Methods and apparatuses for managing and leveraging identifiers and blockchain address mapping

Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing and leveraging mapping between a WTRU identifiers and a blockchain address are provided. In some implementations, a method may include transmitting, to a first network node, a first registration request including a first identifier of the WTRU associated with a wireless network and receiving, from the first network node, a first registration accept message including an authorized second identifier of the WTRU associated with a native wireless blockchain and an indicator of a WTRU identifier preference (WTRU-ID-Preference) for use in future registration updates. The method may include storing the authorized second identifier of the WTRU. The method may include transmitting a first registration update message to the first network node, the first registration update message including the authorized second identifier of the WTRU, and receiving, from the first network node, a second registration accept message including the indicator of the WTRU-ID-Preference.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MANAGING AND LEVERAGING IDENTIFIERS AND BLOCKCHAIN ADDRESS MAPPINGCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63 / 539,004 filed on September 18, 2023, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND

[0002] One of the design principles for the 5G System (5GS) is service-centric or service-based. A 5G Core Network (5GC) contains a variety of network functions, which work together to fulfill and provide needed services to the RAN, user equipment (UE) or wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), and Application Servers / Service Providers. Future cellular wireless systems such as 6G Systems (6GS) will feature a broad range of heterogeneous devices and networks with an expected expansion of the supported verticals (e.g., mission critical) and thus need to be more trustworthy than 5G Systems. For example, devices and their interactions with wireless systems should be trustable by core network functions, application functions (in the cloud or at the edge), and other devices, referred to as trusted devices or trusted WTRUs / UEs, which are not supported in 5G.

[0003] Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are seen as a promising enabler to make future 6G devices and systems trustworthy. As an example, a device and / or an authorized party could record the device behaviors and any necessary data to distributed ledgers, which is transparent to and accountable by other devices and network nodes and in turn enable decentralized trust. To this end, devices need to be able to access distributed ledgers via the 6GS for both reading data from and / or writing data to the distributed ledgers.

[0004] Blockchain technologies may be enabled for future trustworthy systems such as 6G. The 6GS, however, needs to integrate blockchain capabilities, for example as network functions, with 6GS as integral functions that may be referred to as native wireless blockchain. A native wireless blockchain may be a permissioned blockchain system. For a device to efficiently interact with such a native wireless blockchain, the device needs to be properly onboarded to the native blockchain and be provisioned with necessary configuration information.

[0005] Once a WTRU / UE is onboarded to the native wireless blockchain, the WTRU / UE has an authorized blockchain address, through which the WTRU / UE can access and interact with the native wireless blockchain, for example send transactions to blockchain ledgers to store immutable data. A WTRU / UE has regular 3GPP UE identifiers (e.g., SUPI / SUCI, 5G-GUTI) used between WTRU / UEand the core network, or between core network functions. In order to leverage blockchain technologies for enabling future 6G trustworthy systems, the need exists for a technological solution for managing and leveraging the mapping between a WTRU / UE identifier and WTRU / UE blockchain address.SUMMARY

[0006] This disclosure relates to communication networks, wireless and / or wired. For example, one or more embodiments disclosed herein are related to methods and apparatus for managing and leveraging the mapping(s) between WTRU identifiers and blockchain address(es) in wireless communications.

[0007] In one general aspect, a method may include transmitting, to a first network node, a first registration request including a first identifier of the first WTRU associated with a wireless network; receiving, from the first network node, a first registration accept message including an authorized second identifier of the first WTRU associated with a native wireless blockchain and an indicator of a WTRU identifier preference (WTRU-ID-Preference) for use in future registration updates. The method may include storing the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU, transmitting a first registration update message to the first network node, the first registration update message including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU, and receiving, from the first network node, a second registration accept message including an indicator of the WTRU-ID-Preference for use in future registration updates. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.

[0008] Implementations may include one or more of the following features. The method may include performing one of: a second registration request or second registration update message according to the WTRU-ID-Preference; contacting a second node of the native wireless blockchain via a control plane in the native wireless blockchain or contacting a third node of the native wireless blockchain via an user plane in the native wireless blockchain. The method where the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU may include one or more fields including: a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (PLMN-ID), a native wireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID), a raw identifier of the first WTRU, or a signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU. The method where the raw identifier of the first WTRU is a hash of a public key associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU, and where the raw identifier of the first WTRU is authorized via the signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU. The method where the WTRU-ID-Preference is one of: a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI), a subscription concealed identifier(SUCI), a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), or a second WTRU identifier address. The method where the WTRU-ID-Preference is set to the second WTRU identifier. The method where the second registration accept message includes a second node identifier and a third node identifier. The method may include: sending, to a fourth node, a discovery request, the discovery request including a first identifier of a second WTRU and the first identifier of the first WTRU; receiving, from the fourth node, a discovery request response including one or more of: an authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, a Native-BC-ID, the second node identifier, or a record identifier of the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; sending, to a second node, a request for configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, where the request for configuration information includes the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; and receiving, from the second node, the configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU. The method may include: sending, to a second network node, a blockchain onboarding request including the first identifier of the first WTRU, a second identifier of the first WTRU, and a native wireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID) after receiving the first registration accept message or the second registration accept message; receiving, from the second network node, a first response message indicating a successful blockchain onboarding, the first response message including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU, the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU being associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU; sending, to the second network node, an blockchain offboarding request, the blockchain offboarding request including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; and receiving, from the second network node, a second response message indicating a successful offboarding. The method where the second network node is one of: a ledger anchor function (LAF); an access and mobility management function (AMF); or an unified data management (UDM) function. The method where the second response message includes parameters identifying conditions for a subsequent onboarding request by the first WTRU. Implementations of the described techniques may include hardware, a method or process, or a computer tangible medium.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto. Figures in such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. As such, the Figures (FIGs.) and the detailed description are not to be considered limiting, and other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Furthermore, like reference numerals ("ref.") in the FIGs. indicate like elements, and wherein:

[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. 1 C 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 is a system diagram illustrating an example of a native wireless blockchain system and its functions in the context of a 3GPP system, according to one or more embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 3 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for creating and maintaining the mapping between WTRU identifier and blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments;

[0016] FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for maintaining and leveraging the mapping between WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for using blockchain address in a Registration Update process, according to one or more embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 6 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for using blockchain address in Registration Update with a BCGF to validate blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 7 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for discover WTRU activities on a native wireless blockchain, according to one or more embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 8 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for an AF writes BC Information about a WTRU, according to one or more embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 9 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example process for BCCF (or BCGF) to retrieve WTRU context info using WTRU blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments; and

[0022] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process of managing and leveraging mapping between WTRU identifiers and a blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Abbreviations and Acronyms3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project5G 5th Generation5GC 5G Core Network5G DDNMF 5G Direct Discovery Name Management Function5GS 5G System5G-GUTI 5G Globally Unique Temporary Identity6G 6th Generation6GC 6G Core Network6GS 6G SystemAddr AddressAF Application FunctionAMF Access and Mobility Management FunctionAUSF Authentication Server FunctionBC BlockchainBCAF Blockchain Application FunctionBCCF Blockchain Control FunctionBCCCF Blockchain Client and Consumer FunctionBCEF Blockchain Enabler FunctionBCGF Blockchain Governance FunctionBCN Blockchain Client NodeBCRF Blockchain Repository FunctionBCSF Blockchain Service FunctionBSN Blockchain Service NodeDN Data NetworkEAS Edge Application ServerETSI European Telecommunications Standards InstituteGPS I Generic Public Subscription IdentifierGR Group ReportGS Group SpecificationID IdentifierISG Industry Specification GroupLAF Ledger Anchor FunctionLMF Location Management FunctionNAS Non-Access StratumNEF Network Exposure FunctionNF Network FunctionNRF Network Repository FunctionNWDAF Network Data Analytics FunctionPCF Policy Control FunctionPDU Protocol Data UnitSA Service ArchitectureSIM Subscriber Identity ModuleSUCI Subscription Concealed IdentifierSUPI Subscription Permanent IdentifierUDM Unified Data ManagementUDR Unified Data RepositoryUDSF Unstructured Data Storage FunctionUE User Equipment

[0024] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, so as not to obscure the following description. Further, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in lieu of, or in combination with, the embodiments and other examples described, disclosed or otherwise provided explicitly, implicitly and / or inherently (collectively “provided”) herein. Although various embodiments are described and / or claimed herein in which an apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any element thereof carries out an operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof, it is to be understood that any embodiments described and / or claimed herein assume that any apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any element thereof is configured to carry out any operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof.

[0025] The methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein are well-suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with respect to FIGs. 1A-1 D, where various elements of the network may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein.

[0026] 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 (ZT) unique-word (UW) discreet Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1 A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive 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, 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 “STA,” may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include (or be) 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.

[0028] 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, e.g., to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106, the Internet 110, and / or the networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be any of a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), a Home Node-B (HNB), a Home eNode-B (HeNB), a next generation NodeB such as a gNode-B (gNB), a new radio (NR) Node-B (NR NB), 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.

[0029] The base station 114a may be part of the 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), 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 overtime. 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. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 1 14a 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.

[0030] The base stations 1 14a, 1 14b 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).

[0031] 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 1 16 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 Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0032] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE- Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0033] 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).

[0034] 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 becharacterized 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).

[0035] 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 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1 X, 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.

[0036] 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 an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.1 1 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 1 14b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish any ofa small cell, picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 1 10. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106.

