Methods for enabling data transmission and reception for ultra-low complexity devices

Abstract

An intermediate node wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) and a network may establish a data transmission context for one or more ambient power-enabled Internet of Things (A_IoT) devices. The A_IoT Data Transmission Context (ADTC) stored in the WTRU and various network functions may share the same ADTC identifier and may include information related to the next-hop entity of the data path. Mobile originated (MO) and / or mobile terminated (MT) data may be transferred by identifying he ADTC and may follow the path of chained network functions.

Description

METHODS FOR ENABLING DATA TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION FOR ULTRA-LOW COMPLEXITY DEVICESCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICAITON

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 553, 784xfiled February 15, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND

[0002] Ambient power-enabled Internet of Things (AJoT) device may be a kind of Internet of Things (loT) device that may harvest energy from the environment, such as wireless radio waves, motion, vibration, piezoelectricity, solar and wind power, etc. They may be either batteryless or have limited energy storage (e.g., using a capacitor). Ambient power-enabled loT devices often find its usage in Industrial Wireless Senor Networks where the environment may be harsh (e.g., extremely high or low temperature) and requires devices to be battery-less, maintenance-free and long service life. They will also play an important role in Smart Logistics and Smart Warehousing. The low-cost, small-form, battery-lessness and durability make them suitable to be attached to huge amounts of goods and facilitate more efficient goods identifying, sorting, tracking and inventory. In typical Ambient power-enabled loT use cases, A_loT devices typically involved in very small size data transmission / reception, such as sending device identifications, product information, sensor data, or receiving actuator commands, triggering messages, etc.SUMMARY

[0003] In embodiments, a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) (e.g., an intermediate node WTRU) and the network may establish an ambient internet of things (A_loT) Data Transmission Context (ADTC) for one or more A_loT devices. The ADTC stored in the WTRU and various network functions may share the same ADTC identifier and the information on next-hop entity of the data path. Mobile originated (MO) and / or mobile terminated (MT) data may be performed by identifying the ADTC and may follow the path of chained network functions.

[0004] Data transmission for A_loT device may use ADTC. In embodiments, an AJoT capable WTRU, acting as an intermediate node, may perform a number of actions for AJoT data transmission. The WTRU may initiate the ADTC establishment procedure for one or more AJoT devices. The WTRU may select an ADTC identifier and make initial ADTC content based on information received from the one or more AJoT devices. The WTRU associates the one ormore AJoT device with the stored ADTC. When the WTRU receives UL data from the one or more AJoT devices, the WTRU may locate the ADTC and send user data and the ADTC identifier in a message to a network. The network message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) payload. When the WTRU receives data from the network associated with one or more AJoT devices, the WTRU locates the one or more devices based on ADTC identifier associated with the data, and delivers the data to the associated target AJoT device.

[0005] In embodiments, a WTRU may perform method or be otherwise programs to receive a first message from a first AJoT device and determine an ADTC based thereon. The WTRU may then send an ADTC request message to the network to establish the ADTC within the network. The WTRU may receive an ADTC accept message that confirms the establishment of the ADTC within the network. The WTRU may further receive user data from a second AJoT device. The WTRU sends a second message to the network that includes the user data from the second AJoT device and an identifier associated with the ADTC.

[0006] In embodiments, the first message from the first AJoT device may include an identifier associated with the first AJoT device and an application identifier. The first message may further include location information for the first AJoT. The ADTC may further be based on one or both of an identifier associated with the first AJoT device and an application identifier. Further, the ADTC request message and / or the second message may be included in a non- access stratum (NAS) message to the network. In embodiments, the ADTC request message may include location information for the first AJoT. In embodiments, the second message may include an identifier associated with the second AJoT device. The WTRU may further determine that the ADTC is associated with an identifier associated with the second AJoT device. The identifier associated with the second AJoT may further serve as a service identifier for the second AJoT device. In embodiments, the ADTC request message and / or the second message may be included in a non-access stratum (NAS) message to the network, Further, the user data and an identifier associated with the second AJoT device may be the payload of an NAS message.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0008] 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.

[0009] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment.

[0010] 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.

[0011] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a control plane cellular Internet of Things (loT) 5GS optimization.

[0012] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an ambient loT (A_loT) data transmission using ADTC.

[0013] FIGs. 4A and 4B show an embodiment of a WTRU-initiated AJoT data transmission context (ADTC) establishment.

