METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR MINIMIZATION OF SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS (MINT)

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) registered with a first network includes receiving information from the first network indicative of values ​​to be used during registration with a second network, and determining at least a first start time and a second start time for performing registration with the second network based at least on the indicated values. The method further includes initiating registration with the second network after the first start time, and, if registration is not completed within a defined period after the first start time, (1) stopping registration with the second network, and (2) initiating a second registration or re-registration of the WTRU with the second network after the second start time.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] (CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 185,474, filed May 7, 2021, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 172,936, filed April 9, 2021, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 150,283, filed February 17, 2021, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 137,531, filed January 14, 2021, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] FIELD OF THEINVENTION FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to wireless communications, including methods, apparatus, and systems for minimizing service interruptions. [Background technology]

[0003] Networks may experience failures and / or disasters. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0004] A more detailed understanding may be had from the following detailed description, taken by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures in the description are examples; thus, the drawings and detailed description should not be taken as limiting, as other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Also, like reference numerals in the figures refer to like elements. [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. [Figure 1B] 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A, according to one embodiment. [Figure 1C]FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communication system illustrated in FIG. 1A, according to one embodiment. [Figure 1D] FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating a further exemplary RAN and a further exemplary CN that may be used within the communication system illustrated in FIG. 1A, according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a disaster response scenario in which a Disaster Response Function (DRF) enables notification of a WTRU and roaming partners regarding the onset of a disaster condition, and authorization for the WTRU to register in a PLMN that is free of the disaster condition. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 illustrates a disaster response scenario in which the DRF enables notification of the WTRU and roaming partners regarding the end of a disaster condition. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates a registration procedure to a roaming PLMN without disaster conditions in the case of a disaster condition. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary procedure for using a DRID for disaster roaming. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary procedure for determining when to perform enrollment in the HPLMN following a disaster (e.g., disaster condition). [Figure 7] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary registration procedure. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 9] 11 is a flowchart illustrating another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 10] 11 is a flowchart illustrating an additional representative method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 11] 11 is a flowchart illustrating a further exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 12] 11 is a flowchart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 13] 11 is a flowchart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 14] 11 is a flowchart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 15] 11 is a flowchart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU. [Figure 16] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented by a network entity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0005] Exemplary Network for Implementing the Embodiments 1A illustrates an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcasts, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable the multiple wireless users to access such content through sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications system 100 may use one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), etc.

[0006] 1A, communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, Internet 110, and other networks 112, although it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or “STA,” may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include user equipment (UE), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspots or Mi-Fi devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or automated processing chain context), consumer electronics devices, devices operating in commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be referred to interchangeably as a UE.

[0007] The communication system 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), Node-B, eNode B (eNode B, end), Home Node B (Home Node B, HNB), Home eNode B (Home eNode B, HeNB), gNB, NR Node B, site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, etc. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each shown as a single element, it will be understood that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0008] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), a relay node, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide wireless service coverage for a particular geographic area, which may be relatively fixed or may change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one transceiver for each sector of the cell. In one embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell, for example, using beamforming to transmit and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0009] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0010] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may use one or more channel access schemes, such as, for example, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, etc. For example, the base stations 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in the RAN 104 / 113 may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communications protocols such as High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0011] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0012] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0013] In one embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, e.g., using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions transmitted to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0014] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a wireless technology such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity, WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, WiMAX), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), or the like.

[0015] 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, or an access point, and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a location of a business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a road, etc. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may establish a picocell or a femtocell using a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.). As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not need to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0016] The RAN 104 / 113 may communicate with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, application, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have various quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as, for example, different throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, etc. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calls, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be understood that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs employing the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) employing GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0017] The CN 106 / 115 may also act as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a public switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), and / or the internet protocol (IP) of the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. The network 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0018] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with a base station 114a, which may use a cellular-based wireless technology, and a base station 114b, which may use an IEEE 802 wireless technology.

[0019] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1B, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0020] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although FIG. 1B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0021] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive, for example, IR, UV, or visible light signals. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0022] 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may use MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0023] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate signals transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and demodulate signals received by the transmit / receive element 122. As mentioned above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as, for example, NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0024] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to and may receive user-entered data from a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from and store data in any type of suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, etc. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or home computer (not shown).

[0025] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, but may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for providing power to the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, etc.

[0026] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding a current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or in lieu of information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may obtain location information by way of any suitable location determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0027] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a Hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor, a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0028] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be in operative communication with various peripherals 138 including, for example, one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, a USB port, other communications interfaces / ports, a display, and / or any of other visual / audio indicators to implement the representative embodiments disclosed herein.

[0029] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio where the transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and the downlink (e.g., for reception)) may be parallel and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via hardware (e.g., chokes) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., via a separate processor (not shown) or processor 118). In one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for the transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0030] 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to one embodiment. As mentioned above, the RAN 104 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116 using E-UTRA radio technology. The RAN 104 may also communicate with the CN 106.

[0031] The RAN 104 may include eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, although it will be understood that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode B 160a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a.

[0032] Each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, etc. As shown in FIG 1C, the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another via an X2 interface.

[0033] 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. Although each of the foregoing elements is shown as part of the CN 106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0034] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, activating / deactivating bearers, selecting a particular serving gateway during initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, etc. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0035] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available to the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0036] The SGW 164 may be connected to a PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0037] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0038] Although the WTRU is depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments such a terminal may use a wired communications interface (e.g., temporarily or permanently) with the communications network.

[0039] In an exemplary embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0040] A WLAN in infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) of the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access or interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic into and / or out of the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS to the STAs may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from the STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP and transmitted to the respective destination. Traffic between STAs in the BSS may be transmitted, for example, through the AP, where the source STA may transmit traffic to the AP, which may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs in the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be transmitted in a direct link setup (DLS) between the source STA and the destination STA (e.g., directly between them). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may be referred to herein as an "ad-hoc" communication mode.

[0041] When using an 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operation, an AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a width that is dynamically set via signaling. The primary channel may be an operating channel of the BSS and may be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. With CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., all STAs), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0042] A High Throughput (HT) STA may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, which may be formed, for example, through a combination of a primary 20 MHz channel and adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channels.

[0043] A Very High Throughput (VHT) STA may support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. A 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz wide channel may be formed by combining consecutive 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining eight consecutive 20 MHz channels or by combining two non-consecutive 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel encoding, the data may pass through a segment parser that may split the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing and time domain processing may be performed separately on each stream. The streams may be mapped to two 80 MHz channels and the data may be transmitted by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the operations described above for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed and the combined data may be transmitted to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0044] Sub-1 GHz operating modes are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. Channel operating bandwidths and carriers are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to representative embodiments, 802.11ah may support meter-type control / machine-type communication, such as MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have specific capabilities, including, for example, support for (e.g., support only for) specific and / or limited bandwidths. MTC devices may include batteries with battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain very long battery life).

[0045] WLAN systems that may support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel that may be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be configured and / or limited by the STAs among all STAs operating in the BSS that support the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In an 802.11ah example, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only) the 1 MHz mode, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the state of the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel is busy due to STAs (that only support 1 MHz mode of operation) transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band may be considered busy even though most of the frequency band may remain idle and available for use.

[0046] In the United States, the available frequency bands that can be used by 802.11ah are 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency bands are 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz depending on the country code.

[0047] 1D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to one embodiment. As mentioned above, the RAN 113 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116 using NR radio technology. The RAN 113 may also communicate with the CN 115.

[0048] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, although it will be understood that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit and / or receive signals to the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a may transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a, for example, using multiple antennas. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on an unlicensed spectrum, and the remaining component carriers may be on a licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, the WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from the gNBs 180a and 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0049] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of different or scalable lengths (e.g., including different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or lasting different lengths of absolute time).

[0050] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without accessing another RAN (e.g., eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, etc.). In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in unlicensed bands. In a non-standalone configuration, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with and connect to a gNB 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with and connecting to another RAN, such as an eNode B 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a DC principle to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may act as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, while the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for serving the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0051] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to User Plane Functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information to Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, etc. As shown in FIG. 1D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with each other via an Xn interface.

[0052] 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. Although each of the foregoing elements is illustrated as part of the CN 115, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0053] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may function as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for user authentication of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions having different requirements), selection of the SMFs 183a, 183b for registration, management of registration areas, termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, mobility management, etc. The network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b to customize the CN support of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the type of service utilizing the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and / or the like. The AMF 182 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies, such as WiFi.

[0054] The SMFs 183a, 183b may be connected to the AMFs 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMFs 183a, 183b may also be connected to the UPFs 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMFs 183a, 183b may select and control the UPFs 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPFs 184a, 184b. The SMFs 183a, 183b may perform other functions such as managing and assigning WTRU IP (e.g., UE IP) addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notification, etc. The PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0055] The UPFs 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPFs 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, etc.

[0056] The CN 115 may facilitate communication with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In an embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to local Data Networks (DNs) 185a, 185b through the UPFs 184a, 184b via an N3 interface to the UPFs 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the DNs 185a, 185b.

[0057] 1A-1D and the corresponding description thereof, one or more or all of the functions described herein with respect to one or more of the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-ab, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other devices described herein may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0058] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or an operator network environment. For example, one or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network to test other devices in the communication network. One or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation devices may be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or may perform testing using terrestrial wireless communication.

[0059] The one or more emulation devices may perform one or more functions, inclusive, while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in test scenarios in a test lab and / or in an undeployed (e.g., test) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (which may include, for example, one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0060] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU may use a timer that the network (NW) (e.g., a network entity) provides, e.g., in a registration acceptance along with its own identity, to derive a window during which the WTRU may or will perform registration to a new network (e.g., via a new network entity).

[0061] In certain representative embodiments, during the registration procedure, the NW may inform the WTRU of an identifier (e.g., a "special ID") that the NW can or will use when one or more disaster conditions apply. For example, as a safeguard or for security, the NW may provide the WTRU with a string (e.g., a code) that can be used locally by the WTRU together with the broadcast ID and a known algorithm, which may then result in the WTRU's permanent IEs (e.g., Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) / International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)).

[0062] In certain representative embodiments, the RAN may be informed by the CN to block / defer RRC connections for inbound (e.g., disaster) WTRUs. These WTRUs may use a new establishment cause when sending an RRC connection request. The RAN may provide a timer in the RRC connection rejection, which may delay / defer, for example, the WTRU's new connection to a later time slot. To further randomize the delay period for connection retries, the WTRU may use a formula based on the value of the timer and its own ID.

[0063] In a particular representative embodiment, the WTRU may receive a Disaster Response Incident ID (DRID) when registering with PLMN D (e.g., before a disaster condition). The WTRU may select a PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) based on a matching DRID broadcasted by the PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) when a disaster condition occurs. The WTRU may register with PLMN A for inbound roaming and may provide the DRID authorized for inbound roaming by the HPLMN.

[0064] In certain representative embodiments, upon registration with a PLMN (e.g., PLMN D) (which may typically be an HPLMN, for example), the WTRU and the AMF exchange information that both support MINT, and when the AMF provides a list of tracking areas (e.g., a TAI list), the WTRU may inform the AMF when the WTRU enters a new TA (e.g., every time it enters a new Tracking Area (TA)), even if the new TA is or may be part of the TAI list. The WTRU does this by, for example, among others, (1) modifying one or more existing NAS messages, such as a service request, (2) sending a new NAS message, and / or (3) performing a mobility registration update.

[0065] PLMN D, as used herein, generally refers to a PLMN that has / is experiencing or is experiencing an associated disaster condition that has (1) been previously announced and / or configured, (2) is about to be announced / configured, and / or (3) is currently announced / configured. For example, PLMN D may have an outage (e.g., causing a lack of network operation within a portion or all of the associated PLMN coverage area), or PLMN D may have some other disruption of the network in a portion or all of the associated PLMN coverage area. PLMN D may be a home PLMN or a visited PLMN. PLMN A, as used herein, generally refers to another PLMN, which may or may not be able to accept, for example, an inbound roaming WTRU that has registered or is about to register with PLMN D that has and / or is experiencing a disaster condition.

[0066] Certain representative embodiments may be applied to a disaster event anywhere in the network (eg, a fire event in a building in which several network nodes and components reside).

[0067] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU may receive one or more permitted area-level DRIDs when registering with a PLMN (e.g., PLMN D) (prior to the disaster condition). For example, the DRID may consist of or include a PLMN ID (MCC, MNC), an Area ID (AID), and / or a Disaster Recovery Code (DRC) (e.g., DRID=PLMN ID+AID+DRC). The AID may identify a geographic area (e.g., associated with or including, among other things, one or more NG-RAN nodes and / or one or more Tracking Areas (TAs)) that maps a portion of a PLMN's coverage area (e.g., the NG-RAN coverage area of ​​PLMN D). The WTRU may select another PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) based on a match between the DRID or a portion of the DRID (e.g., DRC) broadcast by PLMN A and one or more permitted DRIDs indicated by PLMN D. The WTRU may register for inbound roaming in another PLMN (eg, PLMN A) and may provide a matching protected DRID to be authorized for inbound roaming by the HPLMN.