[0037] The RAN 104 may be in communication with the CN 106, 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 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 and / or the CN 106 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104, which may be utilizing an NR radio technology, the CN 106 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing any of a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technology.

[0038] The CN 106 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include 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 or a different RAT.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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 elements / 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.

[0041] 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, e.g., in an electronic package or chip.

[0042] 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 an 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 an 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.

[0043] 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. For example, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0046] 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 source134 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.

[0047] 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 location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0048] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other elements / peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules / units that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the elements / peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (e.g., 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 elements / 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.

[0049] 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 uplink (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 WTRU 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 uplink (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0050] 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, and 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0051] 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 an 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 receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0052] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to manage radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) and / or downlink (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.

[0053] 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 (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0054] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may 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.

[0055] 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.

[0056] 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.

[0057] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional landline communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or 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.

[0058] Although the WTRU is described in FIGs. 1A-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.

[0059] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0060] 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 into 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 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) 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.

[0061] When using the 802.11ac 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. ForCSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0062] 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.

[0063] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20 MHz, 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 a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0064] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11 af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11n, and 802.1 1ac. 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, 802.11ah may support meter type control / machine-type communications (MTC), 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).

[0065] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, 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 802.11ah, 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 inthe 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 is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, all available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the available frequency bands remains idle.

[0066] 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.

[0067] FIG. 1 D 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 NR 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.

[0068] The RAN 104 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. 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).

[0069] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, 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., including a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0070] 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 other RANs (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.

[0071] 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 ofuser plane data towards user plane functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 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.

[0072] The CN 106 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 at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. 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.

[0073] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 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 protocol data unit (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, e.g., to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services beingutilized 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 MTC access, and / or the like. The AMF 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 LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non- 3GPP access technologies such as Wi-Fi.

[0074] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 106 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a U PF 184a, 184b in the CN 106 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, nonIP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0075] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 104 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, e.g., to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0076] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. 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. In an 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.

[0077] In view of FIGs. 1A-1 D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to any of: WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other element(s) / device(s) described herein, may be performed byone or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0078] 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, functions while 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.

[0079] 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.

[0080] One or more of the following terms are applicable to the proposed new or enhanced methods, procedures, and apparatuses described herein.

[0081] Device: A term equivalent to UE as defined in 3GPP TR 21.905. As described herein, device, UE, and WTRU are interchangeably used unless there is an explicit clarification.

[0082] Network Function: A processing function in a network (e.g., 5GC) as defined in 3GPP TS 23.501.

[0083] Trusted Device: refers to a device, WTRU, or UE which can be trusted by future cellular wireless system such as 6GS. As described herein, Trusted Device and Trusted WTRU / UE are used interchangeably unless there is an explicit clarification.

[0084] Blockchain Client Node (BCN): It is a light blockchain node which only interacts with blockchain service nodes to send transactions. An example of blockchain client node is digital wallet. A blockchain application function within a network is another example of BCN. As described herein,blockchain client node and blockchain client are interchangeable unless there is an explicit clarification. A BCN may have a BCAF such as a BCCCF.

[0085] Blockchain Service Node (BSN): It is a full blockchain node which implements all functions of blockchain technology (e.g., maintain a blockchain ledger, participate in consensus protocols). A BSN may have a BCSF.

[0086] Blockchain Control Function (BCCF): A logical entity or a network function acting as the entry point for devices or applications to interact with native wireless blockchain for control plane purposes such as managing BCNs and BSNs.

[0087] Blockchain Service Function (BCSF): A logical entity or a network function acting as the entry point for devices or applications to interact with native wireless blockchain for data plane purposes such as creating / sending new transactions. BCSF may be a part of a BSN.

[0088] Blockchain Governance Function (BCGF): A logical entity or a network function acting to perform coordinating, governing, and managing the whole native wireless blockchain. BCGF may interact with BCCF, BCSF, and optionally other application functions or network functions (e.g., a system management application).

[0089] Blockchain Application Function (BCAF): A logical entity or an application function which can act as a BCN to interact with BSNs (e.g., BCSFs) for generating and retrieving transactions. A BCAF may also only interact with other blockchain functions (e.g., BCCF, BCGF, and / or BCSF) for controlling and managing the native wireless blockchain but may not necessarily generate any transaction to a blockchain ledger. A BCAF needs to have a blockchain address.

[0090] Blockchain Client and Consumer Function (BCCCF): A BCAF on a BCN node. A BCCCF may also reside in the network or a part of a BSN; when a BSN has a BCCCF, this BCCCF may only be used by the BSN to perform transactions-based management purposes (e.g., the BSN may need to record its behaviors to blockchain ledgers). In this case, the BCCCF on the BSN may generate new transactions and send them to another BSN. A BCCCF needs to have a blockchain address, which may be assigned or authorized by BCCF / BCGF; after that, a BCCCF may use its authorized blockchain address to access and interact with the services provided by a BSN.

[0091] Identifier: The name / identifier / address of an entity (e.g., a device / WTRU / UE, a network function such as 3GPP NFs and BCCCF, BCCF, BCSF, BCGF, etc.). An identifier may be a 3GPP identifier, an IP address, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), a FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name), a blockchain address, etc. The identifier of an entity enables or gives access details based on which other entities can access and interact with this entity.

[0092] Blockchain Address: The address or identifier that uniquely identifies a blockchain entity (BCN, BSN, BCAF, BCSF, or other blockchain function) within a blockchain system. A blockchain address could be a sender or a recipient of a blockchain transaction. A blockchain service node also could have a blockchain address which can be used for sending special transactions (e.g., transactions for managing the corresponding blockchain system). A blockchain application function may have a blockchain address. If a BCCF (or a BCGF) needs to send a transaction to blockchain ledger (e.g., for a management purpose, to record its behavior data to blockchain ledger), the BCCF (or the BCGF) can have a blockchain address or have an embedded BCN or BCAF.

[0093] Blockchain Address Signature: A blockchain address in a permissioned blockchain system may need to be authenticated and authorized. Before a blockchain address is authorized, it may only consist of a raw blockchain address, which usually is generated based on a public key. After a blockchain address is authorized by an authorizing party (e.g., by a BCGF, a BCCF, and / or an AUSF), it becomes an authorized blockchain address, which may consist of two parts: the raw blockchain address and a blockchain address signature; the blockchain address signature may be generated by the authorizing party using a private key. Any party (e.g., devices, BCSFs, BCCF) knowing the corresponding public key (associate with the private key for generating the blockchain address signature) can validate the blockchain address signature.

[0094] Device Blockchain Address: The blockchain address for a device in a blockchain system.

[0095] Blockchain Ledger: A ledger storing transactions and blocks and related system status in a hash-connected chained structure. Each full blockchain node needs to maintain a blockchain ledger. As described herein, Blockchain ledger, distributed ledger, and ledger are interchangeably used unless there is an explicit clarification.

[0096] Blockchain Technology: A set of technologies used in a blockchain system such as consensus protocols, transaction generation and validation, block generation and validation, blockchain ledgers, etc. As described herein, blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology are interchangeably used unless there is an explicit clarification.

[0097] Blockchain System: The system implementing or using blockchain technology. In this disclosure, blockchain system is equivalent to distributed ledger system unless there is an explicit clarification. A blockchain system usually consists of many light blockchain nodes and a group of full blockchain nodes.

[0098] Native Wireless Blockchain: A blockchain system integrated with and implemented as an integral part of future cellular wireless system such as 6GS. Native wireless blockchain has a set ofblockchain-related functions such as, but not limited to, BCCCF, BCCF, BCGF, BCSF, and BCAF; those blockchain-related functions can be deployed in core network, edge networks, and even colocated with some powerful devices.

[0099] Transaction: A message that is usually sent from a sender (e.g., BCN-A, a BSN) and a recipient (e.g., BCN-B, a BSN). The message may contain some information (e.g., digital currency, data, token) exchanged from the sender to the recipient.

[0100] Block: A data structure containing a block header and a block body. The block body may contain a set of transactions. A block is usually generated by a BSN as a result of executing a blockchain consensus protocol.

[0101] Wireless Blockchain Onboarding: A process to onboard devices to a native wireless blockchain (e.g., generate blockchain security keys for devices, initiate wireless blockchain onboarding, authenticate device blockchain address, provision devices with blockchain redaction capability, publish device public information to native wireless blockchain).

[0102] Permissioned Blockchain System: A blockchain system where the access to blockchain ledger (e.g., write data to blockchain ledger, read data from blockchain ledger, update / remove data in a blockchain ledger) is only available to permissioned or authorized parties, which usually are governed by a BCGF.

