Sensing-enabled spatial maps

Abstract

A spatial map server includes one or more processors that are configured to receive a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map, where the spatial management request indicates a spatial map identifier and a sensing service policy, send, to a sensing service function, a sensing service request, wherein the sensing service request is based on the received spatial management request, and indicates a sensing area, a sensing resolution, and sensing output requirements, receive, from the sensing service function, a sensing service response that indicates sensing results for one or more objects within the sensing area, and generate, based on the sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.

Description

SENSING-ENABLED SPATIAL MAPSCROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIORITY INFORMATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Number 63 / 700,148, filed September 27, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] Currently in 3GPP systems, it is not specified how information about a 3-dimensional environment and objects within the environment are captured to create and update spatial maps. The lack of support for managing and updating the information in spatial maps can have a detrimental effect on the immersive experience of metaverse users. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for managing and updating the information in spatial maps.SUMMARY

[0003] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to limitations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

[0004] Spatial maps provide a visual representation of the surrounding environment to metaverse users. As a result, it is imperative that object information in a spatial map is accurate and current. Objects in a spatial map may be static or dynamic and dynamic objects in a spatial map may change overtime. A spatial map service may be used to interface with application layer servers and clients as well as other services such as a sensing service to keep object information in a spatial map current. Methods are described herein to enable a spatial map server to obtain object information for a spatial map and to keep the information current.

[0005] In an example, a spatial map server may receive a first request to create or update information in a spatial map. The spatial map server may send, to a sensing service, based on information from the first request, one or more requests comprising a sensing area and atleast one of: a request identifier, a sensing depth indicator, a sensing direction or orientation, a sensing reference point, one or more sensing resolutions, a schedule for sensing operations, sensing output requirements, or a requested confidence level. The spatial map server may receive one or more responses to the one or more requests for sensing service, the responses comprising a status and sensing results. The spatial map server may classify the sensing results received from the one or more responses as static or dynamic objects, categorize the object as a specific type of object, and assign an object label to identify and associate the object with the sensing results. The spatial map server may extract metadata for the objects, the metadata indicating a relationship between two or more objects comprising at least one of: a relative speed, a relative velocity, a relative distance, a relative position, a relative direction, a relative orientation, or a relative elevation. The spatial map server may send a response to the first request, the response comprising a spatial map identifier, object information for the spatial map, and at least one of: a list of adjacent spatial map identifiers, a spatial map reference location, a number of objects per spatial map layer, or a list of user equipments (UEs) in the spatial map area.

[0006] An apparatus is configured to create or update a spatial map. The apparatus may include one or more processors that are configured to receive a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map, where the spatial management request includes a spatial map identifier, a spatial map description, a service provider identifier, a contact address, a sensor data indicator, a spatial map reference location, spatial map object information or a sensing service policy. The one or more processors may be configured to send a location management request, where the location management request is based on the spatial map identifier, the spatial map description, the service provider identifier, the contact address, the sensor data indicator, the spatial map reference location, spatial map object information or the sensing service policy. The one or more processors may be configured to receive a response with a list of user equipment (UEs), and assign one or more WTRUs from the list of UEs to the spatial map.

[0007] The spatial management request may include a plurality of requests, and each request of the plurality of requests is associated with different components of the spatial map. The location management request may include an identifier associated with the spatial map. The location management request may include a local context for the spatial map, where the local context is based on the spatial map identifier, the spatial map description, the service provider identifier, the contact address, the sensor data indicator, the spatial map reference location, spatial map object information or the sensing service policy.

[0008] The one or more processors may be configured to send a response, where the response includes a status indicator, a spatial map identifier, a list of one or more adjacent spatial map identifiers, a spatial map reference location, a list of a number of objects per layer, or spatial map object information. The sensing service policy may include a spatial map refresh interval, one or more of a sensing service identifier, an interval for mobile object detection, a sensing depth, a sensing resolution, a sensing schedule, sensing output requirements, a requested confidence level for sensing results, and / or expiration for the policy.

[0009] The one or more processors may be configured to receive a response with a list of WTRUs, where the response includes a status and sensing results, the sensing results may include characteristics associated with detected objects from sensing operations, an object number, a reference location, a number of sensing devices, a confidence level, or a timestamp.

[0010] The characteristics associated with detected objects from sensing operations may include one or more of a size, a shape, an orientation, a speed, a location, or a distance from a reference location. The one or more processors may be further configured to receive the response with the list of UEs, wherein the list of UEs indicates the actual or predicted location each UE on the list of UEs.

[0011] The one or more processors may be further configured to assign the spatial map identifier based the spatial management request to create or update information associated with the spatial map.

[0012] An apparatus may be configured to perform a method that includes one or more of the following steps. The method may include receiving a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map, wherein the spatial management request comprises a spatial map identifier, a spatial map description, a service provider identifier, a contact address, a sensor data indicator, a spatial map reference location, spatial map object information and / or a sensing service policy. The method may include sending a location management request, where the location management request is based on the spatial map identifier, the spatial map description, the service provider identifier, the contact address, the sensor data indicator, the spatial map reference location, spatial map object information or the sensing service policy, included in the spatial map management request. The method may include receiving a response with a list of WTRUs and assigning one or more WTRUs from the list of WTRUs to the spatial map.

[0013] The spatial management request may include a plurality of requests, where each request of the plurality of requests is associated with different components of the spatialmap. The location management request may include an identifier associated with the spatial map. The location management request may include a local context for the spatial map, where the local context is based on the spatial map identifier, the spatial map description, the service provider identifier, the contact address, the sensor data indicator, the spatial map reference location, spatial map object information or the sensing service policy included in the spatial management request.

[0014] The one or more processors may be configured to send a response, where the response includes a status indicator, a spatial map identifier, a list of one or more adjacent spatial map identifiers, a spatial map reference location, a list of a number of objects per layer, or spatial map object information. The sensing service policy included in the spatial management request may include a spatial map refresh interval, one or more of a sensing service identifier, an interval for mobile object detection, a sensing depth, a sensing resolution, a sensing schedule, sensing output requirements, a requested confidence level for sensing results, or and expiration for the policy.

[0015] The one or more processors may be configured to receive a response with a list of WTRUs, where the response includes a status and sensing results, the sensing results include characteristics associated with detected objects from sensing operations, an object number, a reference location, a number of sensing devices, a confidence level, and a timestamp. The characteristics associated with detected objects from sensing operations may include one or more of a size, a shape, an orientation, a speed, a location, or a distance from a reference location.

[0016] The method may include receiving the response with the list of UEs, where the list of UEs indicates the actual or predicted location each UE on the list of UEs. The method may include assigning the spatial map identifier based on the spatial management request to create or update information associated with the spatial map.

[0017] A spatial map server is configured to generate updated information associated with a spatial map. The spatial map server may include one or more processors that are configured to receive a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map. The spatial management request may indicate a spatial map identifier and a sensing service policy. The one or more processors may be configured to send, to a sensing service function, a sensing service request. The sensing service request may be based on the received spatial management request, and may indicate a sensing area, a sensing resolution, and sensing output requirements. The one or more processors may be configured to receive, from the sensing service function, a sensing service response that may indicate sensing results for one or more objects within the sensing area. The one ormore processors may be configured to generate, based on the sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.

[0018] The spatial management request may further indicate one or more of a spatial map description, a service provider identifier, a contact address, a sensor data indicator, a spatial map reference location, or spatial map object information. The sensing service policy may further indicate a sensing service policy ID, a sensing service identifier, a sensing service contact address, a spatial map refresh interval, a mobile object detection interval, an object label classification policy, a minimum number of objects, a maximum object density, a sensing schedule, or a confidence level.

[0019] The sensing service request may include one or more requests, and wherein each of the one or more requests are configured by policies associated with the spatial management request. The sensing service response may indicate sensing results for one or more objects within a sensing area further comprises a status, a request identifier, and sensing results. The sensing results may include sensing characteristics for an object, the sensing characteristics comprising one or more of the object size, object shape, object orientation, object speed, object location, and relative distance.

[0020] The one or more processors may be further configured to associate the sensing results with a specific layer within the spatial map, and to assign an object label for each of the one or more objects within the sensing area. The one or more processors may be further configured to derive metadata for one or more layers of the spatial map, and one or more objects in the spatial map. The metadata for the one or more layers of the spatial map may indicate a relative distance, a position, or an orientation between a reference location of the one or more layers of the spatial map.

[0021] The one or more processors may be configured to receive a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map from a verified application layer (VAL) server or a spatial map client, and send, to the VAL server or the spatial map client, the updated information associated with the spatial map.

[0022] The spatial map server may be configured to perform a method that includes one or more of the following steps. The method may include receiving a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map, wherein the spatial management request indicates a spatial map identifier and a sensing service policy. The method may include sending to a sensing service function, a sensing service request, wherein the sensing service request is based on the received spatial management request, and indicates a sensing area, a sensing resolution, and sensing output requirements. The method may includereceiving, from the sensing service function, a sensing service response that indicates sensing results for one or more objects within the sensing area. The method may include generating, based on the sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.

