Method, architecture, apparatus and system for transmitting and receiving in multipath sidelink relaying

Abstract

A procedure, method, architecture, apparatus, system, device, and computer program product for flexible transmission in multipath sidelink relay. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) can be configured with a bearer configured for multipath. Such a bearer can have a common Uu PDCP layer but two separate RLC entities associated with it: a Uu RLC entity for transmitting / receiving directly over the Uu, and an SL RLC entity for transmitting / receiving from the WTRU to the NW relay over the SL. Data on the multipath bearer can be transmitted over the Uu path, the SL path, or both, i.e., via duplication. If the WTRU is configured for duplication or decides to enable duplication for the multipath bearer (duplicated bearer), the WTRU can transmit PDCP PDUs over both the Uu path and the SL path.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure is generally directed to the fields of communications, software, and coding, including, for example, methods, architectures, apparatus, and systems directed to transmission and reception in multipath sidelink relaying. [Background technology]

[0002] 3GPP specifications introduce Layer 2 User Equipment (UE) (or wireless transmit-receive unit (WTRU)) to Network (NW) relaying (U2N relaying). The main use case considered in these specifications is the out-of-coverage remote UE / WTRU case. It is desirable to provide a solution to multipath. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Method embodiments are disclosed as described below and claimed in the accompanying claims.

[0004] Embodiments of a WTRU are disclosed as described below and claimed in the accompanying claims. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0005] A more detailed understanding can be had from the following detailed description, given by way of example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The figures of such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. Therefore, the figures and detailed description should not be considered limiting, as other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Moreover, like reference numerals ("references") in the figures indicate like elements. [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system. [Figure 1B] 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communication system shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 1C]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 shown in FIG. 1A. [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 shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2] L2 is a user plane protocol stack for U2N relay. [Figure 3] L2 is a control plane protocol stack for U2N relay. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment. [Figure 6a] An embodiment is shown. [Figure 6b] An embodiment is shown. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method implemented by a wireless transmit-receive unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. It will be understood, however, that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the following description. Furthermore, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in place of, or in combination with, embodiments and other examples explicitly, implicitly, and / or inherently (collectively "provided") described, disclosed, or otherwise provided herein. Although various embodiments are described and / or claimed herein in which apparatuses, systems, devices, etc. and / or any elements thereof perform operations, processes, algorithms, functions, etc. and / or any portions thereof, it should be understood that any embodiment described and / or claimed herein assumes that any apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any elements thereof are configured to perform any operations, processes, algorithms, functions, etc. and / or any portions thereof.

[0007] Exemplary Communication System The methods, apparatus, and systems provided herein are well suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with reference to Figures 1A-1D, in which various elements of the networks may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with, and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatus, and systems provided herein.

[0008] 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. Communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcasts, etc., to multiple wireless users. Communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDM), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS spread OFDM, ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), etc.

[0009] 1A, communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, radio access networks (RANs) 104 / 113, core networks (CNs) 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the 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 (or be) user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and application (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and application (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of an industrial and / or automated processing chain), a consumer electronic device, a device operating in a commercial and / or industrial wireless network, etc. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be referred to interchangeably as a UE.

[0010] The communications 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 communications networks, such as, for example, the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the network 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be any of a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), a Home Node-B (HNB), a Home eNode-B (HeNB), a gNode-B (gNB), a NR Node-B (NR NB), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, etc. Although the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0011] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or 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 an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one transceiver for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each or any sector of the cell, for example, using beamforming to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0012] 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 communications 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).

[0013] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple-access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, etc. For example, the base stations 114a of the RANs 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 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 Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0014] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0015] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR radio access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0016] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may jointly implement LTE radio access and NR radio access, 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 sent to and from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0017] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi), 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.

[0018] 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or an access point and may utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a local area, such as, for example, a business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a road, etc. In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish either a small cell, a pico cell, or a femto cell. 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.

[0019] 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 different throughput, latency, error tolerance, reliability, data throughput, and mobility requirements. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, 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 a RAN 104 / 113 that may utilize NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) that employs any of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technologies.

[0020] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), the user datagram protocol (UDP), and / or the internet protocol (IP) 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 / 114 or a different RAT.

[0021] 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 employ a cellular-based wireless technology, and a base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802.2 wireless technology.

[0022] 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 elements / 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.

[0023] 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. While 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 into an electronic package or chip, for example.

[0024] 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 embodiments, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In embodiments, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitting device / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR signals, UV signals, or visible light signals, for example. In embodiments, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF signals and light signals. It will be understood that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0025] 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. For example, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in an 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.

[0026] 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 noted 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.

[0027] 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. Additionally, 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).

[0028] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and 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.

[0029] The processor 118 is also coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or instead of, information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) over the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0030] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other elements / peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules / units that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the elements / peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (e.g., 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, etc. The elements / 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.

[0031] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio where transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for both the uplink (e.g., for transmission) and 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 through either hardware (e.g., a choke) or processor-mediated signal processing (e.g., via a separate processor (not shown) or processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe for either the uplink (e.g., for transmission) or downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0032] 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106, according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116 using E-UTRA radio technology. The RAN 104 may also communicate with the CN 106.

[0033] The RAN 104 may include eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c, although it will be understood that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNodeBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNodeB 160a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0034] Each of the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, and 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 uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), etc. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another via an X2 interface.

[0035] 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. Although each of the foregoing elements is depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be understood that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0036] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 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.

[0037] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to and from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions such as fixing the user plane during inter-eNodeB handover, initiating paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and managing and storing the context of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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 landline 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. Additionally, 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.

[0040] Although the WTRU is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments, such a terminal may use a wired communication interface (e.g., temporary or permanent) with the communication network.

[0041] In a representative embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0042] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access to or interface with a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic within and / or outside the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS to a STA may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from a STA to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to the respective destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent, for example, through the AP, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) a source STA and a destination STA using a direct link setup (DLS). 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 within or using the IBSS (e.g., all of the STAs) may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode is sometimes referred to herein as an "ad hoc" communication mode.

[0043] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operation, an AP may transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a width that is dynamically set via signaling. The primary channel may be the 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 in a given BSS at any given time.

