RLC channel mapping for multipath with common relay

Abstract

Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are described herein for a radio link control (RLC) channel mapping for multipath with a common relay. For example, a device, such as a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may receive a first set of usable RLC channel configurations that is associated with a quality of service (QoS) flow and a second set of usable RLC channel configurations associated with a second QoS flow. The WTRU may receive a primary and duplicated ingress RLC channels. The primary ingress RLC channel and the duplicated ingress RLC channel may have the same destination. The WTRU may determine to map the primary ingress RLC channel to a primary egress RLC channel and map the duplicated ingress RLC channel to a duplicated egress RLC channel. The WTRU may apply a first restriction to the primary egress RLC channel and apply a second restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel.

Description

RLC CHANNEL MAPPING FOR MULTIPATH WITH COMMON RELAYCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 531 ,159, filed August ?, 2023 the contents of which is incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND

[0001] Mobile communications using wireless communication continue to evolve. A fifth generation may be referred to as 5G. A previous (legacy) generation of mobile communication may be, for example, fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE).SUMMARY

[0002] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are described herein for a radio link control (RLC) channel mapping for multipath with a common relay. For example, a device, such as a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may perform (e.g., configured to perform) one or more of the following.

[0003] The WTRU may receive a set of usable RLC channel configurations. The set of usable RLC channel configurations may be associated with a quality of service (QoS) flow. For example, the WTRU may receive a first set of usable RLC channel configurations that is associated with a first QoS flow and a second set of usable RLC channel configurations associated with a second QoS flow.

[0004] The WTRU may be, or may include, a common relay WTRU. For example, the WTRU may determine that the WTRU (e.g., it) is, or includes, a common relay WTRU based on at least one of an indication from a node, a discovery procedure, a connection request establishment request, or an RLC channel configuration indication. The node may be, or may include, at least one of a source WTRU, a destination WTRU, a parent node, a child node, or a network.

[0005] The WTRU may receive a primary ingress RLC channel and a duplicated ingress RLC channel. The primary ingress RLC channel and the duplicated ingress RLC channel may have the same destination.

[0006] The WTRU may determine to map the primary ingress RLC channel to a primary egress RLC channel and map the duplicated ingress RLC channel to a duplicated egress RLC channel. The primaryegress RLC channel may be associated with a first orthogonal set of carriers. The duplicated egress RLC channel may be associated with a second orthogonal set of carriers.

[0007] The WTRU may apply a first restriction to the primary egress RLC channel and apply a second restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel. The WTRU may transmit a packet. For example, the WTRU may transmit a packet to at least one of the primary egress RLC channel or the duplicated egress RLC channel. In examples, the WTRU may transmit a packet (e.g., a first packet) to the primary egress RLC channel based on the first set of usable RLC channel configurations and the first restriction. In examples, the WTRU may transmit a packet (e.g., a second packet) to the duplicated egress RLC channel based on the second set of usable RLC channel configurations and the second restriction. In examples, the first packet and the second packet may be the same. In examples, the first packet and the second packet may be different.

[0008] In examples, the first restriction and the second restriction may be, or may include, at least one of a respective: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) restriction, a logical channel (LCH) restriction, or a transmission (TX) power restriction. The TX restriction may configure to increase TX power associated with an egress RLC channel.

[0009] As described herein, the WTRU may determine whether the primary egress RLC channel includes an LCH. Based on a determination that the primary egress RLC channel includes the LCH, the WTRU may apply a logical channel prioritization (LCP) restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel. The second restriction may be, or may include, the LCP restriction.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0011] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0012] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A according to an embodiment;

[0013] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0014] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a WTRU-to-network relay.

[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a user plane protocol stack for an L2 WTRU-to-network relay.

[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a WTRU-to-WTRU relay.

[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture for an L2 WTRU-to-WTRU Relay.

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of multipath with a common Relay WTRU between multiple (e.g., two) paths.EXAMPLE NETWORKS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0019] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104 / 113, a ON 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or a “ST A”, may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0021] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communicationnetworks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0022] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one 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 sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0023] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0024] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0025] 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 airinterface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0026] 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).

[0027] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0028] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, 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), and the like.

