Method and apparatus for WTRU member selection using network slice availability analysis

Abstract

A network node receives a request from an application function for assistance in selecting a radio transceiver unit (WTRU) for federated learning operations. The request includes an indication of a first list of candidate WTRUs, an indication of at least one filtering criterion, and an indication of contribution weights for each WTRU. The contribution weight indications the minimum relative importance of each service experience of the WTRU based on service experience type, time, or location. The network node sends a notification to the application function, which includes an indication of a second list of a subset of candidate WTRUs. Each WTRU shown in the second list has a service experience metric weighted based on contribution weights, satisfying at least one filtering criterion.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 457,657, filed on April 6, 2023, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Background Art

[0002] The Network Data Analysis Function (NWDAF) can provide service consumers with Observed Service Experience (Observed Service Experience) analysis, such as for network functions (NF) or application functions (AF). The Observed Service Experience can be the mean of the Observed Service Mean Opinion Score (MoS) and / or the variance of the Observed Service MoS, which represents the Service MoS distribution for services such as audiovisual streaming, as well as non-audiovisual streaming services such as V2X and web browsing services. Observed service experiences can be provided for specific network slices (e.g., groups of radio transceiver units WTRUs in Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI), groups of WTRUs running specific applications (e.g., application IDs), groups of WTRUs applying rule selection components (e.g., S-NSSAI, data network name (DNN), protocol data unit (PDU) session type, secondary component carrier (SSC) mode, and / or access type), groups of WTRUs in specific radio access technology (RAT) types or frequencies, and / or groups of WTRUs in specific UP routes transporting traffic for EDGE applications). As part of the conclusions reached at the end of the 3GPP TR23.700-80 study on 5G system support for AI / ML-based services, it was agreed that whether service experience analysis can be used can be discussed during the normative phase. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] A method and apparatus for WTRU member selection using network slice availability analytics is described. The method, implemented at a network node, includes the step of receiving a request from an application function for assistance in selecting radio transceiver units (WTRUs) for federated learning operations. The request includes an indication of a first list of candidate WTRUs, an indication of at least one filtering criterion, and an indication of contribution weights for each WTRU indicated in the candidate list. The contribution weight indications the minimum relative importance of each service experience of the WTRUs indicated in the list, based on at least one of service experience type, time, or location. The method further includes the step of sending a notification to the application function, the notification including an indication of a second list of a subset of candidate WTRUs. Each WTRU indicated in the second list has a service experience metric weighted based on contribution weights that satisfies at least one filtering criterion. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0004] A more detailed understanding can be obtained from the following explanation, which is given as an example in conjunction with the attached drawings, where similar reference numbers in the drawings indicate similar elements.

[0005] [Figure 1A] This is a system diagram showing an exemplary communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. [Figure 1B] This is a system diagram showing an exemplary wireless transceiver unit (WTRU) that may be used in the communication system of Figure 1A according to one embodiment. [Figure 1C]This figure shows an exemplary radio access network (RAN) and core network (CN) that may be used in the communication system shown in Figure 1A according to one embodiment. [Figure 1D] This is a system diagram showing further exemplary RAN and CN that may be used in the communication system of Figure 1A according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a signal diagram of an example of a WTRU member selection framework. [Figure 3A] This is a signal diagram illustrating an exemplary method for assisting WTRU member selection based on service experience filtering. [Figure 3B] This is a signal diagram illustrating an exemplary method for assisting WTRU member selection based on service experience filtering. [Figure 4] This is a signal diagram of an exemplary method for assisting WTRU member selection based on network slice availability analysis. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for assisting in WTRU member selection. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0006] Figure 1A is a system diagram showing an exemplary communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content such as voice, data, video, messaging, and broadcast to multiple radio users. The communication system 100 can enable multiple radio users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including radio bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique-word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtering OFDM, and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC).

[0007] As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system 100 may include radio transceiver units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104, a core network (CN) 106, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the internet 110, and other networks 112, but it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments intend any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a radio environment. For example, WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may all be referred to as “stations” and / or “STAs” and may be configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals, and may include (or be) user equipment (UEs), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspots or Mi-Fi devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or automated processing chain context), consumer electronics devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks. Any of WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may interchangeably be referred to as UEs.

