Methods and apparatuses for managing protocol data unit for dualsteer capable devices

Abstract

Procedures, methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems, wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs), and computer program products for establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session by a WTRU that includes a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE, with a wireless network. The method includes transmitting a registration request to the wireless network to register the first and the second UE with the wireless network, determining an identifier associated with the device, and transmitting a PDU session establishment request to the wireless network, the PDU session establishment request including data indicative of the identifier and information about the device or the PDU session. The method further includes receiving by the first UE an indication that the PDU session is allowed and traffic rules information for the PDU session, providing the traffic rules information to the second UE, and communicating with the wireless network during the PDU session based in part on the traffic rules information.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MANAGING PROTOCOL DATA UNIT FOR DUALSTEER CAPABLE DEVICESCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to and the benefit of copending, commonly-assigned United States Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 574,728, filed April 4, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] The present disclosure is generally directed to the fields of communications, software and encoding, including, for example, to methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems related to managing Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for DualSteer capable devices.SUMMARY

[0003] In certain representative embodiments, a method or procedure, and related apparatuses for establishing a PDU session by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that includes a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE, with a wireless network includes transmitting a registration request to the wireless network to register the first and the second UE with the wireless network, determining an identifier associated with the WTRU, and transmitting a PDU session establishment request to the wireless network, the PDU session establishment request including information indicative of the identifier and characteristics of the WTRU or the PDU session. The method further includes receiving by the first UE an indication that the PDU session is allowed and traffic rules information for the PDU session, providing the traffic rules information to the second UE, and communicating with the wireless network during the PDU session based in part on the traffic rules information.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto. Figures in such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. As such, the Figures (FIGs.) and the detailed description are not to be considered limiting, and other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Furthermore, like reference numerals ("ref.") in the FIGs. indicate like elements, and wherein:

[0005] FIG. 1 A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system;

[0006] FIG. IB is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0007] 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;

[0008] FIG. ID 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. 1 A;

[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a dual mobile termination (MT) model that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0010] FIG. 3 is a procedure to associate PDU sessions for two UEs using a common identifier called a Dual Steer specific ID that may be implemented using the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0011] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for establishing a PDU session using a WTRU which may be implemented using the dual-MT WTRU illustrated in FIG. 2;

[0012] FIG. 5 is another flowchart of an illustrative process for establishing a PDU session using a WTRU which may be implemented using the dual-MT WTRU illustrated in FIG. 2; and

[0013] FIG. 6 an additional flowchart of an illustrative process for establishing a PDU session using a WTRU which may be implemented using the dual-MT WTRU illustrated in FIG. 2.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, so as not to obscure the following description. Further, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in lieu of, or in combination with, the embodiments and other examples described, disclosed or otherwise provided explicitly, implicitly and / or inherently (collectively "provided") herein. Although various embodiments are described and / or claimed herein in which an apparatus, system, WTRU, etc. and / or any element thereof carries out an operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof, it is to be understood that any embodiments described and / or claimed herein assume that any apparatus, system, WTRU, etc. and / or any element thereof is configured to carry out any operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof.

[0015] Example Communications System

[0016] The methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein are well-suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D, where various elements of the network may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein.

[0017] FIG. 1A is a system 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), singlecarrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discreet Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block- filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104 / 113, a core network (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 (or be) a UE, a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

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

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

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

[0022] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0023] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), whichmay establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE- A Pro).

[0024] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

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

[0026] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 IX, 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.

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

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

[0029] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or 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 / 114 or a different RAT.

[0030] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

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

[0032] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore 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. IB depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together, e.g., in an electronic package or chip.

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

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

[0035] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0036] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

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

[0038] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

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

[0040] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the uplink (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The fullduplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the uplink (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

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

[0042] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0043] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 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 uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface. 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 (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0044] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an SI 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.

[0045] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the SI interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / fromthe 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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. In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0049] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic into and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.1 le DLS or an 802.1 Iz 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.

[0050] When using the 802.1 lac 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.

[0051] 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 nonadj acent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0052] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above-described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0053] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.1 lah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.1 laf and 802.1 lah relative to those used in 802.1 In, and 802.1 lac. 802.1 laf supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.1 lah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.1 lah may support meter type control / machine-type communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0054] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.1 In, 802.1 lac, 802.1 laf, and 802.11ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.1 lah, 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.

[0055] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.1 lah, 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 802.1 lah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0056] FIG. ID 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.

[0057] 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 an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation (CA) 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).

[0058] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., including a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0059] 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.

[0060] 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 functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, and the like. As shown in FIG. ID, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0061] The CN 115 shown in FIG. ID may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183 a, 183b, and at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of theCN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0062] 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 Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling, mobility management (MM), and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b, e.g., to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services 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 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.

[0063] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an Nl 1 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0064] 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, e.g., to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multihomed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0065] 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, whichmay include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In an embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local 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.

[0066] In view of FIGs. 1 A-1D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1 A-1D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to any of: WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a- b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a- b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other element(s) / device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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.

[0069] Overview

[0070] Session and Mobility Management

[0071] WTRUs (e.g., WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d) may provide both their Session Management (SM) and MM capability to the core network 106 / 115. A WTRU may send the WTRU MM Core Network Capability information to the AMF (e.g., AMFs 182a, 182b) duringthe Initial Registration procedure and Mobility Registration Update procedure, the WTRU MM Core Network Capability information sent within a NAS message. Further, a WTRU (e.g., WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d) may include its respective 5G Session Management (5GSM) Core Network Capability in PDU Session Establishment / Modification Requests. Each PDU Session Establishment / Modification Request may include the respective WTRU’s Access Traffic Steering, Switching and Splitting (ATSSS) capabilities.

[0072] In certain respective embodiments, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d perform registration to a network when accessing services requiring registration. In some embodiments, the WTRU performs a method to perform this registration, the method including Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) selection or Standalone Non-Public Network (SNPN) selection, cell selection and / or reselection, and registration. The selection of a PLMN or a SNPN may be performed by the WTRU in order to select a wireless network. The wireless network may be any suitable public network or non-public network (NPN). In some embodiments, the WTRU (e.g., WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d) follows rules on how to select from the available wireless networks at a given location, and to determine when to look for higher priority networks. The cell selection and reselection processes may include the WTRU “camping”, or idling, on a cell. In some embodiments, the WTRU may reselect enter an idle mode once one of the cell selection process or reselection process is complete. The WTRU may perform the registration by informing the wireless network of the WTRU’s presence, and provide some (e.g., course) location information, capability exchange and negotiations.

