRU may perform a discovery of a ProSe Layer-3 WTRU-to- Network relay.

[0139] When priority values of a relay are informed during a discovery phase of the WTRU-to-NW relay, the remote WTRU may select a WTRU-to-NW relay which indicates a lower priority value than the assigned priority value of the WTRU for the interested RSC.

[0140] At 4, the ProSe layer-3 remote WTRU may select a ProSe layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay and establish a connection for unicast mode communication.

[0141] During a unicast connection setup procedure, the remote WTRU may be authenticated and authorized by a relay WTRU and core network.

[0142] An RSC and priority value of a remote WTRU for the RSC may be included in a direct communication request to the WTRU-to-NW relay for validation. The remote WTRU’s request on a PC5 connection setup may be allowed when an indicated priority value of the remote WTRU is greater than the priority value of the relay WTRU for the RSC.

[0143] The relay WTRU may forward the priority value of the remote WTRU to verify the validity. An NF in the core network(e.g., PCF, UDM, or AMF) may verify the validity of the priority value of the remote WTRU.

[0144] During authorization, the relay WTRU may obtain a remote WTRU’s priority value from the AMF when CP based security is used or from the PKMF when UP based security is used. Based on the received priority value, the relay WTRU may verify whether the remote WTRU is allowed to access the relay WTRU for the RSC.

[0145] When the priority value of the remote WTRU cannot be successfully verified, the relay WTRU may reject the connection setup request from the remote WTRU.

[0146] If there is no PDU session associated with the relay service code, or if there is a new PDU session for relaying, the ProSe layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay may initiate a (e.g., new) PDU session establishment procedure for relaying before completing the PC5 connection establishment.

[0147] At 5, for an IP PDU session type and IP traffic over a PC5 reference point, an (e.g., IPv6) prefix or an (e.g., IPv4) address may be allocated for the ProSe layer-3 remote WTRU.

[0148] At 6, the ProSe layer-3 remote WTRU may provide PC5 QoS info and PC5 QoS rule(s) to the ProSe layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay using a layer-2 link modification procedure. Based on the input, a relay WTRU may perform the WTRU requested PDU session modification to set up a new QoS flow or bind the traffic to an existing QoS flow.

[0149] At 7, the ProSe layer-3 WTRU-to-Network relay may send a remote WTRU report (e.g., remote user identifier (ID), remote WTRU info) message to the SMF for the PDU session associated with the relay.

[0150] At 8, the remote WTRU may exchange user traffic through the relay WTRU.

[0151] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are provided for access control of a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) to a network relay relating to an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) service. A first WTRU may receive, from a first network node, a first message comprising a service authorization. The service authorization may include a first priority value associated with the first WTRU. The first WTRU may receive, from a second network node, a second message. The second message may include a supported service indication and a second priority value associated with a second WTRU. The first WTRU may determine, based on the supported service indication and the second priority value, thesecond WTRU. The first WTRU may establish a direct connection with the second WTRU based on the determination.

[0152] The first WTRU may determine that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value. The first WTRU may determine the second WTRU if the second priority value is lower than the first priority value. The first WTRU may establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a second network node. The first WTRU may send, to a third network node, a third message including a NAS message. The first WTRU may send, to a fourth network node, a fourth message. The fourth message may indicate a session establishment procedure.

[0153] The first network node may include a policy control function (PCF). The second network node may be associated with a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN. The third network node may include an access management function (AMF) associated with the first WTRU. The fourth network node may include a user plane function (UPF) associated with the first WTRU.

[0154] The first message may include a relay service code (RSC) associated with a service. The first priority value may be associated with the RSC. The second priority value may be associated with an active role of the second WTRU. The first WTRU may include a remote WTRU. The second WTRU may include a relay WTRU. The first network node may include a policy control function (PCF).

[0155] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities may be provided for access control of a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) to a network relay relating to an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) service. A first WTRU may receive a first message from a first network node, and the first message may include a service authorization. The first WTRU may send, to a second network node, a second message. The second message may include a discovery indication indicating that the WTRU is discovering and selecting a second WTRU. The first WTRU may discover the second WTRU. The first WTRU may select the second WTRU. The first WTRU may establish a connection with the second WTRU. The first WTRU may establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the second network node. The first WTRU may send, to the second network node, a third message. The first WTRU may send, to a fourth network node, a fourth message. The fourth message may indicate a session establishment procedure.

[0156] Although features and elements described above are described in particular combinations, each feature or element may be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments, or in various combinations with or without other features and elements.

[0157] Although the implementations described herein may consider 3GPP specific protocols, it is understood that the implementations described herein are not restricted to this scenario and may be applicable to other wireless systems. For example, although the solutions described herein consider LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR) or 5G specific protocols, it is understood that the solutions described herein arenot restricted to this scenario and are applicable to other wireless systems as well. For example, while the system has been described with reference to a 3GPP, 5G, and / or NR network layer, the envisioned embodiments extend beyond implementations using a particular network layer technology. Likewise, the potential implementations extend to all types of service layer architectures, systems, and embodiments. The techniques described herein may be applied independently and / or used in combination with other resource configuration techniques.