[0008] The communication system 100 may also include base stations 114a and / or base stations 114b. Each of the base stations 114a and 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or network 112. As an example, base stations 114a and 114b may be any of the following: base station transceiver station (BTS), node B (NB), e-node B (eNB), home node B (HNB), home e-node B (HeNB), g-node B (gNB), NR node B (NR NB), site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, etc. Although base stations 114a and 114b are shown as single elements, it will be understood that base stations 114a and 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0009] Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), and relay nodes. Base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals on one or more carrier frequencies, sometimes called cells (not shown). These frequencies may be licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell can provide coverage for radio services to a specific geographic area that may be relatively fixed or change over time. A cell may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, a cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In one embodiment, base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, and multiple transceivers may be available for each sector of the cell or any sector. For example, beamforming can be used to transmit and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0010] Base stations 114a and 114b can communicate with one or more WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d via an air interface 116, the air interface 116 may be any suitable radio communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0011] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA. For example, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c in RAN 104 may implement radio technologies such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which can establish an air interface 116 using broadband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Advanced HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0012] In one embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement radio technologies such as Advanced UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which can establish an air interface 116 using Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0013] In one embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement radio technologies such as NR radio access, which can establish an air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0014] In one embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for example, using the dual connectivity (DC) principle. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions from / to multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0015] In one embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can implement wireless technologies 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), GSM Advanced Data Rate (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN).

[0016] In Figure 1A, base station 114b may be, for example, a wireless router, home node B, home enode B, or access point, and can utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in localized areas such as offices, homes, vehicles, premises, industrial facilities, aerial corridors (for use by drones, for example), and roads. In one embodiment, base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d can implement wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In one embodiment, base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d can implement wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In one embodiment, base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d can utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish any small cell, picocell, or femtocell. As shown in Figure 1A, base station 114b may have a direct connection to the internet 110. Therefore, base station 114b may not be required to access the internet 110 via CN 106.

[0017] RAN104 may communicate with CN106, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d. The data may have various Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, including different throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, and mobility requirements. CN106 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, internet connectivity, video distribution, and / or implement high-level security features, such as user authentication. Although not shown in Figure 1A, it will be understood that RAN104 and / or CN106 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs employing the same RAT as RAN104 or different RATs. For example, in addition to being connected to RAN104, which may utilize NR radio technology, CN106 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) employing one of the following technologies: GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technology.

[0018] CN106 can also function as a gateway for WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN108 can include a circuit-switched telephone network that provides plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 can include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols such as TCP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and / or IP in the Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) Internet protocol suite. The network 112 can include wired and / or wireless communication networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the network 112 can include another CN connected to one or more RANs that can employ the same RAT as the RAN104 or a different RAT.

[0019] Some or all of the WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communication system 100 can include multimode capabilities (e.g., the WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, 102d can include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks via different wireless links). For example, the WTRU102c shown in Figure 1A can be configured to communicate with a base station 114a that can employ cellular-based wireless technology and can be configured to communicate with a base station 114b that can employ IEEE802 wireless technology.

[0020] Figure 1B is a system diagram showing an exemplary WTRU 102. As shown in Figure 1B, the WTRU 102 may include, in particular, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transceiver element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power supply 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 partial combination of the above elements while remaining consistent with one embodiment.

[0021] The processor 118 may be a general-purpose processor, a dedicated 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 can 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 transceiver element 122. Although Figure 1B shows the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together, for example, in an electronic package or chip.

[0022] The transceiver element 122 can be configured to transmit signals to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transceiver element 122 can be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In one embodiment, the transceiver element 122 can be a transmitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive, for example, IR, UV, or visible light signals. In one embodiment, the transceiver element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF signals and optical signals. It will be understood that the transceiver element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0023] Although the transceiver element 122 is shown in FIG. 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 can include any number of transceiver elements 122. For example, the WTRU 102 can employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 can include two or more transceiver elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals via the air interface 116.

[0024] The transceiver 120 can be configured to modulate the signals that will be transmitted by the transceiver element 122 and demodulate the signals received by the transceiver element 122. As described above, the WTRU 102 can have multimode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 can include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0025] The processor 118 of the WTRU102 may be coupled to a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit) and may receive user input data from them. The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. Furthermore, the processor 118 may access information from any type of suitable memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132, and store data therein. 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. Removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identification module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, etc. In other embodiments, the processor 118 can access information from memory not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or home computer (not shown), and store data therein.

