Method and apparatus for enabling ambient internet of things (AIOT) communication in a wireless communication network

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for a user equipment (UE) that includes receiving, from a radio access network (RAN) node, a broadcast message that contains an AIoT request from am AIoT function (AIoTF) of the wireless communication network, the AIoT message includes information indicating that AIoT communication is requested and information indicating a radio resource for the UE to use for the AIoT communication, determining by the UE whether it is configured for AIoT communication, in response to the UE determining that it is configured for AIoT communication receiving from one or more AIoT devices, a response, the response from each respective one of the one or more AIoT devices including the AIoT device identifier (ID) of the respective one of the one or more AIoT devices, and transmitting, to the AIoTF of the wireless communication network, a response to the AIoT request that includes a UE identifier (UE ID) of the UE and the AIoT device IDs of the one or more AIoT devices. The present disclosure also provides a method and apparatus for an ambient internet of things (AIoT) function (AIoTF) that includes receiving from an application function (AF) an AIoT request that requests AIoT communication and comprises information indicating a location associated with the requested AIoT communication, determining a cell identifier (cell ID) of a cell associated with the location, transmitting a discovery AIoT command directed to a RAN node associated with the cell ID, the AIoT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AIoT request to all of the user equipment (UE) within the cell, receiving from one or more UEs responses to the discovery AIoT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier (UE ID) associated with a UE from which the response is received and one or more AIoT device identifiers (IDs), based on the responses, generating binding information for each of the AIoT device IDs included in the received responses to the discovery AIoT request, the binding information comprising the AIoT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the AIoT device ID was received, updating a stored binding table based on the generated binding data, and transmitting to the AF a AIoT response to the AIoT request, the AIoT response comprising at least the AIoT device ID of each of the one or more AIoT devices for which a response to the discovery AIoT request was received.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING AMBIENT INTERNET OF THINGS (AloT) COMMUNICATION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKRELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of priority of India Patent Application No. 202441060507 filed on August 9, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if reproduced in its entirety.FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[0002] The present disclosure relates to enabling ambient internet of things (AloT) communication in a wireless communication system.

[0003] BACKGROUND

[0004] Internet of things (loT) device refers to an everyday object embedded with sensors, software and a network interface which enables these objects to collect data and send data to and receive data from other devices via a communication network. Ambient loT (AloT) devices refers to loT devices that are powered by a component that harvests energy, for example, a capacitor, that is provided by another device and used to power the AloT device for communication. Thus, an AloT device does not have a battery and can store only a limited amount of energy that is used to power the AloT device for communications.

[0005] AloT devices complement existing loT devices by providing loT-like devices in contexts in which, for example, power, charging, or regularly replacing batteries of loT devices would be impractical. Some use cases leveraging Ambient loT devices include, for example, ID tags, similar to RFID but with a wider range, sensors such as, for example, temperature and humidity sensors, healthcare devices used, for example, for monitoring personal medical information, tracking objects in logistics contexts.

[0006] A system of AloT devices may include one or more AloT devices, an activator or illuminator that sends an activation signal to wake up the one or more AloT devices by providing energy that allows each of the one or more AloT devices to transmit messages and / or data, a reader, or receiver, that listens and detects messages and / or data sent by the one or more AloT devices, an AloT controller, and a AloT application server. The reader may be collocated with the activator, or may be located at a location that differs from the location of the activator.

[0007] It is desirable to enable a wireless communication network, for example, a wireless communication network that operates in accordance with the 5th generation radio access technology described in the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for new radio to communicate with AloT devices.

[0008] Developments in wireless communication networks to enable AloT communication between AloT devices and an application server via a wireless communication network is desirable.SUMMARY

[0009] According to one aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of a user equipment (UE) to provide ambient internet of things (AloT) communication in a wireless communication system, the method including receiving, from a radio access network (RAN) node, a broadcast message that contains an AloT request from am AloT function (AloTF) of the wireless communication network, the AloT message includes information indicating that AloT communication is requested and information indicating a radio resource for the UE to use for the AloT communication, determining by the UE whether it is configured for AloT communication, in response to the UE determining that it is configured for AloT communication receiving from one or more AloT devices, a response, the response from each respective one of the one or more AloT devices including the AloT device identifier (ID) of the respective one of the one or more AloT devices, and transmitting, to the AloTF of the wireless communication network, a response to the AloT request that includes a UE identifier (UE ID) of the UE and the AloT device IDs of the one or more AloT devices.

[0010] In an example, the AloT request includes information indicating that the AIOT request is a read request, the responses received at the UE from at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes data associated with the read request, and the response to the AloT request transmitted by the UE to the AloTF comprises, in association with each AloT device ID of the at least some of the one or more AloT devices, the received data.

[0011] In an example, the at least some of the one or more AloT devices include sensors, and the data included in the responses received from the at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes sensor data collected by the sensors.

[0012] In an example the AloT request received from the RAN node includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, and the responses that are received from the one or more AloT devices comprise responses from at least some of the respective one or more target AloT devices associated with the one or more of the AloT target device IDs included in the AloT request.

[0013] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides an apparatus including at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions of a user equipment (UE), wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive, from a radio access network (RAN) node, a broadcast message that contains an AloT request from am AloT function (AloTF) of the wireless communication network, the AloT message includes information indicating that AloT communication is requested and information indicating a radio resource for the UE to use for the AloT communication, determine by the UE whether it is configured for AloT communication, in response to the UE determining that it is configured for AloT communication receive from one or more AloT devices, a response, the response from each respective one of the one or more AloT devices including the AloT device identifier (ID) of the respective one of the one or more AloT devices, and transmit, to the AloTF of the wirelesscommunication network, a response to the AloT request that includes a UE identifier (UE ID) of the UE and the AloT device IDs of the one or more AloT devices.

[0014] In an example, the AloT request includes information indicating that the AIOT request is a read request, the responses received at the UE from at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes data associated with the read request, and the response to the AloT request transmitted by the UE to the AloTF comprises, in association with each AloT device ID of the at least some of the one or more AloT devices, the received data.

[0015] In an example, the at least some of the one or more AloT devices include sensors, and the data included in the responses received from the at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes sensor data collected by the sensors.

[0016] In an example, the AloT request received from the RAN node includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, and the responses that are received from the one or more AloT devices comprise responses from at least some of the respective one or more target AloT devices associated with the one or more of the AloT target device IDs included in the AloT request.

[0017] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium storing instructions of a user equipment (UE), wherein when the instructions are executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive, from a radio access network (RAN) node, a broadcast message that contains an AloT request from am AloT function (AloTF) of the wireless communication network, the AloT message includes information indicating that AloT communication is requested and information indicating a radio resource for the UE to use for the AloT communication, determine by the UE whether it is configured for AloT communication, in response to the UE determining that it is configured for AloT communication receive from one or more AloT devices, a response, the response from each respective one of the one or more AloT devices including the AloT device identifier (ID) of the respective one of the one or more AloT devices, and transmit, to the AloTF of the wireless communication network, a response to the AloT request that includes a UE identifier (UE ID) of the UE and the AloT device IDs of the one or more AloT devices.

[0018] In an example, the AloT request includes information indicating that the AIOT request is a read request, the responses received at the UE from at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes data associated with the read request, and the response to the AloT request transmitted by the UE to the AloTF comprises, in association with each AloT device ID of the at least some of the one or more AloT devices, the received data.

[0019] In an example, the at least some of the one or more AloT devices include sensors, and the data included in the responses received from the at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes sensor data collected by the sensors.

[0020] In an example, the AloT request received from the RAN node includes one or more target AloTdevice IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, and the responses that are received from the one or more AloT devices comprise responses from at least some of the respective one or more target AloT devices associated with the one or more of the AloT target device IDs included in the AloT request.

