Sensing with partial coverage user equipments using relay-based techniques

Abstract

Various embodiments herein provide techniques related to communication between a base station of a cellular network and a UE that is not able to send or receive cellular signals to or from the base station. In some embodiments, the signals may relate to sensing that is performed by, or to be performed by, the UE. In some embodiments, the signals may be relayed between the base station and the UE by a relay UE to which the UE is coupled by a sidelink connection. Other embodiments may be described and / or claimed.

Description

[0001] SENSING WITH PARTIAL COVERAGE USER EQUIPMENTS USING RELAYBASED TECHNIQUES

[0002] CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0003] The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 496,852, which was filed April 18, 2023.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications.

[0006] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

[0008] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a sensing architecture, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0009] Figure 2 illustrates an example of user equipment (UE)-to-network (NW) relay operation for sidelink and / or PC5 communication, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0010] Figure 3 illustrates an example communication and sensing scenario, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0011] Figure 4 illustrates an alternative example communication and sensing scenario, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0012] Figure 5 illustrates an alternative example communication and sensing scenario, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0013] Figure 6 illustrates an alternative example communication and sensing scenario, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0014] Figure 7 illustrates an alternative example communication and sensing scenario, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0015] Figure 8 illustrates an alternative example communication and sensing scenario, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0016] Figure 9 illustrates an example process flow related to a sensing request, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0017] Figure 10 illustrates an alternative example process flow related to a sensing request, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0018] Figure 11 illustrates an example signaling flow related to sensing configuration, in accordance with various embodiments. Figure 12 illustrates an alternative example signaling flow related to sensing configuration, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0019] Figure 13 schematically illustrates a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

[0020] Figure 14 schematically illustrates components of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

[0021] Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0022] Figure 16 illustrates a network in accordance with various embodiments.

[0023] Figure 17 depicts an example process, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0024] Figure 18 depicts an example process, in accordance with various embodiments.

[0025] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A / B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0027] The third generation partnership project (3GPP) has agreed to study use cases and potential requirements for enhancement of fifth generation (5G) systems and networks to provide integrated communication and sensing services addressing different target verticals / applications, e.g. autonomous / assisted driving, vehicle to anything (V2X), aviation / unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), three dimensional (3D) map reconstruction, smart city / factories, public sectors, healthcare, smart home, etc. primarily involving environmental sensing, air pollution / weather monitoring, indoor health care and autonomous vehicles. The study may relate to one or both of network-based sensing and UE-based sensing. Sensing of wireless communication channels and environment may be desirable, because such sensing may further improve the performance of communication systems (sensing-assisted communication). To enable sensing service(s), a sensing service management function (SSMF) may hold or perform sensing service logic, algorithms, policies, and / or configurations. The SSMF may interface with the radio access network (RAN) via an access mobility function (AMF), or directly using a service-based interface (SBI) such as the NS2 interface to exchange sensing related data and notifications. Various embodiments herein provide solutions for UE-based sensing enablement using sidelink out-of-coverage (OOC) UEs and / or UE-to-Network (U2N) relay UEs.

[0028] As used herein, the term out-of-coverage or OOC in the context of a UE may refer to a UE that is not able to directly communicate with a cellular tower, a base station, a transmit / receipt point (TRP), etc. More specifically, such a UE may not be able to send or receive cellular signals to such a tower / base station / TRP / etc. However, as noted, an OOC UE may still be communicatively coupled with one or more other UEs via one or more SL channels, as described in greater detail below. As such, the OOC UE may be able to indirectly communicate with the tower / base station / TRP / etc. through a U2N relay UE. Specifically, the OOC UE may send one or more signals to the U2N relay UE (e.g., via a sidelink transmission), which are then relayed by the U2N relay UE to the tower / base station / TRP / etc. via a non-sidelink cellular communication. Similarly, the tower / base station / TRP / etc. may be able to transmit one or more signals to the U2N relay UE via a non-sidelink cellular communication, and the U2N relay UE may then relay the signal(s) to the OOC UE via a sidelink communication.

[0029] It will be understood that although the above description is provided in terms of a single relay UE, in some embodiments the communication between the OOC UE and the network may include multiple relay UEs. Additionally, in some embodiments the sensing UE may additionally or alternatively act as a relay UE. Other variations may be present in other embodiments.

[0030] Generally, for the sake of discussion herein, the terminology “cellular signal” and “sidelink signal” may be used. As used herein, the term “sidelink signal” may refer to a signal that is transmitted directly between two UEs. The communication pathway between the two UEs may be referred to as a “sidelink connection.” By contrast, a “cellular signal” may refer to a signal that is transmitted between a UE and a cellular network device such as a base station, a gNodeB (“gNB”), a TRP, a cell tower, etc. The communication pathway between the UE and the cellular network device may be referred to as a “cellular connection.” More specifically, a sidelink connection may include or relate to communication over a PC5 interface, while a cellular connection may include or relate to communication over a Uu interface.

[0031] Various embodiments herein provide solutions for enabling UE-based sensing using sidelink out-of-coverage UEs and U2N relay UEs and corresponding configuration by Sensing Service Management Function. U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 414,044, incorporated by reference herein, describes an example of the sensing service management function (SSMF). The SSMF may control sensing services and interfaces with the RAN via the AMF, or via the NS2 SBI (if a service-based architecture (SBA) is used. There are also other interfaces that may be defined from the SSMF towards functions such as the analytics data repository function (ADRF) and the data collection coordination function (DCCF) to forward sensing analytics. An example of the sensing architecture is illustrated in Figure 1.

[0032] In order to support UE-to-UE communication, a new radio (NR) sidelink as developed and defined in the 3GPP release- 16 (Rel-16) specifications may support broadcast, unicast, and groupcast communications pertaining to both safety-related V2X scenarios such as automated driving, vehicle platooning, etc., and non-safety related V2X scenarios such as mobile high data- rate entertainment, dynamic digital map update, etc. In addition, sidelink-based relaying functionality was additionally studied and specified for sidelink / network coverage extension and power efficiency improvement, considering wider range of applications and services.

[0033] A PC5-radio resource control (RRC) connection may be considered to be a logical connection between two UEs for a pair of Source and Destination Layer-2 identifiers (IDs), which is established after a corresponding PC5 unicast link is set up as specified, for example, in the 3GPP technical specification (TS) 23.287. A UE may have multiple PC5-RRC connections with one or more UEs for different pairs of Source and Destination Layer-2 IDs.

[0034] Separate PC5-RRC procedures and messages may be used for a UE to transfer UE capability and sidelink access stratum (AS) layer configuration information, which may include sidelink radio bearer (SERB) configuration in formation to the peer UE. Both peer UEs can exchange their own UE capability and sidelink configuration using separate bi-directional procedures in both sidelink directions.

[0035] To further explore coverage extension for sidelink-based communication, UE-to-Network based relaying may be addressed in the 3GPP release-17 (rel-17) specifications. For example, the Rel-17 specifications may discuss extensions to UE-to-NW coverage. Specifically, Uu coverage reachability may be necessary for UEs to reach a server in PDN network or counterpart UE when out of proximity area / out-of-coverage. As shown in Figure 2, a UE-to-NW relay may provide extended coverage for a remote UE to access the network when it is out of network coverage, as specified in the 3GPP Rel-17 specifications.

[0036] Discussion on Sensing

[0037] As used herein, the term “sensing” may refer to transmission from a sensing device (e.g., a sensing UE) of a signal that may reflect off of, or otherwise interact with, one or more objects in the vicinity of the sensing device. The reflected signal may then be received by one or more other devices (e.g., one or more other UEs). The received signal may then be analyzed to identify a characteristic of the one or more objects in the vicinity. For example, sensing may be used to collect information about weather, whether an object is present in a given area of interest, the speed of a given object, etc.

[0038] In legacy systems architectures related to sensing functions and architectures related to communication functions may have been separate. For example, the communication systems may have been configured to communicate with other communication systems (e.g., user equipments (UEs), transmit / receive points (TRPs), etc.). Such communication systems may send or receive data signals, reference signals, or other communication-related signals. Systems for sensing functions (e.g., radar systems) may have been standalone systems with dedicated sensing-related systems that send, for example, a radar signal and then analyze resultant reflections of the radar signal to identify one or more characteristics of the environment in which the radar system is located.

[0039] By contrast, the architecture herein may be referred to as a Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS) system which may be implemented, for example, in a base station. In a JCAS system, communication systems and sensing systems may share common elements such as a common infrastructure, common hardware components, common signals, etc. For example, in some embodiments a JCAS system may be configured to transmit a communication signal (and / or an extension of a currently specified signal in the communication system) to accomplish a communications-related function, e.g., user positioning. Reflections of the transmitted communication signal may then be analyzed to accomplish a sensing-related function with significantly less overhead in terms of hardware or bandwidth than may be needed if the communication system and sensing system were separate from one another.

[0040] Sensing can be referred to as UE-based or NW-based, depending on which entity performs the sensing signal reception / processing operation. In each case, the sensing may be referred to as monostatic, bistatic, or multistatic.

[0041] As used herein, the term monostatic may indicate that the sender and the receiver of the sensing signal are collocated. The term bistatic may indicate that one entity performs the sending while another entity (e.g NW or UE) receives and processes the signal. Multistatic may indicate that multiple entities can perform the reception. Based on the echo signal, the object’s existence, and the object’s distance, velocity, and angle of arrival may be derived. Further post processing may also be performed (e.g., at higher layers) to identify the detected objects’ shapes, size, category, etc. Embodiments herein may relate to UE-based sensing considering a UE-to-network (U2N) relay UE, as well as an OOC remote UE. Embodiments herein may also address both monostatic and bistatic scenarios.