[0026] The processor 118 may be configured to receive power from the power supply 134 and distribute and / or control power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power supply 134 can be any suitable device for supplying power to the WTRU 102. For example, the power supply 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), a solar cell, a fuel cell, etc.

[0027] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or instead of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) via the air interface 116 and / or determine its location based on the timing of when signals are received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information via any preferred location determination method while remaining consistent with one embodiment.

[0028] The processor 118 may be further coupled to other 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, peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or videos), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency-modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. 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, a compass sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor, a geolocation sensor, an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0029] WTRU102 may include a full-duplex radio where the transmission and reception of some or all of a signal may be parallel and / or simultaneous, associated with a specific subframe for both an uplink (for transmission, for example) and a downlink (for reception, for example). The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit for reducing and / or substantially eliminating self-interference via signal processing either through hardware (e.g., chokes) or through a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In one embodiment, WTRU102 may include a half-duplex radio, which is for the transmission and reception of some or all of a signal (e.g., associated with a specific subframe for either an uplink (for transmission, for example) or a downlink (for reception, for example).

[0030] Figure 1C is a system diagram showing RAN104 and CN106 according to one embodiment. As described above, RAN104 can employ E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. RAN104 may also communicate with CN106.

[0031] RAN104 may include enodes B160a, 160b, and 160c, but it will be understood that RAN104 may include any number of enodes B while remaining consistent with one embodiment. Each of enodes B160a, 160b, and 160c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. In one embodiment, enodes B160a, 160b, and 160c can implement MIMO technology. Thus, enode B160a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit radio signals to and receive radio signals from WTRU102a.

[0032] Each of the e-nodes B160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle wireless resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling on uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), etc. As shown in Figure 1C, the e-nodes B160a, 160b, and 160c can communicate with each other via the X2 interface.

[0033] The CN106 shown in Figure 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 above elements is shown as part of CN106, it will be understood that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0034] The MME162 can be connected to each of the e-nodes B160a, 160b, and 160c in RAN104 via the S1 interface and can act as a control node. For example, the MME162 can be responsible for authenticating users of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, activating / deactivating bearers, and selecting a specific serving gateway during the initial attachment of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. The MME162 can provide control plane functionality for switching between RAN104 and other RANs (not shown) employing other radio technologies such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0035] The SGW164 can be connected to each of the e-nodes B160a, 160b, and 160c in RAN104 via the S1 interface. The SGW164 can generally route and forward user data packets to and from WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. The SGW164 can perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during e-node B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, and managing and remembering the context of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0036] SGW164 may be connected to PGW166, which can provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet-switched network such as the Internet 110 to facilitate communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0037] CN106 can facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN106 can provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks such as PSTN108, thereby facilitating communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and legacy landline communication devices. For example, CN106 may include or communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between CN106 and PSTN108. Furthermore, CN106 can provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0038] Although the WTRU is described as a wireless terminal in Figures 1A to 1D, in certain representative embodiments, such a terminal is intended to be able to use a wired communication interface with a communication network (for example, temporarily or permanently).

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

[0040] In Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode, a WLAN may have access points (APs) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the APs. APs may have access to or interfaces with distributed systems (DSs) or other types of wired / wireless networks that carry traffic during and / or from the BSS. Traffic originating outside the BSS to the STAs may arrive through the APs and be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from the STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the APs to be delivered to their respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the APs; for example, a source STA can send traffic to the AP, and the AP can deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS is considered and / or sometimes referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between a source STA and a destination STA (for example, directly between them) via a direct link setup (DLS). In some typical embodiments, the DLS may be an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11z tunnel DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have access points (APs), and STAs within or using IBSS (for example, all STAs) can communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode is sometimes referred to as the “ad-hoc” communication mode in this specification.

[0041] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure operating mode or a similar operating mode, an AP can transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel can be a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel can be the operating channel of the BSS, which can be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In some typical embodiments, Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) can be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. In CSMA / CA, an STA, including the AP (e.g., any STA), can sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, that STA can backoff. One STA (e.g., only one station) can transmit at any given time within a given BSS.

[0042] A high-throughput (HT) STA can use a 40MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of a primary 20MHz channel and adjacent or non-adjacent 20MHz channels to form a 40MHz wide channel.

