Enhanced member WTRU selection using application function feedback

Abstract

A method may be implemented by a first network node, including receiving configuration information associated with previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and historical filtering criteria. A member selection assistance request including current filtering criteria and historical data of candidate WTRUs may be received from an application function (AF). A service operation and subscription information may be determined. A request for WTRU information may be sent to a second network node based on the service operation and subscription information. The WTRU information may be associated with the current filtering criteria. The WTRU information indicating WTRUs associated with the service operation and subscription information may be received from the second node. A refined list of candidate WTRUs may be determined based on previously selected WTRUs, historical filtering criteria, WTRU information from the second network node, and current filtering criteria. The refined list of candidate WTRUs may be sent to the AF.

Description

ENHANCED MEMBER WTRU SELECTION USING APPLICATION FUNCTION FEEDBACKCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of United States Provisional Application No. 63 / 553,801 filed on February 15, 2024, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] An application (e.g., an application function (AF)) may request a wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU) candidate including filtering parameters, and the System (5GS) (e.g., the NEF) may provide the AF with a list of candidate WTRU(s). The AF may use the candidate list to select WTRUs for Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AIML) applications. The application may use a subset of the candidate WTRUs. The list provided by the 5GS, (e.g., the NEF) to the AF may not necessarily be optimal. For example, some WTRUs provided as candidate WTRUs may eventually not been used or selected by the AF (e.g., based on other factors known by AF). The 5GS may not be aware of which WTRUs are actually used and / or selected by the AF from the provided candidates. This may be relevant if multiple applications use a common set of WTRUs for some application traffic (e.g., AIML).SUMMARY

[0003] A method may be performed by a first network node. The method may include receiving configuration information associated with previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and historical filtering criteria. A member selection assistance request including current filtering criteria and historical data of candidate WTRUs selected by the AF may be received from an application function (AF). A corresponding service operation and a corresponding subscription information may be determined. A request for WTRU information may be sent to a second network node based on the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information. The requested WTRU information may be associated with the current filtering criteria. The WTRU information indicating WTRUs associated with the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information may be received from the second node. A refined list of candidate WTRUs may be determined based on the previously selected WTRUs, the historical filtering criteria, the received WTRU information from the second network node, and the current filtering criteria. The determined refined list of candidate WTRUs may be sent to the AF.

[0004] The member selection assistance request may include one or more of a list of target WTRUs and filtering criteria.

[0005] The member selection assistance request may include additional feedback associated with the previously selected WTRUs or the historical filtering criteria.

[0006] The first network node may be a Network Exposure Function (NEF) or a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).

[0007] The method may include sending the refined list of candidate WTRUs to the AF, and receiving feedback from the AF. The feedback may include information identifying WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list and additional data associated with the usage of the selected WTRUs.

[0008] The method may include determining a second refined list of candidate WTRUs for a second application function (AF2) based on one or more of historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, wherein the historical data comprises the filtering criteria and performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs, feedback from the AF identifying candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list, and common filtering criteria for the AF and AF2.

[0009] The method may include determining the second refined list of candidate WTRUs by analyzing the feedback from the AF, wherein the feedback comprises an indication of patterns of usage and performance for the candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list sent to the AF, and determining a priority for one or more candidate WTRUs for the second refined list based on at least one of the feedback, the filtering criteria, and the performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs.

[0010] The method may include receiving, by a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), a subscription message indicating data collection parameters for performing member WTRU selection analytics. The subscription message may indicate data collection parameters for performing member WTRU selection analytics. The subscription message may include an Event ID indicating a member WTRU selection event, and data collection conditions associated with the member WTRU selection event. Data collection may be performed for member WTRU selection enhancement analytics according to the data collection parameters.

[0011] The method may include performing member WTRU selection enhancement analytics by refining a member WTRU selection procedure based on historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, the current filtering criteria, and feedback provided by the AF.

[0012] The performing the enhanced member WTRU selection analytics may be triggered by one or more of WTRU performance metrics exceeding a given threshold, specific networkconditions during a specified time interval, and a request from the AF indicating specific member selection requirements.

[0013] A network node may be described herein. The network node may include a processor configured to receive configuration information associated with previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and historical filtering criteria, receive, from an application function (AF), a member selection assistance request comprising current filtering criteria and historical data of candidate WTRUs selected by the AF, and determine a corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information. A request for WTRU information based on the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information may be sent. The requested WTRU information may be associated with the current filtering criteria.The WTRU information indicating WTRUs associated with the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information may be received from the second node, and a refined list of candidate WTRUs may be determined based on the previously selected WTRUs, the historical filtering criteria, the received WTRU information from the second network node, and the current filtering criteria. The determined refined list of candidate WTRUs may be sent to the AF.

[0014] The processor may be configured to receive a member selection assistance request including one or more of a list of target WTRUs and filtering criteria.

[0015] The processor may be configured to receive a member selection assistance request including additional feedback associated with the previously selected WTRUs or the historical filtering criteria.

[0016] The first network node may be a Network Exposure Function (NEF) or a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).

[0017] The processor may be configured to send the refined list of candidate WTRUs to the AF, and receive feedback from the AF. The feedback may include information identifying WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list and additional data associated with the usage of the selected WTRUs.

[0018] The processor may be configured to determine a second refined list of candidate WTRUs for a second application function (AF2) based on one or more of historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, wherein the historical data comprises the filtering criteria and performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs, feedback from the AF identifying candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list, and common filtering criteria for the AF and AF2.

[0019] The processor may be configured to analyze the feedback from the AF, wherein the feedback may include an indication of patterns of usage and performance for the candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list sent to the AF, and determine a priority for one or more candidate WTRUs for the second refined list based on at least one of the feedback, the filtering criteria, and the performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs.

[0020] The processor may be configured to receive, by a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), a subscription message indicating data collection parameters for performing member WTRU selection analytics. The subscription message may indicate data collection parameters for performing member WTRU selection analytics. The subscription message may include an Event ID indicating a member WTRU selection event, and data collection conditions associated with the member WTRU selection event. The processor may be configured to perform data collection for enhanced member WTRU selection analytics according to the data collection parameters.

[0021] The processor may be configured to perform member WTRU selection enhancement analytics by refining a member WTRU selection procedure based on historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, the current filtering criteria, and feedback provided by the AF.