[0068] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU may be configured (e.g., by the HPLMN) with one or more allowed area-level DRIDs and / or allowed PLMN-level DRIDs associated with a given PLMN (e.g., PLMN D as the WTRU's HPLMN). The PLMN-level DRID configuration / component may be similar to the area-specific DRID, except that the AID may identify a geographic area that maps the entire PLMN. The area-level DRID configuration / component may be similar to the area-specific DRID, except that the AID may identify a geographic area that maps a portion (e.g., a wide area) of the PLMN's coverage (e.g., a city, state, and / or province). The area-level DRID may be used by the WTRU / PLMN as an intermediate level of granularity between the area-level DRID and the PLMN-level DRID when performing disaster inbound roaming. When affected by disaster conditions, PLMN A may accept disaster inbound roaming in all or part of such area (e.g., may start broadcasting one or more associated area-level DRIDs based on information received from PLMN D and / or local authentication). The WTRU may select a PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) based on a DRID match or a match of a portion of the DRID (e.g., MCC+DRC) broadcasted by PLMN A with an authorized area-level or PLMN-level DRID. The WTRU may register with PLMN A for inbound roaming and provide a protected area-level or PLMN-level DRID authorized for inbound roaming by the HPLMN.

[0069] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, devices, and procedures may be implemented for notification of a disaster condition to a WTRU. For example, the methods, systems, devices, and procedures may be implemented to broadcast / transmit information regarding disaster conditions of PLMNs in an area to WTRUs located in the area. As another example, the methods, systems, devices, and procedures may be implemented to integrity protect, replay protect, and / or confidentiality protect the information of the disaster conditions of the PLMNs. As a third example, the methods, systems, devices, and procedures may be implemented to determine the type / kind of information to be broadcast / transmitted to a WTRU (for example) based on any of the disaster condition, the number of WTRUs affected by the disaster condition, the services / applications running on the WTRU, the network slice used by the WTRU, the mobility of the WTRU (e.g., the connectivity capability of the WTRU), the capabilities of the WTRU (e.g., other connectivity capabilities, Bluetooth, WLAN, WIFI, among others).

[0070] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to provide an indication of accessibility to a WTRU from a PLMN (e.g., another PLMN without a disaster condition). For example, one or more other PLMNs (e.g., other PLMNs other than the PLMN having the disaster condition) may indicate (e.g., each indicate) that their respective PLMNs can accommodate inbound roamers (e.g., inbound roamers from PLMNs having a disaster condition therein, which may also be referred to as inbound disaster roamers (IDRs) or IDR WTRUs). In certain representative embodiments, the information may be provided to an IDR (e.g., a potential IDR WTRU).

[0071] Representative Procedure for Registration to a Roaming PLMN Without Disaster Conditions In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to perform a registration procedure initiated by a DIR (eg, an IDR WTRU).

[0072] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to authenticate an IDR. For example, a home network may be unavailable for a "normal" roaming authenticated and authorized WTRU. It is contemplated that such a WTRU may sometimes be referred to as a refugee WTRU. For example, a refugee WTRU (e.g., all "refugee WTRUs") may be either (1) one or more non-roaming WTRUs with a serving network that may be the same as their home network (e.g., these WTRUs may not or cannot roam to another PLMN because the CN cannot authenticate them). This situation may occur when a main database (e.g., Unified Data Management (UDM) / Home Subscriber Server (HSS)) in the home PLMN is not reachable, and / or (2) one or more inbound roaming WTRUs that have roamed to other PLMNs and may be authenticated on the other PLMNs. This situation may occur when an anchor node (e.g., Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) / Mobility Management Entity (MME)) in the CN may not be operating properly (e.g., is down).

[0073] In certain representative embodiments, methods, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to register a WTRU serving an inbound city with a PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) when a disaster occurs in the PLMN (PLMN D) during or immediately prior to registration with PLMN D.

[0074] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to enable a PLMN (e.g., a disaster PLMN or a disaster roaming PLMN) to restrict an area of ​​service to an IDR WTRU to an area where a disaster condition applies.

[0075] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to enable a WTRU that is unable to register in PLMN D (e.g., because a disaster condition occurred in PLMN D during or immediately prior to registration) to register in another PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) that can provide service to the inbound route.

[0076] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to ensure that an inbound roma was (e.g., actually was) within a disaster area of ​​PLMN D when a disaster occurred.

[0077] Representative Procedure for Notification That Disaster Conditions Are No Longer Applicable to a WTRU In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to broadcast / transmit (and / or the timing of) information that a disaster condition is no longer applicable to one or more IDR WTRUs.

[0078] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented for one or more IDR WTRUs to perform network selection when notified that a disaster condition is no longer applicable.

[0079] Representative Procedures for Prevention of Signaling Overload in PLMNs without Disaster Conditions In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to stagger the arrival of WTRUs within a PLMN without disaster conditions, e.g., to distribute registration attempts over time, and / or to keep the number of WTRUs attempting to simultaneously register within manageable limits (e.g., threshold levels).

[0080] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to enable a PLMN that is free of disaster conditions to prevent (e.g., effectively prevent) an IDR WTRU from attempting to register on a PLMN when the PLMN is no longer able to accept the IDR WTRU due to, for example, congestion.

[0081] Exemplary Procedure for Preventing Signaling Overload by Returning a WTRU to a PLMN That Previously Had a Disaster Condition In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to stagger the return of WTRUs to a PLMN that previously had a disaster condition, e.g., to distribute registration attempts over time, and / or to keep the number of WTRUs attempting to simultaneously register within manageable limits (e.g., threshold levels).

[0082] Exemplary Procedures for Outbound Roaming WTRU In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to provide outbound WTRUs with notification of a disaster in their Home Network (HN).

[0083] In certain representative embodiments, methods, systems, apparatus, and procedures may be implemented to enable an outbound WTRU to obtain (e.g., perform) re-authentication in a Serving Network (SN) during outbound roaming. For example, an AT&T WTRU may roam on another network (the China Mobile Communications (CMCC) network in the People's Republic of China (PRC)). The WTRU may (re)register if there is a disaster condition in its HN (e.g., if the AT&T UDM is on fire).

[0084] Representative architectures / implementations for disaster response management In certain representative embodiments, a network function referred to herein as a Disaster Response Function (DRF) may be implemented. The DRF may provide an abstraction to the rest of the 3GPP system to support, for example, disaster response management functions / procedures / operations. Some of the DRF functions / procedures / operations may be co-located with existing functions (e.g., UDM and / or Policy Control Function (PCF), among others). The DRF may include support for the following functions / procedures / operations (e.g., provided on a service-based architecture and / or via the user plane), including any of the following: (1) Support for maintaining disaster condition related information including, for example, (i) the start of the disaster condition (e.g., start time / date), (ii) the end of the disaster condition, (iii) the area to which the disaster condition applies, (iv) a list of roaming partner PLMNs in the same country that support IDR WTRUs, and (v) a list of affected WTRUs (e.g., it is contemplated that triggers for the start or end of a disaster condition may be provided by functions / means external to the DRF (e.g., by a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) network management system)). (2) Selection and / or notification of the onset and / or termination of the disaster condition to associated roaming partners (e.g., a DRF in or associated with an affected PLMN may inform one or more DRFs in or associated with one or more other PLMNs that are not in the disaster condition and may provide information about the area affected by the disaster condition). (3) Selection and / or notification of the onset and / or termination of a disaster condition to relevant Network Functions (NFs) in PLMNs having a disaster condition and PLMNs not having a disaster condition, and / or to WTRUs (e.g., as WTRUs experiencing or subsequently IDR a disaster condition). For example, the DRF may do any of the following: (i) in or associated with a PLMN having a disaster condition, notifying the AMF of the onset / end of the disaster condition and notifying affected WTRUs and / or NG-RANs accordingly; (ii) In or associated with a PLMN free of disaster conditions, the disaster affected area (e.g., geographical coordinates) may be mapped from the affected PLMN to a cell area and one or more serving AMFs, and / or may be notified of the onset / end of the disaster condition to one or more AMFs, which may then notify the IDR WTRU and / or NG-RAN accordingly. (4) The serving NF registration management of the IDR WTRU in a PLMN without disaster conditions may store the serving AMF in a PLMN without disaster conditions for the roaming WTRU. (5) Support for access permission for IDR WTRUs based on disaster condition related information (e.g., whether a particular WTRU is allowed to register due to disaster roaming) (e.g., the DRF can determine / check whether a disaster condition applies to WTRUs in a given area and / or can check / determine whether to limit the number of IDR WTRUs (e.g., based on a limit / threshold on the number of IDR WTRUs allowed). (6) The DRF may control (e.g., be responsible for) assigning identification information in connection with disaster management functions. For example, a particular disaster condition may be assigned a unique incident id (e.g., unique within the affected PLMN) by the DRF. The incident id may be used to correlate the start and / or end of a particular disaster condition for PLMN selection supporting IDR WTRUs. The same PLMN may be subject to one or more disaster conditions (e.g., in different regions), and the DRF may assign different incident ids accordingly (e.g., based on various affected areas). WTRUs performing inbound disaster roaming may be assigned an inbound roaming id when a disaster condition applies, which may be used to track the inbound roam for billing purposes (e.g., for updates / notifications regarding disaster conditions).

[0085] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a disaster response scenario 200, whereby the DRF may enable notification of the WTRU and roaming partners of the onset of a disaster condition and authorization for the WTRU to register in a PLMN that is free of disaster conditions (e.g., not itself experiencing a disaster condition, to inform the WTRU of the onset of a disaster condition in another PLMN and / or to select and register the WTRU in such a PLMN that is free of disaster conditions).

[0086] 2, the first PLMN 205D (e.g., PLMN#1 and / or source PLMN) may have, use, be served by, and / or be associated with the first DRF 210D, the first AMF 182D, and / or the first Next Generation (NG) Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) 220D. The second PLMN 205A (e.g., PLMN#2 and / or target PLMN) may have, use, be served by, and / or be associated with the second DRF 210A, the second AMF 182A, and / or the second NG-RAN 220A. The first PLMN 205D may be determined to be experiencing or having a disaster condition, and the second PLMN 205A (e.g., PLMN#2) may be determined to be not experiencing or having a disaster condition. The first DRF 210D may be, for example, a DRF associated with a source PLMN 205D that provides service to the WTRU 102. The second DRF 210A may be, for example, a DRF associated with a target PLMN 205A that may then provide service to the WTRU 102.

[0087] The disaster detection system / entity 230 may transmit information indicating a disaster onset event associated with the first PLMN 205D and an area / location of the first PLMN 205D associated with the event to the first DRF 210D in operation 2-0. In operation 2-1a, the first DRF 210D may communicate with the second DRF 210A (e.g., at least one DRF) to provide the information indicating the disaster onset event, including, for example, an incident identifier and / or an area / location associated with the event. In operation 2-1b, the first DRF 210D may communicate with the first AMF 182D to provide the information indicating the disaster onset event, including, for example, an incident identifier and / or an area / location associated with the event.

[0088] In operation 2-2a, the target DRF 210A may transmit information indicating a disaster onset event associated with the first PLMN 205D, including an area / location of the first PLMN 205D associated with the event, an incident identifier associated with the disaster onset event, and / or a PLMN identifier associated with the first PLMN 205D (e.g., the PLMN experiencing / having the disaster condition) to the second AMF 182A. In operation 2-2b, the first AMF 182D may transmit information indicating paging and / or broadcasting the disaster condition including the incident identifier to the first NG-RAN 220D.

[0089] At operation 2-3a, the second AMF 182A may send information to the NG-RAN 220A indicating broadcasting disaster inbound roaming support including the incident identifier and / or the PLMN identifier associated with the first PLMN 205D. At operation 2-3b, the first NG-RAN 220D may initiate paging and / or broadcasting the disaster condition including the incident identifier and / or flag to the WTRU 102.

[0090] At operation 2-4a, the second NG-RAN 220A may begin broadcasting disaster inbound roaming support including an incident identifier and / or a PLMN identifier (e.g., a Mobile Country Code (MCC) and / or a Mobile Network Operator (MNC)) associated with the first PLMN 205D. At operation 2-4b, the first AMF 182D and the WTRU 102 may communicate information for registering the WTRU 102 with the first PLMN 205D. The information may indicate disaster recovery parameters including, for example, any of the following, among others: (1) one or more authorized PLMNs for disaster inbound roaming, (2) a disaster roaming registration time value (e.g., a registration timer value), (3) a DRF, a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), and / or (4) an incident identifier.