[0073] Splitting traffic across two Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access legs

[0074] In some examples, CA is provided over a single 3GPP access (e.g., NR or LTE), but allows the WTRU to receive over two or more cells, such that each cell is on a different frequency carrier. In some embodiments, the use of the two cells is managed in the RANs 104 / 113.

[0075] In some implementations, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may also support DC. DC allows a WTRU to receive and transmit over two 3GPP accesses (or 3GPP access legs). The accesses may be NR (e.g., when using gNBs) or LTE (e.g., when using eNBs). For a 5G system (5GS), an initial deployment had a first leg over LTE and a second leg over NR. However, current deployments of DC also support two legs over NR. In this case, the two legs may be on two different bands (e.g., a first frequency and a second frequency). For a WTRU that uses DC, the RF front end should support each access. When a WTRU uses DC, one access leg is a master leg, and the other leg is a secondary leg. In some embodiments, the master leg is one of at least two master legs of a Master Cell Group (MCG), and the secondary leg is one of at least two secondarylegs of a Secondary Cell Group (SCG). In implementations which use PLMN and / or NPNs, each of the networks can be managed by a same operator or by different operators.

[0076] Traffic steering and switching over two 3GPP access networks

[0077] 3GPP supports mechanisms that enable traffic steering, switching and splitting between a 3GPP access network (e.g., Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) or NR) and a non-3GPP access network (e.g., WiFi). One example of such mechanisms is the ATSSS feature. 3GPP also includes mechanisms to support traffic steering and switching over two 3GPP access networks by using WTRUs which are compatible with multi-access steering, switching, and splitting (MASSS), or Dual Steer.

[0078] A Dual Steer WTRU may be defined as a WTRU that supports traffic steering and switching of user data across two 3 GPP access networks. In certain respective embodiments, the Dual Steer WTRU is one of: (a) a single WTRU, in the case of non-simultaneous data transmission over the two networks, and (b) two separate WTRUs in the case of simultaneous data transmission over the two networks. Each DualSteer WTRU may correspond to a subscriber for the DualSteer WTRU, where the subscriber of the DualSteer WTRU has two subscriptions and / or Subscription Permanent Identifiers (SUPIs), sharing one subscription profile from the same operator of the access network (AN). For any particular service, at any given time, the DualSteer WTRU may transmit all traffic of that service using (e.g., only) a single 3GPP access network. In some implementations, a DualSteer WTRU can be defined using different models, e.g., a model that includes two separate Control Plane / User Plane (CP / UP) stacks with an additional DualSteer Control Layer within a single MT block. Similarly, in some implementations, a dual-MT WTRU model may include a dual-MT WTRU with two separate MTs and two separate USIMs, with each MT providing functionalities that are in a MT of a WTRU, such as radio transmission / reception, baseband signal processing, access to USIM, and CP / UP stacks. There may be an internal inter- MT interface between the two MTs, where the inter-MT interface enables the two MTs to exchange information between each other. Alternatively, the two MTs may exchange information through an Inter-MT Coordination Function (IMCF) layer. Each of the two MTs may be identified by a respective unique WTRU identifiers such as an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). There are various implementations of the two 3GPP access types (e.g., NR, NonTerrestrial NR, E-UTRA) and the network types (e.g., Home PLMN (H-PLMN), Visitor PLMN (V-PLMN), and PNI-NPN) to which the 3 GPP access networks are connected.

[0079] A WTRU may be considered Dual Steer capable when it meets at least one of the following conditions: (1) the WTRU uses two SUPIs from the same operator for accessing two separate 3GPP access networks and each SUPI is used to connect to (e.g., only) one of the 3GPPaccess networks, (2) the WTRU may send its user data over two 3 GPP access networks that belong to the same PLMN, where the user data is either sent non-simultaneously or simultaneously, and (3) the WTRU may send its user data over two 3GPP access networks that belong to two different PLMNs, where the user data is either sent non-simultaneously or simultaneously. In implementations of non-simultaneous data transmission over two networks, the Dual Steer WTRU may be a single WTRU. In implementations of simultaneous data transmission, the DualSteer WTRU may include two separate WTRUs. In certain respective embodiments that perform simultaneous data transmission, the data over two separate networks should belong to different services or different Service Data Flows (SDFs). At any given point of time, (e.g., all) traffic of a single service may be sent over a single access network, therefore the WTRU does not perform service data splitting.

[0080] WTRU identities

[0081] The SUPI is a 5G globally unique identifier allocated to each subscriber. The SUPI value is provisioned in the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) and the Unified Data Management (UDM) and / or User Data Repository (UDR) function in a 5G Core. The SUPI may be an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI) or a Network Access Identifier (NAI). In implementations that include the IMSI version of the SUPI, the first three digits of the SUPI represent the Mobile Country Code (MCC), the next two or three digits of the SUPI represent the Mobile Network Code (MNC), identifying the network operator or PLMN, and the remaining digits of the SUPI represent the Mobile Subscriber identification number (MSIN).

[0082] A Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI) is a privacy-preserving identifier including a concealed SUPI. In some embodiments, the SUCI includes a PLMN ID of a home network, the PLMN ID including an MCC and MNC. In certain respective embodiments, the MCC and the MNC are transmitted in plain text.

[0083] A 5G Globally Unique Temporary Identifier (GUTI) is allocated by the AMF (e.g., AMF 182a, 182b). In certain respective embodiments, the AMF (e.g., AMF 182a, 182b) may assign a new 5G-GUTI to the WTRU at any time. The 5G-GUTI includes a Globally Unique AMF ID (GUAMI) and a 5G Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI), where the GUAMI identifies the assigned AMF and the 5G-TMSI identifies the WTRU uniquely within the AMF (e.g., AMF 182a, 182b). In some embodiments, the GUAMI is defined by a concatenation of the PLMN ID and the AMF identifier.