[0044] High throughput (HT) STAs may use 40 MHz wide channels for communication, for example, by combining a primary 20 MHz channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channels to form the 40 MHz wide channel.

[0045] 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 channel may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining eight contiguous 20 MHz channels or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, after channel encoding, the data may pass through a segment parser that may separate 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 above operations for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0046] 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 the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, while 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 (MTC), such as MTC devices, in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have limited capabilities, including, for example, support for (e.g., only) specific and / or limited bandwidths. An MTC device may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (eg, to maintain a very long battery life).

[0047] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel that can be designated as a primary channel. The primary channel can have a bandwidth equal to the maximum common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be configured and / or limited by the STAs among all STAs operating in the BSS that support the minimum bandwidth operating mode. In an 802.11ah embodiment, the primary channel can 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) configuration can depend on the conditions of the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel is busy due to a STA (that only supports 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band may be considered busy, even though most of the frequency band may remain idle and be available for use.

[0048] In the United States, the available frequency band that can be used by 802.11ah is 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz depending on the country code.

[0049] 1D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115, according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also communicate with the CN 115.

[0050] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, although it will be understood that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with the embodiments. The gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In embodiments, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNBs 180a and 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c. Thus, the gNB 180a may transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from the WTRU 102a using, for example, multiple antennas. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 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 180c).

[0051] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with 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 varying or scalable lengths (e.g., including different numbers of OFDM symbols and / or continuously varying lengths of absolute time).

[0052] 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., eNodeBs 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 / connect with a gNB 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating / connecting with another RAN, such as an eNodeB 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 eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In a non-standalone configuration, the eNodeBs 160a, 160b, 160c may act as mobility anchors for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for serving the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0053] 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, coordination 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.

[0054] 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 at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements is depicted 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.

[0055] 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 authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, mobility management, etc. 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 being utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, for example. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, etc. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies like Wi-Fi.

[0056] The SMFs 183a and 183b may be connected to the AMFs 182a and 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMFs 183a and 183b may also be connected to the UPFs 184a and 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMFs 183a and 183b may select and control the UPFs 184a and 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPFs 184a and 184b. The SMFs 183a and 183b may perform other functions such as managing and assigning IP addresses for UEs, 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.

[0057] 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, for example 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 policy, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, etc.

[0058] 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 acts 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 with the UPFs 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPFs 184a, 184b and the DNs 185a, 185b.

[0059] 1A-1D and the corresponding description thereof, one or more or all of the functionality described herein with respect to any of the WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNodeBs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other elements / devices described herein may be performed by one or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functionality described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functionality.

[0060] 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 communications network to test other devices in the communications 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 communications network. The emulation devices may be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or may use terrestrial wireless communications to perform the tests.

[0061] 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 communications 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 communications network to implement testing of one or more components. One or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (which may include, e.g., one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0062] Introduction The 3GPP specifications specify SL-based WTRU-to-network relaying. To provide network connectivity for U2N remote WTRUs, sidelink relaying is introduced to support 5G ProSe WTRU-to-network relay (or UE-to-network relay, i.e., U2N relay or WTRU2NW relay) functionality. Both L2 and L3 U2N relay architectures are supported. The L3 U2N relay architecture is transparent to the serving RAN of the U2N relay WTRU, except for controlling sidelink resources.

[0063] The U2N relay WTRU is in RRC_CONNECTED to perform relaying of unicast data.

[0064] For L2 U2N relay operation, the following Radio Resource Control (RRC) state combinations are supported: Both the U2N relay WTRU and the U2N remote WTRU are in RRC CONNECTED to perform relayed unicast data transmission / reception. A U2N relay WTRU can be in RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_CONNECTED state as long as all U2N remote WTRUs connected to the U2N relay WTRU are in either RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE state.

[0065] For L2 U2N relaying, the U2N remote WTRU may only be configured to use resource allocation mode 2 for relayed data.

[0066] A single unicast link is established between one L2 U2N relay WTRU and one L2 U2N remote WTRU. The U2N remote WTRU's traffic via a given U2N relay WTRU and the U2N relay WTRU's traffic shall be separated on different Uu Radio Link Control (RLC) channels over Uu.

[0067] overview The protocol stacks for the user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) of the L2 U2N relay architecture are presented in Figures 1 and 2, where Figure 2 shows the user plane protocol stack for the L2 U2N relay (211) and Figure 3 shows the control plane protocol stack for the L2 U2N relay (311). The Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) sublayer (highlighted in Figures 2 (201) and 3 (301)) is a layer introduced for the relay to help the relay perform packet routing. The SRAP sublayer is located above the RLC sublayers (202, 302) for both the CP and UP, on both the PC5 interface and the Uu interface. The Uu Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) (203, 303), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) (204, 304), and RRC are terminated between the L2 U2N remote WTRU (210, 310) and the gNB (212, 312), and the SRAP, RLC, MAC (205, 305), and PHY (physical layer) (206, 306) are terminated at each hop (i.e., the link between the L2 U2N remote WTRU and the L2 U2N relay WTRU, and the link between the L2 U2N relay WTRU and the gNB).

[0068] For L2 U2N relaying, the SRAP sublayer on the PC5 hop is for bearer mapping purposes only. The SRAP sublayer is not present on the PC5 hop for relaying L2 U2N remote WTRU messages on the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) and Paging Control Channel (PCCH). For L2 U2N remote WTRU messages on Signaling Radio Bearer 0 (SRB0), the SRAP sublayer is not present on the PC5 hop, but the SRAP sublayer is present on the Uu hop for both DL and UL.

[0069] In the case of L2 U2N relay, for the uplink, The Uu SRAP sublayer supports UL bearer mapping between the ingress PC5 relay RLC channel and the egress Uu relay RLC channel for relaying over the L2 U2N relay WTRU Uu interface. For uplink relay traffic, different end-to-end RBs (SRBs or DRBs) of the same remote WTRU and / or different remote UEs can be multiplexed over the same Uu relay RLC channel. The Uu SRAP sublayer supports L2 U2N remote WTRU identification for UL traffic. The L2 U2N remote WTRU Uu radio bearer identification and the local remote WTRU ID are included in the UL Uu SRAP header so that the gNB can correlate received packets with the specific PDCP entity associated with the correct Uu radio bearer for the remote WTRU. The PC5 SRAP sublayer in the L2 U2N remote WTRU supports UL bearer mapping between the remote WTRU Uu radio bearer and the egress PC5 relay RLC channel.

