Identifying and connecting to a user profile

Abstract

Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are described herein that may be associated with identifying and connecting to a user profile. In examples, a device may receive a message. The message may include a user identifier and a subscription identifier. The device may determine that the user identifier does not include a routing identifier. Based on the determination does not include the routing identifier, the device may determine (e.g., generate) a routing identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be determined (e.g., generation) based on an indication and / or based on not recognizing a realm part of the user identifier. The device may send a request to read a user profile of the user identifier (e.g., using the routing identifier). In examples, the user request may include the user identifier and may (e.g., may also) be addressed based on the routing identifier. The device may obtain information from the user profile.

Description

IDENTIFYING AND CONNECTING TO A USER PROFILECROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 573,950, filed April 3, 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

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

[0003] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are described herein that may be associated with identifying and connecting to a user profile.

[0004] In examples, a device (e.g., a network function) may receive a message. The message may include a user identifier and a subscription identifier. The device may determine that the user identifier does not include a routing identifier (e.g., via the message which may include (e.g., further include) an indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier). The device may determine (e.g., generate) a routing identifier (e.g., based on the determination that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier (e.g., based on the indication that the user identifier not including routing identifier)). In examples, the routing identifier may be determined (e.g., generated) based on the indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be determined (e.g., generated) based on (e.g., further based on) not recognizing a realm part of the user identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be determined to be a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC) of the subscription identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be received in response to querying a network repository function (NRF). The NF may be configured to query a discoveryfunction if the NF determines that the message (e.g., the user identifier within the message) does not include a routing identifier.

[0005] The device may send a request to read a user profile of the user identifier (e.g., using the routing identifier). In examples, the user request may include the user identifier and may (e.g., may also) be addressed based on the routing identifier. The device may obtain (e.g., receive) information from the user profile. In examples, the device may be a network function (NF). In examples, the NF may be an access and mobility function (AMF). In examples, the NF may be a session management function (SMF). In examples, the NF may be a policy control function (PCF).BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

[0007] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment.

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

[0009] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment.

[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a network function (NF) determining a user profile associated with a user identifier.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonalFDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0012] 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 ON 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or a “STA”, may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), 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.

[0013] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the I nternet 110, and / or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0014] 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 asa cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0015] 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).

[0016] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0017] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0018] 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).

[0019] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC)principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., a eNB and a gNB).

[0020] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0021] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell 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.

[0022] 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, whichmay be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0023] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit- switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0024] 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. 1 A 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.

[0025] FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0026] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and thetransceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0027] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0028] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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).

[0031] 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.

[0032] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable locationdetermination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0033] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0034] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the uplink (UL) (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0035] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0036] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0037] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0038] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1 C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0039] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0040] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter- eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0044] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0045] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (ST As) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic in to and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to- peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11 e DLS or an 802.11 z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an “ad-hoc” mode of communication.

[0046] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the ST As 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 ST A), 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.

[0047] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0048] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0049] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11 af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11 af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11 n, and 802.11ac. 802.11 af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11 ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11 ah may support Meter Type Control / Machine- Type Communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0050] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11 ac, 802.11af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all ST As in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a ST A, from among all ST As in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g. , MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0051] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11 ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0052] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0053] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP)technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0054] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0055] 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.

[0056] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E- UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0057] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will beappreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0058] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0059] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating WTRU IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0060] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet- switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0061] 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 theWTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0062] In view of Figures 1A-1D, and the corresponding description of Figures 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and / or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0063] 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.

[0064] 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.

[0065] Reference to a timer herein may refer to determination of a time or determination of a period of time. Reference to a timer expiration herein may refer to determining that the time has occurred or that the period of time has expired. Reference to a timer herein may refer to a time, a time period, tracking the time, tracking the period of time, etc.

[0066] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are described herein that may be associated with identifying and connecting to a user profile.