[0023] The sensing service policy may further indicate a sensing service policy ID, a sensing service identifier, a sensing service contact address, a spatial map refresh interval, a mobile object detection interval, an object label classification policy, a minimum number of objects, a maximum object density, a sensing schedule, or a confidence level.

[0024] The sensing service request may include one or more requests, and each of the one or more requests may be configured by policies associated with the spatial management request. The sensing service response may indicate sensing results for one or more objects within a sensing area further comprises a status, a request identifier, and sensing results.

[0025] The method may further include associating the sensing results with a specific layer within the spatial map. The method may further include assigning an object label for each of the one or more objects within the sensing area. The method may further include deriving metadata for one or more layers of the spatial map, and one or more objects in the spatial map.

[0026] The metadata for the one or more layers of the spatial map may indicate a relative distance, a position, or an orientation between a reference location of the one or more layers of the spatial map. The method may further include receiving a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map from a verified application layer (VAL) server or a spatial map client. The method may include sending, to the VAL server or the spatial map client, the updated information associated with the spatial map.

[0027] The method may further include sending to the sensing service function, and after a set time period and, an additional sensing service request. The method may include receiving, from the sensing service function, an additional sensing service response that indicates additional sensing results for one or more additional objects within the sensing area. The method may include generating, based on the additional sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] In order to facilitate a more robust understanding of the application, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are referenced with likenumerals. These drawings should not be construed to limit the application and are intended only to be illustrative.

[0029] FIG. 1 shows an example application layer architecture model;

[0030] FIG. 2 shows an example on-network spatial map functional model;

[0031] FIG. 3 shows an example on-network spatial anchor functional model;

[0032] FIG. 4 shows an example a spatial anchors server’s interaction with a spatial map server;

[0033] FIG. 5 shows an example application layer information for a spatial map;

[0034] FIG. 6 shows an example sensing-enabled spatial map;

[0035] FIG. 7 shows an example spatial localization service procedure;

[0036] FIG. 8 shows an example graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring a sensing service policy;

[0037] FIG. 9A illustrates an example communications system;

[0038] FIG. 9B shows a system diagram of an example RAN and core network;

[0039] FIG. 9C shows a system diagram of an example RAN and core network;

[0040] FIG. 9D shows a system diagram of an example RAN and core network;

[0041] FIG. 9E illustrates another example communications system;

[0042] FIG. 9F is a block diagram of an example apparatus or device, such as a WTRU; and

[0043] FIG. 9G is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] Methods are described herein to enable a spatial map server to obtain object information for a spatial map and to keep the information current.

[0045] The following abbreviations are described herein:

[0046] The following terms are described herein:

[0047] Applications are becoming increasingly more complex and various mechanisms have been designed to assist with quicker development of the applications. One such mechanism is the introduction of different functional layers within (or adjacent to) the application layer to separate functions that may be accessed via application programming interfaces or APIs. FIG. 1 shows an example of an application layer architecture 1000 that separates application development into three distinct layers: application-specific 1020, vertical application enabler 1040, and (e.g., common) service layers 1060. At the bottom of the application stack is the (e.g., common) service layer 1060, which provides common or horizontal services to all applications. The services may include location management, group management, configuration management, and security aspects for application development. Above the service layer 1060 is the vertical application enabler layer 1040, which is a layer that manages services for a specific vertical application such as autonomous vehicles, drones, loT, gaming, etc. At the top of the application stack is the application-specific layer 1020, which serves specific applications within a vertical application. This layer contains custom or business logic for a particular application and may be provided by various service providersin a vertical application domain. One goal of this three-layered approach is to abstract common services for all applications to the vertical application enabler and service layers to simplify application development for faster deployments of the applications.

[0048] The architecture 1000 shown in FIG. 1 is based on a client-server communication model. One or more client applications on devices 1080 may communicate with one or more server applications on application servers 1120. Server applications may reside in one or more application servers 1120. The client application and server application of each layer communicate with each other between the devices 1080 and application servers 1120. The application-specific client and server may communicate with client and server applications at any of the lower layers, respectively. For example, an application-specific client may communicate with the client application at either the vertical application enabler or service layers. A network 1100 between the client and server applications provides the medium for communication. The network 1100 may be a cellular network such as a mobile operator network or the network may be a broadband service provider network providing access to the internet for client and server applications.

[0049] The architecture shown in FIG. 1 may also apply to publish-subscribe and subscription-notification communication models. For decentralized deployments in which devices communicate directly with other devices, server functionality may reside on a device rather than on the application servers. For this case, devices may communicate with one another such that one device may function as a client, and another device may function as a server.

[0050] Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies aim to provide immersive experiences to users in real or virtual world settings, respectively. In both AR and VR, users may for example participate in a gaming session, an educational environment, or a business meeting and feel as if they are present and participating in such activities. The user may interface to the AR / VR application through a wearable device such as glasses / goggles, headsets, tactile gloves, and other bodily sensors. Users may transfer audio, video, and haptic information to the AR / VR application and to another AR / VR user who may be participating in the same activity. Other sensors, such as cameras and motion sensors, may also transfer the user’s movement to the AR / VR application and to other users. Collectively, AR and VR may be referred to as extended Reality or XR.

[0051] An XR service provider may host an application server in the cloud or in edge networks for which many users gain access to the XR application regardless of their location. Users may utilize smartphones and / or XR glasses within a static location or theuser may be mobile. The mobile devices may require connectivity provided by a mobile network operator’s (MNO) cellular communication system.

[0052] Thus far, XR has been described from the perspective of a single user benefiting from an immersive experience. When multiple users have the same immersive experience, a term commonly used to describe such a scenario is that the users are interacting with the metaverse. In other words, metaverse refers to the interactions of multiple XR users simultaneously while providing an immersive experience to each user as if they were all interacting at the same time and location.

[0053] An immersive component of XR is the information provided by spatial maps to users. Spatial maps provide the environment surrounding a user for a certain location. Information about both static and mobile objects is presented as well as the landscape of the environment. Furthermore, the environment represents the 3-dimensional space.

[0054] Telecommunications standards have started work on defining application enablement layer support for metaverse applications. A spatial map can be created to support localization service for a user at a particular location. FIG. 2 shows the architecture 200, for an on-network spatial map functional model where spatial map client(s) 208 and spatial map server(s) 202 provide application programming interfaces to VAL client(s) 206 and VAL server(s) 204. The functional model supports operations for spatial map related operations. Thus far, solutions for spatial maps have centered on management operations such as create, get, update, delete, subscribe, and discover of spatial maps. These management operations offer basic functionality provided by a spatial map server to authorized third parties.

[0055] In addition to spatial maps, the metaverse enabler also supports spatial anchor functionality in a similar functional model which is shown in FIG. 3. In a similar manner as the spatial map functional model, spatial anchor client(s) 302 and server(s) 304 provide application programming interfaces to VAL client(s) 308 and server(s) 306, respectively. The spatial anchor functional model also supports basic management operations such as create, update, delete, discovery, and subscription. Spatial anchors provide the association of a location with service information, which is application layer information providing additional context to the spatial anchor. Examples of service information may be the name of a store, the type of store, and popular items sold by the store. The discovery of spatial anchors is an important aspect of user localization services.

[0056] The spatial map server 404 and spatial anchor server 402 may provide separate services to metaverse users. The two services are connected by the SEAL-X(AnM) 400 as shown in FIG. 4. This interface 400 allows the two services to provide localization services tousers where information associated with spatial anchors and spatial maps are combined together to provide a more immersive experience.

[0057] A spatial map is a digital representation of a 3-dimensional environment and objects within the environment for a particular location. Objects within the environment may be static or mobile. Localization service refers to the discovery of spatial anchors based on a user’s location. Information from spatial maps and spatial anchors can then be combined together to provide a more immersive experience to metaverse users.

[0058] Currently, it is not specified how information about a 3-dimensional environment and objects within the environment are captured to create and update spatial maps. The information and contents of a spatial map need to be updated in real time as a metaverse user moves about the environment. The lack of support for managing and updating the information in spatial maps can have a detrimental effect on the immersive experience of metaverse users.

[0059] Spatial maps provide a visual representation of the surrounding environment to metaverse users. As a result, it is imperative that object information in a spatial map is accurate and current. Objects in a spatial map may be static or dynamic and dynamic objects in a spatial map may change overtime. A spatial map service may be required to interface with application layer servers and clients as well as other services such as a sensing service to keep object information in a spatial map current. It is proposed to define methods to enable a spatial map server to obtain object information for a spatial map and to keep the information current.

[0060] A spatial server may perform a method that includes any combination of the following steps. The spatial map server may receive a first request to create or update information in a spatial map. The request may include a spatial map area and one or more of a spatial map identifier, a spatial map description, a service provider identifier and contact address, a sensor data indicator, a spatial map reference location, spatial map object information, and / or a sensing service policy. The sensing service policy may include a spatial map refresh interval and one or more of a sensing service identifier, an interval for mobile object detection, a sensing depth, a sensing resolution, a sensing schedule, sensing output requirements, a requested confidence level for sensing results, and / or an expiration for the policy.