[0042] As for the overall operation, upon receiving the sensing signal (whether in monostatic or bistatic case), the UE may deliver the sensing results to the network as per network configuration (e.g., configuration of one or more of the radio access network (RAN), core network (CN), SSMF, etc.). The UE may be configured to use the V2X / Relay implementation as a baseline to perform the overall procedure, and deliver the data / results to the network as if sensing is another type of application / service.

[0043] As used herein, a “remote UE” may refer to as an out-of-coverage (which may also be referred to as “OOC” herein) Sidelink (which may also be referred to as “SL” herein) UE, which may also be referred to as the target UE or the sensing UE. As used herein, a “relay UE” may refer to a U2N relay UE that may be used to relay sensing data from the remote UE towards the network or other remote UEs. Sometimes the relay UE may also perform transmission of the sensing signal. In some cases, sidelink UEs in the vicinity (e.g., within communication range) may act as transmitter UEs. These UEs may be provided with network configuration to perform sensing signal transmission while the OOC UE performs the reception.

[0044] Different example scenarios of UE-based sensing associated with using U2N sidelink relay UE- target UE are discussed further below as examples and shown in figures.

[0045] Example Scenario 1. Monostatic OOC UE-based case 1 - the OOC remote UE acts as the sensing UE which is configured to transmit and receive sensing signals. The sensing configuration may be received via the U2N Relay UE, and the sensing results may be transmitted to the network via the same Relay UE. An example of this scenario is depicted in Figure 3. Other scenarios may be shown in Figures 4 and 5. One difference between the various scenarios may be how or where various functions such as the SSMF are implemented or located in the NW architecture.

[0046] Example Scenario 2. Bistatic OOC UE-based + case 1 Relay UE as transmitter - the OOC remote UE may act as a sensing UE that is configured to only receive sensing signals. The sensing configuration may be received via the Relay UE, which may also act as the transmitter of the sensing signals. The sensing results from the remote UE may be transmitted to the network via the same Relay UE. An example of this scenario may be shown in Figure 6.

[0047] As per 3GPP Release 17 specifications, the Remote UE / OOC target UE may only be configured to communicate to the network via one relay UE. The OOC remote UE (which may also be referred to as the target UE), however, may be configured for 1:1 UE-UE sidelink communication with other remote UEs in the vicinity. These remote UEs may be configured by the network to broadcast sensing signals and request for responses from the other UEs available.

[0048] Example Scenario 3. Bistatic OOC UE-based + case 2 other sidelink UE transmitters - the OOC remote UE may act as a sensing UE that is configured to only receive sensing signals. The sensing configuration may be received via a Relay UE. The same Relay UE, or other sidelink UEs in the vicinity, could be configured by the network to be the transmitter of the signals. Sensing results from the OOC remote UE may be transmitted to the network via the Relay UE with which it has U2N connectivity towards the network. An example of this scenario is shown in Figure 7.

[0049] Example Scenario 4. Multistatic OOC UE-based - one or more OOC remote UEs may act as a sensing UE, and may be configured to receive sensing signals. The sensing configuration may be received via the Relay UE, and the sensing results may be transmitted to the network via the same Relay UE. There may be multiple OOC UEs that are performing sensing in this example scenario as compared to example scenario 1. The U2N Relay UE may receive all of the results and forward them to the network. An example of this scenario is shown in Figure 8.

[0050] Description of Various Embodiments

[0051] To support UE-based sensing for UEs that are potentially out-of-coverage, the configuration mechanism, layer 2 (L2)-based UE-to-NW relaying, and Sidelink in general may be further enhanced as described in this disclosure.

[0052] Example Embodiment#la UE authorized to perform sensing from the network

[0053] In one example, the SSMF, either through its own procedures or through the AMF, may obtain the sensing subscription data as part of the user subscription information from the unified data management (UDM) function during a UE registration procedure (which may relate to one or both of a relay UE and an OOC UE) using, e.g., a Nudm_SDM service as may be described in 3GPP Technical Standard (TS) 23.502.

[0054] Thereafter, the SSMF / AMF may determine whether the UE is authorized to perform sensing services based on factors such as the UE’s capability and / or the sensing service authorization included in the subscription data received from the UDM. This authorization may be verified along with support of ProSe and Relay services as well, e.g., sensing + ProSe + Relay support can be checked to be supported together as a service or sensing service can be categorized separately. The SSMF / AMF may send the authorized sensing Capability information for sensing (+ potentially ProSe) operation to the policy control function (PCF). Based on the received sensing related Capability from the SSMF / AMF, the PCF may provide the PC5 quality of service (QoS) parameters for sensing service to the AMF / RAN as applicable. The AMF / relevant network function stores such information as part of the UE context.

[0055] If the UE is authorised to use sensing services, then the AMF shall include in a next generation application protocol (NGAP) message sent to the next generation (NG)-RAN:

[0056] "Sensing authorised" information, including one or more of the following: whether the UE is authorized to act as a sensing receiver / sensing transmitter / sensing relay node

[0057] Embodiment #lb SSMF authorization initiation

[0058] In one example, SSMF may initiate authorization verification for the UE (e.g., a relay / sensing anchor - which may be the sensing transmitter as well) based on signaling from the AMF (during registration) or the RAN in the case of a sixth generation (6G) network. In another example, the SSMF function may initiate authorization verification for the UE when the RAN communicates with the AMF while providing the UE ID. In at least one of the above-described cases, the AMF or the RAN may inform the SSMF about the UE request.

[0059] In another example, the authorization verification may be UE-initiated wherein the relay UE may send a notification (RRC) message towards the RAN indicating that it is acting as a relay UE for sensing purposes towards certain OOC UEs to receive corresponding RRC configuration. In some embodiments, the OOC UE may additionally or alternatively send a notification (RRC) message towards the RAN indicating that it is acting as a sensing UE for sensing purposes based on the UE’ s application request.

[0060] Comments re: SSMF

[0061] In some embodiments, SSMF may be co-located with the RAN, interfaced with the RAN, or interfaced to the AMF / similar function in the Core Network or on the SBI along with the RAN and / or centralized unit (CU)-control plane (CP) as in, for example, the 3GPP sixth generation (6G) or beyond 5G (B5G) standards.

[0062] Embodiment#! PC5 / relay UE enhancements

[0063] In one example, the SSMF sensing function interfaces with the entity (e.g. AF) responsible for requesting UE-based sensing operation to then initiate the sensing procedure at the UEs by providing, for example, a sensing application / data request and necessary configuration information (or indications thereof). The SSMF may be configured to blindly provide the configuration and request to the RAN or AMF to proliferate further to the UEs, or it may be involved in the decision. An example end-to-end flow diagram is shown in Figure 9. In Figure 9, the sensing service request may originate at the AF or the target node. Thereafter, discovery of the nodes and selection of anchor occurs and there may be sensing capability transfer and necessary assistance information if any. It is noted that this example flow may be relevant to embodiment 3, discussed below. As an alternative, Figure 10 depicts an example of the sensing request passing through the AMF, as discussed herein.

[0064] Embodiment 2b SSMF provision of configuration towards U2N relay UE

[0065] In one example, the SSMF may receive, for example from the RAN, a notification about availability of registered and authorized U2N Sidelink Relay UEs in a specific position / location. In another example, the SSMF may obtain the list of U2N Sidelink Relay UEs from the AMF via a NS4 interface. The SSMF may send a request for a list with the RAN or the AMF correspondingly. Location / position information may also be taken into account for initiating the sensing procedure by the SSMF / RAN / AMF functions in consultation with a location management function (LMF), and / or some other function. In one or more of the above-described examples, the identified Relay UEs may be potentially identified based on location / positioning information. The corresponding Relay UEs may provide their location information to the gNB.

[0066] Upon receiving information about authorized U2N Relay UEs at a given location, and understanding the support of sidelink U2N relaying at the RAN, the SSMF may send the sensing request and necessary configuration information to the RAN / AMF to be sent to one or more U2N relay UEs authorized in the network. In one example, the SSMF may send at least information related to the sensing application including the configuration to collect data for the application, configuration for processing information towards the relay UEs and the internet protocol (IP) address to send back the data.

[0067] Figure 11 depicts an example of embodiment 2b, as described above, wherein the SSMF obtains U2N Relay UEs information and provides configuration aimed towards these UEs via the network. The step of ‘Perform sensing’ may encompass discovery, capability transfer exchange and assistance information between the UEs as may be shown, for example, in Figure 6.

[0068] Figure 12 depicts an example wherein the SSMF provides sensing configuration without determining the presence of Relay UEs or sidelink UEs. A base station such as a gNodeB (gNB) may provide configuration information that may be used to set up the corresponding radio bearers. This exchange may happen either along with sensing service request or upon discovery, or capability exchange as per Figures 9 and / or 10. It is to be noted that although one relay UE is shown in the various Figures, the configuration can be sent towards multiple relay UEs. Additionally, it will be noted that the various Figures herein are intended as highly simplified Figures that are us3ed for the sake of discussion of specific embodiments herein. Other Figures may have more / fewer elements, depict the interfaces in different ways or with different names, etc.

[0069] Embodiment 3. Sensing operation with assistance data

[0070] In at least some of the scenarios presented herein, the relay UE may be involved in the sensing procedure beyond just relaying the sensing data to the SSMF. Similarly to the role of the anchor UE and / or the positioning server UE in the case of sidelink based positioning procedure, the Relay UE / Anchor node may participate in the sensing procedure by way of performing at least some of the following functionality (as shown, for example, in Figures 9 and / or 10):

[0071] • The Relay UE / Anchor node may be responsible for provisioning of time-frequency resources for sensing procedure. It may interact with the gNB to obtain dedicated resources for use of transmission of sensing signal and allocate to the target UE(s).

