Sensing node management

Abstract

A wireless device may transmit, to a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) setup complete message comprising: a field indicating that the wireless device is an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) node and an identifier of an ISAC function. The wireless device may further receive, from the ISAC function and after transmitting the RRC setup complete message, authorization information indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. The wireless device may further receive, from the base station and after receiving the authorization information, a request for radio access capabilities for ISAC. The wireless device may then transmit, to the base station and in response to the request, information indicating the radio access capabilities for ISAC.

Description

Docket No.: 25-1060PCTTITLESensing Node ManagementCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 777,158, filed March 25, 2025, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings.

[0003] FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate example mobile communication networks in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0004] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate a New Radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol stack.

[0005] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG.2A.

[0006] FIG. 4A illustrates an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

[0007] FIG. 4B illustrates an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU.

[0008] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B respectively illustrate a mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels for the downlink and uplink.

[0009] FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE.

[0010] FIG. 7 illustrates an example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped.

[0011] FIG. 8 illustrates an example configuration of a slot in the time and frequency domain for an NR carrier.

[0012] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier.

[0013] FIG. 10A illustrates three carrier aggregation configurations with two component carriers.

[0014] FIG. 10B illustrates an example of how aggregated cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups.

[0015] FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an SS / PBCH block structure and location.

[0016] FIG. 11 B illustrates an example of CSI-RSs that are mapped in the time and frequency domains.

[0017] FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B respectively illustrate examples of three downlink and uplink beam management procedures.

[0018] FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, and FIG. 13C respectively illustrate a four-step contention-based random access procedure, a two-step contention-free random access procedure, and another two-step random access procedure.

[0019] FIG. 14A illustrates an example of CORESET configurations for a bandwidth part.

[0020] FIG. 14B illustrates an example of a CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing.

[0021] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station

[0022] FIG. 16A, FIG. 16B, FIG. 16C, and FIG. 16D illustrate example structures for uplink and downlink transmission.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0023] FIG. 17 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 18A and FIG. 18B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 19 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 20 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 21 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 22 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 23 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 24 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 25A, FIG. 25B, and FIG. 25C illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 26 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B illustrate aspects of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 28 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 29 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 30 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 31 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 32 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 33 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 34 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 35 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 36 illustrates an aspect of an example embodiment according to the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] In the present disclosure, various embodiments are presented as examples of how the disclosed techniques may be implemented and / or how the disclosed techniques may be practiced in environments and scenarios. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the scope. In fact, after reading the description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art how to implement alternative embodiments. The present embodiments should not be limited by any of the described exemplary embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Limitations, features, and / or elements from the disclosed example embodiments may be combined to create further embodiments within the scope of the disclosure. Any figures which highlight the functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposes only. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than that shown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may be re-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

[0044] Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosed mechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example, in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, a combinationDocket No.: 25-1060PCTof the above, and / or the like. Example criteria may be based, at least in part, on for example, wireless device or network node configurations, traffic load, initial system set up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of the above, and / or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, various example embodiments may be applied.Therefore, it may be possible to implement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosed protocols.

[0045] A base station may communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wireless devices and / or base stations may support multiple technologies, and / or multiple releases of the same technology. Wireless devices may have some specific capability(ies) depending on wireless device category and / or capabil ity(ies). When this disclosure refers to a base station communicating with a plurality of wireless devices, this disclosure may refer to a subset of the total wireless devices in a coverage area. This disclosure may refer to, for example, a plurality of wireless devices of a given LTE or 5G release with a given capability and in a given sector of the base station. The plurality of wireless devices in this disclosure may refer to a selected plurality of wireless devices, and / or a subset of total wireless devices in a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods, and / or the like. There may be a plurality of base stations or a plurality of wireless devices in a coverage area that may not comply with the disclosed methods, for example, those wireless devices or base stations may perform based on older releases of LTE or 5G technology.

[0046] In this disclosure, "a” and “an” and similar phrases are to be interpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” Similarly, any term that ends with the suffix “(s)” is to be interpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this disclosure, the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example.” In other words, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term “may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed by one or more of the various embodiments. The terms “comprises” and “consists of”, as used herein, enumerate one or more components of the element being described. The term “comprises” is interchangeable with “includes” and does not exclude unenumerated components from being included in the element being described. By contrast, “consists of’ provides a complete enumeration of the one or more components of the element being described. The term “based on”, as used herein, should be interpreted as “based at least in part on” rather than, for example, “based solely on”. The term “and / or” as used herein represents any possible combination of enumerated elements. For example, “A, B, and / or C” may represent A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C.

[0047] If A and B are sets and every element of A is an element of B, A is called a subset of B. In this specification, only non-empty sets and subsets are considered. For example, possible subsets of B = {celH , cell2} are: {celH }, {cell2}, and {celH, cell2}. The phrase “based on” (or equally “based at least on”) is indicative that the phrase following the term “based on” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “in response to” (or equally “in response at least to”) is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “in response to” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “depending on” (or equally “depending at least to”) is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “depending on” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “employing / using” (or equally “employing / using at least') is indicative that the phrase following the phraseDocket No.: 25-1060PCT“employing / using” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.

[0048] The term configured may relate to the capacity of a device whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. Configured may refer to specific settings in a device that affect or implement the operational characteristics of the device whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. In other words, the hardware, software, firmware, registers, memory values, and / or the like may be "configured” within a device, whether the device is in an operational or nonoperational state, to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as “a control message to cause in a device” may mean that a control message has parameters that may be used to configure specific characteristics or may be used to implement certain actions in the device, whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state.

[0049] In this disclosure, parameters (or equally called, fields, or Information elements: lEs) may comprise one or more information objects, and an information object may comprise one or more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprises parameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, and parameter (IE) K comprises parameter (information element) J. Then, for example, N comprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment, when one or more messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it implies that a parameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one of the one or more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one or more messages.

[0050] Many features presented are described as being optional through the use of “may” or the use of parentheses. For the sake of brevity and legibility, the present disclosure does not explicitly recite each and every permutation that may be obtained by choosing from the set of optional features. The present disclosure is to be interpreted as explicitly disclosing all such permutations. For example, a system described as having three optional features may be embodied in seven ways, namely with just one of the three possible features, with any two of the three possible features or with three of the three possible features.

[0051] Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may be implemented as modules. A module is defined here as an element that performs a defined function and has a defined interface to other elements. The modules described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware, firmware, wetware (e.g. hardware with a biological element) ora combination thereof, which may be behaviorally equivalent. For example, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in a computer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (such as C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, MATLAB or the like) or a modeling / simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, or LabVI E WMathScript. It may be possible to implement modules using physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmable analog, digital and / or quantum hardware. Examples of programmable hardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed using languages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDs are often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) suchDocket No.: 25-1060PCTas VHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configure connections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionality on a programmable device. The mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achieve the result of a functional module.

[0052] FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a mobile communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The mobile communication network 100 may be, for example, a public land mobile network (PLMN) run by a network operator. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the mobile communication network 100 includes a core network (CN) 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a wireless device 106.

[0053] The CN 102 may provide the wireless device 106 with an interface to one or more data networks (DNs), such as public DNs (e.g., the Internet), private DNs, and / or intra-operator DNs. As part of the interface functionality, the CN 102 may set up end-to-end connections between the wireless device 106 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the wireless device 106, and provide charging functionality.

[0054] The RAN 104 may connect the CN 102 to the wireless device 106 through radio communications over an air interface. As part of the radio communications, the RAN 104 may provide scheduling, radio resource management, and retransmission protocols. The communication direction from the RAN 104 to the wireless device 106 over the air interface is known as the downlink and the communication direction from the wireless device 106 to the RAN 104 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using frequency division duplexing (FDD), time-division duplexing (TDD), and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0055] The term wireless device may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass any mobile device or fixed (non-mobile) device for which wireless communication is needed or usable. For example, a wireless device may be a telephone, smart phone, tablet, computer, laptop, sensor, meter, wearable device, Internet of Things (loT) device, vehicle roadside unit (RSU), relay node, automobile, and / or any combination thereof. The term wireless device encompasses other terminology, including user equipment (UE), user terminal (UT), access terminal (AT), mobile station, handset, wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU), and / or wireless communication device.

[0056] The RAN 104 may include one or more base stations (not shown). The term base station may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass a Node B (associated with UMTS and / or 3G standards), an Evolved Node B (eNB, associated with E-UTRA and / or 4G standards), a remote radio head (RRH), a baseband processing unit coupled to one or more RRHs, a repeater node or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node, a Next Generation Evolved Node B (ng-eNB), a Generation Node B (g N B, associated with NR and / or 5G standards), an access point (AP, associated with, for example, Wi-Fi or any other suitable wireless communication standard), and / or any combination thereof. A base station may comprise at least one g N B Central Unit (gNB-CU) and at least one a g NB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU).

[0057] A base station included in the RAN 104 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the wireless device 106 over the air interface. For example, one or more of the base stations may include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). The size of a cell may be determined by a range at which aDocket No.: 25-1060PCTreceiver (e.g., a base station receiver) can successfully receive the transmissions from a transmitter (e.g., a wireless device transmitter) operating in the cell. Together, the cells of the base stations may provide radio coverage to the wireless device 106 over a wide geographic area to support wireless device mobility.

[0058] In addition to three-sector sites, other implementations of base stations are possible. For example, one or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 may be implemented as a sectored site with more or less than three sectors. One or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 may be implemented as an access point, as a baseband processing unit coupled to several remote radio heads (RRHs), and / or as a repeater or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node. A baseband processing unit coupled to RRHs may be part of a centralized or cloud RAN architecture, where the baseband processing unit may be either centralized in a pool of baseband processing units or virtualized. A repeater node may amplify and rebroadcast a radio signal received from a donor node A relay node may perform the same / similar functions as a repeater node but may decode the radio signal received from the donor node to remove noise before amplifying and rebroadcasting the radio signal.

[0059] The RAN 104 may be deployed as a homogenous network of macrocell base stations that have similar antenna patterns and similar high-level transmit powers. The RAN 104 may be deployed as a heterogeneous network. In heterogeneous networks, small cell base stations may be used to provide small coverage areas, for example, coverage areas that overlap with the comparatively larger coverage areas provided by macrocell base stations. The small coverage areas may be provided in areas with high data traffic (or so-called “hotspots”) or in areas with weak macrocell coverage. Examples of small cell base stations include, in order of decreasing coverage area, microcell base stations, picocell base stations, and femtocell base stations or home base stations.

[0060] The Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in 1998 to provide global standardization of specifications for mobile communication networks similar to the mobile communication network 100 in FIG. 1A. To date, 3GPP has produced specifications for three generations of mobile networks: a third generation (3G) network known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a fourth generation (4G) network known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and a fifth generation (5G) network known as 5G System (5GS) Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the RAN of a 3GPP 5G network, referred to as next-generation RAN (NG-RAN). Embodiments may be applicable to RANs of other mobile communication networks, such as the RAN 104 in FIG. 1 A, the RANs of earlier 3G and 4G networks, and those of future networks yet to be specified (e.g., a 3GPP 6G network). NG-RAN implements 5G radio access technology known as New Radio (NR) and may be provisioned to implement 4G radio access technology or other radio access technologies, including non-3GPP radio access technologies.

[0061] FIG. 1 B illustrates another example mobile communication network 150 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Mobile communication network 150 may be, for example, a PLMN run by a network operator. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, mobile communication network 150 includes a 5G core network (5G-CN) 152, an NG-RAN 154, and UEs 156A and 156B (collectively UEs 156). These components may be implemented and operate in the same or similar manner as corresponding components described with respect to FIG. 1A.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0062] The 5G-CN 152 provides the UEs 156 with an interface to one or more DNs, such as public DNs (e.g., the Internet), private DNs, and / or intra-operator DNs. As part of the interface functionality, the 5G-CN 152 may set up end-to-end connections between the UEs 156 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the UEs 156, and provide charging functionality. Compared to the CN of a 3GPP 4G network, the basis of the 5G-CN 152 may be a service-based architecture. This means that the architecture of the nodes making up the 5G-CN 152 may be defined as network functions that offer services via interfaces to other network functions. The network functions of the 5G-CN 152 may be implemented in several ways, including as network elements on dedicated or shared hardware, as software instances running on dedicated or shared hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud-based platform).

[0063] As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the 5G-CN 152 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 158A and a User Plane Function (UPF) 158B, which are shown as one component AMF / U PF 158 in FIG. 1B for ease of illustration. The UPF 158B may serve as a gateway between the NG-RAN 154 and the one or more DNs. The UPF 158B may perform functions such as packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and user plane policy rule enforcement, traffic usage reporting, uplink classification to support routing of traffic flows to the one or more DNs, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, uplink / downlink rate enforcement, and uplink traffic verification), downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 158B may serve as an anchor point for intra- / i nter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) mobility, an external protocol (or packet) data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to the one or more DNs, and / or a branching point to support a multi-homed PDU session. The UEs 156 may be configured to receive services through a PDU session, which is a logical connection between a UEanda DN.

[0064] The AMF 158A may perform functions such as Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling termination, NAS signaling security, Access Stratum (AS) security control, inter-CN node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (e.g., control and execution of paging retransmission), registration area management, intra-system and inter-system mobility support, access authentication, access authorization including checking of roaming rights, mobility management control (subscription and policies), network slicing support, and / or session management function (SME) selection. NAS may refer to the functionality operating between a CN and a UE, and AS may refer to the functionality operating between the UE and a RAN.

[0065] The 5G-CN 152 may include one or more additional network functions that are not shown in FIG. 1 B for the sake of clarity. For example, the 5G-CN 152 may include one or more of a Session Management Function (SMF), an NR Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), an Application Function (AF), and / or an Authentication Server Function (AUSF).

[0066] The NG-RAN 154 may connect the 5G-CN 152 to the UEs 156 through radio communications over the air interface. The NG-RAN 154 may include one or more g NBs, illustrated as g NB 160A and g NB 160B (collectively gNBs 160) and / or one or more ng-eNBs, illustrated as ng-eNB 162A and ng-eNB 162B (collectively ng-eNBs 162). The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 may be more generically referred to as base stations. The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 mayDocket No.: 25-1060PCTinclude one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the UEs 156 over an air interface. For example, one or more of the gNBs 160 and / or one or more of the ng-eNBs 162 may include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). Together, the cells of the gNBs 160 and the ng-eNBs 162 may provide radio coverage to the UEs 156 over a wide geographic area to support UE mobility.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 1B, the gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the 5G-CN 152 by means of an NG interface and to other base stations by an Xn interface. The NG and Xn interfaces may be established using direct physical connections and / or indirect connections over an underlying transport network, such as an internet protocol (IP) transport network. The gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the UEs 156 by means of a Uu interface. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1 B, g NB 160A may be connected to the UE 156A by means of a Uu interface. The NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces are associated with a protocol stack. The protocol stacks associated with the interfaces may be used by the network elements in FIG. 1 B to exchange data and signaling messages and may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may handle data of interest to a user. The control plane may handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

[0068] The gNBs 160 and / or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to one or more AMF / UPF functions of the 5G-CN 152, such as the AMF / UPF 158, by means of one or more NG interfaces. For example, the gNB 160A maybe connected to the UPF 158B of the AMF / UPF 158 by means of an NG-User plane (NG-U) interface. The NG-U interface may provide delivery (e.g., non-guaranteed delivery) of user plane PDUs between the gNB 160A and the UPF 158B. The gNB 160A may be connected to the AMF 158A by means of an NG-Control plane (NG-C) interface. The NG-C interface may provide, for example, NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, transport of NAS messages, paging, PDU session management, and configuration transfer and / or warning message transmission.

[0069] The gNBs 160 may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UEs 156 over the Uu interface. For example, the gNB 160A may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156A over a Uu interface associated with a first protocol stack. The ng-eNBs 162 may provide Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UEs 156 over a Uu interface, where E-UTRA refers to the 3GPP 4G radio-access technology. For example, the ng-eNB 162B may provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE 156B over a Uu interface associated with a second protocol stack.

[0070] The 5G-CN 152 was described as being configured to handle NR and 4G radio accesses. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that it may be possible for NR to connect to a 4G core network in a mode known as “non-standalone operation.” In non-standalone operation, a 4G core network is used to provide (or at least support) control-plane functionality (e.g., initial access, mobility, and paging). Although only one AMF / UPF 158 is shown in FIG. 1 B, one gNB or ng-eNB may be connected to multiple AMF / UPF nodes to provide redundancy and / or to load share across the multiple AMF / UPF nodes.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0071] As discussed, an interface (e.g., Uu, Xn, and NG interfaces) between the network elements in FIG. 1B may be associated with a protocol stack that the network elements use to exchange data and signaling messages. A protocol stack may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may handle data of interest to a user, and the control plane may handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

[0072] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate examples of NR user plane and NR control plane protocol stacks for the Uu interface that lies between a UE 210 and a gNB 220. The protocol stacks illustrated in FIG. 2A and FIG.2B may be the same or similar to those used for the Uu interface between, for example, the UE 156A and the gNB 160A shown in FIG. 1B.

[0073] FIG. 2A illustrates a NR user plane protocol stack comprising five layers implemented in the UE 210 and the gNB 220. At the bottom of the protocol stack, physical layers (PHYs) 211 and 221 may provide transport services to the higher layers of the protocol stack and may correspond to layer 1 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The next four protocols above PHYs 211 and 221 comprise media access control layers (MACs) 212 and 222, radio link control layers (RLCs) 213 and 223, packet data convergence protocol layers (PDCPs) 214 and 224, and service data application protocol layers (SDAPs) 215 and 225. Together, these four protocols may make up layer 2, or the data link layer, of the OSI model.

[0074] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack. Starting from the top of FIG. 2A and FIG.3, the SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform QoS flow handling. The UE 210 may receive services through a PDU session, which may be a logical connection between the UE 210 and a DN. The PDU session may have one or more QoS flows. A UPF of a CN (e.g., the UPF 158B) may map IP packets to the one or more QoS flows of the PDU session based on QoS requirements (e.g., in terms of delay, data rate, and / or error rate). The SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform mapping / de-mapping between the one or more QoS flows and one or more data radio bearers. The mapping / de-mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers may be determined by the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220. The SDAP 215 at the UE 210 may be informed of the mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers through reflective mapping or control signaling received from the gNB 220. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220 may mark the downlink packets with a QoS flow indicator (QFI), which may be observed by the SDAP 215 at the UE 210 to determine the mapping / de-mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers.

[0075] The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform header compression / decompression to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the air interface, ciphering / deciphering to prevent unauthorized decoding of data transmitted over the air interface, and integrity protection (to ensure control messages originate from intended sources. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform retransmissions of undelivered packets, in-sequence delivery and reordering of packets, and removal of packets received in duplicate due to, for example, an intra-g NB handover. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform packet duplication to improve the likelihood of the packet being received and, at the receiver, remove any duplicate packets. Packet duplication may be useful for services that require high reliability.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0076] Although not shown in FIG. 3, PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform mapping / de-mapping between a split radio bearer and RLC channels in a dual connectivity scenario. Dual connectivity is a technique that allows a UE to connect to two cells or, more generally, two cell groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). A split bearer is when a single radio bearer, such as one of the radio bearers provided by the PDCPs 214 and 224 as a service to the SDAPs 215 and 225, is handled by cell groups in dual connectivity. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may map / de-map the split radio bearer between RLC channels belonging to cell groups.