[0014] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a WTRU-initiated ADTC update / deactivation.

[0015] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of an uplink (UL) A_loT data transmission using ADTC.

[0016] FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a downlink (DL) AJoT data transmission using ADTC.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] 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 one or more wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable one or more wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104 / 113, a CN 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wirelessenvironment. 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 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 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 WTRU.

[0019] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0020] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e. , one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of thecell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0021] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0022] 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 115 / 116 / 117 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 DL Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High- Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0023] 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).

[0024] 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).

[0025] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0026] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e. , Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e. , Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), InterimStandard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0027] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellularbased RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0028] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0029] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP),user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0030] 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.

[0031] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0032] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0033] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, forexample. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0034] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0035] 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.

[0036] 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).

[0037] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0038] 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.

[0039] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0040] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit 139 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 UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0041] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0042] 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 forcommunicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0043] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0044] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0045] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit- switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may providethe 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0051] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11z 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.

[0052] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0055] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11 af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11 n, and 802.11ac. 802.11af 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, 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).

[0056] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11ah, 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 in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0057] 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.

[0058] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0059] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment.The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0060] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0061] 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.

[0062] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards UPF 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0063] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one SMF 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0064] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (notshown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non- 3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0065] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the ON 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating WTRU IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0066] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 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.

[0067] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0068] 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 one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-ab, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0069] 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 oneor 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.

[0070] 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.

[0071] An A_loT device is an example of ultra-low complexity devices which share the similar nature of constrained resources in terms of energy storage, memory, transmission power, etc. The embodiments described herein may apply to general ultra-low complexity devices. A_loT capable WTRUs may be a kind of intermediate node (IN) that may relay communication between a AJoT device and network.

[0072] In FIG. 2, there is a show an example of a Control Plane for Cellular loT (CloT) within a 5G System (5GS) optimization. Control Plane CloT 5GS Optimization may be a feature in 5GS that enables the WTRU 200 and the Session Management Function (SMF) 202 of the network (for example, AMF 201) to exchange user data as payload of a NAS message in both uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL), thus avoiding establishing user plane connection for the PDU Session. When the involved PDU Session type is Unstructured (i.e. , non-IP data), the SMF 202 may select either Network Exposure Function (NEF) 204 or User Plane Function (UPF) 206 as data transmission anchoring node, based on the subscription information for the WTRU 200. If UPF 206 anchored data transmission is used, in the UL, the SMF 202 may forward the user data (received from the WTRU 200 in NAS messages) to the selected UPF 206, which forwards the data to the Data Network over N6 interface based on configured forwarding rules. UPF 206 anchored data transmission procedures are described in, for example, 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 18), V18.4.0, such as, clauses 4.24.1 and 4.24.2.

[0073] If NEF 204 anchored data transmission is used, in the UL, the SMF 202 may invoke the NEF service to deliver the user data to the NEF 204, and the NEF 204 may find an NEF PDU Session Context and the related T8 Destination Address, and may forward the user data to the Application Function (AF) 208 identified by the T8 Destination Address. NEF 204 anchored data transmission procedures are, for example, described in 3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 18), V18.4.0, such as, clauses 4.25.4 and 4.25.5.

[0074] In embodiments, the wireless pairing or connection between an A_loT capable WTRU and one or multiple AJoT devices may utilize technologies such as backscattering communication, PC5-based sidelink communication, Bluetooth Low Energy, etc. In embodiments, it may be assumed that an AJoT device and a WTRU exchange limited amount of information using the connection.

[0075] In embodiments, an AJoT device identifier may be the identifiers that may already be used in the industries, such as Universal Product Code (UPC), Electronic Product Code (EPC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag ID, etc. It may also use a new format defined by 3GPP. An AJoT device identifier may also include a device group identifier.

[0076] A_ JoT devices or other similar ultra-low complexity devices may not be able to communicate directly with a wireless network. Even if capable, these devices may not support NAS protocol and procedures, required by existing mechanisms, such as Control Plane CloT 5GS optimization, to perform data transmission. If an AJoT device supports indirect network communication, i.e. , communicating with network via an intermediate node (e.g., a WTRU), it may still utilize the existing mechanisms via a WTRU. However, the following enhancements may be needed to enable this approach.