[0084] Multi-USIM (MUSIM) Operation

[0085] In certain respective embodiments, a WTRU may have multiple USIMs that are in operation simultaneously, where each USIM allows the WTRU to obtain service from a differentwireless network. An example use case for MUSIM WTRUs is for professionals who use a business number and a separate personal number. In such an example, instead of carrying two WTRUs (e.g. phones), these professionals use a single WTRU with two USIMs.

[0086] A terminal behavior of handling multiple USIMs simultaneously that may arise depends on the WTRU capabilities. Some example WTRUs include (1) a WTRU with a single receiver (Rx) and a single transmitter (Tx), (2) a WTRU with a dual Rx and a single Tx, and (3) a WTRU with a dual Rx and a dual Tx. In some implementations, each dual Rx enables a MUSIM WTRU to simultaneously receive traffic from two networks, each single Rx enables a MUSIM WTRU to receive traffic from one network at one time, and each single Tx allows a MUSIM WTRU to transmit traffic to one network at one time.

[0087] In some embodiments, the two USIMs of a MUSIM WTRU run independently of each other. In some implementations, the WTRU has dedicated NAS and Access Stratum protocol stacks for each USIM of the two USIMs. However, depending on the capabilities of the WTRU, some coordination may be implemented to allow the WTRU to obtain service from both wireless networks. This coordination does not rely on wireless network interactions and therefore the WTRU acts as a mediator between the two wireless networks.

[0088] Herein, a subscription to two network operators through a MUSIM WTRU is designated as a “dual subscription”, while each subscription to a network operator, not involving a MUSIM WTRU is designated as a “single subscription”.

[0089] Inter-PLMN Mobility

[0090] In certain respective embodiments, the AMF (e.g., AMF 182a, 182b) uses the N14 interface for AMF re-allocation and AMF to AMF information transfer. The N14 interface may be implemented as either intra-PLMN or inter-PLMN (e.g., in the case of inter-PLMN mobility). In some embodiments, a handover procedure may allow for inter-PLMN mobility, the handover procedure including a source AMF that may select at least one AMF instance in a target PLMN by querying target PLMN level Network Repository Function (NRF) via the source PLMN level NRF with a target PLMN ID. The target PLMN level NRF then returns an AMF instance address based on a target operator configuration. Once the handover procedure is complete the source AMF may then select a different target AMF.

[0091] Dual-MT WTRU model

[0092] FIG. 2 shows Dual-MT WTRU model 200 with Dual-MT WTRU 202 which may include two separate Mobile Terminations (MTs) (e.g., a primary MT 208 and a secondary MT 210) and two separate USIMs (e.g., a primary USIM 212 and a secondary USIM 214). Each MT (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210) provides functionalities that are in an MT of a WTRU,such as radio transmission / reception, baseband signal processing, access to a USIM, and CP / UP stacks. In some implementations of Dual -MT WTRU 202, there may be a common Terminal Equipment (TE) 218 (as shown in FIG. 2) or two separate TEs (not shown in FIG. 2) where each of the two separate TEs correspond to one of the two MTs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210). In certain respective embodiments, Dual -MT WTRU 202 may include an internal inter- MT interface 215 between each of the two MTs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210), where the inter-MT interface 215 allows the two MTs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210) to exchange information between each other. Alternatively, the two MTs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210) may exchange information through an IMCF layer 216. Each respective MT of the primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210 may be identified by a respective unique WTRU identifiers such as an IMEI. In other embodiments, an additional ID called a DualSteer specific WTRU ID (DS-specific-WTRU-ID) may be used to interlink primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210 in dual -MT WTRU 202.

[0093] Each of the primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210 has a separate subscription for registering to wireless network, such as a first network 204 or a second network 206. In some embodiments, primary MT 208 may register to a PLMN at first, and the secondary MT 210 may register (e.g., only) when it is triggered by the primary MT 208 directly or via the IMCF 216. In addition, a WTRU in a Dual Steer capable WTRU may include the information of primary MT 208 or secondary MT 210 as part of the WTRU Registration Request message and send it to a network.

[0094] A WTRU that uses MASSS, or Dual Steer, supports traffic steering and switching of user data for different services across two 3 GPP access networks. In some implementations, a Dual Steer WTRU may send its user data over two 3 GPP access networks belonging to the same PLMN or different PMLNs, where the user data is either sent non-simultaneously or simultaneously.

[0095] In implementations of a Dual Steer WTRU using non-simultaneous data transmission over two networks, the Dual Steer WTRU can be a single WTRU. In implementations of a Dual Steer WTRU using simultaneous data transmission over two networks, the DualSteer WTRU may have two separate WTRUs and two USIMs, where each respective WTRU corresponds to a respective USIM. In some implementations of a Dual Steer WTRU with two WTRUs, the WTRUs are either co-located, or may be physically separated but are communicatively coupled (e.g., interlinked). In some embodiments of a MUSIM WTRU, the two USIMs in a WTRU run independently of each other.

[0096] For a DualSteer WTRU with two WTRUs or a single WTRU with two stacks or two MTs the SM is not specified, especially if some coordination is assumed between the WTRUs within the WTRU.

[0097] In certain respective embodiments, PDU session management for DualSteer WTRUs (e.g., DualSteer WTRU 202) with two WTRUs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210), where each WTRU may be registered on two 3GPP access types (e.g., NR, Non-Terrestrial NR, E-UTRA) and the network types (e.g., H-PLMN, V-PLMN, PNI-NPN) is enabled by a method to associate PDU sessions for two WTRUs by using a common identifier called DualSteer specific ID that is used to associate the WTRUs within the same DualSteer WTRU. The present disclosure addresses PDU session establishment in the following scenarios, where the coordination between network functions (NFs) is achieved using a common DualSteer specific ID and two WTRUs may be registered at: (a) the same PLMN, where the SMF uses the information of the primary WTRU (e.g., primary MT 208) or secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary MT 210) and / or a common DualSteer specific ID to associate the PDU sessions for the two WTRUs, or (b) different PLMNs, where the NFs in the different PLMNs exchange the information of the primary WTRU (e.g., primary MT 208) or secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary WTRU 210) and / or a common DualSteer specific ID to associate the PDU sessions for the two WTRUs. In some embodiments, a new PDU session type is implemented for DualSteer WTRU (e.g., DualSteer WTRU 202), called DualSteer with cooperating WTRU type. This new PDU session type includes a connection to two 3GPP legs on the either the same wireless networks or different wireless networks using individual subscriptions for each WTRU of the Dual Steer WTRU.