[0029] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1 A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0030] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like.The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0031] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit- switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0032] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0033] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0034] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing,power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0035] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0036] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0037] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0038] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0039] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0040] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable locationdetermination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0041] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0042] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0043] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0044] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0045] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0046] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1 C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0047] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0048] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter- eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0049] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0050] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0051] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1 A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0052] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0053] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to- peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11 z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (I BSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an “ad- hoc” mode of communication.

[0054] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / ordetermined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0055] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0056] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0057] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11 af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11 n, and 802.11 ac. 802.11 af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non- TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11 ah may support Meter Type Control / Machine-Type Communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0058] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11 ac, 802.11 af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel isbusy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0059] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11 ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0060] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0061] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0062] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0063] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing otherRANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0064] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E- UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0065] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0066] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0067] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernetbased, and the like.

[0068] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet- switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184a, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0069] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0070] In view of Figures 1A-1 D, and the corresponding description of Figures 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0071] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functionswhile being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and / or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0072] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0073] A radio link control (RLC) channel configuration procedure may be implemented in a network (e.g., new radio (NR) vehicle to everything (V2X)). An RLC channel configuration procedure may provide a configuration procedure for unicast, groupcast, and / or broadcast. A transmission (TX) WTRU may determine a sidelink (SL) bearer configuration (e.g., packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), RLC, medium access control (MAC), etc., one or more configuration parameters) from a quality of service (QoS) profile of a QoS flow initiated by one or more upper layers of the TX WTRU.

[0074] Determination of the bearer configuration may be based on (e.g., depend on) the radio resource control (RRC) state of the TX WTRU. A WTRU may obtain a bearer configuration to use, for example, from a system information block (SIB) or configuration (e.g., preconfiguration), respectively, for example, if / when the TX WTRU is in RRCJDLE / RRCJNACTIVE or out of network coverage (OOC). An SIB and / or preconfiguration may include a list (e.g., an exhaustive list) of bearer configurations to be used for a (e.g., each) QoS profile. A WTRU may use a bearer configuration (e.g., a default bearer configuration), for example, if a QoS profile is not included in the SIB and / or preconfiguration. A WTRU may map the QoS flow to the default bearer. A WTRU (e.g., in RRC_CONNECTED) may send the QoS profile of the QoS flow to the network (e.g., if / when the flow is initiated). A WTRU may receive the bearer configuration for the QoS flow from dedicated RRC signaling.

[0075] A network (e.g., in mode 1) may manage scheduling one or more resources to a TX WTRU, e.g., in support of meeting latency requirements associated with each transmission. A WTRU may perform scheduling, for example, in mode 2. Managing latency may be built into a resource selection procedure, e.g., in mode 2. A WTRU may select one or more resources with a resource selection window defined by a packet delay budget (PDB) of the priority data (e.g., the highest priority data) available for transmission, for example, if / when data triggers a resource selection procedure, which may support meeting latencyassociated with data. The network may not be involved in defining the PDB (e.g., in the logical channel), for example, since the PDB is known to the TX WTRU from a QoS profile.

[0076] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a WTRU-to-network relay.

[0077] An RLC channel configuration procedure may be implemented in WTRU-to-network relays. An example of a user plane protocol stack for L2 WTRU to network relays is shown in FIG. 3.

[0078] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a user plane protocol stack for an L2 WTRU-to-network relay.

[0079] A WTRU may receive a bearer configuration from a network in dedicated RRC signaling, e.g., with normal Uu. A network may (e.g., for WTRU to NW Relays) configure the end-to-end service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) and PDCP to the remote WTRU, the sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) at the remote WTRU and the Relay WTRU, and the RLC and below at the remote WTRU and below. Configuration may be performed by the network (e.g., using dedicated RRC signaling), for example, since the remote WTRU (e.g., apart from communicating to the network via a Relay) may be treated like a normal WTRU in Uu. A remote WTRU may receive a data radio bearer (DRB) configuration, for example, using dedicated signaling (e.g., RRCReconfiguration message) similar to Uu, except that the DRB configuration may be received via a Relayed signaling radio bearer (SRB).