[0021] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method of an ambient internet of things (AloT) function (AloTF) to initiate AloT communication in a wireless communication system, the method including receiving from an application function (AF) an AloT request that requests AloT communication and comprises information indicating a location associated with the requested AloT communication, determining a cell identifier (cell ID) of a cell associated with the location, transmitting a discovery AloT command directed to a RAN node associated with the cell ID, the AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request to all of the user equipment (UE) within the cell, receiving from one or more UEs responses to the discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier (UE ID) associated with a UE from which the response is received and one or more AloT device identifiers (IDs), based on the responses, generating binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the discovery AloT request, the binding information comprising the AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the AloT device ID was received, updating a stored binding table based on the generated binding data, and transmitting to the AF a AloT response to the AloT request, the AloT response comprising at least the AloT device ID of each of the one or more AloT devices for which a response to the discovery AloT request was received.

[0022] In an example, when two or more of the responses to the discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, generating the binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprises selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses, and including the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

[0023] In an example, selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs comprises obtaining information associated with each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses from a network data analytics function (NWDAF) or a user data management (UDM) system, or from both the NWDAF and the UDM system, and selecting one of the UEs as the responsible UE based on the obtained information.

[0024] In an example, the obtained information includes information indicating, for each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses, a time that each respective UE associated with the different UE IDs is expected to remain in the cell, and selecting one of the UEs as the responsible UE comprises selecting the UE that is expected to remain the cell the longest.

[0025] In an example, the AloT request includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, the method further including obtaining the stored binding table that includes binding information that maps each of aplurality of AloT device IDs to a corresponding UE ID, determining a first group of the target AloT device IDs for which no valid binding information is included in the binding table, wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the first group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the first group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

[0026] In an example, the method further includes determining a second group of the target AloT device IDs for which valid binding information is included in the binding table, transmitting a direct AloT command to the RAN node that includes the binding information for the target AloT device IDs of the second group, the direct AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a direct AloT request to each UE ID associated by the binding information with the AloT device IDs of the second group, each direct AloT request including the AloT device IDs associated by the binding information with the UE ID associated with the each respective AloT request, receiving responses to at least some of the direct AloT requests, wherein each response comprises at least one or more AloT device IDs and the UE ID associate with the UE from which the response was received, and wherein the AloT response transmitted to the AF comprises at least the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the direct AloT requests.

[0027] In an example, the method further includes determining a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests, removing binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the binding table, transmitting a second discovery AloT command directed to the RAN node comprising the AloT device IDs of the third group, the second discovery AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a second discovery AloT request to the UEs within the cell that includes the AloT device IDs of the third group, receiving from one or more UEs responses to the second discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier of a UE from which the response is received and at least one AloT device ID, based on the responses, generating binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the second discovery AloT request, the binding information for a respective AloT device ID comprising the respective AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the respective AloT device ID was received, updating the stored binding table based on the generated binding data.

[0028] In an example, when two or more of the responses to the second discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, generating binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprises selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses, and including the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

[0029] In an example, the method further includes determining a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to thedirect AloT requests, removing binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the stored binding table, wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the third group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the third group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

[0030] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions of an ambient internet of things function (AloTF), wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive from an application function (AF) an AloT request that requests AloT communication and comprises information indicating a location associated with the requested AloT communication, determine a cell identifier (cell ID) of a cell associated with the location, transmit a discovery AloT command directed to a RAN node associated with the cell ID, the AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request to all of the user equipment (UE) within the cell, receive from one or more UEs responses to the discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier (UE ID) associated with a UE from which the response is received and one or more AloT device identifiers (IDs), based on the responses, generate binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the discovery AloT request, the binding information comprising the AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the AloT device ID was received, update a stored binding table based on the generated binding data, and transmit to the AF a AloT response to the AloT request, the AloT response comprising at least the AloT device ID of each of the one or more AloT devices for which a response to the discovery AloT request was received.

[0031] In an example, when two or more of the responses to the discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to generate the binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses, and include the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

[0032] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain information associated with each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses from a network data analytics function (NWDAF) or a user data management (UDM) system, or from both the NWDAF and the UDM system, and select one of the UEs as the responsible UE based on the obtained information.

[0033] In an example, the obtained information includes information indicating, for each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses, a time that each respective UE associated with the different UEIDs is expected to remain in the cell, and selecting one of the UEs as the responsible UE comprises selecting the UE that is expected to remain the cell the longest.

[0034] In an example, the AloT request includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, and the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to obtain the stored binding table that includes binding information that maps each of a plurality of AloT device IDs to a corresponding UE ID, determining a first group of the target AloT device IDs for which no valid binding information is included in the binding table, wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the first group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the first group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

[0035] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine a second group of the target AloT device IDs for which valid binding information is included in the binding table, transmit a direct AloT command to the RAN node that includes the binding information for the target AloT device IDs of the second group, the direct AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a direct AloT request to each UE ID associated by the binding information with the AloT device IDs of the second group, each direct AloT request including the AloT device IDs associated by the binding information with the UE ID associated with the each respective AloT request, receive responses to at least some of the direct AloT requests, wherein each response comprises at least one or more AloT device IDs and the UE ID associate with the UE from which the response was received, and wherein the AloT response transmitted to the AF comprises at least the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the direct AloT requests.

[0036] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests, remove binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the binding table, transmit a second discovery AloT command directed to the RAN node comprising the AloT device IDs of the third group, the second discovery AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a second discovery AloT request to the UEs within the cell that includes the AloT device IDs of the third group, receiving from one or more UEs responses to the second discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier of a UE from which the response is received and at least one AloT device ID, based on the responses, generate binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the second discovery AloT request, the binding information for a respective AloT device ID comprising the respective AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the respective AloT device ID was received, update the stored binding table based on the generated binding data.

[0037] In an example, when two or more of the responses to the second discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor,cause the apparatus to generate binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses, and include the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

[0038] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests, remove binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the stored binding table, and wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the third group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the third group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

[0039] According to another aspect of an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable medium storing instructions of an ambient internet of things function (AloTF), wherein when the instructions are executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive from an application function (AF) an AloT request that requests AloT communication and comprises information indicating a location associated with the requested AloT communication, determine a cell identifier (cell ID) of a cell associated with the location, transmit a discovery AloT command directed to a RAN node associated with the cell ID, the AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request to all of the user equipment (UE) within the cell, receive from one or more UEs responses to the discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier (UE ID) associated with a UE from which the response is received and one or more AloT device identifiers (IDs), based on the responses, generate binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the discovery AloT request, the binding information comprising the AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the AloT device ID was received, update a stored binding table based on the generated binding data, and transmit to the AF a AloT response to the AloT request, the AloT response comprising at least the AloT device ID of each of the one or more AloT devices for which a response to the discovery AloT request was received.

[0040] In an example, when two or more of the responses to the discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to generate the binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses, and include the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device IDincluded in the two or more responses.

[0041] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain information associated with each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses from a network data analytics function (NWDAF) or a user data management (UDM) system, or from both the NWDAF and the UDM system, and select one of the UEs as the responsible UE based on the obtained information.

[0042] In an example, the obtained information includes information indicating, for each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses, a time that each respective UE associated with the different UE IDs is expected to remain in the cell, and selecting one of the UEs as the responsible UE comprises selecting the UE that is expected to remain the cell the longest.

[0043] In an example, the AloT request includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, and the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to obtain the stored binding table that includes binding information that maps each of a plurality of AloT device IDs to a corresponding UE ID, determining a first group of the target AloT device IDs for which no valid binding information is included in the binding table, wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the first group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the first group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

[0044] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine a second group of the target AloT device IDs for which valid binding information is included in the binding table, transmit a direct AloT command to the RAN node that includes the binding information for the target AloT device IDs of the second group, the direct AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a direct AloT request to each UE ID associated by the binding information with the AloT device IDs of the second group, each direct AloT request including the AloT device IDs associated by the binding information with the UE ID associated with the each respective AloT request, receive responses to at least some of the direct AloT requests, wherein each response comprises at least one or more AloT device IDs and the UE ID associate with the UE from which the response was received, and wherein the AloT response transmitted to the AF comprises at least the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the direct AloT requests.