[0043] Ultra-high throughput (VHT) STAs can support 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, and / or 160MHz wide channels. 40MHz channels and / or 80MHz channels can be formed by combining consecutive 20MHz channels. 160MHz channels can be formed by combining eight consecutive 20MHz channels, or by combining two discontinuous 80MHz channels, sometimes referred to as an 80+80 configuration. In the 80+80 configuration, data can be passed through a segment parser that, after channel encoding, can split the data into two streams. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing can be performed separately for each stream. The streams can be mapped onto two 80MHz channels, and the data can be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of a receiving STA, the operation described above for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be sent to a media access control (MAC) layer, entities, etc.

[0044] Sub-1GHz operating modes are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. Channel operating bandwidth and carrier are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5MHz, 10MHz, and 20MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1MHz, 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, and 16MHz bandwidths using the non-TVWS spectrum. According to a typical embodiment, 802.11ah can support meter-type control / machine-type communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have limited capabilities, including support for some and / or limited bandwidths (e.g., support only for that). MTC devices may include batteries with above-threshold battery life (e.g., to maintain very long battery life).

[0045] A WLAN system that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, includes a channel that can be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by the STA that supports the minimum bandwidth operating mode from among all STAs operating in the BSS. In the 802.11ah example, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for an STA (e.g., an MTC type device) that supports (e.g., only) 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 detection and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel is busy because an STA (which only supports 1MHz operating mode) is transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band may be considered busy, even though a large portion of the frequency band remains idle and could be available.

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

[0047] Figure 1D is a system diagram showing RAN104 and CN106 according to one embodiment. As described above, RAN104 can employ NR radio technology to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. RAN104 may also communicate with CN106.

[0048] RAN104 may include gNB180a, 180b, and 180c, but it will be understood that RAN104 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with one embodiment. Each of the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNB180a and 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. Thus, the gNB180a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit radio signals to and / or receive radio signals from the WTRU102a. In one embodiment, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, gNB180a can transmit multiple component carriers to WTRU102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on the unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on the licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can implement coordinated multi-point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU102a can receive coordinated transmissions from gNB180a and gNB180b (and / or gNB180c).

[0049] WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using transmissions associated with scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol intervals and / or OFDM subcarrier intervals may differ for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different parts of the radio transmission spectrum. WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using subframes or transmit time intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (including, for example, a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or a varying length of absolute time that persists).

[0050] gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can be configured to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c in standalone and / or non-standalone configurations. In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c without accessing other RANs (such as e-nodes B160a, 160b, and 160c). In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can utilize one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using signals in unlicensed bands. In a non-standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c while also communicating with other RANs such as enodes B160a, 160b, and 160c. For example, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can implement DC principles to communicate substantially simultaneously with one or more gNB180a, 180b, and 180c, and one or more enodes B160a, 160b, and 160c. In a non-standalone configuration, enodes B160a, 160b, and 160c can act as mobility anchors for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, and gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can provide additional coverage and / or throughput to service WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0051] Each of the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to user plane functions (UPF) 184a and 184b, routing of control plane information to access and mobility management functions (AMF) 182a and 182b, etc. As shown in Figure 1D, the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can communicate with each other via the Xn interface.

[0052] The CN106 shown in Figure 1D may include at least one AMF182a, 182b, at least one UPF184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF)183a, 183b, and at least one Data Network (DN)185a, 185b. While each of the above elements is shown as part of CN106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0053] AMF182a and 182b can be connected to one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c in RAN104 via the N2 interface and can act as control nodes. For example, AMF182a and 182b can be responsible for user authentication of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selection of specific SMF183a and 183b, management of registration areas, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, etc. Network slicing can be used by AMF182a and 182b to customize CN support for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c based on the type of service being utilized by WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services relying on ultra-high reliability low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, and services for MTC access. AMF182a, 182b can provide control plane functionality for switching between RAN104 and other RANs (not shown) employing other radio technologies such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as Wi-Fi.

[0054] SMF183a and 183b can be connected to AMF182a and 182b in CN106 via the N11 interface. SMF183a and 183b can also be connected to UPF184a and 184b in CN106 via the N4 interface. SMF183a and 183b can select and control UPF184a and 184b and configure the routing of traffic through UPF184a and 184b. SMF183a and 183b can perform other functions such as managing and allocating UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing downlink data notifications. PDU session types can be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0055] UPF184a and 184b may be connected to one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c in RAN104 via the N3 interface, and they can provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet-switched network, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices. UPF184a and 184b can perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, and providing mobility anchoring.