[0080] The network may configure the adaptation layer (e.g., SRAP) in WTRU to NW Relays. The SRAP at the Relay WTRU may handle the multiplexing of PC5 RLC channels to Uu RLC channels (e.g., in uplink) and vice versa (e.g., in downlink). The network may multiplex multiple PC5-RLC channels, e.g., in uplink, to a (e.g., the same) Uu RLC channel. The adaptation layer may perform the routing (e.g., according to the mapping) upon reception of packets at the Relay WTRU.

[0081] The remote WTRU may be in mode 2 (e.g., by definition) for WTRU to NW Relays and / or for transmission on sidelink. Latency associated with a remote WTRU’s uplink transmissions may include an SL part and a Uu part. The network may control the latency on the Uu part. The WTRU may control the latency on the SL part, (e.g., through resource selection). There may be some coordination so that the sum of the latencies meets the PDB of a packet. The PDB associated with a packet may represent the end to end latency. PDB may not be used for determining the resource selection window. The network may configure the PDB split. The network may provide the remote WTRU, e.g., for each SL LCH that may be relayed by the Relay, a PDB that may be used for a resource selection procedure, e.g., in mode 2.

[0082] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a WTRU-to-WTRU relay.

[0083] FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture for an L2 WTRU-to-WTRU Relay.

[0084] WTRUs involved in WTRU-to-WTRU Relays (e.g., source WTRU, destination WTRU, and / or Relay WTRU) may be in coverage or out of coverage and may be in any RRC state.

[0085] Relay operation may support N-1 mapping between ingress and egress RLC channels. RLC channel configuration may include a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), which may be used to guarantee a data rate for an (e.g., each) RLC channel. PBR may be determined for an (e.g., each) egress RLC channel of a Relay WTRU for a multihop / multipath scenario while supporting N-1 mapping.

[0086] A multihop / multipath Relay may be configured to satisfy an end-to-end (E2E) QoS. One or more Tx WTRUs (e.g., all Tx WTRUs) in the multihop chain may coordinate to determine transmission parameters for each hop to satisfy the E2E QoS. A (e.g., each) WTRU may determine the Tx parameter.

[0087] A multihop / multipath Relay may include multiple (e.g., two) multipaths that have a common Relay, which may reduce the diversity of multipath. A common Relay WTRU may enhance its transmission to maintain the reliability of data transmission from the source to the destination. In a transmission enhancement procedure for duplication RLC, duplication data from the source may not be multiplexed with other data from other WTRUs (e.g., duplication data may not be multiplexed with other data).

[0088] A WTRU may use N-1 RLC channel mapping to determine whether to map a new ingress RLC channel to an existing channel or a new RLC channel.

[0089] A WTRU may determine an RLC channel configuration. A WTRU (e.g., source WTRU and / or a Relay WTRU) may determine an RLC channel configuration of an egress RLC channel. The RLC channel configuration may include one or more of the following parameters (e.g., in any combination): a PDCP configuration; an RLC mode (e.g., acknowledged mode (AM) or unacknowledged mode (UM)), a MAC logical configuration; and / or a PDB.

[0090] An RLC channel configuration may include a PDCP configuration, which may include one or more of the following: an indication whether a radio bearer (RB) requires multipath duplication to be enabled / disabled and / or the number of duplication paths; and / or an indication whether the RB requires multiple carrier duplication and / or the number of duplication carriers.

[0091] An RLC channel configuration may include an RLC mode (e.g., AM or UM) and / or one or more associated parameters (e.g., for each mode). The one or more parameters for AM Mode may include one or more of the following: a maximum retransmission threshold, which may be used to declare radio link failure (RLF); a sequence number length for AM mode; and / or a PollByte, PollPDU, which may be used to determine the frequency of polling for protocol data unit (PDU) reception acknowledgement. The one or more parameters for UM Mode may include, for example, a sequence number length for UM mode.

[0092] An RLC channel configuration may include a MAC logical configuration, which may include one or more of the following (e.g., in any combination): a priority of the LCH; a Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR) of the LCH, which may be used to guarantee a data rate of data in the LCH; a Bucket Size Duration (BSD) of the LCH; and / or a HARQ feedback type (e.g., HARQ enabled / disabled).

[0093] An RLC channel configuration may include a Packet Delay Budget (PDB), which may be the transmission delay budget in the current hop.

