Tethered application identifier assignment

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and instrumentalities associated with a Tethered Application Identifier (TAID). A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may be configured to determine a TAID and a delay value. The TAID and the delay value may be associated with application traffic. The WTRU may be configured to send a message to a network node that indicates a Quality of Service (QoS) treatment for the application traffic, the TAID, a packet filter associated with the application traffic, and the delay value. The WTRU may be configured to map uplink traffic onto a QoS flow based on the QoS treatment.

Description

TETHERED APPLICATION IDENTIFIER ASSIGNMENTCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Number 67 / 571 ,215, filed March 28, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.BACKGROUND

[0002] Mobile communications using wireless communication continue to evolve. A fifth generation of mobile communication radio access technology (RAT) may be referred to as 5G new radio (NR). A previous (legacy) generation of mobile communication RAT may be, for example, fourth generation (4G) long term evolution (LTE).SUMMARY

[0003] Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and instrumentalities associated with a tethered application Identifier (TAID). A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may be configured to determine a tethered application Identifier (TAID) and a delay value. The TAID and the delay value may be associated with application traffic. The WTRU may be configured to send a message to a network node that indicates a Quality of Service (QoS) Treatment for the application traffic, the TAID, a packet filter associated with the application traffic, and the delay value. The WTRU may be configured to map uplink traffic onto a QoS flow based on the QoS treatment.

[0004] In some examples, the processor of the WTRU may be further configured to receive a PDU session modification command message, to use the QoS Enforcement Rules (QER) to map the application traffic from the device to the QoS flow based on the TAID, and receive uplink data from the device.

[0005] In some examples, the message may be configured to be a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message sent to the Application Server (AS), or be a Network Access Server (NAS) message sent to a Session Management Function (SMF). The PDU session Modification Command message may include a QER. The QER may further indicate a mapping between the TAID and a QoS flow.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] FIG. 1 A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0007] 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.

[0008] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A according to an embodiment.

[0009] 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.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting up Quality of Service (QoS) for Tethered Devices through application server (AS)Zapplication function (AF) application programming interface (API) invocation.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting up QoS for tethered devices through a WTRU Request.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] 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.

[0013] 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 (WTRU), 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, adrone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a WTRU.

[0014] 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 I nternet 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 (eNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNode B (base station), 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.

[0015] 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.

[0016] 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).

[0017] 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).

[0018] 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).

[0019] 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).

[0020] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0021] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0022] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell orfemtocell. As shown in FIG. 1 A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0026] 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 peripherals138, 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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 outputuser 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).

[0032] 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.

[0033] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable locationdetermination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0034] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0035] 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) anddownlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0036] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0037] 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.

[0038] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0039] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1 C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements is 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.

[0040] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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.

[0044] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1 A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0045] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0046] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to- peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11 z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (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.

[0047] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be afixed 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0050] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11 af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11 n, and 802.11 ac. 802.11 af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11 ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non- TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11 ah may support Meter Type Control / Machine-Type Communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0051] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11 ac, 802.11 af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by aSTA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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).

[0055] 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).

[0056] 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.

[0057] 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.

[0058] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0059] 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, differentnetwork 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.

[0060] 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.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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.

[0063] In view of FIGS. 1 A-1 D, and the corresponding description of FIGS. 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-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a- b, and / or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0064] 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 perform testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0065] 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 testing 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.

[0066] Reference to a timer herein may refer to a time, a time period, a tracking of time, a tracking of a period of time, a combination thereof, and / or the like. Reference to a timer expiration herein may refer to determining that the time has occurred or that the period of time has expired.

[0067] Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and instrumentalities associated with a Tethered Application Identifier (TAID). A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) may be configured to determine a TAID and a delay value. The TAID and the delay value may be associated with application traffic. The WTRU may be configured to send a message to a network node that indicates a Quality of Service (QoS) treatment for the application traffic, the TAID, a packet filter associated with the application traffic, and the delay value. The WTRU may be configured to map uplink traffic onto a QoS flow based on the QoS treatment.

[0068] In some examples, the processor of the WTRU may be further configured to receive a PDU session modification command message, to use the QoS Enforcement Rules (QER) to map the application traffic from the device to the QoS flow based on the TAID, and receive uplink data from the device.