[0056] CN106 can facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN106 may include or be able to communicate with an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between CN106 and PSTN108. Furthermore, CN106 can provide WTRU102a,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 one embodiment, WTRU102a,102b,102c may be connected to DN185a,185b through UPF184a,184b via an N3 interface to UPF184a,184b, and an N6 interface between UPF184a,184b and local data networks (DN) 185a,185b.

[0057] In view of Figures 1A to 1D and their corresponding descriptions, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with respect to any of the WTRU 102a to d, base stations 114a to b, e-nodes B160a to c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a to c, AMF 182a to b, UPF 184a to b, SMF 183a to b, DN 185a to b, and / or any other (one or more) elements / devices described herein may be implemented by one or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). An emulation device may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, an emulation device may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

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

[0059] One or more emulation devices can perform one or more functions, including all of the above, while not implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, an emulation device may be used in a test laboratory and / or in a test scenario in a non-deployed (e.g., test) wired and / or wireless communication 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 (e.g., including one or more antennas) may be used by an emulation device to transmit and / or receive data.

[0060] 5GS support for member selection can allow the AF to request assistance from 5GS in selecting WTRUs that the AF can consider when supporting several applications, such as federated learning. When the AF expects 5GS to select candidate members, it can provide an initial list of target WTRUs, filtering criteria, and other details such as a time window. Using the filtering criteria from the AF, 5GS can derive actions that enable it to collect data from relevant network functions and thus identify candidate WTRUs. For example, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) can use QoS requirements as filtering criteria for selecting candidate members.

[0061] Figure 2 is a signal diagram of an example WTRU member selection framework. In the example shown in Figure 2, AF202 can send a member selection subscribe message to NEF204, which may include, for example, an initial WTRU list and WTRU member filtering criteria (208). NEF204 can obtain service authorization for the AF request and map the WTRU member filtering criteria to the corresponding service action (210). NEF204 can provide the service action to 5GC NF206 (212), which may depend on specific WTRU member filtering criteria. NEF204 can integrate all the information gathered from other 5GC NF206s to derive a list of candidate WTRUs (214). NEF204 can send a member selection notification message to AF (216), which may include, for example, a list of candidate WTRUs.

[0062] Associative Learning (FL) follows a collaborative training method in which each device trains a local model using local training data, and the server generates a global model by combining the parameters of the local models. However, FL is vulnerable to system heterogeneity, for example, when local devices have varying computational, memory, or communication capabilities. Therefore, it can be important for AF to remove low-performing devices, which can significantly impact FL operation by delaying convergence. As mentioned above, it was agreed that whether service experience analysis can be used can be discussed during the normative stage, but conventional systems allow service consumers to request service experiences, but have not gone further on how service experience analysis can assist in the process of selecting WTRU members for associative learning operation, for example. Therefore, it is unclear how service experiences can be requested by AF and used by NEF to make WTRU member selection. Embodiments described herein can provide solutions for requesting member selection assistance to identify members based on service experience on a specific path leading to an edge computing network (ECN); requesting member selection assistance to identify members in sub-slice locations to narrow the search for candidate WTRUs; requesting member selection assistance to identify members based on reputation metrics or specific weights that AF can provide to 5GC; and requesting member selection assistance to identify members based on the type of service experience being measured, for example, whether the service experience is measured on a service that supplies AIML federated learning behavior, AIML model / data distribution, or AIML split behavior.

[0063] In conventional 5G systems, service consumers can request different levels of service experience for one or more WTRUs. Depending on the service consumer, service consumer analysis can be used differently. For example, the Session Management Function (SMF) can consider service experience analysis per UP path to select a Target Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI) and therefore determine whether a UPF in the data path should be removed.

[0064] With the introduction of WTRU member selection functionality, NEFs are expected to provide WTRU member candidates that take into account data collection from other NFs. However, the current filtering criteria that NEFs use to derive the list of WTRU candidates do not take into account the relative impact on application behavior when a WTRU with a suboptimal service experience is included in the list, for example, when its quality of service (QoS) measurements exceed an acceptable threshold.

[0065] This specification describes a mechanism that allows WTRU service experience analysis to be included in the selection of WTRU member candidates, while enabling the AF to request filtering criteria that take into account weighting factors, service experience types, and specific UP paths on a given network slice. The advantage of this extension is that by including service experience filtering criteria, the AF can ensure that the NEF filters in / out WTRUs, taking into account their MoS, which may be derived from aspects such as computation, storage, or battery capacity. For example, this can enable overall improved performance during FL operation and ensure optimal model convergence.