[0072] • The Relay UE / Anchor node may provide assistance data needed by the sensing UE(s) to successfully perform the sensing procedure. This data can include, for instance, the capability information such as the type of sensing methods supported by the target UE(s), timing / synchronization capability and supported calculation capabilities. Note that this information may be sent in a unicast or a broadcast fashion.

[0073] • Once the sensing is performed and the target UE provides the sensing measurement results to the relay UE, the Relay UE / Anchor node may also be able to perform some preprocessing or computation on the received results to compute the sensing results. It may also be configured by the SSMF to provide the sensing results to the target UE(s) and / or the core network.

[0074] It will be noted that, throughout the disclosure, the OOC UE may be referred to as a Sidelink UE, a Sensing UE, and / or a Remote UE. The U2N Relay UE may be referred to as the Relay UE or the Anchor UE or Anchor nodmay be e. In various embodiments, one or more of the discussed or described UEs capable of performing PC5-based sidelink communication (including Sidelink UE, Relay UE, and / or Transmitter UEs)

[0075] SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

[0076] Figures 13-16 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

[0077] Figure 13 illustrates a network 1300 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 1300 may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G / NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like.

[0078] The network 1300 may include a UE 1302, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 1304 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 1302 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 1304 by a Uu interface. The UE 1302 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic / engine control unit, electronic / engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

[0079] In some embodiments, the network 1300 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M / D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

[0080] In some embodiments, the UE 1302 may additionally communicate with an AP 1306 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 1306 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some / all network traffic from the RAN 1304. The connection between the UE 1302 and the AP 1306 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1306 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 1302, RAN 1304, and AP 1306 may utilize cellular- WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA / LWIP). Cellular- WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 1302 being configured by the RAN 1304 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

[0081] The RAN 1304 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 1308. AN 1308 may terminate air- interface protocols for the UE 1302 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 1308 may enable data / voice connectivity between CN 1320 and the UE 1302. In some embodiments, the AN 1308 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 1308 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 1308 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

[0082] In embodiments in which the RAN 1304 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 1304 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 1304 is a 5G RAN). The X2 / Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control / user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data / context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

[0083] The ANs of the RAN 1304 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 1302 with an air interface for network access. The UE 1302 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 1304. For example, the UE 1302 and RAN 1304 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 1302 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first / second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

[0084] The RAN 1304 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells / Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium / carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0085] In V2X scenarios the UE 1302 or AN 1308 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications / software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular / WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

[0086] In some embodiments, the RAN 1304 may be an LTE RAN 1310 with eNBs, for example, eNB 1312. The LTE RAN 1310 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH / PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation / detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands.

[0087] In some embodiments, the RAN 1304 may be an NG-RAN 1314 with gNBs, for example, gNB 1316, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 1318. The gNB 1316 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 1316 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 1318 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 1316 and the ng-eNB 1318 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

[0088] In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 1314 and a UPF 1348 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN1314 and an AMF 1344 (e.g., N2 interface).

[0089] The NG-RAN 1314 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH / PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS / SSS / PBCH.

[0090] In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 1302 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 1302, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 1302 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 1302 and in some cases at the gNB 1316. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

[0091] The RAN 1304 is communicatively coupled to CN 1320 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (for example, users of UE 1302). The components of the CN 1320 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 1320 onto physical compute / storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 1320 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 1320 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

[0092] In some embodiments, the CN 1320 may be an LTE CN 1322, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 1322 may include MME 1324, SGW 1326, SGSN 1328, HSS 1330, PGW 1332, and PCRF 1334 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 1322 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0093] The MME 1324 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 1302 to facilitate paging, bearer activation / deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

[0094] The SGW 1326 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 1322. The SGW 1326 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0095] The SGSN 1328 may track a location of the UE 1302 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 1328 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 1324; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 1324 and the SGSN 1328 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle / active states.

[0096] The HSS 1330 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 1330 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 1330 and the MME 1324 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing user access to the LTE CN 1320.

[0097] The PGW 1332 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 1336 that may include an application / content server 1338. The PGW 1332 may route data packets between the LTE CN 1322 and the data network 1336. The PGW 1332 may be coupled with the SGW 1326 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 1332 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 1332 and the data network 13 36 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 1332 may be coupled with a PCRF 1334 via a Gx reference point.

[0098] The PCRF 1334 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 1322. The PCRF 1334 may be communicatively coupled to the app / content server 1338 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 1332 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

[0099] In some embodiments, the CN 1320 may be a 5GC 1340. The 5GC 1340 may include an AUSF 1342, AMF 1344, SMF 1346, UPF 1348, NSSF 1350, NEF 1352, NRF 1354, PCF 1356, UDM 1358, and AF 1360 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 1340 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0100] The AUSF 1342 may store data for authentication of UE 1302 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 1342 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 1340 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 1342 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

[0101] The AMF 1344 may allow other functions of the 5GC 1340 to communicate with the UE 1302 and the RAN 1304 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 1302. The AMF 1344 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 1302), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 1344 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 1302 and the SMF 1346, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 1344 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 1302 and an SMSF. AMF 1344 may interact with the AUSF 1342 and the UE 1302 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 1344 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 1304 and the AMF 1344; and the AMF 1344 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 1344 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 1302 over an N3 IWF interface.

[0102] The SMF 1346 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 1348 and AN 1308); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 1348 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 1344 over N2 to AN 1308; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 1302 and the data network 1336.

[0103] The UPF 1348 may act as an anchor point for intra- RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 1336, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 1348 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF- to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 1348 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

[0104] The NSSF 1350 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 1302. The NSSF 1350 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 1350 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 1302, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 1354. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 1302 may be triggered by the AMF 1344 with which the UE 1302 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 1350, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 1350 may interact with the AMF 1344 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 1350 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

[0105] The NEF 1352 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure / re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 1360), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 1352 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 1352 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 1360 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 1352 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 1352 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 1352 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 1352 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 1352 may exhibit an Nnef servicebased interface. The NRF 1354 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 1354 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 1354 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

[0106] The PCF 1356 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 1356 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 1358. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 1356 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

[0107] The UDM 1358 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 1302. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 1358 and the AMF 1344. The UDM 1358 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 1358 and the PCF 1356, and / or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 1302) for the NEF 1352. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 1358, PCF 1356, and NEF 1352 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM- FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 1358 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

[0108] The AF 1360 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0109] In some embodiments, the 5GC 1340 may enable edge computing by selecting operator / 3rdparty services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 1302 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 1340 may select a UPF 1348 close to the UE 1302 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 1348 to data network 1336 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 1360. In this way, the AF 1360 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 1360 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 1360 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 1360 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

[0110] The data network 1336 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application / content server 1338.

[0111] Figure 14 schematically illustrates a wireless network 1400 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 1400 may include a UE 1402 in wireless communication with an AN 1404. The UE 1402 and AN 1404 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

[0112] The UE 1402 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 1404 via connection 1406. The connection 1406 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an ETE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

[0113] The UE 1402 may include a host platform 1408 coupled with a modem platform 1410. The host platform 1408 may include application processing circuitry 1412, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1414 of the modem platform 1410. The application processing circuitry 1412 may run various applications for the UE 1402 that source / sink application data. The application processing circuitry 1412 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit / receive application data to / from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations

[0114] The protocol processing circuitry 1414 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 1406. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 1414 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

[0115] The modem platform 1410 may further include digital baseband circuitry 1416 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 1414 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling / descrambling, encoding / decoding, layer mapping / de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol / bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding / decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation / detection, preamble sequence generation and / or decoding, synchronization sequence generation / detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[0116] The modem platform 1410 may further include transmit circuitry 1418, receive circuitry 1420, RF circuitry 1422, and RF front end (RFFE) 1424, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 1426. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 1418 may include a digital-to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 1420 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 1422 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 1424 may include filters (for example, surface / bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 1418, receive circuitry 1420, RF circuitry 1422, RFFE 1424, and antenna panels 1426 (referred generically as “transmit / receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit / receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit / receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips / modules, etc.

[0117] In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 1414 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit / receive components.

[0118] A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 1426, RFFE 1424, RF circuitry 1422, receive circuitry 1420, digital baseband circuitry 1416, and protocol processing circuitry 1414. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 1426 may receive a transmission from the AN 1404 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas / antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 1426.

[0119] A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 1414, digital baseband circuitry 1416, transmit circuitry 1418, RF circuitry 1422, RFFE 1424, and antenna panels 1426. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 1404 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 1426.

[0120] Similar to the UE 1402, the AN 1404 may include a host platform 1428 coupled with a modem platform 1430. The host platform 1428 may include application processing circuitry 1432 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1434 of the modem platform 1430. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 1436, transmit circuitry 1438, receive circuitry 1440, RF circuitry 1442, RFFE circuitry 1444, and antenna panels 1446. The components of the AN 1404 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like- named components of the UE 1402. In addition to performing data transmission / reception as described above, the components of the AN 1408 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

[0121] Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 15 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1500 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1510, one or more memory / storage devices 1520, and one or more communication resources 1530, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1540 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub- slices to utilize the hardware resources 1500.