[0091] At operation 2-5a, the WTRU 102 may select the second PLMN 205A (e.g., as a target PLMN) based on an incident identifier associated with the disaster event. At operation 2-6, the WTRU 102 and the second AMF 182A may communicate. For example, the WTRU 102 may send registration information to the second AMF 182A to register the WTRU 102. The registration information may indicate, among other things, any of (1) a connection cause (e.g., disaster inbound roaming), (2) an access identification, and / or (3) an incident identifier. After or in response to the transmitted registration information, the second AMF 182A may send, among other things, any of (1) mobility restriction information regarding the disaster inbound access, (2) a reversion registration value (e.g., a reversion registration timer value), and / or (3) an inbound roam identifier to the WTRU 102.

[0092] In operation 2-6', the second DRF 210A and / or the second AMF 182A may invoke an inbound disaster roaming access authorization for the WTRU 102 and / or an AMF registration to the second DRF 210A. For example, the second DRF 210A and the second AMF 182A may communicate, and the second AMF 182A may send to the second DRF 210A, an authorization / registration message (e.g., a disaster roaming authorization / registration message) including information indicating any of (1) a WTRU ID, (2) an MCC and / or MNC, (3) a registration area, and / or (4) an incident identifier, among others. After or in response to the authorization / registration message, the second DRF 210A may send information indicating authorization / registration success or authorization / registration failure and the inbound roam identifier. In operation 2-7, the WTRU 102 and the first DRF 210D may communicate to re-register the WTRU 102 with the first PLMN 205D (e.g., after the disaster condition has ended). For example, the WTRU 102 may send an inbound roam registration message to the first DRF 210D indicating, among other things, any of: (1) a WTRU ID, (2) an inbound roam identifier, (3) an incident identifier, and / or (4) the location of the WTRU 102.

[0093] In certain representative embodiments, the AMF 182D may directly interact with a source DRF 210D (S-DRF) in a PLMN 205D (e.g., a Home PLMN (HPLMN)) having a disaster condition (e.g., in a shared RAN infrastructure having a common cell area). In some embodiments, the WTRU 102 may register with the DRF 210 via the user plane to receive direct notification / updates regarding the disaster condition (e.g., via a disaster condition end notification and / or an indication of when to reselect / re-register with the PLMN 205A that was in the disaster condition, among others). For a WTRU 102 that may not have a user plane (user plane connection), the WTRU 102 may be able to register with the DRF 210 using a Control Plane (CP) PDU session. For example, the DRF 210 may send one or more instructions and / or information to the WTRU 102 via a CP PDU session. In a particular representative embodiment, the WTRU 102 may interact with the DRF 210 over the control plane (CP) using NAS signaling carrying a disaster management message container. In a particular representative embodiment, the WTRU 102 may receive a list of PLMNs, such as 205D and 205A, authorized for inbound disaster roaming (IDR) to be used when a disaster condition occurs. The WTRU 102 may receive the IDR ID during the procedure to enable IDR PLMN selection when performing inbound disaster roaming. The WTRU 102 may receive this information during registration or WTRU configuration procedures (with PLMN#1 in FIG. 2). The first PLMN 205D (e.g., PLMN#1) may periodically generate a new IDR ID for the registered WTRU 102 and the IDR PLMN partner. An IDR PLM partner can associate an IDR ID with a PLMN#1 ID (eg, a Mobile Country Code (MCC) and / or a Mobile Network Operator (MNC)).The IDR ID may be used as a pseudonym for the PLMN ID to maintain confidentiality of that PLMN 205A when experiencing a disaster condition (e.g., the IDR ID may be associated with one or more incident ids that track a particular incident as shown in FIG. 2). For example, if the WTRU 102 detects a disaster condition in the first PLMN 205D (e.g., PLMN#1 in FIG. 2) (e.g., from an indication in a broadcast or paging message, or by detecting the absence of the first PLMN cell, or due to an abnormal deregistration from the first PLMN 205D), the WTRU 102 may initiate a PLMN selection procedure using the above list of PLMNs 205 authorized for inbound disaster roaming and may select a cell (e.g., in the second PLMN 205A (e.g., PLMN#2 in FIG. 2)) on the condition that such a cell broadcasts a matching IDR ID.

[0094] FIG. 3 illustrates a disaster response scenario 300 in which the DRF enables notification of the WTRU and roaming partners about the end of a disaster condition (e.g., to notify the WTRU of the end of the disaster condition and / or to return to a PLMN previously with the disaster condition).

[0095] 3, the first PLMN 205D (e.g., PLMN#1) may have, use, be served by, and / or be associated with the first DRF 210D, the first AMF 182D, and / or the first Next Generation (NG) Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) 220D. The second PLMN 205A (e.g., PLMN#2) may have, use, be served by, and / or be associated with the second DRF 210A, the second AMF 182A, and / or the second NG-RAN 220A. The first PLMN 205D may have (1) previously experienced a disaster condition, or (2) been determined to have previously experienced (e.g., is currently finished with) a disaster condition. The second PLMN 205A (e.g., PLMN#2) may (1) not be experiencing the disaster condition, (2) not previously experiencing it, (3) determined not to be experiencing it yet, and / or (4) determined not to be experiencing it previously. The first DRF 210D may be, for example, a DRF associated with the first PLMN 205D that previously served the WTRU 102 before the disaster condition. The second DRF 210A may be, for example, a DRF associated with the second PLMN 205A that may subsequently be serving the WTRU 102 after the disaster condition has ended. A procedure may be used to re-register the WTRU 102 with the first PLMN 205D after the disaster condition has ended in the first PLMN 205D.

[0096] The disaster detection system / entity 230 may transmit information indicating a disaster termination event associated with the first PLMN 205D and an area / location of the first PLMN 205D associated with the event to the first DRF 210D in operation 3-0. In operation 3-1a, the first DRF 210D may communicate with the first AMF 182D to provide information indicating the disaster termination event including, for example, an incident identifier and / or an area / location associated with the event. In operation 3-1b, the first DRF 210D may communicate with the second DRF 210A (e.g., at least one DRF) to provide information indicating the disaster termination event including, for example, an incident identifier and / or an area / location associated with the event.

[0097] In operation 3-2a, the first AMF 182D may transmit information to the first NG-RAN 220D indicating to stop paging and / or broadcasting of the disaster condition including the incident identifier. In operation 3-2b, the target DRF 210A may transmit information to the second AMF 182A indicating the disaster termination event associated with the first PLMN 205D including an area / location of the first PLMN 205D associated with the event and / or an incident identifier associated with the disaster termination event. For example, this information may be indicated (1) per area / location and / or (2) per WTRU (e.g., with or without rate limiting, e.g., to reduce congestion of WTRUs 102 transitioning back to the first PLMN 205D).

[0098] At operation 3-3a, the first NG-RAN 220D may stop paging and / or stop broadcasting information indicating the disaster condition to the WTRU 102. At operation 3-3b, the second AMF 182A may send information to the NG-RAN 220A indicating to stop broadcasting the disaster inbound roaming support including an incident identifier of the disaster end event.

[0099] At operation 3-4b, the second NG-RAN 220A may stop broadcasting the information indicating disaster inbound roaming support. At operation 3-5, the second AMF 182A and the WTRU 102 may communicate information to deregister the WTRU 102 from the second PLMN 205A. The deregistration information from the second AMF 182A may indicate a disconnect cause (e.g., disaster termination). At operation 3-5', a procedure for the second AMF 182A to be deregistered from the second DRF 210A may be invoked, and the inbound roaming registration of the WTRU 102 to the second PLMN 205A may be terminated. For example, in operation 3-5', a disaster inbound roaming deregistration procedure may be completed, and the second AMF 182A may send information indicating, among other things, any of (1) the AMF ID, (2) the WTRU id (e.g., SUPI and / or MCC / MNC), and / or (3) the registration area to the second DRF 210A. The second DRF 210A may send information indicating successful deregistration.

[0100] At operation 3-6, the first DRF 210D may send notification information to the WTRU 102 indicating the end of the inbound roma disaster and may include an incident identifier and / or a reversion time value (e.g., a reversion timer value). At operation 3-7, the WTRU 102 may reselect the first PLMN 205D if the PLMN does not have an incident id associated with the ongoing disaster (e.g., the current disaster condition). At operation 3-8, the first AMF 182D and the WTRU 102 may communicate information to register (e.g., re-register) the WTRU 102 back to the first PLMN 205D. The timing of the registration may be based on the reversion time value.

[0101] In certain representative embodiments, the AMF may directly interact with the S-DRF in the PLMN that was previously in the disaster condition, rather than with a target DRF (T-DRF). In some embodiments, the WTRU may receive direct notification from the DRF over the user plane regarding the disaster condition (e.g., via a disaster condition end notification and / or an indication of when to reselect / re-register with the PLMN that was in the disaster condition, among others). The WTRU may be deregistered by the AMF from PLMNs without the disaster condition indicating (1) the end of the disaster condition and / or (2) parameters for controlling when the WTRU can register back to the PLMN that was in the disaster condition.

[0102] In both scenarios illustrated by Figures 2 and 3, upon registering its HPLMN (e.g., PLMN1), the WTRU may receive an indication from the AMF in a registration accept message that informs the WTRU that the WTRU can or needs to establish a user plane connection with the DRF. The registration accept message may include information for connecting to the DRF (e.g., IP address, FQDN, DRF name, and / or DNN, among others). The information may be included or contained in a policy container in the registration accept message. The WTRU may receive the indication to connect to the DRF and the corresponding DRF information before or after registration, for example, via a WTRU Configuration Update (WCU) procedure initiated by the network (e.g., a network entity or network function).

[0103] Typical Procedure for Notification of Disaster Conditions to the WTRU In a particular representative procedure, paging may be used to inform the WTRU of a disaster condition. In a particular embodiment, during the registration procedure, the network (e.g., the AMF in a 5G standalone system) may inform the WTRU of an identifier (e.g., a "special ID") that the network (NW) may use in a paging message when paging the WTRU. To protect against attackers, the network may provide the WTRU with a "string" (e.g., a code) that may be used locally by the WTRU together with the broadcast ID and a known algorithm, which may result in a persistent ID (e.g., SUPI / IMEI) for the WTRU. Another way to protect against attackers may be for the network to provide the WTRU with a set of multiple special IDs / numbers (rather than just one). Using this procedure, the network may use any of these IDs / numbers in the paging message, and if the WTRU detects a match between the ID / number used in the paging message and any one of the IDs / numbers received from the NW during the registration procedure, the WTRU may interpret the paging message as indicating a disaster condition. After one of the members of the ID / number set has been used, the WTRU may discard the ID / number and may treat receiving such number again in a paging message (e.g., a subsequent paging message) as an exception (e.g., discard the exception, report the exception, and / or store the exception for further reporting). To make the above idea practical, the NW may transmit (e.g., must transmit) this same ID across all paging occasions for a period (e.g., a long time interval) long enough to ensure that WTRUs (e.g., all WTRUs) in the area can receive and determine the ID and therefore determine that a disaster condition applies.

[0104] In another embodiment, cell broadcast and / or MBMS may be used to inform the WTRU of the disaster condition.

[0105] In the registration acceptance, the NW may inform the WTRU of a list or range of PLMNs on which the WTRU may attempt to register if disaster conditions apply. The list may be provided / sent / distributed in priority order. The information may be received after registration via the WCU procedure.

[0106] Based on the type and / or capabilities of the WTRU (e.g., normal or smartphone vs. Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) device), the NW may provide one or more different PLMN lists and other registration information such as an NSSAI (e.g., different NSSAIs for different types of WTRUs).

[0107] Representative Procedure for Providing an Indication of Accessibility to a WTRU from Other PLMNs Without Disaster Conditions The indication of support may be broadcast by a RAN in a target PLMN when the WTRU selects that PLMN. For example, a RAN in a PLMN that is not associated with the disaster condition may indicate, for example, via a broadcast message and / or system information, the RAN and / or accessibility of that PLMN to the WTRU.

[0108] Representative Procedure for Registration to a Roaming PLMN Without Disaster Conditions When a WTRU registers with a new PLMN, the WTRU may provide an indication that the inbound roaming registration is due to a "disaster condition" along with any of a Globally Unique AMF ID (GUAMI), a Serving Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-TMSI), and / or an NSSAI. Using this information, the RAN may select a specific AMF (e.g., a special AMF) designated by the operator. To spread the inbound roaming (e.g., IDR WTRUs), the RAN node may be configured by the operator to select different AMF entities. The determination / selection of a specific AMF entity may be based on the geographic area of ​​the IDR WTRU and / or one or more priorities of the AMF / IDR WTRU.