[0077] The RLCs 213 and 223 may perform segmentation, retransmission through Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), and removal of duplicate data units received from MACs 212 and 222, respectively. The RLCs 213 and 223 may support three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM); unacknowledged mode (UM); and acknowledged mode (AM). Based on the transmission mode an RLC is operating, the RLC may perform one or more of the noted functions. The RLC configuration may be per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and / or Transmission Time Interval (TTI) durations. As shown in FIG. 3, the RLCs 213 and 223 may provide RLC channels as a service to PDCPs 214 and 224, respectively.

[0078] The MACs 212 and 222 may perform multiplexing / demultiplexing of logical channels and / or mapping between logical channels and transport channels. The multiplexing / demultiplexing may include multiplexing / demultiplexing of data units, belonging to the one or more logical channels, into / from Transport Blocks (TBs) delivered to / from the PHYs 211 and 221. The MAC 222 may be configured to perform scheduling, scheduling information reporting, and priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling. Scheduling may be performed in the g N B 220 (at the MAC 222) for downlink and uplink The MACs 212 and 222 may be configured to perform error correction through Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (e.g. , one HARQ entity per carrier in case of Carrier Aggregation (CA)), priority handling between logical channels of the UE 210 by means of logical channel prioritization, and / or padding. The MACs 212 and 222 may support one or more numerologies and / or transmission timings. In an example, mapping restrictions in a logical channel prioritization may control which numerology and / or transmission timing a logical channel may use. As shown in FIG. 3, the MACs 212 and 222 may provide logical channels as a service to the RLCs 213 and 223.

[0079] The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform mapping of transport channels to physical channels and digital and analog signal processing functions for sending and receiving information over the air interface. These digital and analog signal processing functions may include, for example, coding / decoding and modulation / demodulation. The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform multi-antenna mapping. As shown in FIG.3, the PHYs 211 and 221 may provide one or more transport channels as a service to the MACs 212 and 222.

[0080] FIG. 4A illustrates an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack. FIG. 4A illustrates a downlink data flow of three IP packets (n, n+1, and m) through the NR user plane protocol stack to generate two TBs at the g N B 220. An uplink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack may be similar to the downlink data flow depicted in FIG.4A.

[0081] The downlink data flow of FIG. 4A begins when SDAP 225 receives the three IP packets from one or more QoS flows and maps the three packets to radio bearers. In FIG.4A, the SDAP 225 maps IP packets n and n+1 to a firstDocket No.: 25-1060PCTradio bearer 402 and maps IP packet m to a second radio bearer 404. An SDAP header (labeled with an “H” in FIG. 4A) is added to an IP packet. The data unit from / to a higher protocol layer is referred to as a service data unit (SDU) of the lower protocol layer and the data unit to / from a lower protocol layer is referred to as a protocol data unit (PDU) of the higher protocol layer. As shown in FIG. 4A, the data unit from the SDAP 225 is an SDU of lower protocol layer PDCP 224 and is a PDU of the SDAP 225.

[0082] The remaining protocol layers in FIG. 4A may perform their associated functionality (e.g., with respect to FIG.3), add corresponding headers, and forward their respective outputs to the next lower layer. For example, the PDCP 224 may perform IP-header compression and ciphering and forward its output to the RLC 223. The RLC 223 may optionally perform segmentation (e.g., as shown for IP packet m in FIG.4A) and forward its output to the MAC 222. The MAC 222 may multiplex a number of RLC PDUs and may attach a MAC subheader to an RLC PDU to form a transport block. In NR, the MAC subheaders may be distributed across the MAC PDU, as illustrated in FIG.4A. In LTE, the MAC subheaders may be entirely located at the beginning of the MAC PDU. The NR MAC PDU structure may reduce processing time and associated latency because the MAC PDU subheaders may be computed before the full MAC PDU is assembled.

[0083] FIG. 4B illustrates an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU. The MAC subheader includes: an SDU length field for indicating the length (e.g., in bytes) of the MAC SDU to which the MAC subheader corresponds; a logical channel identifier (LCID) field for identifying the logical channel from which the MAC SDU originated to aid in the demultiplexing process; a flag (F) for indicating the size of the SDU length field; and a reserved bit (R) field for future use.

[0084] FIG. 4B further illustrates MAC control elements (CEs) inserted into the MAC PDU by a MAC, such as MAC 223 or MAC 222. For example, FIG. 4B illustrates two MAC CEs inserted into the MAC PDU. MAC CEs may be inserted at the beginning of a MAC PDU for downlink transmissions (as shown in FIG. 4B) and at the end of a MAC PDU for uplink transmissions. MAC CEs maybe used for in-band control signaling. Example MAC CEs include: scheduling-related MAC CEs, such as buffer status reports and power headroom reports; activation / deactivation MAC CEs, such as those for activation / deactivation of PDCP duplication detection, channel state information (CSI) reporting, sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, and prior configured components; discontinuous reception (DRX) related MAC CEs; timing advance MAC CEs; and random access related MAC CEs. A MAC CE may be preceded by a MAC subheader with a similar format as described for MAC SDUs and may be identified with a reserved value in the LCID field that indicates the type of control information included in the MAC CE.

[0085] Before describing the NR control plane protocol stack, logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels are first described as well as a mapping between the channel types. One or more of the channels may be used to carry out functions associated with the NR control plane protocol stack described later below.

[0086] FIG. 5A and FIG 5B illustrate, for downlink and uplink respectively, a mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels. Information is passed through channels between the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY of the NR protocol stack. A logical channel may be used between the RLC and the MAC and may be classifiedDocket No.: 25-1060PCTas a control channel that carries control and configuration information in the NR control plane or as a traffic channel that carries data in the NR user plane. A logical channel may be classified as a dedicated logical channel that is dedicated to a specific UE or as a common logical channel that may be used by more than one UE. A logical channel may also be defined by the type of information it carries. The set of logical channels defined by NR include, for example:

[0087] - a paging control channel (PCCH) for carrying paging messages used to page a UE whose location is not known to the network on a cell level;

[0088] - a broadcast control channel (BCCH) for carrying system information messages in the form of a master information block (MIB) and several system information blocks (SIBs), wherein the system information messages may be used by the UEs to obtain information about how a cell is configured and how to operate within the cell;

[0089] - a common control channel (CCCH) for carrying control messages together with random access;

[0090] - a dedicated control channel (DCCH) for carrying control messages to / from a specific the UE to configure the UE; and

[0091] - a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) for carrying user data to / from a specific the UE.

[0092] T ransport channels are used between the MAC and PHY layers and may be defined by how the information they carry is transmitted over the air interface. The set of transport channels defined by NR include, for example:

[0093] - a paging channel (PCH) for carrying paging messages that originated from the PCCH;

[0094] - a broadcast channel (BCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCCH;

[0095] - a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages, including the SIBs from the BCCH;

[0096] - an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages; and

[0097] - a random access channel (RACH) for allowing a UE to contact the network without any prior scheduling.

[0098] The PHY may use physical channels to pass information between processing levels of the PHY. A physical channel may have an associated set of time-frequency resources for carrying the information of one or more transport channels. The PHY may generate control information to support the low-level operation of the PHY and provide the control information to the lower levels of the PHY via physical control channels, known as L1 / L2 control channels. The set of physical channels and physical control channels defined by NR include, for example:

[0099] - a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCH;

[0100] - a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages from the DL-SCH, as well as paging messages from the PCH;

[0101] - a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for carrying downlink control information (DCI), which may include downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands;

[0102] - a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and in some instances uplink control information (UCI) as described below;Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0103] - a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for carrying UCI, which may include HARQ acknowledgments, channel quality indicators (CQI), pre-coding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (Rl), and scheduling requests (SR); and

[0104] - a physical random access channel (PRACH) for random access.

[0105] Similar to the physical control channels, the physical layer generates physical signals to support the low-level operation of the physical layer. As shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the physical layer signals defined by NR include: primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), sounding reference signals (SRS), and phase-tracking reference signals (PT-RS). These physical layer signals will be described in greater detail below.

[0106] FIG. 2B illustrates an example NR control plane protocol stack. As shown in FIG. 2B, the NR control plane protocol stack may use the same / similar first four protocol layers as the example NR user plane protocol stack. These four protocol layers include the PHYs 211 and 221, the MACs212 and 222, the RLCs213and 223, and the PDCPs 214 and 224. Instead of having the SDAPs 215 and 225 at the top of the stack as in the NR user plane protocol stack, the NR control plane stack has radio resource controls (RRCs) 216 and 226 and NAS protocols 217 and 237 at the top of the NR control plane protocol stack

[0107] The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 (e.g., the AMF 158A) or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the CN. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 via signaling messages, referred to as NAS messages. There is no direct path between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 through which the NAS messages can be transported. The NAS messages may be transported using the AS of the Uu and NG interfaces. NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality such as authentication, security, connection setup, mobility management, and session management.

[0108] The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the RAN. The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 via signaling messages, referred to as RRC messages. RRC messages may be transmitted between the UE 210 and the RAN using signaling radio bearers and the same / similar PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY protocol layers. The MAC may multiplex control-plane and user-plane data into the same transport block (TB). The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality such as: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by the CN or the RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE 210 and the RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers and data radio bearers; mobility functions; QoS management functions; the UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure (RLF); and / or NAS message transfer. As part of establishing an RRC connection, RRCs 216 and 226 may establish an RRC context, which may involve configuring parameters for communication between the UE 210 and the RAN.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0109] FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE. The UE may be the same or similar to the wireless device 106 depicted in FIG. 1 A, the UE 210 depicted in FIG. 2Aand FIG.2B, or any other wireless device described in the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a UE may be in at least one of three RRC states: RRC connected 602 (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED), RRC idle 604 (e.g., RRC_I DUE), and RRC inactive 606 (e.g.,RRC-INACTIVE).

[0110] In RRC connected 602, the UE has an established RRC context and may have at least one RRC connection with a base station. The base station may be similar to one of the one or more base stations included in the RAN 104 depicted in FIG. 1A, one of the gNBs 160 or ng-eNBs 162 depicted in FIG. 1B, the gNB 220 depicted in FIG. 2Aand FIG. 2B, or any other base station described in the present disclosure. The base station with which the UE is connected may have the RRC context for the UE. The RRC context, referred to as the UE context, may comprise parameters for communication between the UE and the base station. These parameters may include, for example: one or more AS contexts; one or more radio link configuration parameters; bearer configuration information (e.g., relating to a data radio bearer, signaling radio bearer, logical channel, QoS flow, and / or PDU session); security information; and / or PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and / or SDAP layer configuration information. While in RRC connected 602, mobility of the UE may be managed by the RAN (e.g., the RAN 104 or the NG-RAN 154). The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells and report these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE. The UE’s serving base station may request a handover to a cell of one of the neighboring base stations based on the reported measurements. The RRC state may transition from RRC connected 602 to RRC idle 604 through a connection release procedure 608 or to RRC inactive 606 through a connection inactivation procedure 610.

[0111] In RRC idle 604, an RRC context may not be established for the UE. In RRC idle 604, the UE may not have an RRC connection with the base station. While in RRC idle 604, the UE may be in a sleep state for the majority of the time (e.g., to conserve battery power). The UE may wake up periodically (e.g., once in every discontinuous reception cycle) to monitor for paging messages from the RAN. Mobility of the UE maybe managed by the UE through a procedure known as cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602 through a connection establishment procedure 612, which may involve a random access procedure as discussed in greater detail below.

[0112] In RRC inactive 606, the RRC context previously established is maintained in the UE and the base station. This allows for a fast transition to RRC connected 602 with reduced signaling overhead as compared to the transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602. While in RRC inactive 606, the UE may be in a sleep state and mobility of the UE may be managed by the UE through cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC inactive 606 to RRC connected 602 through a connection resume procedure 614 or to RRC idle 604 though a connection release procedure 616 that may be the same as or similar to connection release procedure 608.

[0113] An RRC state may be associated with a mobility management mechanism. In RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606, mobility is managed by the UE through cell reselection. The purpose of mobility management in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 is to allow the network to be able to notify the UE of an event via a paging message without having toDocket No.: 25-1060PCTbroadcast the paging message over the entire mobile communications network. The mobility management mechanism used in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 may allow the network to track the UE on a cell-group level so that the paging message may be broadcast over the cells of the cell group that the UE currently resides within instead of the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanisms for RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 track the UE on a cell-group level. They may do so using different granularities of grouping. For example, there may be three levels of cell-grouping granularity: individual cells; cells within a RAN area identified by a RAN area identifier (RAI); and cells within a group of RAN areas, referred to as a tracking area and identified by a tracking area identifier (TAI).

[0114] Tracking areas may be used to track the UE at the CN level. The CN (e.g., the CN 102 or the 5G-CN 152) may provide the UE with a list of TAIs associated with a UE registration area. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell associated with a TAI not included in the list of TAIs associated with the UE registration area, the UE may perform a registration update with the CN to allow the CN to update the UE's location and provide the UE with a new the UE registration area.

[0115] RAN areas may be used to track the UE at the RAN level. For a UE in RRC inactive 606 state, the UE may be assigned a RAN notification area A RAN notification area may comprise one or more cell identities, a list of RAIs, or a list of TAIs. In an example, a base station may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. In an example, a cell may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell not included in the RAN notification area assigned to the UE, the UE may perform a notification area update with the RAN to update the UE's RAN notification area.

[0116] A base station storing an RRC context for a UE or a last serving base station of the UE may be referred to as an anchor base station. An anchor base station may maintain an RRC context for the UE at least during a period of time that the UE stays in a RAN notification area of the anchor base station and / or during a period of time that the UE stays in RRC inactive 606.

[0117] AgNB, such as gNBs 160 in FIG. 1B, maybe split into two parts: a central unit (gNB-CU), and one or more distributed units (gNB-DU). A gNB-CU maybe coupled to one or more gNB-DUs using an F1 interface. The gNB-CU may comprise the RRC, the PDCP, and the SDAP. A gNB-DU may comprise the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY.

[0118] In NR, the physical signals and physical channels (discussed with respect to FIG.5A and FIG. 5B) may be mapped onto orthogonal frequency divisional multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. OFDM Isa multicarrier communication scheme that transmits data over F orthogonal subcarriers (or tones). Before transmission, the data may be mapped to a series of complex symbols (e.g., M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) or M-phase shift keying (M-PSK) symbols), referred to as source symbols, and divided into F parallel symbol streams. The F parallel symbol streams may be treated as though they are in the frequency domain and used as inputs to an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block that transforms them into the time domain. The IFFT block may take in F source symbols at a time, one from each of the F parallel symbol streams, and use each source symbol to modulate the amplitude and phase of one of F sinusoidal basis functions that correspond to the F orthogonal subcarriers. The output of the IFFT block may be FDocket No.: 25-1060PCTtime-domain samples that represent the summation of the F orthogonal subcarriers The F time-domain samples may form a single OFDM symbol. After some processing (e.g. , addition of a cyclic prefix) and up-conversion, an OFDM symbol provided by the IFFT block maybe transmitted over the air interface on a carrier frequency. The F parallel symbol streams may be mixed using an FFT block before being processed by the IFFT block. This operation produces Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)-precoded OFDM symbols and may be used by UEs in the uplink to reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Inverse processing may be performed on the OFDM symbol at a receiver using an FFT block to recover the data mapped to the source symbols.

[0119] FIG. 7 illustrates an example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped. An NR frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN). The SFN may repeat with a period of 1024 frames. As illustrated, one NR frame may be 10 milliseconds (ms) in duration and may include 10 subframes that are 1 ms in duration. A subframe may be divided into slots that include, for example, 14 OFDM symbols per slot.

[0120] The duration of a slot may depend on the numerology used for the OFDM symbols of the slot. In NR, a flexible numerology is supported to accommodate different cell deployments (e.g., cells with carrier frequencies below 1 GHz up to cells with carrier frequencies in the mm-wave range). A numerology may be defined in terms of subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration. For a numerology in NR, subcarrier spacings may be scaled up by powers of two from a baseline subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and cyclic prefix durations may be scaled down by powers of two from a baseline cyclic prefix duration of 4.7 ps. For example, NR defines numerologies with the following subcarrier spacing / cyclic prefix duration combinations: 15 kHz / 4.7 ps; 30 kHz / 2.3 ps; 60 kHz / 1.2 ps; 120 kHz / 0.59 ps; and 240 kHz / 0.29 ps.

[0121] A slot may have a fixed number of OFDM symbols (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols). A numerology with a higher subcarrier spacing has a shorter slot duration and, correspondingly, more slots per subframe. FIG. 7 illustrates this numerology-dependent slot duration and slots-per-subframe transmission structure (the numerology with a subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz is not shown in FIG.7 for ease of illustration). A subframe in NR may be used as a numerologyindependent time reference, while a slot may be used as the unit upon which uplink and downlink transmissions are scheduled. To support low latency, scheduling in NR may be decoupled from the slot duration and start at any OFDM symbol and last for as many symbols as needed for a transmission. These partial slot transmissions may be referred to as mini-slot or subslot transmissions.

[0122] FIG. 8 illustrates an example configuration of a slot in the time and frequency domain for an NR carrier The slot includes resource elements (REs) and resource blocks (RBs). An RE is the smallest physical resource in NR. An RE spans one OFDM symbol in the time domain by one subcarrier in the frequency domain as shown in FIG. 8. An RB spans twelve consecutive REs in the frequency domain as shown in FIG. 8. An NR carrier may be limited to a width of 275 RBs or 275x12 = 3300 subcarriers. Such a limitation, if used, may limit the NR carrier to 50, 100, 200, and 400 MHz for subcarrier spacings of 15, 30, 60, and 120 kHz, respectively, where the 400 MHz bandwidth may be set based on a 400 MHz per carrier bandwidth limit.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0123] FIG. 8 illustrates a single numerology being used across the entire bandwidth of the NR carrier. In other example configurations, multiple numerologies may be supported on the same carrier.

[0124] N may support wide carrier bandwidths (e.g., up to 400 MHz for a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz). Not all UEs may be able to receive the full carrier bandwidth (e.g., due to hardware limitations). Also, receiving the full carrier bandwidth may be prohibitive in terms of UE power consumption. In an example, to reduce power consumption and / or for other purposes, a UE may adapt the size of the UE's receive bandwidth based on the amount of traffic the UE is scheduled to receive. This is referred to as bandwidth adaptation.

[0125] NR defines bandwidth parts (BWPs) to support UEs not capable of receiving the full carrier bandwidth and to support bandwidth adaptation. In an example, a BWP may be defined by a subset of contiguous RBs on a carrier. A UE may be configured (e.g., via RRC layer) with one or more downlink BWPs and one or more uplink BWPs per serving cell (e.g., up to four downlink BWPs and up to four uplink BWPs per serving cell). At a given time, one or more of the configured BWPs for a serving cell may be active. These one or more BWPs may be referred to as active BWPs of the serving cell. When a serving cell is configured with a secondary uplink carrier, the serving cell may have one or more first active BWPs in the uplink carrier and one or more second active BWPs in the secondary uplink carrier.

[0126] For unpaired spectra, a downlink BWP from a set of configured downlink BWPs may be linked with an uplink BWP from a set of configured uplink BWPs if a downlink BWP index of the downlink BWP and an uplink BWP index of the uplink BWP are the same. For unpaired spectra, a UE may expect that a center frequency for a downlink BWP is the same as a center frequency for an uplink BWP.