[0094] An egress RLC channel configuration may be determined, for example, based on one or more of the following (e.g., in any combination): a configuration of an / each ingress RLC channel; the number of ingress RLC channels mapped to the egress RLC channel; the number of parent nodes having an ingress RLC channel mapped to the egress RLC channel; the number of parent nodes; the number of child nodes; a load of the WTRU, which may be determined based on the number of child nodes, the number of parent nodes, and / or the channel occupancy (CR) of the WTRU; the priority associated with an / each ingress RLC channel; the priority associated with the egress RLC channel; a channel busy ratio (CBR) of the resource pool; and / or a determined value of one or more egress RLC parameters.

[0095] An egress RLC channel configuration may include a configuration of an / each ingress RLC channel. For example, the priority of the ingress RLC channel may be the highest priority of the ingress RLC channels. For example (e.g., if an RLC channel has HARQ enabled), a WTRU may (e.g., determine to) enable HARQ for the egress RLC channel.

[0096] An egress RLC channel configuration may include a determined value of one or more egress RLC parameters. For example, a WTRU may determine a priority of an RLC channel based on the determined PDB of the current hop. For example, a WTRU may determine a priority of an RLC channel based on whether the WTRU enabled / disabled multiple carrier duplication for the RLC channel. A WTRU may reduce the priority of an RLC channel, for example, if the WTRU enables multicarrier duplication. The WTRU may increase the priority of the RLC channel, for example, if otherwise, e.g., if the WTRU disables multicarrier duplication.

[0097] A WTRU may receive a configuration of multiple RLC channel configurations. In some examples, a WTRU (e.g., source WTRU, Relay WTRU, and / or the like) may receive a set of possible RLC channel configurations. Each RLC channel configuration may have a set of values associated with the parameters included in the RLC channel configuration. A (e.g., each) configured RLC channel may have an associated RLC channel configuration index. In some examples, the set of RLC channel configurations may be preconfigured. In some examples, the set of RLC channel configurations may be configured by a base station, such as a gNB, (e.g., via dedicated RRC or SIB). In some examples, the set of RLC channel configurations may be received from another node.

[0098] A WTRU may establish a QoS flow with an associated QoS requirement. In some examples, a WTRU (e.g., source WTRU) may establish a QoS flow with one or more of the following QoS requirements: flow bit rate; minimum range; resource type, such as a Guarantee Bit Rate (GBR), Delay critical GBR, orNon-GBR; priority; Packet Delay Budget (PDB); reliability (e.g., Packet Error Rate (PER)); and / or Maximum Data Burst Volume (MDBV).

[0099] A source WTRU may map a QoS flow to an RLC channel. A source WTRU may establish one or more E2E QoS flows (e.g., with an associated PC5 5QI (PQI) or 5G QoS indicator (5QI) index) for data communication between a source WTRU and a destination WTRU. The source WTRU may map a (e.g., each) E2E QoS flow to one or more RLC channels. The WTRU may map an (e.g., one) E2E QoS flow to multiple RLC channels. The WTRU may map multiple QoS flows to an (e.g., one) RLC channel.

[0100] In a multihop Relay, a source may transmit its QoS flow to a destination via one or multiple intermediate relays. A WTRU or a network node (e.g., a gNB) may be in the path from the source node to the destination node, e.g., including the source and the destination. A source node and a destination node may be a WTRU or an network entity, such as a gNB. A child node may refer to the transmitter of the subsequent hop or the receiver of the current hop. A parent node may refer to the transmitter of the previous node, in which the WTRU is the receiver.

[0101] A WTRU may receive an RLC configuration from the previous node. A WTRU (e.g., a Relay WTRU) may receive one or more ingress RLC channels from a parent node. A WTRU may receive an ingress RLC channel configuration from a parent node (e.g., the source WTRU or a parent Relay). The WTRU may (e.g., also) receive information about an E2E QoS flow, which may be indicated, for example, via a 5QI or a PQI index.

[0102] A WTRU may indicate an RLC configuration of an egress RLC channel to a child node. A WTRU (e.g., Relay WTRU), e.g., upon determining its egress RLC channel configuration, may indicate the RLC channel configuration to the child node. The WTRU may (e.g., also) indicate the information about the E2E QoS flow ID (e.g., 5QI and / or PQI index) associated with its egress RLC channel and / or the remaining PDB to the child node. An egress RLC channel of a parent node may be equivalent and / or may be used interchangeably with an ingress RLC channel of a child node.