[0061] The spatial map server may send one or more requests to a sensing service (e.g., using information from the first request). The requests may include a sensing area and one or more of a request identifier, a sensing depth indicator, a sensing direction or orientation, asensing reference point, one or more sensing resolutions, a schedule for sensing operations, sensing output requirements, and / or a requested confidence level.

[0062] The spatial map server may receive one or more responses to the one or more requests for sensing service. The responses may include a status and sensing results, the sensing results include characteristics associated with detected objects from sensing operations, an object number, a reference location, a number of sensing devices, a confidence level, and / or a timestamp. The characteristics associated with detected objects from sensing operations may include one or more of a size, a shape, an orientation, a speed, a location, and / or a distance from a reference location.

[0063] The spatial map server may classify the sensing results received from the one or more responses as static or dynamic objects, categorize the object as a specific type of object, and / or assign an object label to identify and associate the object with the sensing results.

[0064] The spatial map server may process the sensing results to extract metadata for the objects. The metadata may indicate a relationship between two or more objects comprising of a relative speed, a relative distance, and / or a relative elevation.

[0065] The spatial map server may send a response to the first request. The response may include a spatial map identifier, object information for the spatial map, and / or one or more of a list of adjacent spatial map identifiers, a spatial map reference location, a number of objects per spatial map layer, and / or a list of UEs in the spatial map area.

[0066] The spatial map may have many different layers of information from which the final rendered spatial map is generated. As previously mentioned, spatial maps include information about an environment (e.g. such as the landscape of the environment) and the objects within the environment. The objects in a spatial map may be static, e.g. a tree or a building. Or, the object may be mobile, such as furniture that can be moved, vehicles, humans, and animals. The layers of a spatial map may be organized to group similar object types together. Table 1 shows example partition for the layers of a spatial map.Table 1 - Example partition of spatial map layers ]

[0067] The partitioning of the layers can help differentiate the different landscape features, static objects, and / or mobile objects that are found in spatial maps. The partitioning of thelayers can help to assist with the rendering of the spatial map. For example, a base or landscape layer (e.g. layer 0) and a static objects layer (e.g. layer 1) may capture objects in the environment of a 3-dimensional space that does not change (or change often) within the spatial map while the mobile objects layers (e.g. layers 2 and 3) may capture objects and UEs moving within the same 3-dimensional space that requires more frequent updates. Metadata within each layer may be provided by a SM service requestor or generated by a spatial map server to relate objects between and among different layers and between different objects on the same or different layers.

[0068] Service information, object characteristics, and object metadata may all be used to describe a particular object within a spatial map. Service information is application layer data that may be used to describe an object, e.g. the name of a landmark such as a park, a building, and a stadium. Service information may also include further information such as services offered by an object (e.g. by a government building), historical information (e.g. of a historical site), and / or a memorial dedication (e.g. of a statue).

[0069] Object characteristics and object metadata both relate to information of an object that may be used to assist with rendering the object in XR applications. Object characteristics may include but are not limited to the size, shape, orientation, speed, and location of an object. Object metadata may include but are not limited to relative information between an object with another object, such as relative speed, velocity, distance, position, direction, orientation, and elevation.

[0070] Object information (e.g. service information, object characteristics, and object metadata) for the different layers of a spatial map may be provided by one of two methods, explicitly from a VAL layer server or client and autonomously from a sensing service. FIG. 5 illustrates an example procedure 500 for how a Spatial Map (SM) service requestor 510 (e.g. a VAL server or a spatial map client) may create or update information associated with a spatial map using information provided by a VAL client or server. The procedure 600 for obtaining object information from a sensing service will be illustrated in FIG. 6.

[0071] One implementation is directed towards application layer provided object information for spatial maps. An explicit method where a VAL server or a spatial map client may provide application layer information for a spatial map is illustrated in FIG. 5. The example procedure 500 shows a spatial map (SM) server 508 (e.g. such as the one depicted in FIG. 2) receiving a spatial management request to create and / or update a spatial map. The request may include object information for the spatial map and other pertinent details for the SM server 508 to manage access to object information in the spatial map.

[0072] AVAL server or a spatial map client may perform a method that includes any combination of the following steps. At 502, a SM service requestor 510 (e.g. VAL server or SM client) may make a management request to create and / or update a spatial map. The request may include one or more different types of information. The request may contain information as listed in Table 2.Table 1 - SM management request

[0073] Depending on the deployment scenarios, certain information elements as described above may be provided by different sources. In an example where a deployment occurs where the VAL layer manages object information in a spatial map, the requestor may provide the spatial map identifier in the request and the SM server 508 may manage the use of the identifier is unique within a particular service provider domain. In other examples where the SM server 508 has a more active role in managing spatial map information (e.g. such as when sensor data is provided by a sensing service), the SM server 508 may assign the spatial map identifier as part of creating and / or updating a spatial map.

[0074] One or more different types of information included in a request, as described above, may be focused on SM management operations for create and update of a spatial map. For retrieve or discover SM management operations, the SM service requestor 510 may only need to include the Requestor ID, a Service provider identifier, the SM management request type (e.g. retrieve), a Spatial map identifier and / or a Spatial map area, and possibly filter criteria to filter contents of the spatial map.

[0075] At 503, the SM server 508 may authenticate and authorize the requestor and request, respectively. If authorized, the SM server 508 may create a local context for the spatial map using the information provided in the request at 501 . The SM server 508 may then assign an identifier for the spatial map and associate the identifier with the spatial map context. The SM server 508 may also perform location management requests with location management servers (LMS), analytics servers, and 3GPP core networks 502 to obtain location information of User Equipment (UEs) in the spatial map area.

[0076] At 505, The 3GPP core networks 502, analytics servers 504, and location management servers 506 may return a response with a list of UEs whose location information falls within the spatial map area. The response may indicate actual locations or predicted locations when reporting the locations of the UEs. For predictive locations, a confidence level may be included.

[0077] At 507, the SM server 508may aggregate the list of UEs received from the LMS 506, analytics servers 504, and 3GPP core networks 502 and may assign the UEs to the UE layer of the spatial map. For predictive locations, the SM server 508 may filter only predictive locations exceeding a certain confidence level (e.g. 80%) that may be configured in the request or provisioned or configured by local policies.

[0078] In some examples, where the SM server 508 may have not already created a context for the spatial map, the SM server 508 may create a local context for the spatial map using the information provided in the request at 501 and the information received at 505. The SM server 508 may then assign an identifier for the spatial map and associate the identifier with the spatial map context. If a spatial map context had already been created, the SM server 508 may save the information received at 505 in the spatial map context. Table 3 shows an example of a spatial map context.Table 3 - SM context information

[0079] In some examples, the information elements for a spatial map context may be organized differently than what is described. For certain deployment scenarios, the SM server 508 may ensure the spatial map identifier is unique within a particular service provider domain if it was provided in the request.

[0080] Some of the information in the SM context information may be derived by the SM server 508. For example, the List of adjacent spatial map identifiers may be determined by the SM server 508 based on other spatial maps the server may be managing or aware of. The Spatial map reference location may also be derived from the information provided for the SM object information as well as the List of the numbers of objects per layer. The SM server 508 may also manage the Last update time if there are multiple requestors that provide information for objects in a spatial map. Based on what information is provided by the requestor at 501 , other information elements may also be derived by the SM server 508. The SM context information may include information provided by requestors, an external service such as a sensing service or network services including analytics and location services, other application servers, or derived / determined by the SM server 508.

[0081] At 509, the SM server 508 may send a response to the SM service requestor 510 with the status to the management request. The response may include the information listed in Table 4.Table 4 - SM management response

[0082] For SM management operation such as retrieve or discover, other information may be returned in the response (such as, one or more URIs for both layers and object of a spatial map. In some examples, the response to retrieve and discover SM management operations may return any information in the SM context information as described above, limited by access control. Similarly, subscribe and unsubscribe SM management operations may be requested for any information in the SM context limited to access control.

[0083] FIG. 5 shows a SM service requestor providing sensor data for a spatial map that is being created or updated. In some examples, the SM service requestor 510 (e.g. a SM client) may be able to request to create a spatial map without providing the sensor data for the spatial map. In these examples, the SM service requestor may provide a Service provider identifier and contact address and let the SM server contact the identified service provider for the sensor data associated with the spatial map. The service provider may then execute a procedure similar to that described in FIG. 5.

[0084] Sensing-enabled object information for spatial maps is described herein. In addition to the explicit method of providing object information for a spatial map, a sensing servicemay be configured to generate object information for a spatial map. The benefit of using a sensing service to generate information for a spatial map is the ability to automate the management of spatial maps. A sensing service may be configured to automatically refresh information in a spatial map periodically (e.g. due to a time duration or periodicity) or in response to an event. As a result, information in a spatial map may be kept current upon access to the spatial map. FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 to obtain sensing results from a sensing service to generate information for a spatial map.