[0067] In examples, a device (e.g., a network function) may receive a message. The message may include a user identifier and a subscription identifier. The device may determine that the user identifier does not include a routing identifier (e.g., via the message which may include (e.g., further include) an indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier). The device may determine (e.g., generate) a routing identifier (e.g., based on the determination that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier (e.g., based on the indication that the user identifier does not include routing identifier)). In examples, the routing identifier may be determined (e.g., generated) based on the indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be determined (e.g., generated) based on (e.g., further based on) not recognizing a realm part of the user identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be determined to be a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC) of the subscription identifier. In examples, the routing identifier may be received in response to querying a network repository function (NRF). The NF may be configured to query a discovery function if the NF determines that the message (e.g., the user identifier within the message) does not include a routing identifier.

[0068] The device may send a request to read a user profile of the user identifier (e.g., using the routing identifier). In examples, the user request may include the user identifier and may (e.g., may also) be addressed based on the routing identifier. The device may obtain (e.g., receive) information from the user profile. In examples, the device may be a network function (NF). In examples, the NF may be an access and mobility function (AMF). In examples, the NF may be a session management function (SMF). In examples, the NF may be a policy control function (PCF).

[0069] In examples, network functions (e.g., such as the SMF and PCF) may (e.g., may need to) read information from a user profile. For example, a network function (NF) may receive a message from a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) or another NF that may indicate that a user is actively using a WTRU’s subscription. The message may include the identifier of the user (e.g., a user identifier) and may include (e.g., may also include) the identifier of the subscription (e.g., a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI)). In examples, the user profile may be associated with a device or may be a device (e.g., a WTRU or a network node).

[0070] In examples, the format of the user identifier may be a network access identifier (NAI). The NAI of a user may have a name part and a routing identifier part. For example, the routing identifier part mayidentify a mobile network operator, and the name part may identify a subscriber of the mobile network operator. The routing identifier may be used to determine the identity of the NF that stores the user profile of the user that is associated with the user identifier.

[0071] The routing identifier part of the NAI may be the realm part of the NAI. The routing identifier may include an MCC and MNC that identify the home network operator of the user. The home network operator may be the operator that manages the user profile of the user. If an NF (e.g., such as the SMF and PCF) receives an NAI and may (e.g., may need to) receive information from the user profile that is associated with the NAI, the NF may use the routing identifier to determine where to send a request for information from the user profile. A user profile may be information that is stored in the user data repository (UDR) and accessed via the user data management (UDM). The user profile may be information that is stored in any data repository and accessible via a service-based interface.

[0072] In examples, the user identifier may not have been assigned by the mobile network operator (MNO). The user may have self-assigned the user identifier. For example, the MNO may have let the user provide a user identifier to the MNO when the user profile was created. For example, the user may have provided a user identifier that may be an email address (e.g. an email address that is managed by a service provider other than the MNO).

[0073] If the user identifier is self-assigned, this may be interpreted to mean that the identifier was assigned by an entity that is different than the entity that manages the user profile. In examples where the user identifier is not provided by the MNO, network functions may not use the user identifier to determine where to send a request for information from the user profile. In examples, the network functions may not use the user identifier to determine what operator manages the user identifier.

[0074] Examples herein are provided that may be used by an NF (e.g., such as an AMF, SMF, or PCF). If the NF receives a request that includes a user identifier and a subscription identifier, the NF may detect that the user identifier is not assigned by an MNO. The detection may be based on at least one of: an indication in the request, the format of the user identifier, or an indication in the user identifier. If the NF detects that the user identifier was not assigned by an MNO, the NF may determine that a routing identifier may be used to reach the user profile that is associated with the user identifier. The NF may (e.g., may then) read information from the user profile and may use the information to configure services for the user.

[0075] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an NF determining a user profile associated with a user identifier. At (1), the NF may receive a message (e.g., a request) that includes a user identifier and a WTRUidentifier. The message (e.g, request) may include an indication (e.g., a flag) that indicates that the user identifier may be self-assigned or that the user identifier may not include a routing identifier. The WTRU identifier may be a subscription identifier (e.g., such as a SUPI, a subscription concealed identifier (SUCI), a 5G globally unique temporary identifier (5G-GUTI), or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI)).