[0109] The WTRU may indicate to the new AMF that the WTRU is an inbound Rome due to a "disaster" (e.g., the inbound Rome is an IDR WTRU). The AMF may perform authentication (e.g., trigger an authentication procedure), but this type of WTRU (e.g., an IDR WTRU) may be automatically authorized to stay here. For example, the AMF may permit / authorize the WTRU to obtain service here based on the WTRU being an inbound disaster Rome WTRU, even if authentication fails.

[0110] Upon or after registration of the IDR WTRU, the IDR WTRU may be provided with a signed voucher for acceptance in the "other PLMN" via a secure channel (e.g., NAS). This voucher may include or contain, for example, among others, any of the following: (1) WTRU identity, (2) PLMN identity, (3) maximum duration of service with the "other PLMN", and / or (4) service that may be paid for in the future by the original PLMN. The WTRU may send / forward the voucher on behalf of the SUPI (1) upon registration with the "other PLMN" and / or (2) after the initial registration is rejected and the roaming NW resolves it using a predefined "disaster recovery" agreement with the PLMN affected by the disaster or by looking at the data in the voucher. It is contemplated that a new interface between the "disaster recovery" entities in the PLMN (e.g., either PLMN) may be used / required for up-to-date notification of the "other PLMN".

[0111] For example, if the new PLMN is unable to perform authentication because it is unable to obtain an authentication vector from the WTRU's HPLMN (e.g., because the UDM is unreachable), any of the following procedures may be implemented, including: (1) Upon or after receiving the registration request, the new NW / PLMN may send a message to the WTRU indicating that the NW is unable to obtain an authentication vector for the WTRU (e.g., by defining a new cause code in the registration reject message sent by the NW to the WTRU). The WTRU may provide the voucher / token that the WTRU received from the HPLMN in a new registration accept message. Receipt of this "voucher / token" may imply / indicate that the WTRU is authorized to register with the new NW, and / or (2) The WTRU may be configured by the HPLMN with one or more algorithms that the WTRU may use in case of registration to another PLMN, for example after a disaster condition applies in the HPLMN. For example, the HPLMN may have agreements with several operators in a country and may have made the operators aware of one or more algorithms. During registration, the HPLMN may provide the WTRU with one or several of these algorithms (e.g., the NW may send an indication of the appropriate algorithm (e.g., algorithm number / algorithm identifier along with a random string). When the WTRU initiates registration to a new PLMN, the WTRU may provide its persistent ID (IMSI / SUPI), an indication (e.g., algorithm number), and the random string. The new NW may perform / determine a new AKA procedure using a newly defined authentication message based on the selected / determined / elected algorithm, the persistent ID of the WTRU, and the random string. The output of this process may be, among others, the RES and keys for integrity and encryption.

[0112] Representative Procedure for Inbound Roam Registration in a PLMN (e.g., without Disaster Conditions with Disaster Roaming Allowed in a HPLMN) A DRF may be deployed in a PLMN (eg, PLMN D) (having a disaster condition), another PLMN (eg, PLMN A) (eg, accepting inbound roaming from PLMN D), and the WTRU's HPLMN.

[0113] When registering with PLMN D, the WTRU may receive a "temporary" unique disaster response incident ID (DRID) and / or disaster response configuration parameters including a list of PLMNs authorized to accept inbound roams from PLMN D. When the WTRU is notified of a disaster condition in PLMN D, the WTRU may select another PLMN A based on embodiments described herein. The WTRU registers with PLMN A indicating that the registration is for disaster inbound roaming. The WTRU includes in the registration request message the disaster response parameters, which may include the DRID and / or ID of PLMN D. If the registration is successful, the WTRU may receive parameters from PLMN A related to the disaster response (e.g., mobility restriction parameters while using PLMN A and / or timers (e.g., values ​​and / or expiration periods, among others) for re-registration with PLMN D when the disaster condition ends).

[0114] When PLMN D determines that a disaster condition exists (e.g., encounters a disaster condition), the DRF associated with PLMN D may notify one or more DRFs associated with (e.g., used by) PLMN A and / or the HPLMN about the disaster condition including the DRID, for example, if PLMN D is different from the HPLMN. If PLMN D is different from the HPLMN, the DRF of the HPLMN may be provided by PLMN D with a list of one or more PLMNs authorized for disaster inbound routes. It is contemplated that the disaster information of the DRF associated with PLMN D may be obtained from the MNO's Network Management System (NMS) or any other disaster detection and response system. The DRF may be a service provided by the UDM.

[0115] FIG. 4 illustrates a procedure 400 for registration to a roaming PLMN without a disaster condition in the case of a disaster condition (e.g., the roaming PLMN is not an HPLMN, the roaming PLMN has no current disaster condition, and the roaming PLMN determines that another PLMN has a disaster condition associated with the other PLMN).

[0116] Referring to FIG. 4, the registration procedure 400 may include any of the following operations: (1) In actions 4-0a and 4-0b, the WTRU 102 may be configured with a DRID (e.g., a unique temporary DRID) when the WTRU 102 registers with PLMN D. The configuration information may be received during registration (e.g., using a registration accept message) or during a WTRU configuration update procedure. The WTRU 102 may receive other disaster response parameters, such as a list of authorized PLMNs for inbound roaming (e.g., when a disaster condition occurs, the DRF of PLMN D may notify the DRF of PLMN A about the disaster (e.g., disaster condition) and may provide a DRID and / or other disaster condition information (e.g., one or more affected areas). The DRF of PLMN D may notify the HPLMN to provide the same information and / or a list of PLMNs (e.g., PLMN A) authorized for inbound roaming. When the WTRU detects that a disaster condition has occurred, the WTRU may be notified that PLMN A is accepting inbound roaming based on the ID and DRID of PLMN A, e.g., the broadcast PLMN ID of PLMN A may be part of a list of PLMNs authorized to provide disaster inbound roaming service and the DRID broadcast by PLMN A may match the DRID configured in the WTRU. The DRID may be the PLMN ID of the PLMN A that is authorized to provide disaster inbound roaming service. The DRID may be broadcast by selected cells of PLMN A to restrict disaster inbound roaming access to those cells (e.g., used in an access control mechanism). The WTRU may perform cell selection based on the DRID, e.g., the WTRU may camp on a cell if the DRID broadcasted by the cell matches the DRID configured in the WTRU. The DRID may be a random number and / or may include PLMN D information (e.g., Mobile Country Code (MCC)+Mobile Network Code (MNC)). The WTRU may select PLMN A based on a configured list of PLMNs authorized for inbound roaming. (2) In operation 4-1, the WTRU 102 may send a registration request message indicating that this is for a disaster inbound roaming registration, and may include the WTRU 102's Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI), the DRID of the PLMN D, and / or the PLMM ID (e.g., MCC and MNC) (e.g., the WTRU 102 may send an encrypted DRID calculated and / or generated using the HPLMN 420's public key, the same protection scheme, and / or the method used to encrypt the Subscription Persistent Identifier (SUPI) into the SUCI. The WTRU 102 may omit the DRID in the request message. The NG-RAN may provide the AMF 182 with the DRIDs supported (e.g., by the cell) when sending the request message from the WTRU 102 to the AMF 182. (3) In action 4-2, the AMF 182 may send an authentication request to an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 430 in the HPLMN 420 and may forward the parameters from action 4-1 along with the PLMN ID of PLMN A 410. (4) In operation 4-3, the AUSF 430 may send an authentication request including the above to the UDM 440. (5) In operation 4-4, UDM 440 may use a Subscription Identifier De-concealing Function (SIDF) according to existing de-encryption procedures to perform de-encryption of the SUCI to SUPI using the HPLMN private key (e.g., if the received DRID is encrypted, UDM / SIDF 440 may use the same procedures to perform de-encryption of the encrypted DRID). (6) In operation 4-5, the UDM 440 may send a request to the DRF including the DRID and the ID of the PLMN (e.g., PLMN A, PLMN D). The UDM 440 may omit the DRID that is not provided by the WTRU 102. (7) In operation 4-6, the DRF 450 can retrieve the disaster response information identified by the DRID and / or PLMN ID or PLMN D, and can verify that the PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) is part of the list of authorized PLMNs for inbound roaming. (8) In operations 4-7, the DRF 450 may send a response to the UDM 440 with a result (e.g., success / failure) indicating whether the WTRU 102 is authorized to perform inbound roaming in a PLMN (e.g., PLMN A) from another PLMN (e.g., PLMN D). The DRF 450 may include a list of applicable / allowed DRIDs for PLMN D in the response message. (9) In operation 4-8, if the DRF 450 sends a successful result, the UDM 440 may send the authentication vector and SUPI to the AUSF 430 according to existing authentication procedures (e.g., the UDM 440 may reject the authentication request otherwise). (10) In operations 4-9 through 4-18, if the UDM / DRF verification is successful, an authentication procedure for the WTRU 102 may be performed between the WTRU 102, the AMF 182, and / or the AUSF 430 according to existing authentication procedures (e.g., the AUSF 430 may provide the AMF 182 with a SUPI and, if applicable, an unencrypted DRID). The UDM 440 may send a response below, thereby indicating a 5G AKA authentication procedure (alternatively, an EAP-AKA' procedure may be used). (11) In action 4-9, the AUSF 430 * (expected response * , XRES * ) may be temporarily stored together with the received SUCI or SUPI. (12) In step 4-10, the AUSF 430 uses XRES * From HXRES * ,K AUSF From K SEAF Calculate / determine XRES in 5G HEAV* HXRES * Replace with K AUSF K SEAF By replacing it with, an authentication vector (AV) (e.g., 5G AV) can be generated from a home environment (HE) AV (e.g., 5G HE AV) received from the UDM / Authentication credential Repository and Processing Function (ARPF). (13) In operation 4-11, AUSF 430 is SEAF (RAND, Authentication Token (AUTN), and / or HXRES * Based on the received UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response, the Serving Environment (SE) AV (e.g., 5G SE AV) may be returned to the AMF / SEAF 182 in the Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response. (14) In operation 4-12, the AMF / SEAF 182 may send the RAND and / or AUTN to the WTRU 102 in a NAS message Authentication Request (e.g., this message may include AMFThe NAS message may include an ngKSI that may be used by the WTRU 102 and / or the AMF 182 to identify the AUTN and a partial native security context that may be created if authentication is successful. This message may include an Anti-Bidding down Between Architecture (ABBA) parameter. The AMF / SEAF 182 may set the ABBA parameter. The WTRU / mobile equipment (ME) may forward the RAND and AUTN received in the NAS message Authentication Request to the UMTS Subscriber Identify Module (USIM). The ABBA parameter may be included to enable bidding down protection. (15) In operation 4-13, upon receipt of the RAND and AUTN, the USIM may verify the 5G AV freshness, for example, by checking whether the AUTN can be accepted. (As an example, if the AUTN can be accepted, the USIM may determine / calculate a response RES. The USIM may return the RES, the first key (e.g., CK), and / or the second key (e.g., IK) to the ME. If the USIM calculates / determines a Kc (e.g., GPRS Kc) from the first key (e.g., CK) and the second key (e.g., IK) using conversion function c3 and sends it to the ME, the ME may ignore the GPRS Kc and not store the GPRS Kc on the USIM or within the ME. The ME may calculate / determine the RES from the RES, and / or the second key (e.g., IK) using conversion function c3. * ME can calculate / determine K from CK||IK. AUSF ME can calculate / determine K AUSF From K SEAF The ME accessing 5G can check during authentication that the "separate bit" in the AMF field of the AUTN is set to 1. The "separate bit" is bit 0 of the AMF field of the AUTN. For example, the separate bit in the AMF field of the AUTN may no longer be used for operator-specific purposes. (16) In operation 4-14, the WTRU 102 sends the RES * can be reinstated into AMF / SEAF. (17) In operation 4-15, AMF / SEAF 182 is * From HRES * AMF / SEAF 182 can calculate / determine HRES * and HXRES * (e.g., HRES * and HXRES * If the RES matches, the AMF / SEAF can determine / consider the authentication successful from the serving network's point of view. * and HXRES * If the AMF / SEAF 182 does not match, the WTRU 102 may not be reached and the RES * is never received by the AMF / SEAF 182, the AMF / SEAF 182 may assume / determine that the authentication has failed and may indicate the failure to the AUSF 430. (18) In operation 4-16, the AMF / SEAF 182 transmits the RES received from the WTRU 102 in the Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Request message. * can be sent to AUSF 430. (19) In operation 4-17, the AUSF 430 sends the RES * Upon receiving the Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Request message including the AV, the AUSF 430 may verify whether the AV has expired (e.g., if the AV has expired, the AUSF 430 may consider / determine that the authentication has failed from the home network's perspective). If the authentication is successful, the AUSF 430 may AUSF The AUSF 430 can store the received RES * XRES stored * RES * and XRES* If they are equal, the AUSF 430 may consider / determine that the authentication is successful from the home network's perspective. The AUSF 430 may notify the UDM 440 about the authentication result (e.g., to link with the authentication confirmation). (20) In operation 4-18, the AUSF 430 may indicate to the AMF / SEAF 182 in a Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response whether the authentication was successful from the home network's point of view (e.g., if authentication was successful, K SEAF The AUSF 430 may send the SUCI to the AMF / SEAF 182 in the AU_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response. If the AUSF 182 receives the SUCI from the AMF / SEAF 182 in the authentication request, and if the authentication is successful, the AUSF 430 may include the SUPI in the Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response message. If the authentication is successful, the AUSF 430 may include the key K received in the Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response message. SEAF AMF / SEAF 182 defines K as an anchor key (e.g., in a key hierarchy). SEAF , ABBA parameters, and / or SUPI to K AMF AMF / SEAF 182 can derive ngKSI and K AMF If a SUCI is used for this authentication, the AMF / SEAF 182 can provide the ngKSI and KSI to the AMF 182 after the AMF 182 receives a Nausf_UEAuthentication_Authenticate Response message that contains / includes a SUPI. AMF may be provided (eg, only provided) to the AMF 182. In a particular embodiment, communication services may not be provided to the WTRU 102 until the SUPI is known to the serving network. (21) In operation 4-19, upon successful registration or thereafter, the WTRU 102 may receive disaster response parameters used while registered with PLMN A, and upon the disaster condition ending as described herein, the AMF / SEAF 182 may retrieve disaster response information, such as disaster affected area, from the DRF (e.g., locally and / or in the HPLMN / via UDM) to derive disaster response parameters (e.g., mobility restrictions during inbound roaming). In another representative embodiment, the AMF 182 may request a list of allowed / applicable DRIDs for PLMN A / PLMN D from the UDM 440 / DRF 450 after successful authentication of the WTRU 102 (e.g., if the AMF 182 does not receive a DRID from the WTRU 102 and / or AUSF 430 during authentication). In that case, the AMF 182 may send a request to the UDM 440 providing a SUPI, which is the PLMN ID of PLMN D / PLMN A. The UDM 440 may request the DRF 450, as described above, and may send a list of permitted / applicable DRIDs in a response message to the AMF 182. The AMF 182 may compare the NG-RAN supported DRIDs (e.g., as shown herein above) received with the initial message from the WTRU 102 with the permitted / applicable DRIDs received from the UDM 440 / DRF 450. The AMF 182 may accept the WTRU registration request if one or more of the NG-RAN supported DRIDs are part of the permitted / applicable DRIDs. The AMF 182 may reject the WTRU request providing a cause indicating that disaster inbound roaming is not authorized.