[0103] Current 5G system architecture comprises User Equipment (UE)ZWireless Transmit / Receive Unit (WTRU), Radio Access Network (RAN), and Core Network. One of the design principles for the 5G System (5GS) is service-centric or service-based. A 5G Core Network (5GC) may contain a variety of network functions, which work together to fulfill and provide needed services to the RAN, WTRUs / UEs, and Application Servers / Service Providers. A network function can access other network functions in request / response mode or subscription / notification mode. Before two network functions interact with each other, they first need to register with a Network Repository Function (NRF) so that they can discover each other via the NRF. Among these network functions, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) is dedicated to managing WTRU’s / UE’s access to the 5GS and its mobility, a Session Management Function (SMF) is responsible for establishing sessions between a WTRU / UE and 5GC, and an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) takes charge of WTRU / UE authentication. In addition, a Policy Control Function (PCF) provides policy rules for other control plane network functions and WTRUs / UEs. The PCF assigns an identifier for each created policy rule, which other control plane network functions and WTRUs / UEs use to refer to the corresponding policy rule. A User Plane Function (UPF) is the only core network function in the dataplane that facilitates monitoring, managing, controlling, and redirecting user plane traffic flows such as between a WTRU / UE and an Application Function (AF). A Network Exposure Function (NEF) enables access to 5G control plane functions to entities such as network applications and AFs which are outside of the 5GS and not in the same trusted domain. A 5GC also provides data storage and analytics services through functions like a Unified Data Management (UDM), a Unified Data Repository (UDR), an Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF) and a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF). Another important feature of the 5GS is network slicing, which is facilitated by a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF). Although these network functions are defined as separate logical entities, a particular service scenario may require multiple network functions; for instance, WTRU / UE mobility will need not only an AMF, but also an AUSF and a SMF. For a type of network function, multiple instances could be instantiated and a NRF will maintain the information of each instantiated network function instance. With the emergence of edge computing, some network functions in 5GC such as UPF and NEF could be deployed and reside in an edge network that is much nearer to and potentially co-located with the RAN. 5GS introduces a few network functions such as a Location Management Function (LMF) to support location services. The LMF is responsible for calculating, determining, or verifying a final location and any velocity estimation and may estimate the achieved accuracy, based on location information from the target WTRU / UE and / or a RAN node. After the LMF calculates the location of a target WTRU / UE, other entities can access or query its location from the LMF but need to go through a serving AMF.

[0104] In some implementations, a blockchain system comprises two general types of blockchain nodes: a Full Blockchain Node, which has all blockchain functions (e.g., host and maintain ledgers, participate in consensus protocols to generate new blocks, and validate received blocks); and a Light Blockchain Node, which acts as a blockchain client node such as digital wallets that sends transactions to the blockchain system via one or multiple full blockchain nodes.

[0105] Full blockchain nodes connect to each other via a peer-to-peer network; any new transaction or block will be propagated within the peer-to-peer network according to certain routing protocols (e.g., gossip-based routing) so that each full blockchain node will have the same copy of all unprocessed or uncommitted transactions (e.g., unspent transactions) and all blocks containing committed transactions (e.g., spent transactions). A blockchain client node has a unique blockchain address as its identifier that is usually generated by the blockchain client node itself, for example, based on cryptography and hashing techniques. For example, a blockchain client node may have a pair of a private key and a public key; the public key can be used to generate its blockchain address, while theprivate key can be used to sign any transaction that the blockchain client node will send to the blockchain system.

[0106] Although a blockchain ledger is usually append-only and immutable due to the use of hashbased chain structure to link blocks together, there are some techniques to enable mutable or redactable blockchain, where a committed block could be modified or even removed without breaking the hash-based chain structure. Most of those techniques rely on one or multiple security keys, referred to as blockchain redaction keys, to enable hash collisions so that any party with the access to blockchain redaction keys can redact or modify existing blocks while maintaining the hash-based ledger structure due to the leveraging of hash collisions. Blockchain redaction keys may be generated or provisioned when the blockchain system is initiated.

[0107] In embodiments discussed herein, a full blockchain node is referred to as a Blockchain Service Node (BSN), while a light blockchain node is referred to as a Blockchain Client Node (BCN). A device, a UE, or a WTRU could be a BCN (e.g. , if it only uses blockchain ledgers as a client) or a BSN (e.g., if it maintains blockchain ledgers and supports full blockchain functions). Since BCN and BSN are logical entities, a physical device or UE or WTRU could host one or multiple instances of BCN and / or BSN if the physical device has sufficient resources to support.

[0108] As defined in related standards, in some current implementations, a blockchain system could be: a permissionless blockchain system (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum) where any party or user can use and participate in the blockchain system without pre-granted permissions; or a permissioned blockchain system where access to the blockchain system needs to be permissioned, controlled and / or governed. Permissioned Distributed Ledgers (PDL) as defined by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) on PDL is an example of permissioned blockchain systems.

[0109] ETSI ISG on PDL publishes Group Reports (GR) and Group Specifications (GS) on various topics such as PDL reference architecture, use cases, specific PDL functionalities, and vertical domains. For example, ETSI GR PDL-018 describes use cases and some existing techniques to enable redactable distributed ledgers. ETSI GR PDL-021 describes use cases where PDL can be leveraged and integrated with 3GPP system such as 5GS. ETSI GS PDL-024 develops standards for provisioning PDL services within a 3GPP system. Three functions are being defined in ETSI GS PLD-024: Ledger Anchor Function (LAF), Blockchain Repository Function (BCRF), and Blockchain Enabler Function (BCEF). LAF and BCRF are introduced as two new control plane functions for a 3GPP system, while BCEF may likely be a data plane function.

[0110] In order to leverage blockchain technologies for enabling a future trustworthy 6GS, the 6GS needs to integrate blockchain capabilities with 6GS as integral functions, which may be referred to as native wireless blockchain. For a device to efficiently interact with such a native wireless blockchain, the device first needs to be properly onboarded to the native blockchain and provisioned with necessary configuration information for interacting with it. This may be referred to as device onboarding to native wireless blockchain or wireless blockchain onboarding for simplicity. There are several key technical issues about wireless blockchain onboarding.

[0111] After a WTRU is onboarded to the native wireless blockchain, the WTRU has an authorized blockchain address, through which the WTRU can access and interact with the native wireless blockchain (e.g . , send transactions to blockchain ledgers to store immutable data). A WTRU also has regular 3GPP UE (WTRU) identifiers (e.g., SUPI / SUCI, 5G-GUTI) used between WTRUs and the core network, or between core network functions; also, a WTRU may have multiple blockchain addresses (e.g., one for each native wireless blockchain) used between a WTRU and the native wireless blockchain, or between blockchain-related functions. A WTRU identifier and a WTRU blockchain address should be associated or mapped with each other, so that given a WTRU identifier and one or more WTRU blockchain addresses associated with it may be easily found or vice versa. Without such mapping between the WTRU identifier and the WTRU blockchain address, a 3GPP NF that only knows a WTRU identifier may not be able to identify the WTRU on the native wireless blockchain and also may not be able to retrieve WTRU activities on the native wireless blockchain.

[0112] Described herein are techniques to manage the mapping between WTRU identifiers and a WTRU blockchain address and techniques to leverage a WTRU blockchain address for improving 3GPP features such as Registration Update. The described solutions include how a WTRU can be securely identified by a third party (e.g., application, network, other devices) in the blockchain to mitigate against potential privacy threats (e.g., tracking the WTRU using information on the blockchain).

[0113] In various embodiments, discovery procedures (e.g., discover WTRU identifier or WTRU blockchain address), and / or connectivity management and session management (e.g., Registration Update using WTRU blockchain address) are described. For example, one or more methods and procedures discussed herein may include: how to manage and leverage the mapping between 3GPP WTRU / UE identifiers and blockchain address; create and / or maintain mapping between 3GPP identifiers and a blockchain address; how to discover WTRU blockchain address from WTRU identifier; how to discover a WTRU identifier from WTRU blockchain address; how to use WTRU blockchain address during WTRU Registration Update; how a 3GPP NF / AF retrieves blockchaininformation about a WTRU; how a 3GPP AF / NF writes blockchain information about a WTRU; and / or how blockchain functions retrieve WTRU context information about a WTRU.

[0114] In an embodiment, a WTRU (for the first node) may prepare a first request to discover the blockchain address of a second node (e.g., WTRU-Y). The first request may contain the identifier of the second node (e.g., WTRU-Y-ID). The WTRU may send the first request to a first network function (e.g., UDM). The WTRU may receive a first response from the first network function. The first response may contain the blockchain address of the second node, the address of a second network function (e.g., BCCF). The WTRU may prepare a second request to retrieve blockchain configuration information about the second node from the second network function. The second request may contain the blockchain address of the second node. The WTRU may send the second request to the second network function. The WTRU may receive a second response from the second network function. The second response may contain blockchain configuration information about the second node.

[0115] In an embodiment, a WTRU (for the first node) may receive a first Registration Accept from a second node (e.g., an AMF), which may contain: 1) a first authorized blockchain address of the WTRU and / or 2) a first indicator that indicates the WTRU may use blockchain address in subsequent Registration Updates. The WTRU may store the first authorized blockchain address, and prepare a first Registration Update according to the first indicator, which may contain the first authorized blockchain address. The WTRU may send the second Registration Update to the second node. The WTRU may receive a second Registration Accept from the second node, which may contain: 1) a second indicator that indicates the successful WTRU registration, and / or 2) a third indicator that indicates the preferred identifier to be used in subsequent Registration Updates. The WTRU may store the third indicator.

[0116] FIG. 2, illustrates an example of a native wireless blockchain system and its functions in the context of a 3GPP system. In this example, a WTRU may be a light blockchain node (WTRU-1 202a) hosting a BCAF (BCAF as BCCCF) or a full blockchain node (WTRU-2 202b) hosting a BSN (BSN having a BCSF).