[0127] For a downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs on a primary cell (PCell), a base station may configure a UE with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) for at least one search space. A search space is a set of locations in the time and frequency domains where the UE may find control information. The search space may be a UE-specific search space or a common search space (potentially usable by a plurality of UEs). For example, a base station may configure a UE with a common search space, on a PCell or on a primary secondary cell (PSCell), in an active downlink BWP.

[0128] For an uplink BWP in a set of configured uplink BWPs, a BS may configure a UE with one or more resource sets for one or more PUCCH transmissions. A UE may receive downlink receptions (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH) in a downlink BWP according to a configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration) for the downlink BWP. The UE may transmit uplink transmissions (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix length for the uplink BWP).

[0129] One or more BWP indicator fields may be provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI). A value of a BWP indicator field may indicate which BWP in a set of configured BWPs is an active downlink BWP for one or more downlink receptions. The value of the one or more BWP indicator fields may indicate an active uplink BWP for one or more uplink transmissions.

[0130] A base station may semi-statical ly configure a UE with a default downlink BWP within a set of configured downlink BWPs associated with a PCell. If the base station does not provide the default downlink BWP to the UE, theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTdefault downlink BWP may be an initial active downlink BWP. The UE may determine which BWP is the initial active downlink BWP based on a CORESET configuration obtained using the PBCH.

[0131] A base station may configure a UE with a BWP inactivity timer value for a PCell. The UE may start or restart a BWP inactivity timer at any appropriate time. For example, the UE may start or restart the BWP inactivity timer (a) when the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP other than a default downlink BWP for a paired spectra operation; or (b) when a UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP or active uplink BWP other than a default downlink BWP or uplink BWP for an unpaired spectra operation. If the UE does not detect DCI during an interval of time (e.g. , 1 ms or 0.5 ms), the UE may run the BWP inactivity timer toward expiration (for example, increment from zero to the BWP inactivity timer value, or decrement from the BWP inactivity timer value to zero). When the BWP inactivity timer expires, the UE may switch from the active downlink BWP to the default downlink BWP.

[0132] In an example, a base station may semi-statical ly configure a UE with one or more BWPs. A UE may switch an active BWP from a first BWP to a second BWP in response to receiving a DCI indicating the second BWP as an active BWP and / or in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer (e.g., if the second BWP is the default BWP).

[0133] Downlink and uplink BWP switching (where BWP switching refers to switching from a currently active BWP to a not currently active BWP) may be performed independently in paired spectra. In unpaired spectra, downlink and uplink BWP switching may be performed simultaneously. Switching between configured BWPs may occur based on RRC signaling, DCI, expiration of a BWP inactivity timer, and / or an initiation of random access.

[0134] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier. A UE configured with the three BWPs may switch from one BWP to another BWP ata switching point. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the BWPs include: a BWP 902 with a bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; a BWP 904 with a bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; and a BWP 906 with a bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The BWP 902 may be an initial active BWP, and the BWP 904 may be a default BWP. The UE may switch between BWPs at switching points. In the example of FIG. 9, the UE may switch from the BWP 902 to the BWP 904 at a switching point 908. The switching at the switching point 908 may occur for any suitable reason, for example, in response to an expiry of a BWP inactivity timer (indicating switching to the default BWP) and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 910 from active BWP 904 to BWP 906 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 906 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 912 from active BWP 906 to BWP 904 in response to an expiry of a BWP inactivity timer and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 914 from active BWP 904 to BWP 902 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 902 as the active BWP.

[0135] If a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures for switching BWPs on a secondary cell maybe the same / similar as those on a primary cell For example, the UE may use the timer value and the default downlink BWP for the secondary cell in the same / similar manner as the UE would use these values for a primary cell.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0136] To provide for greater data rates, two or more carriers can be aggregated and simultaneously transmitted to / from the same UE using carrier aggregation (CA). The aggregated carriers in CA may be referred to as component carriers (CCs). When CA is used, there are a number of serving cells for the UE, one for a CC. The CCs may have three configurations in the frequency domain.

[0137] FIG. 10A illustrates the three CA configurations with two CCs. In the intraband, contiguous configuration 1002, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are located directly adjacent to each other within the frequency band. In the intraband, non-contiguous configuration 1004, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are separated in the frequency band by a gap. In the interband configuration 1006, the two CCs are located in frequency bands (frequency band A and frequency band B).

[0138] In an example, up to 32 CCs may be aggregated. The aggregated CCs may have the same or different bandwidths, subcarrier spacing, and / or duplexing schemes (TDD or FDD). A serving cell for a UE using CA may have a downlink CC. For FDD, one or more uplink CCs may be optionally configured for a serving cell. The ability to aggregate more downlink carriers than uplink carriers may be useful, for example, when the UE has more data traffic in the downlink than in the uplink.

[0139] When CA is used, one of the aggregated cells for a UE may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell). The PCell may be the serving cell that the UE initially connects to at RRC connection establishment, reestablishment, and / or handover. The PCell may provide the UE with NAS mobility information and the security input. UEs may have different PCells. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be referred to as the downlink primary CC (DL PCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be referred to as the uplink primary CC (UL PCC). The other aggregated cells for the UE may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells) . In an example, the SCells may be configured after the PCell is configured for the UE. For example, an SCell may be configured through an RRC Connection Reconfiguration procedure. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to an SCell may be referred to as a downlink secondary CC (DL SCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the SCell may be referred to as the uplink secondary CC (UL SCC).

[0140] Configured SCells for a UE may be activated and deactivated based on, for example, traffic and channel conditions. Deactivation of an SCell may mean that PDCCH and PDSCH reception on the SCell is stopped and PUSCH, SRS, and CQI transmissions on the SCell are stopped. Configured SCells maybe activated and deactivated using a MAC CE with respect to FIG. 4B. For example, a MAC CE may use a bitmap (e.g., one bit per SCell) to indicate which SCells (e.g., in a subset of configured SCells) for the UE are activated or deactivated. Configured SCells may be deactivated in response to an expiration of an SCell deactivation timer (e.g., one SCell deactivation timer per SCell).

[0141] Downlink control information, such as scheduling assignments and scheduling grants, for a cell may be transmitted on the cell corresponding to the assignments and grants, which is known as self-scheduling. The DCI for the cell may be transmitted on another cell, which is known as cross-carrier scheduling. Uplink control information (e.g., HARQ acknowledgments and channel state feedback, such as CQI, PMI, and / or Rl) for aggregated cells may beDocket No.: 25-1060PCTtransmitted on the PUCCH of the PCell. For a larger number of aggregated downlink CCs, the PUCCH of the PCell may become overloaded. Cells may be divided into multiple PUCCH groups.

[0142] FIG. 10B illustrates an example of how aggregated cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups. A PUCCH group 1010 and a PUCCH group 1050 may include one or more downlink CCs, respectively. In the example of FIG. 10B, the PUCCH group 1010 includes three downlink CCs: a PCell 1011, an SCell 1012, and an SCell 1013. The PUCCH group 1050 includes three downlink CCs in the present example: a PCell 1051, an SCell 1052, and an SCell 1053. One or more uplink CCs may be configured as a PCell 1021, an SCell 1022, and an SCell 1023. One or more other uplink CCs may be configured as a primary SCell (PSCell) 1061, an SCell 1062, and an SCell 1063. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of the PUCCH group 1010, shown as UC11031, UC11032, and UC11033, maybe transmitted in the uplink of the PCell 1021. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of the PUCCH group 1050, shown as UC11071, UC11072, and UC11073, maybe transmitted in the uplink of the PSCell 1061. In an example, if the aggregated cells depicted in FIG. 10B were not divided into the PUCCH group 1010 and the PUCCH group 1050, a single uplink PCell to transmit UCI relating to the downlink CCs, and the PCell may become overloaded. By dividing transmissions of UCI between the PCell 1021 and the PSCell 1061, overloading may be prevented.

[0143] A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier, may be assigned with a physical cell ID and a cell index. The physical cell ID or the cell index may identify a downlink carrier and / or an uplink carrier of the cell, for example, depending on the context in which the physical cell ID is used. A physical cell ID may be determined using a synchronization signal transmitted on a downlink component carrier. A cell index may be determined using RRC messages. In the disclosure, a physical cell ID may be referred to as a carrier ID, and a cell index may be referred to as a carrier index. For example, when the disclosure refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlink carrier, the disclosure may mean the first physical cell ID is for a cell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same / similar concept may apply to, for example, a carrier activation. When the disclosure indicates that a first carrier is activated, the specification may mean that a cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

[0144] In CA, a multi-carrier nature of a PHY may be exposed to a MAC. In an example, a HARQ entity may operate on a serving cell. A transport block may be generated per assignment / grant per serving cell. A transport block and potential HARQ retransmissions of the transport block may be mapped to a serving cell.

[0145] In the downlink, a base station may transmit (e.g., unicast, multicast, and / or broadcast) one or more Reference Signals (RSs) to a UE (e.g., PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS, and / or PT-RS, as shown in FIG.5A). In the uplink, the UE may transmit one or more RSs to the base station (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, and / or SRS, as shown in FIG.5B). The PSS and the SSS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to synchronize the UE to the base station. The PSS and the SSS may be provided in a synchronization signal (SS) I physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block that includes the PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH. The base station may periodically transmit a burst of SS / PBCH blocks.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0146] FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an SS / PBCH block's structure and location. A burst of SS / PBCH blocks may include one or more SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., 4 SS / PBCH blocks, as shown in FIG. 11 A). Bursts may be transmitted periodically (e.g., every 2 frames or 20 ms). A burst may be restricted to a half-frame (e.g., a first half-frame having a duration of 5 ms). It will be understood that FIG. 11 A is an example, and that these parameters (number of SS / PBCH blocks per burst, periodicity of bursts, position of burst within the frame) may be configured based on, for example: a carrier frequency of a cell in which the SS / PBCH block is transmitted; a numerology or subcarrier spacing of the cell; a configuration by the network (e.g., using RRC signaling); or any other suitable factor. In an example, the UE may assume a subcarrier spacing for the SS / PBCH block based on the carrier frequency being monitored, unless the radio network configured the UE to assume a different subcarrier spacing.

[0147] The SS / PBCH block may span one or more OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., 4 OFDM symbols, as shown in the example of FIG. 11A) and may span one or more subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 240 contiguous subcarriers). The PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH may have a common center frequency. The PSS may be transmitted first and may span, for example, 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The SSS may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., two symbols later) and may span 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The PBCH may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., across the next 3 OFDM symbols) and may span 240 subcarriers.

[0148] The location of the SS / PBCH block in the time and frequency domains may not be known to the UE (e.g., if the UE is searching for the cell). To find and select the cell, the UE may monitor a carrier for the PSS. For example, the UE may monitor a frequency location within the carrier. If the PSS is not found after a certain duration (e.g., 20 ms), the UE may search for the PSS at a different frequency location within the carrier, as indicated by a synchronization raster. If the PSS is found at a location in the time and frequency domains, the UE may determine, based on a known structure of the SS / PBCH block, the locations of the SSS and the PBCH, respectively. The SS / PBCH block may be a celldefining SS block (CD-SSB). In an example, a primary cell may be associated with a CD-SSB. The CD-SSB may be located on a synchronization raster. In an example, a cell selection / search and / or reselection may be based on the CD-SSB.

[0149] The SS / PBCH block may be used by the UE to determine one or more parameters of the cell. For example, the UE may determine a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell based on the sequences of the PSS and the SSS, respectively. The UE may determine a location of a frame boundary of the cell based on the location of the SS / PBCH block. For example, the SS / PBCH block may indicate that it has been transmitted in accordance with a transmission pattern, wherein a SS / PBCH block in the transmission pattern is a known distance from the frame boundary.

[0150] The PBCH may use a QPSK modulation and may use forward error correction (FEC). The FEC may use polar coding. One or more symbols spanned by the PBCH may carry one or more DMRSs for demodulation of the PBCH. The PBCH may include an indication of a current system frame number (SFN) of the cell and / or a SS / PBCH block timing index. These parameters may facilitate time synchronization of the UE to the base station. The PBCH may include a master information block (MIB) used to provide the UE with one or more parameters. The MIB may be used by the UE to locate remaining minimum system information (RMSI) associated with the cell. The RMSI may include aDocket No.: 25-1060PCTSystem Information Block Type 1 (SIB1 ). The SIB1 may contain information needed by the UE to access the cell. The UE may use one or more parameters of the MIB to monitor PDCCH, which may be used to schedule PDSCH. The PDSCH may include the SIB1. The SIB1 may be decoded using parameters provided in the MIB. The PBCH may indicate an absence of SIB1. Based on the PBCH indicating the absence of SIB1 , the UE may be pointed to a frequency. The UE may search for an SS / PBCH block at the frequency to which the UE is pointed.

[0151] The UE may assume that one or more SS / PBCH blocks transmitted with a same SS / PBCH block index are quasi co-located (QCLed) (e.g., having the same / similar Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and / or spatial Rx parameters). The UE may not assume QCL for SS / PBCH block transmissions having different SS / PBCH block indices.

[0152] SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., those within a half-frame) may be transmitted in spatial directions (e.g., using different beams that span a coverage area of the cell). In an example, a first SS / PBCH block may be transmitted in a first spatial direction using a first beam, and a second SS / PBCH block may be transmitted in a second spatial direction using a second beam.

[0153] In an example, within a frequency span of a carrier, a base station may transmit a plurality of SS / PBCH blocks. In an example, a first PCI of a first SS / PBCH block of the plurality of SS / PBCH blocks may be different from a second PCI of a second SS / PBCH block of the plurality of SS / PBCH blocks. The PCIs of SS / PBCH blocks transmitted in different frequency locations may be different or the same.

[0154] The CSI-RS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to acquire channel state information (CSI). The base station may configure the UE with one or more CSI-RSs for channel estimation or any other suitable purpose. The base station may configure a UE with one or more of the same / similar CSI-RSs. The UE may measure the one or more CSI-RSs. The UE may estimate a downlink channel state and / or generate a CSI report based on the measuring of the one or more downlink CSI-RSs. The UE may provide the CSI report to the base station. The base station may use feedback provided by the UE (e.g., the estimated downlink channel state) to perform link adaptation.

[0155] The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. A CSI-RS resource may be associated with a location in the time and frequency domains and a periodicity. The base station may selectively activate and / or deactivate a CSI-RS resource. The base station may indicate to the UE that a CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set is activated and / or deactivated.

[0156] The base station may configure the UE to report CSI measurements. The base station may configure the UE to provide CSI reports periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently. For periodic CSI reporting, the UE maybe configured with a timing and / or periodicity of a plurality of CSI reports. For aperiodic CSI reporting, the base station may request a CSI report. For example, the base station may command the UE to measure a configured CSI-RS resource and provide a CSI report relating to the measurements. For semi-persistent CSI reporting, the base station may configure the UE to transmit periodically, and selectively activate or deactivate the periodic reporting. The base station may configure the UE with a CSI-RS resource set and CSI reports using RRC signaling.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0157] The C SI-RS configuration may comprise one or more parameters indicating, for example, up to 32 antenna ports. The UE may be configured to employ the same OFDM symbols for a downlink CSI-RS and a control resource set (CORESET) when the downlink CSI-RS and CORESET are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of the physical resource blocks (PRBs) configured for the CORESET. The UE may be configured to employ the same OFDM symbols for downlink CSI-RS and SS / PBCH blocks when the downlink CSI-RS and SS / PBCH blocks are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of PRBs configured for the SS / PBCH blocks.

[0158] Downlink DMRSs may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for channel estimation. For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH). An NR network may support one or more variable and / or configurable DMRS patterns for data demodulation. At least one downlink DMRS configuration may support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. A front-loaded DMRS may be mapped over one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. For multiuser-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to 4 orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. A radio network may support (e.g., at least for CP-OFDM) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, wherein a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and / or a scrambling sequence may be the same or different. The base station may transmit a downlink DMRS and a corresponding PDSCH using the same precoding matrix. The UE may use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation / channel estimation of the PDSCH.

[0159] In an example, a transmitter (e.g., a base station) may use a precoder matrices for a part of a transmission bandwidth. For example, the transmitter may use a first precoder matrix for a first bandwidth and a second precoder matrix for a second bandwidth. The first precoder matrix and the second precoder matrix may be different based on the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth. The UE may assume that a same precoding matrix is used across a set of PRBs. The set of PRBs may be denoted as a precoding resource block group (PRG).

[0160] A PDSCH may comprise one or more layers. The UE may assume that at least one symbol with DMRS is present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PDSCH. A higher layer may configure up to 3 DMRSs for the PDSCH.

[0161] Downlink PT-RS may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for phase-noise compensation. Whether a downlink PT-RS is present or not may depend on an RRC configuration. The presence and / or pattern of the downlink PT-RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis using a combination of RRC signaling and / or an association with one or more parameters employed for other purposes (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by DCI. When configured, a dynamic presence of a downlink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters comprising at least MCS. An NR network may support a plurality of PT-RS densities defined in the time and / or frequency domains. When present, a frequency domain density may be associated with at least oneDocket No.: 25-1060PCTconfiguration of a scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. A number of PT-RS ports may be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. Downlink PT-RS may be confined in the scheduled time / frequency duration for the UE. Downlink PT-RS may be transmitted on symbols to facilitate phase tracking at the receiver.

[0162] The UE may transmit an uplink DMRS to a base station for channel estimation. For example, the base station may use the uplink DMRS for coherent demodulation of one or more uplink physical channels. For example, the UE may transmit an uplink DMRS with a PUSCH and / or a PUCCH. The uplink DM-RS may span a range of frequencies that is similar to a range of frequencies associated with the corresponding physical channel. The base station may configure the UE with one or more uplink DMRS configurations. At least one DMRS configuration may support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. The front-loaded DMRS maybe mapped over one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). One or more uplink DMRSs may be configured to transmit at one or more symbolsofa PUSCH and / or a PUCCH. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for the PUSCH and / or the PUCCH, which the UE may use to schedule a single-symbol DMRS and / or a double-symbol DMRS. An NR network may support (e.g., for cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM)) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, wherein a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and / or a scrambling sequence for the DMRS may be the same or different.

[0163] A PUSCH may comprise one or more layers, and the UE may transmit at least one symbol with DMRS present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PUSCH. In an example, a higher layer may configure up to three DMRSs for the PUSCH

[0164] Uplink PT-RS (which may be used by a base station for phase tracking and / or phase-noise compensation) may or may not be present depending on an RRC configuration of the UE. The presence and / or pattern of uplink PT-RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis by a combination of RRC signaling and / or one or more parameters employed for other purposes (e.g., Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by DCI. When configured, a dynamic presence of uplink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters comprising at least MCS. A radio network may support a plurality of uplink PT-RS densities defined in time / frequency domain. When present, a frequency domain density may be associated with at least one configuration of a scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. A number of PT-RS ports may be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. For example, uplink PT-RS may be confined in the scheduled time / frequency duration for the UE.

[0165] SRS may be transmitted by a UE to a base station for channel state estimation to support uplink channel dependent scheduling and / or link adaptation. SRS transmitted by the UE may allow a base station to estimate an uplink channel state at one or more frequencies. A scheduler at the base station may employ the estimated uplink channel state to assign one or more resource blocks for an uplink PUSCH transmission from the UE. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS resource sets. For an SRS resource set, the base station may configure the UE with one or more SRS resources. An SRS resource set applicability may be configured by a higherDocket No.: 25-1060PCTlayer (e.g. , RRC) parameter. For example, when a higher layer parameter indicates beam management, an SRS resource in an SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., with the same / similar time domain behavior, periodic, aperiodic, and / or the like) may be transmitted at a time instant (e.g., simultaneously). The UE may transmit one or more SRS resources in SRS resource sets. An NR network may support aperiodic, periodic and / or semi-persistent SRS transmissions. The UE may transmit SRS resources based on one or more trigger types, wherein the one or more trigger types may comprise higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and / or one or more DCI formats. In an example, at least one DCI format may be employed for the UE to select at least one of one or more configured SRS resource sets. An SRS trigger type 0 may refer to an SRS triggered based on a higher layer signaling. An SRS trigger type 1 may refer to an SRS triggered based on one or more DCI formats. In an example, when RUSCH and SRS are transmitted in a same slot, the UE may be configured to transmit SRS after a transmission of a RUSCH and a corresponding uplink DMRS.