[0117] Exemplary Procedures for Extensions to a DRID-Based Implementation to Support Disaster Roaming for WTRUs that are not registered with a PLMN (e.g., PLLM D) or are in the vicinity of a disaster-affected area In some embodiments, the WTRU may not be registered with PLMN D (which has or has a disaster condition) or may not be registered in the vicinity of the disaster affected area. For example, the WTRU may not be registered with a PLMN (e.g., PLMN D having a disaster condition) when the WTRU is powered on in a disaster affected area or when the WTRU's registration with the PLMN (e.g., PLMN D) does not complete successfully (e.g., due to a disaster condition failure).

[0118] An exemplary procedure for a WTRU may use one or more area-level DRIDs from a PLMN (e.g., PLMN D) for disaster roaming registration in another PLMN (e.g., PLMN A). The WTRU may receive one or more allowed area-level DRIDs when registering with PLMN D (e.g., a PLMN that is to have a disaster condition before / before the disaster condition). The DRID may be composed of or may include a PLMN identifier (PLMN ID) (e.g., a Mobile Country Code (MCC)+Mobile Network Operator (MNC) (MCC+MNC)), an Area identifier (AID), and / or a Disaster Recovery Code (DRC). The DRID may be a concatenation of the PLNM ID, AID, and DRC (e.g., DRID=PLMN ID+AID+DRC) or may be derived from the PLMN ID, AID, and DRC. The AID may identify a geographic area that maps to a portion of the RAN coverage area of ​​PLMN D (e.g., an NG-RAN coverage area of ​​the NR-RAN PLMN D, e.g., one or more NG-RAN nodes, and / or one or more tracking areas (TAs)). The WTRU may be informed by PLMN D to perform a PLMN search with one or more DRIDs (e.g., during handover or while the WTRU is moving towards a known disaster affected area based on mobility patterns). The WTRU may receive an explicit instruction from the AMF of PLMN D to initiate a cell search with and / or using one or more DRIDs. The WTRU may select PLMN A based on a matching DRID or a portion (e.g., DRC) of the DRID broadcasted by PLMN A matching one or more allowed DRIDs. The WTRU may register for inbound roaming with PLMN A that provides a matching protected DRID to be authorized for inbound roaming by the HPLMN as described herein.

[0119] An exemplary procedure for the WTRU may use the region-level and / or PLMN-level DRID from the HPLMN for disaster roaming registration in PLMN A. The WTRU may be configured (by the HPLMN) with one or more allowed area-level DRIDs and / or allowed PLMN-level DRIDs associated with a given PLMN (e.g., PLMN D as the WTRU's HPLMN). The PLMN-level DRID may have a configuration that may be similar to the area-specific DRID, except that the AID may identify a geographic area that maps the entire PLMN. The area-level DRID may have a configuration that is similar to the area-specific DRID, except that the AID may identify a geographic area that maps a portion (e.g., a wider area) of the PLMN's coverage (e.g., a city, state, and / or province). The WTRU may select PLMN A based on a match (e.g., match with MCC+DRC) with a DRID or a portion of a DRID broadcasted by PLMN A with an allowed area-level or PLMN-level DRID. The WTRU may register with PLMN A for inbound roaming and provide a protected area-level or PLMN-level DRID authorized for inbound roaming by the HPLMN, as described herein.

[0120] Typical network behavior FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary procedure for using one or more DRIDs for disaster roaming.

[0121] 5, multiple PLMNs (e.g., a first PLMN 205D that may experience a disaster condition and a second PLMN 205A that may not experience a disaster condition) may have overlaid tracking areas (TAs), cells, and / or gNBs 180. For example, the first PLMN 205D may include a first gNB 180-D1 having a first corresponding TA (e.g., TA-D1), a second gNB 180-D2 having a second corresponding TA (e.g., TA-D2), and a third gNB 180-D3 having a third corresponding TA (e.g., TA-D3). The second PLMN 205A may include a fourth gNB 180-A1 having a fourth corresponding TA (e.g., TA-A1), and a fifth gNB 180-A2 having a fifth corresponding TA (e.g., TA-A2). The TA of the first PLMN 205D may be offset from the TA of the second PLMN 205A and / or may have a larger or smaller coverage area / TA. For example, a fourth TA TA-A1 associated with the fourth gNB-A1 180-A1 may partially overlap with a first TA TA-D1 associated with the first gNB-D1 180-D1 and may partially overlap with a second TA TA-D2 associated with the second gNB-D2 180-D2. A fifth TA TA-A2 associated with the fifth gNB-A2 180-A2 may partially overlap with a second TA-D2 associated with the second gNB-D2.

[0122] Control / broadcast signaling for the first PLMN 205D may be provided to the first, second, and / or third gNBs 180-D1, 180-D2, and / or 180-D3 by the D-AMF 182D. Control / broadcast signaling for the second PLMN 205A may be provided to the fourth and / or fifth gNBs 180-A1 and / or 180-A2 by the A-AMF 182A.

[0123] WTRU1 102-1 may be located within multiple coverage areas / TAs associated with the first PLMN 205D and the second PLMN 205A. For example, WTRU1 102-1 may be located in a first TA TA-D1 and a fourth TA TA-A1 for possible communication via a first gNB 180-D1 and / or a fourth gNB 180-A1. WTRU1 102-1 may be configured with the first PLMN 205D.

[0124] The fourth gNB-A1 may provide disaster roaming services in areas D1 and D2 of PLMN 205D and may broadcast a DRID or a portion of the DRID for these areas (e.g., by broadcasting a code, e.g., a first code (e.g., code 1) and a second code (e.g., code 2)). The fifth gNB 180-A2 may provide disaster roaming services in area D2 of PLMN 205D (e.g., only area D2) and may broadcast for that area (e.g., only the second code (e.g., code 2)).

[0125] WTRU1 102-1 may be configured with either (1) a TAI list that includes information indicating, for example, TA-D1 and / or TA-D2, and / or (2) a DRID list that includes information indicating, for example, DRID1 and / or DRID2. WTRU1 102-1 may detect that the second PLMN 205A provides disaster roaming services by matching DRID1 or DRID2 (e.g., code1 or code2) broadcasted via gNBs 180-A1 and / or 180-A2 of PLMN 205A with a DRID from the configured DRID list.

[0126] As another example, the second WTRU2 102-2 may be located within a coverage area / TA associated with the first PLMN 205D. For example, the second WTRU2 102-2 may be in a third TA (e.g., TA-D3) for communication via a third gNB (e.g., 180-D3). The second WTRU2 102-2 may be configured from the first PLMN 205D. The second WTRU 102-2 may be outside the disaster area / zone and may be configured with either (1) a TAI list that includes information indicating, for example, TA-D2 and / or TA-D3, and / or (2) a DRID list that includes information indicating, for example, DRID1 and / or DRID2. When the second WTRU2 102-2 moves toward a disaster area / zone (e.g., TA-D2), it can detect that the second PLMN 205A provides disaster roaming services by matching the DRID2 (e.g., code 2) broadcasted via the gNBs 180-A1 and / or 180-A2 of the PLMN 205A with a DRID from the configured DRID list.

[0127] In certain representative embodiments, the DRID information may include any combination of (1) an identifier of the PLMN 205, (2) area information (e.g., Area 1 and / or Area 2), and / or (3) code information (e.g., a code such as Code 1). For example, DRID1 may be a combination of (1) an identifier of the first PLMN 205D, (2) an area identifier (e.g., Area 1), and (3) a code (e.g., Code 1). As a second example, DRID2 may be a combination of an identifier of the first PLMN 205D, an area identifier (e.g., Area 2), and a code (e.g., Code 2). Area 1 may be mapped to a first gNB 108-D1, and Area 2 may be mapped to a second and third gNB 180-D2 and 180-D3.

[0128] For example, prior to the occurrence of a disaster condition, e.g., when WTRU1 102-1 registers with PLMN D 205D, the AMF 182D may provide one or more authorized DRIDs to the WTRU 102-1 (e.g., provide information indicative of the one or more authorized DRIDs) based on any of (1) the mobility pattern of the WTRU 102, (2) the allocated TAI list, or (3) the size of the area tracked by the DRID, etc., and may register the one or more authorized DRIDs with the UDM 440 / DRF 450. The AMF 182D may update the WTRU 102 and / or the UDM 440 / DRF 450 with the information indicative of the one or more authorized DRIDs based on the WTRU mobility. It is contemplated that the area identified by the DRID is large enough (e.g., covering one or more tracking areas) to avoid frequent updates of the DRID by the AMF 182D.

[0129] When a disaster condition occurs, PLMN D 205D (e.g., UDM 440 / DRF 450 associated with PLMN D 205D) may provide information about the affected area (e.g., area level DRID (e.g., area specific DRID) / region level DRID / PLMN level DRID or part of DRID) such as DRC, and / or geographic coordinates) to PLMN A 205A (e.g., UDM / DRF associated with PLMN A 205A). PLMN A 205A may indicate that it may provide disaster roaming services for PLMN D 205D by broadcasting any applicable DRID (e.g., area level / region level / PLMN level DRID). The AMF 182A in or associated with PLMN A 205A can obtain disaster information from the DRF of PLMN A 205A (e.g., in the form of one or more mapped tracking areas in PLMN A 205A) and can configure one or more applicable RAN nodes with supported DRIDs accordingly. PLMN D 205D can provide information about the affected area (e.g., area level DRID (e.g., area specific DRID) / region level DRID / PLMN level DRID or part of DRID) to the HPLMN.

[0130] When the WTRU 102 registers with PLMN A 205A for disaster roaming, the AMF 182A may forward the DRID received from the WTRU 102 to the HPLMN as described herein. The AMF 182A may provide (e.g., additionally provide) the supported area-level DRID or a portion thereof (e.g., DRC) according to the RAN node configuration described above. This information may be used to assist the UDM / DRF in identifying the current area-level DRID if or when it is not available from the WTRU 102. The UDM / DRF may authorize the WTRU 102 authentication to proceed in PLMN A 205A based on any of: (1) one or more received DRIDs, (2) previous registration information from PLMN D 205D (e.g., authorized DRIDs for the WTRU 102), (3) applicable disaster condition information obtained from PLMN D 205D (e.g., disaster affected DRIDs), and / or (4) supported DRIDs / DRCs from PLMN A 205A. For example, if the WTRU 102 does not have a prior registration for the WTRU 102 in PLMN D 205D, the UDM / DRF may authorize the WTRU authentication if the WTRU 102 provides a region-level or PLMN-level DRID and there are one or more disaster affected areas for the region or PLMN. The UDM / DRF may use the supported DRID information from PLMN A 205A to determine and update the current area-level (e.g., area-specific DRID) / region-level DRID that the WTRU 102 has registered for from PLMN A 205A (e.g., the DRF may match a received DRC with a corresponding affected DRID). The AMF 182A in PLMN A 205A may update the UDM / DRF with the current area-level / region-level DRID (or a portion thereof, e.g., DRC) when the WTRU 102 moves across a disaster area under PLMN A coverage.