[0122] The processors 1510 may include, for example, a processor 1512 and a processor 1514. The processors 1510 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0123] The memory / storage devices 1520 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage devices 1520 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0124] The communication resources 1530 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1506 or other network elements via a network 1508. For example, the communication resources 1530 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Eow Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

[0125] Instructions 1550 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1510 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1550 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1510 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory / storage devices 1520, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1550 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1500 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1504 or the databases 1506. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1510, the memory / storage devices 1520, the peripheral devices 1504, and the databases 1506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0126] Figure 16 illustrates a network 1600 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 1600 may operate in a matter consistent with 3GPP technical specifications or technical reports for 6G systems. In some embodiments, the network 1600 may operate concurrently with network 1300. For example, in some embodiments, the network 1600 may share one or more frequency or bandwidth resources with network 1300. As one specific example, a UE (e.g., UE 1602) may be configured to operate in both network 1600 and network 1300. Such configuration may be based on a UE including circuitry configured for communication with frequency and bandwidth resources of both networks 1300 and 1600. In general, several elements of network 1600 may share one or more characteristics with elements of network 1300. For the sake of brevity and clarity, such elements may not be repeated in the description of network 1600.

[0127] The network 1600 may include a UE 1602, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 1608 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 1602 may be similar to, for example, UE 1302. The UE 1602 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in- vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic / engine control unit, electronic / engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

[0128] Although not specifically shown in Figure 16, in some embodiments the network 1600 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M / D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc. Similarly, although not specifically shown in Figure 16, the UE 1602 may be communicatively coupled with an AP such as AP 1306 as described with respect to Figure 13. Additionally, although not specifically shown in Figure 16, in some embodiments the RAN 1608 may include one or more ANss such as AN 1308 as described with respect to Figure 13. The RAN 1608 and / or the AN of the RAN 1608 may be referred to as a base station (BS), a RAN node, or using some other term or name. The UE 1602 and the RAN 1608 may be configured to communicate via an air interface that may be referred to as a sixth generation (6G) air interface. The 6G air interface may include one or more features such as communication in a terahertz (THz) or sub-THz bandwidth, or joint communication and sensing. As used herein, the term “joint communication and sensing” may refer to a system that allows for wireless communication as well as radar-based sensing via various types of multiplexing. As used herein, THz or sub-THz bandwidths may refer to communication in the 80 GHz and above frequency ranges. Such frequency ranges may additionally or alternatively be referred to as “millimeter wave” or “mmWave” frequency ranges.

[0129] The RAN 1608 may allow for communication between the UE 1602 and a 6G core network (CN) 1610. Specifically, the RAN 1608 may facilitate the transmission and reception of data between the UE 1602 and the 6G CN 1610. The 6G CN 1610 may include various functions such as NSSF 1350, NEF 1352, NRF 1354, PCF 1356, UDM 1358, AF 1360, SMF 1346, and AUSF 1342. The 6G CN 1610 may additional include UPF 1348 and DN 1336 as shown in Figure 16.

[0130] Additionally, the RAN 1608 may include various additional functions that are in addition to, or alternative to, functions of a legacy cellular network such as a 4G or 5G network. Two such functions may include a Compute Control Function (Comp CF) 1624 and a Compute Service Function (Comp SF) 1636. The Comp CF 1624 and the Comp SF 1636 may be parts or functions of the Computing Service Plane. Comp CF 1624 may be a control plane function that provides functionalities such as management of the Comp SF 1636, computing task context generation and management (e.g., create, read, modify, delete), interaction with the underlying computing infrastructure for computing resource management, etc.. Comp SF 1636 may be a user plane function that serves as the gateway to interface computing service users (such as UE 1602) and computing nodes behind a Comp SF instance. Some functionalities of the Comp SF 1636 may include: parse computing service data received from users to compute tasks executable by computing nodes; hold service mesh ingress gateway or service API gateway; service and charging policies enforcement; performance monitoring and telemetry collection, etc. In some embodiments, a Comp SF 1636 instance may serve as the user plane gateway for a cluster of computing nodes. A Comp CF 1624 instance may control one or more Comp SF 1636 instances.

[0131] Two other such functions may include a Communication Control Function (Comm CF) 1628 and a Communication Service Function (Comm SF) 1638, which may be parts of the Communication Service Plane. The Comm CF 1628 may be the control plane function for managing the Comm SF 1638, communication sessions creation / configuration / releasing, and managing communication session context. The Comm SF 1638 may be a user plane function for data transport. Comm CF 1628 and Comm SF 1638 may be considered as upgrades of SMF 1346 and UPF 1348, which were described with respect to a 5G system in Figure 13. The upgrades provided by the Comm CF 1628 and the Comm SF 1638 may enable service-aware transport. For legacy (e.g., 4G or 5G) data transport, SMF 1346 and UPF 1348 may still be used.

[0132] Two other such functions may include a Data Control Function (Data CF) 1622 and Data Service Function (Data SF) 1632 may be parts of the Data Service Plane. Data CF 1622 may be a control plane function and provides functionalities such as Data SF 1632 management, Data service creation / configuration / releasing, Data service context management, etc. Data SF 1632 may be a user plane function and serve as the gateway between data service users (such as UE 1602 and the various functions of the 6G CN 1610) and data service endpoints behind the gateway. Specific functionalities may include include: parse data service user data and forward to corresponding data service endpoints, generate charging data, report data service status.

[0133] Another such function may be the Service Orchestration and Chaining Function (SOCF) 1620, which may discover, orchestrate and chain up communication / computing / data services provided by functions in the network. Upon receiving service requests from users, SOCF 1620 may interact with one or more of Comp CF 1624, Comm CF 1628, and Data CF 1622 to identify Comp SF 1636, Comm SF 1638, and Data SF 1632 instances, configure service resources, and generate the service chain, which could contain multiple Comp SF 1636, Comm SF 1638, and Data SF 1632 instances and their associated computing endpoints. Workload processing and data movement may then be conducted within the generated service chain. The SOCF 1620 may also responsible for maintaining, updating, and releasing a created service chain.

[0134] Another such function may be the service registration function (SRF) 1614, which may act as a registry for system services provided in the user plane such as services provided by service endpoints behind Comp SF 1636 and Data SF 1632 gateways and services provided by the UE 1602. The SRF 1614 may be considered a counterpart of NRF 1354, which may act as the registry for network functions.

[0135] Other such functions may include an evolved service communication proxy (eSCP) and service infrastructure control function (SICF) 1626, which may provide service communication infrastructure for control plane services and user plane services. The eSCP may be related to the service communication proxy (SCP) of 5G with user plane service communication proxy capabilities being added. The eSCP is therefore expressed in two parts: eCSP-C 1612 and eSCP- U 1634, for control plane service communication proxy and user plane service communication proxy, respectively. The SICF 1626 may control and configure eCSP instances in terms of service traffic routing policies, access rules, load balancing configurations, performance monitoring, etc.

[0136] Another such function is the AMF 1644. The AMF 1644 may be similar to 1344, but with additional functionality. Specifically, the AMF 1644 may include potential functional repartition, such as move the message forwarding functionality from the AMF 1644 to the RAN 1608. Another such function is the service orchestration exposure function (SOEF) 1618. The SOEF may be configured to expose service orchestration and chaining services to external users such as applications.

[0137] The UE 1602 may include an additional function that is referred to as a computing client service function (comp CSF) 1604. The comp CSF 1604 may have both the control plane functionalities and user plane functionalities, and may interact with corresponding network side functions such as SOCF 1620, Comp CF 1624, Comp SF 1636, Data CF 1622, and / or Data SF 1632 for service discovery, request / response, compute task workload exchange, etc. The Comp CSF 1604 may also work with network side functions to decide on whether a computing task should be run on the UE 1602, the RAN 1608, and / or an element of the 6G CN 1610.

[0138] The UE 1602 and / or the Comp CSF 1604 may include a service mesh proxy 1606. The service mesh proxy 1606 may act as a proxy for service-to- service communication in the user plane. Capabilities of the service mesh proxy 1606 may include one or more of addressing, security, load balancing, etc.

[0139] Figure 17 depicts an example process that may be performed by a sensing user equipment (UE), one or more elements of the sensing UE, and / or one or more electronic devices that include and / or implement the sensing UE. The process may include performing, at 1705 by the sensing UE, sensing; identifying, at 1710, that the sensing UE is not coupled with a cellular network by a cellular connection; identifying, at 1715, a relay UE to which the sensing UE is coupled by a sidelink connection, and identifying that the relay UE is coupled with a base station of the cellular network by a cellular connection; and transmitting, at 1720 to the relay UE, a sensing-related signal; wherein the relay UE is configured to transmit, to the base station based on the sensing- related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal.

[0140] Figure 18 depicts an example process that may be performed by a relay user equipment (UE), one or more elements of the relay UE, and / or one or more electronic devices that include and / or implement the relay UE. The process may include identifying, at 1805 via a sidelink connection, a sensing-related signal received from a sensing UE that is not coupled with a cellular network via a cellular connection, wherein the first sensing-related signal is related to sensing performed by the sensing UE; and transmitting, at 1810 to a base station of the cellular network via a cellular connection based on the sensing-related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal.

[0141] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

[0142] EXAMPLES

[0143] Example 1 may include a method of UE-based sensing wherein a sidelink UE which may be out-of-coverage acts as a sensing UE configured to transmit and / or receive sensing signals while involved in sidelink communication over PC5 interface with other UEs in the vicinity as well as able to communicate with a U2N relay UE to receive configuration information from the network for sensing services.

[0144] Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein any of the Sidelink UEs involved in sensing transmission or reception is authorized to perform sensing and act as a receiver / transmitter and can initiate UE- initiated sensing service request.

[0145] Example 3 may include a method wherein the Sensing Service Management Function interfaces with the AF or Sensing Application Function to obtain the Network-initiated Sensing Service Request message and forward it towards the RAN node.