[0077] Consideration may need to be made as to how the WTRU and the network (e.g. 5GC) establish connections for one or more AJoT devices, for which the network may not have subscription data / profile and necessary configurations, to enable data transmission through Control Plane CloT 5GS optimization mechanism. Further considerations may include performance where one or more AJoT devices provide relatively small size data UL / DL transmissions via an intermediate WTRU, utilizing Control Plane CloT 5GS optimization mechanism.

[0078] As represented in FIG. 3, a data transmission context may be provided for an AJoT device. In one or more embodiments, an AJoT capable WTRU 300 may be paired with one or more AJoT devices 302a, 302b, 302c, 302d, 302e, and the WTRU may establish an ADTC between itself and the network (e.g. 5GC) and associate one or more AJoT devices or application to the DTC 304a, 304b, 304c. A DTC describes the application or service associatedwith the AJoT device(s), selected NEF or UPF identifier / address, target AF address, security configurations, etc. In the UL, when the WTRU receives data from a A_loT device, it identifies the ADTC associated with the A_loT device or AJoT application and attaches the ADTC identifier to the data and send them to the network as NAS payload. The network may use the content in the ADTC to forward the data to its destination. In the DL, when the network receives data from the AF, which may be required to also contain the ADTC identifier, the network may forward the data to the WTRU that is associated with the ADTC identifier, and the WTRU forwards it to the target AJoT device(s).

[0079] In an embodiment shown in FIG. 3, AJoT Data transmission is shown as using ADTC. After the ADTC has been established, the AJoT capable WTRU 300 and various network functions (AMF 306, SMF 308, NEF 310) may maintain a local copy of the ADTC. The content of the ADTC stored at various entities may be different, for example, the ADTC in AMF stores the identifier associated with the AJoT Capable WTRU 300 and the next-hop network function (i.e., SMF 308) address, while the ADTC in SMF 308 stores the associated AMF 306 address and the next-hop network function (i.e., NEF 310) address. During the AJoT data transmission, the user data may be forwarded together with the ADTC identifier, which will be used by various entities (WTRU, AMF 306, SMF 308, NEF 310, etc.) to locate the next-hop entity. Following a chain of next-hop entities, the data may be forwarded to its destination address.

[0080] In embodiments, an AJoT capable WTRU 300, if it also supports Control Plane CloT 5GS Optimization, may initiate the establishment of ADTC procedure with the network. The WTRU 300 may determine to initiate such a procedure when it may be paired with one or more AJoT device(s) 302a, 302b, 302c, 302d, 302e, or when it has received data from an loT device(s). The WTRU 300 may also initiate such a procedure without actually pairing with an AJoT device(s) or receiving data from one or more AJoT device(s) if it is designated a role of Intermediate Node for AJoT devices. The WTRU 300 may initiate ADTC establishment for each AJoT device 302a, 302b, 302c, 302d, 302e that it has paired and each AJoT device may be associated with an unique ADTC; or, it may initiate ADTC establishment for a common attribute that multiple AJoT devices share, such as a common AJoT service / application, a common company name, a common shipping container, etc., and associate one or more AJoT devices (e g., devices of the same AJoT service / application) with the ADTC.

[0081] In embodiments, the AJoT capable WTRU may be able to obtain some simple information from the paired / connected, such as the device identifier, AJoT application identifier, etc. The device identifier itself, e.g., UPC or EPC, may contain more rich information such as application identifier, company name / prefix, shipping container code, asset type, product serialnumber, etc. The AJoT capable WTRU may use this information to determine how it initiates ADTC establishment procedures. For example, if the strategy is to establish a unique ADTC for each AJoT device, it may initiate the procedure when it pairs with or receives data from an AJoT device with a new device identifier or product serial number; or, if the strategy is to establish a common ADTC for one or more AJoT devices, it may initiate the procedure when it pairs with or receives data from an AJoT device with a new application identifier or company name, etc., and associate one or more AJoT devices (e.gl, of the same application or company), to the common ADTC.

[0082] The AJoT capable WTRU may be provided with (e.g. by the network) the policy or configuration that maps certain AJoT service information to Session Management parameters or may be used to derive additional ADTC information. For example, it might be provided with certain user equipment route selection policy (URSP) rules that maps an AJoT application identifier (ID) to Unstructured PDU Session type, DNN, S-NSSAI, etc. For another example, it might be provided with configuration that associate AJoT application ID with a set of use cases or traffic characteristics, e.g., whether the application data is delay sensitive.