[0022] The processor may be configured to perform the enhanced member WTRU selection analytics responsive to a trigger. The trigger may include one or more of WTRU performance metrics exceeding a given threshold, specific network conditions during a specified time interval, and a request from the AF indicating specific member selection requirements.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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.

[0026] 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.

[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of member WTRU selection assistance with historical AF feedback data.

[0028] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of data collection related to member WTRU selection analytics.

[0029] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of single member WTRU selection analytics provided to NEF.

[0030] FIG. 5. illustrates an example of joint member WTRU selection analytics provided to NEF.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0032] 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 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 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), anindustrial 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0035] 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).

[0036] 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 Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0037] 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).

[0038] 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).

[0039] 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., a eNB and a gNB).

[0040] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as I EEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0041] 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 anembodiment, 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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.

[0044] 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 wirelesslinks). 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.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0048] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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).

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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 anaccelerometer, 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.

[0054] 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 WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0055] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the ON 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.

[0056] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0057] 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.

[0058] 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.

[0059] 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.

[0060] 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.

[0061] 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.

[0062] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit- switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0063] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1A-1D 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.

[0064] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0065] 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 anaccess 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.

[0066] 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. 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.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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, andthe 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).

[0069] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11n, and 802.11ac. 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, 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).

[0070] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 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.

[0071] 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.

[0072] 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.

[0073] 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).

[0074] 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).

[0075] 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.

[0076] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0077] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and 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.

[0078] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non- 3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0079] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating 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.

[0080] 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.

[0081] 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.

[0082] In view of Figures 1 A-1 D, and the corresponding description of Figures 1 A-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.

[0083] 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.

[0084] 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.

[0085] The example communications systems described herein may include and / or be in communication with an Application Function (AF). The AF may be implemented in performing communications with WTRUs and / or other network entities / functions. The AF may perform member selection procedures for identifying and / or selecting specific WTRUs from a set of candidates that may be assigned or allocated to a particular task, service, resources, or operations in the communication system (e.g., requested by the AF). The AF may select a subset of WTRUs that meet specific conditions (e.g., low latency, high throughput, location constraints).

[0086] The AF may provide AF feedback that may be taken into consideration to enhance WTRU member selection procedures for selection of WTRUs for utilizing the communications system or portions thereof at a given time or over given frequencies., that fulfill certain filtering criteria, such as area of interest, time window, and / or Quality of Service (QoS). The AF may provide feedback about selected WTRUs from a list of candidate WTRUs which may have been provided by the CN (e.g., 5G core (5GC)) using the member WTRU selection procedure. A network data analytics function (NWDAF) may be included in and / or be in communication with the communication systems and enhanced to train machine learning (ML) models for member WTRU selection analytics (e.g., single and / or joint member WTRU selection procedure requests).

[0087] A Network Exposure Function (NEF) and / or NWDAF may be included in and / or be in communication with the communication systems. The NEF and / or NWDAF may use historical member WTRU selection information from the AF. The NEF and / or NWDAF may perform one or more of the following actions. The NEF and / or NWDAF may be configured with a refinement rule that determines candidate WTRUs for a member WTRU selection assistance request, for example, using historical information about the selected WTRUs and historical filtering criteria. The NEF and / or NWDAF may receive a request (e.g., a request message) for member WTRU selection assistance from the AF. The request message may comprise a list of target WTRU(s)and / or member WTRU filtering criteria. The request message may comprise historical data of candidate WTRUs selected previously by the AF, together with the corresponding historical filtering criteria. The request message may comprise additional feedback regarding the previous AF member selection assistance request and / or selected WTRUs. The NEF and / or NWDAF may authorize the AF request, map the member WTRU filtering criteria to the corresponding service operation, and / or correlate the request to existing subscriptions using subscription correlation ID. The NEF and / or NWDAF may interact with other network functions to collect data regarding WTRUs. The NEF and / or NWDAF may consolidate the information received, and may use this information together with received historical data to determine a final list of candidate WTRU(s). The NEF and / or NWDAF may provide a list (e.g., a new and / or refined list) of candidate WTRU(s) to the AF.

[0088] An NEF and / or NWDAF may collect data for enhanced WTRU member selection procedures. An NEF and / or NWDAF may perform one or more of the following actions. The NEF and / or NWDAF may receive a request / subscription message (e.g., from the NWDAF) to collect data related to member WTRU selection analytics. The request message may include an Event ID “single Member WTRU Selection event” and / or “joint Member WTRU Selection event” for event type. The NEF and / or NWDAF may receive (e.g., from the AF) a request message for member WTRU selection assistance. The request message may include a list of target WTRU(s), filtering criteria, and / or other information. The NEF and / or NWDAF may determine that the received request is eligible to be relevant for data collection for the NWDAF. The NEF and / or NWDAF may use this determination to start collecting information. This information may include AF ID, NEF ID, AF request ID, a timestamp of reception of the request message from the AF, and / or filtering criteria, as part of the dataset. The NEF and / or NWDAF may authorize the request message from the AF, map the filtering criteria to different service operations to the communication system (e.g., 5GS), and / or correlate the request message to existing subscriptions.

[0089] The NEF and / or NWDAF may interact with other network functions (NFs) in the communication system to collect data regarding the target WTRU(s). The NEF and / or NWDAF may consolidate the WTRU related information and determine a list of candidate WTRU(s) to be provided to the AF. This list of candidate WTRU(s) may be included together with a timestamp of the list generation (e.g., as part of the dataset captured previously). The NEF and / or NWDAF may send the list of candidate WTRU(s) to the AF in a notification message (e.g., a Nnef_MemberWTRUSelectionAssistance_Notify message). The notification message may include an indication to the AF to send a feedback message including the list of actual selectedWTRU(s) by the AF from the list of candidate WTRUs. The notification message may include a feedback ID, for example, to help correlate the feedback from the AF. The NEF and / or NWDAF may receive a feedback message from the AF. The feedback message may include the actual list of WTRUs selected for the Application traffic. The feedback message may include the feedback ID (e.g., provided previously). The NEF and / or NWDAF may include the feedback message received to the dataset to be collected. The NEF and / or NWDAF may send the collected dataset to the NWDAF.