[0117] In a blockchain control plane, the blockchain-related functions (i.e., BCCCF, BCCF, BCGF, BCSF, and BCAF) may interact to perform tasks related to but not limited to provision and manage the native wireless blockchain system. For example, BCGF 204 may coordinate blockchain security key derivation and distribute the derived blockchain security keys to BCCF 206b and BCSF 208c / BCSF 208c. BCGF 204 may need to interact with AUSF or be implemented as a part of AUSFto derive blockchain security key based on existing 3GPP key materials. BCGF 204 and BCCF 206b may determine and select WTRUs, which need to be onboarded to the native wireless blockchain system. BCAF 210 can also trigger BCGF 204 to select WTRUs for wireless blockchain onboarding. When a WTRU starts to onboard to the native wireless blockchain system, it will only interact with BCCF 206a, which is the entry point for the WTRUs (WTRU-1 202a and WTRU-2 202b). BCCF 206b may be implemented as a part of AMF or a standalone NF in 3GPP core network 322. During the wireless onboarding process, BCCF 206b will check with BCGF 204 to determine if the WTRU (202a and / or 202b) is authorized to be onboarded. For this purpose, BCGF 204 may need to interact with 3GPP NFs 212b (e.g., UDM) to retrieve the WTRU’s subscription data. After a WTRU is successfully onboarded to the native wireless blockchain system, the WTRU has an authorized blockchain address, which may map to its WTRU identifier (e.g., SUCI, 5G-GUTI, SUPI, GPSI) and may be leveraged by other 3GPP NFs 212a. For example, an AF may discover a WTRU’s blockchain address given its WTRU identifier. The mapping between a WTRU blockchain address and corresponding WTRU identifier may be stored in a UDM or other NFs.

[0118] In the blockchain user plane, a BCCCF 220, BCAF 210, and / or 3GPP NFs 212a and 212b may send transactions to blockchain ledgers via a BCSF 208a / BCSF 208b / BCSF 208c / BCSF 208d or retrieve transactions from blockchain ledgers via a BCSF. Transactions and blocks will be propagated and exchanged among BCSFs, for example, via underlying peer-to-peer network, which connects all BCSFs. Each BCSF may interface to a blockchain ledger directly (BCSF 208a / Blockchain Ledger 214a / BCSF 208b / Blockchain Ledger 214b, BCSF 208c / Blockchain Ledger 214c, BCSF 208d / Blockchain Ledger 214d). Blockchain ledgers could be deployed at a powerful WTRU, in a Data Network (DN) at the edge 216, and / or in a DN in the cloud 218.

[0119] A 3GPP Network 222 (e.g., a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a Non-Public Network (NPN)) as identified by 3GPP-NWK-ID may deploy and operate multiple native wireless blockchains. 3GPP-NWK-ID could be a PLMN-ID. The same set of physical blockchain nodes and physical network nodes / links may be leveraged the 3GPP network to create multiple virtual native wireless blockchains. Each native wireless blockchain may be deployed in different locations, may be used to support different WTRUs and / or applications, and / or may provide different services. A native wireless blockchain may be identified and assigned by the 3GPP network with an identifier or a name (Native- BC-ID), which may be unique within the 3GPP Network or globally unique.

[0120] Native-BC-ID may comprise the information related to: 3GPP-NWK-ID, the identifier of the 3GPP Network, which may be a PLMN-ID; Context-ID, the hashed value of the context information of the native wireless blockchain (e.g., the location where the native wireless blockchain is deployed);Consensus-Protocol-Type, the type of consensus protocol used in the native wireless blockchain; and / or Unique-BC-Seq, sequence number or a name that identifies the native wireless blockchain uniquely within the 3GPP Network 222.

[0121] Functions illustrated in FIG. 2 may map to the functions as defined in ETSI PDL-024 in one or more of the following methods: In one example, BCCF may map to LAF in ETSI PDL-024. For example, BCCF in core network may map to centralized LAF in ETSI PDL-024; BCCF in RAN / Edge map to distributed LAF in ETSI PDL-024. In an example BCGF may map to BCRF in ETSI PDL-024. Alternatively, BCGF may be implemented as a new network function in ETSI PDL-024. In an example, BCCCF may map to BCEF within a WTRU in ETSI PDL-024. In an example, BCSF may map to BCEF with a full blockchain node in ETSI PDL-024. In an example, BCCF may map to distributed LAF in ETSI PDL-024. In an example, BCGF may map to centralized LAF in ETSI PDL-024. Alternatively, BCGF may be implemented as a new network function in ETSI PDL-024. In an example, BCCCF may map to BCEF within a ATRU in ETSI PDL-024. In an example, BCSF may map to BCEF with a full blockchain node in ETSI PDL-024.

[0122] In an embodiment, a UDM (or another NF) may maintain the mappings between 3GPP identifiers (or WTRU / UE identifiers) and blockchain address using one or more of the following procedures.

[0123] After a successful primary authentication during a first registration for a WTRU, a UDM may receive SUCI from an AMF and derive SUPI from SUCI. Then the UDM may create / maintain the mapping tuple (SUCI, SUPI) for the WTRU. After a successful primary authentication during a registration update (using 5G-GUTI) for the WTRU, the AMF may send the UE’s 5G-GUTI to the UDM. The UDM may map 5G-GUTI to SUPI. Then, the UDM may create / maintain the mapping tuple (SUCI, SUPI, 5G-GUTI) for the WTRU.

[0124] After a WTRU blockchain address is authorized (e.g., during WTRU registration with primary authentication) and the WTRU is onboarded to a native wireless blockchain (Native-BC-ID), a BCCF (or BCGF or AMF) may send Native-BC-ID, the authorized WTRU blockchain address (Authorized- UE-BC-Addr), and WTRU / UE-ID (e.g., 5G-GUTI or SUCI) to UDM. Then UDM may create / maintain the tuple (SUCI, SUPI, 5G-GUTI, GPSI, Authorized-UE-BC-Addr, Native-BC-ID) for the WTRU. The UDM may add the WTRU’s GPSI to the mapping tuple and create / maintain the mapping tuple or mapping record (e.g., SUCI, SUPI, 5G-GUTI, GPSI, Authorized-UE-BC-Addr, Native-BC-ID).

[0125] FIG. 3 illustrates a signal flow diagram of an example process for creating and maintaining the mapping between WTRU identifier and blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments.

[0126] With reference to FIG. 3, a WTRU may be a BCEF and may need to join a native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native-BC-ID. It is assumed that WTRU 302 has the contact information of LAF 304, through which WTRU 302 may be onboarded to a Native-BC-Y. It is also assumed that LAF 304 knows the contact information of BCRF 306, which will maintain mapping information between a WTRU identifier and its blockchain address. BCRF 306 may get additional identifiers of WTRU 302 from UDM 308.

[0127] At 310, WTRU 302 has its 3GPP identifier WTRU-ID, which could be a SUCI (or 5G-GUTI received from its serving AMF). WTRU 302 also generates / has its blockchain address WTRU-BC- Addr at 310. WTRU 302 has not been onboarded to any native wireless blockchain yet and its blockchain address has not been authorized. WTRU 302 may send a blockchain onboarding request (or a blockchain address authentication request) to the LAF at 310. This request may contain WTRU- ID, WTRU-BC-Addr, and Native-BC-ID. This request may be relayed by the serving AMF of WTRU 302, and being sent via a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message.

[0128] At 312, LAF 304 may receive the request from WTRU 302. LAF 304 may need to authenticate the request and the contained WTRU-BC-Addr. For this purpose, LAF 304 may send WTRU-ID to a 3GPP NF (not shown, for example, AMF, AUSF, UDM) to verify WTRU-ID is valid. For example, if WTRU 302 has done a successful primary authentication with the core network, WTRU- ID as used or generated as a part of the primary authentication is valid, then retrieve some context information about WTRU 302. Based on the information returned back from the 3GPP NF, LAF 304 may authenticate WTRU-BC-Addr and may generate a corresponding authorized blockchain address for WTRU 302 (i.e., Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr). LAF 304 may also send WTRU-BC-Addr to the 3GPP NF, which will authenticate WTRU-BC-Addr for LAF 304; the 3GPP NF may also generate Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and send it to LAF 304. Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr may contain a signature of LAF 304 or a signature of the 3GPP NF in addition to WTRU-BC-Addr. LAF 304 may select or assign the target native wireless blockchain (Native-BC-ID) for WTRU 302.

[0129] At 314 LAF 304 may send a response to WTRU 302 indicating the successful blockchain onboarding. This response may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and optionally Native-BC-ID.

[0130] At 316, LAF 304 may notify relevant BCEFs (not shown) of the authorized blockchain address (i.e., Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr) and any other access control rules or policies for thisblockchain address. If WTRU 302 is a BCN, the relevant BCEFs may be blockchain full nodes (e.g., BSNs) that are assigned to serve WTRU 302. In other words, WTRU 302 will access the native wireless blockchain via those relevant BCEFs. If WTRU 302 is a BSN, the relevant BCEFs may be other blockchain full nodes (e.g., BSNs) that are assigned as neighboring node on the underlying peer-to-peer network for WTRU 302. In other words, WTRU 302 may retrieve the latest blockchain ledger from and synchronize up with those relevant BCEFs.

[0131] At 318, LAF 304 may send a mapping record creation request to BCRF 306. This request may contain the WTRU-ID, Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr, and Native-BC-ID. If LAF 304 has obtained any additional 3GPP identifiers of WTRU 302 (besides the original WTRU-ID from 310) from 3GPP NFs as a part of 312, those additional 3GPP identifiers of WTRU 302 may be contained in this request.

[0132] BCRF 306 may receive the request from 318. Before the requested mapping record is created, LAF 304 may, at 320, send a request to the UDM 308 to retrieve additional 3GPP identifiers of WTRU 302. This request may contain WTRU-ID (e.g., SUCI) as originally received at 310.