[0045] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests, remove binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the binding table, transmit a second discovery AloT command directed to the RAN node comprising the AloT device IDs of the third group, the second discovery AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a second discovery AloT request tothe UEs within the cell that includes the AloT device IDs of the third group, receiving from one or more UEs responses to the second discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier of a UE from which the response is received and at least one AloT device ID, based on the responses, generate binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the second discovery AloT request, the binding information for a respective AloT device ID comprising the respective AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the respective AloT device ID was received, update the stored binding table based on the generated binding data.

[0046] In an example, when two or more of the responses to the second discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to generate binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprise instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses, and include the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

[0047] In an example, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to determine a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests, remove binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the stored binding table, and wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the third group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the third group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

[0048] The term "non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0049] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures.

[0051] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a communication network in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment.

[0052] FIGS. 2A-2C are a flowchart showing a method for an ambient internet of things function (AloTF) in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0053] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for a user equipment (UE) in accordance with an example embodiment.

[0054] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method for a UE in accordance with another example embodiment.

[0055] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing operations in a procedure in accordance with some exampleembodiments.

[0056] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing components of one or more of the example embodiments.

[0057] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the examples described herein. The examples may be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the examples described. The description is not to be considered as limited to the scope of the examples described herein.

[0059] The present disclosure provides for generating binding information that indicates, for a given AloT device, a user equipment (UE) that is responsible for being the "reader” device for that given AloT device and storing the generated binding information in a binding table. The present disclosure describes generating binding information for a given AloT device based on the responses to a "discovery” AloT request transmitted to all UEs in a cell of a base station (otherwise referred to as a radio access network node) that includes the given AloT device and generating binding information that links the given AloT device to one UE "reader”. Generating the binding information may include selecting one of the UEs as a responsible UE when a response to the discovery AloT request was received from multiple UEs for a given AloT device.

[0060] In general, two topologies have been proposed to facilitate AloT communication between an AloT device and a base station of a wireless communication network. In a first topology, a AloT device may communicate directly with the base station. In a second topology, communication between an AloT device and a base station of the wireless communication network is performed via an intermediate node that is configured for AloT communication. The intermediate node transfers AloT signaling and / or data between the base station and the AloT device.

[0061] For enabling AloT communication with a wireless communication network that operates in accordance with the 5th generation radio access technology described in the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for new radio, it may be desirable for a user equipment (UE) to be configured to communicate with the wireless communication network and to be configured for AloT communication to act as the intermediate node for communications between the wireless communication network and a AloT device.

[0062] Reference is first made to FIG. 1 , which shows a schematic representation of an example wireless communication network 100 that an AloT device 102 has access to, via a UE 104, in order to enable AloT communication with the wireless communication network 100, for example, transmit signaling and / or data back and forth with a third party application functions (AF) 106 that may be hosted on an third party application server. The communication network 100 comprises a radio access network 108 (e.g., a NG-RAN) and a core network 110 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)) that operate based on the 5th generation radio access technology described in the 3GPP standard for new radio.

[0063] The radio access network (RAN) 108 comprises one or more radio access network (RAN) nodes (otherwise referred to as base stations), such as a gNodeB (gNB). A radio access network node may comprise a central unit (e.g., gNB-CU) and one or more distributed units (e.g., one or more gNB-DUs) linked to the central unit (e.g., gNB-CU).

[0064] The core network 110 has a service-based architecture and comprises a plurality of network functions (NFs), including, inter alia, an access and mobility function (AMF) 112, a trusted application function (AF) 114, a network exposure function (NEF) 116, a user data management system (UDM) 118, and a network data analytics function (NWDAF) 120. Other network functions of the core network 108 are not illustrated but would be understood by a person skilled in the art. The functionalities of the network functions of the core network are known to a person skilled in the art and hence are not described in detail.

[0065] Each network function (NF) of the core network 110 provides one or more services to other network functions of the core network via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Any NF is operable to consume (e.g., use) the services provided and exposed by another NF. A NF that consumes a service of another network function is generally referred to as a network function service consumer. A network function that provides and exposes one or more of its services is referred to as a network function service producer.

[0066] In addition to the network functions referred to above, the core network 110 also includes a AloT function (AloTF) 122 that provides AloT services to a AloT services client, such as the AloT device 102, the UE 104, one or more RAN entities 108, the AF 106, or the AF 114, in order to facilitate AloT communication in the communication network 100.

[0067] In some examples the AloTF 122 and the NEF 116 may be combined into a single network function that performs the functionality of both an NEF and a AloTF, or the AloTF 122 and the NEF 116 may be implemented as separate network functions. The NEF 116 may act as an intermediatory and enables secure communication between the AloTF 122 and any third-party AFs, such as AF 106, that are located outside of the core network 110, whereas trusted AFs, such as AF 114, which are part of the core network 110, may communicate directly with the AloTF 122.

[0068] The AloTF 122, or a network function that incorporates some or all of the functionality of the AloTF, to the provide AloT services by coordinating the AloT communication between an AF, such as AF 106 and AF 114, and AloT devices through the wireless communication network 100, as described in more detail below.

[0069] The AloTF 122, or a network function that incorporates some or all of the functionality of the AloTF, may be implemented by a combination of hardware processing circuit and software and / or firmware comprising machine-readable instructions that are executable by the hardware processing circuit, or software comprising machine-readable instructions that are executable by a hardware processing circuit of an apparatus. A hardware processing circuit includes at least one processor comprising machine-readable instructions that are executable by the at least one processor of the hardware processing circuit and at least one memory storing the machine-readable instructions. A processor includes any or some combination of an accelerator, microprocessor, a core of a multi-core microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmableintegrated circuit, a programmable gate array, a digital signal processor, a central processing unit, a graphic processing unit, a tensor processing unit. Memory includes any or some combination of volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., a flash memory, cache, a random-access memory (RAM), and / or a read-only memory (ROM)). The memory stores the machine-executable instructions of the software and / or firmware for execution by the at least one processor of the hardware processing circuit. The machine-executable instructions are executable by the hardware processing circuit to perform the actions or operations of the methods of the AloTF and / or the network function that incorporates any of the functionalities of the AloTF described herein.

[0070] As described in more detail below, AloT communication between a AloT device and a wireless communication network is typically initiated by a request for an AloT service that is received at the AloTF, such as AloTF 122, from an AF, such as from AF 106 via the NEF 116 or from the AF 114. The request for an AloT service typically includes a location at which the AloT service is requested for. The request for an AloT service received from an AF may also include the AloT device identifiers (IDs) of one or more target AloT devices and / or may include an indication of a type of AloT communication being requested as part of the AloT service such as, for example, an inventory of AloT devices at the location, or reading data from, or writing data to, the AloT devices, either all AloT devices at the location or only from the target AloT devices identified by their AloT device IDs.

[0071] The AloTF then transmits an AloT request to a base station of a RAN, such as RAN 108, which transmits to UEs, such as UE 104, a message that includes the AloT request. The UEs that receive the message communicate with the AloT devices to, in some examples, send the AloT request to the AloT devices, and receive response to the AloT request from the AloT devices. The responses received by the UE from the AloT devices may include the requested data, that the UE then transmits the responses to the AloTF via the base station of the RAN. The AloTF then responds to the request for an AloT service by sending a response message to the AF that includes requested data the UE received from each AloT device.

[0072] For example, the AloT request may be an inventory request, the requested data may be any suitable form of acknowledgement that the AloT device is present at the location such as, for example, the AloT device IDs that are received in responses from the UEs. The request for AloT services that requests an inventory may include target AloT device IDs of specific AloT devices that the AF is wanting to take inventory of, and may include an indication that inventory of the target AloT devices is requested. Alternatively, in examples, in which the request for AloT services does not include any target AloT device IDs, the AloTF may be configured to interpret this to be a request for inventory of all AloT devices at the location.