[0103] A WTRU may indicate the information of an egress RLC configuration to a parent node. A WTRU (e.g., a Relay WTRU), e.g., upon determining an egress RLC channel configuration, may indicate one or more parameters of an RLC channel configuration back to a parent node. For example, the WTRU may indicate to a parent node regarding how the WTRU maps the ingress RLC channel of the egress RLC channel.

[0104] A WTRU may determine RLC channel mapping for multipath with a common relay. A WTRU (e.g., a common Relay WTRU) may determine to map multiple (e.g., two) duplication ingress RLC channels (e.g., the primary and duplicated RLC channels) from the same source to multiple (e.g., two) different egress RLC channels and / or restrict the data from the multiple (e.g., two) egress RLC channels to transmitin the same transport block (TB), for example, if the WTRU is the common Relay WTRU of two paths for a source WTRU.

[0105] A WTRU (e.g., a common Relay WTRU of two paths) may be configured to perform one or more of the following. A WTRU may receive (e.g., from a network) a set of usable RLC channel configurations associated with a (e.g., each) QoS flow. A WTRU may receive (e.g., in PC5 radio resource control (RRC)), from one or more (e.g., both) previous nodes, primary and duplicated RLC channels from a (e.g., one) source having the same destination. A WTRU may map the ingress RLC channels to separate egress RLC channels. For example, the WTRU may determine to map the two ingress RLC channels to two separate egress RLC channels. The WTRU may apply a restriction on packets from the egress RLC channels (e.g., two egress RLC channels). For example, the (e.g., two) RLC channels may be associated with (e.g., two) orthogonal sets of carriers. For example, the WTRU may apply a logical channel prioritization (LCP) restriction to exclude the logical channel (LCH) from an (e.g., one) RLC channel if the LCH from other RLC channel is included. For example, the WTRU may restrict the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) or increase transmission (Tx) power of from the (e.g., two) RLC channels. The WTRU may transmit data of an (e.g., each) egress RLC channel based on the RLC channel configuration.

[0106] As described herein, the WTRU may receive a set of usable RLC channel configurations. The set of usable RLC channel configurations may be associated with a QoS flow. For example, the WTRU may receive a first set of usable RLC channel configurations that is associated with a first QoS flow and a second set of usable RLC channel configurations associated with a second QoS flow.

[0107] The WTRU may be, or may include, a common relay WTRU. For example, the WTRU may determine that the WTRU (e.g., it) is, or includes, a common relay WTRU based on at least one of an indication from a node, a discovery procedure, a connection request establishment request, or an RLC channel configuration indication. The node may be, or may include, at least one of a source WTRU, a destination WTRU, a parent node, a child node, or a network as described herein.

[0108] The WTRU may receive a primary ingress RLC channel and a duplicated ingress RLC channel. The primary ingress RLC channel and the duplicated ingress RLC channel may have the same destination.

[0109] The WTRU may determine to map the primary ingress RLC channel to a primary egress RLC channel and map the duplicated ingress RLC channel to a duplicated egress RLC channel. The primary egress RLC channel may be associated with a first orthogonal set of carriers. The duplicated egress RLC channel may be associated with a second orthogonal set of carriers.

[0110] The WTRU may apply a first restriction to the primary egress RLC channel and apply a second restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel. The WTRU may transmit a packet. For example, the WTRU may transmit a packet to the primary egress RLC channel and / or the duplicated egress RLCchannel. In examples, the WTRU may transmit a packet (e.g., a first packet) to the primary egress RLC channel based on the first set of usable RLC channel configurations and the first restriction. In examples, the WTRU may transmit a packet (e.g., a second packet) to the duplicated egress RLC channel based on the second set of usable RLC channel configurations and the second restriction.

[0111] In examples, the first restriction and the second restriction may be, or may include, at least one of a respective: a MCS restriction, a LCH restriction, or a transmission (TX) power restriction. The TX restriction may configure to increase TX power associated with an egress RLC channel.

[0112] As described herein, the WTRU may determine whether the primary egress RLC channel includes an LCH. Based on a determination that the primary egress RLC channel includes the LCH, the WTRU may apply an LCP restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel. The second restriction may be, or may include, the LCP restriction.