[0158] The processes described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, and / or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer and / or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic signals (transmitted over wired and / or wireless connections) and / or computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer- readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as, but not limited to, internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and / or optical media such as compact disc (CD)-ROM disks, and / or digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, and / or any host computer.

[0159] It is understood that the entities performing the processes described herein may be logical entities that may be implemented in the form of software (e.g., computer-executable instructions) stored in a memory of, and executing on a processor of, a mobile device, network node or computer system. That is, the processes may be implemented in the form of software (e.g., computer-executable instructions) stored in a memory of a mobile device and / or network node, such as the node or computer system, which computer-executable instructions, when executed by a processor of the node, perform the processes discussed. It is also understood that any transmitting and receiving processes illustrated in figures may be performed by communication circuitry of the node under the control of the processor of the node and the computer-executable instructions (e.g., software) it executes.

[0160] The various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the implementations and apparatus of the subject matter described herein, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (e.g., instructions) embodied in tangible media including any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the subject matter described herein. In the case where program code is stored on media, it may be the case that the program code in question is stored on one or more media that collectively perform the actions in question, which is to say that the one or more mediataken together contain code to perform the actions, but that – in the case where there is more than one single medium – there is no requirement that any particular part of the code be stored on any particular medium. In the case of program code execution on programmable devices, the computing device generally includes a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and / or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the processes described in connection with the subject matter described herein, e.g., through the use of an API, reusable controls, or the like. Such programs are preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object-oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language and combined with hardware implementations.

[0161] Although example embodiments may refer to utilizing aspects of the subject matter described herein in the context of one or more stand-alone computing systems, the subject matter described herein is not so limited, but rather may be implemented in connection with any computing environment, such as a network or distributed computing environment. Still further, aspects of the subject matter described herein may be implemented in or across a plurality of processing chips or devices, and storage may similarly be affected across a plurality of devices. Such devices might include personal computers, network servers, handheld devices, supercomputers, or computers integrated into other systems such as automobiles and airplanes.

[0162] In describing the preferred embodiments of the subject matter of the present disclosure, as illustrated in the Figures, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. The claimed subject matter, however, is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A first wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor configured to: receive, from a first network node, a first message comprising a service authorization, wherein the service authorization comprises a first priority value associated with the first WTRU; receive, from a second network node, a second message comprising a supported service indication and a second priority value associated with a second WTRU; determine that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value; determine, based on the supported service indication and the determination that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value, that the second WTRU supports an authorized service associated with the service authorization; and establish a direct connection with the second WTRU based on the determination.

2. The WTRU of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a second network node; send, to a third network node, a third message comprising a NAS message; and send, to a fourth network node, a fourth message, wherein the fourth message indicates a session establishment procedure.

3. The WTRU of claim 2, wherein the first network node comprises a policy control function (PCF), wherein the second network node is associated with a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), wherein the third network node comprises an access management function (AMF) associated with the first WTRU, and wherein the fourth network node comprises a user plane function (UPF) associated with the first WTRU.

4. The WTRU of claim 1, wherein the first message further comprises a relay service code (RSC) associated with a service, and wherein the first priority value is associated with the RSC.

5. The first WTRU of claim 1, wherein the second priority value is associated with an active role of the second WTRU.

6. The first WTRU of claim 1, wherein the first WTRU comprises a remote WTRU, the second WTRU comprises a relay WTRU, and the first network node comprises a policy control function.

7. A method for a first wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: receiving, from a first network node, a first message comprising a service authorization, wherein the service authorization comprises a first priority value associated with the first WTRU; receiving, from a second network node, a second message comprising a supported service indication and a second priority value associated with a second WTRU; determining that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value; determining, based on the supported service indication and the determination that the second priority value is lower than the first priority value, that the second WTRU supports an authorized service associated with the service authorization; and establishing a direct connection with the second WTRU based on the determination.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises: establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a second network node; sending, to a third network node, a third message comprising a NAS message; and sending, to a fourth network node, a fourth message, wherein the fourth message indicates a session establishment procedure.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first network node comprises a policy control function (PCF), wherein the second network node is associated with a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), wherein the third network node comprises an access management function (AMF) associated with the first WTRU, and wherein the fourth network node comprises a user plane function (UPF) associated with the first WTRU.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the first message further comprises a relay service code (RSC) associated with a service, and wherein the first priority value is associated with the RSC.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the second priority value is associated with an active role of the second WTRU.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the first WTRU comprises a remote WTRU, the second WTRU comprises a relay WTRU, and the first network node comprises a policy control function.

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