[0146] Example 4 may include the method of example 3 or some other example herein, wherein the SSMF receives information about sidelink UEs including sensing receiver UEs, sensing transmitter UEs and list of sensing service authorized Relay UEs in a given location / position.

[0147] Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the Sidelink UE or sensing UE performs discovery of U2N relay UEs that support sensing services (e.g. to act as an Anchor node) and selects a suitable node.

[0148] Example 6 may include the method of example 5 or some other example herein, wherein the Sidelink UE exchanges capability information and any assistance data from the anchor node or relay UE.

[0149] Example 7 may include the method of example 5 or some other example herein, wherein the Sidelink UE receives Sensing Data Collection Request from SSMF and initiates sensing measurements as per example 1.

[0150] Example 8 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the Relay UE or the Anchor node provides time-frequency resources for sensing procedure in unicast or broadcast communication.

[0151] Example 9 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the Relay UE or the Anchor node provides sensing assistance information to the sensing UE in unicast or broadcast communication with the information including at least the timing and synchronization capability and supported sensing calculation capabilities to aid in processing of the sensing results.

[0152] Example 10 may include a method of a UE, the method comprising: receiving, from a UE-to-network relay, configuration information associated with sensing services for a wireless cellular network while the UE is out of coverage of the wireless cellular network; and receiving or transmitting a sensing signal based on the configuration information.

[0153] Example 11 may include the method of example 10 or some other example herein, further comprising performing sidelink communication with one or more other UEs (e.g., via a PC5 interface) while the UE is out of coverage of the wireless cellular network.

[0154] Example 12 may include the method of example 11 or some other example herein, wherein one or more of the other UEs are to transmit or receive the sensing signal.

[0155] Example 13 may include a method to be performed by a sensing user equipment (UE), one or more elements of the sensing UE, and / or one or more electronic devices that include and / or implement the sensing UE, wherein the method comprises: performing, by the sensing UE, sensing; identifying that the sensing UE is not coupled with a cellular network by a cellular connection; identifying a relay UE to which the sensing UE is coupled by a sidelink connection, and identifying that the relay UE is coupled with a base station of the cellular network by a cellular connection; and transmitting, to the relay UE, a sensing-related signal; wherein the relay UE is configured to transmit, to the base station based on the sensing-related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal.

[0156] Example 14 may include the method of example 13, and / or some other example herein, wherein the base station is configured to forward the indication of the sensing-related signal to a sensing service management function (SSMF) of the cellular network.

[0157] Example 15 may include the method of example 14, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing is based on an instruction received from the SSMF via the relay UE.

[0158] Example 16 may include the method of any of examples 13-15, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to capability information of the sensing UE.

[0159] Example 17 may include the method of any of examples 13-16, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to a result of the sensing.

[0160] Example 18 may include the method of any of examples 13-17, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing is UE-initiated sensing. Example 19 may include the method of any of examples 13-18, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing UE is communicatively coupled with a plurality of relay UEs by respective ones of a plurality of sidelink connections.

[0161] Example 20 may include a method to be performed by a relay user equipment (UE), one or more elements of the relay UE, and / or one or more electronic devices that include and / or implement the relay UE, wherein the method comprises: identifying, via a sidelink connection, a sensing-related signal received from a sensing UE that is not coupled with a cellular network via a cellular connection, wherein the first sensing-related signal is related to sensing performed by the sensing UE; and transmitting, to a base station of the cellular network via a cellular connection based on the sensing-related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal.

[0162] Example 21 may include the method of example 20, and / or some other example herein, wherein the base station is configured to forward the indication to a sensing service management function (SSMF) of the cellular network.

[0163] Example 22 may include the method of any of examples 20-21, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to capability information of the sensing UE.

[0164] Example 23 may include the method of any of examples 20-22, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to a result of the sensing.

[0165] Example 24 may include the method of any of examples 20-23, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing is UE-initiated sensing.

[0166] Example 25 may include the method of any of examples 20-24, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing is based on an instruction received from the cellular network via the relay UE.

[0167] Example 26 may include the method of any of examples 20-25, and / or some other example herein, wherein the sensing UE is communicatively coupled with a plurality of relay UEs by respective ones of a plurality of sidelink connections.

[0168] Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or any other method or process described herein.

[0169] Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or any other method or process described herein. Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or any other method or process described herein.

[0170] Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions or parts thereof.

[0171] Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions thereof.

[0172] Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions or parts thereof.

[0173] Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0174] Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0175] Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0176] Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions thereof.

[0177] Example Z11 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-26, or portions thereof.

[0178] Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0179] Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0180] Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0181] Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0182] Abbreviations

[0183] Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 vl6.0.0 (2019-06). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

[0184] 3GPP Third 35 AN Access 70 BER Bit Error Ratio

[0185] Generation Network BFD Beam

[0186] Partnership AnLF Analytics Failure Detection

[0187] Project Logical Function BLER Block Error

[0188] 4G Fourth ANR Automatic Rate

[0189] Generation 40 Neighbour Relation 75 BPSK Binary Phase

[0190] 5G Fifth AOA Angle of Shift Keying

[0191] Generation Arrival BRAS Broadband

[0192] 5GC 5G Core AP Application Remote Access network Protocol, Antenna Server

[0193] AC 45 Port, Access Point 80 BSS Business

[0194] Application API Application Support System

[0195] Client Programming Interface BS Base Station

[0196] ACR Application APN Access Point BSR Buffer Status

[0197] Context Relocation Name Report

[0198] ACK 50 ARP Allocation and 85 BW Bandwidth

[0199] Acknowledgem Retention Priority BWP Bandwidth Part ent ARQ Automatic C-RNTI Cell

[0200] ACID Repeat Request Radio Network

[0201] Application AS Access Stratum Temporary

[0202] Client Identification 55 ASP 90 Identity

[0203] ADRF Analytics Data Application Service CA Carrier

[0204] Repository Provider Aggregation,

[0205] Function Certification

[0206] AF Application ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Authority

[0207] Function 60 Notation One 95 CAPEX CAPital

[0208] AM Acknowledged AUSF Authentication Expenditure

[0209] Mode Server Function CBD Candidate

[0210] AMBR Aggregate AWGN Additive Beam Detection

[0211] Maximum Bit Rate White Gaussian CBRA Contention

[0212] AMF Access and 65 Noise 100 Based Random

[0213] Mobility BAP Backhaul Access

[0214] Management Adaptation Protocol CC Component

[0215] Function BCH Broadcast Carrier, Country Channel Code, Cryptographic 35 CM Connection C / R Checksum Management, Command / Resp

[0216] CCA Clear Channel Conditional 70 onse field bit Assessment Mandatory CRAN Cloud Radio CCE Control CMAS Commercial Access Channel Element 40 Mobile Alert Service Network, Cloud CCCH Common CMD Command RAN Control Channel CMS Cloud 75 CRB Common CE Coverage Management System Resource Block Enhancement CO Conditional CRC Cyclic CDM Content 45 Optional Redundancy Check Delivery Network CoMP Coordinated CRI Channel-State CDMA Code- Multi-Point 80 Information Division Multiple CORESET Control Resource Access Resource Set Indicator, CSI-RS

[0217] CDR Charging Data 50 COTS Commercial Resource Request Off-The-Shelf Indicator

[0218] CDR Charging Data CP Control Plane, 85 C-RNTI Cell Response Cyclic Prefix, RNTI

[0219] CFRA Contention Free Connection CS Circuit Random Access 55 Point Switched CG Cell Group CPD Connection CSCF call CGF Charging Point Descriptor 90 session control function

[0220] Gateway Function CPE Customer CSAR Cloud Service CHF Charging Premise Archive

[0221] Function 60 Equipment CSI Channel-State

[0222] CI Cell Identity CPICH Common Pilot Information CID Cell-ID (e.g., Channel 95 CSI-IM CSI positioning method) CQI Channel Interference CIM Common Quality Indicator Measurement Information Model 65 CPU CSI processing CSI-RS CSI CIR Carrier to unit, Central Reference Signal Interference Ratio Processing Unit 100 CSI-RSRP CSI CK Cipher Key reference signal received power CSLRSRQ CSI DMTF Distributed ECCA extended clear reference signal 35 Management Task channel received quality Force 70 assessment,

[0223] CSLSINR CSI DPDK Data Plane extended CCA signal-to-noise and Development Kit ECCE Enhanced interference DM-RS, DMRS Control Channel ratio 40 Demodulation Element,

[0224] CSMA Carrier Sense Reference Signal 75 Enhanced CCE

[0225] Multiple Access DN Data network ED Energy

[0226] CSMA / CA CSMA DNN Data Network Detection with collision Name EDGE Enhanced avoidance 45 DNAI Data Network Datarates for GSM

[0227] CSS Common Access Identifier 80 Evolution

[0228] Search Space, Cell(GSM Evolution) specific Search DRB Data Radio EAS Edge

[0229] Space Bearer Application Server

[0230] CTF Charging 50 DRS Discovery EASID Edge

[0231] Trigger Function Reference Signal 85 Application Server

[0232] CTS Clear-to-Send DRX Discontinuous Identification

[0233] CW Codeword Reception ECS Edge

[0234] CWS Contention DSL Domain Configuration Server

[0235] Window Size 55 Specific Language. ECSP Edge

[0236] D2D Device-to- Digital 90 Computing Service

[0237] Device Subscriber Line Provider

[0238] DC Dual DSLAM DSL EDN Edge

[0239] Connectivity, Direct Access Multiplexer Data Network Current 60 DwPTS EEC Edge

[0240] DCI Downlink Downlink Pilot 95 Enabler Client

[0241] Control Time Slot EECID Edge

[0242] Information E-LAN Ethernet Enabler Client

[0243] DF Deployment Local Area Network Identification Flavour 65 E2E End-to-End EES Edge