[0113] A WTRU may determine that it is a common Relay WTRU of a multipath from a source to a destination WTRU. A WTRU may determine whether it is a common Relay WTRU of a multipath based on whether the WTRU is involved in data transmission / reception of a multipath from the source to the destination WTRUs. The WTRU (e.g., a common Relay WTRU of paths) may determine whether the WTRU is a common Relay WTRU of multipath configuration from a source WTRU to a destination WTRU, for example, based on one or more (e.g., any combination) of the following: an indication from another node (e.g., source WTRU, destination WTRU, one of the parent nodes, a child node, a base station, such as a gNB); and / or a determination (e.g., self-determination) based on one or more procedures, such as discovery procedure, connection establishment request, and / or an RLC channel configuration indication.

[0114] The WTRU (e.g., a common Relay WTRU of paths) may determine whether the WTRU is a common Relay WTRU of multipath configuration from a source WTRU to a destination WTRU, for example, based on an Indication from another node (e.g., source WTRU, destination WTRU, a parent node, a child node, and / or a base station, such as a gNB). The source WTRU, the destination WTRU, a (e.g., one) parent node, and / or the child node may implicitly / explicitly indicate to the common Relay WTRU that it is a common Relay WTRU of a multipath from the source WTRU to the destination WTRU. For example, a WTRU (e.g., source WTRU or destination) may perform Relay WTRU selection for multipath. A (e.g., each) path may be associated with a sequence of WTRU IDs from the source WTRU to the destination WTRU. The WTRU may detect that the common WTRU has its WTRU ID in multiple paths from the source WTRU to the destination WTRU. The source WTRU may (e.g., then) implicitly / explicitly indicate to the common Relay WTRU that it is the common relay of multi paths from the source to the destination.

[0115] The WTRU (e.g., a common Relay WTRU of paths) may determine whether the WTRU is a common Relay WTRU of a multipath configuration from a source WTRU to a destination WTRU, forexample, based on a determination (e.g., self-determination), which may be based on one or more procedures, such as discovery procedure, connection establishment request, and / or RLC channel configuration indication. For example, the common Relay WTRU may receive / transmit one or more messages (e.g., a discovery message, a direct communication request, and / or the like) from / to multiple parent WTRUs having the same source WTRU. The WTRU may (e.g., then) determine that it is a common Relay WTRU from the source to the destination. For example, the WTRU may receive an RLC channel configuration from multiple (e.g., two) WTRUs, which may implicitly / explicitly indicate that one RLC channel is a primary and the other RLC channel is a duplicated one. The WTRU may (e.g., then) determine that it is a common Relay WTRU of a multipath from the source WTRU to the relay WTRU.

[0116] A WTRU may receive multiple duplication RLC channels. A common relay WTRU of multipaths may receive an RLC channel configuration from multiple parent WTRUs, which may include a (e.g., one) primary RLC channel from a (e.g., one) parent node and one or more duplicated RLC channels from other parent nodes. An (e.g., each) RLC channel (e.g., a primary RLC channel and one or more duplicated RLC channels) may be referred to as an RLC duplication channel.

[0117] A WTRU may restrict mapping of multiple duplication RLC channels. A WTRU (e.g., a common Relay WTRU) may perform mapping between an ingress RLC duplication channel to an egress RLC channel. A WTRU may (e.g., determine to map (e.g., always map) an (e.g., each) ingress RLC channel to a (e.g., one) separate egress RLC channel (e.g., 1 -to-1 mapping of ingress RLC channel and egress RLC channel). A WTRU may (e.g., determine to) restrict (e.g., always restrict) mapping multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels to a (e.g., one) egress RLC channel. A WTRU may (e.g., always) map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication RLC channels to multiple (e.g., two) separate egress RLC channels. A WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) RLC duplication channels to an egress RLC channel, for example, based on one or more conditions (e.g., one or more conditions associated with the CBR of the resource pool, the channel between the WTRU and the next child node and / or the configuration of the egress RLC channel described herein). The WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels to separate RLC channels, for example, if one or more configured conditions are not met. A WTRU may determine whether to map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication into one egress RLC channel, for example, based on one or more (e.g., any combination) of the following: the CBR of the resource pool; the channel between the WTRU and the next child node; and / or the configuration of the egress RLC channel.