[0066] In some embodiments, the AF can first request WTRU member selection assistance and provide observation service experience filtering criteria that can take into account the presence of scattered WTRUs. For example, by using contribution weights, an AF consumer can provide minimum relative importance for target WTRUs from a list to be provided to the NEF. The contribution weights associated with a target WTRU may have different values ​​depending on the location, time window, access type, service experience type, and / or WTRU reputation or credibility metric. The AF can map application artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML) (AIML) behavior to application IDs and service experience types, and for example, a service experience type can be associated with a customized MoS based on a service level agreement (SLA) between an application service provider (ASP) and a mobile network operator (MNO). The AF can request that the service experience be measured on a particular area by providing either a list of DNAIs, geographical locations, or location availability information that matches network slice service areas. It can also associate contribution weights with such locations. AF can, for example, request that the observation service experience be complemented by performance data from one or more AF producers on a specific AS instance and location, as well as for a specific application ID, S-NSSAI / DNN, by providing a specific DNAI and a specific service flow.

[0067] In some embodiments, the NEF can use an AF request, including service experience filtering criteria, in combination with other filtering information, such as QoS filtering, to derive associated service experience service data. The NEF can use the service experience contribution weights included in the service experience filtering criteria to select WTRU member candidates based on service experience service data collected from the AF producer and other NFs such as SMF / UPF.

[0068] Figures 3A and 3B are signal diagrams of exemplary methods for WTRU member selection assistance based on service experience filtering. In the example shown in Figure 3, AF consumer 302 can request WTRU member selection assistance by providing an observed service experience filtering criterion and, in some embodiments, other relevant filtering criteria, such as a QoS filtering criterion (312). The observed service experience filtering criterion may include contribution weights associated with location, time window, application ID, and service experience type. For example, contribution weights may be provided to favor a service experience type for federated learning at a particular location and may further be associated with credibility or reputation metric credibility (e.g., based on historical performance / contributions published by the WTRU).

[0069] NEF304 can request service authorization for AF consumer requests and map the received service experience filtering criteria to one or more service actions in combination with other relevant filtering criteria, such as QoS filtering criteria (314). For example, NEF304 can derive service actions to request analysis from NWDAF306 or QoS monitoring from SMF or UPF310. NEF304 can perform discovery and selection of relevant NF producers that support the service actions obtained in (314) (316). NEF can subscribe to service experience analysis and can subscribe to QoS monitoring (318-324). NEF304 can use the service experience type provided by AF consumer 302 to interpret a customized MoS using carrier policies (326). NEF304 can use contribution weights provided by AF Consumer 302, which should be used as reporting thresholds when selecting WTRU candidate members, associated with application and service experience types (e.g., application AIML behavior), as well as applicable to location, time window, access type, and / or reputation or credibility. For example, a WTRU located within a network slice service area, connected via DNAI, and running an application whose service experience type is associated with application AIML behavior may be considered a WTRU member candidate if its application service experience exceeds the reporting threshold. NEF304 can notify the results of the WTRU member selection, including a list of candidate WTRU members (328). NEF304 can periodically notify AF302 about selected WTRU members based on changes in conditions / context experienced by one or more selected WTRUs with respect to the observed service experience filtering criteria and other filtering criteria described above.

[0070] In some embodiments, WTRU member selection assistance can be extended. For example, NWDAF306 can be extended to provide new analytical information or predictions regarding slice availability duration information (e.g., how long a slice will be available to a WTRU before it becomes unavailable due to mobility or other factors). NWDAF306 can collect WTRU mobility information and slice availability information and provide a slice with a prediction of how long a WTRU will remain registered before it becomes unavailable due to RA restrictions, NSSRG restrictions, NSACF changes, NSA, etc. In some embodiments, NWDAF306 can create analytical information or predictions regarding WTRU availability duration at specific locations (e.g., how long a WTRU will be available at a specific location or in a specific area). An application may want to engage with a WTRU for a specific period of time in a specific area.