[0070] In the case of L2 U2N relay, for the downlink, The Uu SRAP sublayer supports DL bearer mapping in the gNB to map end-to-end radio bearers (Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs), Data Radio Bearers (DRBs)) of a remote WTRU to a Uu relay RLC channel over the relay WTRU Uu interface. The Uu SRAP sublayer supports DL bearer mapping and data multiplexing between multiple end-to-end radio bearers (SRBs or DRBs) of an L2 U2N remote WTRU and / or different L2 U2N remote UEs and one Uu relay RLC channel over the relay WTRU Uu interface. The Uu SRAP sublayer supports remote WTRU identification for DL traffic. The remote WTRU Uu radio bearer identification and the local remote WTRU ID are included in the Uu SRAP header by the gNB in the DL for the relay WTRU to map received packets from the remote WTRU Uu radio bearer to its associated PC5 relay RLC channel. The PC5 SRAP sublayer in the relay WTRU supports DL bearer mapping between the ingress Uu relay RLC channel and the egress PC5 relay RLC channel. The PC5 SRAP sublayer in the remote WTRU correlates the received packet to the particular PDCP entity associated with the correct Uu radio bearer of the remote WTRU based on the identification information contained in the Uu SRAP header.

[0071] The local remote WTRU ID is included in both the PC5 SRAP header and the Uu SRAP header. The L2 U2N relay WTRU is configured by the gNB with the local remote WTRU identifier (ID) used in the SRAP header. The remote WTRU obtains the local remote ID from the gNB via Uu RRC messages including RRCSetup, RRCReconfiguration, RRCResume, and RRCReestablishment. The Uu DRBs and Uu SRBs are mapped to different PC5 relay RLC channels and Uu relay RLC channels in both the PC5 and Uu hops.

[0072] It is the responsibility of the gNB to avoid collisions in the use of local remote WTRU IDs. The gNB may update the local remote WTRU ID by sending the updated local remote ID to the relay WTRU via an RRCReconfiguration message. The serving gNB may perform the local remote WTRU ID update independently of the PC5 unicast link L2 ID update procedure.

[0073] Multi-path The 3GPP specifications introduce Layer 2 WTRU to NW relaying. The main use case considered is that of a remote WTRU that is out of coverage. A multipath designation is desired. In multipath, the remote WTRU is assumed to be in coverage and can therefore utilize either the Uu path, the SL (relay) path, or both.

[0074] Sidelink Scheduling The sidelink supports two scheduling modes (resource allocation, scheduling) known as "Mode 1" and "Mode 2" (scheduling is the process of allocating resources for data transmission). For an in-coverage WTRU, the gNB can control whether the WTRU transmits using Mode 1 or Mode 2.

[0075] In Mode 1 scheduling, which can be used for RRC_CONNECTED sidelink WTRUs, the WTRU receives SL grants directly from the network in Downlink Control Information (DCI). In this case, the WTRU reports buffer status for SL data grouped by destination index (a destination index corresponds to a unique L2 destination ID or a source / destination L2 ID pair). The WTRU can report an SL Scheduling Request (SR) if no SL grant is available for the transmission of the pending data.

[0076] In Mode 2 scheduling, which may be used by a WTRU in any RRC state or out-of-coverage, the WTRU is configured with a resource pool that performs autonomous resource selection and scheduling. Resources are selected by the WTRU based on information (i.e., sensing results) in previous Sidelink Control Information (SCI) transmissions by other WTRUs.

[0077] Multipath allows the WTRU to save power by using relayed paths while maintaining the possibility of using the Uu path for robustness. In the case of static configuration (controlled by the network) of the UL path, there may be low-latency packet loss when there is a need to switch from one path to another. Similarly, relying on static configuration of replication may result in packet loss as NW signaling may need to be sent over the relayed path, which may be time-consuming. Finally, there may be temporary situations where one of the two links for replication is unavailable, which would reduce the reliability provided by replication.

[0078] In accordance with the present principles, a WTRU may be configured with a bearer configured for multipath. Such a bearer may have a common (Uu) PDCP layer, but may have two separate RLC entities associated with it: a Uu RLC entity for transmitting / receiving directly over Uu, and an SL RLC entity for transmitting / receiving via SL (from the WTRU to the NW relay). Data on the multipath bearer may be transmitted via the Uu path, the SL path, or both (i.e., duplication). If the WTRU is configured for duplication or decides to enable duplication for the multipath bearer (duplicated bearer), the WTRU may transmit PDCP PDUs via both the Uu path and the SL path.

[0079] The remote WTRU enables the replication autonomously. According to an embodiment, the remote WTRU may be configured with the conditions under which it enables / disables duplication on multipath bearers. Such conditions may depend on any one or a combination of the following factors: -Measurement of Uu quality (e.g., Uu Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)), -Measurement of SL quality (e.g., SL RSRP of relays, SL Channel Busy Ratio (CBR)), -SL scheduling mode (mode 1 vs. mode 2), - buffer status associated with multipath bearers; -SL channel occupancy ratio (Channel Ratio, CR), -priority, - flow control indications / measurements received from relay WTRUs; -Availability of SL or Uu resources, For example, whether there is permission for the data to be sent.

[0080] According to an embodiment, a remote WTRU may be configured with conditions regarding SL RSRP and / or Uu RSRP for which duplication may be enabled. Such configuration may be received via an RRC message. For example, if the measured Uu RSRP is below a first threshold and the measured SL RSRP is below a second threshold, the remote WTRU may enable duplication of a multipath bearer. The remote WTRU may be further configured with separate Uu RSRP and / or SL RSRP thresholds per bearer, per priority, or per flow control measurement received from the remote WTRU.

[0081] According to an embodiment, the remote WTRU may allow duplication if the Uu quality and the sidelink quality are within a threshold difference / offset from each other.

[0082] According to an embodiment, the remote WTRU may allow replication if the SL CBR is below a first threshold, the SL RSRP is below a second threshold, and the Uu RSRP is below a third threshold.