[0069] In some examples, the message may be configured to be a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message sent to the Application Server (AS), or a Network Access Server (NAS) message sent to a Session Management Function (SMF). The PDU session Modification Command message may include a QER. The QER may further indicate a mapping between the TAID and a QoS flow.

[0070] Tethering may be provided. A device may be tethered to a WTRU through an extended reality (XR) service. Tethered to the WTRU may mean that the device communicates with the WTRU via a connection (e.g. a Bluetooth connection). The WTRU may provide the device with access to a system (e.g., the 5G system). In examples, the application on the device may use the tethered connection to send and / or receive data via a system, such as a 5G system. The data may be related to an XR service. Multiple devices may be tethered to the same WTRU. An application (e.g., each application) may send and / or receive data that may be sent in the form of PDU sets.

[0071] One or more PDU set header fields may be provided. Header fields may be associated with a PDU set. The PDU Set Sequence Number (PSSN) may be a header field that encodes the sequence number of the PDU Set to which the current PDU belongs acting as a 1 O-bit numerical identifier for the PDU Set.

[0072] The use of a PDU set feature may be negotiated. An application server and / or application that may be hosted in the WTRU may use SDP signaling to negotiate the use of the PDU set markings. The use of PDU set markings may be negotiated. In examples, the sender application (e.g., an AS or WTRU hosted application) may indicate to the receiver application (e.g., the other of the AS or WTRU hosted application) if the sender supports adding PDU Set header extensions. This indication may be included and / or sent in an SDP message.

[0073] N6 may refer to the UPF interface that may be used to send PDUs to an AS and / or receive PDUs from an AS. In examples, the PDUs may be sent to the Application Server and / or received from the Application Servers. The PDUs may be in IP or Ethernet format. An N6 traffic flow may be a series of PDUs that match the same PDR or SDF.

[0074] Packet Detection Rules (PDR) may contain the information requested (e.g., required) to classify an uplink or downlink packet arriving at the UPF. The information that may be used to detect a packet may include one or more of a source interface, WTRU IP address, network instance, core network tunnel information, packet filter set, application identifier, QoS Flow Identifier, ethernet PDU session information, framed route information, FQDN Filter for DNS Query, protocol description, and the like. The Application Identifier in a PDR may identify a Packet Flow Description (PFD). A PDR may include what QoS Enforcement Rules may be applied to the detected traffic.

[0075] QoS Enforcement Rules (QER) may include a QoS Flow ID that may be applied to the associated traffic and may indicate if the UPF may insert PDU Set Information related to downlink packets into a GTP-U header.

[0076] In some XR services, the application consuming XR services may be located on a device(s) that may be locally connected to a WTRU (e.g., tethered to a WTRU). In examples, an AR application mayexecute on AR glasses; the AR glasses may be tethered to a WTRU, for example, using a wireless connection (e.g., WIFI, Bluetooth) or wired connection (e.g., USB, ethernet); and / or the AR application may send orientation-related traffic to an AR cloud server and consume AR services offered by the AR cloud server via the tethered link and the internet connection provided by the WTRU.

[0077] Tethered application may refer to an application executing on a device locally connected (e.g., tethered) to a WTRU to use the WTRU network connectivity.

[0078] The local connection to the WTRU may be wireless or wired. The local connection may be provided by an access technology that may not be related to the cellular modem, such as WIFI, Bluetooth, USB, Ethernet, and the like. The local connection may be provided by access technology related to the cellular modem, such as Prose. Differentiated QoS handling may be requested (e.g., required) for traffic from these tethered devices, not (e.g., only) accounting for traffic with different QoS requirements. The delay introduced by the tethered link may be accounted for. In examples, if receiving traffic from tethered devices, the delay value associated with a flow (e.g., each flow) may be the sum of the delay associated with the tethered link and the delay associated with the connection between the WTRU and the AS. In examples, flows that belong to tethered devices may be identified so that the additional delay value may be accounted for.