[0073] In another example, the AloT request may be a read request, the requested data may be, for example, sensor data obtained by sensors of the AloT devices such as, for example, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, location sensors, and the like. Again, the request for an AloT service may include target AloT device IDs from which data is requested to be read, or may include no AloT device IDs in which case data will be requested to be read from all AloT devices at the location.

[0074] A challenge with enabling AloT communication with a wireless communication network, such as theexample wireless communication network 100, is determining which UE is responsible for acting as the intermediate node, or reader node, for a given AloT device and therefore should be utilized for AloT communication with that given AloT device as well as what to do if, for example, the UE that is responsible for acting as the intermediate node or reader node for a given AloT device is no longer in communication with the AloT device.

[0075] In the present disclosure, these challenges are addressed by providing a AloTF, such as AloTF 122 described previously, that generates binding information that links the AloT device ID of a AloT device with the UE identifier (ID) of a UE that is responsible for acting as the intermediate node or reader node for the AloT device, and causes the generated binding information to be stored in a binding table of a binding support function. In the present disclosure, binding information is generated the responses to "discovery AloT requests”, and the binding information can be used to determine the intermediate node for a given AloT device to initiate AloT communication with that AloT device via "direct AloT requests”.

[0076] In the present disclosure, a "discovery AloT request” refers to an AloT request that is not directed to any particular UE and does not include any UE IDs such that any UE that receives the discovery AloT request, and is configured for AloT communication, may respond to the discovery AloT request.

[0077] By contrast, a "direct AloT request” in the present disclosure refers to an AloT request that is directed to a particular UE, or particular UEs, and includes the UE ID of the UE or UEs to which the AloT request is directed. Only those UEs having the UE IDs that are included in the direct AloT request may respond to the direct AloT request.

[0078] An AloT request may include AloT device IDs of certain target AloT devices for which the AloT request is requested if such AloT device IDs are included in the request for an AloT service received from the AF. In the event that no AloT device IDs are included in the request for an AloT service received from the AF, the AloT request will be sent by the AloTF without any AloT device IDs and will effectively request AloT communication from all AloT devices at the location.

[0079] Referring to FIGS. 2A-2C, a flowchart showing a method or process in accordance with one example is shown. The method or process is performed by an AloTF, such as the AloTF 122 of the example core network 110 described previously, or another network function that incorporates the functionality of an AloTF as described herein.

[0080] At 202, a request for an AloT service is received from an AF, such as AF 106 or 114 as described previously, that includes information indicating a location. The request may include AloT IDs of one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT service is being requested. In some examples, the request received at 202 does not include any AloT device IDs, in which case the request may be assumed to be a request for the AloT service for all AloT devices at the location. The request received at 202 may include information indicating a type of AloT communication being requested as part of the AloT service such as, for example, an inventory request, a read request, or a write request. In an example, the AloTF may be configured to interpret a request received at 202 that does not include any AloT device IDs and does not include any informationindicating a type of AloT communication being requested as a request to inventory all AloT devices at the location.

[0081] At 204, a determination is made that a cell ID of a cell of the communication network that is associated with the location indicated by the information is included in the request received at 202. The cell ID may be utilized to determine a base station (otherwise referred to as a RAN node), such as a gNB of a RAN, such as the example RAN 108 described previously, to utilize for sending transmitting a broadcast or unicast message that includes an AloT request in order to initiate the requested AloT communication between the AloT and the communication network. In an example, geo-location information may be mapped to cell IDs in, for example, a stored geographic database lookup table. The mapping between the geo-location information and cell IDs may be implemented by a network function of the wireless communication network such as, for example, a location management function (LMF) or a unified data repository (UDR). In an example, the AloTF may obtain the geographic database lookup table from a network function and utilize this information to determine the cell ID associated with the received location information. Alternatively, the AloTF may provide the received location information to another network function, such as a LMF or UDR, and will receive back from the network function the cell ID that is associated with the location information.

[0082] At 206, a determination is made whether the request received from the AF at 202 includes AloT device IDs. For example, if the request received from the AF 202 includes AloT device IDs of target AloT devices, then the determination at 206 is "YES”, and if the request received from the AF at 202 does not include an AloT device IDs of target AloT devices, then the determination at 206 is "NO”.

[0083] When the determination at 206 is "NO”, the request from the AF does not include device IDs, then it is assumed that the requested AloT services relate to all AloT devices at the location and the process proceeds to 208.

[0084] At 208, a command is transmitted to the RAN node associated with the cell identified by the cell ID determined at 204 to cause the RAN node to transmit, via a broadcast or unicast message, an AloT discovery request that does not include any UE IDs, which will request a AloT communication from all AloT devices within the cell.

[0085] The command may include the discovery AloT request that is to be sent by the RAN node to the UEs of the cell. In an example, the command and the discovery AloT request are transmitted, along with the cell ID determined at 204, to an AMF, such as AMF 112 described previously, and the AMF passes the command and AloT request along to a particular RAN node based on the cell ID such that the RAN node transmits the AloT request to the UEs in the cell in a broadcast message.

[0086] In other examples, as described in more detail below, when 208 is performed after a "YES” determination at 206, the command transmitted at 208 includes a discovery AloT request that includes target AloT device IDs that were included in the request received from the AF at 202. The discovery AloT request that includes AloT device IDs requests AloT communication only from those AloT devices that are associated with the AloT device IDs included in the discovery AloT request. The discovery AloT request transmitted tothe RAN node with the command may also include information indicating a type of AloT communication that is being requested such as, for example, an inventory request, and / or a read request, and / or a write request.

[0087] As described in more detail below, particularly with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in response to a discovery AloT request, all of the UEs configured for AloT communication will receive an AloT response to the AloT request from AloT devices, which response include the AloT device ID of the device and may include other data if, for example, such data is requested in, for example, a read request, as described previously. The UEs that are configured for AloT communication will then transmit a response to the AloTF that includes UE ID of the UE and the data received from the AloT devices, e.g., the AloT device ID and, in some cases, other data such as, for example, sensor data that is received. The response is transmitted from the UE to the AloTF via the RAN node, which passes the response to an AMF, such as AMF 112, which passes the response to the AloTF.

[0088] At 210, the AloTF receives from one or more UEs of the cell that are configured for AloT communication a response to the discovery AloT request. As noted previously, each response received at 210 includes at least UE ID of the UE that the response is received from and one or more AloT device IDs associated with the AloT devices that the UE received responses from. As noted previously, in some cases, such as when the discovery AloT request indicates that a read request is being made, the responses received at 210 may also include any other information or data that UE received from the one or more AloT devices such as, for example, sensor data from sensors included in the one or more AloT devices.

[0089] At 212, binding information for each AloT device ID that is included in the responses is generated. As described previously, the binding information is a mapping between an AloT device ID and a UE ID of a UE that is responsible for acting as the intermediate node for AloT communication with the AloT device associated with that AloT device ID.

[0090] In the case in which the responses that are utilized to generate the binding information are responses to a discovery AloT request, it is possible, in general, that multiple UEs configured for AloT communication in the cell will receive the AloT communication of a given AloT device, and these multiple UEs will each transmit a response that includes the AloT device ID of that given AloT device. In such cases in which two more responses that include the same AloT device ID but that include different UE IDs, one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs is selected as the "responsible UE” and its UE ID is included in the binding information for the AloT device ID that is included in the two or more responses.

[0091] Selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses that include a same AloT device ID may be performed in any suitable way. For example, information may be obtained that is associated with the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses, and select one of the UEs as the "responsible UE” utilizing this information. The information may be, for example, information obtained from a UDM, such as the example UDM 118 described previously, or a NWDAF, such as the example NWDAF 120 described previously. The information may be, for example, information indicating a time that each of the UEs is expected to remain in the cell and the UE that is expectedto remain in the cell the longest may be selected as the responsible UE. Other criteria that may be utilized to select a responsible UE includes, for example, UE battery level, UE data traffic load, operator policy that sets UE priority that may be utilized, for example, to select the UE with the highest priority, subscription or charging plan information of the UEs.