[0090] An NWDAF may perform one or more of the following actions. The NWDAF may be configured and / or triggered to collect data for member WTRU selection Analytics. The NWDAF may send a subscription message to the NEF to collect data related to member WTRU selection analytics. The subscription message may include an Event ID with value, for example, “single Member WTRU Selection event” or “joint Member WTRU Selection event” value. The subscription message may include one or more data collection conditions and / or parameters. The NWDAF may receive a dataset regarding the Member WTRU Selection data collection subscription. The NWDAF may determine based on collected data, to use this data to train and / or retrain one or more AIML models for the corresponding Member WTRU Selection Analytics.

[0091] Member WTRU selection enhancement analytics may be performed using member WTRU selection related analytics. An NEF and / or an NWDAF may perform one or more of the following actions. The NEF and / or NWDAF may receive a request message for member WTRU selection assistance, for example, from the AF. The request message may include a list of target WTRU(s) and / or member WTRU filtering criteria. The NEF and / or NWDAF may authorize the request from the AF, map the member WTRU filtering criteria to the corresponding service operation, and / or correlate the request to existing subscriptions using subscription correlation ID. The NEF and / or NWDAF may interact with other network functions to collect data regarding WTRUs. The NEF and / or NWDAF may consolidate the information received (e.g., in the collected data), and may use the information together with historical data to determine a list of candidate WTRU(s).

[0092] Member WTRU selection analytics may include, for example, evaluating candidate WTRUs based on predefined filtering criteria, historical data associated with previously selected WTRUs, and / or feedback received from the AF. These analytics may apply rule-based selection mechanisms that may enable the network to refine WTRU selection for an AF request based on, for example, available data at the time of request processing.

[0093] Member WTRU selection enhancement analytics may be utilized to extend the capabilities of member WTRU selection analytics by incorporating additional data sources, including, for example, long-term historical performance trends, network conditions (e.g., congestion and / or signal quality), and / or predictive insights generated through data analytics. These analytics may refine WTRU selection not only for the immediate request but also may optimize future WTRU selection by learning from prior selection patterns, service demand fluctuations, and / or AF feedback.

[0094] The NEF and / or NWDAF may determine that a refined member WTRU selection using member WTRU selection analytics is needed. This determination may be based on a NEF configuration, which in examples may include a period value and / or a time condition value. This determination may be based on a number and / or average number of member WTRU selection requests, based on a request from the AF, based on one or more network and / or application traffic conditions, and / or based on a number of WTRUs in the target list of the request from the AF. This determination may be based on the service type for the application of interest. The NEF and / or NWDAF may send a request for member WTRU selection analytics, for example, to the NWDAF. The NEF and / or NWDAF may receive the requested analytics, for example, from the NWDAF. The NEF and / or NWDAF may determine a refined list of candidate WTRU(s), for example, based on the information received form the NWDAF (e.g., the analytics) and based on the determined list of candidate WTRUs. The NEF and / or NWDAF may send the refined list of candidate WTRU(s), for example, to the AF.

[0095] An application may request a WTRU candidate including filtering parameters, and the communication system (e.g., the NEF) may provide the AF with a list of candidate WTRU(s). The AF may use the candidate list to select WTRUs for AIML application. The application may use a subset of the candidate WTRUs.

[0096] The list provided by the communication system, (e.g., the NEF) to the AF may not necessarily be optimal. For example, some WTRUs provided as candidate WTRUs may eventually not been used and / or selected by the AF (e.g., based on other factors known by AF). The communication system (e.g., 5GS) may not be aware about which WTRUs are actually used and / or selected by the AF from the provided candidates. This may be relevant if multiple applications use a common set of WTRUs for some application traffic (e.g., AIML). For example, a WTRU X may have been provided to an application function AF1 for an AIML session 1. In examples, WTRU X may have not been provided as a candidate WTRU for another application function, AF 2. If AF1 decided not to use WTRU X for the AIML session 1 , the WTRU X may not be utilized by either Application sessions. Additionally, and / or alternatively, AF1 may decide touse WTRU X as a candidate for Member WTRU selection, and / or may use a different filtering criteria than the one used by AF2 for the same WTRU X. In examples, the same AF may request a similar WTRU member selection procedure in subsequent session(s).

[0097] In some scenarios, it may be desirable for the communication system (e.g., 5GS) to be able to provide a refined (e.g., more optimized) list of candidate WTRU(s) to the AF. The feedback from an AF can be leveraged by the communication system (e.g., 5GS), to enhance / refine WTRU member selection procedures. For example, if multiple member WTRU selection assistance requests are concurrent and / or share common WTRUs and filtering criteria.

[0098] In some scenarios, an AF may want to select WTRU members in exclusivity of other AFs. This may be desirable for example to maximize resource usage on the WTRU and / or network towards a fast completion of a federated learning session and / or avoid influence / interference that may come from running parallel sessions on the WTRUs.

[0099] Member WTRU selection procedures performed by an NEF function may be enhanced using AF feedback on the WTRU(s) (e.g., the actual WTRUs) selected for the service. The AF may provide information to the communication system (e.g., 5GS) regarding the actual list of WTRU(s) used for certain service that utilized member WTRU selection assistance from communication system (e.g., 5GS). The communication system (e.g., the NEF) may use this information to further refine the determined list of WTRU(s) to provide to the AF.

[0100] A first network node may receive configuration information. The configuration information may include information associated with previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and historical filtering criteria. The first network node may receive, from an application function (AF), a member selection assistance request including new / current filtering criteria, noting that “new” filtering criteria and “current” filtering may be used interchangeably herein. In some examples, the new / current filtering criteria may be different filtering criteria than previously utilized filtering criteria. In some examples, the new / current filtering criteria may be the same as previously utilized filtering criteria. The first network node may determine a corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information. The first network node may send, to a second network node, a request for WTRU information. The requested WTRU information may be associated with the new filtering criteria. The first network node may receive, from the second network node, the requested WTRU information. The first network node may determine a refined list of candidate WTRUs(s) based on the previously selected WTRUs, the historical filtering criteria, the received WTRU information, and the new filtering criteria. The first network node may send, to the AF, the determined refined list of candidate WTRU(s).