[0083] The network may also initiate the ADTC establishment towards one or more AJoT capable WTRUs. For example, the AF that represents a certain AJoT application may request the network for AJoT communication support and exchange necessary information with the network, the network may then locate AJoT capable WTRUs that will be involved in the AJoT services and initiate ADTC establishment procedures towards these WTRUs.

[0084] In embodiments, it may be possible to preconfigure the ADTCs in both AJoT capable WTRUs and network. A WTRU may be configured to initiate ADTC establishment. In FIGs. 4A and 4B there is shown an embodiment of a WTRU-initiated ADTC establishment. At step 1 412, the AJoT capable WTRU 402 pairs with an AJoT device 400 and may collect simple information of the AJoT device 400 such as device identifier (e.g. UPC or EPC), its associated application / service (e.g. Application Identifier), company name, asset owner identification, product serial number, shipping information, etc. The AJoT capable WTRU 402 may be configured to recognize the various coding schemes for AJoT device 400 identifiers and may be able to extract above information from the device identifier.

[0085] At step 2 414 in FIG. 4A, the WTRU 402 stores some of the obtained information as the Initial ADTC for the AJoT device 400. This may be based on its strategy for establishing ADTCs. For example, if the ADTC is to be established uniquely for each AJoT device, it may use the device identifier or product serial number as the primary info in the ADTC and other information as secondary info; if the ADTC is to be established for some common attribute thatone or more devices may share, such as Application Id or asset owner name, it may use the common attribute as the primary info in the ADTC and other information, including the device identifier, as secondary info. The WTRU 402 may also choose a ADTC identifier. The ADTC identifier may be a combination of the WTRU identifier or a part of the WTRU identifier, such as a 5G Temporary Mobile Subscription Identifier (5G-TMSI), which may be part of 5G-S-TMSI) and the primary info of ADTC (e.g., device identifier or application identifier, or a part of the primary info).

[0086] The WTRU 402 may also attach some additional information as part of the Initial ADTC. For example, it may include its location or area, estimated distance between the A_loT device and the WTRU 402, timestamp of the pairing, estimated power level of the device, in the ADTC.

[0087] At step 3 416 in FIG. 4A, the WTRU 402 may determine to establish a new ADTC between the WTRU 402 and the network (for example, AMF 404) for the A_loT device 400 if it is not already established. The time to initiate the ADTC establishment may depend on the associated A_loT service. For example, in asset tracking use cases, only the device identifier may be expected by the loT Application so the ADTC establishment may shortly follow the initial pairing and information exchange (e.g., at 1). In other use cases, such as sensor data collection, the ADTC establishment may occur after the data has been received. The WTRU may be configured with information, e.g. mapping between AJoT application identifier to a few use case characteristics, to be able to discern the use case characteristics.

[0088] At step 4 418 in FIG. 4A, the WTRU 402 may initiate the ADTC establishment for one or more AJoT devices 400 by sending a ADTC Establishment Request to the network, e.g. using a NAS message. For example, it may include a ADTC Establishment Request information element in a certain NAS message such as Registration Request, UL Transport Request, Service Request or PDU Session Establishment Request. Generally, in the embodiment shown in FIGs. 4A and 4B, the PDU Session Establishment Request may be used as an example. The WTRU 402 may include a AJoT Service Indication in the request to indicate the PDU Session is not requested for its own data service, but for AJoT service of other AJoT devices. PDU Session Establishment request may include the ADTC identifier and the Initial ADTC information.

[0089] The WTRU 402 may use the provided policy / configuration to derive the DNN / S-NSSAI for the PDU Session Establishment. The WTRU 402 may also store the PDU Session ID as part of ADTC.

[0090] At step 5 420 in FIG. 4A, the AMF 404 selects the SMF 406 that supports AJoT services. The selection of SMF 406 may also be based on other AJoT information such asAJoT application ID, the area / location of the WTRU 402 and the AJoT device 400, etc. The AMF 404 may then store the PDU Session ID, selected SMF 406 Identifier as the additional ADTC content and store the extended / modified ADTC.

[0091] At step 6 402 in FIG. 4A, the AMF 404 invokes the SMF service, Nsmf_PDUSession_ CreateSMContext request, to create SM context for the WTRU 402 and the AJoT device 400. The AMF 404 may include the AJoT service indication, the ADTC identifier and the ADTC in the request.