[0118] A WTRU may determine whether to map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels into one egress RLC channel, for example, based on the CBR of the resource pool. For example, a WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channel duplications into one egress RLC channel ifa CBR of the resource pool is smaller than a configured threshold. The WTRU may not map the multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels to the same egress RLC channel, for example, if otherwise (e.g., if the CBR of the resource pool is larger than the configured threshold).

[0119] A WTRU may determine whether to map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication into one egress RLC channel, for example, based on the channel between the WTRU and the next child node. For example, a WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channel duplications into one egress RLC channel if the SL-RSRP / SD-RSRP between the WTRU and the child node is larger than a configured threshold. The WTRU may not map the multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels to the same egress RLC channel, for example, if otherwise (e.g., if the SL-RSRP / SD-RSRP between the WTRU and the child node is smaller than the configured threshold).

[0120] A WTRU may determine whether to map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels into one egress RLC channel, for example, based on the configuration of the egress RLC channel. For example, a WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channel duplications into one egress RLC channel if the priority of the egress RLC channel is greater than a configured threshold. For example, the WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels into one egress RLC channel if the egress RLC channel is configured with HARQ enabled. For example, the WTRU may map multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels into one egress RLC channel if the egress RLC channel is configured with multicarrier / multipath duplication enabled.

[0121] A WTRU may enhance the reliability of a (e.g., each) duplication RLC channel. The WTRU may (e.g., then) perform one or more (e.g., any combination) of the following for data from the egress RLC channel associated with one or more ingress RLC duplication channels (e.g., to help improve the reliability of the RLC duplication data due to the reduction in multipath diversity gain due to having a common Relay WTRU); configure an (e.g., each) egress RLC channel associated with an (e.g., one) ingress RLC duplication channel with an orthogonal set of carriers, e.g., compared with the other egress RLC channel associated with another ingress RLC duplication channel; configure to restrict the data from multiple (e.g., two) egress RLC channels associated with multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels to be multiplexed in the same TB; and / or adjust one or more parameters of the egress RLC channel configuration, e.g., compared to the ingress RLC duplication channel.

[0122] A WTRU may configure an (e.g., each) egress RLC channel associated with an (e.g., one) ingress RLC duplication channel with an orthogonal set of carriers, e.g., compared with the other egress RLC channel associated with another ingress RLC duplication channel. Orthogonal sets of carriers may be used to allow duplication data to be transmitted in different carriers.

[0123] A WTRU may configure to restrict the data from multiple (e.g., two) egress RLC channels associated with multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels to be multiplexed in the same TB. The restriction may be performed, for example, using an Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure. A WTRU may select which Logical Channel (LCH) to be multiplexed in a (e.g., one) MAC PDU, for example, after selecting an LCH associated with an (e.g., one) ingress RLC duplication channel. The WTRU may exclude one or more (e.g., all) LCHs associated with another ingress RLC duplication channel to be multiplexed in the MAC PDU.

[0124] A WTRU may adjust one or more parameters of the egress RLC channel configuration compared to the ingress RLC duplication channel. For example, a WTRU may enable HARQ feedback, switch to AM mode, enable multicarrier / multipath duplication, increase the priority, and / or reliability (e.g., PER) of the egress RLC channel compared to the priority of the ingress RLC channel for the egress RLC channel associated with the ingress RLC duplication channel. For example, a WTRU may configure the egress RLC channel to use a limited set of MCSs (e.g., low index MCS) or increase transmission power of a configured offset.

[0125] In some examples (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 6), Relay3 may a common Relay WTRU for multipath from the Source WTRU to the Destination WTRU. Relay3 may receive multiple (e.g., two) ingress RLC duplication channels from Relayl and Relay2. The WTRU may map the multiple (e.g., two) RLC channels to multiple (e.g., two) separate RLC channels. The WTRU may use multiple (e.g., two) carriers to transmit the RLC channels.

[0126] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of multipath with a common Relay WTRU between multiple (e.g., two) paths.

[0127] Although features and elements described above are described in particular combinations, each feature or element may be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments, or in various combinations with or without other features and elements.