[0133] UDM 308 may receive the request from BCRF, and UDM 308 may use WTRU-ID contained at 320 to find other additional 3GPP identifiers of WTRU 302 (Additional-WTRU- 1 D) . For example, if WTRU-ID from 320 is a 5G-GUTI of WTRU 302, an Additional-WTRU 302 -ID found by UDM 308 may be SUCI, SUPI, and / or GPSI of WTRU 302. At 322, UDM 308 may send a response to BCRF 306, which may contain Additional-WTRU-ID.

[0134] At 324, BCRF 306 may create a mapping record based on the information received at 318 and 322. For example, if WTRU-ID is a 5G-GUTI and Additional-WTRU-ID is (SUCI, SUPI, GPSI), the created mapping record may be a tuple: (5G-GUTI, SUCI, SUPI, GPSI, Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr, Native-BC-ID).

[0135] At 326, BCRF 306 may send a response to LAF 304 showing the identifier of the mapping record being created at 324. At 328, BCRF 306 may send a notification to UDM 308. This notification may contain the mapping record created at 324.

[0136] At any time after WTRU 302 has been onboarded to Native-BC-ID, WTRU 302, at 330, may send a blockchain offboarding request to LAF 304 to request to remove it from the native wireless blockchain. This request may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and optionally Native-BC-ID.

[0137] At 332, LAF 304 may mark Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr in its local database as “Unauthorized” or “Invalid” or “Offboarded.” Alternatively, LAF 304 may remove Authorized-WTRU- BC-Addr from its local database.

[0138] At 334, LAF 304 may send a blockchain offboarding response to WTRU-Y 302, which may indicate whether the offboarding request was successful and approved. This response also may contain some conditions or instructions, based on whether WTRU 302 may decide to request blockchain onboarding again.

[0139] At 336. LAF 304 may notify relevant BCEFs that Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr has been unauthorized or removed. As such, any future transactions to / from Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr which relevant BCEFs may receive in future should be rejected or dropped. The definition of relevant BCEFs is similar to that at 316.

[0140] LAF 304, at 338, may send a mapping record update request to BCRF 306. This request may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and optionally Native-BC-ID. At 340, BCRF 304 may look up its locally maintained mapping records to find the record containing or corresponding to Authorized- WTRU-BC-Addr. BCRF 306 may remove this found mapping record. Alternatively, BCRF 306 may mark this found mapping record as “Invalid because Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr is unauthorized or removed.”

[0141] BCRF 306, at 342, may send a response to LAF 304 indicating the successful operation of 340. At 344, BCRF 306, may optionally notify UDM 308 of the update made to the found mapping record at 340.

[0142] In some examples, one or more processes performed by BCRF 306 in FIG. 3 may alternatively be performed by the LAF. In some cases, one or more processes performed by the BCRF in FIG. 3 may alternatively be performed by the UDM.

[0143] In an embodiment, WTRU blockchain addresses may map to 3GPP WTRU identifiers or UE identifiers (e.g., SUCI, 5G-GUTI, SUPI, GPSI, etc.) and vice versa. In addition, given a blockchain address of a WTRU, its WTRU identifiers may be directly discovered (e.g., by a blockchain-related functions such as a BCCF, a BCGF, a BCAF, and / or a BCSF). Given WTRU identifiers of a WTRU, its blockchain addresses may be directly discovered (e.g., by a 3GPP NFs such as an AMF, an SMF, etc.).

[0144] FIG. 4 illustrates an example process for maintaining and leveraging the mapping between a WTRU identifier (WTRU-ID) and WTRU blockchain address (i.e., WTRU-BC-Addr).

[0145] At 410, it is assumed that a BCCF / BCGF (i.e., a BCCF or a BCGF) has authorized the blockchain address of a WTRU-Y (i.e., Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr) and also has configured the WTRU-Y with some blockchain configuration information (i.e., WTRU-Y-Final-BC-Config). The identifier of the WTRU-Y is WTRU-Y-ID (e.g., its SUCI or 5G-GUTI). The BCCF / BCGF 402 may senda request to UDM 404 to store the mapping between WTRU-Y-ID and Authorized-WTRU-Y-Addr. This request may contain WTRU-Y-ID, Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr, and BCCF-ID and / or BCGF-ID.

[0146] At 412, UDM 404 may receive the request 410. UDM 404 may use the BCCF-ID and the BCGF-ID to authorize if the BCCF / BCGF 402 has the right to store the mapping between the WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address. If the authorization is confirmed (authorization passes), UDM 404 may create a WTRU identifier and blockchain address mapping record, which may contain WTRU-Y-ID, Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr, and BCCF-ID and / or BCGF-ID. UDM 404 may assign a unique identifier for this mapping record (WTRU-Y-ID-BC-Addr-Record-ID).

[0147] This record may be expanded if new types of WTRU-Y-ID (e.g . , GPSI or SUPI) associated with WTRU-Y-ID (e.g., SUCI) in WTRU-Y-ID-BC-Addr-Record-ID are reported from a 3GPP NF (e.g., AMF) to UDM 404, by adding those new types of WTRU-Y-ID. This record may be expanded if BCCF / BCGF 402 reports a new authorized blockchain address of the same WTRU-Y to UDM 404, by adding the new authorized blockchain address. This record may be expanded if BCCF / BCGF 402 reports to UDM 404 that the same WTRU-Y is onboarded to a new native wireless blockchain, by adding the new Native-BC-ID. Thus, it may be assumed this mapping record or mapping tuple eventually becomes (SUCI, SUPI, 5G-GUTI, GPSI, Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr, Native-BC-ID).

[0148] At 414, UDM 404 may send a response to BCCF / BCGF 402. This response may contain WTRU-Y-ID-BC-Addr-Record-ID. After 414, an Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr may become invalid in several scenarios. Scenario 1 , Blockchain Offboarding: WTRU-Y may send a request to BCCF / BCGF 402 to remove it from the native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native-BC-ID, this request may contain Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr and Native-BC-ID. BCCF / BCGF 402 may approve WTRU-Y’s request. Scenario 2, Access Control: BCCF / BCGF 402 may monitor WTRU-Y’s activities on the native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native-BC-ID and may determine to remove WTRU-Y from Native- BC-ID (e.g., if WTRU-Y becomes unavailable or sends too many or too frequent transactions to Native-BC-ID.

[0149] For either scenario 1 or scenario 2, BCCF / BCGF 404 may continue to perform the following process. BCCF / BCGF 402 may mark Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr as invalid or remove it from its local database. Then, BCCF / BCGF 402 may send a de-mapping request to UDM 404 to ask UDM 404 to remove Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr and Native-BC-ID from the existing mapping record #Y (SUCI, SUPI, 5G-GUTI, GPSI, Authorized-UE-BC-Addr, Native-BC-ID); this request may contain Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr and optionally Native-BC-ID. The UDM may receive this de-mapping request and may use Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr to find the mapping record #Y and change it to(SUCI, SUPI, 5G-GUTI, GPSI). Then, UDM 404 may send a de-mapping response to BCCF / BCGF 402 indicating the successful removal of WTRU-Y’s blockchain address from the mapping record #Y. Then, BCCF / BCGF 402 may receive the de-mapping response and may send a blockchain address removal notification to corresponding BCSFs that serve WTRU-Y; this notification may contain Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr and optionally Native-BC-ID. The BCSFs may receive the blockchain address removal notification and remove Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr and any other information (e.g., blockchain access policies) related to, dependent on, and / or about Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC- Addr.

[0150] A logical Node-X 406 (e.g., an NF, an AF, or another WTRU) may use the process at 416- 420 to find the blockchain address of WTRU-Y from UDM 404 given the identifier of WTRU-Y. Node- X 406 may have had regular communications (e.g., direct device communications) with WTRU-Y and knows its 3GPP identifier (i.e., WTRU-Y-ID) as a result of Proximity-based Services (ProSe) device discovery. If Node-X 406 is a NF (e.g., an AMF), Node-X 406 may know WTRU-Y-ID after WTRU-Y successfully registers itself with the core network.

[0151] At 416, Node-X 406 may only know a 3GPP identifier of WTRU-Y (WTRU-Y-ID) and need to find its blockchain address. Node-X may send a request to the UDM to search WTRU-Y 302 ’s blockchain address. This request may contain WTRU-Y-ID and the identifier of Node-X 406 (Node-X- ID).

[0152] At 418, UDM 404 may use WTRU-Y-ID received at 416 to find corresponding mapping record as created at 412. From the found mapping record, UDM 404 may know WTRU-Y’s blockchain address (Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr). At 420, UDM 404 may send a response to Node-X 406. This response may contain Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr, BCCF-ID (or BCGF-ID), Native-BC-ID, and / or WTRU-Y-ID-BC-Addr-Record-ID.

[0153] Node-X406 may use the process at 422-424 to retrieve WTRU-Y’s blockchain configuration information from BCCF / BCGF 402 given the blockchain address of WTRU-Y. At 422, Node-X 406 may send a request to BCCF / BCGF 402 for retrieving WTRU-Y’s blockchain configuration information. This request may contain WTRU-Y’s blockchain address (Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr) as found at 420 and Node-X’s identifier (Node-X-ID, which may be WTRU-X-ID).

[0154] BCCF / BCGF 402, may use WTRU-Y’s blockchain address to search its blockchain configuration information from the local blockchain onboarding repository. Then, BCCF / BCGF 402 may send a response to Node-X 406 at 424. This response may contain WTRU-Y’s blockchain configuration information (WTRU-Y-Final-BC-Config).