[0101] The member selection assistance request may include one or more of a list of target WTRUs, filtering criteria, and / or additional feedback associated with the previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and / or the historical filtering criteria. The first network node may be a Network Exposure Function (NEF) or a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).

[0102] Enhanced member WTRU selection may be based on AF feedback. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of member WTRU selection assistance with historical AF feedback data. At 202, the NEF and / or NWDAF may be configured with a refinement rule that determines candidate WTRUs for a member WTRU selection assistance request, for example, using historical information about the selected WTRUs and historical filtering criteria. Member WTRU selection enhancement analytics may be triggered by specific conditions, such as WTRU performance metrics exceeding predefined thresholds, network conditions observed during a particular time interval, and / or explicit requests from the AF specifying member selection requirements. For instance, if a WTRU exhibits repeated performance degradation during high network congestion, the NWDAF may deprioritize it for future member selection. Similarly, AF requests for location-specific or QoS-prioritized services may trigger enhanced analytics to refine candidate lists dynamically.

[0103] The NEF and / or NWDAF (e.g., a first network node) may receive configuration information from other network functions (e.g., Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF) and / or Policy Control Function (PCF)) and / or preconfigured / pre-provisioned datasets to enable member WTRU selection refinement. These other network functions may be represented as a second network node herein. This configuration information may include historical filtering criteria, such as QoS requirements, location-based restrictions, service-specific priorities, and / or usage patterns. Additionally, the configuration information may include data related to previously selected WTRUs, identifying those WTRUs that were successfully or unsuccessfully selected for prior application requests. For example, if a WTRU was frequently selected in a specific area for video streaming applications, this data may be leveraged to prioritize or deprioritize that WTRU for similar requests.

[0104] At 204 the AF may request assistance for member WTRU selection by sending a Nnef_MemberWTRUSelectionAssistance_subscribe request. This request may include a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) value to indicate the network slice where the application traffic is going to be used. The request may, additionally, and / or alternatively, include a list of target WTRU(s). The list of target WTRUs may be potentialWTRU(s) that the Application has provided for the current application data session. The AF may also provide member WTRU filtering criteria, which in examples may include one or more filtering criteria. The filtering criteria may be based on an area of interest, QoS, and / or other parameters.

[0105] The AF may, additionally, and / or alternatively, provide historical data regarding WTRU(s) previously selected for the Application traffic from the list of candidate WTRU(s) provided previously by the communication system (e.g., 5GS). The historical data may be applicable to one or more filtering criteria. If more than one filtering criteria are specified, the AF indicates which data is applicable to which filtering criteria.

[0106] This list may include an identifier of the WTRU(s) selected by AF in the past, together with the historical filtering criteria to obtain the list of candidate WTRU(s) from which the AF selected these final WTRU(s). This information may also include time window(s) where the application has used the selected WTRU(s) for the application data session. The historical information may include WTRU’s KPIs (e.g., QoS parameters) for each session it involved. The AF may, additionally, and / or alternatively, include an indication of a rating assigned WTRUs that participated in the previous sessions, which may reflect the WTRU’s performance and / or account for other WTRU’s attributes. The information may, additionally, and / or alternatively, include past / previous list of target WTRU(s) that the AF provide to the communication system (e.g., NEF) for a previous application data session.

[0107] At 206a, the NEF may receive the AF request for member WTRU selection assistance. The NEF may authorize the service from AF and may map the member WTRU filtering criteria to the corresponding service operation(s). At 206a, the NEF may additionally, and / or alternatively, authorize the WTRU(s) in the list of target WTRUs (e.g., even if they have been authorized before). The WTRU authorization may be from subscription data, authorization token, and / or other mechanisms. Additionally, and / or alternatively, at 206b, the NEF may correlate the request to an existing subscription according to a subscription correlation ID. Upon receiving the member selection assistance request, the NEF may determine a corresponding service operation and / or subscription information associated with the request. This process may involve correlating the filtering criteria and / or historical data with subscription identifiers and / or service-specific rules defined for the AF. For example, the NEF may identify that the request corresponds to a subscription with enhanced QoS for high-priority traffic, such as telemedicine or autonomous vehicle communication. Based on this correlation, the NEF may be utilized to ensure that the subsequent refinement process aligns with the subscription’s service guarantees and / or requirements.

[0108] At 208, the NEF may interact with other Network functions, depending on the member WTRU filtering criteria to collect data regarding the WTRUs. The NEF may interact with NWDAF to derive Member WTRU Selection analytics, and the NEF may pass the historical data to the NWDAF for further processing. The NEF and / or NWDAF may send a request to a second network node, such as an AMF, SMF, or PCF, to retrieve WTRU-specific information required for the refinement process. This request may be based on the corresponding service operation and / or subscription information, so that the requested WTRU data aligns with the AF’s current filtering criteria. For example, the request may specify that only WTRUs operating in location A1 with active connections to a streaming service are desired. The second network node may respond with details such as WTRU mobility status, session parameters, and / or policy configurations relevant to the request.

[0109] At 210, the NEF may consolidate (e.g., all) information collected from the different network functions (e.g., 5GS NFs). The NEF may use the consolidated information together with the historical data of selected WTRU(s) by AF to generate a final list of candidate WTRU(s). The NEF may use the historical data of candidate WTRUs selected by AF as follows. The NEF may compare the previous list of candidate list provided by the NEF to AF and the corresponding actual list of WTRUs selected by the AF. The NEF may identify a pattern that helps refine the new candidate WTRU(s) list. For consistent use of different WTRUs for the application traffic (e.g. federated learning traffic), the NEF may determine to assign a priority to WTRU(s) based on the historical data of selected WTRU(s) provided by the AF. This priority can include, for example, a plurality of levels of priority (e.g., depending on the frequency of use of the WTRU by similar applications) and / or a priority range.

[0110] For example, the NEF may assign a comparably lower priority to a WTRU that has been used more than a threshold amount in one or more previous Application data sessions (e.g., Federated learning sessions), meaning that it will be less likely to be selected / recommended, and the NEF may assign a comparably higher priority to a WTRU in the consolidated candidate list of WTRU(s) if, according to historical data of previous use of WTRUs, the WTRU was not used more than a threshold amount, hence the NEF may determine to use this WTRU more often in subsequent application data sessions to allow for a uniform use of WTRU(s) and / or fairness. Also, the WTRUs with comparably higher KPI than other WTRUs in the past (e.g., over a defined period of time) can be assigned to a higher priority.