[0166] The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS configuration parameters indicating at least one of following: a SRS resource configuration identifier; a number of SRS ports; time domain behavior of an SRS resource configuration (e.g., an indication of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic SRS); slot, minislot, and / or subframe level periodicity; offset for a periodic and / or an aperiodic SRS resource; a number of OFDM symbols in an SRS resource; a starting OFDM symbol of an SRS resource; an SRS bandwidth; a frequency hopping bandwidth; a cyclic shift; and / or an SRS sequence ID.

[0167] An antenna port is defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. If a first symbol and a second symbol are transmitted on the same antenna port, the receiver may infer the channel (e.g., fading gain, multipath delay, and / or the like) for conveying the second symbol on the antenna port, from the channel for conveying the first symbol on the antenna port. A first antenna port and a second antenna port may be referred to as quasi colocated (QCLed) if one or more large-scale properties of the channel over which a first symbol on the first antenna port is conveyed may be inferred from the channel over which a second symbol on a second antenna port is conveyed. The one or more large-scale properties may comprise at least one of: a delay spread; a Doppler spread; a Doppler shift; an average gain; an average delay; and / or spatial Receiving (Rx) parameters.

[0168] Channels that use beamforming require beam management. Beam management may comprise beam measurement, beam selection, and beam indication. A beam may be associated with one or more reference signals. For example, a beam may be identified by one or more beamformed reference signals. The UE may perform downlink beam measurement based on downlink reference signals (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)) and generate a beam measurement report. The UE may perform the downlink beam measurement procedure after an RRC connection is set up with a base station.

[0169] FIG. 11B illustrates an example of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) that are mapped in the time and frequency domains. A square shown in FIG. 11 B may span a resource block (RB) within a bandwidth of a cell. A base station may transmit one or more RRC messages comprising CSI-RS resource configuration parametersDocket No.: 25-1060PCTindicating one or more CSI-RSs. One or more of the following parameters may be configured by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC and / or MAC signaling) for a CSI-RS resource configuration: a CSI-RS resource configuration identity, a number of CSI-RS ports, a CSI-RS configuration (e.g., symbol and resource element (RE) locations in a subframe), a CSI-RS subframe configuration (e.g., subframe location, offset, and periodicity in a radio frame), a CSI-RS power parameter, a CSI-RS sequence parameter, a code division multiplexing (CDM) type parameter, a frequency density, a transmission comb, quasi co-location (QCL) parameters (e.g., QCL-scramblingidentity, crs-portscount, mbsfn-subframeconfiglist, csi-rs-configZPid, qcl-csi-rs-configNZPid), and / or other radio resource parameters.

[0170] The three beams illustrated in FIG. 11 B maybe configured fora UE in a UE-specific configuration. Three beams are illustrated in FIG. 11 B (beam #1 , beam #2, and beam #3), more or fewer beams may be configured. Beam #1 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1101 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a first symbol. Beam #2 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1102 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a second symbol. Beam #3 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1103 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a third symbol. By using frequency division multiplexing (FDM), a base station may use other subcarriers in a same RB (for example, those that are not used to transmit CSI-RS 1101) to transmit another CSI-RS associated with a beam for another UE By using time domain multiplexing (TDM), beams used for the UE may be configured such that beams for the UE use symbols from beams of other UEs.

[0171] CSI-RSs such as those illustrated in FIG. 11 B (e.g., CSI-RS 1101, 1102, 1103) maybe transmitted by the base station and used by the UE for one or more measurements. For example, the UE may measure a reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources. The base station may configure the UE with a reporting configuration and the UE may report the RSRP measurements to a network (for example, via one or more base stations) based on the reporting configuration. In an example, the base station may determine, based on the reported measurement results, one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states comprising a number of reference signals. In an example, the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and / or a DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states. In an example, the UE may or may not have a capability of beam correspondence. If the UE has the capability of beam correspondence, the UE may determine a spatial domain filter of a transmit (Tx) beam based on a spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam. If the UE does not have the capability of beam correspondence, the UE may perform an uplink beam selection procedure to determine the spatial domain filter of the Tx beam. The UE may perform the uplink beam selection procedure based on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources configured to the UE by the base station. The base station may select and indicate uplink beams for the UE based on measurements of the one or more SRS resources transmitted by the UE.

[0172] In a beam management procedure, a UE may assess (e.g., measure) a channel quality of one or more beam pair links, a beam pair link comprising a transmitting beam transmitted by a base station and a receiving beam received by the UE. Based on the assessment, the UE may transmit a beam measurement report indicating one or more beamDocket No.: 25-1060PCTpair quality parameters comprising, e.g., one or more beam identifications (e.g. , a beam index, a reference signal index, or the like), RSRP, a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or a rank indicator (Rl).

[0173] FIG. 12A illustrates examples of three downlink beam management procedures: P1 , P2, and P3. Procedure P1 may enable a UE measurement on transmit (Tx) beams of a transmission reception point (TRP) (or multiple TRPs), e.g., to support a selection of one or more base station Tx beams and / or UE Rx beams (shown as ovals in the top row and bottom row, respectively, of P1 ). Beamforming at a TRP may comprise a Tx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown, in the top rows of P1 and P2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Beamforming at a UE may comprise an Rx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown, in the bottom rows of P1 and P3, as ovals rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Procedure P2 may be used to enable a UE measurement on Tx beams of a TRP (shown, in the top row of P2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). The UE and / or the base station may perform procedure P2 using a smaller set of beams than is used in procedure P1 , or using narrower beams than the beams used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement. The UE may perform procedure P3 for Rx beam determination by using the same Tx beam at the base station and sweeping an Rx beam at the UE.

[0174] FIG. 12B illustrates examples of three uplink beam management procedures: U 1 , U2, and U3. Procedure U1 may be used to enable a base station to perform a measurement on Tx beams of a UE, e.g., to support a selection of one or more UE Tx beams and / or base station Rx beams (shown as ovals in the top row and bottom row, respectively, of U1). Beamforming at the UE may include, e.g., a Tx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown in the bottom rows of U1 and U3 as ovals rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Beamforming at the base station may include, e.g., an Rx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown, in the top rows of U1 and U2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Procedure U2 may be used to enable the base station to adjust its Rx beam when the UE uses a fixed Tx beam. The UE and / or the base station may perform procedure U2 using a smaller set of beams than is used in procedure P1 , or using narrower beams than the beams used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement The UE may perform procedure U3 to adjust its Tx beam when the base station uses a fixed Rx beam.

[0175] A UE may initiate a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure based on detecting a beam failure. The UE may transmit a BFR request (e.g., a preamble, a UCI, an SR, a MAC CE, and / or the like) based on the initiating of the BFR procedure. The UE may detect the beam failure based on a determination that a quality of beam pair link(s) of an associated control channel is unsatisfactory (e.g., having an error rate higher than an error rate threshold, a received signal power lower than a received signal power threshold, an expiration of a timer, and / or the like).

[0176] The UE may measure a quality of a beam pair link using one or more reference signals (RSs) comprising one or more SS / PBCH blocks, one or more CSI-RS resources, and / or one or more demodulation reference signals (DMRSs). A quality of the beam pair link may be based on one or more of a block error rate (BLER), an RSRP value, a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) value, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) value, and / or a CSI value measured on RS resources. The base station may indicate that an RS resource is quasi co-located (QC Led) withDocket No.: 25-1060PCTone or more DM-RSs of a channel (e.g. , a control channel, a shared data channel, and / or the like). The RS resource and the one or more DMRSs of the channel may be QCLed when the channel characteristics (e.g., Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, spatial Rx parameter, fading, and / or the like) from a transmission via the RS resource to the UE are similar or the same as the channel characteristics from a transmission via the channel to the UE.

[0177] A network (e.g., a gNB and / or an ng-eNB of a network) and / or the UE may initiate a random access procedure. A UE in an RRCJ DLE state and / or an RRCJNACTIVE state may initiate the random access procedure to request a connection setup to a network. The UE may initiate the random access procedure from an RRC_CONNECTED state. The UE may initiate the random access procedure to request uplink resources (e.g., for uplink transmission of an SR when there is no PUCCH resource available) and / or acquire uplink timing (e.g., when uplink synchronization status is non-synchronized). The UE may initiate the random access procedure to request one or more system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., other system information such as SIB2, SIB3, and / or the like). The UE may initiate the random access procedure for a beam failure recovery request. A network may initiate a random access procedure for a handover and / or for establishing time alignment for an SCell addition.

[0178] FIG. 13A illustrates a four-step contention-based random access procedure. Prior to initiation of the procedure, a base station may transmit a configuration message 1310 to the UE. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A comprises transmission of four messages: a Msg 1 1311, a Msg 21312, a Msg 31313, and a Msg 41314. The Msg 1 1311 may include and / or be referred to as a preamble (or a random access preamble). The Msg 21312 may include and / or be referred to as a random access response (RAR).

[0179] The configuration message 1310 may be transmitted, for example, using one or more RRC messages. The one or more RRC messages may indicate one or more random access channel (RACH) parameters to the UE. The one or more RACH parameters may comprise at least one of following: general parameters for one or more random access procedures (e.g., RACH-configGeneral); cell-specific parameters (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommon); and / or dedicated parameters (e.g., RACH-configDedicated). The base station may broadcastor multicast the one or more RRC messages to one or more UEs. The one or more RRC messages may be UE-specific (e.g., dedicated RRC messages transmitted to a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state and / or in an RRCJ NACTIVE state). The UE may determine, based on the one or more RACH parameters, a time-frequency resource and / or an uplink transmit power for transmission of the Msg 1 1311 and / or the Msg 31313. Based on the one or more RACH parameters, the UE may determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for receiving the Msg 21312 and the Msg 41314.

[0180] The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may indicate one or more Physical RACH (PRACH) occasions available for transmission of the Msg 1 1311. The one or more PRACH occasions may be predefined. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more available sets of one or more PRACH occasions (e.g., prach-Configlndex). The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more PRACH occasions and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more preambles and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or moreDocket No.: 25-1060PCTreference signals may be SS / PBCH blocks and / or CSI-RSs. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a number of SS / PBCH blocks mapped to a PRACH occasion and / or a number of preambles mapped to a SS / PBCH blocks.

[0181] The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may be used to determine an uplink transmit power of Msg 1 1311 and / or Msg 31313. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a reference power for a preamble transmission (e.g. , a received target power and / or an initial power of the preamble transmission). There may be one or more power offsets indicated by the one or more RACH parameters. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate: a power ramping step; a power offset between SSB and CSI-RS; a power offset between transmissions of the Msg 1 1311 and the Msg 31313; and / or a power offset value between preamble groups. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more thresholds based on which the UE may determine at least one reference signal (e.g., an SSB and / or CSI-RS) and / or an uplink carrier (e.g., a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and / or a supplemental uplink (SUL) carrier).

[0182] The Msg 1 1311 may include one or more preamble transmissions (e.g., a preamble transmission and one or more preamble retransmissions). An RRC message may be used to configure one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and / or group B). A preamble group may comprise one or more preambles. The UE may determine the preamble group based on a pathloss measurement and / or a size of the Msg 31313. The UE may measure an RSRP of one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and / or CSI-RSs) and determine at least one reference signal having an RSRP above an RSRP threshold (e.g., rsrp-ThresholdSSB and / or rsrp-ThresholdCSI-RS). The UE may select at least one preamble associated with the one or more reference signals and / or a selected preamble group, for example, if the association between the one or more preambles and the at least one reference signal is configured by an RRC message.

[0183] The UE may determine the preamble based on the one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310. For example, the UE may determine the preamble based on a pathloss measurement, an RSRP measurement, and / or a size of the Msg 31313. As another example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate: a preamble format; a maximum number of preamble transmissions; and / or one or more thresholds for determining one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and group B). A base station may use the one or more RACH parameters to configure the UE with an association between one or more preambles and one or more reference signals (eg., SSBs and / or CSI-RSs). If the association is configured, the UE may determine the preamble to include in Msg 1 1311 based on the association. The Msg 1 1311 may be transmitted to the base station via one or more PRACH occasions. The UE may use one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and / or CSI-RSs) for selection of the preamble and for determining of the PRACH occasion. One or more RACH parameters (e.g., ra-ssb-OccasionMsklndex and / or ra-OccasionList) may indicate an association between the PRACH occasions and the one or more reference signals.

[0184] The UE may perform a preamble retransmission if no response is received following a preamble transmission. The UE may increase an uplink transmit power for the preamble retransmission. The UE may select an initial preamble transmit power based on a pathloss measurement and / or a target received preamble power configured by the network.Docket No.: 25-1060PCTThe UE may determine to retransmit a preamble and may ramp up the uplink transmit power The UE may receive one or more RACH parameters (e.g. , PREM / iBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP) indicating a ramping step for the preamble retransmission. The ramping step may be an amount of incremental increase in uplink transmit power for a retransmission. The UE may ramp up the uplink transmit power if the UE determines a reference signal (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) that is the same as a previous preamble transmission. The UE may count a number of preamble transmissions and / or retransmissions (e.g., PREAMBLE_TRANSM!SS!ON_COUNTER). The UE may determine that a random access procedure completed unsuccessfully, for example, if the number of preamble transmissions exceeds a threshold configured by the one or more RACH parameters (e.g., preambieTransMaxj.

[0185] The Msg 21312 received by the UE may include an RAR. In some scenarios, the Msg 21312 may include multiple RARs corresponding to multiple UEs. The Msg 21312 may be received after or in response to the transmitting of the Msg 1 1311. The Msg 21312 maybe scheduled on the DL-SCH and indicated on a PDCCH using a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The Msg 21312 may indicate that the Msg 1 1311 was received by the base station. The Msg 21312 may include a time-alignment command that may be used by the UE to adjust the UE’s transmission timing, a scheduling grant for transmission of the Msg 31313, and / ora Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI). After transmitting a preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor a PDCCH for the Msg 21312. The UE may determine when to start the time window based on a PRACH occasion that the UE uses to transmit the preamble. For example, the UE may start the time window one or more symbols after a last symbol of the preamble (e.g., at a first PDCCH occasion from an end of a preamble transmission). The one or more symbols may be determined based on a numerology. The PDCCH may be in a common search space (eg., a Typel -PDCCH common search space) configured by an RRC message. The UE may identify the RAR based on a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). RNTIs may be used depending on one or more events initiating the random access procedure. The UE may use random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The RA-RNTI may be associated with PRACH occasions in which the UE transmits a preamble. For example, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI based on: an OFDM symbol index; a slot index; a frequency domain index; and / ora UL carrier indicator of the PRACH occasions. An example of RA-RNTI may be as follows:

[0186] RA-RNTI= 1 + sjd + 14 x tjd + 14 x 80 xfjd + 14 x 80 x 8 x ul_carrierjd, where sjd maybe an index of a first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion (e.g., 0 < sjd < 14), tjd may be an index of a first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame (e.g., 0 < tjd < 80), fjd may be an index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain (e.g., 0 s fjd < 8), and ul_carrier_id may be a UL carrier used for a preamble transmission (e.g., 0 for an NUL carrier, and 1 for an SUL carrier).

[0187] The UE may transmit the Msg 31313 in response to a successful reception of the Msg 21312 (e.g., using resources identified in the Msg 21312). The Msg 31313 may be used for contention resolution in, for example, the contention-based random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A. In some scenarios, a plurality of UEs may transmit a same preamble to a base station and the base station may provide an RAR that corresponds to a UE. Collisions may occur if the plurality of UEs interpret the RAR as corresponding to themselves. Contention resolution (e.g., using theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTMsg 31313 and the Msg 41314) may be used to increase the likelihood that the UE does not incorrectly use an identity of another the UE. To perform contention resolution, the UE may include a device identifier in the Msg 31313 (e.g., a C-RNTI if assigned, a TC-RNTI included in the Msg 21312, and / or any other suitable identifier).

[0188] The Msg 41314 may be received after or in response to the transmitting of the Msg 31313. If a C-RNTI was included in the Msg 31313, the base station will address the UE on the PDCCH using the C-RNTI. If the UE's unique C-RNTI is detected on the PDCCH, the random access procedure is determined to be successfully completed. If a TC-RNTI is included in the Msg 31313 (e.g., if the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or not otherwise connected to the base station), Msg 4 1314 will be received using a DL-SCH associated with the TC-RNTI. If a MAC PDU is successfully decoded and a MAC PDU comprises the UE contention resolution identity MAC CE that matches or otherwise corresponds with the CCCH SDU sent (e.g., transmitted) in Msg 31313, the UE may determine that the contention resolution is successful and / or the UE may determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed.

[0189] The UE may be configured with a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier and a normal uplink (NUL) carrier. An initial access (e.g., random access procedure) may be supported in an uplink carrier. For example, a base station may configure the UE with two separate RACH configurations: one for an SUL carrier and the other for an NUL carrier. For random access in a cell configured with an SUL carrier, the network may indicate which carrier to use (NUL or SUL). The UE may determine the SUL carrier, for example, if a measured quality of one or more reference signals is lower than a broadcast threshold. Uplink transmissions of the random access procedure (e.g., the Msg 1 1311 and / or the Msg 31313) may remain on the selected carrier. The UE may switch an uplink carrier during the random access procedure (eg., between the Msg 1 1311 and the Msg 3 1313) in one or more cases. For example, the UE may determine and / or switch an uplink carrier for the Msg 1 1311 and / or the Msg 31313 based on a channel clear assessment (e.g., a listen-before-talk).

[0190] FIG. 13B illustrates a two-step contention-free random access procedure. Similar to the four-step contentionbased random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A, a base station may, prior to initiation of the procedure, transmit a configuration message 1320 to the UE. The configuration message 1320 may be analogous in some respects to the configuration message 1310. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B comprises transmission of two messages: a Msg 1 1321 and a Msg 21322. The Msg 1 1321 and the Msg 21322 may be analogous in some respects to the Msg 1 1311 and a Msg 2 1312 illustrated in FIG. 13A, respectively. As will be understood from FIGS. 13A and 13B, the contention-free random access procedure may not include messages analogous to the Msg 31313 and / or the Msg 41314.

[0191] The contention-free random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B may be initiated for a beam failure recovery, other SI request, SCell addition, and / or handover. For example, a base station may indicate or assign to the UE the preamble to be used for the Msg 1 1321. The UE may receive, from the base station via PDCCH and / or RRC, an indication of a preamble (e.g., ra-Preamblelndex).

[0192] After transmitting a preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g , ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor a PDCCH for the RAR. In the event of a beam failure recovery request, the base station may configure the UE with a separate time window and / or a separate PDCCH in a search space indicated by an RRC message (e.g.,Docket No.: 25-1060PCTrecoverySearchSpaceld). The UE may monitor for a PDCCH transmission addressed to a Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) on the search space. In the contention-free random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B, the UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes after or in response to transmission of Msg 1 1321 and reception of a corresponding Msg 21322. The UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes, for example, if a PDCCH transmission is addressed to a C-RNTI. The UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes, for example, if the UE receives an RAR comprising a preamble identifier corresponding to a preamble transmitted by the UE and / or the RAR comprises a MAC sub-PDU with the preamble identifier. The UE may determine the response as an indication of an acknowledgement for an SI request.