[0076] At (2), the NF may determine that the message (e.g., the user identifier within the message) may not include a routing identifier. The NF may make the determination based on an indication in the message. The NF may make the determination based on (e.g., further based on) not recognizing the realm field of the user identifier. Based on the message (e.g., the user identifier within the message) not including a routing identifier (e.g., based on the indication that the user identifier not including a routing identifier), the NF may determine (e.g., generate) a routing identifier. The NF may be configured to use the routing identifier of the SUPI if the NF determines that the message does not include a routing identifier. For example, the NF may use the MCC and MNC of the SUPI as the routing identifier. The NF may be configured to use the default routing identifier provided by the MNO if the NF determines that the message (e.g., the user identifier within the message) does not include a routing identifier. The NF may be configured to query a discovery function if the NF determines that the message (e.g., the user identifier within the message) does not include a routing identifier. For example, the NF may send the user identifier, or the realm part of the user identifier, to an NRF. The NRF may respond to the NF with a routing identifier.

[0077] At (3), the NF may send a request to read information from the user profile (e.g., using the routing identifier). The request may include the user identifier. The destination address may be based on the routing identifier.

[0078] At (4), the NF may obtain (e.g., receive) information from the user profile.

[0079] The NF may cache the routing identifier and the user profile information. The cached routing identifier and the user profile information may be used for future retrieval of user profile information for the user (e.g., if a second request is received from a sender and the request includes the same user identifier and subscription identifier). The NF may subscribe to the NRF to receive notification(s) about changes to routing identifier. The NF may subscribe to the UDM / UDR to receive notification (s) if user profile information changes. The notification from the UDM / UDR may be used to update any cached user profile information. The message of (1) may include multiple user identifiers. If the request of (1) includes multiple user identifiers, the NF may perform (2) through (4) for user identifiers (e.g., each user identifier).

[0080] An AMF may perform the example illustrated in FIG. 2 (e.g., the AMF may be the NF in FIG. 2). For example, the AMF may receive a non-access stratum (NAS) registration request from a WTRU in (1) of FIG. 2 (e.g., the WTRU may be the sender in FIG. 2). The AMF may determine to read information from the user profile to check if the user is linked to the subscription of the WTRU (e.g., the user identifier may identify the user and check if the user identifier and the subscription identifier are linked). The AMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to determine whether to allow the user to use the subscription of the WTRU.

[0081] The AMF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain (e.g., receive) information (e.g., from the user profile) about what DNNs and slices the user may be allowed to access. The AMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to determine whether to allow the WTRU to establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session to a data network name (DNN) and single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) combination. The AMF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain the identity of an AAA server (AAA-S) or an authentication server function (AUSF)ZUDM that may be used to authenticate the user. The AMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to trigger a procedure to authenticate the user. The AMF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain information about the authentication and authorization status of the user. The AMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to decide if the user is already authenticated and authorized or fresh authentication and authorization is needed.

[0082] A graphical user interface (GUI) may be used to configure the WTRU with the user identifier that is sent in (1). The GUI may allow the user to indicate the identifier is self-assigned, and the WTRU may use this information to determine whether to include a flag that indicates that the user identifier is self-assigned. The GUI may allow the user to indicate the identifier and the GUI may detect that the realm part of the user identifier is not associated with the MCC and MNC of the SUPI. The GUI may determine to include a flag that indicates that the user identifier is self-assigned.