[0083] According to an embodiment, the remote WTRU may enable duplication based on certain conditions only if the SL priority and Uu priority configured for the multipath bearer are higher than a threshold priority.

[0084] The remote WTRU can compensate its transmission on one path based on an event on another path. According to an embodiment, a remote WTRU configured with multiple paths can compensate its transmission on one path (Uu or SL) based on an event occurring on another path (SL or Uu). In Figures 6a and 6b, 600 is a network node, for example, a gNB. 601 and 602 are WTRUs, and 602 is a relay WTRU. 610 and 611 are duplicated bearers, i.e., 610 is Uu and 611 is sidelink (SL). 612 is a link between the relay WTRU 602 and the network node 600. 620 is a configured grant, and 630 is the coverage area of the network node 600. In Figure 6a, the WTRU 601 is inside the coverage area of the network node 600. In Figure 6b, the WTRU 601 is outside the coverage area of the network node 600. The concept of inner / outer network node coverage is determined, for example, by the RSRP at the WTRU 601, eg, high Uu RSRP at the WTRU 601 in FIG. 6a and low Uu RSRP at the WTRU 601 in FIG. 6b, where high and low may, for example, be according to a threshold value.

[0085] According to an embodiment in which a remote WTRU configured with multiple paths can compensate its transmissions on one path (Uu or SL) based on an event occurring on another path (SL or Uu), the compensation of the transmission may consist of either: - Increase the priority of the transmission. For example, this may consist of changing the Logical Channel (LCH) priorities of the duplication, SL and / or Uu associated Logical Channels (LCHs) or transmission priority values, possibly for a temporary period, potentially for any operation on that link. ■ For example, a remote WTRU may consider its transmissions to be prioritized when making UL / SL prioritization decisions. For example, a remote WTRU may consider its transmissions to be prioritized when performing Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP). For example, when a remote WTRU performs sensing or preemption decisions, it may increase / decrease the priority of a transmission relative to other transmissions. Specifically, a transmission that would normally be preempted (due to its priority) may not be preempted. o For example, this may consist of increasing / decreasing the Packet Delay Budget (PDB) of transmissions on SL while operating in Mode 2. For example, a remote WTRU may be configured with a first PDB and a second PDB to be used for transmissions associated with a relayed SL LCH. If the WTRU detects a problem on the Uu link, the remote WTRU may change from using the first PDB to using the second PDB. -Apply / Do not apply LCP restrictions. For example, a WTRU may be able to use a grant for an LCH on one link when it detects a problem (e.g., transmission problem, reception problem, channel quality problem, etc.) on another link. Specifically, a WTRU may be configured with LCP restrictions applicable to a particular logical channel. Such restrictions may be temporarily applied or relaxed while the WTRU detects a problem (e.g., transmission problem, reception problem, channel quality problem, etc.) on another link of the multipath link. o For example, the WTRU may include replication-only data in a grant (on SL or Uu) when it detects a problem on the other link (eg, transmission problem, reception problem, channel quality problem, etc.). - Request and / or initiate a change in resource allocation mode. For example, the WTRU may request initiation of Mode 1 operation on the SL when it detects a problem (eg, transmission problem, reception problem, channel quality problem, etc.) on the SL. For example, the WTRU may fall back to Mode 2 operation on the SL when it detects a problem with the Uu link (eg, transmission problem, reception problem, channel quality problem, etc.). -SL Enable Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback. For example, the SL LCH may be configured to enable SL HARQ feedback only when certain conditions related to the events described herein are met. Specifically, the LCH is configured with SL HARQ feedback disabled under normal circumstances, and while the conditions associated with the events are met, the LCH is configured with SL HARQ feedback enabled. -Enable / disable different sensing mechanisms or sensing characteristics. o For example, this may consist of performing resource selection without sensing the results or using partial sensing. o For example, this may consist of requesting inter-WTRU coordination (IUC) to obtain sensing results.

[0086] The transmissions may be limited to transmissions associated with only multipaths. The transmissions may be limited to transmissions associated with logical channels that are mapped to bearers that allow duplication.

[0087] Events related to a path that may cause compensation on another path may consist of any of the following: - detection of Uu Radio Link Failure (RLF) or SL RLF, -Failure to acquire a shared channel (e.g., Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) failure). Receipt of multiple Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) negative acknowledgments (NACKs) or HARQ discontinuous transmissions (DTXs); For example, the number of consecutive HARQ NACKs, the number of HARQ NACKs within a configured time window, etc. - Link measurements above / below a certain threshold (e.g. RSRP, Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), CBR). Transmission to the path is not possible due to Discontinuous Reception (DRX). For example, during DRX off for that link. - Mobility indication received from a relay WTRU. Specifically, in the SL information message on PC5-RRC. - Uu RLF indication received from relay WTRU. Specifically, in the SL information message on PC5-RRC. Receipt of an indication from the network or from a relay WTRU (eg, a MAC Control Element (CE) indicating a problem with one link). - A flow control indication from a relay WTRU that meets certain criteria (ie, indicates a certain congestion level at the relay). -Preemption of transmissions on SL. For example, after preemption of a scheduled transmission by a remote WTRU operating in Mode 2. -Detection that one or more transmissions may be performed on the SL after the configured PDB - Buffer status for multipath bearers. For example, when the buffer condition for a multipath bearer exceeds a threshold (e.g., split bearer threshold).

[0088] In one embodiment, a WTRU configured with multiple paths (i.e., one path directly via Uu and a second path via SL from the WTRU to the NW relay) may prioritize SL transmissions with respect to UL / SL prioritization when the measured Uu RSRP is below a threshold. Alternatively, the priority increase may occur when the Uu RSRP is below a threshold and the SL RSRP of the relay WTRU is above a second threshold. The WTRU may further perform such an action only when considering SL transmissions associated with SL LCHs for multipath bearers and / or bearers configured with multipath duplication. The advantage of such a solution is to prioritize the SL path, assuming that the SL path has better performance.