[0193] FIG. 13C illustrates another two-step random access procedure. Similar to the random access procedures illustrated in FIGS. 13Aand 13B, a base station may, prior to initiation of the procedure, transmit a configuration message 1330 to the UE. The configuration message 1330 maybe analogous in some respects to the configuration message 1310 and / or the configuration message 1320. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13C comprises transmission of two messages: a Msg A 1331 and a Msg B 1332.

[0194] Msg A 1331 may be transmitted in an uplink transmission by the UE. Msg A 1331 may comprise one or more transmissions of a preamble 1341 and / or one or more transmissions of a transport block 1342. The transport block 1342 may comprise contents that are similar and / or equivalent to the contents of the Msg 31313 illustrated in FIG. 13A. The transport block 1342 may comprise UCI (e.g., an SR, a HARQACK / NACK, and / or the like). The UE may receive the Msg B 1332 after or in response to transmitting the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 may comprise contents that are similar and / or equivalent to the contents of the Msg 2 1312 (e.g., an RAR) illustrated in FIGS 13Aand 13B and / or the Msg 41314 illustrated in FIG. 13A.

[0195] The UE may initiate the two-step random access procedure in FIG. 13C for licensed spectrum and / or unlicensed spectrum. The UE may determine, based on one or more factors, whether to initiate the two-step random access procedure. The one or more factors may be: a radio access technology in use (e.g., LTE, NR, and / or the like); whether the UE has valid TA or not; a cell size; the UE's RRC state; a type of spectrum (e.g., licensed vs. unlicensed); and / or any other suitable factors.

[0196] The UE may determine, based on two-step RACH parameters included in the configuration message 1330, a radio resource and / or an uplink transmit power for the preamble 1341 and / or the transport block 1342 included in the Msg A 1331. The RACH parameters may indicate a modulation and coding schemes (MCS), a time-frequency resource, and / or a power control for the preamble 1341 and / or the transport block 1342. A time-frequency resource for transmission of the preamble 1341 (e.g., a PRACH) and a time-frequency resource for transmission of the transport block 1342 (e.g., a PUSCH) maybe multiplexed using EDM, TDM, and / or CDM. The RACH parameters may enable the UE to determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for monitoring for and / or receiving Msg B 1332.

[0197] The transport block 1342 may comprise data (e.g., delay-sensitive data), an identifier of the UE, security information, and / or device information (e.g., an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)). The base station may transmit the Msg B 1332 as a response to the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 may comprise at least one of following: aDocket No.: 25-1060PCTpreamble identifier; a timing advance command; a power control command; an uplink grant (e.g., a radio resource assignment and / or an MCS); a UE identifier for contention resolution; and / or an RNTI (e.g., a C-RNTI ora TC-RNTI). The UE may determine that the two-step random access procedure is successfully completed if: a preamble identifier in the Msg B 1332 is matched to a preamble transmitted by the UE; and / or the identifier of the UE in Msg B 1332 is matched to the identifier of the UE in the Msg A 1331 (e.g., the transport block 1342).

[0198] A UE and a base station may exchange control signaling. The control signaling may be referred to as L1 / L2 control signaling and may originate from the PHY layer (e.g., layer 1) and / or the MAC layer (e.g., layer 2). The control signaling may comprise downlink control signaling transmitted from the base station to the UE and / or uplink control signaling transmitted from the UE to the base station.

[0199] The downlink control signaling may comprise: a downlink scheduling assignment; an uplink scheduling grant indicating uplink radio resources and / or a transport format; a slot format information; a preemption indication; a power control command; and / or any other suitable signaling. The UE may receive the downlink control signaling in a payload transmitted by the base station on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The payload transmitted on the PDCCH may be referred to as downlink control information (DCI). In some scenarios, the PDCCH may be a group common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH) that is common to a group of UEs.

[0200] A base station may attach one or more cyclic redundancy check (CRC) parity bits to a DCI in order to facilitate detection of transmission errors. When the DCI is intended for a UE (or a group of the UEs), the base station may scramble the CRC parity bits with an identifier of the UE (or an identifier of the group of the UEs). Scrambling the CRC parity bits with the identifier may comprise Modulo-2 addition (or an exclusive OR operation) of the identifier value and the CRC parity bits. The identifier may comprise a 16-bit value of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

[0201] DCIs may be used for different purposes. A purpose may be indicated by the type of RNTI used to scramble the CRC parity bits. For example, a DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a paging RNTI (P-RNTI) may indicate paging information and / or a system information change notification. The P-RNTI may be predefined as "FFFE” in hexadecimal. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI) may indicate a broadcast transmission of the system information. The SI-RNTI may be predefined as “FFFF” in hexadecimal. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may indicate a random access response (RAR). A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a cell RNTI (C-RNTI) may indicate a dynamically scheduled unicast transmission and / or a triggering of PDCCH-ordered random access. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI) may indicate a contention resolution (e.g., a Msg 3 analogous to the Msg 31313 illustrated in FIG. 13A). Other RNTIs configured to the UE by a base station may comprise a Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-PUCCH RNTI (TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-SRS RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), an Interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), a Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), a Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), a Modulation and Coding Scheme Cell RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), and / or the like.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0202] Depending on the purpose and / or content of a DCI, the base station may transmit the DCIs with one or more DCI formats. For example, DCI format 0_0 may be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell. DCI format 0_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with compact DCI payloads). DCI format 0_1 may be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell (e.g. , with more DCI payloads than DCI format 0_0). DCI format 1_0 may be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell. DCI format 1_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with compact DCI payloads). DCI format 1 J may be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell (e.g., with more DCI payloads than DCI format 1_0). DCI format 2_0 may be used for providing a slot format indication to a group of UEs. DCI format 2 J may be used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block and / or OFDM symbol where the UE may assume no transmission is intended to the UE. DCI format 2_2 may be used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUCCH or PUSCH. DCI format 2_3 may be used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs. DCI format(s) for new functions may be defined in future releases. DCI formats may have different DCI sizes, or may share the same DCI size.

[0203] After scrambling a DCI with a RNTI, the base station may process the DCI with channel coding (e.g., polar coding), rate matching, scrambling and / or QPSK modulation. A base station may map the coded and modulated DCI on resource elements used and / or configured for a PDCCH. Based on a payload size of the DCI and / or a coverage of the base station, the base station may transmit the DCI via a PDCCH occupying a number of contiguous control channel elements (CCEs). The number of the contiguous CCEs (referred to as aggregation level) may be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and / or any other suitable number. A CCE may comprise a number (e.g., 6) of resource-element groups (REGs). A REG may comprise a resource block in an OFDM symbol. The mapping of the coded and modulated DCI on the resource elements may be based on mapping of CCEs and REGs (e.g., CCE-to-REG mapping).

[0204] FIG. 14A illustrates an example of CORESET configurations for a bandwidth part. The base station may transmit a DCI via a PDCCH on one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). A CORESET may comprise a timefrequency resource in which the UE tries to decode a DCI using one or more search spaces. The base station may configure a CORESET in the time-frequency domain. In the example of FIG. 14A, a first CORESET 1401 and a second CORESET 1402 occur at the first symbol in a slot. The first CORESET 1401 overlaps with the second CORESET 1402 in the frequency domain. A third CORESET 1403 occurs ata third symbol in the slot. A fourth CORESET 1404 occurs at the seventh symbol in the slot. CORESETs may have a different number of resource blocks in frequency domain.

[0205] FIG. 14B illustrates an example of a CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing. The CCE-to-REG mapping may be an interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purpose of providing frequency diversity) or a non-interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purposes of facilitating interference coordination and / or frequency-selective transmission of control channels). The base station may perform different or same CCE-to-REG mapping on different CORESETs. A CORESET maybe associated with a CCE-to-REG mapping by RRC configuration. A CORESET may be configured with an antenna port quasi co-location (QCL) parameter. The antenna port QCL parameter may indicate QCL information of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PDCCH reception in the CORESET.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0206] The base station may transmit, to the UE, RRC messages comprising configuration parameters of one or more CORESETs and one or more search space sets. The configuration parameters may indicate an association between a search space set and a CORESET. A search space set may comprise a set of PDCCH candidates formed by CCEs ata given aggregation level. The configuration parameters may indicate: a number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored per aggregation level; a PDCCH monitoring periodicity and a PDCCH monitoring pattern; one or more DCI formats to be monitored by the UE; and / or whether a search space set is a common search space set or a UE-specific search space set. A set of CCEs in the common search space set may be predefined and known to the UE. A set of CCEs in the UE-specific search space set may be configured based on the UE’s identity (e.g., C-RNTI).

[0207] As shown in FIG. 14B, the UE may determine a time-frequency resource fora CORESET based on RRC messages. The UE may determine a CCE-to-REG mapping (e.g., interleaved or non-interleaved, and / or mapping parameters) for the CORESET based on configuration parameters of the CORESET. The UE may determine a number (e.g., at most 10) of search space sets configured on the CORESET based on the RRC messages. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to configuration parameters of a search space set. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs for detecting one or more DCIs. Monitoring may comprise decoding one or more PDCCH candidates of the set of the PDCCH candidates according to the monitored DCI formats. Monitoring may comprise decoding a DCI content of one or more PDCCH candidates with possible (or configured) PDCCH locations, possible (or configured) PDCCH formats (e.g., number of CCEs, number of PDCCH candidates in common search spaces, and / or number of PDCCH candidates in the UE-specific search spaces) and possible (or configured) DCI formats. The decoding may be referred to as blind decoding. The UE may determine a DCI as valid for the UE, in response to CRC checking (e.g., scrambled bits for CRC parity bits of the DCI matching a RNTI value). The UE may process information contained in the DCI (e.g., a scheduling assignment, an uplink grant, power control, a slot format indication, a downlink preemption, and / or the like).

[0208] The UE may transmit uplink control signaling (e.g., uplink control information (UCI)) to a base station. The uplink control signaling may comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements for received DL-SCH transport blocks. The UE may transmit the HARQ acknowledgements after receiving a DL-SCH transport block. Uplink control signaling may comprise channel state information (CSI) indicating channel quality of a physical downlink channel. The UE may transmit the CSI to the base station. The base station, based on the received CSI, may determine transmission format parameters (e.g., comprising multi-antenna and beamforming schemes) for a downlink transmission. Uplink control signaling may comprise scheduling requests (SR). The UE may transmit an SR indicating that uplink data is available for transmission to the base station. The UE may transmit a UCI (e.g., HARQ acknowledgements (HARQ-ACK), CSI report, SR, and the like) via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (RUSCH). The UE may transmit the uplink control signaling via a PUCCH using one of several PUCCH formats.

[0209] There may be five PUCCH formats and the UE may determine a PUCCH format based on a size of the UCI (e.g., a number of uplink symbols of UCI transmission and a number of UCI bits). PUCCH format 0 may have a lengthDocket No.: 25-1060PCTof one or two OFDM symbols and may include two or fewer bits. The UE may transmit UCI in a PUCCH resource using PUCCH format 0 if the transmission is over one or two symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK information bits with positive or negative SR (HARQ-ACK / SR bits) is one or two. PUCCH format 1 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include two or fewer bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 1 if the transmission is four or more symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK / SR bits is one or two. PUCCH format 2 may occupy one or two OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 2 if the transmission is over one or two symbols and the number of UCI bits is two or more. PUCCH format 3 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 3 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more and PUCCH resource does not include an orthogonal cover code. PUCCH format 4 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 4 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more and the PUCCH resource includes an orthogonal cover code.

[0210] The base station may transmit configuration parameters to the UE for a plurality of PUCCH resource sets using, for example, an RRC message. The plurality of PUCCH resource sets (e.g. , up to four sets) may be configured on an uplink BWP of a cell. A PUCCH resource set may be configured with a PUCCH resource set index, a plurality of PUCCH resources with a PUCCH resource being identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-Resourceid), and / or a number (e.g. a maximum number) of UCI information bits the UE may transmit using one of the plurality of PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. When configured with a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, the UE may select one of the plurality of PUCCH resource sets based on a total bit length of the UCI information bits (e.g., HARQ-ACK, SR, and / or CSI). If the total bit length of UCI information bits is two or fewer, the UE may select a first PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “0”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than two and less than or equal to a first configured value, the UE may select a second PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “1”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the first configured value and less than or equal to a second configured value, the UE may select a third PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to "2”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the second configured value and less than or equal to a third value (e.g., 1406), the UE may select a fourth PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to "3”.

[0211] After determining a PUCCH resource set from a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, the UE may determine a PUCCH resource from the PUCCH resource set for UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and / or SR) transmission. The UE may determine the PUCCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator in a DCI (e.g., with a DCI format 1_0 or DCI for 1 J) received on a PDCCH. A three-bit PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI may indicate one of eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. Based on the PUCCH resource indicator, the UE may transmit the UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI and / or SR) using a PUCCH resource indicated by the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI.

[0212] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device 1502 in communication with a base station 1504 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless device 1502 and base station 1504 may be partDocket No.: 25-1060PCTof a mobile communication network, such as the mobile communication network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 A, the mobile communication network 150 illustrated in FIG. 1B, or any other communication network. Only one wireless device 1502 and one base station 1504 are illustrated in FIG. 15, but it will be understood that a mobile communication network may include more than one UE and / or more than one base station, with the same or similar configuration as those shown in FIG. 15.

[0213] The base station 1504 may connect the wireless device 1502 to a core network (not shown) through radio communications over the air interface (or radio interface) 1506. The communication direction from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 over the air interface 1506 is known as the downlink, and the communication direction from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using FDD, TDD, and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0214] In the downlink, data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 from the base station 1504 may be provided to the processing system 1508 of the base station 1504. The data may be provided to the processing system 1508 by, for example, a core network. In the uplink, data to be sent to the base station 1504 from the wireless device 1502 maybe provided to the processing system 1518 of the wireless device 1502. The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may implement layer 3 and layer 2 OSI functionality to process the data for transmission. Layer 2 may include an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and a MAC layer, for example, with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. Layer 3 may include an RRC layer as with respect to FIG. 2B.

[0215] After being processed by processing system 1508, the data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 may be provided to a transmission processing system 1510 of base station 1504. Similarly, after being processed by the processing system 1518, the data to be sent to base station 1504 may be provided to a transmission processing system 1520 of the wireless device 1502. The transmission processing system 1510 and the transmission processing system 1520 may implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 may include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG.2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. For transmit processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, forward error correction coding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping of transport channels to physical channels, modulation of physical channel, multiple-input multiple-output (Ml MO) or multi-antenna processing, and / or the like.

[0216] At the base station 1504, a reception processing system 1512 may receive the uplink transmission from the wireless device 1502 At the wireless device 1502, a reception processing system 1522 may receive the downlink transmission from base station 1504. The reception processing system 1512 and the reception processing system 1522 may implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 may include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. For receive processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, error detection, forward error correction decoding, deinterleaving, demapping of transport channels to physical channels, demodulation of physical channels, MIMO or multi-antenna processing, and / or the like.

[0217] As shown in FIG. 15, a wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 may include multiple antennas. The multiple antennas may be used to perform one or more MIMO or multi-antenna techniques, such as spatial multiplexingDocket No.: 25-1060PCT(e.g., single-user MIMO or multi-user MIMO), transmit / receive diversity, and / or beamforming. In other examples, the wireless device 1502 and / or the base station 1504 may have a single antenna.

[0218] The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 maybe associated with a memory 1514 and a memory 1524, respectively. Memory 1514 and memory 1524 (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) may store computer program instructions or code that may be executed by the processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 to carry out one or more of the functionalities discussed in the present application. Although not shown in FIG. 15, the transmission processing system 1510, the transmission processing system 1520, the reception processing system 1512, and / or the reception processing system 1522 may be coupled to a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing computer program instructions or code that may be executed to carry out one or more of their respective functionalities.

[0219] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may comprise one or more controllers and / or one or more processors. The one or more controllers and / or one or more processors may comprise, for example, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and / or other programmable logic device, discrete gate and / or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, an on-board unit, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may perform at least one of signal coding / processing, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that may enable the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 to operate in a wireless environment.

[0220] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may be connected to one or more peripherals 1516 and one or more peripherals 1526, respectively. The one or more peripherals 1516 and the one or more peripherals 1526 may include software and / or hardware that provide features and / or functionalities, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a display, a touchpad, a power source, a satellite transceiver, a universal serial bus (USB) port, a hands-free headset, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a media player, an Internet browser, an electronic control unit (e.g, for a motor vehicle), and / or one or more sensors (e.g., an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a temperature sensor, a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a light sensor, a camera, and / or the like). The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may receive user input data from and / or provide user output data to the one or more peripherals 1516 and / or the one or more peripherals 1526. The processing system 1518 in the wireless device 1502 may receive power from a power source and / or may be configured to distribute the power to the other components in the wireless device 1502. The power source may comprise one or more sources of power, for example, a battery, a solar cell, a fuel cell, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 may be connected to a GPS chipset 1517 and a GPS chipset 1527, respectively. The GPS chipset 1517 and the GPS chipset 1527 may be configured to provide geographic location information of the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504, respectively.

[0221] FIG. 16A illustrates an example structure for uplink transmission. A baseband signal representing a physical uplink shared channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may comprise at least one of:Docket No.: 25-1060PCTscrambling; modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; transform precoding to generate complex-valued symbols; precoding of the complex-valued symbols; mapping of precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements; generation of complex-valued time-domain Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or CP-OFDM signal for an antenna port; and / or the like. In an example, when transform precoding is enabled, a SC-FDMA signal for uplink transmission may be generated. In an example, when transform precoding is not enabled, a CP-OFDM signal for uplink transmission may be generated by FIG. 16A. These functions are illustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

[0222] FIG. 16B illustrates an example structure for modulation and up-conversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued SC-FDMA or CP-OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port and / or a complex-valued Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) baseband signal. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

[0223] FIG. 16C illustrates an example structure for downlink transmissions. A baseband signal representing a physical downlink channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may comprise: scrambling of coded bits in a codeword to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulation of scrambled bits to generate complexvalued modulation symbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on a layer for transmission on the antenna ports; mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols for an antenna port to resource elements; generation of complex-valued timedomain OFDM signal for an antenna port; and / or the like. These functions are illustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

[0224] FIG. 16D illustrates another example structure for modulation and up-conversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

[0225] A wireless device may receive from a base station one or more messages (e.g RRC messages) comprising configuration parameters of a plurality of cells (e.g. primary cell, secondary cell). The wireless device may communicate with at least one base station (e.g. two or more base stations in dual connectivity) via the plurality of cells. The one or more messages (e.g. as a part of the configuration parameters) may comprise parameters of physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, RRC layers for configuring the wireless device. For example, the configuration parameters may comprise parameters for configuring physical and MAC layer channels, bearers, etc. For example, the configuration parameters may comprise parameters indicating values of timers for physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, RRC layers, and / or communication channels.