[0092] At step 7 424 in FIG. 4A, the SMF 406 selects the NEF 408, e.g. based on the DNN / S- NSSAI of the PDU Session and requests it to create NEF PDU Session context. The SMF 406 may include the ADTC identifier and ADTC in the request.

[0093] Continuing on to FIG 4B, at step 8426 the SMF 406 stores the requesting AMF address and selected NEF identifier as the additional ADTC content and store the extended / modified ADTC.

[0094] At step 9 428 in FIG 4B, the NEF 408 creates an NEF PDU session Context and associates it with device identifier or application identifier and PDU session ID. The NEF 408 invokes Nnef_SMContext_Create Response towards the SMF 406 confirming establishment of the PDU session to the NEF 404 for the WTRU 402.

[0095] At step 10 430 and step 11 432 in FIG. 4B, the NEF 408 initiates Non-IP Data Delivery configuration (NIDDConfiguration) procedure towards the AF 410 that represents the AJoT application and obtain necessary information for data transmission, e.g. T8 Destination Address, and NEF 408 may store the new information (e.g. T8 Destination Address) as additional information in the ADTC. After this is completed, one or more 5GC NFs store a copy of ADTC and the stored ADTC information may be different across the NFs. For example, the ADTC in the AMF 404 may contain the selected SMF 406 Identifier so it may be able to forward the AJoT data associated with the ADTC to the right SMF; the ADTC in the SMF 406 may contain the selected NEF Identifier so it may be able to forward the AJoT data associated with the ADTC to the right NEF; the ADTC in the NEF 408 may contain the target AF Identifier and T8 destination address so it may be able to forward the AJoT data associated with the ADTC to the right target address.

[0096] At step 12 434 and step 13436 in FIG. 4B, the SMF 406 invokes the AMF service, Namf_Communication_N1 N2MessageTransfer to send the PDU Session Accept message to the AMF 404. At step 14 438, the AMF 404 forwards the PDU Session Accept message to the WTRU 402. The PDU Session Accept message may contain a confirmation of successful ADTCestablishment. At step 15440, the WTRU 402 may mark the ADTC as active and ready to use the ADTC for AJoT data transmission.

[0097] In embodiments, the WTRU may initiate an update and / or a deactivation of the ADTC. The WTRU may initiate an ADTC update procedure towards the network. For example, when the WTRU has paired or connected with one or more new A_loT devices, and if the WTRU determines it may share the existing ADTC for data transmission (e.g. the new A_loT devices may be associated with the same AJoT application for which the existing ADTC may be established), it may extend the existing ADTC with additional AJoT device identifiers and send the extended ADTC to the network. For another example, if the WTRU has disconnected with one or more AJoT devices that were previously associated with an existing ADTC, it may remove those AJoT device identifiers from the ADTC and send the modified ADTC to the network.

[0098] In embodiments, if the WTRU’s location or area has changed due to its mobility, it may initiate the ADTC update procedure to inform the network of its new location / area, the network may reselect a few NFs (e.g., NEF) and re-establish the ADTC in the new NFs.

[0099] The WTRU may also determine to deactivate one or more ADTCs. For example, the WTRU may determine or be requested by the network to stop acting as an Intermediate Node, in that case it may inform the network to deactivate all ADTCs and related PDU Sessions. For another example, if there is no AJoT device associated with an existing ADTC or there may be no data transmission activity using the ADTC, after a certain period of inactivity time the WTRU may determine the ADTC to be obsolete and initiate the ADTC deactivation procedure with the network. Accordingly, the network may remove all indicated ADTC from related NFs.

[0100] FIG. 5 depicts an example WTRU-initiated ADTC update / deactivation. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the WTRU 500 may use PDU Session Modification procedure for ADTC update or deactivation. The WTRU 500 may indicate in PDU Session Modification Request message the action type, e.g., ADTC update or ADTC deactivation, and include the affected ADTC identifier(s) and the updated ADTC content (in case of ADTC update). The network parts may update or deactivate the identified ADTC(s) in its NFs accordingly.