[0085] At 601 , a SM service requestor 610 (e.g. VAL server or SM client) may make a request to create or update a spatial map in a similar manner as described above at 501 of FIG. 5. Similarly, the request may include any of the information described above as being included in a SM management request, that is any information listed in Table 2. In this request, the Sensor data indicator may be specified such that SM object information is provided by a sensing service or the request may implicitly indicate the need for sensing service. In addition to the information included in the SM management request (Table 2), the requestor may also provide a sensing service policy (as shown in FIG. 5) to configure the SM server 608 for how to manage the sensing service with creating and updating spatial map information.Table 5 - Sensing service policy

[0086] At 603, the spatial map server 608 may use the information from the request (e.g. the spatial map area and sensing service policy) at 601, the SM server 608 may send one or more sensing service requests to the identified sensing service provider(s) 602. The request may include the information listed in Table 6. The sensing service identifier may also be preprovisioned or configured by local policies on the SM server or through an external provisioning procedure. The sensing service may also be discovered by the SM server. A request identifier may be provided to associate sensing results from a particular sensing service identifier.Table 6 - Sensing service request

[0087] At 605, the SM server 608 may receive one or more responses with sensing results for objects detected within the sensing area from the sensing functions 606 and / or the 3GPP network 604. The sensing service response may include the information listed in Table 7.Table 7- Sensing service response

[0088] At 607, the SM server 608 uses the sensing results received at 605, and may classify and store the object characteristics as indicated by the sensing results in the SM context information as shown in Table 3. The SM server 608 may need to first determine and classify the sensing results to the proper spatial map layer and associated objects based on the spatial map layer profile or other spatial map layer profile definitions. As part of the classification, the SM server 608 may assign an object label for each detected object. The assignment may be based on information provided by the sensing results (e.g. object number), a pre-provisioned or configured classification policy, a naming or classification algorithm, one or more spatial map layer profiles, or other labeling mechanisms. The SM server 608 may dynamically determine the number of layers necessary for the spatial map based on the number of objects detected by the sensing results. For example, if there are a lot of detected objects, then the objects may further be classified based on theircharacteristics (e.g. size, speed) and each class of objects may be assigned to a different layer. Conversely, if there are only a few objects, the objects may be classified into the same layer. During this process, the SM server 608 may need to ensure that the object labels are at least unique within a spatial map layer to provide object differentiation between objects within the spatial map layer. An object may be identified and differentiated from objects in other spatial maps within a service provider domain by combining the spatial map identifier, the spatial map layer identifier, and the object label with the requirements that spatial map identifiers are unique within a service provider domain and object labels are unique within a layer of a spatial map.

[0089] The SM server 608 may further process the sensing results to derive metadata for layers of a spatial map and / or objects of the spatial map. Metadata may be used to describe the relationship between the layers and objects of a spatial map. For example, layer metadata may simply be the identification of the reference location within each layer of the spatial map to align the layers together to allow for the superposition of object information between the layers. Layer metadata may also include relationship of different reference locations for each layer. For example, a layer may have one reference location while another layer may have a different reference location. The layer metadata may capture the relative distance, position, and orientation between the refence locations of the two layers. Object metadata may provide relative information between objects of a layer and / or relative information between objects of different layers such as the relative speed and the relative distance / elevation between objects. Object metadata may also provide relative orientation between objects and other relative information that may be able to be derived from sensing results. The combination of layer metadata and object metadata may be utilized to assist with the reconstruction of the spatial map. Alternatively, layer metadata and object metadata may be grouped together as spatial map metadata that describes the relationships between layers, objects, and layers and objects.

[0090] The additional processing of sensing results may also contribute to the increase or decrease of confidence levels associated with the object characteristics, especially if the sensing results are generated from multiple sensing functions / devices. For example, if multiple sensing devices are configured to generate sensing results for a particular object, but from different sensing reference points and angles, the SM server 608 may evaluate the location of the sensing results and determine that the sensing results apply to the same object. In this case, the SM server 608 may aggregate the different sensing results from the different sensing devices (e.g., for different orientation) to derive the overall confidence level. Furthermore, the SM server 608 may examine the size of the object from the sensing resultsand if the sizes are the same or relatively close to each other, the SM server 608 may assign a high level of confidence to the object characteristic size. As a result, the confidence level associated with the object characteristic may be higher or lower than the confidence level provided by the sensing results.

[0091] Depending on the sensing results and / or other factors such as if the number of detected objects is not met for the spatial map, the SM server 608 may trigger an additional set of sensing service requests after a set time duration. The SM server 608 may use the Mobile object detection interval specified in the sensing service policy to trigger sensing service requests to assist with detecting mobile objects. Absence the Mobile object detection interval, the SM server 608 may use other configured or provisioned intervals such as the SM refresh interval to initiate additional sensing service requests. In addition, the SM server 608 may also use the SM refresh interval in the sensing service policy to periodically update the object information for a spatial map. Furthermore, sensing service requests may also be triggered in response to SM management requests such as create, get, update, and discover. In general, sensing service requests may be triggered in response to any event that may require current information for a spatial map. In some examples, the processing at 601 to 607 may be repeated for another iteration of sensing service requests and processing.

[0092] After sensing results have been obtained from a subsequent iteration of the sensing service, the SM server 608 may correlate the sensing results received from the current iteration with the sensing results received from a prior iteration to determine the relationship (e.g. position or location, distance, orientation, speed, etc.) between different objects. For static objects, the SM server 608 may compare the previous sensing results with the current sensing results to determine the confidence level for the object characteristic, e.g. the location or size of the object has remained the same. The SM server 608 may use the set of sensing results to determine whether the object is classified as static or mobile and therefore to associate the object with the appropriate spatial map layer. The SM server 608 may perform further processing to derive relative values between one or more objects for certain characteristics such as (relative) speed, position, and orientation. The SM server 608 may use the results of the additional processing to further classify the objects, determine the layer the objects belong to, generate metadata for relationships between objects and layers, and update the confidence level. In some examples, when necessary, the SM server 608 may repeat the processing at 601 to 607until the requirements for the spatial map are met. For example, the SM server 608 may repeat the processing at 601 to 607 to detect a minimum number of objects or to achieve a certain sensing resolution.

[0093] The SM server 608 may not only initiate sensing service requests with multiple sensing devices, but also to iterate through multiple sensing service requests with multiple sensing devices in order to determine the 3-dimensional shape and size of an object. The SM server 608 may then aggregate the sensing results obtained for the target object to derive the 3-dimensional shape and size of the object. Gradient information about the object (e.g. for a hill or mountain) may be stored within the metadata for the object.

[0094] At 609, when the SM server 608 has determined object characteristics obtained from sensing operations fulfilling the requirements for the spatial map, the SM server 608 may send a response to the requestor with the updated information for the spatial map. The response may include the information listed in Table 4.

[0095] The initiation of sensing service requests may also result from SM management requests to retrieve and / or discover spatial maps. For these management operations, the SM server 608 may include information stored in the SM context associated with the spatial map pending access control.

[0096] As previously disclosed, a spatial anchor server may interface with a SM server 608 to provide spatial localization service for a user. A user may request spatial localization service from a spatial anchor server based on the user’s location and orientation as shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows the localization request being sent to a spatial anchor server, but in some examples, the request may also be sent to a SM server 608 that may also be able to provide spatial localization service due to the SEAL-X(AnM) interface connecting the two servers together. The processing steps described with respect to FIG. 7 may be sequenced in an order that is different from the order shown. For example, steps 703 and 705, steps 707 to 711 and step 713 may be executed at the same time or in a different order than what is shown in FIG. 7.

[0097] At 701 , a spatial anchor service requestor 712 (e.g. VAL server or spatial anchor client) may make a request for spatial localization service from either a spatial anchor server 712 or a SM server 710. FIG. 7 shows an example where the spatial anchor server 304 provides the spatial localization service to the requestor. The spatial localization serviced request may include the information listed in Table 8.Table 8 - Spatial localization service request

[0098] At 703, the spatial anchor server 304 may authenticate and authorize the requestor and request, respectively. In examples where the requestor and the request are authorized, the spatial anchor server 304 may send one or more location management requests to location management server(s) 702 (LMS), analytics server(s) 704, and 3GPP core network(s) 706 to obtain location information of UEs in the spatial localization area.

[0099] At 705, the spatial anchor server 304 may receive one or more location management responses from LMS(s) 702, analytics server(s) 704, and 3GPP core network(s) 706. The responses may include a list of UEs that is found within the area of the requestor, e.g. a list of UEs found in the spatial localization area.

[0100] At 707, the spatial anchor server 304 may send a SM management request to retrieve the contents of a spatial map associated with the spatial localization area provided at 701 . The spatial anchor server 304 may include the user location and orientation, as well as horizontal and vertical field-of-views of the requestor, to further constrain the contents of the spatial map. The field-of-view information may be converted to distance, direction, orientation, elevation, and / or other sensing characteristics by the spatial anchor server 714 before including the information in the request to the SM server 710. If provided, the spatial map details and spatial map filters may be included in the management request sent to the SM server 710.