[0155] Node-Z 408 (e.g., an AF, a NF, another WTRU) may use the process at 426-428 to find WTRU-Y’s 3GPP identifier from UDM 404 given WTRU-Y’s blockchain address. Node-Z 408, at 426, may only know the blockchain address of WTRU-Y (Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr) and need to find its 3GPP identifier. Node-Z 408 may send a request to UDM 404 to search WTRU-Y’s 3GPP identifier. This request may contain Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr and the identifier of Node-X 408 (Node-X- ID). Alternatively, Node-Z 408 may send the same request to BCCF / BCGF 402. Then, BCCF / BCGF 402 will perform the same operation as UDM 404 does at 428.

[0156] UDM 404, at 428, may use Authorized-WTRU-Y-BC-Addr received at 426 to find the corresponding mapping record as created at 412. From the found mapping record, UDM 404 may know WTRU-Y’s 3GPP identifier (WTRU-Y-ID). UDM 404 may send a response to Node-Z 408. This response may contain WTRU-Y-ID, BCCF-ID (or BCGF-ID), and / or WTRU-Y-ID-BC-Addr-Record-ID.

[0157] In some examples, the operations UDM performs in FIG. 4 can be implemented as a part of 3GPP UDR. Alternatively, the operations UDM performs in FIG. 4 may be incorporated into BCCF / BCGF. Alternatively, the operations UDM 404 performs in FIG. 4 may be implemented as BCRF in ETSI GS PDL-024.

[0158] In existing 3GPP Registration Update, a WTRU indicates its 5G-GUTI to its serving AMF, which will map 5G-GUTI to UE’s SUPI. Then, the AMF exchanges SUPI with a UDM for authentication request and authentication response. This approach may have some limitations. For example, 5G- GUTI contains AMF-ID and may be leveraged to track the WTRU, and SUPI being exchanged between the AMF and the UDM could be disclosed and cause potential security and privacy threats. To mitigate both limitations, new or improved Registration Update procedures are described.

[0159] FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for using blockchain address in a Registration Update process, according to one or more embodiments

[0160] In an embodiment, example process is described, using a WTRU blockchain address during Registration Update assuming the WTRU blockchain address has been authorized during the first Registration Request with the AMF. In some cases, the AMF and the UDM may only exchange the WTRU blockchain address in an authentication request and authentication response, since the UDM will be able to map WTRU blockchain address to the WTRU’s 3GPP identifier (e.g., SUPI, SUCI, GPSI, 5G-GUTI).

[0161] At 508, it is assumed that WTRU 502 has successfully performed the first Registration Request with AMF 504 and WTRU 502 has obtained an authorized blockchain address as a result of the successful registration. As a result of this successful registration, AMF 504 may send aRegistration Accept to WTRU 502, which may contain an Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and WTRU-ID Preference.

[0162] Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr is the WTRU blockchain address being authorized and / or generated during the first registration. Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr may consist of several fields including:PLMN-ID, which is the identifier of the WTRU’s Home PLMN (HPLMN);Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr, which is the raw blockchain address of the WTRU, which may be a hash of the WTRU’s public key. This address may have been generated by the WTRU or by the network. This address may only be used for the native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native- BC-ID;Native-BC-ID, which is the identifier of the native wireless blockchain that Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr is applicable to; andWTRU-BC-Addr-Sign: The signature for authorizing Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr. This signature may have been generated by a network function of HPLMN using its public key (e.g., AUSF, BCGF, BCCF), after it has authorized Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr.

[0163] WTRU-ID-Preference indicates the preferred WTRU identifier (e.g., 5G-GUTI, SUCI, BC- Addr) to be used in future registration updates. The example process illustrated in FIG. 5, assumes the WTRU-ID-Preference is set to “BC-Addr,” which indicates that the WTRU needs to use ‘Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr” in its future Registration Updates with AMF 504.

[0164] As a part of first successful Registration Request, AMF 504 may still generate a 5G-GUTI, but AMF 504 may not send 5G-GUTI to the WTRU; instead, AMF 504 may send the triple (SUCI, 5G- GUTI, Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr) or the triple (SUCI, 5G-GUTI, Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr) to UDM 506.

[0165] At 510, WTRU 502 may send a Registration Update to AMF 504, which may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr as received at 508. AMF 504 may extract the PLMN-ID from Authorized- WTRU-BC-Addr and may use the PLMN-ID to identify the right AUSF / UDM. Then, AMF 504, at 512, may send an Authentication Request to the UDM 506, which may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr by removing the PLMN-ID.

[0166] UDM 506 receives Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and may exact Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr, Native-BC-ID, and UE-BC-Addr-Sign. UDM 506 may first verify WTRU-BC-Addr-Sign using the public key of the NF that signed Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr, then UDM 506 may verify if Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr is applicable to the native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native-BC-ID, and UDM 506 may use Raw- WTRU-BC-Addr to find the WTRUs SUPI. UDM 506 may use SUPI to authenticate WTRU 502 usingexisting 3GPP processes. After the authentication, UDM 506, at 514 may send an Authentication Response to AMF 504, which may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr with AUSF-ID (or UDM-ID) and Raw-WTRU-BC-Addr only.

[0167] AMF 504 may determine WTRU-ID-Preference for future registration updates, and AMF 504, At 516, may send a Registration Accept to WTRU 502 containing the determined WTRU-ID- Preference. AMF 504 may select a new BCCF (BCCF-ID) for WTRU 502 and include its identifier BCCF-ID in the Registration Accept. AMF 504 may also select a new BCSF (BCSF-ID) for WTRU 502 and include its identifier BCSF-ID in the Registration Accept. WTRU 502 may receive the Registration Accept and may: use the type of identifier as indicated in WTRU-ID-Preference in next Registration Request or Registration Update; contact the new BCCF to interact with the corresponding native wireless blockchain control plane; and contact the new BCSF to interact with the corresponding native wireless blockchain user plane.

[0168] In a scenario where the AMF cannot validate the authorized blockchain address which a WTRU includes in a Registration Update message, the AMF may request a BCGF to validate the blockchain address that the AMF received from the WTRU.

[0169] FIG. 6 illustrates a signal flow diagram in an example process using a blockchain address in Registration Update with a BCGF to validate blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments

[0170] The process at 610 and the process at 612 are similar to the process at 508 and 510 of FIG. 5. At 610, it is assumed that WTRU 602 has successfully performed the first Registration Request with AMF 604 and WTRU 602 has obtained an authorized blockchain address as a result of the successful registration. As a result of this successful registration, AMF 604 may send a Registration Accept to WTRU 602, which may contain an Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and WTRU-ID Preference.

[0171] At 612, WTRU 602 may send a Registration Update to AMF 604. In this case, AMF 604 is not able to validate Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr. AMF 604, at 614, sends a WTRU Blockchain Address Validation Request to BCGF 606. This request may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr.

[0172] BCGF 606 may validate Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr at 616 (e.g., using its public key assuming Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr has been previously authorized and signed by BCGF 606 using its private key). If Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr cannot be validated, BCGF 606, at 616, may generate a new authorized blockchain address for the WTRU and maintain the new blockchain address locally.

[0173] BCGF 606 may send a Response to AMF 604 at 618. Depending on the results at 616, this Response may indicate: Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr sent at 614 is still valid; Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr sent 614 is invalid; or Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr sent at 614 is invalid but a new authorized blockchain address is generated for the WTRU and the new blockchain address is contained in this Response.

[0174] If Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr sent at 614 is valid or a new blockchain address is received at 618, AMF 604, at 620, may a may send an Authentication Request to UDM 608, which may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr. This is similar to the process at 512 of FIG. 5.

[0175] If the Response at 618 only indicates that Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr sent at 614 is invalid without containing a new blockchain address, AMF 608 may perform regular 3GPP primary authentication at 620 and 622 with UDM 608. This is similar to the process at 514 of FIG. 5. If the Response at 618 contains a new authorized blockchain address, AMF 604 may additionally contain this new address in Registration Accept sent at 624. This is similar to the process at 516 of FIG. 5.

[0176] In an embodiment, a NF (or an AF) such as an NWDAF may need to check statistical information about a WTRU’s activities on a native wireless blockchain (e.g., the number of transactions a WTRU has generated during a time period and the number of transactions two WTRUs have exchanged during a time period). However, the AF may not know WTRU blockchain address but its 3GPP identifier (e.g., SUCI, 5G-GUTI, SUPI, GPSI).

[0177] FIG. 7 illustrates a signal flow diagram of an example process for discovery of WTRU activities on a native wireless blockchain, according to one or more embodiments. The process is an example where the NF (or the AF) retrieves WTRU blockchain information given a WTRU identifier.

[0178] At 710, NF 708 may send a WTRU Blockchain Info Request to BCCF 706 to discover the activities of one or multiple WTRUs on the target native wireless blockchain. The NF may discover BCCF 706 from a NRF given the WTRU identifier. This request may contain the following parameters:

[0179] WTRU-ID, which includes existing 3GPP WTRU identifiers (e.g., SUCI, 5G-GUTI, SUPI, GPSI). This parameter may contain multiple WTRU identifiers (e.g., one WTRU as the sender of blockchain transactions and the other WTRU as the recipient of blockchain transactions);

[0180] WTRU-BC-Info-Type, which indicates the type of blockchain information or the type of activities concerning WTRUs as denoted by WTRU-ID. An example of WTRU-BC-Info-Type may be “the number of transactions that a WTRU has sent to the target native wireless blockchain during a time period from time t1 to time t2”; and Native-BC-ID, this is the identifier of the target native wireless blockchain. This parameter is optional especially if the NF does not know it.