[0226] A timer may begin running once it is started and continue running until it is stopped or until it expires. A timer may be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. A timer may be associated with a value (eg. the timer may be started or restarted from a value or may be started from zero and expire once it reaches the value). The duration of a timer may not be updated until the timer is stopped or expires (e.g., due to BWP switching). A timer may be used toDocket No.: 25-1060PCTmeasure a time period / window for a process. When the specification refers to an implementation and procedure related to one or more timers, it will be understood that there are multiple ways to implement the one or more timers. For example, it will be understood that one or more of the multiple ways to implement a timer may be used to measure a time period / window for the procedure. For example, a random access response window timer may be used for measuring a window of time for receiving a random access response. In an example, instead of starting and expiry (or expiration) of a random access response window timer, the time difference between two time stamps may be used. When a timer is restarted, a process for measurement of time window may be restarted. Other example implementations may be provided to restart a measurement of a time window.

[0227] FIG. 17 exemplarily illustrates a mobile communication or wireless network serving as a sensing / radar system as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, FIG. 17 illustrates convergence of wireless communication and sensing into a unified system, allowing the unified system to simultaneously transmit data and gather information about an environment. Given that traditionally radar technology may be used to sense or gather information about an environment, terminologies such as radar and sensing may mean the same and hence, are used interchangeably in the present disclosure. For example, the unified system maybe considered as possessing integrated sensing and communication (ISAC). For example, the ISAC is set to revolutionize wireless networks by merging connectivity with situational awareness, making a modern mobile / wireless network notjust a communication system but an intelligent sensing network.

[0228] For example, the ISAC may involve simultaneous use of radio frequency ( RF) signals for both sensing and communication purposes. For example, the ISAC can support at one of: intruder detection applications (highway, railway, restricted area for UAV, yard and home); monitoring applications (rainfall, tourist, flood, respiration and sport); navigation assistance applications; real-time map generation applications; or collision avoidance application.

[0229] For example, ISAC may gather information about characteristics of an environment and / or objects within the environment using radio frequency signals. For example, the characteristics of an environment and / or objects within the environment may comprise at least one of: shape; size; orientation; speed; location; distance between objects; or relative motion between objects.

[0230] For example, the ISAC may acquire information about a remote target object or environment and its characteristics without physically contacting it.

[0231] For example, ISAC may gather information about characteristics of an environment and / or objects within the environment by comparing the transmitting signal and the echo signal or by analysing the changing history of phase and amplitude of the received signal.

[0232] For example, the ISAC provides the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system, which is of great significance to achieve at least one of: high-accuracy localization and tracking; simultaneous imaging, mapping and localization; augmented human sensing; or gesture and activity recognition. For example, low-latency high-accuracy localization and tracking may enable meaningful association between cyber information and locations of one or more physical entities in multiple scenarios from factories to warehouses, hospitals to retail shops, andDocket No.: 25-1060PCTagriculture to mining. For example, simultaneous imaging, mapping and localization refers to a process of capturing images of a surrounding environment, obtaining the locations of surrounding objects and subsequently constructing a map through mapping images to their respective locations. For example, augmented human sensing may provide high-precision sensing of surrounding environments with aid of one or more wearables or portable devices that exceed human abilities.

[0233] For example, a network node / entity / element which is ISAC-capable means that the network node / entity / element may support or perform the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system. For example, a network function which is ISAC-capable means that the network function may support or perform the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system. For example, a network element / node / entity / function which is ISAC-capable means that the network element / node / entity / function may support the ISAC. For example, the ISAC-capable network node / entity / element may require special hardware, software or algorithmic instructions to support the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system. For example, a network node / entity / element which is not ISAC-capable means that the network node / entity / element may not support or perform the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system.

[0234] For example, radio signals transmitted and received by one or more network nodes / elements and radio wave transmissions, reflections, and scattering may be used to sense and better understand a physical environment. For example, through sensing it may be possible to construct a cyber world of a biological physical world. For example, real-time sensing may be a key fora constructed cyber world to be useful. For example, constructing a more accurate replica of a physical environment may require a large number of network nodes / elements. In addition, accuracy of a cyber world construction may require a large-scale cooperation among the one or more network nodes / elements. For example, the one or more network nodes / elements may comprise at least: a transmission and reception point (TRP) of a base station (BS); an access point; or a wireless device.

[0235] As exemplarily depicted in FIG. 17, a sensing or radar functionality may involve one or more network nodes / elements. For example, the one or more network nodes / elements may comprise one or more wireless devices (e.g., UEs). For example, the one or more network nodes / elements may comprise one or more transmission reception points (TRPs). For example, the one or more network nodes / elements may comprise one or more base stations. For example, the one or more network nodes / elements may comprise one or more radar transmitters and / or one or more radar receivers A radar receiver may be a passive radar receiver (e.g., not transmitting radar / sensing signals). For example, a radar receiver may be an active radar receiver capable of transmitting radar / sensing signals.

[0236] For example, a radar transmitter and a radar receiver may operate over a configured / allocated radio frequency range / band (e.g., FR1, FR2-1, or RF2-2). For example, a radar transmitter and / or a radar receiver may comprise RF / IF hardware(s) (subsystems) and signal processing algorithms to enable both standard data / control communication, e.g., 5G data / signaling communications, and / or radar sensing, e.g., one or more sensing (or radar) tasks. For example, the one or more sensing tasks may comprise at least: transmitting one or more sensor / sensing signals in a sensing scene; receiving and measuring one or more echoed sensor / sensing signals from within theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTsensing scene; transmitting measurement results associated with one or more echoed sensor / sensing signals to the core network node or sensing server for processing; identifying / extracting vital signs, object detection and / or movement recognition of targets in a sensing scene.

[0237] For example, the sensing / radar system focused in this disclosure comprises an integrated sensing and communication configuration / setup / scenario, e.g., time and / or frequency resources for UL / DL data / control communications (e.g., for PDSCH / PDCCH / CSI-RS / PRS receptions / transmission and / or PUSCH / PUCCH / SRS / PRACH transmissions / receptions) that may be shared in a TDD and / or FDD and / or integrated approach / configuration with time and / or frequency resources for radar / sensing signals / waveforms.

[0238] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a sensing / radar system in a wireless communication system. A radar (also referred to as a sensing system) may be an electromagnetic sensor for detecting and / or locating one or more targets. The radar may be stationary or non-stationary. For example, the one or more targets may be at least: reflecting objects; passive objects; or non-cooperative objects.

[0239] For example, the radar may be of a mono-static type. For example, the radar may operate in a mono-static sensing mode. For example, the mono-static sensing mode may involve a single network node / element / entity acting both as a transmitter and a receiver of radio signals, wherein the radio signals may be used at least for: sensing; communications; or both sensing and communications. For example, in mono-static sensing, a radio signal is transmitted from a network node / element / entity reflects off a target and is received back by the same network node / element / entity. For example, this mode may be particularly effective for direct path measurements and may be simpler to implement since it requires synchronization and processing at a network node / element / entity. FIG. 18A shows an example of mono-static sensing / radar systems / configurations.

[0240] For example, the radar may be of a bi-static type. FIG. 18B shows an example of bi-static sensing / radar systems / configurations. For example, unlike mono-static sensing, bi-static sensing mode may involve separate network nodes / elements / entities for transmitting and receiving signals. For example, in this mode, a first network elemen t / node / entity may transmit a radio signal, which then bounces off one or more target objects (or simply targets) and may be received by a second network element / node / entity. For example, bi-static sensing may provide more comprehensive spatial information and improve the detection of target objects in a cluttered environment. However, it may require more complex coordination and data fusion from a plurality of network elements / nodes / entities to achieve accurate sensing.

[0241] Although FIG. 17 illustrates a sensing scenario where a sensing / radar transmitter and a sensing / radar receiver are collocated implying the mono-static sensing mode of operations, embodiments of FIG. 17 may equally be applicable to a bi-static sensing scenario / configuration / system.

[0242] In the present disclosure, one or more targets may be non-cooperative meaning that the one or more targets are beyond or outside control of the radar / sensing system. For example, this means that estimating a location of a target may not rely on using assistance information of the target. For example, the assistance information may comprise at least one of: a tag ID; or one or more active transmissions.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0243] For example, a sensing transmitter or a radar transmitter may transmit radar / sensing signals (or waveforms) in time-frequency domain(s). For example, a radar / sensing signal may comprise a reference signal (RS). For example, a radar signal may comprise a sensing-specific reference signal. For example, the sensing-specific reference signal may be denoted by RS_S. For example, a sensing transmitter or a radar transmitter may transmit radar / sensing signals to radiate (electromagnetic) energy from one or more transmission antennas. For example, radiated (electromagnetic) energy (e.g., the radar / sensing signals / waveforms) may propagate in space and / or wireless medium.

[0244] In the example of FIG. 17 and / or FIG. 18A, the transmit (Tx) antenna(s) and receive (Rx) antenna(s) may be the same, where, for example, using a duplexer or (passive / active) circulator (or the like) the antenna switches from a transmission mode (e.g., Tx antenna) to a reception mode (e.g., Rx antenna). Equally, the embodiment of FIG.17 and / or FIG. 18A may be applicable for cases where the Tx antenna(s) and the Rx antenna(s) are (physically) separate / different / disjoint.

[0245] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 18A and / or FIG. 18B, the transmitter may comprise at least: a wireless device (e.g., UE); a base station (BS); a transmission reception point (TRP); or an access point. For example, the receiver may be at least: a wireless device; a base station (BS); a transmission reception point (TRP); a passive bistatic receiver; or an access point. Although FIG. 18A and / or FIG. 18B shows one transmitter and / or one receiver, a similar configuration / scenario is applicable for a sensing / radar system having a plurality of transmitters and / or a plurality of receivers (e.g., multi-static radar / sensing systems / configurations / operations).

[0246] Further, combination of the monostatic sensing / radar and / or the bistatic sensing / radar system may be possible. For example, one or more first TRPs / BSs / access points and / or one or more first UEs may transmit the sensing / radar signals and one or more second TRPs / BSs / access points and / or one or more second UEs may monitor the sensing signals. In one implementation, the one or more first TRP / BSs and / or the one or more second TRP / BSs may be disjoint / different. In another implementation, at least one TRP / BS of the one or more first TRPs / BSs may belong to the one or more second TRP / BSs Similarly, the one or more first UEs and / or the one or more second UEs may be disjoint / different. Alternatively, at least one UE of the one or more first UEs may belong to the one or more second UEs.

[0247] In the examples of FIG. 17, FIG. 18A, and FIG. 18B, (some) sensing / radar signal(s) maybe intercepted (or hit) by a target (e.g., a sensing target) and / or clutters (e.g , interfering targets / objects). Some intercepted energy by the target (e.g., when the target is a reflecting object) and / or clutters (e.g., reflective clutters) may be (re-)radiated, e.g., bounced off or returned back, (in space and / or the wireless medium) in many directions (including toward the Rx antenna(s)). Reflected / (re-)radiated energy by target(s) and clutter(s) may be referred to as echoes (echo signals or echo returns) or reflections (reflected signals). The echoes may be associated with (or in response to) the transmitted sensing signals (e.g., by the one or more first TRPs / UEs / BSs). The radar / sensing system (e.g., the Rx antenna of the receiver) monitors the sensing signals, e.g., echoes.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0248] For example, by monitoring the sensing signals, the receiver may receive, measure, and / or process (e.g., analyze) the echoes in order to determine whether echoes comprise a target echo or not (e.g., clutter echo), e.g., determine presence or absence of the target. The echoes associated with clutter may be referred to as clutter echoes. By processing (e.g., in at least analog and / or digital domains) the echoes, the radar / sensing system may further determine target information based on the examining / processing of the target echo(s). For example, the target information may comprise a location of the target and / or mobility behavior / characteristic of the target (e.g., speed, direction, acceleration, angel of arrival, or the like), and / or a size of the target (e.g., bus, truck, SUV, sedan, or the like and / or baby or an adult) and / or a type of a target (e.g., animal, vehicle, drone, or the like and / or elderly or young and / or female vs male or the like).

[0249] For example, the target may be moving or stationery. For example, a sensing task of the radar system may involve determining whether a detected target (e.g., a car in a parking lot) is stationary or non-stationary. Similarly, each clutter in a surrounding environment of the radar system may be moving or stationary. For example, a sensing task of the radar system may involve identifying / distinguishing stationary clutters from moving clutters.

[0250] For example, FIG. 17 shows some examples of clutter, e.g., mountain and / or hills and / or vehicles (e.g., train). In the example of FIG. 17, the target may be a motorist or a bicyclist. For example, depending on sensing / radar applications (e.g., sensing tasks), the target may be a pedestrian or animals or the like. For example, a clutter may comprise at least: the ground; sea; rain; snow; fog; foliage; buildings; or trees.

[0251] For example, depending on sensing / radar applications (e.g., sensing tasks), a clutter may comprise at least one of: automobiles; people (e.g., pedestrians, cyclists, or the like); houses; buildings; or the like

[0252] For example, depending on sensing / radar applications (e.g., sensing tasks), a clutter may comprise at least: animals; birds; or insects. For example, when the sensing task involves detecting animals (livestock or squirrels) crossing roads, a target may be an animal whereas a clutter may comprise at least one of: an infrastructure; vehicles; people; sea; rain; snow; fog; or trees. In another example, when the sensing task involves detecting / tracking moving cars in a parking lot, the target(s) may comprise moving cars and clutters may comprise stationary cars. Other examples may be possible.

[0253] For example, the radar / sensing system may comprise at least one transmitter subsystem (also known as radar exciter) comprising transmission parts / components and / or at least one receiver subsystem comprising reception parts / components. Depending on whether the radar / sensing system is of monostatic type (e.g., FIG. 18A) or of the bistatic type (e.g., FIG. 18B), the transmitter subsystem and the receiver subsystem may be collocated (e.g., the monostatic configuration) or non-collocated (e.g., the bistatic configuration). In the case of MIMO radar / sensing system, the at least one transmitter subsystem and / or at least one receiver subsystem, may comprise MIMO transmitter / receiver components.

[0254] For example, the transmitter subsystem may comprise at least one of: a waveform generator to generate radar signals / waveforms (e.g., a train / burst of pulses or a continuous waveform (CW) and / or Wi-Fi, 4G, 5G or 6G signals / channels) for transmission by the Tx antenna(s); and / or a power amplifier to boost / enhance the power of theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTgenerated signals. To use the same set of antennas for the transmissions and receptions (e.g., the monostatic radar / sensing configuration), the radar / sensing system may further comprise the duplexer / ci rcu lator to switch between the transmission mode of the radar and the reception mode of the radar.

[0255] For example, the receiver subsystem may comprise at least one of: a low noise amplifier (LN A) ; a mixer to transfer in frequency domain (and using a local oscillator (LO)) echoes from an RF frequency to an intermediate frequency (IF) for further processing (e.g., analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) sampling and digital signal processing (DSP)). For example, the IF part of the receiver subsystem may comprise IF amplifiers and filters (band-pass filters to remove signals / echoes below a minimal range and frequencies above a maximum frequency for the subsequent ADC) and / or IF limiters (to limit the power of the echoes, e.g., in order to reduce the possibility of echoes saturating the ADC).

[0256] For example, in radar / sensing systems, the receiver subsystem may comprise detector(s) for radar / sensing (digital) processing of the ADC output (e.g., I / Q samples). By processing the echoes (e.g., the l / Q samples of the digitized echoes), the radar system may measure range, velocity, and direction of objects / targets / clutters in a sensing scene. The radar / sensing processing algorithms (for performing sensing tasks) may comprise target detection, target tracking, doppler estimation / filter, clutter cancellation / suppression, and / or the like. For example, for detecting the target (sensing target), e.g., wanted / desired target in FIG. 17, (unwanted / undesired / environment) clutters (or clutter echoes) may interfere with a desired echo resulting in miss detection and / or false alarm. Using the radar / sensing processing algorithms, the radar / sensing system may enhance detection and / or tracking despite (interfering) clutters. Further, the radar / sensing processing further comprises measuring differences in phases / doppler shift of echoes across time / pulses, e.g., in order to esti ma te / de termine motion / kinematic parameters (e.g., radial velocity and / or mobility direction) of non-stationary targets / clutters.

[0257] For example, the radar / sensing processing algorithms (for performing sensing tasks) may further comprise at least one of: a discrete Fourier transport (DFT); inverse fast Fourier transform (FFT); or FFT, e.g., for processing across multiple radar signals (eg., a burst of pulses) to enable separation of objects (e.g., targets / clutters) with the same range but moving at different velocities.

[0258] As illustrated in FIG. 18B, corresponding to the bi-static sensing (procedure) the transmitter may interfere with the receiver(s). Transmissions / receptions of sensing signals may be via multiple paths of sensing signals. Propagation of signals (e.g., sensing signals) in radio environments may comprise multiple paths, comprising the direct paths and indirect paths (e.g., clutter echoes, target(s) echoes). Multiple paths of sensing signals may comprise direct paths and clutter paths. For example, the direct paths of the transmitted sensing signals from the transmitter to the receiver(s) may interfere with echoes received from the targets and / or clutter(s) (e.g., clutter paths).

[0259] For example, a path may comprise radio frequency signal path. The path may indicate a signal / electromagnetic passage in radio environment (and according to diffraction, reflection, or the like) of a transmitted signal (e.g., sensing signal) from the transmitter to the receiver. The path may be direct (e.g., a directDocket No.: 25-1060PCTpath) and / or an indirect (e.g. , echo), e.g., reflections / echoes from objects, environments, and target(s). The indirect paths may comprise reflections / echoes from objects / targets. The direct paths do not comprise indirect paths.

[0260] Terminologies such as mono-static and monostatic mean the same and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. Similarly, terminologies such as bistatic and bi-static mean the same and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. Also, terminologies such as multi-static and multistatic mean the same and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure.

[0261] FIG. 19 exemplarily illustrates one or more configuration parameters making up a system information block 1 (SIB1). For example, the master information block (MIB) on PBCH may provide the UE with parameters (e.g. CORESET#0 configuration) for monitoring of PDCCH for scheduling PDSCH that may carry the SIB1. For example, the SIB1 may define the scheduling of other system information blocks and contains information required for initial access.

[0262] For example, the SIB1 may provide key network configuration parameters that allow a device (UE) to establish a connection with the network. For example, the SIB1 may also contain radio resource configuration information that may be common for one or more UEs and barring information applied to the unified access control. As exemplarily illustrated by FIG. 19, the SIB1 may comprise at least one of: cell selection information (e.g., cellSelectionlnfo 1902); cell access related information (e.g., cellAccessRelatedlnfo 1904); serving cell common configuration information (e.g., servingCell ConfigCommon 1906); UE timers and constants (e.g., ue- TimersAndConstants 1908); idle mode measurement configurations (e.g., idleModeMeasurementsNR 1910); SDT common configuration information (e.g., sdt-ConfigCommon 1912); common configuration information for mobile terminated SDT (e.g., MT-SDT-ConfigCommonSIB, 1980); feature priorities (e.g., feature Priorities 1942); system information scheduling information (e.g., Sl-Schedulinglnfo 1918); positioning system information (e.g., PosSI- Schedulinglnfo 1978); IMS emergency support indication (e.g., ims-EmergencySupport, 1924); ecall over IMS support indication (eCallOverlMS-Support 1928) or other parameters.

[0263] For example, the serving cell common configuration information (e.g., servingCell ConfigCommon 1906) may be of type, ServingCellConfigCommonSIB, which may comprise cell specific parameters of a serving cell of one or more wireless devices (e.g., UEs). For example, the ServingCellConfigCommonSIB may comprise at least one of: downlink common configuration parameters (e.g., downlinkConfigCommon); uplink common configuration parameters (uplinkConfigCommon); average energy per resource element (EPRE) of the resources elements that carry secondary synchronization signals in dBm that a network used for SSB transmission (e.g., ss-PBCH-BlockPower); or other parameters.