[0101] At 709, in response to the SM management request to retrieve a spatial map, the SM server 710 may request a sensing service to provide an update of objects found in the spatial map based on the location, orientation, and field-of-view provided by the requestor. The SM server 710 may further utilize the spatial map details and spatial map filters to adjust the amount of spatial map information that is returned to the spatial anchor server. The SM server 710 may request or notify a SM service requestor to provide updates to the spatial map. For example, service information or spatial map information in examples where the SM service requestor had explicitly provided the spatial map information. In some examples, the SM server 710 may request update information from a SM service requestor (although not shown in FIG. 7).

[0102] The SM server 710 may process object characteristics and / or metadata for one or more requested field-of-views of a spatial map and objects within the spatial map. Based on a requested field-of-view, object characteristics and / or metadata may be determined to describe the field-of-view relationship between the layers and objects of the spatial map. The field-of-view of the spatial map and / or objects within the spatial map may be based on a specified reference points (e.g., a user’s viewing angle). The spatial map service may retrieve information from spatial map layers which are based on different field-of-views. For example, different supported viewing angles of the spatial map and / or using different reference locations. In some examples, the spatial map service may determine spatial map slices which cut through / across spatial map layers, and which are used to define different field-of-views of the spatial map.

[0103] At 711 , the SM server 710 may send a response to the spatial anchor server with the information for the spatial map as determined at 709. For example, spatial map information listed in Table 3 for a SM context may be included in the response to the spatial anchor server.

[0104] At 713, the spatial map information may be used as part of spatial localization information that may be returned in a response to the service requestor. In some examples, a SM server 710 may not support the filtering of spatial map information to a requestor based on the field-of-view of the user. In some examples, the SM server 710 may perform the filtering, and the spatial anchor server 304 may instead filter the spatial map information. The process may entail the spatial anchor server 714 first requesting to retrieve spatial map information based on the spatial localization area as described at 707, but without filtering information. Upon receiving the unfiltered spatial map information, the spatial anchor server 714 may use the user orientation, horizontal and vertical field-of-views, and the spatial mapfilters to constrain the spatial map information received from the SM server 710 from the spatial localization information.

[0105] The spatial anchor server 712 may discover or retrieve spatial anchors in the spatial localization area and apply the spatial anchor filters to the discovered or retrieved list of spatial anchors. Examples of spatial anchor filters may be to filter only spatial anchors that represent restaurants or shops in the area surrounding the requestor. The filtered list of spatial anchors may be included with the spatial localization information returned to the service requestor.

[0106] The spatial anchor server 712 may also use the UEs returned from the location management requests to locate digital assets or avatars that may be associated with the UEs. The spatial anchor server 712 may first filter the UEs and / or users as specified by the UE / User filter criteria. The spatial anchor server 712 may then retrieve information about the digital assets and / or avatars for inclusion in the spatial localization information. Note that UEs may be associated with vehicles and UAVs that may not be considered digital assets, and the spatial anchor server may be able to resolve the type of objects the UEs are associated with using sensing services.

[0107] The spatial anchor server 712 may then aggregate all the information received for the spatial map, spatial anchors, UEs / users, and digital assets / avatars together to return to the service requestor. The aggregated information may be referred to as spatial localization information.

[0108] At 715, the spatial anchor server 712 may send the aggregated spatial localization information to the service requestor. The information may be used to render the spatial map, spatial anchors, and spatial information associated with UEs / users to the service requestor. The information about UEs / users may include information of associated digital assets and / or digital avatars.

[0109] A sensing service policy may be specified through a graphical user interface to configure a sensing service to provide object information for a spatial map. FIG. 8 shows an example GUI 800 for which to specify a sensing service policy. The GUI 800 may include sensing service policy and may be used by a user of a VAL server on an application server or a VAL client on a UE.

[0110] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) develops technical standards for cellular telecommunications network technologies, including radio access, the core transport network, and service capabilities - including work on codecs, security, and quality of service. Recent radio access technology (RAT) standards comprise WCDMA (commonly referred as 3G), LTE (commonly referred as 4G), LTE-Advanced standards, and New Radio (NR), whichis also referred to as “5G”. 3GPP NR standards development is expected to continue and comprise the definition of next generation radio access technology (new RAT), which is expected to comprise the provision of new flexible radio access below 7 GHz, and the provision of new ultra-mobile broadband radio access above 7 GHz. The flexible radio access is expected to consist of a new, non-backwards compatible radio access in new spectrum below 7 GHz, and it is expected to comprise different operating modes that may be multiplexed together in the same spectrum to address a broad set of 3GPP NR use cases with diverging requirements. The ultra-mobile broadband is expected to comprise cmWave and mmWave spectrum that may provide the opportunity for ultra-mobile broadband access for, e.g., indoor applications and hotspots. In particular, the ultra-mobile broadband is expected to share a common design framework with the flexible radio access below 7 GHz, with cmWave and mmWave specific design optimizations.

[0111] 3GPP has identified a variety of use cases that NR is expected to support, resulting in a wide variety of user experience requirements for data rate, latency, and mobility. The use cases comprise the following general categories: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) ultra-reliable low-latency Communication (URLLC), massive machine type communications (mMTC), network operation (e.g., network slicing, routing, migration and interworking, energy savings), and enhanced vehicle-to-everything (eV2X) communications, which may comprise any of Vehicle-to- Vehicle Communication (V2V), Vehicle-to-lnfrastructure Communication (V2I), Vehicle-to-Network Communication (V2N), Vehicle-to-Pedestrian Communication (V2P), and vehicle communications with other entities. Specific service and applications in these categories comprise, e.g., monitoring and sensor networks, device remote controlling, bi-directional remote controlling, personal cloud computing, video streaming, wireless cloud-based office, first responder connectivity, automotive ecall, disaster alerts, real-time gaming, multi-person video calls, autonomous driving, augmented reality, tactile internet, virtual reality, home automation, robotics, and aerial drones to name a few. All of these use cases and others are contemplated herein.

[0112] FIG. 9A illustrates an example communications system 100 in which the systems, methods, and apparatuses described and claimed herein may be used. The communications system 100 may comprise wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f, and / or 102g, which generally or collectively may be referred to as WTRU 102 or WTRUs 102. The communications system 100 may comprise, a radio access network (RAN) 103 / 104 / 105 / 103b / 104b / 105b, a core network 106 / 107 / 109, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and Network Services 113. 113. Network Services 113 may comprise, for example, a V2X server, V2X functions, a ProSeserver, ProSe functions, loT services, video streaming, federated learning (FL) services, and / or edge computing, etc.

[0113] It may be appreciated that the concepts disclosed herein may be used with any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102 may be any type of apparatus or device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. In the example of FIG. 9A, each of the WTRUs 102a-d is depicted in FIGs. 9A-9E as a hand-held wireless communications apparatus. It is understood that with the wide variety of use cases contemplated for wireless communications, each WTRU may comprise or be comprised in any type of apparatus or device configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, including, by way of example only, user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a netbook, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, consumer electronics, a wearable device such as a smart watch or smart clothing, a medical or eHealth device, a robot, industrial equipment, a drone, a vehicle such as a car, bus or truck, a train, or an airplane, and the like.

[0114] The communications system 100 may also comprise a base station 114a and a base station 114b. In the example of FIG. 9A, each base stations 114a and 114b is depicted as a single element. In practice, the base stations 114a and 114b may comprise any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements. Base stations 114a may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, Network Services 113, and / or the other networks 112.Similarly, base station 114b may be any type of device configured to wiredly and / or wirelessly interface with at least one of the Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) 118a, 118b, Transmission and Reception Points (TRPs) 119a, 119b, and / or Roadside Units (RSUs) 120a and 120b to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and / or Network Services 113. RRHs 118a, 118b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102, e.g., WTRU 102c, to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, Network Services 113, and / or other networks 112.

[0115] TRPs 119a, 119b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRU 102d, to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, Network Services 113, and / or other networks 112. RSUs 120a and 120b may be any type of device configured to wirelesslyinterface with at least one of the WTRU 102e or 102f, to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the core network 106 / 107 / 109, the Internet 110, other networks 112, and / or Network Services 113. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a Next Generation Node-B (gNode B), a satellite, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like.

[0116] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, which may also comprise other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. Similarly, the base station 114b may be part of the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, which may also comprise other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a BSC, a RNC, relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). Similarly, the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wired and / or wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, for example, the base station 114a may comprise three transceivers, e.g., one for each sector of the cell. The base station 114a may employ Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology and, therefore, may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell, for instance.

[0117] The base station 114a may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102g over an air interface 115 / 116 / 117, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., Radio Frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, cmWave, mmWave, etc.). The air interface 115 / 116 / 117 may be established using any suitable Radio Access Technology (RAT).

[0118] The base station 114b may communicate with one or more of the RRHs 118a and 118b, TRPs 119a and 119b, and / or RSUs 120a and 120b, over a wired or air interface 115b / 116b / 117b, which may be any suitable wired (e.g., cable, optical fiber, etc.) or wireless communication link (e.g., RF, microwave, IR, UV, visible light, cmWave, mmWave, etc.). The air interface 115b / 116b / 117b may be established using any suitable RAT.