[0181] BCCF 706 receives the request 710. If BCCF 706 maintains the mapping between the WTRU identifier and the WTRU blockchain address, it may find corresponding Authorized-WTRU-BC- Addr using WTRU-ID as received at 710, and in this case process at 714 and 716 may be skipped.

[0182] At 714, BCCF 706 may send a WTRU Blockchain Address Request to UDM 704 (or other NF which maintains the mapping between WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address). This request may contain WTRU-ID and Native-BC-ID as received at 710.

[0183] UDM 704 may check the stored mappings between the WTRU identifier and the WTRU blockchain address and may find the WTRU’s blockchain address (i.e., Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr). UDM 704 may send a response to BCCF 706 containing the found Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr at 716.

[0184] BCCF 706 may receive Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr at 716 and may extract Native-BC-ID from Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and may select a BCSF from the native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native-BC-ID. BCCF 706 may send a WTRU Blockchain Info Request to the selected BCSF (BCSF 702) at 718. This request may contain: authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr (or just Raw-WTRU- BC-Addr part) as received at 716, and / or WTRU-BC-Info-Type as received at 710.

[0185] BCSF 702 may receive the request at 718, and may check its local blockchain ledger to find the requested blockchain info (as denoted by WTRU-BC-Info-Type) for the WTRU (as denoted by Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr). BCSF 702, at 720, may send a response to BCCF 706 containing the found blockchain info (i.e., WTRU-BC-Info).

[0186] At 722, BCCF 706 may send a response to NF 708F. This response may contain WTRU- BC-Info and may also contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr. In some examples, the operations UDM 704 performs in FIG. 7 may be implemented as BCRF as defined in ETSI GS PDL-024.

[0187] FIG. 8 illustrates a signal flow diagram of an example process where an AF writes BC Information concerning a WTRU, according to one or more embodiments.

[0188] In an embodiment, an AF may need to update the blockchain information about a WTRU (e.g., the priority for forwarding the WTRU’s transaction to other BCSFs), which may be maintained at a BCSF and may be used for regulating the WTRU’s blockchain user plane traffic to / from the BCSF. However, the AF may only know the WTRU’s Generic Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI). A NF (e.g., UDM) may be requested to map the WTRU’s GPSI to the WTRU’s blockchain address. The AF illustrated in FIG. 8 may be an NF (e.g., a PCF).

[0189] At 812, AF 810 may send an Update WTRU Blockchain Info Requestto BCCF 806 to update the WTRU blockchain information which may be maintained at BCSF 802. The WTRU blockchain information may include:WTRU-ID, which are existing 3GPP WTRU identifiers (e.g., GPSI), and this parameter may contain multiple WTRU identifiers;WTRU-BC-Info, which may indicate new WTRU blockchain information to be updated for the WTRU, an example of WTRU-BC-Info is “Change the priority for forwarding the WTRU’s transaction to other BCSFs to high”;BCSF-ID, which is the identifier of the BCSF (BCSF 802) which maintains and leverages the WTRU blockchain information, and this parameter may be optional since the AF may not know it and / or the BCCF may know the designated BCSF for a WTRU; andNative-BC-ID, which is the identifier of the target native wireless blockchain that the WTRU has been onboarded to. This parameter is optional in the case where the AF does not know it.

[0190] BCCF 806 may receive the request at 812. If BCCF 806 maintains the mapping between the WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address, at 814 it may find corresponding Authorized- WTRU-BC-Addr using WTRU-ID as received. In this case, the process at 816 and 818 may be skipped.

[0191] In the case where BCCF 806 does have the mapping between the WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address, BCCF 806, at 816, may send a WTRU Blockchain Address Request to UDM 804 (or other NF which maintains the mapping between the WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address), which may contain WTRU-ID and Native-BC-ID as received at 812.

[0192] UDM 804 may check the stored mappings between the WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address and may find the WTRU’s blockchain address (i.e., Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr). UDM 804, at 818, may send a response to BCCF 806 containing the found Authorized-WTRU-BC- Addr.

[0193] BCCF 806 may receive Authorized-UE-BC-Addr at 818 and may extract Native-BC-ID from Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and may find the designated BCSF (BCSF 802) for the WTRU from the native wireless blockchain as denoted by Native-BC-ID. If the process at 812 does not contain BCSF- ID. BCCF 806 may send an Update WTRU Blockchain Info Request to BCSF 802 at 820. This request may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr, as received at 818, and / or WTRU-BC-Info, as received at 812.

[0194] BCSF 802 may receive the request at 820 and may check its local blockchain ledger to update the blockchain information for the WTRU according to WTRU-BC-Info. BCSF 802, at 822, may send a response to BCCF 806 indicating its identifier (BCSF-ID) and an indication that the update operation is successful.

[0195] At 824, BCCF 806 may forward the response from 822 to AF 810. This response may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and BCSF-ID.

[0196] In some examples, the operations performed by UDM 804 may be implemented as BCRF as defined in ETSI GS PDL-024.

[0197] In some implementations, a BCCF (or a BCGF) may need to retrieve WTRU context information from a NF (e.g ., an AMF, an NWDAF, a Data Collection Coordination Function (DCCF)). However, the BCCF (or the BCGF) may not know WTRU identifier but may know the WTRU blockchain address.

[0198] FIG. 9 illustrates a signal flow diagram in an example process for the BCCF (or BCGF) to retrieve WTRU context info using WTRU blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments.

[0199] At 908, BCCF / BCGF 906 may send a WTRU Context Info Request to NF 904 to retrieve WTRU context information about one or multiple WTRUs. BCCF / BCGF 906 may discover NF 904 from an NRF. This request may contain the parameters Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr and WTRU- Context-Info-Type.

[0200] Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr, is the authorized blockchain address of the WTRU. This parameter may contain multiple authorized WTRU blockchain addresses. WTRU-Context-Info-Type, which indicates the type of WTRU context information about the WTRU as denoted by Authorized- WTRU-BC-Addr that BCCF / BCGF 906 needs to retrieve. An example of WTRU-Context-Info-Type may be “the current location of the WTRU”

[0201] NF 904 may receive the request at 908, and at 910 may send a WTRU Identifier Request to UDM 904 (or another NF which maintains the mapping between WTRU identifier and WTRU blockchain address), which may contain Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr as received at 908.

[0202] UDM 902 may check the stored mappings between the WTRU identifier and the WTRU blockchain address and may find the WTRU identifier (i.e., WTRU-ID such as SUPI) according to Authorized-WTRU-BC-Addr. At 912, UDM 902 may send a response to NF 904 containing the found WTRU-ID.

[0203] NF 904 may receive WTRU-ID at 912 and may use WTRU-ID and WTRU-Context-Info-Type to find the requested WTRU context info (i.e., WTRU-Context-Info) for the WTRU from its locallystored information at 914. If NF 904 cannot find the requested WTRU context info, it may need to contact other NFs to find and retrieve the requested WTRU context info from those other NFs.

[0204] At 916, NF 904 may send a response to BCCF / BCGF 906. This response may contain WTRU-Context-Info as found at 914. This response also may contain the WTRU-ID.

[0205] In some examples, the operations performed by UDM 902 may be implemented as BCRF in ETSI GS PDL-024.

[0206] If a BCSF or a BCAF need to retrieve WTRU context info for a WTRU, there may be two approaches: Indirect Retrieval via a BCCF and Direct Retrieval.

[0207] Indirect Retrieval via a BCCF: The BCSF or the BCAF may send a request similar to the request at 908 to the BCCF, and the process at 908 to 916 are followed. After the BCCF / BCGF receives the response at 916, it may forward the response to the BCSF or the BCAF.

[0208] Direct Retrieval: A BCSF or BCAF may leverage the same processes in FIG. 9, but the BCCF / BCGF 906 is replaced with the BCSF or BCAF).

[0209] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process of managing and leveraging mapping between WTRU identifiers and a blockchain address, according to one or more embodiments. As shown in Fig. 10, process 1000 may include transmitting, to a first network node, a first registration request including a first identifier of the WTRU associated with a wireless network at 1002. For example, a first WTRU may transmit, to a first network node, a first registration request including a first identifier of the first WTRU associated with a wireless network, as described above. As also shown in Fig. 10, process 1000 may include receiving, from the first network node, a first registration accept message including an authorized second identifier of the WTRU associated with a native wireless blockchain and an indicator of a WTRU identifier preference (WTRU-ID-Preference) for use in future registration updates at 1004. For example, the first WTRU may receive, from the first network node, a first registration accept message including an authorized second identifier of the first WTRU associated with a native wireless blockchain and an indicatorof a WTRU identifier preference (WTRU- id-preference) for use in future registration updates, as described above. The method may include storing the authorized second identifier of the WTRU at 1006. For example, the first WTRU may store the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU, as described above. As also shown in Fig. 10, process 1000 may include transmitting a first registration update message to the first network node at 1008, the first registration update message including the authorized second identifier of the WTRU. For example, the first WTRU may transmit a first registration update message to the first network node, the first registration update message including the authorized second identifier of the firstWTRU, as described above. As further shown in Fig. 10, process 1000 may include receiving, from the first network node, a second registration accept message including the indicator of the WTRU-ID- Preference for use in future registration updates at 1010. For example, the first WTRU may receive, from the first network node, a second registration accept message including the indicator of the WTRU-ID-preference for use in future registration updates, as described above.