[0111] In some examples, the NEF may determine that the WTRUs that were suggested in the candidate WTRU(s) list and were selected by the AF (e.g., in the previous application data sessions using historical data of selected WTRUs) are consistent, and may be preferred to useand / or more likely to be recommended again to the AF. Other WTRUs which end up not being selected by the AF, based on historical data, may be less prioritized to suggest in the candidate WTRU(s) list for the current AF request. The logic used by the NEF may be based on local policies of the operator and / or may be agreed upon between the communication system (e.g., 5GS) and the Application service provider.

[0112] Member WTRU selection may be enhanced with historical data about selected WTRU(s) information from AF. In some scenarios, the application function may use the communication system (e.g., 5GS) member WTRU selection assistance service to help with operation (e.g., AIML FL traffic). The application may provide, together with the information regarding the member WTRU selection information, information about historical data regarding selected WTRU(s) by the application function to be used for the application traffic.

[0113] At 212, the NEF may provide the updated (e.g., refined) determined list of candidate WTRU(s) to the AF.

[0114] Analytics (e.g., new analytics) may be provided for enhanced member WTRU selection assistance with AF feedback. Different types of analytics may be provided by the communication system (e.g., 5GS). The analytics may be related to the member WTRU selection assistance service, and may leverage the AF feedback information about selected WTRU(s) from the provided candidate WTRU(s) list. The communication system (e.g., 5GS) may collect data related to member WTRU selection assistance services, train ML models, and / or provide analytics to help the NEF refine the list of candidate WTRU(s) provided to the AF.

[0115] A network entity that can perform analytics, such as an NWDAF function and / or a similar functionality, may train an ML model, that uses information about Application request to assist with member WTRU selection, the actual list of WTRU(s) selected by the AF and other information. The network entity (e.g., the NWDAF) may provide analytics via the trained ML model to another network function (e.g., the NEF), for a refined recommended candidate WTRU(s) list.

[0116] The service consumer for this analytics may be a network function, for example, the NEF. The consumer of these analytics may indicate an analytics ID and / or a target of analytics reporting in the request. The analytics ID may be “single member WTRU selection”. The target of analytics reporting may be an Application ID and / or group of Application IDs. The analytics filter information may comprise S-NSSAI and / or optional area of interest (Aol).

[0117] In examples, the NEF may optimize member WTRU selection assistance for one or more application function requests, for example, for potentially different application datasessions. If an AF utilizes WTRUs for the for AIML traffic (e.g., FL training), there may be a mechanism to select WTRU(s) for one AF (e.g., exclusively for one AF). For example, there may be a prior agreement between the application service provider (ASP) and the communication system (e.g., 5GS) that one or more WTRU(s) are to be used, and / or should be used exclusively for this ASP / application and not be shared with other WTRU for this. For example, once the NEF receives the two requests for member WTRU selection assistance, including list of target WTRU(s), the NEF may perform assistance for each request, and / or aggregates candidate WTRU(s) list(s) for each request. The AF may select a subset of WTRU(s) from the provided candidate WTRU(s) list. The two applications may have WTRUs in common to select from, and may select a same group of WTRU(s) which may impact the performance of Application data session for both applications.

[0118] The communication system (e.g., the NWDAF), may provide statistics and / or predictions regarding candidate WTRU(s) list(s) for two or more applications, that may have some correlation between them. For example, if the requests were made within a certain time interval. The NWDAF may use Vertical Federated Learning to derive / infer member WTRUs that should be included in the candidate list. For example, by training ML models for the same WTRU set (e.g., from the same list of WTRUs) but using different filtering criteria for ML training.

[0119] There may be a second analytics for joint WTRU member selection analytics. The analytics ID may be “joint member WTRU selection.” The target of analytics reporting may be two or more application IDs. For both analytics, in examples, the type of input data to be collected may be similar, and may be provided in the Table 1 below:Table 1 : Member WTRU selection information collected from NEF / AF

[0120] For example, for the analytics ID may be “single member WTRU selection’’. The NWDAF may collect data related to one or more of the following. The NWDAF may collect data related to AF requests for Member WTRU selection assistance (e.g., Nnef_MemberWTRUSelectionAssistance_subscribe) and / or related information (e.g., AF identifier, AF request identifier, Application ID, S-NSSAI, filtering information in the request, list of target WTRU(s) identifier(s), time window(s) optionally, timestamp of the AF request generation).

[0121] The NWDAF may collect data related to a list of Candidate WTRU(s) identifier(s) consolidated by the NEF based on the AF request for member WTRU selection assistance. This information may comprise one or more of: NEF identifier, application ID, application service type, AF request identifier, S-NSSAI, timestamp of reception of AF request, timestamp of aggregation of transfer of NEF consolidated WTRU(s) list, and / or time window(s) (e.g., optionally). The NWDAF may collect data related to feedback information from AF. This information may be related to the list of actual WTRU(s) identifier(s) selected by the AF after the reception of the NEF candidate WTRU(s) list. This information may include one or more of: AF ID, AF request ID, Application ID, timestamp of AF feedback message transport / reception, and / or selected WTRU(s) ID(s). Data information may represent the label data related to the input data for ML training for these two new analytics., time window(s) optionally.

[0122] The input data for the Analytics ID may be “joint member WTRU selection,” and may be similar to the previous input data. The input may be associated with a pair (e.g., for two) and / or a tuple of applications, application IDs or AF requests for member WTRU selection assistance. The data in this scenario may also comprise a correlation ID and / or correlation parameters / information to identify the correlation information where these two requests may be correlated in some sense. For example, this may be a time interval field type field and a threshold value, to indicate that the two requests may be correlated because they were sent / received within a time interval less than a specific threshold.

[0123] The correlation information may indicate overlapping time windows for the application data sessions, for example, with a certain time duration threshold. This may mean that the two application requests are correlated since the time window they provide in the request and / or the time window recommended by the NEF after aggregation of candidate WTRUs list(s), are overlapping by a certain duration (e.g., above the given threshold).