[0119] The RRHs 118a, 118b, TRPs 119a, 119b and / or RSUs 120a, 120b, may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, 102f over an air interface 115c / 116c / 117c, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., RF, microwave, IR, ultraviolet UV, visible light, cmWave, mmWave, etc.) The air interface 115c / 116c / 117c may be established using any suitable RAT.

[0120] The WTRUs 102 may communicate with one another over a direct air interface 115d / 116d / 117d, such as Sidelink communication which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., RF, microwave, IR, ultraviolet UV, visible light, cmWave, mmWave, etc.) The air interface 115d / 116d / 117d may be established using any suitable RAT.

[0121] The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, or RRHs 118a, 118b,TRPs 119a, 119b and / or RSUs 120a and 120b in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f, may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 and / or 115c / 116c / 117c respectively using Wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may comprise communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may comprise High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High- Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0122] The base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102g, or RRHs 118a and 118b, TRPs 119a and 119b, and / or RSUs 120a and 120b in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d, may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c respectively using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), for example. The air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or 115c / 116c / 117c may implement 3GPP NR technology. The LTE and LTE-A technology may comprise LTE D2D and / or V2X technologies and interfaces (such as Sidelink communications, etc.) Similarly, the 3GPP NR technology may comprise NR V2X technologies and interfaces (such as Sidelink communications, etc.)

[0123] The base station 114a in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102g or RRHs 118a and 118b, TRPs 119a and 119b, and / or RSUs 120a and 120b in the RAN 103b / 104b / 105b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.16 (e.g., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS- 2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0124] The base station 114c in FIG. 9A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitatingwireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a train, an aerial, a satellite, a manufactory, a campus, and the like. The base station 114c and the WTRUs 102, e.g., WTRU 102e, may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). Similarly, the base station 114c and the WTRUs 102, e.g., WTRU 102d, may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). The base station 114c and the WTRUs 102, e.g., WRTU 102e, may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 9A, the base station 114c may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114c may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the core network 106 / 107 / 109.

[0125] The RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b may be in communication with the core network 106 / 107 / 109, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, messaging, authorization and authentication, applications, and / or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102. For example, the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, packet data network connectivity, Ethernet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication.

[0126] Although not shown in FIG. 9A, it may be appreciated that the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b and / or the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b, which may be utilizing an E-UTRA radio technology, the core network 106 / 107 / 109 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM or NR radio technology.

[0127] The core network 106 / 107 / 109 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102 to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may comprise circuit-switched telephone networks that provide Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). The Internet 110 may comprise a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The other networks 112 may comprise wired or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may comprise any type of packet data network (e.g., an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network) or another core network connected to one or more RANs, which mayemploy the same RAT as the RAN 103 / 104 / 105 and / or RAN 103b / 104b / 105b or a different RAT.

[0128] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f in the communications system 100 may comprise multi-mode capabilities, e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, 102e, and 102f may comprise multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links. For example, the WTRU 102g shown in FIG. 9A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114c, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0129] Although not shown in FIG. 9A, it may be appreciated that a User Equipment may make a wired connection to a gateway. The gateway maybe a Residential Gateway (RG). The RG may provide connectivity to a Core Network 106 / 107 / 109. It may be appreciated that many of the ideas contained herein may equally apply to UEs that are WTRUs and UEs that use a wired connection to connect to a network. For example, the ideas that apply to the wireless interfaces 115, 116, 117 and 115c / 116c / 117c may equally apply to a wired connection.

[0130] FIG. 9B is a system diagram of an example RAN 103 and core network 106. As noted above, the RAN 103 may employ a UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 115. The RAN 103 may also be in communication with the core network 106. As shown in FIG. 9B, the RAN 103 may comprise Node-Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c, which may each comprise one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 115. The Node- Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c may each be associated with a particular cell (not shown) within the RAN 103. The RAN 103 may also comprise RNCs 142a, 142b. It may be appreciated that the RAN 103 may comprise any number of Node-Bs and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs.)

[0131] As shown in FIG. 9B, the Node-Bs 140a, 140b may be in communication with the RNC 142a. Additionally, the Node-B 140c may be in communication with the RNC 142b. The Node-Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c may communicate with the respective RNCs 142a and 142b via an lub interface. The RNCs 142a and 142b may be in communication with one another via an lur interface. Each of the RNCs 142aand 142b may be configured to control the respective Node-Bs 140a, 140b, and 140c to which it is connected. In addition, each of the RNCs 142aand 142b may be configured to carry out or support other functionality, such as outer loop power control, load control, admission control, packet scheduling, handover control, macro-diversity, security functions, data encryption, and the like.

[0132] The core network 106 shown in FIG. 9B may comprise a media gateway (MGW) 144, a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 146, a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 148, and / or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) 150. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the core network 106, it may be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator.

[0133] The RNC 142a in the RAN 103 may be connected to the MSC 146 in the core network 106 via an luCS interface. The MSC 146 may be connected to the MGW 144. The MSC 146 and the MGW 144 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and traditional land-line communications devices.

[0134] The RNC 142a in the RAN 103 may also be connected to the SGSN 148 in the core network 106 via an luPS interface. The SGSN 148 may be connected to the GGSN 150. The SGSN 148 and the GGSN 150 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and IP-enabled devices.

[0135] The core network 106 may also be connected to the other networks 112, which may comprise other wired or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0136] FIG. 9C is a system diagram of an example RAN 104 and core network 107. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the core network 107.

[0137] The RAN 104 may comprise eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c, though it may be appreciated that the RAN 104 may comprise any number of eNode-Bs. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may each comprise one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. For example, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0138] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink and / or downlink, and the like. As shown in FIG. 9C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0139] The core network 107 shown in FIG. 9C may comprise a Mobility Management Gateway (MME) 162, a serving gateway 164, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the core network 107, it may be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator.

[0140] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may also provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM or WCDMA.

[0141] The serving gateway 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The serving gateway 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c. The serving gateway 164 may also perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter- eNode B handovers, triggering paging when downlink data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, and the like.

[0142] The serving gateway 164 may also be connected to the PDN gateway 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and IP-enabled devices.

[0143] The core network 107 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the core network 107 may comprise, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the core network 107 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the core network 107 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to the networks 112, which may comprise other wired or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0144] FIG. 9D is a system diagram of an example RAN 105 and core network 109. The RAN 105 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a and 102b over the air interface 117. The RAN 105 may also be in communication with the corenetwork 109. A Non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF) 199 may employ a non-3GPP radio technology to communicate with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198. The N3IWF 199 may also be in communication with the core network 109.

[0145] The RAN 105 may comprise gNode-Bs 180a and 180b. It may be appreciated that the RAN 105 may comprise any number of gNode-Bs. The gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may each comprise one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a and 102b over the air interface 117. When integrated access and backhaul connection are used, the same air interface may be used between the WTRUs and gNode-Bs, which may be the core network 109 via one or multiple gNBs. The gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may implement MIMO, MU-MIMO, and / or digital beamforming technology. Thus, the gNode-B 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. It should be appreciated that the RAN 105 may employ of other types of base stations such as an eNode-B. It may also be appreciated the RAN 105 may employ more than one type of base station. For example, the RAN may employ eNode-Bs and gNode-Bs.

[0146] The N3IWF 199 may comprise a non-3GPP Access Point 180c. It may be appreciated that the N3IWF 199 may comprise any number of non-3GPP Access Points. The non-3GPP Access Point 180c may comprise one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102c over the air interface 198. The non-3GPP Access Point 180c may use the 802.11 protocol to communicate with the WTRU 102c over the air interface 198.

[0147] Each of the gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink and / or downlink, and the like. As shown in FIG. 9D, the gNode-Bs 180a and 180b may communicate with one another over an Xn interface, for example.

[0148] The core network 109 shown in FIG. 9D may be a 5G core network (5GC). The core network 109 may offer numerous communication services to customers who are interconnected by the radio access network. The core network 109 comprises a number of entities that perform the functionality of the core network. As used herein, the term “core network entity” or “network function” refers to any entity that performs one or more functionalities of a core network. It is understood that such core network entities may be logical entities that are implemented in the form of computer-executable instructions (software) stored in a memory of, and executing on a processor of, an apparatus configuredfor wireless and / or network communications or a computer system, such as system 90 illustrated in FIG. 9G.

[0149] In the example of FIG. 9D, the 5G Core Network 109 may comprise an access and mobility management function (AMF) 172, a Session Management Function (SMF) 174, User Plane Functions (UPFs) 176a and 176b, a User Data Management Function (UDM) 197, an Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 190, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 196, a Policy Control Function (PCF) 184, a Non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF) 199, a User Data Repository (UDR) 178. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the 5G core network 109, it may be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the core network operator. It may also be appreciated that a 5G core network may not consist of all of these elements, may consist of additional elements, and may consist of multiple instances of each of these elements. FIG. 9D shows that network functions directly connect to one another, however, it should be appreciated that they may communicate via routing agents such as a diameter routing agent or message buses.