[0098] This PDU session management enables the DualSteer WTRU 202 to establish associated PDU sessions for the two WTRUs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210) within the DualSteer WTRU 202. Furthermore, such an association between the WTRUs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210) allows for seamless steering and switching of the traffic (e.g., user data) between the WTRUs (e.g., primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210), both for the roaming and implementations (e.g., WTRUs connected to a H-PLMN and a V-PLMN) and non-roaming implementations (e.g., WTRUs connected to at least one H-PLMN).

[0099] In certain respective embodiments, a Dual Steer capable WTRU (e.g., Dual Steer WTRU 202) with two WTRUs (e.g., a primary MT 208 and secondary MT 210) uses a DualSteer specific WTRU ID (e.g., a common DS-specific-WTRU-ID) to interlink the primary WTRU (e.g., primary MT 208) and the secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary MT 210) at an initial registration to the network, and to associate each PDU session of the two WTRUs. In some implementations, the DualSteer specific ID is configured at the IMCF layer (e.g., IMCF layer 216), based on anapplication or service being used and provided to the WTRUs. In other implementations, the DualSteer specific ID is configured by an NF (e.g. AMF, or Policy Control Function (PCF)) during a Mobility Registration procedure, in either one of the primary WTRU (e.g., primary MT 208) and the secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary MT 210) and the DualSteer specific ID is internally exchanged between the WTRUs. In certain implementations, the DualSteer specific ID is preset (e.g., pre-configured) on the DualSteer capable WTRU (e.g., DualSteer WTRU 202). In additional implementations, the DualSteer specific ID is provided by one of an application in one of the WTRUs and an application server over the application layer (e.g., UP).

[0100] In certain respective implementations, the PDU session is established on the DualSteer WTRU 202 with (e.g., only) the primary WTRU registered to a network (e.g., a 3GPP Access Network), and secondary WTRU registers to the network in response to an internal signal (e.g., trigger) indicating a PDU session establishment for the secondary WTRU. Alternatively, each of the primary WTRU and the secondary WTRU may register to the network but (e.g., only) primary WTRU establishes a PDU session at first, and the secondary WTRU waits for a signal (e.g., trigger) from the primary WTRU for the PDU session establishment. In alternative implementations, each WTRU performs simultaneous registration to the network and PDU sessions are established individually for each of the WTRUs at the same time by using a common ID (e.g., DualSteer specific ID which can be a common PDU session ID) as part of PDU session establishment procedure such that the network may identify that the PDU sessions for the WTRUs are linked to the same WTRU (e.g., Dual Steer WTRU 202). In another implementation, the primary WTRU (e.g., primary MT 208) includes an indicator signal to enable network triggered PDU session establishment for the secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary MT 210) in response to the indicator signal. In such an implementation the network is configured to send the WTRU (e.g., Dual Steer WTRU 202) the indicator signal (e.g., a trigger message) to at least one application on the secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary MT 210). In some embodiments, the indicator signal (e.g., a WTRU Trigger Request) includes a payload message including (a) a DualSteer specific ID, (b) information of the primary WTRU (e.g., primary MT 208) which either requested or configured the network triggered PDU session establishment, and (c) information for when to perform the PDU session establishment of the secondary WTRU (e.g., secondary MT 210). Once the secondary WTRU receives the indicator signal the secondary WTRU performs the PDU Session Establishment procedure based on the information included within the payload message of the indicator message (e.g., the WTRU Trigger Request).

[0101] PDU session establishment for a DualSteer WTRU and two UE model

[0102] FIG. 3 shows a procedure 300, or method, to associate PDU sessions for two UEs using a common DualSteer specific ID that may be implemented using the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A. As previously discussed, the PDU session establishment is requested by a UE (e.g., one of the primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 shown in FIG. 3) or both UEs in a DualSteer WTRU (e.g., DualSteer WTRU 202). In some embodiments, primary UE 301 includes primary MT 208 and primary USIM 212) and secondary UE 303 includes a secondary MT 210 and a secondary USIM 214. In some embodiments, each UE (e.g., primary UE 301 and a secondary UE 303) is registered to a different AMF that belong to the same network (e.g., PLMN). In some implementations, the primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 are registered to different networks (e.g., PLMNs), and therefore there is a communicative link (e.g., coordination) between the NFs (e.g., AMFs, PCFs) of the two PMLNs to associate the UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) of the DualSteer WTRU 202 and their respective PDU sessions. The aforementioned PDU session establishment procedure is applicable to a PDU session modification (e.g., release) procedure as well.

[0103] Each respective UE (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) within a WTRU (e.g., Dual Steer WTRU 202) provides information of the respective UE and the Dual Steer specific ID if the DualSteer specific ID is configured for the UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) before the registration to their respective AMFs (e.g., first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b). The AMFs (e.g., first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b) may exchange the information of the respective UEs and the DualSteer specific ID between each other. For example, first AMF 304a sends information for primary UE 301 and the Dual Steer specific ID to the second AMF 304b, (e.g., by using Namf_Communicate_CreateUEContext message or Namf_UpdateUEContext message, and vice versa). In some embodiments, one of the first AMF 304a and the second AMF 304b may send the information to UDM 310 so the other one of the first AMF 304a and the second AMF 304b retrieves this information when the UE associated to the other one of the first AMF 304a and the second AMF 304b initiates registration. In some implementations, the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 302 use the same AMF, and therefore the first AMF 304a and the second AMF 304b shown in FIG. 3 may be replaced with a single AMF.

[0104] For PDU session establishment each of primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 may send their respective UE Information, e.g., UE ID, PDU session type, supported services for the DualSteer WTRU, and DualSteer specific ID in the PDU session establishment request message, to their respective SMF 306. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3, each of primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 use the same SMF 306 for PDU session establishment.