[0092] In cases in which the binding information is generated based on responses received to a direct AloT request, generating the binding information at 212 may include simply revalidating the existing binding information for Alot device IDs and associated UE IDs. For example, binding information may be configured to become invalid after a predetermined amount of time passes, and revalidating the existing binding information may effectively reset the timer utilized to determine whether the binding information for a particular AloT device is valid or not.

[0093] At 214, the generated binding information is stored in a binding table. This may involve creating a binding table if no binding information exists, or may comprise updating the binding table to include the generated binding information.

[0094] At 216, a response to the request for AloT services is transmitted to the AF. The response transmitted at 216 is based on the responses received at 208 from the UEs of the cell in response to all discovery AloT requests and / or responses received at 226 from the UEs of the cell in response to all direct AloT requests as described in more detail below.

[0095] Referring back to 206, in response to determining "YES” at 206, i.e. , that the request for AloT services received at 202 includes target AloT device IDs, the process proceeds to 218 where stored binding information for the target AloT IDs included in the request for AloT services is obtained. The binding information may have been generated and stored in a binding table in, for example, a previous iteration of this method.

[0096] At 220, a first group of the target AloT device IDs for which no valid binding information exists in the obtained binding information and second group of the target AloT device IDs for which valid binding information exists in the obtained binding information is determined.

[0097] As described previously, binding information may become invalid after a predetermine amount of time passes since it was last validated. Binding information may be validated when it is generated and when a response to a direct AloT request is received that confirms the binding information, i.e., the response includes the AloT device ID and the corresponding UE ID that is included in the binding information for the AloT device ID.

[0098] A target AloT device IDs may be determined to be in the first group when, for example, no binding information is included in the binding table for the target AloT device ID. In some examples in which the binding information becomes invalid after a predetermined amount of time has passes since it was last validated, a target AloT device ID may also be included in the first group if the binding information for the AloT device ID included in the binding table has become invalid.

[0099] For the first group of target AloT device IDs, the process proceeds to 208 and a command istransmitted to the RAN node to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request of the UEs of the cell. As noted previously, in this case the command will cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request that includes the target AloT device IDs of the first group such that the AloT device IDs included in the responses received to the discovery AloT request at 210 will only be those AloT device IDs included in the first group. The command may include the discovery AloT request that is to be sent by the RAN node to the UEs of the cell. In an example, the command and the discovery AloT request that includes the target AloT device IDs of the first group are transmitted, along with the cell ID determined at 204, to an AMF, such as AMF 112 described previously, and the AMF passes the command and discovery AloT request along to a particular RAN node based on the cell ID such that the RAN node transmits the discovery AloT request to the UEs in the cell in a broadcast or unicast message.

[0100] The process then proceeds to 212 to generate binding information based on the responses, then to 214 to update the stored binding table, then to 216 where a response to the request for AloT services based on the responses is transmitted to the AF. These steps 212 to 216 are substantially similar to those processes as described previously and therefore are not further described here.

[0101] Referring back to 220, for the second group of target AloT device IDs for which valid binding data does exist, the process proceeds to 222 where a command is transmitted by the AloTF to the RAN node to cause the RAN node to transmit a direct AloT request to each of the UEs associated by the binding information to the target AloT device IDs included in the second group. The direct AloT request sent will include the AloT device IDs of the second group that are associated with that UE according to the binding information, as well as that UEs UE ID. In this way, the direct AloT request may be transmitted by the RAN node in a broadcast message to all UEs in the cell, but only the UE that has a UE ID matching the UE ID included in the direct AloT request will take further action to perform the AloT communication.

[0102] The command may include the direct AloT request(s) that are sent by the RAN node to the UEs of the cell. In an example, the command and the direct AloT request(s) that include target AloT device IDs of the second group and the corresponding UE IDs are transmitted, along with the cell ID determined at 204, to an AMF, such as AMF 112 described previously, and the AMF passes the command and direct AloT request(s) along to a particular RAN node based on the cell ID such that the RAN node transmits the direct AloT request to the UEs in the cell in a broadcast or unicast message. The direct AloT request(s) transmitted by the RAN node in response to the command transmitted at 222 may include information indicating a type of AloT communication being requested such as, for example, an inventory request, and / or a read request, and / or a write request.

[0103] At 226, responses to the direct AloT requests are received. The responses to the direct AloT request at 226 may contain information and / or data that is substantially similar to the information and / or data that is received in response to a discovery AloT request as described at 210 and therefore is not further described here to avoid repetition.

[0104] At 228, a determination is made if all target AloT device IDs included in the second group, and forwhich direct AloT requests were transmitted, were included in the responses received at 226. The determination at 228 may include comparing the AloT device IDs included in the second group, and / or the UE IDs corresponding to the AloT device IDs included in the second group as set out in the binding information, to the AloT device IDs and / or the UE IDs included in the responses received at 226.

[0105] A determination of "YES” at 228 means that all of the direct AloT requests were responded to, and the responses accounted for all of the target AloT device IDs of the second group, and the process ends.

[0106] A determination of "NO” at 228 means that at least one AloT device ID included in the second group was not included in any of the responses. In this case, the direct AloT request to such AloT device IDs may be considered to have "failed”, which may be due to the AloT devices corresponding to those AloT device IDs no longer being able to communicate with their corresponding UEs because, for example, the AloT device, or the UE, or both the AloT device and the UE have moved out of the cell, or the AloT device and / or the UE are no longer operably able to perform AloT communication. In any event, it may be determined that the binding information associated with these AloT device IDs is no longer valid, and another attempt to perform with the AloT device corresponding to these AloT device IDs should be made via a discovery AloT request.

[0107] In response to a "NO” determination, the process proceeds to 230 and a third group of AloT device IDs that were not included in the responses to the direct AloT request received at 226 is determined.

[0108] At 232, the binding information for the AloT device IDs included in the third group is removed from the stored binding table. This ensures that invalid binding data is removed from the binding table.

[0109] The process then proceeds to 208, where a command is transmitted to the RAN node to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request that includes the AloT device IDs of the third group to the UEs of the cells to attempt to initiate AloT communication with the AloT devices corresponding to the AloT device IDs included in the third group via another UE of the cell.

[0110] The command may include the discovery AloT request that is to be sent by the RAN node to the UEs of the cell. In an example, the command and the discovery AloT request that includes the target AloT device IDs of the third group are transmitted, along with the cell ID determined at 204, to an AMF, such as AMF 112 described previously, and the AMF passes the command and discovery AloT request along to a particular RAN node based on the cell ID such that the RAN node transmits the discovery AloT request to the UEs in the cell in a broadcast or unicast message.

[0111] Responses to the discovery AloT request are received at 210, binding information based on the responses is generated at 212, and the binding table is updated with the generated binding data at 212 as previously described.

[0112] In one example, the discovery AloT request transmitted at 208 may include the AloT device IDs from the first group determined at 220 and the third group determined at 230. In this example, when some of the target AloT device IDs have valid binding information included in the binding table and some do not, the direct AloT requests are sent first, and a determination is made whether any of the direct AloT requests failed, then a discovery AloT request is sent that includes the AloT device IDs of the first group, for which no valid bindinginformation was included in the stored binding table, and the AloT device IDs of the third group for which the direct AloT request failed.

[0113] Alternatively, a discovery AloT request may be sent that includes the AloT device IDs of the first group, as determined at 220, and later a second discovery AloT request may be transmitted that includes the AloT device IDs of the third group determined at 230.

[0114] At 216, a response to the request for AloT services is transmitted to AF based on the responses received. In the event that the request for AloT services includes target AloT device IDs, the response at 216 may be transmitted only after all responses to all AloT requests that have been received, i.e., response to all discovery AloT requests sent in relation to AloT device IDs in the first and third groups, as determined at 220 and 230 respectively, and responses to the direct AloT requests sent in relation to the AloT device IDs in the second group as determined at 220, are received before transmitting the response to the AF at 216.