[0264] For example, the uplink common configuration parameters (e.g., uplinkConfigCommon) may be of type, UplinkConfigCommonSIB, which may provide common uplink parameters of a cell. For example, the UplinkConUgCommonSIB may comprise at least one of: uplink common configuration of an uplink bandwidth part (e.g., BWP-UplinkCommon); time alignment timer; frequency information for UL; or other parameters.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0265] For example, the uplink common configuration of an uplink bandwidth part (e.g . , BWP-UplinkCommon) may comprise at least one of: RACH common configurations (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommon); configuration of the cell specific PRACH and PUSCH resource parameters for transmission of MsgA in 2-step random access type procedure (e.g., msgA-ConfigCommon); a threshold used by the UE for determining whether to select resources indicating / notifying Msg3 repetition in this BWP (rsrp-ThresholdMsg3); a threshold used by the UE for determining whether to select resources indicating / notifying Msg1 repetition number 2, 4 or 8 in this BWP (e.g., rsrp-ThresholdMsg1- RepetitionNum2, rsrp-ThresholdMsg1-RepetitionNum4. rsrp-ThresholdMsg1-RepetitionNum8); or other parameters.

[0266] For example, the RACH common configurations (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommori) may comprise at least one of: generic RACH configuration parameters (e.g., rachConfigGeneric); number of SSBs per RACH occasion (e.g., ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-Preambles PerSSB); a minimum RSRP level for an SSB to be considered for initiating the RACH (e.g., rsrp-ThresholdSSB); number of contention-based (CB) preambles per SSB in group A (e.g., numberOfRA-PreamblesGroupA); the initial value for the contention resolution timer (ra-Coniention ResolutionTimer); transport blocks size threshold in bits below which the UE needs to use a contention-based RA preamble of group A (ra-Msg3SizeGroupA); total number of preambles used for contention based and contention free 4-step or 2-step random access (e.g., totalNumberOfRA-Preambles); configuration parameters of group B (groupBconfigured); or other parameters.

[0267] For example, the configuration of the cell specific PRACH and PUSCH resource parameters for transmission of MsgA in 2-step random access type procedure (e.g., msgA-ConfigCommon) may comprise at least one of: configuration of cell specific random access parameters which the UE uses for contention based and contention free 2-step random access type procedure as well as for 2-step RA type contention based beam failure recovery in this BWP (rach-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA); or other parameters.

[0268] For example, the configuration of cell specific random access parameters which the UE may use for contention based and contention free 2-step random access type procedure as well as for 2-step RA type contention based beam failure recovery in this BWP (rach-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA) may comprise at least one of: a total number of preambles used for contention-based and contention-free 2-step random access type when ROs for 2-step are not shared with 4-step (e.g., msgA-TotalNumberOfRA-Preambles); a number of SSBs per RACH occasion and a number of contention based preambles per SSB (e.g., msgA-SSB-PerRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB); a number of contention-based preambles used for 2-step RA type from the non-C BRA 4-step type preambles associated with each SSB for RO shared with 4-step type RA (e.g., msgA-CB-PreamblesPerSSB-PerSharedRO); a threshold for a 2-step RACH type (e.g., msgA-RSRP-Threshold); preamble grouping for 2-step random access type (e.g., groupB-ConfiguredTwoStepRA); or other parameters.

[0269] For example, the configuration parameters of group B (groupBconfigured) may comprise at least one of: a transport blocks size threshold in bits below which the UE may use a contention-based RA preamble of group A (e.g., ra-Msg3SizeGroupA); threshold for preamble selection (e.g., messagePowerOffsetGroupB); or number of CB preambles per SSB available in group B (e.g., numberOfRA-PreamblesGroupA).Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0270] For example, the SDT common configuration information (e.g., sdt-ConfigCommon 1912) may comprise at least one of: an RSRP threshold used to determine whether SDT procedure can be initiated (e.g., sdt-RSRP- Threshold 1962); a timer for delaying scheduling requestfor logical channels (e.g., sdt-LogicalChannelSR-DelayTimer 1964); a data volume threshold used to determine whether SDT can be initiated (e.g., sdt-DataVolumeThreshold 1966); an initial value of the timer T319a used for detection of SDT failure (e.g., t319a 1968); or other parameters.

[0271] For example, common configuration information for mobile terminated SDT (e.g., MT-SDT- ConfigCommonSIB 1980) may comprise at least one of: an RSRP threshold used to determine whether mobile terminated small data transmission (MT-SDT) procedure can be initiated, (e.g., mt-SDT-RSRP-Threshold); a data volume threshold used to determine whether SDT can be initiated (e.g., sdt-LogicalChannelSR-DelayTimer); an initial value of the timer T319a used for detection of SDT failure (e.g., t319a); or other parameters.

[0272] For example, the SIB1 may further comprise at least one of: a high-speed dedicated network support (e.g., hsdn-Cell 1940); SDT-specific common configuration (e.g., SDT-ConfigCommonSIB 1960); redcap-specific common configuration (e.g., RedCap-ConfigCommonSIB 1970); an indication whether a UE temporary capability restriction due to MUSIM operation can be transmitted as part of certain RRC messages (e.g., musim-CapRestridionAllowed 1980); network-controlled relay support (e.g., ncr-Support 1984); an indication whether a serving cell is of mobile IAB type (e.g., mobilelAB-Cell 1986); or common configuration information related to reduced capability UEs (e.g., ERedCap-ConfigCommonSIB 1988).

[0273] For example, the featurePriorities 1942 may indicate priorities for features, such as (e)RedCap (e.g., redCapPriority 1944), Slicing (e.g., slicingPriority 1946), SDT (e.g , sdt-Priority 1950), MSG1-Repetitions and MSG3- Repetitions (e.g., msg3-Repetitions-Priority 1948) for coverage enhancements. For example, these priorities may be used to determine which FeatureCombinationPreambles the UE may use when a feature maps to more than one FeatureCombinationPreambles.

[0274] For example, the RedCap-ConfigCommonSIB 1970 may comprise at least one of: whether a half-duplex recap operation is allowed (e.g , halfDuplexRedCapAllowed 1972); or an indication whether a cell is barred for a reduced capability UE (e.g., cellBarredRedCap 1976).

[0275] FIG. 20 exemplarily illustrates a wireless device triggered transition from one RRC state to another and different types of RRC messages that are involved in such an RRC state transition. For example, the RRC state may represent a state of the wireless device from an access stratum perspective. For example, the wireless device may take a corresponding connection management (CM) state depending on the RRC state of the wireless device and whether the wireless device maintains a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

[0276] For example, the connection management may comprise the functions of establishing and releasing the NAS signaling connection between the wireless device and a core network node especially over an NAS interface. The core network node may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility management function; or a mobility management entity. For example, the NAS interface between the core network node and the wireless device may comprise at least one of: N1. For example, the NAS signaling connection may be used to enable NAS signalingDocket No.: 25-1060PCTexchange between the wireless device and the core network. For example, the NAS signaling may comprise at least one of: an (R)AN signaling connection between the wireless device and the (R)AN. For example, the (R)AN signaling connection may comprise: the access stratum or RRC connection over 3GPP access or UE-N3I WF connection over untrusted N3GPP access or UE-TNGF connection over trusted N3GPP access; and the N2 connection for the wireless device between the (R)AN and the core network node (e.g., AMF).

[0277] For example, the CM state comprises at least one of: CM-IDLE; or CM-CONNECTED. For example, the wireless device in the CM-IDLE state may not have the NAS signaling connection established with the core network node (e.g., AMF) over the NAS interface (e.g., N1). For example, the wireless device in the CM-CONNECTED state may have the NAS signaling connection with the core network node (e.g., AMF) over the NAS interface (e.g., N1). For example, the NAS signaling connection may use the access stratum (e.g., RRC) connection between the wireless device and the (R)AN and an application protocol running between (e.g., NGAP) between the (R)AN and the core network node (e.g., AMF) for 3GPP access.

[0278] As exemplarily illustrated by FIG. 20, the wireless device which is currently in the RRC-IDLE state and the CM-IDLE state may request to setup a new connection (e.g., a connection setup) with the (R)AN after reading one or more system information broadcasts. For example, the wireless device may read the MIB and the SIB1 before triggering the RACH procedure. For example, the (R)AN may complete the RRC setup procedure. For example, the wireless device may include a first NAS message in the RRC setup complete message and transmit to the core network node (e.g., AMF) in step 4.

[0279] For example, the (R)AN may include the first NAS message and transmit the initial UE message to the core network node (e.g., AMF) in step 5. In step 6a / 6b, the wireless device and the core network node may exchange one or more NAS or RRC messages. For example, the core network node (e.g., AMF) may prepare UE context data and send the UE context data to the (R)AN in step 7.

[0280] For example, the UE context data of a wireless devices comprises at least one of: UE aggregate maximum bit rate for non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) QoS flows for the concerned UE; PDU session context; one or more security keys; mobility restriction list; UE radio capability; UE security capabilities; index to RAT / frequency selection priority; NR vehicle to everything (V2X) services authorization information; LTE V2X services authorization information; NR aircraft-to-everything (A2X) services authorization information; LTE A2X services authorization information; NR UE sidelink aggregate maximum bit rate; LTE UE sidelink aggregate maximum bit rate; NR A2X UE PC5 aggregate maximum bit rate; LTE A2X UE PC5 aggregate maximum bit rate; PC5 QoS parameters; management based minimization of drive tests (MDT) PLMN list information; integrated access and backhaul (IAB) authorization information; 5G proximity services (ProSe) authorization information; 5G ProSe UE PC5 aggregate maximum bit rate; 5G ProSe PC5 QoS parameters; ranging and sidelink positioning service information; network controlled repeater authorization; mobile IAB authorization information; PDU set QoS parameters; or next hop chaining count.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0281] For example, in steps 8 / 9, the (R)AN may activate the AS security control with the wireless device. For example, when the AS security control gets activated, the wireless device may receive a query (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiry) in step 10 to transmit (additional) radio access capability information of the wireless device.

[0282] For example, the (R)AN may initiate a UE capability enquiry / transfer procedure to the wireless device which is in RRC_CONNECTED state, when the (R)AN needs (additional) radio access capability information of the wireless device. For example, the (R)AN may retrieve UE capabilities after AS security activation.

[0283] For example, the wireless device may transmit UE capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) in step 11 in response to the query (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiry) received in step 10.

[0284] For example, the UE capability transfer procedure from the wireless device perspective may comprise at least: the wireless device receiving the UECapabilityEnquiry and the wireless device responding with the UECapabilitylnformation.

[0285] For example, the wireless device may set the contents of UE capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) as follows: if the ue-CapabilityRAT-RequestList contains a UE-CapabilityRAT-Request with rat-Type set to nr, the wireless device may include in the ue-CapabilityRAT-ContainerList a UE-CapabilityRAT- Container of the type UE-NRCapability and with the rat-Type set to nr; and include the supportedBandCombinationList, featureSets and featureSetCombinations. For example, if the RRC message segmentation is enabled based on the field rrc-SegAllowed received, and the encoded RRC message is larger than the maximum supported size of a PDCP SDU, the wireless device may consider the maximum number of UL segments the wireless device is allowed to use when segmenting the UECapabilitylnformation message and may initiate UL message segment transfer procedure. If, on the other hand, no RRC segmentation is enabled, the wireless device may submit the UECapabilitylnformation message to lower layers for transmission, upon which the UE capability transfer procedure may end. For example, in steps 12 / 13, the (R)AN may perform the reconfiguration to setup SRB2 and DRBs for UE, or SRB2 and optionally DRBs for IAB-MT. for example, in step 14, the (R)AN may inform the core network node (e.g., AMF) that the connection setup procedure is completed.

[0286] For example, RRC messages in steps 2 and 3 may use SRB0, whereas subsequent messages may use SRB1. Messages in steps 8 / 7 may be integrity protected. From step 10 on, subsequent messages may be integrity protected and ciphered.

[0287] For example, terminologies such as RRC-IDLE and RRCJDLE mean the same and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. Similarly, terminologies such as RRC-CONNECTED and RRC_CONNECTED mean the same and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. Also, terminologies such as CM-IDLE and CM J DLE mean the same and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. Similarly, terminologies such as CM-CONNECTED and CM_CONNECTED mean the same and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure.

[0288] FIG. 21 illustrates an example as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, FIG. 21 may be considered as an expansion of step 4 of FIG. 20. For example, the wireless device may use theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTRRCSetupComplete (2100) message to confirm the successful completion of an RRC connection establishment. For example, the wireless device may send the RRCSetupComplete message on signaling radio bearer 1 (e.g., SRB1).

[0289] For example, the wireless device may perform the following actions upon reception of the RRCSetup message (i.e., step 3 of FIG. 20) in terms of setting the content of the RRCSetupComplete message: i) if upper layers provide a 5G-S-TMSI and the RRCSetup is received in response to an RRCSetupRequest, the wireless device may set the ng-5G-S-TMSI-Value to ng-5G-S-TMSI-Part2. For example, if, on the other hand, upper layers provide the 5G-S-TMSI and the RRCSetup is not received in response to an RRCSetupRequest, the wireless device may set the ng-5G-S-TMSI-Value to ng-5G-S-TMSI; ii) if upper layers selects an SNPN or a PLMN and in case of PLMN UE is either allowed or instructed to access the PLMN via a cell for which at least one CAG ID is broadcast, the wireless device may set the selectedPLMN-ldentity (2116) from the npn-ldentitylnfoUst; otherwise the wireless device may set the selectedPLMN-ldentity (2116) to the PLMN selected by upper layers from the plmn-ldentitylnfoList.

[0290] For example, ill) if if upper layers provide the 'Registered AMF', the wireless device may include and set the registeredAMF as follows - for example, if the PLMN identity of the 'Registered AMP' is different from the PLMN selected by the upper layers, the wireless device may include the plmnldentity in the registeredAMF and set it to the value of the PLMN identity in the 'Registered AMF' received from upper layers; otherwise, the wireless device may set the am f- Identifier to the value received from upper layers. In addition, the wireless device may include and set the guami-Type to the value provided by the upper layers.

[0291] For example, iv) if upper layers provide one or more S-NSSAI, the wireless device may include the s- NSSAI-List (2160) and set the content to the values provided by the upper layers; iv) if upper layers provide onboarding request indication, the wireless device may include the onboardingRequest; v) the wireless device may set the dedicatedNAS-Message (2120) to include the information received from upper layers; vi) if connecting as an IAB- node but not as a mobile lAB-node, the wireless device may include the iab-Nodelndication; vii) if connecting as a mobile lAB-node, the wireless device may include the mobilelAB-Nodelndication; viii) if connecting as an NCR-node, the wireless device may include the ncr-Nodelndication.

[0292] For example, ix) if the SIB1 contains idleModeMeasurementsNR and the UE has NR idle / inactive measurement information concerning cells other than the PCell available in VarMeasidleReport or if the SIB1 contains idleModeMeasurementsEUTRA and the UE has E-UTRA idle / inactive measurement information available in VarMeasidleReport, the wireless device may include the idleMeasAvailable (2132).

[0293] For example, x) if the SIB1 contains reselectionMeasurementsNR and the UE has valid NR reselection measurements available for any frequency listed in measReselectionCarrierListNR in VarMeasReselectionConfig, the wireless device may include the reselectionMeasAvailable. For example, xi) if the wireless device has logged measurements available for NR and if the RPLMN is included in plmn-ldentityList stored in VarLogMeasReport or if the UE has logged measurements available for NR and if the current registered SNPN identity is included in snpn- ConfiglD-List stored in VarLogMeasReport, the wireless device may include the logMeasAvailable in the RRCSetupComplete message.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0294] For example, xii) if the wireless device has connection establishment failure or connection resume failure information available in VarConnEstFailReport or VarConnEstFailReportList and if the RPLMN is equal to plmn- Identity stored in VarConnEstFailReport or in at least one of the entries of VarConnEstFailReportList or if the wireless device has connection establishment failure information or connection resume failure information available in VarConnEstFailReport or VarConnEstFailReportList and if the current registered SNPN identity is equal to snpn- Identity stored in VarConnEstFailReport or any entry of VarConnEstFailReportList, the wireless device may include connEstFaillnfoAvailable in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0295] For example, xiii) if the wireless device has radio link failure or handover failure information available in VarRLF-Report and if the RPLMN is included in plmn-ldentityList stored in VarRLF-Report or if the wireless device has radio link failure or handover failure information available in VarRLF-Report, and if the wireless device is capable of cross-RAT RLF reporting and if the RPLMN is included in plmn-ldentityList stored in VarRLF-Report or if the wireless device has radio link failure or handover failure information available in VarRLF-Report and if the current registered SNPN identity is included in snpn-ldentityList stored in the VarRLF-Report, the wireless device may include rlf-InfoAvailable in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0296] For example, xiv) if the U wireless device has successful handover information available in VarSuccessHO- Report and if the RPLMN is included in plmn-ldentityList stored in VarSuccessHO-Report or if the wireless device has successful handover information available in VarSuccessHO-Report and if the current registered SNPN identity is included in snpn-ldentityList stored in the VarSuccessHO-Report, the wireless device may include successHO- InfoAvailable in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0297] For example, xv) if the wireless device has successful PSCell change or addition information available in VarSuccessPSCell-Report and if the RPLMN is included in plmn-ldentityList stored in VarSuccessPSCell-Report or if the wireless device has successful PSCell change or addition information available in VarSuccessPSCell-Report and if the current registered SNPN identity is included in snpn-ldentityList stored in the VarSuccessPSCell-Report, the wireless device may include successPSCell-InfoAvailable in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0298] For example, if the wireless device supports storage of mobility history information and the wireless device has mobility history information available in VarMobilityHistoryReport, the wireless device may include the mobilityHistoryAvail in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0299] For example, xvi) if the wireless device has at least one stored application layer measurement configuration with appLayerldlelnactiveConfig configured, the wireless device may include measConfigReportAppLayerAvailable in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0300] For example, xvii) if the wireless device supports uplink RRC message segmentation of UECapabilitylnformation according to the network indication rrc-SegAllowed, the wireless device may include the ul- RRC-Segmentation in the RRCSetupComplete message.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0301] For example, xviii) if the wireless device supports uplink RRC message segmentation of UECapabilitylnformation according to the network indication rrc-MaxCapaSegAllowed, the wireless device may include the u!-RRC-MaxCapaSegments in the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0302] For example, xix) if SIB1 contains musim-CapRestrictionAllowed. the wireless device may include the musim-CapRestricb'onlnd (2150) in the RRCSetupComplete message upon determining it has temporary capability restriction.

[0303] For example, xx) if the wireless device has flight path information available, the wireless device may include flightPathlnfoAvailable (2140).

[0304] For example, xxi) if the wireless device may add one or more new information elements (2180) as part of the RRC setup complete message (2100) according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0305] For example, once the RRCSetupComplete message is constructed, the wireless device may submit the RRCSetupComplete message to lower layers for transmission, upon which the procedure ends.

[0306] FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary UE registration procedure as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, a UE registration procedure and a deregistration procedure may provide one or more key functionalities to register or deregister a UE / user with the 5GS or a 6G system (6GS). For example, a UE may register with a network to get authorized to receive services, to enable mobility tracking and to enable reachability. For example, the UE may initiate the registration procedure using at least one of the following registration types to get registered to a mobile communication system (e.g., 5GS): i) an initial registration; ii) a mobility registration update; ill) a periodic registration update; iv) an emergency registration; v) a disaster roaming initial registration; vi) a disaster roaming mobility registration update; or vii) a standalone non-public network (SNPN) onboarding registration.