[0244] DL Downlink EAS Edge 100 Enabler Server Application Server EESID Edge Physical FACCH Fast Enabler Server Downlink Control 70 Associated Control

[0245] Identification Cannel CHannel

[0246] EHE Edge EPRE Energy per FACCH / F Fast

[0247] Hosting Environment 40 resource element Associated Control EGMF Exposure EPS Evolved Packet Channel / Full Governance System 75 rate

[0248] Management EREG enhanced REG, FACCH / H Fast Function enhanced resource Associated Control EGPRS 45 element groups Channel / Half

[0249] Enhanced ETSI European rate

[0250] GPRS Telecommunica 80 FACH Forward Access

[0251] EIR Equipment tions Standards Channel Identity Register Institute FAUSCH Fast eEAA enhanced 50 ETWS Earthquake and Uplink Signalling Eicensed Assisted Tsunami Warning Channel

[0252] Access, System 85 FB Functional enhanced EAA eUICC embedded Block EM Element UICC, embedded FBI Feedback Manager 55 Universal Information eMBB Enhanced Integrated Circuit FCC Federal Mobile Card 90 Communications

[0253] Broadband E-UTRA Evolved Commission

[0254] EMS Element UTRA FCCH Frequency

[0255] Management System 60 E-UTRAN Evolved Correction CHannel eNB evolved NodeB, UTRAN FDD Frequency E-UTRAN Node B EV2X Enhanced V2X 95 Division Duplex EN-DC E- F1AP Fl Application FDM Frequency UTRA-NR Dual Protocol Division

[0256] Connectivity 65 Fl-C Fl Control Multiplex

[0257] EPC Evolved Packet plane interface FDMA Frequency Core Fl-U Fl User plane 100 Division Multiple

[0258] EPDCCH interface Access enhanced FE Front End

[0259] PDCCH, enhanced FEC Forward Error Sistema (Engl.: 70 GTS Go To Sleep

[0260] Correction Global Navigation Signal (related

[0261] FFS For Further Satellite to WUS)

[0262] Study System) GUMMEI Globally

[0263] FFT Fast Fourier 40 gNB Next Unique MME

[0264] Transformation Generation NodeB 75 Identifier feEAA further gNB-CU gNB- GUTI Globally enhanced Eicensed centralized unit, Next Unique Temporary

[0265] Assisted Generation UE Identity

[0266] Access, further 45 NodeB HARQ Hybrid ARQ, enhanced EAA centralized unit 80 Hybrid

[0267] FN Frame Number gNB-DU gNB- Automatic

[0268] FPGA Field- distributed unit, Next Repeat Request

[0269] Programmable Gate Generation HANDO Handover

[0270] Array 50 NodeB HFN HyperFrame

[0271] FR Frequency distributed unit 85 Number

[0272] Range GNSS Global HHO Hard Handover

[0273] FQDN Fully Navigation Satellite HER Home Location

[0274] Qualified Domain System Register

[0275] Name 55 GPRS General Packet HN Home Network

[0276] G-RNTI GERAN Radio Service 90 HO Handover

[0277] Radio Network GPS I Generic HPLMN Home

[0278] Temporary Public Subscription Public Land Mobile

[0279] Identity Identifier Network

[0280] GERAN 60 GSM Global System HSDPA High

[0281] GSM EDGE for Mobile 95 Speed Downlink

[0282] RAN, GSM EDGE Communication Packet Access

[0283] Radio Access s, Groupe Special HSN Hopping

[0284] Network Mobile Sequence Number

[0285] GGSN Gateway GPRS 65 GTP GPRS HSPA High Speed

[0286] Support Node Tunneling Protocol 100 Packet Access

[0287] GEONASS GTP-UGPRS HSS Home

[0288] GEObal'naya Tunnelling Protocol Subscriber Server

[0289] NAvigatsionnay for User Plane a Sputnikovaya HSUPA High IEI Information loT Internet of Speed Uplink Packet Element Things Access Identifier IP Internet

[0290] HTTP Hyper Text IEIDL Information Protocol Transfer Protocol 40 Element 75 Ipsec IP Security,

[0291] HTTPS Hyper Identifier Data Internet Protocol

[0292] Text Transfer Protocol Length Security

[0293] Secure (https is IETF Internet IP-CAN IP- http / 1.1 over Engineering Task Connectivity Access SSL, i.e. port 443) 45 Force 80 Network I-Block IF Infrastructure IP-M IP Multicast

[0294] Information IIOT Industrial IPv4 Internet

[0295] Block Internet of Things Protocol Version 4

[0296] ICCID Integrated IM Interference IPv6 Internet Circuit Card 50 Measurement, 85 Protocol Version 6

[0297] Identification Intermodulation IR Infrared IAB Integrated , IP Multimedia IS In Sync Access and IMG IMS IRP Integration

[0298] Backhaul Credentials Reference Point

[0299] ICIC Inter-Cell 55 IMEI International 90 ISDN Integrated Interference Mobile Services Digital

[0300] Coordination Equipment Network

[0301] ID Identity, Identity ISIM IM Services identifier IMGI International Identity Module

[0302] IDFT Inverse Discrete 60 mobile group identity 95 ISO International Fourier IMPI IP Multimedia Organisation for

[0303] Transform Private Identity Standardisation

[0304] IE Information IMPU IP Multimedia ISP Internet Service element PUblic identity Provider

[0305] IBE In-Band 65 IMS IP Multimedia 100 IWF Interworking-

[0306] Emission Subsystem Function

[0307] IEEE Institute of IMSI International I-WLAN Electrical and Mobile Interworking

[0308] Electronics Subscriber WLAN

[0309] Engineers 70 Identity Constraint LAN Local Area LTE Long Term length of the Network Evolution convolutional LADN Local M2M Machine-to- code, USIM Area Data Network Machine

[0310] Individual key 40 LBT Listen Before 75 MAC Medium Access kB Kilobyte (1000 Talk Control bytes) LCM LifeCycle (protocol kbps kilo-bits per Management layering context) second LCR Low Chip Rate MAC Message Kc Ciphering key 45 LCS Location 80 authentication code

[0311] Ki Individual Services (security / encryption subscriber LCID Logical context) authentication Channel ID MAC-A MAC key LI Layer Indicator used for KPI Key 50 LLC Logical Link 85 authentication Performance Indicator Control, Low Layer and key KQI Key Quality Compatibility agreement Indicator LMF Location (TSG T WG3 context) KSI Key Set Management Function MAC-IMAC used for Identifier 55 LOS Line of 90 data integrity of ksps kilo-symbols Sight signalling messages per second LPLMN Local (TSG T WG3 context) KVM Kernel Virtual PLMN MANO Machine LPP LTE Management LI Layer 1 60 Positioning Protocol 95 and Orchestration (physical layer) LSB Least MBMS Ll-RSRP Layer 1 Significant Bit Multimedia reference signal LTE Long Term Broadcast and received power Evolution Multicast L2 Layer 2 (data 65 LWA LTE-WLAN 100 Service link layer) aggregation MBSFN L3 Layer 3 LWIP LTE / WLAN Multimedia

[0312] (network layer) Radio Level Broadcast LAA Licensed Integration with multicast Assisted Access 70 IPsec Tunnel 105 service Single Frequency 35 MIMO Multiple Input 70 MSB Most

[0313] Network Multiple Output Significant Bit

[0314] MCC Mobile Country MLC Mobile MSC Mobile Code Location Centre Switching Centre

[0315] MCG Master Cell MM Mobility MSI Minimum

[0316] Group 40 Management 75 System

[0317] MCOT Maximum MME Mobility Information,

[0318] Channel Management Entity MCH Scheduling

[0319] Occupancy MN Master Node Information

[0320] Time MNO Mobile MSID Mobile Station

[0321] MCS Modulation and 45 Network Operator 80 Identifier coding scheme MO Measurement MSIN Mobile Station

[0322] MD AF Management Object, Mobile Identification

[0323] Data Analytics Originated Number

[0324] Function MPBCH MTC MSISDN Mobile

[0325] MDAS Management 50 Physical Broadcast 85 Subscriber ISDN

[0326] Data Analytics CHannel Number

[0327] Service MPDCCH MTC MT Mobile

[0328] MDT Minimization of Physical Downlink Terminated, Mobile

[0329] Drive Tests Control Termination

[0330] ME Mobile 55 CHannel 90 MTC Machine-Type

[0331] Equipment MPDSCH MTC Communication

[0332] MeNB master eNB Physical Downlink s

[0333] MER Message Error Shared MTLF Model Training Ratio CHannel Logical

[0334] MGL Measurement 60 MPRACH MTC 95 Functions

[0335] Gap Length Physical Random mMTCmassive MTC,

[0336] MGRP Measurement Access massive

[0337] Gap Repetition CHannel Machine-Type Period MPUSCH MTC Communication

[0338] MIB Master 65 Physical Uplink Shared 100 s

[0339] Information Block, Channel MU-MIMO Multi Management MPLS MultiProtocol User MIMO

[0340] Information Base Label Switching

[0341] MS Mobile Station MWUS MTC 35 NFVI NFV Physical Random wake-up signal, MTC Infrastructure 70 Access CHannel