[0079] The system, such as a 5G system, may support APIs that allow the application server to configure the QoS parameters (e.g., requirement) of the data flows. The application server may not be aware that traffic may be related to a tethered application. An identifier (e.g., a device identifier) may be needed for identifying traffic associated with a tethered application, and information related to the local connection, such as the delay. The network may not be able to identify the traffic associated with the tethered application.

[0080] Embodiments described herein may provide a system, such as the 5G System, with means of identifying traffic associated with a tethered application along with its associated parameters. In examples, the delay values may be accounted for in the QoS treatments that are applied to the traffic associated with the specific tethered device. The delay values may be used by the network so that the network knows the delay budget is assumed for the data as the data traverses the core network and radio access network. In examples, the user experience may be improved if the system (e.g., 5G system) is able to identify and / or prioritize flows associated with tethered applications. The QoS treatment(s) may be improved, for example, by considering KPIs associated with the tethered connection.

[0081] A WTRU may assign a tethered application Identifier (TAID) to flows associated with a ttethered applicationapplication, and / or associate KPIs with the TAID, for example, latency. The TAID may be used to identify the tethered device associated with the tethered application. TAID(s), tethered connection KPIs,and requested QoS may be provided to the network. The network (e.g.., SMF) may use the provided information to build QoS Rule(s) that indicate how to map traffic from the tethered application(s) (e.g.., the traffic associated with TAID(s)) to a QoS Flow(s). The traffic that originated from a tethered applicationtethered application may be associated with additional transmission delays and therefore may need to be transmitted on a QoS Flow associated with a lower PDB than traffic that originates from an application that runs locally in the WTRU.

[0082] Procedures presented in FIG. 2 may enable the WTRU to provide TAID(s) and KPI information through the AS / AF API Invocation to the system (e.g., 5G system). The procedures presented in FIG. 3 may enable the WTRU to provide TAID(s) and delay information directly from the WTRU to the 5G system in a PDU session modification request.

[0083] In examples, the procedure in FIG. 2 may describe how the WTRU may send TAID and KPI information such as delay parameter (e.g., requirement) to the AS / AF. The AS / AF may provide the KPI information to the network. The network may configure QoS flows for the WTRU’s traffic (e.g., accordingly). The KPI information may be a delay value that may be assumed on the link between the WTRU and the device that is tethered to the WTRU. The network may use the delay information if configuring packet delay budgets for the WTRU’s QoS flows. The KPI information may be an error rate that may be assumed on the link between the WTRU and the device that is tethered to the WTRU. The network may use the error rate information if configuring packet error rates for the WTRU’s QoS Flow. In examples, the network may use the error rate information if selecting a 5QI for the WTRU’s QoS flows. The KPI information may be a priority level that may be assumed for traffic that may be sent on the link between the WTRU and the device that is tethered to the WTRU. The network may use the priority information if configuring priorities for the WTRU’s QoS Flow. In examples, the network may use the priority information if selecting a 5QI for the WTRU’s QoS flows.

[0084] Tethered TAID assignment may be provided through AS / AF invocation. FIG. 2 may be a procedure to initiate based on an API invocation from the AF / AS. A PDU session that carries XRM traffic between the WTRU and the AS may be established. At 1 , a tethered application may send a message to the XR enabler client on the WTRU requesting to create a TAID. The tethered application may run on a device that may be tethered to the WTRU. This message from the tethered application may include the following parameters.

[0085] A service descriptor may indicate to the XR enabler client what service or application server the tethered application may send data to and / or receive data from. The XR enabler client may use this information to determine which PDU session the tethered application’s traffic may be associated with. The service descriptor may be an application ID.

[0086] A flow descriptor (e.g.., packet filter) for the traffic that may be sent to the device. The tethered application may provide a flow descriptor instead of a service descriptor, and the XR enabler client may use the flow descriptor to determine what PDU session the tethered application’s traffic may be associated with. The tethered application may include two or more flow descriptors as parameters if there are multiple traffic flows with different flow descriptors that are exchanged by the tethered application on the device.

[0087] A device type may be used by the XR enabler client to determine how much delay may be expected on the link between the tethered application and WTRU. In examples, the device type may indicate that the tethered application runs on a Bluetooth device. The XR enabler client may be configured with information indicating a tethering delay, such as a tethering delay of 10 milliseconds.