[0089] In another embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with a Uu grant (e.g., a Type 1 or Type 2 configured grant such as 620) that can be used for SL problem / failure situations. Specifically, a remote WTRU may not normally be allowed to multiplex Uu LCHs associated with multipaths onto such a Uu grant. The remote WTRU may relax such LCP restrictions and may multiplex data from Uu LCHs associated with multipaths upon detection of an event herein, such as after receipt of a flow control message from the relay WTRU indicating congestion at the relay (e.g., a congestion measurement above a threshold). The remote WTRU may continue to use the Uu grant until a subsequent flow control message from the relay indicating that the congestion situation is resolved (e.g., a congestion measurement below a threshold).

[0090] In another embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with a Uu grant with an LCP restriction that does not allow data from Uu LCHs associated with multipath bearers, and the WTRU may temporarily multiplex data from bearers within that grant during periods when the relay WTRU is in SL DRX (i.e., SL DRX off periods).

[0091] In another embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with SL LCP restrictions associated with a particular grant, and the WTRU may enable use of such a grant for transmission of data from a SL LCH from a multipath bearer when a buffer condition associated with the multipath bearer exceeds a threshold.

[0092] In another embodiment, the WTRU may be configured with SL LCP restrictions associated with particular grants, and the WTRU may enable the use of such grants for transmission of data from SL LCHs from multipath bearers when the WTRU detects a Uu RLF.

[0093] In another embodiment, the WTRU may relax the Uu LCP restriction (i.e., put data from the Uu LCH into a grant on Uu) following several consecutive SL HARQ failures. In addition, the WTRU may validate Uu LCH data that may be associated with a Uu SL LCH that experienced a SL HARQ failure (i.e., corresponding to the same multipath bearer).

[0094] The relay WTRU receives an indication that downlink duplication is enabled / disabled. In one embodiment, the relay WTRU may receive an indication that downlink duplication is enabled / disabled for a particular Uu LCH. Specifically, the network may perform duplication of multipath bearers in the downlink and, upon initiating duplication, may notify the relay WTRU that a Uu LCH that is part of the multipath bearer is being duplicated over the direct link. Alternatively, when duplication of the Uu LCH is enabled, the WTRU may also receive an indication from the network indicating that duplication on the Uu LCH is disabled. The relay WTRU may receive such an indication in an RRC message (e.g., together with the LCH configuration) or in a MAC CE. Following receipt of such an indication, the relay WTRU may perform certain behaviors described herein.

[0095] The relay WTRU allows some Uu / SL behavior for replicated data According to an embodiment, the relay WTRU may enable some Uu / SL behavior associated with relayed data. Such data may represent data replicated by the remote WTRU over SL and Uu. The relay WTRU may decide whether to perform such behavior, possibly based on an indication from the remote WTRU and / or the network of the presence of relayed data. Alternatively, the relay WTRU may be configured to enable such behavior based on the configuration of an LCH associated with the multipath bearer. Alternatively, the relay WTRU may enable such behavior based on similar events described herein for performing actions at the remote WTRU. Such behavior may include any of the following: Relax / enable LCP restrictions associated with UL grants to relay WTRUs on Uu. For example, the relay WTRU may receive an indication (from the remote WTRU or from the network) that one or more SL LCHs received by the relay WTRU are associated with multipath / duplication at the remote WTRU. Based on such an indication, the relay WTRU may allow the use of a Uu grant (e.g., a Type 1 or Type 2 CG associated with an LCP restriction) for the transmission of a Uu LCH to which the SL LCHs are mapped by the adaptation layer. - Triggering a dedicated SR upon receipt of data from a remote WTRU. For example, a relay WTRU may be configured with a dedicated SR for low latency transmissions (e.g., dedicated SR for replicated data for URLLC). The relay WTRU may transmit an SR using the dedicated SR resources if the data available for transmission is associated with one or more SL LCHs indicated (e.g., by the remote WTRU or by the gNB) as carrying replicated / multipath data. - Transmit data over SL with enabled HARQ. o For example, a relay WTRU may receive an indication that duplication is initiated by the network on a multipath bearer and may enable SL HARQ for the associated mapped LCH on the SL.

[0096] Relay / remote WTRU allows LCP restrictions associated with replicated / non-replicated data According to an embodiment, a relay WTRU or a remote WTRU can be configured with an LCP restriction to include only duplicated / multipath data or non-duplicated / non-multipath data in an SL or Uu grant. Specifically, when the WTRU selects an LCH for a grant associated with duplicated / multipath data, the WTRU can only continue to multiplex the LCH associated with the duplicated / multipath data. The WTRU can be indicated in the grant that such a grant should be used only for duplicated / multipath data. Alternatively, the WTRU can perform such behavior for any grant. The WTRU can further enable / disable such LCP restriction based on events described herein.

[0097] For example, the remote WTRU may be configured with a type 1 / 2 configured grant (e.g., 620) on the SL. Such a configured grant may have a timing that allows, for example, duplicated transmissions on Uu and SL to arrive at similar times in the network. The remote WTRU may apply LCP restrictions to ensure that only duplicated data is included in such a grant.

[0098] According to an embodiment, the LCP restriction may be implicitly applied upon receipt of a grant over Uu. Specifically, a remote WTRU may receive a Uu grant and use it to transmit duplicated data. The WTRU may subsequently apply the LCP restriction to SL grants occurring within the time window of the Uu grant in order to use it for transmission of only the duplicated data.

[0099] According to an embodiment, the remote WTRU may perform resource selection, whereby the resource selection window is determined by the timing of the Uu grant. Specifically, the remote WTRU may use the Uu grant and the SL grant for transmission of replicated data and may be configured with a maximum time difference between the two grants for use with the resource selection.

[0100] Relay / remote WTRUs may handle duplicated data differently in UL / SL prioritization According to an embodiment, a relay or remote WTRU may process data associated with multipath / duplication differently than Uu / SL data that is not associated with multipath duplication.

[0101] According to an embodiment, the WTRU may prioritize a link (e.g., Uu) if the SL contains duplicated data and the Uu quality is good (e.g., Uu RSRP is above a threshold). The WTRU may prioritize Uu in this case even if the UL / SL prioritization rules indicate that SL should be prioritized. For example, the WTRU may apply a priority offset to determine whether to prioritize UL or SL.

[0102] According to an embodiment, the relay WTRU may receive an indication that the PDU was successfully transmitted on the direct path and may drop the duplicated PDU or reduce its priority with respect to UL / SL prioritization.