[0150] In the example of FIG. 9D, connectivity between network functions is achieved via a set of interfaces, or reference points. It may be appreciated that network functions may be modeled, described, or implemented as a set of services that are invoked, or called, by other network functions or services. Invocation of a Network Function service may be achieved via a direct connection between network functions, an exchange of messaging on a message bus, calling a software function, etc.

[0151] The AMF 172 may be connected to the RAN 105 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 172 may be responsible for registration management, connection management, reachability management, access authentication, access authorization. The AMF may be responsible forwarding user plane tunnel configuration information to the RAN 105 via the N2 interface. The AMF 172 may receive the user plane tunnel configuration information from the SMF via an N11 interface. The AMF 172 may generally route and forward NAS packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c via an N1 interface. The N1 interface is not shown in FIG. 9D.

[0152] The SMF 174 may be connected to the AMF 172 via an N11 interface. Similarly, the SMF may be connected to the PCF 184 via an N7 interface, and to the UPFs 176a and 176b via an N4 interface. The SMF 174 may serve as a control node. For example, the SMF 174 may be responsible for Session Management, IP address allocation for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c, management and configuration of traffic steering rules in the UPF 176a and UPF 176b, and generation of downlink data notifications to the AMF 172.

[0153] The UPF 176a and UPF176b may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a Packet Data Network (PDN), such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and other devices. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may also provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other types of packet data networks. For example, Other Networks 112 may be Ethernet Networks or any type of network that exchanges packets of data. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may receive traffic steering rules from the SMF 174 via the N4 interface. The UPF 176a and UPF 176b may provide access to a packet data network by connecting a packet data network with an N6 interface or by connecting to each other and to other UPFs via an N9 interface. In addition to providing access to packet data networks, the UPF 176 may be responsible packet routing and forwarding, policy rule enforcement, quality of service handling for user plane traffic, downlink packet buffering.

[0154] The AMF 172 may also be connected to the N3IWF 199, for example, via an N2 interface. The N3IWF facilitates a connection between the WTRU 102c and the 5G core network 170, for example, via radio interface technologies that are not defined by 3GPP. The AMF may interact with the N3IWF 199 in the same, or similar, manner that it interacts with the RAN 105.

[0155] The PCF 184 may be connected to the SMF 174 via an N7 interface, connected to the AMF 172 via an N15 interface, and to an Application Function (AF) 188 via an N5 interface. The N15 and N5 interfaces are not shown in FIG. 9D. The PCF 184 may provide policy rules to control plane nodes such as the AMF 172 and SMF 174, allowing the control plane nodes to enforce these rules. The PCF 184 may send policies to the AMF 172 for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c so that the AMF may deliver the policies to the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c via an N1 interface. Policies may then be enforced, or applied, at the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0156] The UDR 178 may act as a repository for authentication credentials and subscription information. The UDR may connect to network functions, so that network function may add to, read from, and modify the data that is in the repository. For example, the UDR 178 may connect to the PCF 184 via an N36 interface. Similarly, the UDR 178 may connect to the NEF 196 via an N37 interface, and the UDR 178 may connect to the UDM 197 via an N35 interface.

[0157] The UDM 197 may serve as an interface between the UDR 178 and other network functions. The UDM 197 may authorize network functions to access of the UDR 178. For example, the UDM 197 may connect to the AMF 172 via an N8 interface, the UDM 197 mayconnect to the SMF 174 via an N10 interface. Similarly, the UDM 197 may connect to the AUSF 190 via an N13 interface. The UDR 178 and UDM 197 may be tightly integrated.

[0158] The AUSF 190 performs authentication related operations and connects to the UDM 178 via an N13 interface and to the AMF 172 via an N12 interface.

[0159] The NEF 196 exposes capabilities and services in the 5G core network 109 to Application Functions (AF) 188. Exposure may occur on the N33 API interface. The NEF may connect to an AF 188 via an N33 interface, and it may connect to other network functions in order to expose the capabilities and services of the 5G core network 109.

[0160] Application Functions 188 may interact with network functions in the 5G Core Network 109. Interaction between the Application Functions 188 and network functions may be via a direct interface or may occur via the NEF 196. The Application Functions 188 may be considered part of the 5G Core Network 109 or may be external to the 5G Core Network 109 and deployed by enterprises that have a business relationship with the mobile network operator.

[0161] Network Slicing is a mechanism that may be used by mobile network operators to support one or more ‘virtual’ core networks behind the operator’s air interface. This involves ‘slicing’ the core network into one or more virtual networks to support different RANs or different service types running across a single RAN. Network slicing enables the operator to create networks customized to provide optimized solutions for different market scenarios which demands diverse requirements, e.g., in the areas of functionality, performance and isolation.

[0162] 3GPP has designed the 5G core network to support Network Slicing. Network Slicing is a good tool that network operators may use to support the diverse set of 5G use cases (e.g., massive loT, critical communications, V2X, and enhanced mobile broadband) which demand very diverse and sometimes extreme requirements. Without the use of network slicing techniques, it is likely that the network architecture would not be flexible and scalable enough to efficiently support a wider range of use cases need when each use case has its own specific set of performance, scalability, and availability requirements. Furthermore, introduction of new network services should be made more efficient.

[0163] Referring again to FIG. 9D, in a network slicing scenario, a WTRU 102a, 102b, or 102c may connect to an AMF 172, via an N1 interface. The AMF may be logically part of one or more slices. The AMF may coordinate the connection or communication of WTRU 102a, 102b, or 102c with one or more UPF 176a and 176b, SMF 174, and other network functions. Each of the UPFs 176a and 176b, SMF 174, and other network functions may be part of the same slice or different slices. When they are part of different slices, they may be isolatedfrom each other in the sense that they may utilize different computing resources, security credentials, etc.

[0164] The core network 109 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the core network 109 may comprise, or may communicate with, an IP gateway, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server, that serves as an interface between the 5G core network 109 and a PSTN 108. For example, the core network 109 may comprise, or communicate with a short message service (SMS) service center that facilities communication via the short message service. For example, the 5G core network 109 may facilitate the exchange of non-IP data packets between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and servers or applications functions 188. In addition, the core network 170 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to the networks 112, which may comprise other wired or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0165] The core network entities described herein and illustrated in FIGs. 9A, 9C, 9D, and 9E are identified by the names given to those entities in certain existing 3GPP specifications, but it is understood that in the future those entities and functionalities may be identified by other names and certain entities or functions may be combined in future specifications published by 3GPP, including future 3GPP NR specifications. Thus, the particular network entities and functionalities described and illustrated in FIGs. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, and 9E are provided by way of example only, and it is understood that the subject matter disclosed and claimed herein may be embodied or implemented in any similar communication system, whether presently defined or defined in the future.

[0166] FIG. 9E illustrates an example communications system 111 in which the systems, methods, apparatuses described herein may be used. Communications system 111 may comprise Wireless Transmit / Receive Units (WTRUs) A, B, C, D, E, F, a base station gNB 121 , a V2X server 124, and Road Side Units (RSUs) 123a and 123b. In practice, the concepts presented herein may be applied to any number of WTRUs, base station gNBs, V2X networks, and / or other network elements. One or several or all WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may be out of range of the access network coverage 131 . WTRUs A, B, and C form a V2X group, among which WTRU A is the group lead and WTRUs B and C are group members.

[0167] WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with each other over a Uu interface 129 via the gNB 121 if they are within the access network coverage 131 . In the example of FIG. 9E, WTRUs B and F are shown within access network coverage 131 . WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with each other directly via a Sidelink interface (e.g., PC5 or NR PC5) such as interface 125a, 125b, or 128, whether they are under the access networkcoverage 131 or out of the access network coverage 131. For instance, in the example of FIG. 9E, WRTU D, which is outside of the access network coverage 131, communicates with WTRU F, which is inside the coverage 131 .

[0168] WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate with RSU 123a or 123b via a Vehicle-to-Network (V2N) 133 or Sidelink interface 125b. WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate to a V2X Server 124 via a Vehicle-to-lnfrastructure (V2I) interface 127. WTRUs A, B, C, D, E, and F may communicate to another UE via a Vehicle-to-Person (V2P) interface 128.

[0169] FIG. 9F is a block diagram of an example apparatus or device WTRU 102 that may be configured for wireless communications and operations in accordance with the systems, methods, and apparatuses described herein, such as a WTRU 102 of FIG. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, or 9E. As shown in FIG. 9F, the example WTRU 102 may comprise a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad / indicators 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and other peripherals 138. It may be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may comprise any sub-combination of the foregoing elements. Also, the base stations 114a and 114b, and / or the nodes that base stations 114a and 114b may represent, such as but not limited to transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, a site controller, an access point (AP), a home node-B, an evolved home node-B (eNodeB), a home evolved node-B (HeNB), a home evolved node-B gateway, a next generation node-B (gNode-B), and proxy nodes, among others, may comprise some or all of the elements depicted in FIG. 9F and described herein.