[0088] Information related to the device type may include device characteristics, for example, computing capacity, maximum throughput that the device may be able to transmit with, etc., which may allow the XR enabler client to determine and / or estimate a delay value associated with the tethered link. In examples, the tethered application may provide an identifier such as a MAC address or a hardware ID, which may be used instead of a device type.

[0089] Information about some characteristics of the traffic exchanged by the tethered device. In examples, the information may include the modality the tethered device may be exchanging with the AS, such as video traffic or haptic traffic. This information about the traffic characteristics may help the XR enabler client to estimate a delay value for the tethered device, as well as other parameters, such as delay jitter variance, and the like.

[0090] At 2, the tethered application may receive a response message from the XR enabler client on the WTRU. This message may include the following parameters.

[0091] An assigned TAID may be a number that may be assigned by the XR enabler client to be associated with the tethered application and the device it runs on. In examples, the TAID may be associated with the link between the WTRU and tethered application. The assigned TAID may be unique within the PDU session that carries the traffic of the tethered application. The TAID may identify (e.g., uniquely identify) the tethered application flows and the tethered device where the tethered application may be executed.

[0092] KPI information, such as latency value, may be used to assume that there is a link between the WTRU and the tethered application.

[0093] At 3, the tethered application (e.g., the RTC endpoint) may send an SDP message to the AS with the assigned TAID and the associated delay value. This message may include the packet filters that may identify the RTP session or stream that carries traffic from the tethered device.

[0094] At 3, the application that sends the message may be an application that runs on the WTRU (e.g., the XR enabler client) and configures traffic for the XR session. The application that sends the message may be the tethered application that runs on the tethered device.

[0095] At 4, the AS may invoke Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create to configure QoS for the flow. If invoking Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create, the AS may provide a QoS Reference, the packet filter, delay values, the TAID, and / or the like. In examples, the AS may indicate the QoS Reference and one or more packet filters that are associated with a (e.g., only) TAID. A QoS Reference may be a value that represents the requested QoS (e.g., PDB and maximum error rate) that may be requested for the TAID. The requested QoS values (e.g., PDB) may be provided. The QoS parameters may be provided by the AF, such as packet delay budget, and may represent a delay parameter (e.g., requirement) between endpoints of a PDU session, e.g., between WTRU and PSA UPF. The QoS parameters provided by the AF in this request may indicate a delay parameter (e.g., requirement) between WTRU and PSA UPF, or a delay parameter (e.g., requirement) between the tethered device and the PSA UPF.

[0096] At 5, the NEF may authorize the request from the AS.

[0097] At 6, the NEF may send the requested QoS information, packet filters, delay values, the TAID(s), and / or the like to the PCF.

[0098] At 7, the PCF may respond to the NEF. The PCF may store the TAID(s) and / or associated delay values so that they may be used to configure PCC Rules.

[0099] At 8, the NEF may respond to the AS.

[0100] At 9, the SMF may receive PCC Rules from the PCF. The PCC Rules may include the QoSParameters that are authorized for the service data flows and the identity of the tethered device that may be associated with a PCC Rule (e.g., each PCC Rule). The PCC Rules may indicate TAID(s). For a TAID (each TAID), the PCC Rules may indicate the associated requested QoS, and / or delay value (e.g.., tethering delay value).

[0101] At 10, the SMF may respond to the PCF.

[0102] At 11 , the SMF may send QoS Rules to the WTRU. The QoS Rules may include the identities of the tethered applications (e.g., TAID(s)). The WTRU may use the TAID(s) to map uplink traffic from the tethered application onto the correct QoS Flow. In examples, the QoS Rules may indicate how to map uplink traffic onto a QoS flow. The QoS Rules may indicate how to map traffic that may be described by a packet filter (e.g., destination IP address and port number) to a QoS Flow, and the QoS Rules may indicate how to map traffic that may be associated with a particular TAID to a QoS Flow.

[0103] In examples, a QoS Rule for a tethered device with TAID-1 , may include, as a packet filter set, the TAID value, for example, TAID-1 . The packet filter set in this QoS Rule may be a destination node IP address and port number. The packet filter set may include both the TAID value and the destination IP information as one entry.