[0128] Although the implementations described herein may consider 3GPP specific protocols, it is understood that the implementations described herein are not restricted to this scenario and may be applicable to other wireless systems. For example, although the solutions described herein consider LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR) or 5G specific protocols, it is understood that the solutions described herein are not restricted to this scenario and are applicable to other wireless systems as well.

[0129] The processes described above may be implemented in a computer program, software, and / or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer and / or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic signals (transmitted over wired and / or wireless connections) and / or computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as, but not limited to, internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and / or optical media such as compact disc (CD)-ROM disks, and / or digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, and / or any host computer.

Claims

Claims1 . A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor configured to: receive a first set of usable radio link control (RLC) channel configurations associated with a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second set of usable RLC channel configurations associated with a second QoS flow; receive a primary ingress RLC channel and a duplicated ingress RLC channel, wherein the primary ingress RLC channel and the duplicated ingress RLC channel have the same destination; determine to map the primary ingress RLC channel to a primary egress RLC channel and map the duplicated ingress RLC channel to a duplicated egress RLC channel; apply a first restriction to the primary egress RLC channel and apply a second restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel; and transmit a packet to at least one of the primary egress RLC channel or the duplicated egress RLC channel.

2. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein to transmit the packet comprises the processor being configured to: transmit a first packet to the primary egress RLC channel based on the first set of usable RLC channel configurations and the first restriction; and transmit a second packet to the duplicated egress RLC channel based on the second set of usable RLC channel configurations and the second restriction.

3. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the WTRU comprises a common relay WTRU.

4. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: determine whether the primary egress RLC channel includes a logical channel (LCH); and based on a determination that the primary egress RLC channel includes the LCH, apply a logical channel prioritization (LCP) restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel, wherein the second restriction comprises the LCP restriction.

5. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the first restriction and the second restriction comprise at least one of a respective: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) restriction, a LCH restriction, or a transmission (TX) power restriction.

6. The WTRU of claim 5, wherein the TX power restriction comprises the processor being configured to increase TX power associated with an egress RLC channel.

7. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the primary egress RLC channel is associated with a first orthogonal set of carriers and the duplicated egress RLC channel is associated with a second orthogonal set of carriers.

8. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: determine that the WTRU comprises a common relay WTRU based on at least one of: an indication from a node, a discovery procedure, a connection request establishment request, or an RLC channel configuration indication, and wherein the node comprises at least one of a source WTRU, a destination WTRU, a parent node, a child node, or a network.

9. A method performed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: receiving a first set of usable radio link control (RLC) channel configurations associated with a first quality of service (QoS) flow and a second set of usable RLC channel configurations associated with a second QoS flow; receiving a primary ingress RLC channel and a duplicated ingress RLC channel, wherein the primary ingress RLC channel and the duplicated ingress RLC channel have the same destination; determining to map the primary ingress RLC channel to a primary egress RLC channel and map the duplicated ingress RLC channel to a duplicated egress RLC channel; applying a first restriction to the primary egress RLC channel and applying a second restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel; and transmitting a packet to at least one of the primary egress RLC channel or the duplicated egress RLC channel.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting the packet comprises: transmitting a first packet to the primary egress RLC channel based on the first set of usable RLC channel configurations and the first restriction; and transmitting a second packet to the duplicated egress RLC channel based on the second set of usable RLC channel configurations and the second restriction.11 . The method of claim 9, wherein the WTRU comprises a common relay WTRU.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises: determining whether the primary egress RLC channel includes a logical channel (LCH); and based on a determination that the primary egress RLC channel includes the LCH, applying a logical channel prioritization (LCP) restriction to the duplicated egress RLC channel, wherein the second restriction comprises the LCP restriction.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first restriction and the second restriction comprise at least one of a respective: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) restriction, a LCH restriction, or a transmission (TX) power restriction.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the TX power restriction comprises increasing TX power associated with an egress RLC channel.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the primary egress RLC channel is associated with a first orthogonal set of carriers and the duplicated egress RLC channel is associated with a second orthogonal set of carriers.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the method comprises: determining that the WTRU comprises a common relay WTRU based on at least one of: an indication from a node, a discovery procedure, a connection request establishment request, or an RLC channel configuration indication, and wherein the node comprises at least one of a source WTRU, a destination WTRU, a parent node, a child node, or a network.

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