[0131] An exemplary procedure for determining the last location of a WTRU in a PLMN (eg, PLMN D) having a disaster, eg, having a disaster condition.

[0132] In some examples, the HPLMN (PLMN D) may match (e.g., easily match) the location of the WTRU based on where the WTRU is in PLMN A (e.g., currently in PLMN A) and the last known tracking area (TA) in which the WTRU was registered in PLMN D. When the WTRU registers with a network, the WTRU may receive a list of TAs and may perform (e.g., only perform) a mobility registration update when the WTRU enters a cell that belongs to a TA that is not in the list of TAs. As an example, it is contemplated that when the WTRU registers with / by the AMF of PLMN D, the WTRU is in a first TA (e.g., TA1), and the AMF may send a TA list that includes or consists of information indicating TA1, TA2, and TA3. Thus, the WTRU may not have performed a mobility registration update as long as the TA was in any of these three TAs (e.g., TA1, TA2, or TA3). Area granularity using / based on / with TA may be sufficient (e.g., may be deemed sufficient) for PLMN A and PLMN D to verify whether this particular WTRU was actually within the disaster area when the disaster occurred. There may be no need / use for the AMF of PLMN D to know "exactly" in which TA the WTRU was located before the disaster occurred. In certain representative embodiments, a more specific location of the WTRU may be determined by any of the following: (1) During the registration procedure, the WTRU and the AMF of PLMN D may negotiate the use of a NAS message (e.g., a special NAS message) to be communicated when the WTRU changes the TA indicated in the TA list (this can be done by the WTRU sending information indicating one or more WTRU MINT capabilities in the registration request message and the AMF informing the WTRU that it is authorized and / or configured to send a special NAS message when the WTRU crosses a boundary between TAs indicated in the TA list. The special NAS message may be and / or include a service request having a specific service type (e.g., a new service type) that may notify the network (NW) that the service request procedure informs (e.g., only informs) the NW of the WTRU's location (e.g., not one or more legacy procedures such as MO data / signaling and / or response to paging). For example, to expedite signaling and save resources, the WTRU and the NW may release the signaling connection as soon as the service request procedure is finished / completed). (2) As an alternative to sending a service request message, the WTRU may use a new NAS message that does not include / contain any valuable information apart from the WTRU's identity (e.g., the WTRU's 5G-GUTI) (e.g., the use of the special NAS message may be restricted to MINT-capable WTRUs only). On the NW side, receipt of this special NAS message may change the mobility management context of the WTRU such that the TA where it was last registered becomes the TA where the WTRU is present when sending the message. (3) The MINT-enabled WTRU may perform a mobility registration update upon entering a new TA even if the new TA belongs to or is associated with the TA list. (4) When the AMF of PLMN D determines / recognizes that the WTRU is MINT capable, the AMF may not allocate a TA list to the WTRU and may provide (e.g., only provide) one TA in the registration accept message.

[0133] Further exemplary procedures for notifying a WTRU that a disaster condition is no longer applicable In certain representative embodiments, notification that the disaster condition no longer exists or is no longer applicable may not be critical, and it is contemplated that the NW may notify / inform the WTRU when (e.g., only when) the WTRU is in “connected mode”. In other representative embodiments, such notification may be done in connected mode and / or RRC inactive mode. For example, the NW may send a Configuration Update Command (CUC) message to the WTRU as part of a WCU procedure when the WTRU is in connected mode, or may page the WTRU to put it into connected mode, and then initiate the WCU procedure. In both cases, the NW may cause the WTRU to perform a registration procedure (e.g., a conventional procedure). When the WTRU triggers the registration procedure, the NW may reject a registration request message with a cause value (e.g., a special cause value) that may lead the WTRU to the HPLMN.

[0134] Further representative procedures for the prevention of signaling overload in PLMNs without disaster conditions When the WTRU registers with the HPLMN, the AMF may provide a timer (e.g., a timer value) to the WTRU in the registration accept message. The WTRU may use this timer value together with some parameters of the WTRU and / or local parameters, such as the SUPI and / or persistent equipment identifier, to derive a "window of time" during which the WTRU can perform registration to the new PLMN. The RAN may be informed by the CN to block / defer an RRC connection from an inbound WTRU (e.g., an IDR WTRU). The WTRU may use a new specific establishment cause (e.g., "Inbound WTRU Request Due to Disaster") when sending an RRC connection request. The RAN may provide a new timer in the RRC connection reject message, which may push / change the timing of the WTRU's attempts at connecting / reconnecting to the NW to a different time (e.g., slightly later). To further randomize the timing of connecting / reconnecting to the NW, the WTRU may use a formula based on the timer value and the WTRU's own ID.

[0135] Further Exemplary Procedures for Preventing Signaling Overload Due to Returning a WTRU in a PLMN That Previously Had a Disaster Condition FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary procedure for determining when to perform enrollment in the HPLMN following a disaster (eg, disaster condition).

[0136] 6, an exemplary procedure 600 may include, at act 6-1, a network entity (NE) / AMF 182 associated with a home PLMN (HPLMN) 620 determining parameters for the WTRU 102 to return (e.g., revert) to the HPLMN 620 that served the WTRU 102 before the disaster condition / situation occurred. At act 6-2, the NE / AMF 182 of the HPLMN 620 may send a message (e.g., a registration accept message) that may include information indicating, for example, a time value and a priority value. At act 6-3, the WTRU 102 may determine that the disaster condition / situation has ended. At act 6-4, the WTRU 102 may determine a registration time based on any of (1) the WTRU ID, (2) the received time value, and / or (3) the received priority value. At act 6-5, the WTRU 102 may perform registration with the HPLMN 620 at or after the determined registration time. At act 6-6, the WTRU 102 may send a registration request to the NE / AMF 182 of the HPLMN 620, the registration request including information indicating the priority value in a message (e.g., an RRC message).

[0137] For example, the HPLMN 620 may provide a timer value to the WTRU 102 upon registration. This timer (e.g., timer value), along with other WTRU-specific parameters such as a WTRU-ID, may be used to determine "when" the WTRU 102 may initiate registration and when the WTRU 102 may return (e.g., return to the HPLMN 620). The HPLMN 620 may provide a "priority / precedence value" to the WTRU 102 upon registration. The WTRU 102 may input the priority / precedence value into an algorithm to determine the time of registration back to the HPLMN 620 in which the disaster condition applied after moving to a PLMN in which the disaster condition did not apply (e.g., moving from another PLMN back to a PLMN in which the disaster condition applied). The WTRU 102 may provide the priority value to the RAN 610 in RRC signaling. The RAN 610 may be configured by the CN for this and may prioritize WTRU requests for registration based on the priority value, for example.

[0138] Further Exemplary Procedures for an Outbound Roaming WTRU The WTRU may roam in any number of geographical areas / countries (e.g., another country), and disaster conditions may occur in the HPLMN of the WTRU. The serving NW (e.g., in another geographical area and / or country) may not be able to reauthenticate the WTRU upon transition to connected mode. To address this concern, the WTRU may be configured by the HPLMN with a token / voucher (e.g., a special token / voucher) for the roaming case. When the WTRU registers with a new (e.g., roaming) PLMN, the HPLMN may provide the token / voucher to the serving PLMN. Later, when the WTRU transitions to connected mode and the serving PLMN performs a reauthentication of the WTRU but does not have any more authentication vectors, the NW may send a message using the secure communication established between the WTRU and the CN to inform the WTRU that the NW is unable to retrieve the authentication vector, e.g., due to an inability to communicate with the HPLMN. The serving NW may force / make the WTRU re-register. Upon re-registration, the WTRU may provide the corresponding voucher / token in the registration request message.

[0139] FIG. 7 illustrates a typical registration procedure.

[0140] 7, an exemplary registration procedure 700 may include, at operation 7-1, the WTRU 102 sending a registration request to the HPLMN 205H (e.g., a network entity (NE) and / or the AMF 182H) including information indicating WTRU capabilities (e.g., MINT capabilities). At operation 7-2, the NE / AMF 182H may determine to assign one or more time values ​​(e.g., timers) to the WTRU 102. At operation 7-3, the NE / AMF 182H may send a registration accept to the WTRU 102 including a first time value for disaster roaming and / or a second time value for return to the HPLMN 205H. At operation 7-4, the WTRU 102 may use either the first time value and / or the second time value together with a unique identifier of the WTRU 102 to derive start times and / or stop times associated with one or more time windows. The WTRU 102 may determine that the start of the first window has occurred, for example, to trigger the WTRU 102 to send a second registration request to the NE / AMF 182F of the second PLMN (e.g., FPLMN 205F) in operation 7-6.

[0141] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented by a WTRU.

[0142] 8, the exemplary method 800 may include, at block 810, the WTRU 102 receiving information from the first network 205D indicative of values ​​to be used during registration with the second network 205A. At block 820, the WTRU 102 determines at least a first start time and a second start time for performing registration with the second network 205A based at least on the indicated values. At block 830, the WTRU 102 may begin registration with the second network 205A after the first start time. At block 840, the WTRU 102 may (1) stop registration with the second network 205A on a condition that registration is not completed within a defined period of time after the first start time, and (2) begin a second registration or re-registration of the WTRU 102 with the second network 205A after the second start time.

[0143] In certain representative embodiments, the received information indicative of the value may further indicate a time window and / or the defined period may be based on a duration of the time window.

[0144] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may determine the time window based on one of (1) a first start time and (2) an end time or duration of the first time window based on either (i) an indicated value and (ii) a random value, or one of one or more parameters specific to the WTRU 102.

[0145] In a particular representative embodiment, the received information may indicate an identifier of the WTRU 102 .

[0146] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may be a disaster roma. In some examples, the received information further indicates a second value that is used to determine when the WTRU 102 is permitted to access the first network 205D or an additional network to which the WTRU 102 was registered before experiencing the disaster condition, prior to the first network 205D or the additional network.

[0147] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may transmit and / or receive data transmissions via the second network 205A, provided that registration is completed within a defined or predefined period of time.

[0148] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may send or receive data transmissions over the second network 205A, provided that (1) registration is completed during a defined period of time or (2) a second registration or re-registration is completed after a second start time.

[0149] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may determine that registration is not complete based on either (1) receiving a registration reject message from the network entity 182A that includes information indicating that registration has been rejected, or (2) not receiving a registration accept message within a defined period of time.

[0150] In a particular representative embodiment, the WTRU 102 may receive information indicating (1) that a disaster condition applies to the first network 205D and (2) a second value used to determine when the WTRU 102 is permitted to register or re-register with the first network 205D after the disaster condition no longer applies to the first network 205D.

[0151] In certain representative embodiments, initiating registration may include the WTRU sending a registration request message to a network entity 182A of the second network 205A to provide service to the WTRU 102, the registration request message including (1) an incident identifier, (2) an identifier of the first network 205D, and information indicating any of (i) a location associated with the WTRU 102, (ii) a disaster or coverage area associated with the WTRU 102, (iii) one or more tracking areas associated with the WTRU 102, and / or (iv) a last visited tracking area of ​​the WTRU 102.

[0152] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may, provided that the WTRU supports minimized service interruption (MINT) operation, do any of the following: 1) determine whether the WTRU 102 has changed its coverage area from a first TA associated with the received tracking area (TA) list to a second TA associated with the received TA list; (2) send a non-access stratum message to the network entity 182A of the first network 205A indicating that the WTRU 102 has changed its coverage area from the first TA associated with the received tracking area (TA) list to the second TA associated with the received TA list; (3) receive an instruction to re-register with the second network 205D where the WTRU 102 was previously registered; and / or (4) re-register with the second network 205D by the WTRU 102.

[0153] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may either (1) send information indicating a disaster roaming indication during a disaster condition (e.g., paging / broadcasting an alert of the disaster condition), and / or (2) receive a message to initiate authentication of the WTRU 102 based on at least the disaster roaming indication.

[0154] In a particular representative embodiment, receiving information indicative of values ​​to be used during registration with the second network 205A includes the WTRU receiving configuration information indicative of one or more disaster response incident identifiers (DRIDs) associated with the disaster response from a first network entity 182D associated with the first network 205D. For example, the WTRU 102 may receive broadcast information indicative of one or more permitted DRIDs or portions thereof from a second network entity 182A of the second network 205A. The WTRU 102 may select one of the indicated DRIDs that matches the one or more permitted DRIDs or portions thereof and may transmit a registration request message to the second network entity 182A including information indicative of the selected DRID or portion of the selected DRID. The WTRU 102 may receive a registration accept message from the second network entity 182A, provided that the WTRU 102 is within the portion of the second network 205A.