[0124] The correlation information may indicate a number of WTRUs in common field, and a value representing the minimum number of WTRUs in common for the application requests. This may mean that two AF requests for member WTRU selection assistance may be correlated, for example, because they provided a number of common WTRU(s) in the target list of WTRU(s) in the request.

[0125] This correlation information may indicate a number of WTRU(s) provided in candidate list by NEF that are common. In this case, if two application requests indicate they have enough number of common WTRUs provided by the NEF, this can indicate that they are correlated.

[0126] The correlation information may include an application group identifier and / or an application service provider ID. In examples, this may indicate that two AF requests may be considered correlated if they originate form the same ASP (e.g., have the same ASP ID and / or have an application group ID with the same value).

[0127] The correlation information may indicate an application service type, an S-NSSAI, NEF ID, AF ID, area of interest, and so on. The correlation information may include a one or more of the above information. This information may be agreed upon between the AFs and communication system (e.g., 5GS), and / or using an internal policy at the communication system (e.g., 5GS).

[0128] The output analytics may have one or more of the following elements indicated by Table 2 and Table 3.Table 2. Single / joint member WTRU selection statisticsTable 3. Single / joint member WTRU selection predictions

[0129] The WTRU member selection analytics may provide one of the following outputs. The WTRU member selection analytics may provide how often a WTRU is provided and / or selected for a certain application in a network slice (e.g., in a certain area of interest, given certain input / filtering criteria). The WTRU member selection analytics may provide a probability that a provided candidate list is to be used by the AF request. The WTRU member selection analytics may provide WTRU member selection for likely to be selected from the candidate list for anapplication given the provided filtering parameters. The WTRU member selection analytics may provide WTRU member selection recommended lists.

[0130] Procedures may be provided for data collection related to member WTRU selection analytics. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of data collection related to member WTRU selection analytics.

[0131] At 302, the NWDAF may subscribe to data collection to the NEF to collect data related to member WTRU selection. For example, the NWDAF may invoke the Nnef_EventExposure_Subscribe service operation. The request message may include an event ID that refers the event of receiving a member WTRU selection assistance request from AF(s) that is completed. The event ID may be a “single Member WTRU Selection event” type of event or “joint Member WTRU Selection event” type of event for new analytics (e.g., both new analytics). For example, if the event refers to “joint Member WTRU Selection”, the NWDAF may include the specific filtering criteria used for member WTRU selection event.

[0132] At 304, the AF may send a request to the NEF for member WTRU selection assistance using the Nnef_MemberWTRUSelectionAssistance_subscribe. In examples, the AF may include a list of target WTRU(s), an S-NSSAI value, an Application ID, and / or filtering criteria (e.g., QoS, area of interest and so on) in the request.

[0133] At 306, if the NEF receives the AF request, the NEF may determine that the requests represent an event that is relevant to the event the NWDAF subscribed to. NEF may start to prepare event output, result, and / or data input for the NWDAF. For example, the NEF may capture the AF ID, NEF ID, AF request ID, Timestamp of reception of this request, the filtering criteria included as part of the data.

[0134] At308a, the NEF may authorize the AF request, and may map the filtering criteria to different service operations of the communication system (e.g., 5GS). Additionally, and / or alternatively, at 308b, the NEF may correlate the request to existing subscriptions.

[0135] At 310, the NEF may interact with different network entities to collect information related to the AF request. At 312, the NEF may consolidate (e.g., some, all) received information and determine list of candidate WTRU(s) for the AF. The NEF may include this list of candidate WTRU(s) in the data to be provided to the NWDAF. The NEF may add a timestamp of the time the list was generated and / or sent to the AF.

[0136] At 314, the NEF may respond to the AF request using a Nnef_MemberWTRUSelectionAssistane_Notify message. The NEF may include the generated list of candidate WTRU(s). There may be a subscription for data collection related to member WTRU selection analytics. The NEF may, additionally, and / or alternatively, include a parameterindicating for feedback from the AF is required, for example, regarding the actual list of selected WTRU(s), together with a feedback ID, and / or an additional notification correlation ID, to allow the AF and NEF to know which request the list is related to.

[0137] At 316, once the AF receives the NEF response, the AF may perform further selection of WTRU. Then, the AF sends the actual list of selected WTRU(s) to the NEF. The AF may include the feedback ID and / or additional notification correlation ID in the message. The AF may include other information as feedback, with the list of selected WTRUs. For example, the AF may provide a time window where the AF determined to use the WTRUs (this window may be a sub window of the time window that the communication system (e.g., 5GS) provided to the AF, if provided). The AF may include a transaction ID for the feedback to allow the communication system (e.g., 5GS) to track the feedback provided for the specific member selection WTRU procedure.

[0138] At 318, once the NEF receives the feedback message from the AF, the NEF may capture the list of actual WTRU(s) selected by AF, for example, with a timestamp of reception of the feedback message. The NEF may finalize the preparation of the data to be provided to the NWDAF.

[0139] At 320, the NEF may send the event data to the NWDAF, for example, using Nnef_EventExposure_Notify service operation. For example, at a certain time, the NWDAF may be provisioned with a ML model that it may use for analytics and / or training purposes. The procedure for ML model provisioning may use existing ML procedures. ML model provisioning procedure may be the same for the new analytics “single member WTRU selection” and / or “joint member WTRU selection”. The authorization for single member WTRU selection and / or joint member WTRU selection may be different, unless, for example, a WTRU authorizes the training for all AFs. Note that the NEF may already have the information requested at 302, and therefore, at 320, may be applied after 302.

[0140] Single member WTRU selection analytics may be provided to a NEF. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of single member WTRU selection analytics provided to a NEF.

[0141] At 402 to 408 may be related to a general procedure for core network (e.g., 5GC) assistance to member WTRU selection. At 402, the AF may subscribe to member WTRU selection assistance functionality by sending a request to the NEF. The AF may use the service operation Nnef_MemberWTRUSelectionAssistance_subscribe. The request may include a list of target WTRUs, one or more member WTRU filtering criteria, and / or time window(s) (e.g., optionally).

[0142] At 404a, the NEF may authorize the AF request, may identify which information to collects for the target WTRU(s), and may perform a service operation based on the criteria provided by AF. At 404b, the NEF may correlate the request to an existing subscription according to the subscription correlation ID.