[0104] If the WTRU may carry traffic originating from an application on the WTRU and with the same destination IP information, the WTRU may use a different QoS Rule for this traffic originating from the WTRU. This QoS Rule may have as a packet filter set the destination IP information. The SMF may need to make sure that the precedence value of the QoS Rule for the WTRU, which includes destination IP information as a packet filter set, to be higher than the precedence value of the QoS Rule for the tethered application, in our example TAID-1 , which includes both destination IP information and TAID in the packet filter set of the QoS Rule (e.g., a higher precedence value may indicate a lower priority). The SMF may ensure that the traffic coming from the tethered application TAID-1 may not be evaluated with the QoS Rule of the WTRU (e.g., the tethered device may match this rule as well since the destination IP information matches).

[0105] At 12, the tethered application may generate traffic that may be sent to the Application Server. The MT part of the WTRU may map the traffic to QoS flows based on the QoS Rules that were received at 11. Since the uplink traffic may be associated with a TAID, the MT part of the WTRU may use the TAID to determine which QoS Rule to apply and may use the selected QoS Rule to determine which QoS Flow to associate the uplink traffic with.

[0106] If traffic (e.g., all traffic) to the same IP address and port number were mapped to the same QoS Flow, traffic (e.g., all traffic) to the same IP address and port number may receive the same QoS Treatment. The WTRU may be enabled to be configured to map traffic to QoS flows based on a TAID or a destination IP address and port number. A first traffic that comes from a tethered device may be mapped to one QoS Flow. A second traffic that may be generated by an application that runs locally in the WTRU may be mapped to a second QoS Flow. The first traffic and the second traffic may be sent to the same destination IP address and port number. The first traffic and the second traffic may be mapped to different QoS flows. The traffic that originated from the tethered device may be associated with additional transmission delays and may need to be transmitted on a QoS Flow that may be associated with a lower PDB than traffic that originates from an application that runs locally in the WTRU.

[0107] The TAID may have a validity period or validity conditions. In examples, the TAID may have a validity time, after which the TAID may be checked if they are being used, and the validity timer may need to be refreshed. The TAID for a certain tethered device may be removed or unassigned if the tethered device may have an issue, or the modality exchanged by the tethered device may no longer be used in theXRM traffic. Similar procedures to those shown at 1 and 2 may take place (to remove, update, verify, and etc.).

[0108] In the example of FIG. 2, the procedure may be triggered if a session may be established or initiated. The procedure of FIG. 2 may be initiated by the WTRU if the delay that may be associated with the tethered link changes by a certain amount or percentage. The WTRU may be configured with the amount, or percentage, of delay change that may trigger the procedure.

[0109] FIG. 3 may be a procedure that may be triggered by the WTRU if the AF / AS does not provide suitable packet filters to the CN. In examples, this procedure may be used in scenarios where the AF / AS may be unable to get the tethered delay values and TAID(s) from WTRU during application layer interaction, or the AF / AS may have no signaling interface with CN. It may be assumed that a PDU session between WTRU and PSA UPF for the XRM traffic may be already established.

[0110] The procedures of setting up QoS for tethered devices through WTRU request in FIG. 3 are described below.

[0111] At 0, the WTRU may generate TAID(s) for the tethered applications and may determine their associated delay values. This may be embodied at 1 and / or 2 in FIG. 2.

[0112] At 1 , the WTRU may initiate the PDU session modification procedure. Packet filters, delay values, and their associated tethered TAIDs may be provided by WTRU to SMF in the PDU session modification request message. In examples, the PDU session modification request may indicate a device ID. For a (e.g., each) TAID, the request message may indicate a requested QoS treatment and an associated delay value.

[0113] At 2, the SMF may initiate the SM policy association modification procedure. In this procedure, the SMF may provide the packet filters, delay values, and their associated TAIDs to the PCF, and the PCF may provide the PCC rule(s) with the Packet Filters, which include the TAID(s) to the SMF. The PCF may provide the PCC Rules to the SMF as described at 9 of FIG. 2.