[0105] In other implementations, the two UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) use two different SMFs, e.g., a first SMF and a second SME In these implementations, the two SMFs may exchange information, e.g., UE IDs, supported services, serving PLMN information, and Dual Steer specific ID to associate the PDU sessions for each of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303 and may also select the same DN (e.g., UPF) for data traffic. In some embodiments, when exchanging information a first SMF may invoke one of the following, e.g., Nsmf PDUSession Update service operation toward a second SMF for direct exchange of information for both UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303), or indirect exchange via AMF (e.g., one of first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b) by invoking a (e.g., Namf_Communication_NlN2MessageTransfer) service operation, or via UPF by invoking an (e.g., N4 session) establishment operation and / or modification operation. The association of the PDUs from each of the two UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) will help the management of PDU sessions, e.g., when PDU session modification and release is needed for at least one of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303.

[0106] At step 314, at least one of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303, and their respective USIMs within DualSteer WTRU 202 registers to the network, indicating that the Dual Steer capability of the WTRU. Each of the UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) is configured with IDs, e.g., SUPI, GUTI, 5G-GUTI or any suitable identifier. For example, the primary UE 301 may register first, determine a common identifier called DualSteer specific ID and then trigger the secondary UE 303 to register. At the initial registration of one of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303, a DualSteer specific ID, e.g., DS-specific-WTRU-ID which can be a common PDU session ID, that is used to interlink the primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 may be allocated. In some embodiments, the Dual Steer specific ID may be configured by a NF (e.g. first AMF 304a, second AMF 304b, PCF 308) during a Mobility Registration procedure in at least one of the primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303. If the primary UE 301 (e.g., alone) receives the DS-specific-WTRU-ID, then the UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) internally exchange the DS-specific-WTRU-ID between each other before the PDU session establishment.

[0107] At step 316, for the UE requested PDU session establishment, e.g., by primary UE 301 or secondary UE 303 or both UEs in a DualSteer WTRU 202, a DualSteer Specific ID is determined and selected by one of IMCF 216, primary UE 301, and secondary UE 303. Dual Steer Specific ID may be one of: (1) an Application layer ID, (2) a Service Specific ID, (3) a common PDU session ID, (4) a common Keyset-identifier that is negotiated between a respective UE (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) and the network at step 316 or may be assigned by thenetwork, and (5) SUPIs of the primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 that are used together. The determination of the DualSteer Specific ID is based on a desired service to be used and the selection of the DualSteer specific ID is made from a list of configured IDs. In some embodiments, the DualSteer specific IDs is configured at the initial registration or pre-configured in the DualSteer capable WTRUs (e.g., preset on DualSteer WTRU 202). The DualSteer specific ID may be (1) derived at the IMCF layer 216 based on the supported service or application, or (2) received from an Application Server from prior communication, for the supported service based on the capability of DualSteer WTRU 202 and the DualSteer specific ID is stored at the UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303).

[0108] At step 318, the primary UE 301 sends a PDU session establishment request to the first AMF 304a. In some embodiments, the PDU session establishment request may include any one or more of (1) PDU session related information of primary UE 301, (2) Dual Steer Specific ID as selected at step 316, (3) DualSteer capability, and (4) PDU session type set to, e.g., “DS PDU session with cooperating UE”. The present disclosure includes a (e.g., new) PDU session type for Dual Steer WTRU 202, e.g., Dual Steer with cooperating UE, that involves a connection to two 3GPP legs on the same or different networks using individual subscriptions for each WTRU. A Dual Steer capable WTRU has two USIMs, each USIM associated to one of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303. For example, a first USIM of primary UE 301 connects to a first network, while a second USIM of the secondary UE 303 connects to a second network. The wireless networks can be the same or different (e.g., H-PLMN or V-PLMN). The (e.g., new) PDU session type for Dual Steer WTRU 202 may further categorize a Dual Steer WTRU used for simultaneous or non-simultaneous data transfer, e.g., DualSteer with cooperating UE for simultaneous traffic and Dual Steer with cooperating UE for non-simultaneous traffic. In some embodiments of step 318, the second AMF 304b is the AMF which receives the request.

[0109] At step 320, when DualSteer capability and / or DualSteer Specific ID is provided in the request (e.g., the PDU session establishment request), the first AMF 304a which received the request at step 318 checks, locally and / or in a common repository, for where related information is stored, e.g., in UDM / UDR (e.g., UDM 310), if DualSteer Specific ID is already linked to any PDU session or another UE. If first AMF 304a does not find any associated of the Dual Steer specific ID, first AMF 304a may locally store the related information and report the related information to UDM / UDR (e.g., UDM 310). When the DualSteer Specific ID is already linked to any PDU session or another UE, then the first AMF 304a selects a (e.g., same) SMF (e.g., SMF 306) associated with the already linked DualSteer Specific ID. If the DualSteer Specific ID is not already linked to any PDU session or another UE, then the first AMF 304a may select a SMF (e.g.,SMF 306) that is DualSteer capable. In some embodiments, each of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303 attempt to establish a PDU session simultaneously and are registered on different AMFs. In this embodiment, step 320 may (e.g., only) be for selecting the SMF 306. Step 320 is performed when both of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303 are registered to the same AMF (e.g., one of first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b). When each of primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303 is registered to different AMFs (e.g., first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b) then the procedure 300 proceeds to step 322. In some embodiments of step 322, the second AMF 304b is the AMF which receives the request at step 318.

[0110] At step 322, the first AMF 304a, which received the request at step 318, may pass the information of the first UE 301 and the associated Dual Steer Specific ID, Dual Steer Capability and UE ID (e.g. 5G-GUTI used in the second AMF 304b) to the second AMF 304b, (e.g., using Namf_UpdateUEContext request and response messages), so the second AMF 304b is aware that there is another UE (e.g., primary UE 301) that belongs to the same DualSteer WTRU 202. If the second AMF 304b receives a PDU session establishment request from the other UE (e.g., primary UE 301), the second AMF 304b may select the same SMF 306 associated with the primary UE 301. In some embodiments, the first AMF 304a may pass information of the primary UE 301 and the associated DualSteer Specific ID, DualSteer Capability and UE ID (e.g. 5G-GUTI used in second (e.g., other) AMF 304b) to the UDM 310 and / or UDR, based on a reception of the PDU session establishment request at step 318. In some embodiments, the DualSteer specific ID and its association with the respective UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) is updated in UDM 310. UDM 310 also provides a notification to the subscribed AMFs for DualSteer or to all AMFs with DualSteer capabilities and for example, second AMF 304b stores the DualSteer specific ID and associated SUPI so that it may be used at a later time to associate the Dual Steer PDU sessions with the other UE (e.g., primary UE 301). In alternative embodiments, step 322 may be performed after a (e.g., Nsmf PDUSession CreateSMContext) response is received from the SMF 306.