[0342] WUS NFVO NFV NPUSCH

[0343] NACK Negative Orchestrator Narrowband

[0344] Acknowledgement NG Next Physical Uplink

[0345] NAI Network 40 Generation, Next Gen Shared CHannel

[0346] Access Identifier NGEN-DC NG- 75 NPSS Narrowband

[0347] NAS Non-Access RAN E-UTRA-NR Primary

[0348] Stratum, Non- Access Dual Connectivity Synchronization

[0349] Stratum layer NM Network Signal

[0350] NCT Network 45 Manager NSSS Narrowband

[0351] Connectivity NMS Network 80 Secondary

[0352] Topology Management System Synchronization

[0353] NC-JT NonN-PoP Network Point Signal coherent Joint of Presence NR New Radio,

[0354] Transmission 50 NMIB, N-MIB Neighbour Relation

[0355] NEC Network Narrowband MIB 85 NRF NF Repository

[0356] Capability NPBCH Function

[0357] Exposure Narrowband NRS Narrowband

[0358] NE-DC NR-E- Physical Reference Signal

[0359] UTRA Dual 55 Broadcast NS Network

[0360] Connectivity CHannel 90 Service

[0361] NEF Network NPDCCH NSA Non-Standalone

[0362] Exposure Function Narrowband operation mode

[0363] NF Network Physical NSD Network

[0364] Function 60 Downlink Service Descriptor

[0365] NFP Network Control CHannel 95 NSR Network

[0366] Forwarding Path NPDSCH Service Record

[0367] NFPD Network Narrowband NSS Al Network Slice

[0368] Forwarding Path Physical Selection

[0369] Descriptor 65 Downlink Assistance

[0370] NFV Network Shared CHannel 100 Information

[0371] Functions NPRACH S-NNSAI Single-

[0372] Virtualization Narrowband NSSAI NSSF Network Slice PAR Peak to PDN Packet Data Selection Function Average Ratio Network, Public

[0373] NW Network PBCH Physical Data Network NWDAF Network Broadcast Channel PDSCH Physical

[0374] Data Analytics 40 PC Power Control, 75 Downlink Shared Function Personal Channel NWUSNarrowband Computer PDU Protocol Data wake-up signal, PCC Primary Unit Narrowband WUS Component Carrier, PEI Permanent NZP Non-Zero 45 Primary CC 80 Equipment Power P-CSCF Proxy Identifiers

[0375] O&M Operation and CSCF PFD Packet Flow Maintenance PCell Primary Cell Description

[0376] ODU2 Optical channel PCI Physical Cell P-GW PDN Gateway Data Unit - type 2 50 ID, Physical Cell 85 PHICH Physical OFDM Orthogonal Identity hybrid-ARQ indicator Frequency Division PCEF Policy and channel Multiplexing Charging PHY Physical layer OFDMA Enforcement PLMN Public Land

[0377] Orthogonal 55 Function 90 Mobile Network Frequency Division PCF Policy Control PIN Personal Multiple Access Function Identification Number OOB Out-of-band PCRF Policy Control PM Performance OOS Out of and Charging Rules Measurement Sync 60 Function 95 PMI Precoding

[0378] OPEX OPerating PDCP Packet Data Matrix Indicator EXpense Convergence PNF Physical

[0379] OSI Other System Protocol, Packet Network Function Information Data Convergence PNFD Physical

[0380] OSS Operations 65 Protocol layer 100 Network Function Support System PDCCH Physical Descriptor OTA over-the-air Downlink Control PNFR Physical PAPR Peak-to- Channel Network Function Average Power PDCP Packet Data Record

[0381] Ratio 70 Convergence Protocol POC PTT over 35 PSFCH physical 70 RA-RNTI Random

[0382] Cellular sidelink feedback Access RNTI

[0383] PP, PTP Point-to- channel RAB Radio Access

[0384] Point PSCell Primary SCell Bearer, Random

[0385] PPP Point-to-Point PSS Primary Access Burst

[0386] Protocol 40 Synchronization 75 RACH Random Access

[0387] PRACH Physical Signal Channel

[0388] RACH PSTN Public Switched RADIUS Remote

[0389] PRB Physical Telephone Network Authentication Dial resource block PT-RS Phase-tracking In User Service

[0390] PRG Physical 45 reference signal 80 RAN Radio Access resource block PTT Push-to-Talk Network group PUCCH Physical RAND RANDom

[0391] ProSe Proximity Uplink Control number (used for

[0392] Services, Channel authentication)

[0393] Proximity- 50 PUSCH Physical 85 RAR Random Access

[0394] Based Service Uplink Shared Response

[0395] PRS Positioning Channel RAT Radio Access

[0396] Reference Signal QAM Quadrature Technology

[0397] PRR Packet Amplitude RAU Routing Area

[0398] Reception Radio 55 Modulation 90 Update

[0399] PS Packet Services QCI QoS class of RB Resource block,

[0400] PSBCH Physical identifier Radio Bearer

[0401] Sidelink Broadcast QCL Quasi coRBG Resource block

[0402] Channel location group

[0403] PSDCH Physical 60 QFI QoS Flow ID, 95 REG Resource

[0404] Sidelink Downlink QoS Flow Element Group

[0405] Channel Identifier Rel Release

[0406] PSCCH Physical QoS Quality of REQ REQuest

[0407] Sidelink Control Service RF Radio

[0408] Channel 65 QPSK Quadrature 100 Frequency

[0409] PSSCH Physical (Quaternary) Phase RI Rank Indicator

[0410] Sidelink Shared Shift Keying RIV Resource

[0411] Channel QZSS Quasi-Zenith indicator value Satellite System RL Radio Link RLC Radio Link RRC Radio Resource 70 S-CSCF serving

[0412] Control, Radio Control, Radio CSCF

[0413] Link Control Resource Control S-GW Serving layer layer Gateway

[0414] RLC AM RLC 40 RRM Radio Resource S-RNTI SRNC Acknowledged Mode Management 75 Radio Network

[0415] RLC UM RLC RS Reference Temporary

[0416] Unacknowledged Signal Identity

[0417] Mode RSRP Reference S-TMSI SAE

[0418] RLF Radio Link 45 Signal Received Temporary Mobile

[0419] Failure Power 80 Station

[0420] RLM Radio Link RSRQ Reference Identifier

[0421] Monitoring Signal Received SA Standalone

[0422] RLM-RS Quality operation mode

[0423] Reference 50 RSSI Received Signal SAE System

[0424] Signal for RLM Strength 85 Architecture

[0425] RM Registration Indicator Evolution

[0426] Management RSU Road Side Unit SAP Service Access

[0427] RMC Reference RSTD Reference Point

[0428] Measurement Channel 55 Signal Time SAPD Service Access

[0429] RMSI Remaining difference 90 Point Descriptor

[0430] MSI, Remaining RTP Real Time SAPI Service Access

[0431] Minimum Protocol Point Identifier

[0432] System RTS Ready-To-Send SCC Secondary

[0433] Information 60 RTT Round Trip Component Carrier,

[0434] RN Relay Node Time 95 Secondary CC

[0435] RNC Radio Network Rx Reception, SCell Secondary Cell Controller Receiving, Receiver SCEF Service

[0436] RNL Radio Network S1AP SI Application Capability Exposure

[0437] Layer 65 Protocol Function

[0438] RNTI Radio Network SI -MME SI for 100 SC-FDMA Single

[0439] Temporary the control plane Carrier Frequency

[0440] Identifier Sl-U SI for the user Division

[0441] ROHC RObust Header plane Multiple Access

[0442] Compression SCG Secondary Cell 35 SFI Slot format 70 SMSF SMS Function

[0443] Group indication SMTC SSB-based

[0444] SCM Security SFTD Space- Measurement Timing

[0445] Context Frequency Time Configuration

[0446] Management Diversity, SFN SN Secondary

[0447] SCS Subcarrier 40 and frame timing 75 Node, Sequence

[0448] Spacing difference Number

[0449] SCTP Stream Control SFN System Frame SoC System on Chip

[0450] Transmission Number SON Self-Organizing

[0451] Protocol SgNB Secondary gNB Network

[0452] SDAP Service Data 45 SGSN Serving GPRS 80 SpCell Special Cell

[0453] Adaptation Support Node SP-CSI-RNTISemi-

[0454] Protocol, S-GW Serving Persistent CSI RNTI

[0455] Service Data Gateway SPS Semi-Persistent

[0456] Adaptation SI System Scheduling

[0457] Protocol layer 50 Information 85 SQN Sequence

[0458] SDL Supplementary SI-RNTI System number

[0459] Downlink Information RNTI SR Scheduling

[0460] SDNF Structured Data SIB System Request

[0461] Storage Network Information Block SRB Signalling

[0462] Function 55 SIM Subscriber 90 Radio Bearer

[0463] SDP Session Identity Module SRS Sounding

[0464] Description Protocol SIP Session Reference Signal

[0465] SDSF Structured Data Initiated Protocol SS Synchronization

[0466] Storage Function SiP System in Signal

[0467] SDT Small Data 60 Package 95 SSB Synchronization

[0468] Transmission SL Sidelink Signal Block

[0469] SDU Service Data SLA Service Level SSID Service Set

[0470] Unit Agreement Identifier

[0471] SEAF Security SM Session SS / PBCH Block

[0472] Anchor Function 65 Management 100 SSBRI SS / PBCH

[0473] SeNB secondary eNB SMF Session Block Resource

[0474] SEPP Security Edge Management Function Indicator,

[0475] Protection Proxy SMS Short Message Synchronization Service Signal Block Resource TA Timing 70 TMSI Temporary