[0143] At 406, the NEF may interact with core (e.g., 5GC) network functions, according to the request provided by the AF (e.g., the filtering criteria). The NEF may receive data required for the member selection operation. Service operations (depending on the specific member WTRU filtering criteria) may be performed at 406.

[0144] At 408, the NEF may consolidate information received from different network functions and generate a list of candidate WTRU which fulfil the member selection criteria provided by the AF request.

[0145] At 410, the NEF may determine to refine the member WTRU selection. The NEF may prepare input data to send to the NWDAF to request analytics. The NEF may decide to refine member WTRU selection based on configured conditions. For example, the NEF may decide to refine the member WTRU selection periodically, for example, when a certain amount of time passes. The NEF may, additionally, and / or alternatively, use the number of member WTRU selection requests it has received, the average request of member WTRU selection requests per AF, AF ID, per WTRU, per group of WTRUs, per service type, per NW slice, per location and so on.

[0146] The NEF may, additionally, and / or alternatively, determine (e.g., based on an indication from the AF at 402) that member WTRU selection enhancement is to be performed. The AF may have provided a request to use refined member WTRU selection procedure, and / or included certain parameters regarding the candidate WTRUs, network conditions, application requirement, QoS parameters, and / or other data to let the NEF determine the use of refined member WTRU selection. For example, if the AF included a minimum member of WTRUs which is relatively large, the NEF may determine to use a refined member WTRU selection procedure to be able to optimize the bandwidth (e.g., the number of WTRUs and their resources) used for the requested session.

[0147] In examples, the NEF, and / or other communication system (e.g., 5GS) NFs, may be configured to perform refined member WTRU selection procedures if a certain type of traffic and / or a certain type of service requests member WTRU selection assistance. For example, if the communication system (e.g., 5GS) is configured to perform refined member WTRU selection procedure for media streaming type of service, then if the NEF detects (e.g., using an indication from the AF, using the Application ID, group Application service type) that the sessionfor which member WTRU selection request belongs to a media streaming type of application, the refined member WTRU selection procedure may be triggered to start. Additionally, and / or alternatively, conditions regarding the network, WTRUs, and / or the application session may be changed, and further analytics may be needed. This may trigger the refined member WTRU selection procedure.

[0148] At 412, once the NWDAF receives the request from the NWDAF, the NWDAF may derive the requested analytics, and generate the recommended list of WTRU(s) to use for member WTRU selection. At 414, the NWDAF may send the analytics result to the NEF, which may comprise the recommended list of WTRUs to use. At 416, the NEF may use the recommended list of WTRUs and sends a Member WTRU assistance notification result to the AF with the refined list of WTRUs. The NEF may send an analytics request to the NWDAF, for example, by using Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription_Subscribe service and / or Nnwdaf_Analyticslnfo_Request.

[0149] Joint member WTRU selection analytics may be provided to NEF. In some scenarios, the communication system (e.g., the NEF) may receive more than one request from AF(s) regarding assistance with member WTRU selection. For example, the NEF may receive two requests from the AF. The NEF may determine to perform a refined member WTRU selection (with assistance from NWDAF) for the two requests jointly. In examples, two AFs may send the AF requests. In some scenarios, there may be one AF sending two requests for member WTRU selection.

[0150] FIG. 5. illustrates an example of joint member WTRU selection analytics provided to NEF. At 502a and 502b, AF1 and AF 2 may send a request to the communication system (e.g., the NEF) to assist with member WTRU selection. The AF requests may include a list of target WTRU(s), S-NSSAI value, an area of interest and other filtering criteria for member selection.

[0151] At 504, the NEF may determine to perform the analytics for member WTRU selection assistance for two AF requests jointly. The NEF may use information regarding both requests to determine to use the analytics for member WTRU selection for WTRU jointly. Additionally, and / or alternatively, the decision to conduct joint Member WTRU Selection may be done at the NWDAF, for example, as an operator choice, and / or policy.

[0152] The NWDAF, in examples, may apply Vertical Federated Learning when deriving Member WTRU selection analytics. For example, the NWDAF may train models in different MTLF (NWDAF with ML training capability). For example, the NWDAF may use a different filtering criteria to train these ML Models. This criteria information may be based on S-NSSAI value. For example, if both application requests include the same S-NSSAI in the request, thenthe NEF may determine to perform enhanced member WTRU selection using joint analytics for member selection.

[0153] The information may comprise a time window. The two application function requests may provide a time window for the request member WTRU selection operation. If the NEF determines the time windows provided by the two application function requests are the same, and / or overlap, the NEF may perform enhanced member WTRU selection based on joint member WTRU selection analytics.

[0154] The information may comprise the time the request is received from the application functions. The NEF may determine to perform joint member WTRU selection based on joint analytics, if the two requests were received within a certain time period or duration.

[0155] The information may also include an area of interest. The NEF may determine to perform joint enhanced member WTRU selection if the two requests from AF have the same area of interest as input / filtering criteria.

[0156] The information may depend on the provided list of target WTRU(s). The NEF may determine to perform joint enhanced member WTRU selection if the target WTRU(s) lists provided by the two application functions are the same and / or overlap.

[0157] The information may comprise service type. For example, if the request from the AFs target applications (e.g., with application ID 1 and application ID 2) that have the same type of service (e.g., AIML for XR and / or Image recognition application), the NEF may determine that the two requests may be processed together for enhanced member WTRU selection.

[0158] Different information and / or criteria may be used together for the NEF to determine joint enhanced member WTRU selection processing.

[0159] At 506, the NEF may perform service authorization for the received AF requests, and map member WTRU filtering criteria to corresponding service operation. At 508, the NEF may correlate the requests to existing subscription(s), for example, according to a subscription correlation ID. At 510, the NEF may interact with NFs to perform service operations according to the identified service operations for the different AF requests. At 512, the NEF may receive information from the different network functions. The NEF may aggregate the information collected and derives, for each of the two application function requests, list(s) of candidate WTRU(s).