[0101] In embodiments, data transmission for AJoT device may use ADTC. In embodiments, an AJoT capable WTRU 500, acting as an intermediate node, may perform a number of actions for AJoT data transmission. The WTRU 500 may initiate the ADTC establishment procedure for one or more AJoT devices. The WTRU 500 may select an ADTC identifier and make initial

[0102] ADTC content based on information received from the one or more AJoT devices. The WTRU 500 associates the one or more AJoT device with the stored ADTC. When the WTRU500 receives UL data from the one or more AJoT devices, the WTRU 500 may locate the ADTC and send user data and the ADTC identifier in a message to a network (e.g., AMF 502). The network message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) payload. When the WTRU 500 receives data from the network associated with one or more A_loT devices, the WTRU 500 locates the one or more devices based on ADTC identifier associated with the data and delivers the data to the associated target A_loT device.

[0103] At step 1 508 in FIG. 5, the WTRU 508 determines to update or deactivate one or more ADTC. At step 2 510, the WTRU 500 sends a PDU session modification request to the AMF 502 (e.g., AJoT service indication, Action = “Update” or “Deactivate”, ADTC identifiers, Updated ADTCs, etc.). At step 3 512, the AMF 502 updates or deactivates the local ADTCs according to the WTRU 500 request. At step 4 514, the AMF indicates to the SMF to also update or deactivate the local ADTCs (e.g., Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext Request -- AJoT service indication, Action = “Update” or “Deactivate”, ADTC identifiers, Updated ADTCs, etc.).

[0104] Upon receiving the instructions 514 from the AMF, the SMF 504 accordingly updates or deactivates the local ADTCs at step 5 516 in FIG. 5. The SMF 504 then indicates instructions to the NEF 506 at step 518 (e.g., 6. Nnef_SMContext_Update Request (PDU Session ID, Action = “Update” or “Deactivate”, ADTC Identifiers, updated ADTCs, etc.). At step 7 520, the NEF 506 similarly updates / deactivates the local ADTCs.

[0105] FIG. 6 depicts an example UL AJoT data transmission using ADTC. In FIG. 6, there is shown an embodiment whereby AJoT user data may be forwarded by an AJoT capable WTRU 602 and network (AMF 604, SMF 606, NEF 608) to its destination 622 using established ADTC. At step 1 610, the AJoT capable WTRU 602 receives device ID, AJoT Service ID, and / or user data from one or more AJoT device(s) 600. AJoT Service ID, if not explicitly sent by the device, may be derived from the device ID by the WTRU 602. In some use cases, the user data may be the device ID itself.

[0106] At step 2 612 in FIG. 6, the WTRU 502 locates the ADTC based on, e.g., AJoT device ID or AJoT Service ID, and it sends the received device ID and user data as AJoT Data Payload in a NAS message, e.g. UL Transport Request, to the serving AMF 604. The WTRU 602 also includes the ADTC identifier as part of the AJoT Data Payload. At step 3 614, the AMF 604 locates its local ADTC based on the ADTC identifier received in the NAS message and retrieve the SMF address from the ADTC and forwards the AJoT Data Payload to the SMF 606, e.g. using Nsmf_PDUSession_SendMOData service.

[0107] At step 4 616 in FIG. 6, the SMF 606 locates its local ADTC based on the ADTC identifier received from the AMF 604 and retrieve the NEF address from the ADTC and forwards the A_loT Data Payload to the NEF 608, e.g., using Nnef_SMContext_Delivery service.

[0108] At step 5 618 in FIG. 6, the NEF 608 locates its local ADTC based on the ADTC identifier received from the SMF 606 and retrieve the T8 destination address from the ADTC and forwards the AJoT Data Payload to the destination address 622, e.g., using Nnef_NIDD_DeliveryNotify service.

[0109] In embodiments, a DL AJoT data transmission may use ADTC. FIG. 7 depicts an example DL AJoT data transmission using ADTC. In FIG. 7 there is shown an embodiment where downlink AJoT user data may be forwarded by an AJoT capable WTRU 702 and network (AMF 7604, SMF 706, NEF 708) to the target AJoT device 700 using established ADTC. At step 1 712 in FIG. 7, the AF 710 sends device ID and user data to the NEF 708 using Nnef_NIDD_DeliveryNotify service. The AF 710 and the NEF 708 have established NIDD configuration during the ADTC establishment procedure (e.g., such as at steps 10 and 11 in FIG. 4B).