[0103] According to an embodiment, a method implemented by a WTRU is disclosed (see FIG. 4 ). - configuring 400 the WTRU for multipath bearer splitting on both the Uu link and the side link (SL) according to the received configuration information; using 401 a sidelink associated with a sidelink relay WTRU for multiplexing data from Uu logical channels (LCHs) associated with a multipath bearer; receiving a Uu grant indicated for temporary use and configuring the WTRU to allow at least one Uu LCH to use the Uu grant (e.g., high priority) based on at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU 402; - receiving 403 a first flow control message from the sidelink relay WTRU indicating at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU and temporarily multiplexing data from a Uu LCH associated with the multipath bearer onto the received Uu grant until receiving a second flow control message from the sidelink relay WTRU indicating an absence of the at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU; - reusing 404 a sidelink associated with the sidelink relay WTRU to multiplex data from a Uu LCH associated with the multipath bearer.

[0104] According to a further embodiment of the method implemented by the WTRU, the at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU is: - Congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU; The sidelink relay WTRU may be in a discontinuous reception (DRX) off period.

[0105] According to an embodiment, a method implemented by a WTRU is disclosed (see FIG. 5 ). - configuring 500 the WTRU for multipath bearer splitting of its transmissions on both a direct path via a Uu link to the network node and an indirect path to the network node via a sidelink (SL) associated with the sidelink relay WTRU in accordance with the received configuration information; - Compensating 501 for transmissions by the WTRU on the direct path or the indirect path based on an event occurring on the indirect path or the direct path.

[0106] According to a further embodiment of the method, compensating for transmission by the WTRU comprises: -Increasing the priority of transmissions and - Applying or not applying Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) decisions; -requesting a change in resource allocation mode; - Enabling SL Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback; - Enabling or disabling different sensing mechanisms or sensing characteristics.

[0107] According to a further embodiment, increasing the priority of the transmission may include changing the logical channel priority.

[0108] According to further embodiments, applying or not applying the LCP decision may include using a grant for the LCH over the SL when a problem is detected on the Uu link, or using a grant for the LCH over the Uu link when a problem is detected on the SL.

[0109] According to a further embodiment, requesting a change in resource allocation mode comprises: - requesting the initiation of Mode 1 on the SL when a problem is detected on the SL; - Falling back from Mode 1 operation to Mode 2 operation on the SL when a problem is detected on the Uu link.

[0110] According to a further embodiment, the event that occurs is: - detection of radio link failure (RLF) on the Uu link or SL, -Failure to acquire a shared channel on a Uu link or SL due to Listen Before Talk (LBT) failure; receiving a threshold number of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) negative acknowledgements (NACKs) or HARQ discontinuous transmissions (DTXs) on the Uu link or SL; - a measurement on the Uu link or SL, the measurement being one of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and Channel Busy Ratio (CBR), falls below a threshold; - the inability to transmit on the Uu link or SL due to discontinuous reception (DRX) off of the Uu link or SL; a flow control indication from the sidelink relay WTRU for the SL, indicating congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU; - preemption of transmissions on SL, - detecting that at least one transmission on the SL should be performed after a configured packet delay budget; - The buffer status of one of the multipath bearers exceeds a threshold.

[0111] According to an embodiment, a WTRU is disclosed that includes at least one processor, the processor comprising: configuring the WTRU for multipath bearer splitting on both the Uu link and the side link (SL) according to the received configuration information; using a sidelink associated with a sidelink relay WTRU to multiplex data from Uu logical channels (LCHs) associated with the multipath bearer; receiving a Uu grant indicated for temporary use and configuring the WTRU to allow at least one Uu LCH to use the (e.g., high priority) Uu grant based on at least one condition at the sidelink relay WTRU; receiving a first flow control message from the sidelink relay WTRU, the first flow control message indicating at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU; and temporarily multiplexing data from a Uu LCH associated with the multipath bearer onto the received Uu grant until receiving a second flow control message from the sidelink relay WTRU, the second flow control message indicating an absence of the at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU; It may be configured to reuse a sidelink associated with a sidelink relay WTRU to multiplex data from a Uu LCH associated with a multipath bearer.

[0112] According to a further embodiment of the WTRU, the at least one condition in the sidelink relay WTRU is: - Congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU; The sidelink relay WTRU may be in a discontinuous reception (DRX) off period.

[0113] According to an embodiment, a WTRU is disclosed that includes at least one processor, the processor comprising: - configuring the WTRU for multipath bearer splitting of its transmissions on both a direct path via a Uu link to the network node and an indirect path to the network node via a sidelink (SL) associated with the sidelink relay WTRU according to the received configuration information; It may be configured to compensate for transmissions by the WTRU on the direct or indirect path based on events occurring on the indirect or direct path.

[0114] According to a further embodiment of the WTRU, compensating transmissions by the WTRU comprises: -Increasing the priority of transmissions, - Applying or not applying Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) decisions; -requesting a change in resource allocation mode; - Enabling SL Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback; - enabling or disabling different sensing mechanisms or sensing characteristics.

[0115] According to a further embodiment of the WTRU, increasing the priority of the transmission may comprise changing the logical channel priority.

[0116] According to further embodiments of the WTRU, applying or not applying the LCP decision may include using a grant for the LCH on the SL when a problem is detected on the Uu link, or using a grant for the LCH on the Uu link when a problem is detected on the SL.

[0117] According to a further embodiment of the WTRU, requesting a change in resource allocation mode comprises: - requesting the initiation of Mode 1 on the SL when a problem is detected on the SL; - Falling back from Mode 1 operation to Mode 2 operation on the SL when a problem is detected on the Uu link.

[0118] According to a further embodiment of the WTRU, the event that occurs is: - detection of radio link failure (RLF) on the Uu link or SL, -Failure to acquire a shared channel on a Uu link or SL due to Listen Before Talk (LBT) failure; receiving a threshold number of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) negative acknowledgements (NACKs) or HARQ discontinuous transmissions (DTXs) on the Uu link or SL; - a measurement on the Uu link or SL, the measurement being one of Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), and Channel Busy Ratio (CBR), falls below a threshold; - the inability to transmit on the Uu link or SL due to discontinuous reception (DRX) off of the Uu link or SL; a flow control indication from the sidelink relay WTRU for the SL, indicating congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU; - preemption of transmissions on SL, - detecting that at least one transmission on the SL should be performed after a configured packet delay budget; - The buffer status of one of the multipath bearers exceeds a threshold.