[0160] At 504, the NEF may have determined joint enhanced member WTRU selection, the NEF sends a request to the NWDAF to perform analytics. The NEF may provide one or more of the following input(s) for the NWDAF for this request at 514. The NEF may provide AF 1 requested information for the application ID 1 (e.g., including the AF identifier, the parametersinput, application ID 1). The NEF may provide a list of candidate WTRU(s) determined by NEF for AF request 1 . The NEF may provide AF 2 requested information for the application ID 2 (including AF identifier, AF request 2 parameters input, application ID 2). The NEF may provide a list of candidate WTRU(s) determined by the NEF for AF request 2. The NEF request may include the analytics ID as “Member WTRU selection” and / or include an attribute as “joint”.

[0161] At 516, the NWDAF may have received the request from NEF with the input data for both requests. The NWDAF may perform joint member WTRU selection analytics. The analytics may include information regarding the requests. The analytics result may include a recommended list of WTRU(s) for the AF requests (e.g., each of the two requests).

[0162] At 518, the NWDAF may provide the determined analytics results to the NEF. The NEF may use the received information from the NWDAF to generate and send the refined candidate WTRU(s) list to AF 1 at 520a and AF 2 at 520b.

[0163] Two AF requests may be received by the NEF. Two requests may come simultaneously. These requests may also come within a certain time period. For example, additionally, and / or alternatively, one request may come at a certain time. The NEF may perform the enhanced member WTRU selection. If a second AF request comes, both the old and new request may be inputs. The NEF may provide member WTRU selection for the first and / or second request. The NEF may, additionally, and / or alternatively, update the list of candidate WTRUs for the first request. The NEF may be provided with correlation criteria. The correlation criteria may allow for the NEF to determine when two requests need and / or can be treated jointly. For example, within a certain time window.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method performed by a first network node, the method comprising: receiving configuration information, the configuration information comprising information associated with previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and historical filtering criteria; receiving, from an application function (AF), a member selection assistance request comprising current filtering criteria and historical data of candidate WTRUs selected by the AF; determining a corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information; sending, to a second network node, a request for WTRU information based on the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information, wherein the requested WTRU information is associated with the current filtering criteria; receiving, from the second network node, the WTRU information indicating WTRUs associated with the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information; determining a refined list of candidate WTRUs based on the previously selected WTRUs, the historical filtering criteria, the received WTRU information from the second network node, and the current filtering criteria; and sending, to the AF, the determined refined list of candidate WTRUs.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the member selection assistance request comprises one or more of a list of target WTRUs and filtering criteria.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the member selection assistance request comprises additional feedback associated with the previously selected WTRUs or the historical filtering criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network node is a Network Exposure Function (NEF) or a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: sending the refined list of candidate WTRUs to the AF; andreceiving feedback from the AF, wherein the feedback comprises information identifying WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list and additional data associated with the usage of the selected WTRUs.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a second refined list of candidate WTRUs for a second application function (AF2) based on one or more of: historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, wherein the historical data comprises the filtering criteria and performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs; feedback from the AF identifying candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list; and common filtering criteria for the AF and AF2.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the second refined list of candidate WTRUs comprises: analyzing the feedback from the AF, wherein the feedback comprises an indication of patterns of usage and performance for the candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list sent to the AF; and determining a priority for one or more candidate WTRUs for the second refined list based on at least one of the feedback, the filtering criteria, and the performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, by a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), a subscription message indicating data collection parameters for performing member WTRU selection analytics, wherein the subscription message comprises: an Event ID indicating a member WTRU selection event; and data collection conditions associated with the member WTRU selection event; and performing data collection for member WTRU selection enhancement analytics according to the data collection parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:performing member WTRU selection enhancement analytics by refining a member WTRU selection procedure based on historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, the current filtering criteria, and feedback provided by the AF.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the performing the enhanced member WTRU selection analytics is triggered by one or more of:WTRU performance metrics exceeding a given threshold; specific network conditions during a specified time interval; and a request from the AF indicating specific member selection requirements.

11. A network node, comprising: a processor configured to: receive configuration information, the configuration information comprising information associated with previously selected wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) and historical filtering criteria; receive, from an application function (AF), a member selection assistance request comprising current filtering criteria and historical data of candidate WTRUs selected by the AF; determine a corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information; send, to a second network node, a request for WTRU information based on the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information, wherein the requested WTRU information is associated with the current filtering criteria; receive, from the second network node, the WTRU information indicating WTRUs associated with the corresponding service operation and corresponding subscription information; determine a refined list of candidate WTRUs based on the previously selected WTRUs, the historical filtering criteria, the received WTRU information from the second network node, and the current filtering criteria; and send, to the AF, the determined refined list of candidate WTRUs.

12. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to receive a member selection assistance request comprising one or more of a list of target WTRUs and filtering criteria.

13. The network node of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to receive a member selection assistance request comprising additional feedback associated with the previously selected WTRUs or the historical filtering criteria.

14. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the network node is a Network Exposure Function (NEF) or a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF).

15. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to: send the refined list of candidate WTRUs to the AF; and receive feedback from the AF, wherein the feedback comprises information identifying WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list and additional data associated with the usage of the selected WTRUs.

16. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a second refined list of candidate WTRUs for a second application function (AF2) based on one or more of: historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, wherein the historical data comprises the filtering criteria and performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs; feedback from the AF identifying WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list; and common filtering criteria for the AF and AF2.

17. The network node of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to: analyze the feedback from the AF, wherein the feedback comprises an indication of patterns of usage and performance for the candidate WTRUs selected by the AF from the refined list sent to the AF; and determine a priority for one or more candidate WTRUs for the second refined list based on at least one of the feedback, the filtering criteria, and the performance metrics associated with the previously selected WTRUs.

18. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to:receive, by a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), a subscription message indicating data collection parameters for performing member WTRU selection analytics, wherein the subscription message comprises: an Event ID indicating a member WTRU selection event; and data collection conditions associated with the member WTRU selection event; and perform data collection for enhanced member WTRU selection analytics according to the data collection parameters.

19. The network node of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to perform member WTRU selection enhancement analytics by refining a member WTRU selection procedure based on historical data associated with the previously selected WTRUs, the current filtering criteria, and feedback provided by the AF.

20. The network node of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to perform the enhanced member WTRU selection analytics responsive to a trigger, wherein the trigger comprises one or more of:WTRU performance metrics exceeding a given threshold; specific network conditions during a specified time interval; and a request from the AF indicating specific member selection requirements.

Images