[0111] At step 324, the first AMF 304a selects a DualSteer capable SMF 306 and sends PDU session establishment request (e.g., Nsmf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request), which includes a DualSteer Specific ID, a DualSteer PDU type, and a DualSteer Capability.

[0112] At step 326, the SMF 306 may perform a SM Policy Association Establishment procedure using the DualSteer Specific ID, DualSteer PDU type, and DualSteer Capability to receive Policy and Charging Control (PCC) Rules for the PDU session for a DualSteer capable WTRU (e.g., DualSteer WTRU 202). If the PDU session establishment request is for secondary UE 303, and primary UE 301 already has established a PDU session using the same DualSteer Specific ID, theSMF 306 initiates (e.g., if required) the SM Policy Association Modification procedure assuming that the secondary UE 303 already has SM Policy association for the requested PDU session. In some embodiments, an importance value may be associated with each of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303. For example, an application may use a PDU session through the secondary UE 303 to send higher priority data, resulting in (e.g., required) corresponding QoS treatment from the network, while the primary UE 301 is used for lower priority data. These importance values for respective UEs may be included in the received PCC rules.

[0113] At step 328, the SMF 306 sends an (e.g., N4 Session) Establishment and / or Modification Request to the UPF 312 and provides packet detection, enforcement and reporting rules to be installed on the UPF 312 for DualSteer PDU Session, and provides DualSteer Specific ID, DualSteer traffic specific rules and at least one associated PDU Session ID. If the two UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) do not have a PDU session established with the same SMF 306 then the UPF 312 may pass the rules to the SMF 306 of secondary UE 303 when the same DualSteer Specific ID is reported during the PDU session establishment by the secondary UE 303. The UPF 312 acknowledges the passing of the rules to the SMF 306 by sending an N4 Session Establishment Response, which in some embodiments may include an indication and / or information about the PDU session of the primary UE 301.

[0114] At step 330, the PDU session establish accept message is relayed to the secondary UE 304. In some embodiments, SMF 306 sends (e.g., N2) PDU session request via an AMF to RAN 302, where the PDU session request includes (1) confirmation that the DualSteer PDU session is allowed, (2) Dual Steer specific traffic rules, which may include association of services with each PDU session and whether a PDU session is dedicated to a specific traffic type, QoS and Quality of Experience (QoE) parameters for each PDU session and / or information that helps the Dual Steer WTRU to select a PDU session based on an amount of traffic, and (3) associated DualSteer Specific ID. The DualSteer traffic rules may include the QoS rules per PDU session for the two UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303). In certain respective embodiments, the QoS rules are explicit to a PDU session per service for each UE of the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303 within DualSteer WTRU 202. The DualSteer traffic rules are sent to primary UE 301 but are applicable to DualSteer WTRU 202 that hosts the primary UE 301.

[0115] At step 332, the RAN 302 may issue an AN specific signaling exchange with the secondary UE 303, where the AN specific signaling exchange is related with the information received from SMF 306. In addition, primary UE 301 receives DualSteer specific rules from RAN 302.

[0116] At step 334, primary UE 301 passes the DualSteer specific traffic rules, as received at step 332, to secondary UE 303. In some embodiments primary UE 301 directly sends the DualSteer specific traffic rules to the secondary UE 302. In other embodiments, primary UE 301 sends the DualSteer specific traffic rules via IMCF coordination layer 216. If the two UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) are attempting to establish a PDU session simultaneously the IMCF layer 216 may later synchronize the information between the two UEs once both PDU sessions have been established.

[0117] At step 336, secondary UE 303 requests PDU session establishment using the same procedure 300 as discussed for primary UE 301 at steps 316-334. The request for PDU session establishment includes the same information, (e.g., as stated at 318): (1) PDU session related information of the secondary UE 303, (2) the DualSteer Specific ID as selected at step 316, (3) DualSteer capability, and (4) PDU session type set to, e.g., “DS PDU session with cooperating UE”. In some embodiments, the procedure for step 336 may use the DualSteer specific traffic rules as received by primary UE 301 from RAN 302 for session establishment, at step 332.

[0118] When procedure 300 is used for secondary UE 303, second AMF 304b and SMF 306 may determine, based on the DualSteer Specific ID, that the secondary UE 303 is associated to another UE (e.g., primary UE 301) on the same DualSteer WTRU 202. When this determination is made, second AMF 304b and SMF 306 may select the same SMF 306, use the same SM policy association as for primary UE 301, and link the PDU sessions to select the same UPF 312.

[0119] In the example provided in FIG. 3, primary UE 301 initiates PDU session establishment first and then triggers the secondary UE 303 to initiate PDU session establishment. In another example each PDU session establishment for both the primary UE 301 and the secondary UE 303 could be done simultaneously.

[0120] In the above example it is assumed that first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b (and SMF (e.g., SMF 306) belong to the same PLMN. In some embodiments, each of the two UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) of the Dual Steer WTRU 202 attempts to establish a PDU session on a respective PLMN of two different PLMNs and thus a new interface may be enabled to exchange the information between the respective AMF (e.g., first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b) and / or the respective SMF (e.g., at least one of a first SMF and a second SMF) located in different PLMNs to exchange information between the respective AMF (e.g., first AMF 304a and second AMF 304b) and / or the respective SMF (e.g., at least one of a first SMF and a second SMF).

[0121] PDU session modification and release for a DualSteer WTRU and dual-MT model

[0122] The procedure 300 for PDU session establishment for DualSteer WTRU 202 and two UE model of the present disclosure may also be used for PDU session modification and releaseprocedures. However, for modification and release procedures there may be additional parameters (e.g., enhancements) specific to modification or release procedures, where the additional parameters (e.g., enhancements) are provided to the UEs (e.g., primary UE 301 and secondary UE 303) at PDU session establishment as part of the DualSteer specific traffic rules.