[0119] An embodiment of the method implemented by a WTRU is shown in Figure 7. The WTRU may be, for example, WTRU 601 of Figures 6a-6b.

[0120] The method includes, at 700, receiving, by a WTRU (e.g., 601), configuration information for configuring multipath replication on both a direct path via a first link (e.g., 610) and an indirect path via a second link (e.g., 611) with a network node (e.g., 600), the second link being a sidelink associated with a sidelink relay WTRU (e.g., 602).

[0121] The method includes, at 701, transmitting, by a WTRU, multipath data to a network node both via a direct path via a first link and an indirect path via a second link.

[0122] The method includes, at 702, receiving, by the WTRU, a sidelink grant (e.g., a configured grant 620) for transmission of multipath data by the WTRU on sidelink transmission resources to be used under a first condition occurring on a direct path via a first link or under a second condition occurring on an indirect path via a second link, wherein the first condition and the second condition are included in the received configuration information.

[0123] The method includes, at 703, transmitting multipath data on an indirect path via a second link in sidelink transmission resources using the received sidelink grant based on a first condition occurring on a direct path via the first link or a second condition occurring on an indirect path via the second link.

[0124] According to an embodiment of the method, a first condition occurring in a direct path via a first link is determined based on comparing a measured reference signal received power on the first link with a reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

[0125] According to an embodiment of the method, a first condition occurring in the direct path via the first link is that the measured reference signal received power on the first link is lower than the reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information. This is illustrated in Figures 6a and 6b, for example, by WTRU 601 being inside or outside circle 630, where in Figure 6a, WTRU 601 is, for example, within a "good reception range" or "coverage area" of network node 600 (e.g., the measured reference signal received power on the first link is equal to or greater than (or higher than) the reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information) and in Figure 6b, WTRU 602 is, for example, not within a "good reception range" or "coverage area" of network node 600 (e.g., the measured reference signal received power on the first link is lower (or lower) than the reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information).

[0126] According to an embodiment of the method, the second condition occurring in the indirect path via the second link is determined based on receiving a message from the sidelink relay WTRU indicating congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU.

[0127] According to an embodiment of the method, the message indicates that congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU is higher than a threshold.

[0128] A wireless transmit receive unit (eg, 601), WTRU, comprising at least one processor is also disclosed.

[0129] The at least one processor is configured to receive configuration information for configuring multipath replication on both a direct path via a first link with the network node and an indirect path via a second link, the second link being a sidelink associated with the sidelink relay WTRU.

[0130] The at least one processor is configured to transmit the multipath data to the network node both on a direct path via the first link and on an indirect path via the second link.

[0131] The at least one processor is configured to receive a sidelink grant for transmission of multipath data by the WTRU on sidelink transmission resources to be used under a first condition occurring on a direct path via a first link or under a second condition occurring on an indirect path via a second link, the first condition and the second condition being included in the received configuration information.

[0132] The at least one processor is configured to transmit multipath data on an indirect path via the second link using the received sidelink transmission resource based on a first condition occurring on the direct path via the first link or a second condition occurring on the indirect path via the second link.

[0133] According to an embodiment, a first condition occurring in a direct path via a first link is determined by at least one processor based on comparing a measured reference signal received power on the first link with a reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

[0134] According to an embodiment, a first condition occurring in the direct path via the first link is that the measured reference signal received power on the first link is lower than the reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

[0135] According to an embodiment, the second condition occurring in the indirect path via the second link is determined by the at least one processor based on receiving a message from the sidelink relay WTRU indicating congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU.

[0136] According to an embodiment, the message indicates that congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU is above a threshold.

[0137] conclusion While features and elements have been provided above in particular combinations, those skilled in the art will understand that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. The present disclosure should not be limited in terms of the specific embodiments described herein; these embodiments are intended as illustrations of various aspects. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly stated as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the present disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, 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 should be limited only by the terms of such claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular method or system.

[0138] The foregoing embodiments are discussed with respect to the terminology and structure of infrared-enabled devices (i.e., infrared emitters and receivers) for simplicity, however, the discussed embodiments are not limited to these systems and may also be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves, or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0139] 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, the term “video” or “image” may mean any of a snapshot, a single image, and / or multiple images displayed over time. As another example, when referred to herein, the term “user equipment” and its abbreviation “UE,” “remote,” and / or the term “head-mounted display” or its abbreviation “HMD” may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU), (ii) any of several embodiments of a WTRU, (iii) a wireless-enabled and / or wired-enabled (e.g., tetherable) device configured to have, among other things, some or all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, (iii) a wireless-enabled and / or wired-enabled device configured to have less than all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU that may represent any WTRU listed herein are provided herein with respect to FIGS. 1A-1D. As another example, various embodiments disclosed herein above and below are described as utilizing a head-mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that devices other than head-mounted displays may be utilized and that some or all of the present disclosure and the various disclosed embodiments may be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other devices may include drones or other devices configured to stream information to provide an adaptive reality experience.

[0140] Additionally, the methods provided 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 computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as 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.

[0141] Modifications to the methods, apparatus, and systems provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. In view of the wide variety of possible embodiments, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the following claims. For example, the embodiments provided herein include portable devices, which may include or be utilized with any suitable voltage source, such as a battery providing any suitable voltage.

[0142] Additionally, in the above embodiments, it should be noted that processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices include processors. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practices of those skilled in the art of computer programming, references to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "executed by a computer," or "executed by a CPU."