[0210] Process 1000 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. A first implementation, process 1000 may include performing one of: a second registration request or second registration update message according to the WTRU- ID-Preference; contacting a second node of the native wireless blockchain via a control plane in the native wireless blockchain; or contacting a third node of the native wireless blockchain via an user plane in the native wireless blockchain.

[0211] In a second implementation, alone or in combination with the first implementation, the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU may include one or more fields including: a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (PLMN-ID), a native wireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID), a raw identifier of the first WTRU, or a signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU.

[0212] In a third implementation, alone or in combination with the first and second implementation, the raw identifier of the first WTRU is a hash of a public key associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU, and where the raw identifier of the first WTRU is authorized via the signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU.

[0213] In a fourth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through third implementations, the WTRU-ID-Preference is one of: a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI), a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), or a second WTRU identifier address.

[0214] In a fifth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fourth implementations, the WTRU-ID-Preference is set to the second WTRU identifier.

[0215] In a sixth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through fifth implementations, the second registration accept message includes a second node identifier and a third node identifier.

[0216] A seventh implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through sixth implementations, process 1000 further includes sending, to a fourth node, a discovery request, the discovery request including a first identifier of second WTRU and the first identifier of the first WTRU; receiving, from the fourth node, a discovery request response including one or more of: an authorizedsecond identifier of the second WTRU, a Native-BC-ID, the second node identifier, or a record identifier of the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; sending, to a second node, a request for configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, where the request for configuration information includes the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; and receiving, from the second node, the configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU.

[0217] An eighth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through seventh implementations, process 1000 further includes sending, to a second network node, a blockchain onboarding request including the first identifier of the first WTRU, a second identifier of the first WTRU, and a native wireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID) after receiving the first registration accept message or the second registration accept message; receiving, from the second network node, a first response message indicating a successful blockchain onboarding, the first response message including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU, the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU being associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU; sending, to the second network node, an blockchain offboarding request, the blockchain offboarding request including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; and receiving, from the second network node, a second response message indicating a successful offboarding.

[0218] In a ninth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through eighth implementations, the second network node is one of: a ledger anchor function (LAF); an access and mobility management function (AMF); or an unified data management (UDM) function.

[0219] In a tenth implementation, alone or in combination with one or more of the first through ninth implementations, the second response message includes parameters identifying conditions for a subsequent onboarding request by the first WTRU.

[0220] Although Fig. 10 shows example blocks of process 1000, in some implementations, process 1000 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in Fig. 10. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 1000 may be performed in parallel.

[0221] Although features and elements are provided above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in thedescription of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems.

[0222] The foregoing embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to the terminology and structure of infrared capable devices, i.e., infrared emitters and receivers. However, the embodiments discussed are not limited to these systems but may be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0223] It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term "video" or the term "imagery" may mean any of a snapshot, single image and / or multiple images displayed over a time basis. As another example, when referred to herein, the terms "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE", the term "remote" and / or the terms "head mounted display" or its abbreviation "HMD" may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU); (ii) any of a number of embodiments of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable (e.g., tetherable) device configured with, inter alia, some or all structures and functionality of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable device configured with less than all structures and functionality of a WTRU; or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU, which may be representative of any WTRU recited herein, are provided herein with respect to FIGs. 1 A-1 D. As another example, various disclosed embodiments herein supra and infra are described as utilizing a head mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a device other than the head mounted display may be utilized and some or all of the disclosure and various disclosed embodiments can be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other device may include a drone or other device configured to stream information for providing the adapted reality experience.

[0224] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internalhard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

[0225] Variations of the method, apparatus and system provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In view of the wide variety of embodiments that can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are examples only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims. For instance, the embodiments provided herein include handheld devices, which may include or be utilized with any appropriate voltage source, such as a battery and the like, providing any appropriate voltage.

[0226] Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices that include processors are noted. These devices may include at least one Central Processing Unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer programming, reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by the various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "computer executed" or "CPU executed."

[0227] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the acts and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. An electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU's operation, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to or representative of the data bits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0228] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0229] In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0230] There is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems. The use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software may become significant) a design choice representing cost versus efficiency tradeoffs. There may be various vehicles by which processes and / or systems and / or other technologies described herein may be affected (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware), and the preferred vehicle may vary with the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and / or firmware vehicle. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0231] The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and / or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented, individually and / or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In an embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, may be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and / or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc., and a transmission type medium such as a digital and / or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

[0232] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and / or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and / or processes into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein may be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and / or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0233] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components included within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality may be achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0234] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and / or application. The various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0235] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g. , bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, the following appended claims and / or the descriptions herein may include usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim including such introduced claim recitation to embodiments including only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Further, the terms "any of followed by a listing of a plurality of items and / or a plurality of categories of items, as used herein, are intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any multiple of," and / or "any combination of multiples of the items and / or the categories of items, individually or in conjunction with other items and / or other categories of items. Moreover, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. And the term "multiple", as used herein, is intended to be synonymous with "a plurality".

[0236] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0237] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein may be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," and the like includes the number recited and refers to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1 , 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1 -5 cells refers to groups having 1 , 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

[0238] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or elements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the terms "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, U 6 or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the terms "means for" is not so intended.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A method implemented by a first wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: transmitting, to a first network node, a first registration request including a first identifier of the first WTRU associated with a wireless network; receiving, from the first network node, a first registration accept message including an authorized second identifier of the first WTRU associated with a native wireless blockchain and an indicator of a WTRU identifier preference (WTRU-ID-Preference) for use in future registration updates; storing the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; transmitting a first registration update message to the first network node, the first registration update message including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; and receiving, from the first network node, a second registration accept message including the indicator of the WTRU-ID-Preference for use in future registration updates.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing one of: a second registration request or second registration update message according to the WTRU-ID-Preference; contacting a second node of the native wireless blockchain via a control plane in the native wireless blockchain; or contacting a third node of the native wireless blockchain via a user plane in the native wireless blockchain.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU comprises one or more fields including: a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (PLMN-ID), a native wireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID), a raw identifier of the first WTRU, or a signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the raw identifier of the first WTRU is a hash of a public key associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU, and wherein the raw identifier of the first WTRU is authorized via the signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the WTRU-ID-Preference is one of: a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI), a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), or a second WTRU identifier address.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the WTRU-ID-Preference is set to the second WTRU identifier.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second registration accept message includes a second node identifier and a third node identifier.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: sending, to a fourth node, a discovery request, the discovery request including a first identifier of a second WTRU and the first identifier of the first WTRU; receiving, from the fourth node, a discovery request response including one or more of: an authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, a Native-BC-ID, the second node identifier, or a record identifier of the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; sending, to a second node, a request for configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, wherein the request for configuration information includes the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; and receiving, from the second node, the configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: sending, to a second network node, a blockchain onboarding request including the first identifier of the first WTRU, a second identifier of the first WTRU, and a native wireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID) after receiving the first registration accept message or the second registration accept message; receiving, from the second network node, a first response message indicating a successful blockchain onboarding, the first response message including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU, the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU being associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU; sending, to the second network node, an blockchain offboarding request, the blockchain offboarding request including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; and receiving, from the second network node, a second response message indicating a successful offboarding.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second network node is one of: a ledger anchor function (LAF); an access and mobility management function (AMF); or a unified data management (UDM) function.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the second response message includes parameters identifying conditions for a subsequent onboarding request by the first WTRU.

12. A first wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a transceiver configured to: transmit, to a first network node, a first registration request including a first identifier of the first WTRU associated with a wireless network; and receive, from the first network node, a registration accept message including an authorized second identifier of the first WTRU associated with a native wireless blockchain, and an indicator of a WTRU identifier preference (WTRU-ID-Preference) for use in future registration updates; and processor circuitry coupled to memory and configured to store the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; the transceiver configured to: transmit, to the first network node, a first registration update message including the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU; and receive, from the first network node, a second registration accept message including the indicator of the WTRU-ID-Preference for use in future registration updates.

13. The first WTRU of claim 12, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit one of: a second registration request or second registration update message according to the WTRU-ID- Preference to the first network node; a first contact request to a second node of the native wireless blockchain via a control plane in the native wireless blockchain; or a second contact request to a third node of the native wireless blockchain via a user plane in the native wireless blockchain.

14. The first WTRU of claim 12, wherein the authorized second identifier of the first WTRU comprises one or more fields including: a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (PLMN-ID), a nativewireless blockchain identifier (Native-BC-ID), a raw identifier of the first WTRU, or a signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU.

15. The first WTRU of claim 14, wherein the raw identifier of the first WTRU is a hash of a public key associated with the first identifier of the first WTRU, and wherein the raw identifier of the first WTRU is authorized via the signature of the second identifier of the first WTRU.

16. The first WTRU of claim 12, where in the WTRU-ID-Preference is one of: a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI), a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), or a second WTRU identifier address.

17. The first WTRU of claim 16, wherein the WTRU-ID-Preference is set to the second WTRU identifier.

18. The first WTRU of claim 12, wherein the second registration accept message includes a second node identifier and a third node identifier.

19. The first WTRU of claim 18, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: send, to a fourth node, a discovery request, the discovery request including a first identifier of a second WTRU and the first identifier of the first WTRU; receive, from the fourth node, a discovery request response including one or more of: an authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, a Native-BC-ID, the second node identifier, or a record identifier of the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; send, to a second node, a request for configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU, wherein the request for configuration information includes the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU; and receive, from the second node, the configuration information corresponding to the authorized second identifier of the second WTRU.

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