[0115] As noted previously, AloT devices require power in order to communicate because they have no, or limited, power supply. This power is typically provided by an "illumination signal”, which provides the power the AloT device requires to transmit a response. The illumination signal serves to wake up AloT device up and, in the context of AloT communication utilizing a wireless communication network, such as, for example, communication networks that operate in accordance with the 5th generation radio access technology described in the 3GPP standard for new radio, the illumination signal includes a radio resource for the AloT device to use when transmitting its response. The illumination signal may also include one or more AloT device IDs such that only AloT devices corresponding to a AloT device ID included in the illumination signal will transmit a response. The response includes at least the AloT device identifier and may include additional information and / or data such as, for example, sensor data collected from a sensor included in the AloT device. The illumination signal may include information indicating to the AloT device the type of AloT communication that is requested such as, for example, an inventory request, and / or a read request, and / or a write request and the information and / or data that the AloT includes in the transmitted response may be based on the type of AloT communication that is indicated in the illumination signal.

[0116] In AloT topologies in which a UE acts as an intermediate node for communication of the AloT device with the RAN, such as in the wireless communication network 100 described previously, the present disclosure provides two possible ways that an illumination signal is transmitted to the AloT devices. In the first way, which is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 3, a UE transmit the illumination signal to the AloT devices and in the second way, which is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 4, a RAN node transmits the illumination signal to the AloT devices.

[0117] Referring to FIG. 3, a flowchart showing a method or process in accordance with one example is shown. The method or process is performed by a UE, such as the UE 104 of the example wireless communication network 100 described previously, that sends an illumination signal to the AloT devices as part of the AloT communication.

[0118] At 302, an AloT request is received from a RAN node requesting AloT communication. The AloTrequest may be a "discovery AloT request” that does not include any UE IDs. The AloT request may be included in a broadcast message that includes the AloT request that was sent to the RAN node by an AloTF of the wireless communication network. The AloT request may include target AloT device IDs identifying the AloT devices for which the requested AloT communication pertains. The AloT request may include information indicating a type of AloT communication that is requested such as, for example, an inventory request, and / or a read request, and / or a write request.

[0119] The AloT request received at 302 may originate from an AloTF, such as the example AloTF 122 described previously. The AloTF may send the AloT request to the RAN node to cause the RAN node to transmit the AloT request in a broadcast or unicast message that is received at 302. The command sent to the RAN node may include the AloT request, and the RAN node may merely pass along the AloT request provided by the AloTF to the RAN node. The AloTF may provide the command, and the AloT request, via, for example, an AMF, such as the example AMF 112 described previously, which determines the RAN node associated with the determined cell ID and passes the command and the AloT request to that RAN node for transmission to the UEs in a broadcast message.

[0120] At 304, a determination is made if the UE is configured to perform the AloT communication requested at by the AloT request received at 302. The determination at 304 may include the UE determining, based on its own capability and configuration, whether it is able to, and / or authorized to, perform the AloT communication that is requested. If the AloT request received at 302 includes information indicating a type of AloT communication requested, then the determination at 304 may include determining whether the UE is able to perform the type of AloT communication indicated. If the AloT request received at 302 includes a UE ID, then the determination at 304 may include determining whether the UE ID corresponds to the UE.

[0121] If determination at 304 is "NO”, i.e., the UE is not configured to perform the requested AloT communication, then the process ends. If the determination at 304 is "YES”, the UE is configured to perform the requested AloT determination, then the process optionally proceeds to 306 and the UE transmits to the RAN node a request for an AloT communication resource allocation.

[0122] If the optional request at 306 is transmitted, a response to the request is received at the UE at 308 that includes information indicating a radio resource for the UE to use for AloT communications with the AloT devices. The response may indicate any combination of parameters for the radio resource to utilize for AloT communication including any of a frequency band, time slots, codes, subcarriers, and the like.

[0123] Alternatively, the RAN node may have pre-allocated radio resources for the UE to utilize for AloT communications and transmitted the radio resources to the UE, and in such cases the optional request for resource allocation transmitted at 306 and the response received at 308 are not performed.

[0124] At 310, an illumination signal is transmitted using the allocated radio resources. The illumination signal may be as previously described and may include one or more target AloT device IDs and / or may include information indicating a type of AloT communication that is requested.

[0125] At 312, responses are received from one or more AloT devices. The responses received include atleast the AloT device ID of the AloT device that transmitted the response. Some or all of the responses received at 312 may also include other information and / or data such as, for example, sensor data from a sensor included in the AloT device. The response is received utilized the radio resources allocated by the RAN node.

[0126] At 314, a response to the AloT request is transmitted to the AloTF based on the responses received at 312. The response may be transmitted to the AloTF at 314 via the RAN node. The RAN node may pass the response along via other NF of the communication network that includes the AloTF and the RAN node such as, for example, an AMF, which receives the response from the RAN node and passes the response to the AloTF.

[0127] Referring to FIG. 4, a flowchart showing a method or process in accordance with another example is shown. The method or process is performed by a UE, such as the UE 104 of the example wireless communication network 100 described previously. In the example method or process shown in FIG. 4, the RAN node transmits the illumination signal to the AloT devices.

[0128] At 402, an AloT request is received from the RAN that requests an AloT communication. The AloT request that is received at 402 includes radio resources for the UE to utilize for the AloT communication. Other than including the radio resources, the AloT request received at 402 may be similar to any of the AloT requests described previously with reference to 302.

[0129] At 404, a determination is made whether it is configured to perform the requested AloT communication. If the UE determines it is not configured to perform the AloT communication, i.e., "NO” at 404, then the process ends. If the UE configures that is configured to perform the AloT communication, then the UE receives responses from one or more AloT devices at 406 and transmits a response to the AloT request to the AloTF based on the received response at 408.

[0130] The processes at 404, 406 and 408 are substantially similar to the processes previously described at 304, 312, and 314 and therefore are not described herein to avoid repetition.

[0131] Referring to FIG. 5, operations of an example procedure in accordance with an example embodiment are shown in which an initial AloT request is received from the AF, binding data is generated based on responses to a discovery AloT request, a subsequent request for AloT services is received from the AF, and direct AloT requests are transmitted based on the binding data. The operations described relate to messaging between one or more AloT devices 502, one or more UEs 504, a RAN 506, an AMF 508, an NEF / AloTF 510, and an AF 512, which may be similar to the AloT device 102, the UE 104, the RAN 108, the AMF 112, the NEF 116 and AloTF 122, and the AF 106 or AF 114 described previously with reference to FIG. 1.

[0132] At 514, the UE 504 registers with the communication network. The registration may include the UE 504 connecting to a gNB of the RAN 508 and the core network to communication network. The registration process may be utilized to ensure that the UE 504 is authenticated and authorized for AloT services.

[0133] At 516, a request for an AloT service is sent by the AF 512 to the NEF / AloTF 510. The request at516 may be a request to initiate any type of AloT service such as, for example, inventory management. The request at 516 may include information such as the estimated location of the target AloT devices and the target AloT device IDs that are requested to be managed or interacted with during the requested AloT service.

[0134] As described previously, if no target AloT device IDs are included in the request at 516, the request may be interpreted by the NEF / AloTF 510 to be a request to inventory all the available AloT devices within the interested location.

[0135] At 518, the location information included in the request at 516 is utilized to determine a cell ID associated with the location. The location information provided in the AloT request is converted into a Cell ID managed within 3GPP. The Cell ID is a unique identifier for the cell (coverage area) that a base station (e.g., a gNB of the RAN 506) is serving. The cell ID may be determined in any suitable manner such as obtaining a location database lookup table that maps geolocations to cell IDs, or providing the location information to another network function, such as an LMF or UDR, which provides the cell ID associated with the location, as described previously with reference to 204 of FIG. 2A.