[0083] In examples, a service enabler function in a WTRU may interact with the service enabler function in the network to authenticate a user with MNO / third party identity provider and either register or get assigned a user identifier. If the user obtains a user identifier, the user may (e.g., may also) be provisioned with a routing identifier. The service enabler function in a WTRU may provide the user identity and routing indicator to a mobile termination (MT) part of a WTRU. The WTRU-MT may send the user identifier and the routing indicator to the NF. In examples, if the request message from the WTRU in (1) includes an indication (e.g., a flag) that indicates that the user identifier is self-assigned, the request message may(e.g, may additionally) include a routing identifier. The routing identifier may be provisioned in the WTRU (e.g., via a GUI) if the user identifier is configured in the WTRU. The routing identifier may be extracted from the SUCI if the WTRU is transmitted in the SUCI in the request (e.g., where the routing indicator may be provisioned in the USIM by the operator).

[0084] Based on determination that the user identifier is user assigned or third party assigned, the WTRU may construct the user identifier by decorating it (e.g., prepending it) with network routing information (e.g., MCC, MNC and routing indicator). For example, the network routing decorated user identifier may be provided by the WTRU in the form of MCC.MNC.routing_indicator.username@realm.com if sending the user identifier to the network (e.g., AMF or SMF). The network routing decorated user identifier may be transmitted between NFs in the network in that form. The lookup or matching to the appropriate user profile (e.g, in UDR) may be based on matching the undecorated part of the user identifier (e.g, username@realm.com).

[0085] An SMF may perform the example illustrated in FIG. 2 (e.g, the SMF may be the NF in FIG. 2). For example, the SMF may receive a service invocation request from an AMF in (1) of FIG. 2 (e.g, the AMF may be the sender in FIG. 2).

[0086] The service invocation may be an Nsmf_PDUSession_Create service operation request, and the SMF may determine to read information from the user profile (e.g, the user identifier may identify a user) to receive information about what DNNs and slices the user may be allowed to access. The SMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to determine whether to allow the WTRU to establish a PDU session to a DNN and S-NSSAI combination. The service invocation may be an Nsmf_PDUSession_Create service operation request, and the SMF may determine to read information from the user profile receive information about what quality of service (QoS) treatment may be provided to the user. The SMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to determine at least one of: QoS rules, a QoS profile, or N4 rules for a PDU session or a flow that carries the user’s traffic.

[0087] The AMF may include the user identifier as an information element in the service invocation or within an NAS-SM container that was received from the WTRU. The SMF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain the identity of a AAA-S or AUSF / UDM that may be used to authenticate the user. The SMF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to trigger a procedure to authenticate the user. The SMF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain information about the authentication and authorization status of the user. The SMF may receive thisinformation in (4) and may use this information to decide if the user is already authenticated and authorized or fresh authentication and authorization is needed.

[0088] In examples, a sender may determine that the user identifier is assigned by the user or a third party. Based on the determination, the sender may construct the user identifier by decorating it. In this example, the sender may be the AMF.

[0089] A PCF may perform the example illustrated in FIG. 2 (e.g., the PCF may be the NF in FIG. 2). For example, the PCF may receive a service invocation request from an SMF, a network exposure function (NEF), an AMF, or an application function (AF) in (1) of FIG. 2 (e.g., the SMF, NEF, AMF, or AF may be the sender in FIG. 2).

[0090] The service invocation may be an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create service operation request from the SMF, and the PCF may determine to read information from the user profile (e.g., the user identifier may identify a user) to receive information about what DNNs and slices the user may be allowed to access. The PCF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information to determine whether to allow the WTRU to establish a PDU session to a DNN and S-NSSAI combination. The service invocation may be an Npcf_SMPolicyControl_Create service operation request from the SMF and the PCF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain information about what QoS treatment may be provided to the user. The PCF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information (e.g., about the QoS treatment) to determine PCC rules for a PDU session or a flow that carries the user’s traffic. The service invocation may be an Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create service operation request from an NEF or AF, and the PCF may determine to read information from the user profile to obtain information about what QoS treatment may be provided to the user. The PCF may receive this information in (4) and may use this information (e.g., about the QoS treatment) to determine policy and charging control (PCC) rules for a PDU session or a flow that carries the user’s traffic. If the invoker is an AMF, the AMF may include the user identifier as an information element in the service invocation or within a non-access stratum session management (NAS-SM) container that may be received from the WTRU.