[0155] In certain representative embodiments, the selected DRID may include an area identifier (AID) corresponding to a disaster response serving area as part of the second network 205A that may be used for registration during a disaster condition associated with the first network 205D. In some examples, the WTRU 102 may be within a disaster response serving area of ​​the second network 205A when the WTRU 102 is either (1) within one or more specific tracking areas of the second network 205A, (2) within one or more specific cells of the second network 205A, (3) in proximity to one or more specific RAN nodes of the second network 205A, (4) within the entire specific coverage area of ​​the second network 205A, (5) within the entire coverage area of ​​the second network 205A, and / or (6) in proximity to any RAN nodes of the second network 205A.

[0156] In certain representative embodiments, each DRID may include a disaster recovery code (DRC) such that selection of a DRID among the indicated DRIDs is based on a match of one of the DRCs in the indicated DRID with a DRC among one or more permitted DRIDs.

[0157] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may either (1) select a default or pre-defined Disaster Response Incident Identifier (DRID) for registering with the second network 205A, provided that the WTRU was not registered with the first network 205D before the first network 205D experienced a disaster condition; or (2) send a registration request message to the second network entity 182A including information indicating the selected DRID or a portion of the selected DRID; and / or receive a registration accept message from the second network entity 182A, provided that the WTRU 102 is within a portion of the second network 205A.

[0158] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU to register with a serving network after a disaster condition applies to the WTRU's home network.

[0159] 9, the exemplary method 900 may include the WTRU 102 receiving, at block 910, from the home network 205H prior to registration with the serving network 205A, information indicating a value to be used during registration back to the home network 205H. At block 920, the WTRU 102 may transmit, for each tracking area change, information to the serving network 205A indicating each tracking area change of the WTRU 102 in the serving network 205A. At block 930, the WTRU 102 may receive a message indicating that the WTRU 102 is to perform registration back to the home network 205H. At block 940, the WTRU 102 may perform registration back to the home network 205H according to a time associated with the indicated value.

[0160] In a particular representative embodiment, the tracking area list may include information indicating a first tracking area TA-A1 of the serving network 205A and a second tracking area TA-A2 of the serving network 205A.

[0161] In a particular representative embodiment, the transmission of information indicating a tracking area change of each of the WTRUs 102 in the serving network 205A may be initiated by a change of the WTRU 102 from a first location in a first tracking area TA-A1 to a second location in a second tracking area TA-A2.

[0162] FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an additional representative method implemented by a WTRU registered in a first network.

[0163] 10, the exemplary method 1000 may include, at block 1010, the WTRU 102 receiving information from a first network 205D indicating values ​​to be used during registration with the other network 205A. At block 1020, the WTRU 102 may determine a first time window for performing registration with the other network 205A based at least on the indicated values. At block 1030, the WTRU 102 may initiate registration with the other network 205A during the first time window. At block 1040, the WTRU 102 may either (1) stop registration with the other network 205A and / or initiate a second registration or re-registration of the WTRU 102 with the other network 205A during a second time window, provided that registration is not completed during the first time window.

[0164] In certain representative embodiments, receiving the information indicative of the values ​​to be used during registration with the other network 205A may include receiving a registration accept message, which may include information indicative of the timer value.

[0165] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 102 may send and / or receive data transmissions via the other network 205A, provided that registration is completed during the first time window.

[0166] In certain representative embodiments, determining the first time window may include deriving (1) a first start time and (2) an end time or duration of the first time window based on either (i) an indicated value and (ii) a random value, or one or more parameters specific to the WTRU 102.

[0167] FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a further representative method implemented by a WTRU registered in a first network.

[0168] 11, the representative method 1100 may include, at block 1110, the WTRU 102 receiving, from the first network 205D, information indicating a first value used during registration with the other network 205A. At block 1120, the WTRU 102 may determine a first time window for performing registration with the other network 205A based at least on the indicated first value. At block 1130, the WTRU 102 may initiate registration with the other network 205A during the first time window. At block 1140, the WTRU 102 may receive a message (e.g., an RRC connection rejection message) from the other network 205A including information indicating a second value used during a second registration with the other network 205A. At block 1150, the WTRU 102 may determine a second time window for performing the second registration with the other network 205A based at least on the indicated second value. At block 1160, the WTRU 102 may initiate a second registration with the other network 205A during the second time window. At block 1170, the WTRU 102 may send or receive a data transmission via the other network 205A, provided that the second registration is completed during the second time window.

[0169] FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU.

[0170] 12, the representative method 1200 may include the WTRU 102 receiving, at block 1210, information indicative of the bit sequence and a broadcast identifier from the first network 205D. At block 1220, the WTRU 102 may derive a WTRU identifier to be used by the WTRU 102 when a disaster condition applies to the first network 205D based on at least the bit sequence and the broadcast identifier using an algorithm. At block 1230, the WTRU 102 may receive information indicating that a disaster condition applies to the first network 205D. At block 1240, the WTRU 102 may register with another network 205A using the derived WTRU identifier.

[0171] In a particular representative embodiment, receiving information indicating that a disaster condition applies to the first network 205D may include receiving a paging message including information indicating that a disaster condition applies to the first network 205D.

[0172] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU 102 to register with a serving network 205A after a disaster condition applies (eg, has been applied) to the WTRU's 102 home network 205H.

[0173] 13, the representative method 1300 may include the WTRU 102 receiving, at block 1310, information from the home network 205H prior to registration with the serving network 205A indicating values ​​to be used during registration back to the home network 205H. At block 1320, the WTRU 102 may receive a notification indicating that the disaster condition no longer applies to the home network 205H. At block 1330, the WTRU 102 may determine a first time window to perform registration back to the home network 205H based at least on the indicated values. At block 1340, the WTRU 102 may initiate registration with the home network 205H during the first time window. In block 1350, provided that registration has not been completed during the first time window, the WTRU 102 may do one of the following: (1) stop registration returning to the home network 205H and / or initiate a second registration of the WTRU 102 returning to the home network 205H during a second time window.

[0174] FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU.

[0175] 14, the representative method 1400 may include the WTRU 102 receiving configuration information indicating an incident identifier associated with the disaster response from a first network entity 182D associated with the first network 205D, at block 1410. At block 1420, the WTRU 102 may send a registration request message including information indicating the incident identifier and an identifier of the first network 205D to a second network entity 182A of the second network 205A for providing service to the WTRU 102. At block 1430, the WTRU 102 may receive a registration accept message.

[0176] In certain representative embodiments, the registration request may include further information indicating any of: (1) a location associated with the WTRU 102; (2) a disaster or coverage area associated with the WTRU 102; (3) one or more tracking areas associated with the WTRU 102; and / or (4) a last visited tracking area of ​​the WTRU 102.

[0177] In certain representative embodiments, the configuration information may further indicate one or more tracking areas in which registration is not permitted.

[0178] In a representative embodiment, before sending a registration request message, the WTRU 102 may determine that a current tracking area associated with the WTRU 102 does not match one or more tracking areas indicated in the configuration information.

[0179] In certain representative embodiments, provided that the WTRU 102 supports minimized service interruption (MINT) operation, the WTRU 102 may configure itself during the registration procedure to: (1) determine whether the WTRU 102 has changed its coverage area from a first TA associated with the received tracking area (TA) list to a second TA associated with the received TA list; and / or (2) send a non-access stratum message to the second network entity 182A indicating that the WTRU 102 has changed its coverage area from the first TA associated with the received TA list to the second TA associated with the received TA list. For example, the non-access stratum message may include service type information indicating that the non-access stratum message is provided to the second network 205A to inform the second network 205A of the location of the WTRU.

[0180] FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating yet another exemplary method implemented by a WTRU.

[0181] 15, the representative method 1500 may include the WTRU 102 receiving configuration information indicating one or more disaster response incident identifiers (DRIDs) associated with the disaster response from a first network entity 182D associated with the first network 205D, at block 1510. The WTRU 102 may receive broadcast information indicating one or more permitted DRIDs or a portion thereof from a second network entity 182A of the second network 205A, at block 1520. The WTRU 102 may select a DRID from the indicated DRIDs that matches the one or more permitted DRIDs or a portion thereof. At block 1540, the WTRU 102 may transmit a registration request message to the second network entity 182A, including information indicating the selected DRID or a portion of the selected DRID. At block 1550, the WTRU 102 may receive a registration acceptance message from the second network entity 182A, provided that the WTRU 102 is within a portion of the second network 205A.

[0182] In certain representative embodiments, the selected DRID may include an area identifier (AID) corresponding to a disaster response serving area as part of the second network 205A used for registration during a disaster condition associated with the first network 205D.

[0183] In certain representative embodiments, the WTRU 205 may be within a disaster response serving area of ​​the second network 205A when the WTRU 102 is either: (1) within one or more specific tracking areas of the second network 205A; (2) within one or more specific cells of the second network 205A; (3) near one or more specific RAN nodes of the second network 205A; (4) within a specific coverage area of ​​the second network 205A; (5) within the entire coverage area of ​​the second network 205A; and / or (6) near any RAN node of the second network 205A.

[0184] In certain representative embodiments, each DRID may include a disaster recovery code (DRC) such that selection of a DRID among the indicated DRIDs is based on a match of one of the DRCs in the indicated DRID with a DRC among one or more permitted DRIDs.

[0185] FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method implemented by a network entity (NE) (eg, AUSF / UDM / DRF).

[0186] 16, the representative method 1600 may include, at block 1610, the NE 210D of the first network 205D sending (via the NE 182D) configuration information to the WTRU 102 indicating an incident identifier associated with the disaster response. At block 1620, the NE 210D of the first network 205D may receive (from the NE 182A) a message via the second network 205A for serving the WTRU 102 indicating any of (1) the incident identifier and an identifier of the second network 205A for serving the WTRU 102, and / or (2) an identifier of the first network 205D for serving the WTRU 102 and an identifier of the second network 205A for serving the WTRU 102. At block 1630, the NE 210D of the first network 205D may send a message to the second network 205A to initiate authentication of the WTRU 102, provided that the incident identifier and the second network 205A are authenticated.

[0187] In a particular representative embodiment, the NE 210D may receive information indicating a location of the WTRU 102 during a disaster condition and may initiate authentication of the WTRU 102 based at least on the location of the WTRU 102 during the disaster condition.

[0188] The systems and methods for processing data according to the representative embodiments may be performed by one or more processors executing sequences of instructions contained in a memory device. Such instructions may be loaded into the memory device from other computer-readable media, such as secondary data storage devices. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the memory device causes the processor to operate, for example, as described above. In alternative embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the invention. Such software may be executed on a processor housed remotely in a robotic assistance / apparatus (RAA) and / or another mobile device. In the latter case, data may be transferred wired or wirelessly between the RAA or other mobile device including the sensor and a remote device including a processor executing software to perform scale estimation and compensation as described above. According to other representative embodiments, some of the processing described above with respect to localization may be performed in the device including the sensor / camera, and the remainder of the processing may be performed in the second device after receiving partially processed data from the device including the sensor / camera.

[0189] Although the features and elements are described above in certain combinations, one skilled in the art will understand that each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware embodied in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in the WTRU 102, a WTRU, a terminal, a base station, an RNC, or any host computer.

[0190] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices including processors are described. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("Central Processing Unit (CPU)") and memory. In accordance with the practices of those skilled in the art of computer programming, references to operations and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by various CPUs and memories. Such operations and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "executed by a computer," or "executed by a CPU."

[0191] Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the operations and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. The electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resultant transformation or reduction of the electrical signals, and maintains the data bits in memory locations of the memory system, thereby reconfiguring or otherwise altering the operation of the CPU and the processing of other signals. The memory locations in which the data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties that correspond to or represent the data bits. It should be understood that the exemplary embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs, and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0192] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium, including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., random access memory ("RAM")) or non-volatile (e.g., read only memory ("ROM")) mass storage system readable by a CPU. The computer readable medium may include computer readable media that resides exclusively on a processing system or distributed, cooperative or interconnected among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to a processing system. It is understood that representative embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the described methods. It is understood that representative embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0193] In an example embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0194] There is little distinction between hardware and software implementations of aspects of the system. The use of hardware or software is generally (though not always, in certain circumstances the choice between hardware and software can be significant) a design choice that implies a cost vs. efficiency tradeoff. There may be a variety of vehicles (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware) in which the processes and / or systems and / or other techniques described herein may be affected, and the preferred vehicle may vary depending on the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other techniques are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may select a primarily hardware and / or firmware vehicle. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may select a primarily software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may select some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0195] The foregoing detailed description has illustrated various embodiments of devices and / or processes through the use of block diagrams, flow charts, and / or examples. To the extent that such block diagrams, flow charts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that each function and / or operation in such block diagrams, flow charts, or examples may be individually and / or collectively implemented by a wide variety of hardware, software, firmware, or substantially any combination thereof. Suitable processors include, by way of example, a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an application specific standard product (ASSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), and / or a state machine.