[0136] At 520, the NEF / AloTF 510 transmits a discovery AloT request to the AMF 508 that requests an Alot communication. In the present example, it is assumed that binding information has been generated previously, and so no valid binding information exists for the target AloT device IDs included in the request received at 516. The example discovery AloT request transmitted at 520 includes the target AloT device IDs and may include information indicating a type of AloT communication that is requested. The AloT request may be transmitted to the AMF 508 at 520 together with the cell ID determined at 518, which enables the AMF 508 to determine which RAN node of the RAN 506 to forward the AloT request to.

[0137] At 522, the AMF 508 forwards the AloT request to the RAN node of the RAN 506 that corresponds to the cell ID. The AloT request and cell ID transmitted at 520 to the AMF 508, then pass to the RAN 506 is an example of a command transmitted by the AloTF to a RAN node to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request to the UEs of the cell as described previously with reference to 208 in FIG. 2B.

[0138] At 524, the RAN node of the RAN 506 broadcasts the discovery AloT request to the UEs 504. In examples in which the RAN node optionally transmits the illumination signal the AloT devices 502 at 526, the discovery AloT request transmitted at 524 includes the radio resource information to use for the AloT communication.

[0139] At 528, each of the UEs 504 determines whether it is configured to provide AloT communication, which may be determined as previously described with reference to 304 of FIG. 3.

[0140] For UEs 504 that are configured to provide the requested AloT communication

[0141] Optionally, in examples in which the RAN node of the RAN 506 does not transmit the illumination signal to the AloT devices 502 and in which the radio resources for the AloT communications are not preallocated, UEs 504 configured for AloT communication transmit a request to the RAN 506 for AloT communication resource allocation at 530 and at 532 receive from the RAN node of the RAN 506 the allocated resource for the AloT communication with the AloT devices 502.

[0142] At 534, AloT communication between the UEs 504 configured for AloT communication and the AloT devices 502 occurs. The AloT communication at 534 may include the UEs 504 configured for AloT communication transmitting an illumination signal in cases in which the illumination signal is not transmitted by the RAN node. The AloT communication at 534 includes the responses to the illumination signal that are transmitted by the AloT devices 502 and received by the UEs 504 that are configured for AloT communication.

[0143] At 536, the UEs 504 configured for AloT communication each transmit a response to the NEF / AloTF 510 based on the responses received from the AloT devices 502 at 534. The responses include the UE ID of the UE transmitting the response, the AloT device ID and optionally any data received in the response from the AloT device associated with the AloT device ID. In general, a response transmitted by the UE 504 may include multiple AloT device IDs and the corresponding data, if any, received from the AloT device having that AloT device ID. The response at 536 is received by the NEF / AloTF 510 via the RAN node of the RAN 506, which passes it to the AMF 508, which passes it to the NEF / AloTF 510.

[0144] At 538, the NEF / AloTF 510 transmits a response to the request received from the AF at 516. The response at 538 includes the AloT device IDs, and optionally any corresponding AloT data, that were received in the responses from the UEs 504 at 536. The response at 538 is a consolidated response of the data relevant to the request for AloT services that was received at 516.

[0145] Optionally, at 540, the NEF / AloTF 510 obtains UE information related to the UEs 504 from a NWDAF and / or a UDM, such as, for example, the NWDAF 120 and the UDM 118 described previously.

[0146] This optional step at 540 may provide additional information about the UEs 504 from which responses were received at 536, which may be utilized to determine which UE to use as the reader for the AloT devices when there are multiple responses received from different UEs 504 that include the same AloT device ID. For instance, if two UEs are delivering data from the same AloT device, the NEF / AloTF 510 may decide to use only one of them by taking the additional information into consideration. For example, if the information obtained at 540 indicates that one of the UEs is expected to leave in 5 minutes, the NEF / AloTF 510 may determine that the other UE is preferable as the reader for that AloT device for subsequent communication. As described previously, any other criteria may be utilized for selecting the responsible UE including, for example, UE battery level, UE data traffic load, operator policy that sets UE priority that may be utilized, for example, to select the UE with the highest priority, subscription or charging plan information of the UEs.

[0147] At 542, the NEF / AloTF 510 generates binding information for the AloT devices 502 and stores the binding information in a binding table that is created, as described previously with reference to, for example, 212 and 214 of FIG. 2B. As described previously, when more than UE 504 transmitted a response including a AloT device ID, then a responsible UE of the multiple UEs 504 may be selected, which selection may optionally be based on the UE information optionally obtained at 540.

[0148] At 544, a subsequent AloT request is received from the AF 512 that includes location and target AloT device IDs.

[0149] At 546, the NEF / AloTF 510 obtains the binding information for the target AloT device IDs to determine the UE IDs associated with those target AloT device IDs.

[0150] At 548, a direct AloT request is transmitted to each of the UEs 504 associated by the binding information to the target AloT device IDs to request AloT communication. The direct AloT request to a UE 504 includes the target AloT device ID of the Alot device or devices 502 that are associated with that UE by the binding information.

[0151] As described previously, if any of the direct AloT requests fail for any of the target AloT device IDs, and / or if valid binding information does not exist for any of the target AloT device IDs, then a discovery AloT request that includes those target AloT device IDs may be transmitted by the NEF / AloTF 510.

[0152] Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram illustrating various physical and logical components of an exemplary apparatus 600 for an AloTF, or a combined NEF / AloTF, or a UE, or a RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein in accordance with an embodiment is shown. Although an example embodiment of the apparatus 600 is shown and discussed below, other embodiments may be used to implement examples disclosed herein, which may include components different from those shown. Although FIG. 6 shows a single instance of each component of the apparatus 600, there may be multiple instances of each component shown.

[0153] The apparatus 600 includes one or more processors 602, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a dedicated logic circuitry, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a tensor processing unit, a neural processing unit, a dedicated artificial intelligence processing unit, a hardware accelerator, or any other suitable hardware processing circuitry, or combinations thereof. The one or more processors 602 may collectively be referred to as a processor 602.

[0154] The apparatus 600 also includes one or more memories 604 (collectively referred to as "memory 604"), which may include a volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., a flash memory, a random-access memory (RAM), and / or a read-only memory (ROM)). The non-transitory memory 604 may store instructions for execution by the processor 602. In some embodiments, instructions 606 of an AloTF, or a combined NEF / AloTF, or a UE, or a RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein, may be stored in the memory 604, and the instructions 606 may be executed by the processor 602 to perform the actions or operations of the methods or processes described herein. In examples such functionality may be incorporated as a software module in the form of instructions 606 stored in the memory 604 that are executable by the processor 602 to perform the functions of any of the AloTF, or a combined NEF / AloTF, or a UE, or a RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein.

[0155] The apparatus 600 may also include one or more network interfaces 608 for connecting to a network, such as a data network, or other apparatuses of the core network or the access networks described herein.

[0156] The apparatus 600 may optionally include a user input 610 for receiving input from a user of theapparatus 600 and a display 612.

[0157] In some examples, the apparatus 600 may also include one or more electronic storage units (not shown), such as a solid-state drive, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive and / or an optical disk drive. In some examples, one or more datasets and / or modules may be provided by an external memory (e.g., an external drive in wired or wireless communication with the apparatus 600) or may be provided by a transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium. Examples of non-transitory computer readable media include a RAM, a ROM, an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a CD-ROM, or other portable memory storage. The storage units and / or external memory may be used in conjunction with memory 604 to implement data storage, retrieval, and caching functions of the apparatus 600.

[0158] The components of the apparatus 600 may communicate with each other via a bus. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 may be a processing system implementing functionality of the AloTF, or a combined NEF / AloTF, or a UE, or a RAN node, or any other network function disclosed to perform any of the methods previously described herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 may be distributed computing system and may include multiple computing devices in communication with each other over a data network, as well as optionally one or more additional components. The various operations described herein may be performed by different computing devices of a distributed computing system in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 a cloud computing system or may be a virtual machine provided by a cloud computing system.