[0143] Those skilled in the art will understand that the operations and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by a CPU. The electrical system represents data bits that may cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals, and maintains the data bits in memory locations in a memory system, thereby reconfiguring or otherwise altering the operation of the CPU and the processing of other signals. The memory locations where 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 embodiments are not limited to the platforms or CPUs mentioned above, and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0144] The data bits may also be maintained on computer-readable media, 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 systems readable by a CPU. The computer-readable media may include computer-readable media that reside exclusively on a processing system, or distributed, cooperative, or interconnected among multiple interconnected processing systems, which may be local or remote to a processing system. It should be understood that embodiments are not limited to the memories mentioned above, and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0145] 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, which may be executed by a processor of a mobile, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0146] There is little distinction between hardware and software implementations of aspects of a system. Whether to use hardware or software is generally (though not always, the choice between hardware and software can be important in certain contexts) a design choice that represents a trade-off between cost and efficiency. There may be various implementations (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware) in which the processes and / or systems and / or other techniques described herein may be effective, and the preferred implementation 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 implementation. 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.

[0147] The foregoing detailed description has illustrated various embodiments of devices and / or processes through the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. To the extent that such block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be individually and / or collectively implemented by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or indeed any combination thereof. In 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 forms. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that certain aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein may be equivalently implemented, in whole or in part, in integrated circuits, 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 any practical 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. Additionally, those skilled in the art will understand that the subject matter mechanisms described herein may be distributed as program products in various forms, and that 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 media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CDs, DVDs, digital tape, computer memory, and transmission media such as digital and / or analog communications media (e.g., fiber optic cables, wave guides, wired communications links, wireless communications links, etc.).

[0148] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common in the art to describe devices and / or processes in the manner described herein and then use engineering techniques to integrate such described devices and / or processes into a data processing system. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein can be integrated into a data processing system through a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of the following: a system unit housing; a video display device; memory, such as volatile and non-volatile memory; a processor, such as a microprocessor and a digital signal processor; computational entities, such as an operating system, drivers, a graphical user interface, and application programs; one or more interaction devices, such as a touchpad or screen; and / or a control system, including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication systems and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0149] The subject matter described herein may depict different components contained within or connected to different other components. It should be understood that such depicted 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 herein that combine to achieve a particular function may be considered to be “associated” with each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, regardless of the architecture or intervening components. Similarly, any two components so associated may be considered to be “operably connected” or “operably coupled” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components that can be associated in this way may also be considered to be “operably coupleable” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Examples of operably coupleable include, but are not limited to, components that are physically matable and / or physically interacting, and / or components that are wirelessly interacting and / or wirelessly interacting, and / or components that logically interact and / or logically interacting.

[0150] With respect to the use of virtually any plural and / or singular term herein, those skilled 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.

[0151] 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 "open" 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," the term "including" should be interpreted as "including, but not limited to," etc.). Furthermore, where a specific number of introduced claim recitations are intended, such intention will be explicitly stated in the claim; in the absence of such statement, those skilled in the art will understand that no such intention 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 description of this specification may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed 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 embodiments that include only that one recitation, even if the same claim also includes 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. Additionally, even when a specific number of introduced claim recitations is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the simple recitation "two recitations" without any other modifiers means at least two recitations, or more than two recitations).Furthermore, when notation similar to "such as at least one of A, B, and C" is used, such structure is generally intended as the meaning that one 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 A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together). When notation similar to "such as at least one of A, B, or C" is used, such structure is generally intended as the meaning that one 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 A only, B only, C only, 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, whether in the specification, claims, or drawings, any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms 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" is understood to include the possibilities 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 plurality of," and / or "any combination of" the items and / or categories of items, individually or in combination with other items and / or other categories of items. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "set" 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. Also, as used herein, the term "multiple" is intended to be synonymous with "plurality."

[0152] Additionally, 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 thereby described in terms of any individual element or subgroup of elements of the Markush group.

[0153] 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. 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 discussed herein may be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third, upper third, etc. Also, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, all terms such as "up to," "at least," "more than," and "less than" refer to ranges that are inclusive of the recited numbers and that can subsequently be broken down into subranges, as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, ranges include 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.

[0154] Furthermore, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or to the provided elements unless specifically so stated. Additionally, the use of the term "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6, or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the term "means for" is not so intended.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), comprising: receiving, by the WTRU, configuration information for configuring multipath replication on both a direct path via a first link to a network node and an indirect path via a second link, the second link being a sidelink associated with a sidelink relay WTRU; transmitting multipath data to the network node on both the direct path via the first link and the indirect path via the second link; receiving a sidelink grant for transmission of multipath data by the WTRU on sidelink transmission resources to be used under a first condition occurring on the direct path via the first link or under a second condition occurring on the indirect path via the second link, the first condition and the second condition being included in the received configuration information; and transmitting multipath data on the indirect path via the second link in the sidelink transmission resources using the received sidelink grant based on the first condition occurring on the direct path via the first link or the second condition occurring on the indirect path via the second link.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first condition occurring in the direct path via the first link is determined based on comparing a measured reference signal received power on the first link to a reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first condition occurring in the direct path via the first link is that the measured reference signal received power on the first link is lower than the reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

4. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second condition occurring in the indirect path via the second link is determined based on receiving a message from the sidelink relay WTRU indicating congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the message indicates that the congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU is above a threshold.

6. 1. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: at least one processor, the at least one processor receiving configuration information for configuring multipath replication on both a direct path via a first link to a network node and an indirect path via a second link, the second link being a sidelink associated with a sidelink relay WTRU; transmitting multipath data to the network node on both the direct path via the first link and the indirect path via the second link; receiving a sidelink grant for transmission of multipath data by the WTRU on sidelink transmission resources to be used under a first condition occurring on the direct path via the first link or under a second condition occurring on the indirect path via the second link, the first condition and the second condition being included in the received configuration information; and transmitting multipath data on the indirect path via the second link using the received sidelink grant in the sidelink transmission resources based on the first condition occurring on the direct path via the first link or the second condition occurring on the indirect path via the second link.

7. 7. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the first condition occurring in the direct path via the first link is determined by the at least one processor based on comparing a measured reference signal received power on the first link with a reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

8. 8. The WTRU of claim 7, wherein the first condition occurring in the direct path via the first link is that the measured reference signal received power on the first link is lower than the reference signal received power value included in the received configuration information.

9. 9. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the second condition occurring in the indirect path via the second link is determined by the at least one processor based on receiving a message from the sidelink relay WTRU indicating congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU.

10. The WTRU of claim 9 , wherein the message indicates that the congestion at the sidelink relay WTRU is higher than a threshold.

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