[0114] At 3, the SMF may provide functionality for QoS flow binding. The SMF may generate QoS Rules as described at 11 of FIG. 2.

[0115] At 4, the SMF may send QoS Rules to the WTRU. The QoS Rules may include the TAID(s). The WTRU may use the TAID(s) to map uplink traffic from the tethered devices onto the correct QoS Flow. As described at 11 of FIG. 2, the QoS Rules may indicate how to map uplink traffic onto a QoS flow. The QoS Rules may indicate how to map traffic that may be described by a packet filter (e.g., destination IP address and port number) to a QoS Flow. The QoS Rules may indicate how to map traffic that may be associated with a particular TAID to a QoS Flow.

[0116] At 5, the tethered application may generate traffic that may be sent to the application server. The MT part of the WTRU may map the traffic to QoS flows based on the QoS Rules that were received at 5. Since the uplink traffic may be associated with a device ID, the MT part of the WTRU may use the TAID to determine which QoS Rule to apply, and may use the selected QoS Rule to determine which QoS Flow to associate the uplink traffic with.

[0117] As described at 12 of FIG. 2 and at 5 of FIG. 3, for UL traffic, WTRU may perform traffic filtering with the received QoS rule(s). WTRU may evaluate UL packets considering the IP / UDP traffic header and / or considering the tethered application (e.g., TAID) providing the traffic to WTRU.

[0118] In the example of FIG. 3, the procedure may be triggered if a session may be established or initiated. The procedure of FIG. 3 may be initiated by the WTRU if the delay that may be associated with the tethered link changes by a certain amount or percentage. The WTRU may be configured with the amount, or percentage, of delay change that may trigger the procedure.

[0119] Although features and elements described above are described in particular combinations, each feature or element may be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments, or in various combinations with or without other features and elements.

[0120] Although the implementations described herein may consider 3GPP specific protocols, it is understood that the implementations described herein are not restricted to this scenario and may be applicable to other wireless systems. For example, although the solutions described herein consider LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR) or 5G specific protocols, it is understood that the solutions described herein are not restricted to this scenario and are applicable to other wireless systems as well.

[0121] The processes described above may be implemented in a computer program, software, and / or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer and / or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic signals (transmitted over wired and / or wireless connections) and / or computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer- readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as, but not limited to, internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and / or optical media such as compact disc (CD)-ROM disks, and / or digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, and / or any host computer.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), comprising: a processor configured to: determine a Tethered Application Identifier (TAID) and a delay value, wherein the TAID and the delay value are associated with application traffic; send a message to a network node that indicates a Quality of Service (QoS) treatment for the application traffic, the TAID, a packet filter associated with the application traffic, and the delay value; and map uplink traffic onto a QoS flow based on the QoS treatment.

2. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the network node is an application server (AS), and wherein the message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.

3. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the network node is a Session Management Function (SMF), and wherein the message is a Network Access Server (NAS) message.

4. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session modification command message.

5. The WTRU of claim 4, wherein the PDU session modification command message includes a QoS rule set.

6. The WTRU of claim 5, wherein the QoS rule set indicates a mapping between the TAID and a QoS flow.

7. The WTRU of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the application traffic is associated with the QoS flow based on the TAID and the QoS rule set.

8. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive data from another WTRU.

9. A method performed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising:determining a Tethered Application Identifier (TAID) and a delay value, wherein the TAID and the delay value are associated with application traffic; sending a message to a network node that indicates a Quality of Service (QoS) treatment for the application traffic, the TAID, a packet filter associated with the application traffic, and the delay value; and maping uplink traffic onto a QoS flow based on the QoS treatment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the network node is an application server (AS), and wherein the message is a Session Description Protocol (SDP) message.11 . The method of claim 9, wherein the network node is a Session Management Function (SMF), and wherein the message is a Network Access Server (NAS) message.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises receiving a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session modification command message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the PDU session modification command message includes a QoS rule set.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the QoS rule set indicates a mapping between the TAID and a QoS flow.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the application traffic is associated with the QoS flow based on the TAID and the QoS rule set.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises receiving data from another WTRU.

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