[0071] Figure 4 is a signal diagram of an exemplary method for WTRU member selection assistance based on network slice availability analysis. In the example shown in Figure 4, AF consumer 402 can subscribe to WTRU member selection assistance from 5GS (through NEF 404) to obtain candidate WTRU members for a particular application, such as application AIML behavior (410). AF consumer 402 can provide an initial list of WTRUs to be considered for the selection process, as well as filtering criteria to be considered by 5GS for WTRU member selection. In some embodiments, the filtering information may include an expected application behavior duration, indicating how long AF consumer 402 expects the application behavior to be operational. In some embodiments, the filtering parameter may be the same for all WTRUs (e.g., one duration, or a window of time), or it may be adjusted for different WTRUs. The expected application runtime can be based on the AF-consumer-provided deregistration inactivity PDU session inactivity timer value for a specific S-NSSAI provided to the 5GS using an external parameter provisioning operation when the 5GS authorizes the AF consumer 402 to do so, if the 5GS assigns a dedicated S-NSSAI to the AF consumer.

[0072] Filtering criteria may also include WTRU locations and areas of interest. These criteria can indicate that an application is interested in WTRUs located in a specific location or several locations or areas of interest. Filtering criteria may also include S-NSSAI and DNN information to specify the network slices that an AF consumer wishes to use when running application AIML federated learning for a particular application. If the AF consumer does not provide S-NSSAI / DNN, 5GC can detect the S-NSSAI from the AF consumer identifier and use that information later when using slice-related statistics or predictions to assist in WTRU member selection.

[0073] NEF404 can authorize AF requests (412). The NEF can use the expected application operation duration included in the filtering criteria to determine the service operation that provides network slice availability at a given time and at a given location, which NEF404 can use to derive candidate WTRU members (414). In some embodiments, NEF404 can use NF load statistics and forecasts and slice load statistics and forecasts to determine slice / NF availability, and NEF404 can use network performance statistics and forecasts and WTRU mobility statistics and forecasts to determine WTRU mobility patterns to network slices that may or may not be available for a given duration and at a given location. For an initial list of WTRUs provided by AF, NEF404 may be interested in knowing how long a slice will be available to the WTRUs. Furthermore, NEF404 may be interested in knowing how long a WTRU will be available at a given location at a given location.

[0074] NEF404 can first provide slice availability duration information for other WTRUs not listed, and then request analysis from NWDAF406 by providing several candidate WTRUs whose slice availability duration satisfies a specific minimum threshold, or WTRUs that will be available for the minimum time at several locations. NEF404 can then consider these WTRUs when responding to AF later.

[0075] NEF404 can request relevant analysis from NWDAF406, and NEF404 can signal when, where, and which NF / network slice analysis is requested, including the S-NSSAI / NF type, target period, network slice AoI, and NF type in the request (416). NWDAF406 can collect relevant input data from different network functions 408a, 408b, and 408c regarding WTRU location, WTRU mobility information, and slice information about WTRUs (418). NWDAF406 can respond to or notify NEF404 about network slice load, NF load, WTRU geographic distribution, and actual / predicted location and WTRU direction (420). After collecting analysis from NWDAF, NWDAF406 can generate a list of candidate WTRUs and determine the network slice availability duration and WTRU availability duration at a particular location (422). NEF404 can identify a candidate list of WTRUs that is larger than the initial list provided by AF consumer 402, and these WTRUs can be included in the final candidate list of members (424).

[0076] For example, NEF404 can compare the WTRU slice availability duration for each WTRU with the expected application operational duration provided by AF. If the predicted WTRU slice availability duration is greater than or equal to the expected operational duration value, the WTRU may be selected. Otherwise, the WTRU may not be selected. NEF may include new WTRUs not in the initial list that have a WTRU slice availability duration longer than the expected application operational duration.

[0077] Similarly, NEF404 can compare the duration of a WTRU at a specific location with filtering criteria related to the WTRU location, area of ​​interest, and expected operational duration. In this case, if a WTRU becomes available (based on predictions from NWDAF) at a specific location or within a specific area of ​​interest for a duration exceeding the expected application operational duration, the WTRU may be a good candidate for AIML operation and may be selected. Otherwise, the WTRU may not be selected. Similarly, NEF404 may include WTRUs that are not initially included in the WTRU list but satisfy this criterion. The duration of WTRU slice availability at a specific location and WTRU availability can be used separately or together during the WTRU member selection assistance process.

[0078] For example, consider a scenario where the AF is only interested in ensuring no service interruptions, regardless of location. In this case, the AF may only provide expected operational duration as a filtering criterion, and not necessarily provide WTRU locations. In this case, the NEF may only require the NWDAF to provide WTRU slice availability duration predictions and not WTRU location-based analysis.