[0091] In examples, a sender may determine that the user identifier is assigned by the user or a third party. Based on the determination, the sender may construct the user identifier by decorating it. In this example, the sender may be the SMF, NEF, AMF, or AF.

[0092] Although features and elements described above are described in particular combinations, each feature or element may be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments, or in various combinations with or without other features and elements.

[0093] Although the implementations described herein may consider 3GPP specific protocols, it is understood that the implementations described herein are not restricted to this scenario and may be applicable to other wireless systems. For example, although the solutions described herein consider LTE, LTE-A, New Radio (NR) or 5G specific protocols, it is understood that the solutions described herein are not restricted to this scenario and are applicable to other wireless systems as well.

[0094] The processes described above may be implemented in a computer program, software, and / or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer and / or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic signals (transmitted over wired and / or wireless connections) and / or computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer- readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as, but not limited to, internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and / or optical media such as compact disc (CD)-ROM disks, and / or digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, and / or any host computer.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is Claimed:1 . A network function, comprising: a processor configured to: receive a message, wherein the message comprises a user identifier and a subscription identifier; determine that the user identifier does not include a routing identifier; generate the routing identifier based on the determination that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier; use the routing identifier to send a request to read a user profile of the user identifier; and obtain information from the user profile.

2. The network function of claim 1 , wherein: the message further comprises an indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier, and the generation of the routing identifier is based on the indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier.

3. The network function of claim 1 or 2, wherein the routing identifier is generated further based on not recognizing a realm part of the user identifier.

4. The network function of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the routing identifier is determined to be a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC) of the subscription identifier.

5. The network function of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the processor is further configured to: query a discovery function based on the determination that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier.

6. The network function of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the request to read the user profile of the user identifier is sent to a user data management (UDM) or a user data repository (UDR).

7. The network function of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the network function is an access and mobility function (AMF), the message is a registration request, the user identifier identifies a user, the request to read the user profile is based on a determination to check if the user identifier and subscription identifier are linked, the information from the user profile includes information about data network names (DNNs) and slices that the user is allowed to access, and the processor is further configured to: use the information from the user profile to determine whether to allow a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) to establish a protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with a DNN and S-NSSAI combination.

8. The network function of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the network function is a session management function (SMF), the message is a service invocation, the user identifier identifies a user, the information from the user profile includes information about data network names (DNNs) and slices that the user is allowed to access and includes information about QoS treatment, and the processor is further configured to: use the information from the user profile to determine whether to allow a WTRU to establish a PDU Session to a DNN and S-NSSAI combination; and use the information about QoS treatment to configure at least one of: a QoS Rule, a QoS Profile, or N4 rules.

9. The network function of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the network function is a policy control function (PCF), the message is a service invocation, the user identifier identifies a user, the information from the user profile includes information about data network names (DNNs) and slices that the user is allowed to access and includes information about QoS treatment, and the processor is further configured to: use the information from the user profile determine whether to allow a WTRU to establish aPDU session to a DNN and S-NSSAI combination; and use the information about QoS treatment to determine PCC rules.

10. A method associated with a network function, the method comprising: receiving a message, wherein the message comprises a user identifier and a subscription identifier; determining that the user identifier does not include a routing identifier; generating the routing identifier based on the determination that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier; using the routing identifier to send a request to read a user profile of the user identifier; and obtaining information from the user profile.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein: the message further comprises an indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier, and the generation of the routing identifier is based on the indication that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11 , wherein the routing identifier is generated further based on not recognizing a realm part of the user identifier.

13. The method of any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the routing identifier is determined to be a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC) of the subscription identifier.

14. The method of any one of claims 10 to 13, further comprising: querying a discovery function based on the determination that the user identifier does not include the routing identifier.

15. The method of any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the request to read the user profile of the user identifier is sent to a user data management (UDM) or a user data repository (DDR).

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