[0123] For example, in case of DualSteer WTRU 202 both UEs have established PDU sessions and the two PDU sessions are associated and / or bundled using the DualSteer Specific ID. In some embodiments, the two PDU sessions have the same PDU session ID. The PDU session modification and / or release procedure may use information including DualSteer capability, DualSteer Specific ID and at least one PDU session ID together when the intention is to modify or release both PDU sessions. When the PDU session modification and / or release is intended for (e.g., only) one of the two PDU sessions then the PDU session modification request or release request (e.g., only) includes the UE ID, Dual Steer capability, and PDU session ID of the PDU session targeted by the request (e.g., PDU session modification or release request). In some embodiments, the PDU session modification or release requests do not include the Dual Steer Specific ID.

[0124] When two PDU sessions (e.g., a first PDU session and a second PDU session) are linked using DualSteer Specific ID, if the first PDU session is released for any reason (e.g., in response to PDU session release request) then in response to the release of the first PDU session, the second PDU session may be modified (e.g. disassociate, delink the second PDU session from the DualSteer related PDU session), or may also be released. In some embodiments, in response to the release of the first PDU session, the second PDU session may also be released depending on the policy. In alternative implementations, a first UE which has established the first PDU session triggers a second UE (e.g., either directly or via IMCF 216), which had a second PDU session that was released, to initiate a PDU session establishment for the second UE.

[0125] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an illustrative process 400 for establishing a PDU session using a WTRU which may be implemented using the dual-MT WTRU illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0126] At 402, the WTRU transmits a registration request to the wireless network to register the first UE and the second UE with the wireless network, wherein the first UE is a primary UE.

[0127] At 404, the WTRU determines an identifier associated with the WTRU.

[0128] At 406, the WTRU transmits a PDU session establishment request to the wireless network, wherein the PDU session establishment request includes information indicative of the identifier and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session.

[0129] At 408, the first UE receives traffic rules information for the PDU session.

[0130] At 410, the WTRU provides the traffic rules information for the PDU session to the second UE.

[0131] At 412, each of the first UE and the second UE communicate with the wireless network during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

[0132] FIG. 5 is another flowchart of an illustrative process 500 for establishing a PDU session using a WTRU which may be implemented using the dual-MT WTRU illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0133] At 502, the AMF receives a PDU session establishment request from the first US, wherein the first UE is a primary UE and the PDU session establishment request includes information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session.

[0134] At 504, the AMF determines whether the identifier associated with the WTRU is linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE.

[0135] At 506, the AMF selects an SMF based on the determination of whether the identifier associated with the WTRU is linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE.

[0136] At 508, the AMF transmits the PDU session establishment request to the SMF.

[0137] At 510, the AMF receives traffic rules information for the PDU session.

[0138] At 512, the AMF transmits the traffic rules information for the PDU session to the first UE.

[0139] At 514, the first UE and the second UE of the WTRU communicate with the wireless network during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

[0140] FIG. 6 an additional flowchart of an illustrative process 600 for establishing a PDU session using a WTRU which may be implemented using the dual-MT WTRU illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0141] At 602, the SMF receives a PDU session establishment request from the AMF, wherein the first UE is a primary UE and the PDU session establishment request includes information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session.

[0142] At 604, the SMF performs an SM policy association establishment procedure based on the information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and the at least one characteristic of one or both of the WTRU and the PDU session, to generate traffic rules information for the PDU session.

[0143] At 606, the SMF transmits a session request to a UPF, where the session request includes the traffic rules information and the information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and the at least one characteristic of one or both of the WTRU and the PDU session.

[0144] At 608, the SMF receives an acknowledgement response from the UPF, where the acknowledgment response includes information about the PDU session.

[0145] At 610, the SMF transmits the traffic rules information for the PDU session to the AN, which is communicatively couple to the WTRU.

[0146] At 612, the first UE and the second UE of the WTRU communicate with the wireless network during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

[0147] In certain respective embodiments, a release request is received from the AN. If the release request is network triggered, and the two PDU sessions are linked using Dual Steer Specific ID, the release request from the network may (e.g., only) include the DualSteer Specific ID, allowing the higher layers, e.g., IMCF layer 216, TE 218 or the application layer, to decide which PDU session to release. This allows the UEs of the Dual Steer WTRU 202 to perform application layer adjustments and perform PDU session release with minimal disruptions to services.

[0148] Although features and elements are provided above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems.

[0149] The foregoing embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to the terminology and structure of wireless communication capable devices, (e.g., radio wave emitters and receivers). However, the embodiments discussed are not limited to these systems but may be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0150] It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term "video"or the term "imagery" may mean any of a snapshot, single image and / or multiple images displayed over a time basis. As another example, when referred to herein, the terms "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE", the term "remote" and / or the terms "head mounted display" or its abbreviation "HMD" may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU); (ii) any of a number of embodiments of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable (e.g., tetherable) device configured with, inter alia, some or all structures and functionality of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable device configured with less than all structures and functionality of a WTRU; or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU, which may be representative of any WTRU recited herein, are provided herein with respect to FIGs. 1 A-1D. As another example, various disclosed embodiments herein supra and infra are described as utilizing a head mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a device other than the head mounted display may be utilized and some or all of the disclosure and various disclosed embodiments can be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other device may include a drone or other device configured to stream information for providing the adapted reality experience.

[0151] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer- readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a RF transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

[0152] Variations of the method, apparatus and system provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In view of the wide variety of embodiments that can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are examples only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims. For instance, the embodiments provided herein include handheld devices, which may include or be utilized with any appropriate voltage source, such as a battery and the like, providing any appropriate voltage.

[0153] Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices that include processors are noted. These devices may include at least one Central Processing Unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practicesof persons skilled in the art of computer programming, reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by the various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "computer executed" or "CPU executed."