[0476] Indicator Advance, Tracking Mobile

[0477] SSC Session and Area Subscriber

[0478] Service TAC Tracking Area Identity

[0479] Continuity 40 Code TNL Transport

[0480] SS-RSRP TAG Timing 75 Network Layer

[0481] Synchronization Advance Group TPC Transmit Power

[0482] Signal based TAI Control

[0483] Reference Tracking Area TPMI Transmitted

[0484] Signal Received 45 Identity Precoding Matrix

[0485] Power TAU Tracking Area 80 Indicator

[0486] SS-RSRQ Update TR Technical

[0487] Synchronization TB Transport Block Report

[0488] Signal based TBS Transport Block TRP, TRxP

[0489] Reference 50 Size Transmission

[0490] Signal Received TBD To Be Defined 85 Reception Point

[0491] Quality TCI Transmission TRS Tracking

[0492] SS-SINR Configuration Reference Signal

[0493] Synchronization Indicator TRx Transceiver

[0494] Signal based Signal 55 TCP Transmission TS Technical to Noise and Communication 90 Specifications,

[0495] Interference Ratio Protocol Technical

[0496] SSS Secondary TDD Time Division Standard

[0497] Synchronization Duplex TTI Transmission

[0498] Signal 60 TDM Time Division Time Interval

[0499] SSSG Search Space Multiplexing 95 Tx Transmission,

[0500] Set Group TDMATime Division Transmitting,

[0501] SSSIF Search Space Multiple Access Transmitter

[0502] Set Indicator TE Terminal U-RNTI UTRAN

[0503] SST Slice / Service 65 Equipment Radio Network

[0504] Types TEID Tunnel End 100 Temporary

[0505] SU-MIMO Single Point Identifier Identity

[0506] User MIMO TFT Traffic Flow UART Universal

[0507] SUL Supplementary Template Asynchronous

[0508] Uplink Receiver and USB Universal Serial VNEEG VNL

[0509] Transmitter Bus Forwarding Graph

[0510] UCI Uplink Control USIM Universal VNFFGD VNF

[0511] Information Subscriber Identity Forwarding Graph

[0512] UE User Equipment 40 Module 75 Descriptor

[0513] UDM Unified Data USS UE-specific VNFM VNF Manager

[0514] Management search space VoIP Voice-over- IP,

[0515] UDP User Datagram UTRA UMTS Voice-over- Internet

[0516] Protocol Terrestrial Radio Protocol

[0517] UDSF Unstructured 45 Access 80 VPLMN Visited

[0518] Data Storage Network UTRAN Public Land Mobile

[0519] Function Universal Network

[0520] UICC Universal Terrestrial Radio VPN Virtual Private

[0521] Integrated Circuit Access Network

[0522] Card 50 Network 85 VRB Virtual

[0523] UL Uplink UwPTS Uplink Resource Block

[0524] UM Pilot Time Slot WiMAX

[0525] Unacknowledge V2I Vehicle-to- Worldwide d Mode Infrastruction Interoperability

[0526] UML Unified 55 V2P Vehicle-to- 90 for Microwave

[0527] Modelling Language Pedestrian Access

[0528] UMTS Universal V2V Vehicle-to- WLANWireless Local

[0529] Mobile Vehicle Area Network

[0530] Telecommunica V2X Vehicle-to- WMAN Wireless tions System 60 everything 95 Metropolitan Area

[0531] UP User Plane VIM Virtualized Network

[0532] UPF User Plane Infrastructure Manager WPANWireless

[0533] Function VL Virtual Link, Personal Area Network

[0534] URI Uniform VLAN Virtual LAN, X2-C X2-Control

[0535] Resource Identifier 65 Virtual Local Area 100 plane

[0536] URL Uniform Network X2-U X2-User plane

[0537] Resource Locator VM Virtual XML extensible

[0538] URLLC UltraMachine Markup

[0539] Reliable and Low VNL Virtualized Language

[0540] Latency 70 Network Eunction XRES EXpected user

[0541] RESponse

[0542] XOR exclusive OR

[0543] ZC Zadoff-Chu ZP Zero Power

[0544] Terminology

[0545] For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

[0546] The term “application” may refer to a complete and deployable package, environment to achieve a certain function in an operational environment. The term “AFML application” or the like may be an application that contains some AI / ML models and application-level descriptions.

[0547] The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

[0548] The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and / or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computerexecutable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and / or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

[0549] The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and / or the like.

[0550] The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

[0551] The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and / or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and / or the like.

[0552] The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and / or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and / or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0553] The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource.

[0554] The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and / or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input / output operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and / or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and / or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and / or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices / systems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and / or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0555] The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and / or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and / or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

[0556] The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code.

[0557] The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and / or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and / or the like.

[0558] The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

[0559] The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration .

[0560] The term “SSB” refers to an SS / PBCH block. The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

[0561] The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation.

[0562] The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

[0563] The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC.

[0564] The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA / DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell.

[0565] The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA / .

[0566] The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.

[0567] The term “machine learning” or “ML” refers to the use of computer systems implementing algorithms and / or statistical models to perform specific task(s) without using explicit instructions, but instead relying on patterns and inferences. ML algorithms build or estimate mathematical model(s) (referred to as “ML models” or the like) based on sample data (referred to as “training data,” “model training information,” or the like) in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to perform such tasks. Generally, an ML algorithm is a computer program that learns from experience with respect to some task and some performance measure, and an ML model may be any object or data structure created after an ML algorithm is trained with one or more training datasets. After training, an ML model may be used to make predictions on new datasets. Although the term “ML algorithm” refers to different concepts than the term “ML model,” these terms as discussed herein may be used interchangeably for the purposes of the present disclosure.

[0568] The term “machine learning model,” “ML model,” or the like may also refer to ML methods and concepts used by an ML-assisted solution. An “ML-assisted solution” is a solution that addresses a specific use case using ML algorithms during operation. ML models include supervised learning (e.g., linear regression, k-nearest neighbor (KNN), descision tree algorithms, support machine vectors, Bayesian algorithm, ensemble algorithms, etc.) unsupervised learning (e.g., K-means clustering, principle component analysis (PCA), etc.), reinforcement learning (e.g., Q-learning, multi-armed bandit learning, deep RL, etc.), neural networks, and the like. Depending on the implementation a specific ML model could have many sub-models as components and the ML model may train all sub-models together. Separately trained ML models can also be chained together in an ML pipeline during inference. An “ML pipeline” is a set of functionalities, functions, or functional entities specific for an ML-assisted solution; an ML pipeline may include one or several data sources in a data pipeline, a model training pipeline, a model evaluation pipeline, and an actor. The “actor” is an entity that hosts an ML assisted solution using the output of the ML model inference). The term “ML training host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts the training of the model. The term “ML inference host” refers to an entity, such as a network function, that hosts model during inference mode (which includes both the model execution as well as any online learning if applicable). The ML-host informs the actor about the output of the ML algorithm, and the actor takes a decision for an action (an “action” is performed by an actor as a result of the output of an ML assisted solution). The term “model inference information” refers to information used as an input to the ML model for determining inference(s); the data used to train an ML model and the data used to determine inferences may overlap, however, “training data” and “inference data” refer to different concepts.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An apparatus to be used in a sensing user equipment (UE), wherein the apparatus comprises: memory to store instructions; and one or more processors that, upon execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, are to cause the sensing UE to: perform sensing; identify that the sensing UE is not coupled with a cellular network by a cellular connection; identify a relay UE to which the sensing UE is coupled by a sidelink connection, and identify that the relay UE is coupled with a base station of the cellular network by a cellular connection; and transmit, to the relay UE, a sensing-related signal; wherein the relay UE is configured to transmit, to the base station based on the sensing-related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base station is configured to forward the indication of the sensing-related signal to a sensing service management function (SSMF) of the cellular network.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the instructions are further to cause the UE to: identify, via the relay UE, an instructions received from the SSMF; and perform the sensing based on the instructions.

4. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to capability information of the sensing UE.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to a result of the sensing.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the sensing is UE- initiated sensing.

7. The apparatus of any of claims 1-3, wherein the sensing UE is communicatively coupled with a plurality of relay UEs by respective ones of a plurality of sidelink connections.

8. An apparatus to be used in a relay user equipment (UE), wherein the apparatus comprises: memory to store instructions; and one or more processors that, upon execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, are to cause the relay UE to: identify, via a sidelink connection, a sensing-related signal received from a sensing UE that is not coupled with a cellular network via a cellular connection, wherein the first sensing-related signal is related to sensing performed by the sensing UE; and transmit, to a base station of the cellular network via a cellular connection based on the sensing-related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the base station is configured to forward the indication to a sensing service management function (SSMF) of the cellular network.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to capability information of the sensing UE.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to a result of the sensing.

12. The apparatus of any of claims 8-11, wherein the sensing is UE-initiated sensing.

13. The apparatus of any of claims 8-11, wherein the sensing is based on an instruction received from the cellular network via the relay UE.

14. The apparatus of any of claims 8-11, wherein the sensing UE is communicatively coupled with a plurality of relay UEs by respective ones of a plurality of sidelink connections.

15. One or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of a sensing user equipment (UE), are to cause the sensing UE to: perform sensing; identify that the sensing UE is not coupled with a cellular network by a cellular connection;identify a relay UE to which the sensing UE is coupled by a sidelink connection, and identify that the relay UE is coupled with a base station of the cellular network by a cellular connection; and transmit, to the relay UE, a sensing-related signal; wherein the relay UE is configured to transmit, to the base station based on the sensing- related signal, an indication of the sensing-related signal.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the base station is configured to forward the indication of the sensing-related signal to a sensing service management function (SSMF) of the cellular network.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to capability information of the sensing UE.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the sensing-related signal is related to a result of the sensing.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims 15-18, wherein the sensing is UE-initiated sensing.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims 15-18, wherein the sensing UE is communicatively coupled with a plurality of relay UEs by respective ones of a plurality of sidelink connections.

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