[0159] Embodiments of the present invention including functions, processes, and operations, may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and / or hardware may reside on memory, or any computer media. In an example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this application, a "memory” or "computer-readable medium” may be any non-transitory media or means that contains, stores, communicates, propagates or transports the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

[0160] Reference to, where relevant, "computer-readable medium”, "computer program product”, "tangibly embodied computer program” etc., or a "processor” or "processing circuitry” etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having differing architectures such as single / multi-processor architectures and sequencers / parallel architectures, but also specialized circuits such as field programmable gate arrays FPGA, application specify circuits ASIC, signal processing devices / apparatus and other devices / apparatus. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to express software for a programmable processor firmware such as the programmable content of a hardware device / apparatus as instructions for a processor or configured or configuration settings for a fixed function device / apparatus, gate array, programmable logic device / apparatus, etc.

[0161] As used in the present disclosure, the term "circuitry”, for example in the hardware processing circuitry that may be used to implement the IVE or the CHF in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure, may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (I) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / fi rmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (ill) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in the present disclosure, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0162] The present disclosure provides methods and apparatuses for providing AloT communication in a wireless communication network. The present disclosure provides for transmitting discovery AloT requests that facilitate generating binding information linking AloT devices at a location with reader UE so that such binding information can be utilized for subsequent AloT communication. The present disclosure also provides for updating binding information that is no longer valid.

[0163] The functions, processes, and operations described herein may be performed in a different order, or may be performed concurrently with each other, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, one or more of the functions, processes, and operations may be optional or may be combined. It will be appreciated that the flow diagrams shown in FIG. 2A-2C, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 and the procedures illustrated in FIG. 5 are examples only. Various operations and processes depicted therein may be omitted, may be reordered, may be combined, or a combination of reordered and combined.

[0164] Advantageously, the present disclosure enables providing AloT communication in a wireless communication network in topologies in which UEs in communication with the wireless communication network act as intermediate or reader nodes for the AloT devices. The present disclosure provides for generating binding information that links AloT devices with their associated intermediate or reader UE, and updating such binding information if it becomes invalid.

[0165] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

28Claims1 . A method of a user equipment (UE) to provide ambient internet of things (AloT) communication in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a radio access network (RAN) node, a broadcast message that contains an AloT request from am AloT function (AloTF) of the wireless communication network, the AloT message includes information indicating that AloT communication is requested and information indicating a radio resource for the UE to use for the AloT communication; determining by the UE whether it is configured for AloT communication; in response to the UE determining that it is configured for AloT communication: receiving from one or more AloT devices, a response, the response from each respective one of the one or more AloT devices including the AloT device identifier (ID) of the respective one of the one or more AloT devices; and transmitting, to the AloTF of the wireless communication network, a response to the AloT request that includes a UE identifier (UE ID) of the UE and the AloT device IDs of the one or more AloT devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the AloT request includes information indicating that the AIOT request is a read request; the responses received at the UE from at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes data associated with the read request; and the response to the AloT request transmitted by the UE to the AloTF comprises, in association with each AloT device ID of the at least some of the one or more AloT devices, the received data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least some of the one or more AloT devices include sensors, and the data included in the responses received from the at least some of the one or more AloT devices includes sensor data collected by the sensors.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the AloT request received from the RAN node includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested; and the responses that are received from the one or more AloT devices comprise responses from at least some of the respective one or more target AloT devices associated with the one or more of the AloT target device IDs included in the AloT request.

5. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory storing instructions of a user equipment (U E), wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 4.

6. A computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 4.

7. A method of an ambient internet of things (AloT) function (AloTF) to initiate AloT communication in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving from an application function (AF) an AloT request that requests AloT communication and comprises information indicating a location associated with the requested AloT communication; determining a cell identifier (cell ID) of a cell associated with the location; transmitting a discovery AloT command directed to a RAN node associated with the cell ID, the AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a discovery AloT request to all of the user equipment (UE) within the cell; receiving from one or more UEs responses to the discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier (UE ID) associated with a UE from which the response is received and one or more AloT device identifiers (IDs); based on the responses, generating binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the discovery AloT request, the binding information comprising the AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the AloT device ID was received; updating a stored binding table based on the generated binding data; and transmitting to the AF a AloT response to the AloT request, the AloT response comprising at least the AloT device ID of each of the one or more AloT devices for which a response to the discovery AloT request was received.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, when two or more of the responses to the discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, generating the binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprises: selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses; and including the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs comprises: obtaining information associated with each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses from a network data analytics function (NWDAF) or a user data management (UDM) system, or from both the NWDAF and the UDM system; and selecting one of the UEs as the responsible UE based on the obtained information.

10. The according to claim 9, wherein the obtained information includes information indicating, for each of the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses, a time that each respective UE associated with the different UE IDs is expected to remain in the cell, and selecting one of the UEs as the responsible UE comprises selecting the UE that is expected to remain the cell the longest.11 . The method of claim 7, wherein the AloT request includes one or more target AloT device IDs associated with respective one or more target AloT devices for which the AloT communication is requested, the method further comprising: obtaining the stored binding table that includes binding information that maps each of a plurality of AloT device IDs to a corresponding UE ID; determining a first group of the target AloT device IDs for which no valid binding information is included in the binding table; wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the first group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the first group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining a second group of the target AloT device IDs for which valid binding information is included in the binding table; transmitting a direct AloT command to the RAN node that includes the binding information for the target AloT device IDs of the second group, the direct AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a direct AloT request to each UE ID associated by the binding information with the AloT device IDs of the second group, each direct AloT request including the AloT device IDs associated by the binding information with the UE ID associated with the each respective AloT request; receiving responses to at least some of the direct AloT requests, wherein each response comprises at least one or more AloT device IDs and the UE ID associate with the UE from which the response was received; and wherein the AloT response transmitted to the AF comprises at least the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the direct AloT requests.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: determining a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests; removing binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the binding table; transmitting a second discovery AloT command directed to the RAN node comprising the AloT device IDs of the third group, the second discovery AloT command to cause the RAN node to transmit a second discovery AloT request to the UEs within the cell that includes the AloT device IDs of the third group; receiving from one or more UEs responses to the second discovery AloT request, wherein each response comprises at least a UE identifier of a UE from which the response is received and at least one AloT device ID; based on the responses, generating binding information for each of the AloT device IDs included in the received responses to the second discovery AloT request, the binding information for a respective AloT device ID comprising the respective AloT device ID and the UE ID of a UE from which a response that included the respective AloT device ID was received; updating the stored binding table based on the generated binding data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, when two or more of the responses to the second discovery AloT request include a same AloT device ID but different UE IDs, generating binding information for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses comprises: selecting one of the UEs associated with the different UE IDs included in the two or more responses as the responsible UE for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses; and including the UE ID associated with the selected responsible UE in the binding information generated for the AloT device ID included in the two or more responses.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising: determining a third group of AloT device IDs comprising AloT device IDs included in the second group that were not included in any of the received responses to the direct AloT requests; removing binding information associated with the AloT device IDs included in the third group from the stored binding table; wherein the discovery AloT command transmitted to the RAN node includes the target AloT device IDs of the third group to cause the RAN node to include the target AloT device IDs of the third group in the discovery AloT request transmitted to the UEs within the cell.3216. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions of an ambient internet of things function (AloTF), wherein the instructions when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 15.

17. An apparatus comprising: an ambient internet of things (AloT) function (AloTF) configured to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 15.

18. A computer-readable medium storing instructions of an ambient internet of things function (AloTF), wherein the instructions when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus causes the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 15.

19. A computer program comprising instructions of an ambient internet of things function (AloTF), wherein the computer program, when executed an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 15.

20. A computer program comprising instructions, wherein the computer program, when executed by a user equipment, causes the user equipment to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 4.

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