[0110] At step 2 714 in FIG. 7, the NEF 708 locates the ADTC associated with the device ID, retrieves the associated SMF address from the ADTC. At step 3 716, the NEF 708 may forward the user data and the ADTC identifier to the SMF 706, e.g., using Nsmf_NIDD_Delivery service. At step 4 718, the SMF 706 may retrieve associated AMF address from its local ADTC and forwards the user data to the AMF 704, e.g., using Namf_N1 N2MessageTransfer service.

[0111] At step 5 720 in FIG. 7, the AMF 704 may locate the WTRU 702 associated with the ADTC and forward the user data to the WTRU 704 in a DL NAS message, e.g., DL Transport message. At step 6 722, the WTRU 702 forwards the data to the target device(s) 700.

[0112] Generally, in embodiments, a WTRU may serve as an intermediate node for one or more AJoT devices by receiving an initial message from the one or more AJoT devices. The WTRU determines an ADTC for the one or more AJoT devices and a location for the devices. The WTRU may send the first message, the ADTC and location information for the one or more AJoT devices to a network. Thereafter, the WTRU may receive data from the network corresponding to one or more of the AJoT devices. The WTRU sends the second message to the associated AJoT device based on at least the ADTC identifier. The ADTC may be determined based on a WTRU stored ADTC identifier information. Further, the message sent to the network may be included in a NAS payload message.

[0113] In embodiments, a WTRU may perform method or be otherwise programs to receive a first message from a first AJoT device and determine an ADTC based thereon. The WTRUmay then send an ADTC request message to the network to establish the ADTC within the network. The WTRU may receive an ADTC accept message that confirms the establishment of the ADTC within the network. The WTRU may further receive user data from a second A_loT device. The WTRU sends a second message to the network that includes the user data from the second A_loT device and an identifier associated with the ADTC.

Claims

CLAIMS:What is claimed is:

1. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor configured to: receive a first message from a first ambient power-enabled internet of things (AJoT) device; determine an A_loT data transmission context (ADTC) based on the first AJoT device; send an ADTC request message to the network to establish the ADTC within the network; receive an ADTC accept message that confirms the establishment of the ADTC within the network; receive user data from a second AJoT device; and send a second message to the network, wherein the second message comprises the user data from the second AJoT device and an identifier associated with the ADTC.

2. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the first message from the first AJoT device comprises an identifier associated with the first AJoT device and an application identifier, and wherein the ADTC is based on one or both of an identifier associated with the first AJoT device and an application identifier.

3. The WTRU of claims 1 or 2, wherein the ADTC request message is included in a non- access stratum (NAS) message to the network.

4. The WTRU of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second message further comprises an identifier associated with the second AJoT device.

5. The WTRU of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the ADTC is associated with an identifier associated with the second AJoT device.

6. The WTRU of claim 5, wherein the identifier associated with the second AJoT is a service identifier for the second AJoT device.

7. The WTRU of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the second message is a NAS message.

8. The WTRU of claim 4 and claim 7, wherein the user data and the identifier associated with the second A_loT device are the payload of the NAS message.

9. The WTRU of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first message further comprises location information of the first A_loT device.

10. The WTRU of claim 9, wherein the ADTC request message further comprises the location information of the first A_loT device.

11. A method performed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising: receiving a first message from a first ambient power-enabled internet of things (A_loT) device; determining an AJoT data transmission context (ADTC) based on the first A_loT device; sending an ADTC request message to the network to establish the ADTC within the network; receiving an ADTC accept message that confirms the establishment of the ADTC within the network; receiving user data from a second AJoT device; and sending a second message to the network, wherein the second message comprises the user data from the second AJoT device and an identifier associated with the ADTC.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first message from the first AJoT device comprises an identifier associated with the first AJoT device and an application identifier, and wherein the ADTC is based on one or both of an identifier associated with the first AJoT device and an application identifier.

13. The method of claims 11 or 12, wherein the ADTC request message is included in a non- access stratum (NAS) message to the network.

14. The method of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the second message further comprises an identifier associated with the second AJoT device.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: determining that the ADTC is associated with the identifier associated with the second AJoT device.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein the identifier associated with the second A_loT is a service identifier for the second AJoT device.

17. The method of any of claims 11 to 16, wherein the second message comprises a NAS message.

18. The method of claim 14 and 17, wherein the user data and the identifier associated with the second AJoT device are the payload of the NAS message.

19. The method of any of claims 11 to 18, wherein the first message further comprises location information for the first AJoT device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the ADTC request message further comprises the location information for the first AJoT device.

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