[0170] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. 9F depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it may be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0171] The transmit / receive element 122 of a UE may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a of FIG. 9A) over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 or another UE over the air interface 115d / 116d / 117d. For example, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. The transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and receive both RF and light signals. It may be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless or wired signals.

[0172] In addition, although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 9F as a single element, the WTRU 102 may comprise any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, the WTRU 102 may comprise two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117.

[0173] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may comprise multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, for example NR and IEEE 802.11 or NR and E-UTRA, or to communicate with the same RAT via multiple beams to different RRHs, TRPs, RSUs, or nodes.

[0174] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad / indicators 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit. The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad / indicators 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may comprise random-access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may comprise a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. The processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server that is hosted in the cloud or in an edge computing platform or in a home computer (not shown).- M -

[0175] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may comprise one or more dry cell batteries, solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0176] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It may be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method.

[0177] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may comprise one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may comprise various sensors such as an accelerometer, biometrics (e.g., finger print) sensors, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port or other interconnect interfaces, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, and the like.

[0178] The WTRU 102 may be comprised in other apparatuses or devices, such as a sensor, consumer electronics, a wearable device such as a smart watch or smart clothing, a medical or eHealth device, a robot, industrial equipment, a drone, a vehicle such as a car, truck, train, or an airplane. The WTRU 102 may connect to other components, modules, or systems of such apparatuses or devices via one or more interconnect interfaces, such as an interconnect interface that may comprise one of the peripherals 138.

[0179] FIG. 9G is a block diagram of an exemplary computing system 90 in which one or more apparatuses of the communications networks illustrated in FIGs. 9A, 9C, 9D and 9E may be embodied, such as certain nodes or functional entities in the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, Core Network 106 / 107 / 109, PSTN 108, Internet 110, Other Networks 112, or Network Services 113. Computing system 90 may comprise a computer or server and may be controlled primarily by computer readable instructions, which may be in the form of software, wherever, or by whatever means such software is stored or accessed. Such computerreadable instructions may be executed within a processor 91 , to cause computing system 90 to do work. The processor 91 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 91 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the computing system 90 to operate in a communications network. Coprocessor 81 is an optional processor, distinct from main processor 91 , that may perform additional functions or assist processor 91 . Processor 91 and / or coprocessor 81 may receive, generate, and process data related to the methods and apparatuses disclosed herein.

[0180] In operation, processor 91 fetches, decodes, and executes instructions, and transfers information to and from other resources via the computing system’s main data-transfer path, system bus 80. Such a system bus connects the components in computing system 90 and defines the medium for data exchange. System bus 80 typically comprises data lines for sending data, address lines for sending addresses, and control lines for sending interrupts and for operating the system bus. An example of such a system bus 80 is the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus.

[0181] Memories coupled to system bus 80 comprise random access memory (RAM) 82 and read only memory (ROM) 93. Such memories comprise circuitry that allows information to be stored and retrieved. ROMs 93 generally contain stored data that may not easily be modified. Data stored in RAM 82 may be read or changed by processor 91 or other hardware devices. Access to RAM 82 and / or ROM 93 may be controlled by memory controller 92. Memory controller 92 may provide an address translation function that translates virtual addresses into physical addresses as instructions are executed. Memory controller 92 may also provide a memory protection function that isolates processes within the system and isolates system processes from user processes. Thus, a program running in a first mode may access only memory mapped by its own process virtual address space; it may not access memory within another process’s virtual address space unless memory sharing between the processes has been set up.

[0182] In addition, computing system 90 may contain peripherals controller 83 responsible for communicating instructions from processor 91 to peripherals, such as printer 94, keyboard 84, mouse 95, and disk drive 85.

[0183] Display 86, which is controlled by display controller 96, is used to display visual output generated by computing system 90. Such visual output may comprise text, graphics, animated graphics, and video. The visual output may be provided in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI). Display 86 may be implemented with a CRT-based video display, an LCD-based flat-panel display, gas plasma-based flat-panel display, or a touch-panel. Display controller 96 comprises electronic components required to generate a video signal that is sent to display 86.

[0184] Further, computing system 90 may contain communication circuitry, such as for example a wireless or wired network adapter 97, that may be used to connect computing system 90 to an external communications network or devices, such as the RAN 103 / 104 / 105, Core Network 106 / 107 / 109, PSTN 108, Internet 110, WTRUs 102, or Other Networks 112 of FIGs. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, and 9E, to enable the computing system 90 to communicate with other nodes or functional entities of those networks. The communication circuitry, alone or in combination with the processor 91 , may be used to perform the transmitting and receiving steps of certain apparatuses, nodes, or functional entities described herein.

[0185] It is understood that any or all of the apparatuses, systems, methods and processes described herein may be embodied in the form of computer executable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on a computer-readable storage medium which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, such as processors 118 or 91 , cause the one or more processors to perform and / or implement the systems, methods and processes described herein. Specifically, any of the steps, operations, or functions described herein may be implemented in the form of such computer executable instructions, executing on the processor(s) of an apparatus or computing system configured for wireless and / or wired network communications. Computer readable storage media comprises volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any non-transitory (e.g., tangible or physical) method or technology for storage of information, but such computer readable storage media do not comprise signals. Computer readable storage media comprise, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other tangible or physical medium which may be used to store the desired information and which may be accessed by a computing system.

Claims

1. What is claimed:

1. A spatial map server comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map, wherein the spatial management request indicates a spatial map identifier and a sensing service policy; send, to a sensing service function, a sensing service request, wherein the sensing service request is based on the received spatial management request, and indicates a sensing area, a sensing resolution, and sensing output requirements; receive, from the sensing service function, a sensing service response that indicates sensing results for one or more objects within the sensing area; and generate, based on the sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.

2. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the spatial management request further indicates one or more of a spatial map description, a service provider identifier, a contact address, a sensor data indicator, a spatial map reference location, or spatial map object information.

3. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the sensing service policy further indicates one or more of a sensing service policy ID, a sensing service identifier, a sensing service contact address, a spatial map refresh interval, a mobile object detection interval, an object label classification policy, a minimum number of objects, a maximum object density, a sensing schedule, or a confidence level.

4. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the sensing service request comprises one or more requests, and wherein each of the one or more requests are configured by policies associated with the spatial management request.

5. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the sensing service response that indicates sensing results for one or more objects within a sensing area further comprises a status, a request identifier, and sensing results.

6. The spatial map server of claim 5, wherein the sensing results comprise sensing characteristics for an object, the sensing characteristics comprising one or more of the object size, object shape, object orientation, object speed, object location, or relative distance.

7. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: associate the sensing results with a specific layer within the spatial map; and assign an object label for each of the one or more objects within the sensing area.

8. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: derive metadata for one or more layers of the spatial map, and one or more objects in the spatial map.

9. The spatial map server of claim 8, wherein the metadata for the one or more layers of the spatial map indicates one or more of a relative distance, a position, or an orientation between a reference location of the one or more layers of the spatial map.

10. The spatial map server of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map from a verified application layer (VAL) server or a spatial map client; and send, to the VAL server or the spatial map client, the updated information associated with the spatial map.

11. A method claim implemented by a spatial map server, the method comprising: receiving a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map, wherein the spatial management request indicates a spatial map identifier and a sensing service policy; sending, to a sensing service function, a sensing service request, wherein the sensing service request is based on the received spatial management request, and indicates a sensing area, a sensing resolution, and sensing output requirements; receiving, from the sensing service function, a sensing service response that indicates sensing results for one or more objects within the sensing area; andgenerating, based on the sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the spatial management request further indicates one or more of a spatial map description, a service provider identifier, a contact address, a sensor data indicator, a spatial map reference location, or spatial map object information.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensing service policy further indicates one or more of a sensing service policy ID, a sensing service identifier, a sensing service contact address, a spatial map refresh interval, a mobile object detection interval, an object label classification policy, a minimum number of objects, a maximum object density, a sensing schedule, or a confidence level.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensing service request comprises one or more requests, and wherein each of the one or more requests are configured by policies associated with the spatial management request.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensing service response that indicates sensing results for one or more objects within a sensing area further comprises a status, a request identifier, and sensing results.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: associating the sensing results with a specific layer within the spatial map; and assigning an object label for each of the one or more objects within the sensing area.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: deriving metadata for one or more layers of the spatial map, and one or more objects in the spatial map.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the metadata for the one or more layers of the spatial map indicates one or more of a relative distance, a position, or an orientation between a reference location of the one or more layers of the spatial map.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:receiving a spatial management request to create or update information associated with a spatial map from a verified application layer (VAL) server or a spatial map client; and sending, to the VAL server or the spatial map client, the updated information associated with the spatial map.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: sending, to the sensing service function, and after a set time period and, an additional sensing service request; receiving, from the sensing service function, an additional sensing service response that indicates additional sensing results for one or more additional objects within the sensing area; and generating, based on the additional sensing service response, updated information associated with the spatial map.

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