[0196] The present disclosure is not limited in terms of the specific embodiments described in this application, which are intended as examples of various aspects. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, many modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. No element, operation, or instruction used in the description of this application should be construed as critical or essential to the present invention unless expressly set forth as such. In addition to those enumerated herein, functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to a particular method or system.

[0197] It should also be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, when referred to herein, "station" and its abbreviation "STA", "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE" may mean (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU) such as the described infrastructure, (ii) any of several embodiments of a WTRU such as the described infrastructure, (iii) a wireless and / or wired (e.g., tethered) device configured with some or all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU such as the described infrastructure, among others, (iii) a wireless and / or wired device configured with less than all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU such as the described infrastructure, or (iv) others. Details of an exemplary WTRU that may be representative of any WTRU enumerated herein are provided below with respect to Figures 1A-1D.

[0198] In certain representative embodiments, some portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein may be equivalently implemented in whole or in part in an integrated circuit as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as substantially any combination thereof, and that designing circuitry and / or writing software and / or firmware code is within the skill of those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will recognize that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as a program product in various forms, and that the exemplary embodiments of the subject matter described herein apply regardless of the particular type of signal-bearing medium used to actually effect the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, recordable type media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CDs, DVDs, digital tape, computer memory, and transmission type media such as digital and / or analog communications media (e.g., fiber optic cables, wave guides, wired communications links, wireless communications links, etc.).

[0199] The subject matter described herein may in some cases depict different components that are included within or connected to different other components. It should be understood that such illustrated architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures that achieve the same functionality may be implemented. Conceptually, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality may be achieved. Thus, any two components combined herein to achieve a particular functionality may be viewed as "associated" with one another such that the desired functionality is achieved, regardless of the architecture or intermediate components. Similarly, any two components so associated may also be considered to be "operably connected" or "operably coupled" with one another to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components that may be so associated may also be considered to be "operably coupled" with one another to achieve the desired functionality. Examples of operably coupleable include, but are not limited to, physically matable and / or physically interacting components, and / or wirelessly interacting and / or wirelessly interacting components, and / or logically interacting and / or logically interacting components.

[0200] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular term herein, one of ordinary skill in the art can convert from plural to singular and / or from singular to plural as appropriate to the context and / or application. Various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for purposes of clarity.

[0201] In general, those skilled in the art will understand that the terms used in this specification, and particularly in the appended claims (e.g., the body of the appended claims), are generally intended as "non-limiting" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," and the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to"). Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that where a specific number of recitations of an introduced claim are intended, such intent is expressly set forth in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation, no such intent exists. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. To aid in understanding, the following appended claims and / or the description of this specification may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce the claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be interpreted as meaning that the introduction of a claim recitation with the indefinite article "a" or "an" limits any particular claim that includes such an introduced claim recitation to an embodiment that includes only one such recitation, even if the same claim contains the introductory phrase "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same applies to the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, those skilled in the art will recognize that even if a specific number of recitations of an introduced claim are explicitly recited, such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the simple recitation "two recitations" without other qualifiers means at least two recitations, or more than two recitations).Furthermore, when notation similar to "at least one of A, B, and C" is used, such structure is generally intended as a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the notation (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together). When notation similar to "at least one of A, B, or C" is used, such structure is generally intended as a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the notation (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together). Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that virtually any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the specification, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibility of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" should be understood to include the possibility of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Additionally, as used herein, the term "any of" followed by a list of items and / or a list of categories of items is intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any more than," and / or "any more than" of the items and / or categories of items, individually or in combination with other items and / or categories of items. Additionally, as used herein, the term "set" or "group" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero.

[0202] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of a Markush group, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also described thereby in terms of any individual members or subgroups of members of the Markush group.

[0203] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, for all purposes, including in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein encompass any possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any recited range can be readily recognized as fully descriptive and allowing the same range to be broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range described herein can be readily broken down into a lower third, a middle third, an upper third, etc. As will also be understood by those skilled in the art, all words such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," etc., refer to a range that includes the recited number and that can be further broken down into subranges as described above. Finally, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, a range includes each individual element. Thus, for example, a group having 1 to 3 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1 to 5 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so on.

[0204] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or to the provided elements unless specifically so recited. In addition, the use of the term "means for" in any claim is intended to be relied upon under 35 U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6, or means-plus-function claim format, and no claim without the term "means for" is so intended.

[0205] A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a Wireless Transmit Receive Unit (WTRU), User Equipment (UE), terminal, base station, Mobility Management Entity (MME) or Evolved Packet Core (EPC), or any host computer. The WTRU may be used in conjunction with hardware and / or software implemented modules, such as, for example, a Software Defined Radio (SDR), and may be implemented in other components, such as a camera, a video camera module, a video phone, a speaker phone, a vibration device, a speaker, a microphone, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a keyboard, a Bluetooth module, a Frequency Modulation (FM) radio unit, a Near Field Communication (NFC) module, an LCD display unit, an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, and / or a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) or Ultra Wide Band (UWB) module.

[0206] Throughout this disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain representative embodiments may be used in the alternative or in combination with other representative embodiments.

[0207] In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware embodied in a computer-readable storage medium as instructions for execution by a computer or processor to perform the operations described above. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

1. 1. A method implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) registered with a first network, comprising: receiving information from the first network indicative of values ​​to be used during registration with a second network; determining at least a first start time and a second start time for performing the registration with the second network based at least on the indicated value; beginning the registration with the second network after the first start time; provided that the registration is not completed within a defined period of time after the first start time; (1) ceasing the registration with the second network; and (2) beginning a second registration or re-registration of the WTRU with the second network after the second start time.

2. the received information indicative of the value further indicates a time window; the defined period is based on a duration of the time window; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining the time window based on one of (1) the first start time and (2) an end time or the duration of the time window based on either (i) the indicated value and (ii) a random value or one or more parameters specific to the WTRU.

3. The WTRU roams to the second network as a disaster roam when the first network is not reachable by the second network; 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received information further indicates one or more of: (1) an identifier of the WTRU; and (2) a second value used to determine when the WTRU is permitted to access the first network or a further network in which the WTRU is registered prior to the first network or the further network.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending or receiving a data transmission over the second network on the condition that (1) the registration was completed during the defined period of time, or (2) the second registration or the re-registration was completed after the second start time.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the WTRU, information indicating: (1) that a disaster condition applies to the first network; and (2) a second value used to determine when the WTRU is permitted to register or re-register with the first network after the disaster condition no longer applies to the first network.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating either (1) the registration, (2) the second registration, or (3) the re-registration includes transmitting, by the WTRU to a network entity of the second network for providing service to the WTRU, a registration request message including (1) an incident identifier, (2) an identifier of the first network, and information indicating any of (i) a location associated with the WTRU, (ii) a disaster or coverage area associated with the WTRU, (iii) one or more tracking areas associated with the WTRU, and / or (iv) a last visited tracking area of ​​the WTRU.

7. Provided that the WTRU supports Minimal Service Interruption (MINT) operation, determining whether the WTRU has changed its coverage area from a first tracking area (TA) associated with a received TA list to a second TA associated with the received TA list; sending a non-access stratum message to a network entity of the first network indicating that the WTRU has changed the coverage area from the first TA to the second TA; receiving an instruction to re-register with the second network on which the WTRU was previously registered; and The method of claim 1 , further comprising: configuring, by the WTRU, the WTRU to re-register with the second network.

8. transmitting, by the WTRU, information indicating a disaster roaming indication by the WTRU during a disaster condition; The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, by the WTRU, a message to initiate authentication of the WTRU based at least on the disaster roaming indication.

9. wherein the receiving information indicative of the values ​​used during the registration with the second network includes receiving configuration information from a first network entity associated with the first network indicative of one or more Disaster Response Incident Identifiers (DRIDs) associated with one or more disaster responses, the method comprising: receiving, by the WTRU, broadcast information from a second network entity of the second network indicating one or more allowed DRIDs or a portion thereof; selecting, by the WTRU, a DRID from among the indicated DRIDs that matches the one or more allowed DRIDs or a portion thereof; sending, by the WTRU, to the second network entity, a registration request message including information indicating the selected DRID or a portion of the selected DRID; 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the WTRU, a registration accept message from the second network entity, on the condition that the WTRU is within a portion of the second network.

10. and provided that the WTRU was not registered with the first network prior to the first network experiencing a disaster condition. selecting, by the WTRU, a default or predefined Disaster Response Incident Identifier (DRID) for registering with the second network; sending, by the WTRU, to a second network entity, a registration request message including information indicating the selected DRID or a portion of the selected DRID; 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the WTRU, a registration accept message from the second network entity, on the condition that the WTRU is within a portion of the second network.

11. 1. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) registered in a first network, a transmitter / receiver unit configured to receive, from the first network, information indicative of values ​​to be used during registration into a second network; a processor, the processor comprising: determining at least a first start time and a second start time for performing the registration with the second network based at least on the indicated value; beginning the registration with the second network after the first start time; and provided that the registration is not completed within a defined period of time after the first start time; (1) ceasing the registration with the second network; (2) A WTRU configured to initiate a second registration or re-registration of the WTRU with the second network after the second start time.

12. the received information indicative of the value further indicates a time window; the defined period is based on a duration of the time window; 12. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the time window based on one of (1) the first start time and (2) an end time or the duration of a first time window based on either (i) the indicated value and (ii) a random value or one or more parameters specific to the WTRU.

13. The WTRU is configured to roam to the second network as a disaster roam when the first network is not reachable by the second network; The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the received information further indicates one or more of: (1) an identifier of the WTRU; and (2) a second value used to determine when the WTRU is permitted to access the first network or a further network in which the WTRU is registered prior to the first network or the further network.

14. 12. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the transmitter / receiver unit is configured to transmit or receive a data transmission over the second network on the condition that (1) the registration is completed during the defined period of time, or (2) the second registration or the re-registration is completed after the second start time.

15. 12. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the transmitter / receiver unit is configured to receive information indicating: (1) that a disaster condition applies to the first network; and (2) a second value used to determine when the WTRU is permitted to register or re-register with the first network after the disaster condition no longer applies to the first network.

16. The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the transmitter / receiver unit is configured to transmit a registration request message to a network entity of the second network for providing service to the WTRU, the registration request message including information indicating (1) an incident identifier, (2) an identifier of the first network, and any of (i) a location associated with the WTRU, (ii) a disaster or coverage area associated with the WTRU, (iii) one or more tracking areas associated with the WTRU, and / or (iv) a last visited tracking area of ​​the WTRU.

17. Provided that the WTRU supports Minimal Service Interruption (MINT) operation, The processor is configured to determine whether the WTRU has changed its coverage area from a first tracking area (TA) associated with a received TA list to a second TA associated with the received TA list; The transmitter / receiver unit comprises: sending a non-access stratum message to a network entity of the first network indicating that the WTRU has changed the coverage area from the first TA to the second TA; and and receiving an instruction to re-register with the second network on which the WTRU was previously registered; The WTRU of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to re-register, by the WTRU, with the second network.

18. The transmitter / receiver unit comprises: transmitting information indicating a disaster roaming indication by the WTRU during a disaster condition; and The WTRU of claim 11 , configured to receive a message to initiate authentication of the WTRU based at least on the disaster roaming indication.

19. The transmitter / receiver unit comprises: receiving configuration information from a first network entity associated with the first network indicating one or more Disaster Response Incident Identifiers (DRIDs) associated with one or more disaster responses; and configured to receive broadcast information from a second network entity of the second network indicating one or more allowed DRIDs or a portion thereof; the processor is configured to select a DRID from the indicated DRIDs that matches the one or more permitted DRIDs or a portion thereof; The transmitter / receiver unit comprises: sending a registration request message to the second network entity, the registration request message including information indicating the selected DRID or a portion of the selected DRID; and The WTRU of claim 11 , configured to receive a registration accept message from the second network entity on the condition that the WTRU is within a portion of the second network.

20. The processor is configured to select a default or pre-defined Disaster Response Incident Identifier (DRID) for registering with the second network on a condition that the WTRU was not registered with the first network before the first network experienced a disaster condition; The transmitter / receiver unit comprises: sending a registration request message to a second network entity, the registration request message including information indicating the selected DRID or a portion of the selected DRID; and The WTRU of claim 11 , configured to receive, by the WTRU, a registration accept message from the second network entity, on condition that the WTRU is within a portion of the second network.

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