[0079] After filtering the list of WTRUs and obtaining a final list of WTRUs that satisfy the criteria provided by the AF, the NEF can forward the list of candidate WTRUs to the AF (424).

[0080] Figure 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 500 for WTRU member selection assistance. In the example shown in Figure 5, a request for WTRU member selection can be sent, which may include filtering criteria for low-performance WTRUs (502). The request may be for member selection assistance for a federated learning operation and may include a preliminary list of candidate WTRUs. The list of candidate WTRUs may be received from a network node based on the service experience filtering criteria sent (504).

[0081] While features and elements have been described above in specific combinations, those skilled in the art will understand that each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. Furthermore, the methods described herein may be implemented in computer programs, software, or firmware embedded in computer-readable media for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted via 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 multipurpose disks (DVDs). A software-related processor may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a network node, Steps include receiving a request from an application function for assistance in selecting a wireless transceiver unit (WTRU) for federative learning operations, wherein the request includes an indication of a first list of candidate WTRUs, an indication of at least one filtering criterion, and an indication of contribution weights for each WTRU indicated in the candidate list, the indication of contribution weights indicating the minimum relative importance of each service experience of the WTRUs indicated in the list, based on at least one of service experience type, time, or location; A step of sending a notification to the application function, wherein the notification includes an indication of a second list of a subset of the candidate WTRUs, and each WTRU shown in the second list has a service experience metric that satisfies at least one filtering criterion and is weighted based on the contribution weights. A method that includes [a certain feature].

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the filtering criterion includes contribution weights for the WTRU in the first list, each having different values ​​depending on at least one of an application identifier (ID), WTRU reputation, or WTRU credibility.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of selecting the WTRU for the second list of the subset of candidate WTRUs using the contribution weights.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of selecting the WTRUs for the second list of the subset of candidate WTRUs using service experience service data collected from other network nodes.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of mapping application artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML) (AIML) behavior to at least a service experience type.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of associating the at least one service experience type with the average opinion score.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of selecting candidate WTRUs on the second list based on at least one reporting threshold, wherein the at least one reporting threshold is based on a contribution weight associated with at least one of the application or service experience types.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of applying the contribution weights associated with at least one of the application or service experience types to a location and time window.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the network node is a network exposure function (NEF).

10. The method according to claim 4 or 9, wherein the other network node includes at least one of an application function producer or other network function.

11. A receiver configured to receive requests from application functions for assistance in selecting a wireless transceiver unit (WTRU) for federative learning operations, wherein the request includes an indication of a first list of candidate WTRUs, an indication of at least one filtering criterion, and an indication of contribution weights for each WTRU indicated in the candidate list, the indication of contribution weights indicating the minimum relative importance of each service experience of the WTRUs indicated in the list, based on at least one of service experience type, time, or location. A transmitter configured to send notifications to the aforementioned application function, wherein the notification includes an indication of a second list of a subset of the candidate WTRUs, and each WTRU indicated in the second list has a service experience metric weighted based on the contribution weights, satisfying at least one filtering criterion. A network node equipped with this feature.

12. The network node according to claim 11, wherein the filtering criteria include contribution weights for the WTRU in the first list, each having different values ​​depending on at least one of the application identifier (ID), WTRU reputation, or WTRU credibility.

13. The network node according to claim 12, configured to select the WTRU for the second list of the subset of the candidate WTRUs using the contribution weights.

14. The network node according to claim 13, configured to select the WTRUs for the second list of the subset of candidate WTRUs using service experience service data collected from other network nodes.

15. The network node according to claim 11, wherein the network node maps application artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML) (AIML) operations to at least service experience types.

16. The network node according to claim 15, wherein the network node associates the at least one service experience type with the average opinion score.

17. The network node is configured to select candidate WTRUs on the second list based on at least one reporting threshold, wherein the at least one reporting threshold is based on a contribution weight associated with at least one of the application or service experience types, according to claim 11.

18. The network node according to claim 17, wherein the network node applies the contribution weights associated with at least one of the application or service experience types to a location and time window.

19. The network node is a network exposure function (NEF) according to any one of claims 11 to 18.

20. The network node according to claim 14 or 19, wherein the other network node includes at least one of an application function producer or other network function.

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