[0154] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the acts and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. An electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU's operation, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to or representative of the data bits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0155] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0156] In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0157] There is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems. The use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software may become significant) a design choice representing cost versus efficiency tradeoffs. There may be various vehicles by which processes and / or systems and / or other technologies described herein may be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware), and the preferred vehicle may vary with the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and / or firmware vehicle. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly softwareimplementation. Alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0158] The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and / or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented, individually and / or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In an embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, may be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and / or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subj ect matter described herein may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc., and a transmission type medium such as a digital and / or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

[0159] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and / or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and / or processes into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein may be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and / or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0160] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components included within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality may be achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0161] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and / or application. The various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0162] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, the following appended claims and / or the descriptions herein may include usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However,the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim including such introduced claim recitation to embodiments including only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Further, the terms "any of followed by a listing of a plurality of items and / or a plurality of categories of items, as used herein, are intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any multiple of," and / or "any combination of multiples of the items and / or the categories of items, individually or in conjunction with other items and / or other categories of items. Moreover, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. And the term "multiple", as used herein, is intended to be synonymous with "a plurality".

[0163] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0164] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein may be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," and the like includes the number recited and refers to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

[0165] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or elements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the terms "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, 6 or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the terms "means for" is not so intended.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method for establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), that comprises a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE, with a wireless network, the method comprising: transmitting a registration request to the wireless network to register the first UE and the second UE with the wireless network, wherein the first UE is a primary UE; determining an identifier associated with the WTRU; transmitting a PDU session establishment request to the wireless network, wherein the PDU session establishment request comprises information indicative of the identifier and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session; receiving, by the first UE, traffic rules information for the PDU session; providing to the second UE the traffic rules information for the PDU session; and communicating, by each of the first UE and the second UE, with the wireless network during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session comprises information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU and a PDU session type.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU comprises information indicative of Dual Steer capabilities of the WTRU.

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the PDU session type is a DualSteer PDU session.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the traffic rules information comprises Quality of Service (QoS) rules for the PDU session.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein receiving traffic rules information for the PDU session comprises receiving an indication that the PDU session is allowed.

7. A method for establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session for a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that comprises a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE, with a wireless networkto which the WTRU is registered, the wireless network comprising an access and mobility management function (AMF) and the method comprising: receiving, by the AMF, a PDU session establishment request from the first UE, wherein the first UE is a primary UE and the PDU session establishment request comprises information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session; determining, by the AMF, whether the identifier associated with the WTRU is linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE; selecting, by the AMF, a session management function (SMF) based on the determining whether the identifier associated with the WTRU is linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE; transmitting, by the AMF, the PDU session establishment request to the SMF; receiving, by the AMF, traffic rules information for the PDU session; transmitting, by the AMF, traffic rules information for the PDU session to the first UE; and communicating with the first UE and the second UE of the WTRU during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session comprises information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU and a PDU session type.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU comprises information indicative of Dual Steer capabilities of the WTRU.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the PDU session type is a DualSteer PDU session.

11. The method of any of claims 7 to 10, wherein each of the first UE and the second UE are registered to the AMF.

12. The method of any of claims 7 to 11, wherein the AMF is a first AMF to which the first UE is registered and the second UE is registered to a second AMF, and the method further comprises: passing information of the first UE and identifier of the associated WTRU from the first AMF to the second AMF.

13. The method of any of claims 7 to 12, wherein the traffic rules information comprises Quality of Service (QoS) rules for the PDU session.

14. The method of any of claims 7 to 13, wherein the selecting a session management function (SMF) based on the determining whether the identifier associated with the WTRU is linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE comprises: in response to determining that the identifier associated with the WTRU is linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE: selecting a first SMF associated with the at least one other PDU session or the second UE; and in response to determining that the identifier associated with the WTRU is not linked to at least one other PDU session or the second UE: selecting a second SMF capable of being associated with more than one PDU session.

15. A method for establishing a protocol data unit (PDU) session for a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that comprises a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE, with a wireless network to which the WTRU is registered, the wireless network comprising an access network (AN), an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a session management function (SMF), and the method comprising: receiving, by the SMF, a PDU session establishment request from the AMF, wherein the first UE is a primary UE and the PDU session establishment request comprises information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session; performing, by the SMF, a session management (SM) policy association establishment procedure based on the information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and the at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session, to generate traffic rules information for the PDU session; transmitting, by the SMF, a session request to a user plane function (UPF), the session request comprising the traffic rules information and the information indicative of an identifier associated with the WTRU, and the at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session;receiving, by the SMF, an acknowledgement response from the UPF, the acknowledgement response comprising information about the PDU session; transmitting, by the SMF, the traffic rules information for the PDU session to the AN, which is communicatively coupled to the WTRU; and communicating with the first UE and the second UE of the WTRU during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session comprises information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU and a PDU session type.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU comprises information indicative of Dual Steer capabilities of the WTRU.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein the PDU session type is a DualSteer PDU session.

19. The method of any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the traffic rules information comprises Quality of Service (QoS) rules for the PDU session.

20. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) comprising a first user equipment (UE) and a second UE, the WTRU configured to: transmit a registration request to a wireless network to register the first UE and the second UE with the wireless network, wherein the first UE is a primary UE; determine an identifier associated with the WTRU; transmit a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request to the wireless network, wherein the PDU session establishment request comprises information indicative of the identifier and at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or a PDU session; receive, by the first UE, traffic rules information for the PDU session; provide to the second UE the traffic rules information for the PDU session; and communicate, by each of the first UE and the second UE, with the wireless network during the PDU session based at least in part on the traffic rules information for the PDU session.

21. The WTRU of claim 20, wherein the at least one characteristic of at least one of the WTRU or the PDU session comprises information indicative of WTRU capabilities of the WTRU and a PDU session type.

22. The WTRU of claim 21, wherein the information indicative of WTRU capabilities of theWTRU comprises information indicative of Dual Steer capabilities of the WTRU.

23. The WTRU of claim 21 or 22, wherein the PDU session type is a DualSteer PDU session.

24. The WTRU of any of claims 20 to 23, wherein the traffic rules information comprisesQuality of Service (QoS) rules for the PDU session.

25. The WTRU of any of claims 20 to 24, wherein to receive traffic rules information for the PDU session the WTRU is configured to receive an indication that the PDU session is allowed.

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