[0307] For example, a UE or a wireless device may initiate the mobility registration update due to at least one of the following reasons: i) upon changing to a new tracking area (TA) outside the UE's registration area in both CM- CONNECTED and CM-IDLE state; ii) when the wireless device (e.g., UE) needs to update one or more capabilities or protocol parameters that are negotiated in a registration procedure with or without changing to a new TA; iii) a change in the UE's preferred network behavior that would create an incompatibility with one or more supported network behaviors provided by a serving AMF; iv) when the UE intends to retrieve local area data network (LADN) information; v) with a (NR) satellite access upon changing to a suitable cell indicating one or more TAs for a registered PLMN (RPLMN) and the one or more Tas are outside the UE's registration area in both CM-CONNECTED and CM- IDLE state; vi) when a Multi-USIM UE needs a new 5G-GUTI assignment; vii) when the UE needs to indicate or returns from an unavailability period; viii) when the UE using a RAN that provides discontinuous coverage (e.g. for satellite access with discontinuous coverage) is about to leave the satellite network coverage as described; or ix) when the UE has informed the network it is unreachable and now returns to coverage using either satellite or terrestrial access.

[0308] For example, a UE or a wireless device may trigger the periodic registration update due to a predefined time period of inactivity. For example, a UE may trigger the SNPN onboarding registration to access an onboardingDocket No.: 25-1060PCTstandalone non-public network (ON-SNPN) for the purpose of getting the UE provisioned with subscription owner standalone non-public network (SO-SNPN) credentials to enable SO-SNPN access.

[0309] For example, during the initial registration, an AMF may obtain a permanent equipment identifier (PEI) from the UE. If the PEI is needed (e.g. for EIR check), the AMF may retrieve the PEI when it establishes the NAS security context with a security mode command during the initial registration. The AMF may check the PEI with the help of an EIR. For example, the AMF may pass the PEI on to a UDM, to an SMF and a PCF. The UDM may store the PEI in a UDR.

[0310] For example, during a registration procedure, a home network (or a credentials holder in case of access to an SNPN) may provide steering of roaming information to a UE via the AMF. The steering of roaming information may comprise at least one of: a list of preferred PLMN / access technology combinations; ii) a credentials holder controlled prioritized lists of preferred SNPNs or group IDs for network selection (GINs); ill) a credentials holder controlled prioritized lists of preferred SNPNs or GINs for accessing localized services; iv) or an HPLMN ora credentials holder indication that 'no change of the above list(s) stored in the UE is needed'. For example, the home network may include an indication for the UE to send an acknowledgement of the reception of this information.

[0311] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the UE or the wireless device may send an access network (AN) message comprising at least one or more of the following: i) one or more AN parameters; ii) a registration request; ill) a 5G-S-TMSI; iv) a GUAMI iv) a selected PLMN ID; v) an NID; vi) NSSAI information; or vii) an establishment cause.

[0312] For example, the registration request may comprise at least one or more of: a registration type; a SUCI; a 5G-GUTI; a PEI; last visited TAI (if available); one or more security parameters; requested NSSAI; a mapping of requested NSSAI; a default configured NSSAI indication; a UE radio capability update; a UE MM core network capability; a PDU session status; a list of PDU sessions to be activated; a follow-on request; a MICO indication; a requested active time; requested DRX parameters for E-UTRA and NR; requested DRX parameters for NB-loT; extended idle mode DRX parameters; LADN DNN(s); an indicator of requesting LADN Information; a NAS message container; a support for restriction of use of enhanced coverage]; a preferred network behavior; a UE paging probability information; a paging subgrouping support indication; a low power wake up signal (LP-WUS) subgrouping support indication; a UE policy container; a UE radio capability ID; a release request indication; a paging restriction information; a PEI; a PLMN with a disaster condition; a requested periodic update time; an unavailability period duration; a start of an unavailability period; or an unavailability type.

[0313] For example, if the UE supports UE configuration of network-controlled slice usage policy and the UE stores slice usage policy, the UE may include an on demand S-NSSAI in the Requested NSSAI when applications in the UE require data transmission by a PDU session associated with the on demand S-NSSAI.

[0314] For example, the UE may send the UE MM core network capability information to the AMF during the initial registration or the mobility registration update procedure. For example, this may be to ensure that the UE MM Core Network Capability information stored in the AMF is up to date.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0315] For example, if the UE supports 'strictly periodic registration timer indication', the UE may indicate its capability of 'strictly periodic registration timer indication' in the MICO indication. If the UE supports CAG, the UE may indicate its capability of "CAG supported1' in the UE MM Core Network Capability. If the UE operates a plurality of USIMs, supports and intends to use one or more multi-USIM feature(s), the UE may indicate one or more multi-USI M specific features in the UE MM core network capability. If the UE supports LADN per DNN and S-NSSAI, the UE may indicate its support of LADN per DNN and S-NSSAI in the UE MM core network capability. If the UE supports a network slice replacement feature, the UE indicates support for the network slice replacement feature. If the UE supports a UE configuration of network-controlled slice usage policy, the UE may indicate its capability of "UE configuration of network-controlled slice usage policy" in the UE MM core network capability. For example, if the UE supports RACS and has a UE radio capability ID(s) assigned, the UE may indicate a UE Radio Capability ID. For example, if a UE supports subscription-based restrictions to simultaneous registration of network slices feature, the UE may include the NSSRG handling support indication in the UE 5GMM core network capability.

[0316] For example, the UE may indicate in the UE 5GMM core network capability if the UE supports at least one or more of the following: SMS over NAS; location services (LCS); radio capabilities signaling optimization (RACS); network slice-specific authentication and authorization; network slice replacement; paging subgrouping support indication; LP-WUS paging subgrouping support indication; CAG; subscription-based restrictions to simultaneous registration of network slices; support of network slice access stratum group (NSAG); partial network slice support in a registration area; minimization of service interruption (MINT); equivalent SNPNs; an unavailability period support; a support for network reconnection due to RAN timing synchronization status change; UE configuration of network- controlled slice usage policy; temporarily available network slices; support of S-NSSAI location availability information; or support of network verified UE location over NR NTN.

[0317] For example, as illustrated in FIG.22, on receiving a registration request message, a radio access network (RAN) may select an AMF based on an included 5G-S-TMSI or GUAMI of the registration request message. In case the included 5G-S-TMSI or GUAMI does not indicate a valid AMF, the RAN may select an AMF based on a RAT or requested NSSAI information that is included in the registration request message. For example, in case the (R)AN cannot select an appropriate AMF, it may forward the registration request message to an AMF (e.g., a default AMF) which has been configured, in (R)AN, to perform an AMF selection. A selected AMF may be termed a new AMF.

[0318] For example, as illustrated in FIG 22, the (R)AN may encapsulate the registration request message in an N2 message and send the N2 message to the selected AMF. The N2 message may comprise at least one or more N2 parameters; and / or the registration message. The one or more N2 parameters may comprise at least one or more of the following: a selected PLMN (e.g., a PLMN ID); a NID; location information; cell identity of a cell in which the UE is camping; and / or a UE context request. For example, the UE context request may indicate that a UE context including security information needs to be established at the (R)AN (e.g., NG-RAN).

[0319] For example, if the UE includes a preferred network behavior, which is incompatible with what the network can support, the selected AMF may reject the registration request with an appropriate cause value.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0320] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the new AMF which is selected earlier may determine an old AMF using the UE's 5G-GUTI or NID and try to retrieve the stored UE's SUPI and UE context. For example, as illustrated in in FIG. 22, if the old AMF holds information about established PDU session(s) and it is notan initial registration, the old AMF may include at least one or more of the following in a Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer response and send to the new AMF: SMF information; DNN(s); S-NSSAI(s); PDU session ID(s). For example, if the old AMF holds information about AM policy association and information about UE policy association, the old AMF may include information about the AM policy association, the UE policy association and PDF ID in the Namf_Communication_UEContextTransfer response.

[0321] For example, as illustrated in of FIG. 22, if the SUCI is not provided by the UE nor retrieved from the old AMF, the new AMF may trigger an identity request procedure by sending an identity request message to the UE requesting the SUCI. For example, in return, the UE may respond with the SUCI. For example, the (new) AMF may select an AUSF based on SUPI or SUCI and initiate UE authentication by invoking an AUSF.

[0322] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the (new) AMF may request the AUSF to execute authentication of the UE. For example, the AUSF may select a UDM and get authentication data from the UDM. After executing authentication, the AUSF may provide relevant security related information to the AMF. For example, if the AMF provides a SUCI to AUSF, the AUSF may return the SUPI to the AMF after the authentication is successful.

[0323] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the new AMF may notify the old AMF of an outcome the registration request. For example, if the new AMF is not able to get the PEI either from a UE or the old AMF, the new AMF may initiate an identity request procedure by sending an identity request message to the UE to retrieve the PEI. For example, optionally, the new AMF may initiate an ME identity check.

[0324] For example, the new AMF, based on the SUPI, may select a UDM, which, in turn, may select a UDR instance.

[0325] For example, if the new AMF decides to use a (V-)PCF identified by a (V-)PCF ID included in UE context from the old AMF 5, the AMF may contact the (V-)PCF identified by the (V-)PCF ID to obtain policy. After finding the (V-)PCF, the new AMF may perform an AM policy association establishment / modification. Fr example, if the new AMF notifies mobility restrictions (e.g. UE location) to the (V-)PCF for adjustment, or if the (V-)PCF updates the mobility restrictions itself due to some conditions (e.g. application in use, time and date), the (V-)PCF may provide the updated mobility restrictions to the AMF. If the (V-)PCF supports a slice replacement, the (V-)PCF may provide the new AMF with triggers for a slice replacement. If a S-NSSAI is subject to network slice usage control, the (V-)PCF may provide a slice usage policy information including whether a network slice is on demand and a slice deregistration inactivity timer value, for one or more subscribed S-NSSAIs.

[0326] For example, as illustrated in FIG.22, if the list of PDU sessions to be activated is included in the registration request, the AMF sends Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSM Context Request to SMF(s) associated with one or more PDU session(s) in order to activate user plane connections of the one or more PDU session(s).Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0327] For example, if the newAMFand the old AMF are in the same PLMN, thenewAMF may send a UE context modification request to at least one of: a non-3GPP inter working function (N3IWF); a trusted non-3GPP gateway function (TNGF); or a wireline access gateway function (W-AGF). The N3IWF / TNGF / W-AGF may send a UE context modification response to the new AMF. After the new AMF receives the response message from the N3IWF, W-AGF or TNGF, the new AMF may register with a UDM using Nudm_UECM_Registration, but with the Access Type set to "non-3GPP access". When the UDM stores the associated access type (i.e. non-3GPP) as indicated, the UDM may initiate a Nudm_UECM_DeregistrationNotification to the old AMF corresponding to the same (i.e. non-3GPP) access. The old AMF may remove the UE context for non-3GPP access. The Old AMF may unsubscribe with the UDM.

[0328] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the (new) AMF may send a registration accept message. For example, the new AMF may include at least one or more of the following in the registration accept message: a 5G- GUTI; a registration area (RA); mobility restrictions; a PDU session status; allowed NSSAI; mapping of allowed NSSAI; partially allowed NSSAI; mapping of partially allowed NSSAI; a TAI list for S-NSSAIs in partially allowed NSSAI; a configured NSSAI for the serving PLMN; mapping of configured NSSAI; NSSRG information; NSAG information; rejected S-NSSAIs; a TAI list for any rejected S-NSSAI partially in the RA; pending NSSAI; mapping of pending NSSAI; periodic registration update timer; an active time; a strictly periodic registration timer indication; LADN information; a MICO indication; an IMS voice over PS session supported indication; an emergency service support indicator; accepted DRX parameters for E-UTRA and NR; accepted DRX parameters for NB-loT; extended idle mode DRX parameters; paging time window; network support of interworking without N26; access stratum connection establishment NSSAI inclusion mode; network slicing subscription change indication; operator-defined access category definitions; a list of equivalent PLMNs; enhanced coverage restricted information; supported network behavior; service gap time; a PLMN-assigned UE radio capability ID; a PLMN-assigned UE radio capability ID deletion; WUS assistance information; AMF PEIPS assistance information; AMF LP-WUSPS assistance information; a truncated 5G-S-TMSI configuration; connection release supported; paging cause indication for voice service supported; paging restriction supported; reject paging request supported; paging restriction information acceptance / rejection; a list of PLMN(s) to be used in disaster condition; disaster roaming wait range information; disaster return wait range information; forbidden TAI(s); a list of equivalent SNPNs; registered NID; unavailability period support; MBSR authorization information; return to coverage notification not required; unavailability period duration; start of unavailability period; S-NSSAI location availability information; mapping of alternative NSSAI; slice usage policy; maximum time offset.

[0329] For example, if the requested NSSAI does not include S-NSSAIs which map to S-NSSAIs of the HPLMN subject to network slice-specific authentication and authorization and the (new) AMF determines that no S-NSSAI can be provided in the allowed NSSAI for the UE in the current UE's tracking area and if no default S-NSSAI(s) not yet involved in the current UE registration procedure could be further considered, the (new) AMF may reject the UE registration and may include in the rejection message the list of rejected S-NSSAIs, each of them with the appropriateDocket No.: 25-1060PCTrejection cause value. In relation to FIG 22, terminologies such as the newAMFand theAMF may refer to each other and are used interchangeably.

[0330] For example, if the registration request message received over 3GPP access includes a paging restriction information, the (new) AMF may accept or reject the paging restriction information requested by the UE based on operator policy. If the (new) AMF rejects the paging restriction information, the (new) AMF may remove any stored paging restriction information from the UE context and discard the UE requested paging restriction information. If the (new) AMF accepts the paging restriction information from the UE, the (new) AMF may store the paging restriction information from the UE in the UE context and inform the UE about an acceptance / rejection of the requested paging restriction information in the registration accept message.

[0331] For example, if the registration request message received over 3GPP access includes a release request indication, the (new) AMF may not establish user plane resources and may trigger an access network (AN) release procedure after the completion of Registration procedure. For example, the access network (AN) release procedure may cause an entire UP connections of the UE to be deactivated. For example, if the UE indicates its support for slice usage policy in the UE 5GMM core network capability, the AMF may include slice usage policies for the slices in the configured NSSAI. If the UE indicates its support for subscription-based restrictions to simultaneous registration of network slices feature in the UE 5GMM core network capability, the AMF may include, if available, NSSRG Information.

[0332] For example, if the UE includes the MICO indication in the registration request, the AMF may respond in the registration accept message whether MICO mode should be used in the MICO indication. When the MICO mode is allowed for the UE, the AMF may include an active time value and / or a strictly periodic registration timer indication in the registration accept message. The AMF may determine the periodic registration update timer value, active time value and the strictly periodic registration timer indication based on at least one or more of the following: local configuration; expected UE behavior if available; UE indicated preferences; UE capability; UE subscription information; if using a RAN that provides discontinuous coverage, UE availability; or network policies. If the AMF accepts the use of extended idle mode DRX, the AMF may include the extended idle mode DRX parameters and paging time window. For example, if the UE provides a paging subgrouping support indication in the registration request message, the (supporting) AMF may provide the AMF PEIPS assistance information, including the paging subgroup ID. For example, if the UE provides an LP-WUS subgrouping support indication in the registration request, the (supporting) AMF may provide the AMF LP-WUSPS assistance information, including the LP-WUS subgroup ID.

[0333] For example, if the UE indicates the support of unavailability period in the UE MM core network capability in the registration request, the AMF may indicate to the UE whether the corresponding feature is supported by providing the "unavailability period support" indication. If the UE provides an unavailability period duration and / or start of unavailability period in the registration request message, the AMF may store the received unavailability period duration and / or start of unavailability period in UE context. The AMF may provide the periodic registration update timer based on the unavailability period duration and / or the start of unavailability period indicated by the UE.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0334] For example, if the UE indicates a support for the network slice replacement feature in the 5GMM core network capability and the AMF determines that an S-NSSAI from an allowed NSSAI is to be replaced with an alternative S-NSSAI, the AMF may include a mapping of alternative NSSAI within the registration accept message to the UE and also adds the alternative S-NSSAI to the allowed NSSAI and / or configured NSSAI, if not already included.

[0335] For example, the new AMF may perform a UE policy association establishment.

[0336] For example, the UE may send a registration complete message to the AMF after successfully updating one or more of the following received in the registration accept message: the configured NSSAI for the serving PLMN; the mapping of configured NSSAI; the NSSRG information; the NSAG Information; the network slicing subscription change indication; or the CAG information. If the AMF provides updated slice deregistration timer value(s) to the UE in the registration accept message, the AMF may use the corresponding slice deregistration inactivity timer value(s) next time the slice deregistration inactivity timer(s) starts.

[0337] For example, if the access and mobility subscription data provided by the UDM to the AMF includes steering of roaming information with an indication that the UDM requests an acknowledgement of the reception of this information from the UE, the AMF may provide the UE acknowledgement to UDM. For example, for registration over 3GPP access, if the AMF does not release the signaling connection, the AMF may send the RRC inactive assistance information to the NG-RAN. After this step and in parallel to any of the preceding steps, the AMF may send a "Homogeneous Support of IMS Voice over PS Sessions" indication to the UDM.

[0338] For example, if the UE indicates its support for network slice-specific authentication and authorization procedure in the UE MM core network capability in registration request and any S-NSSAI of the HPLMN is subject to network slice-specific authentication and authorization, the related procedure is executed.

[0339] FIG. 23 illustrates an exampleas per aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG.23 illustrates an ISAC core network (CN) node (e.g., referred to as ISAC CN), an ISAC capable or ISAC enabled base station (e.g., ISAC RAN), and one or more wireless devices that support ISAC. For example, a wireless device that supports ISAC or sensing may be referred to as an ISAC node in this disclosure. For example, the term wireless device (e.g , UE) may mean that the wireless device (e.g., UE) supports the ISAC or operates as the ISAC node unless stated otherwise in the subsequent paragraphs.

[0340] The ISAC CN may comprise one or more network functions that support the ISAC. For example, the one or more network functions that support the ISAC may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility function (AMF); a session management function (SMF); a user plane function (UPF); a sensing function (SF) or an ISAC function (ISACF); or application function (AF).

[0341] For example, in FIG.23, an AMF that supports the ISAC is depicted as an ISAC-capableAMF. For example, the ISAC-capable AMF may perform at least the following: selecting, creating, and maintaining connection with the SF or the ISACF; or exchanging information between an SF or the ISACF and the ISAC-capable BS. Terminologies such as ISA-capable, ISAC capable, ISAC-enabled, ISAC enabled may mean the same unless stated otherwise and hence are used interchangeably in the present disclosure. For example, an ISAC-capable wireless device means thatDocket No.: 25-1060PCTthe wireless device may support or perform the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system. For example, an I SAC-capable BS or RAN means that the BS or the RAN may support or perform the dual functions of radar sensing and communication in the same system. For example, in FIG.23, a legacy AMF may mean that the legacy AMF does not support the I SAC.

[0342] For example, terminologies such as sensing and ISAC may mean the same unless stated otherwise and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. Similarly, terminologies such as SF and ISACF may mean the same unless stated otherwise and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure.

[0343] For example, one or more sensing service consumers may consume one or more ISAC / sensing services. Accordingly, a sensing service consumer may transmit a sensing request to consume the one or more ISAC / sensing services. For example, some of the one or more ISAC / sensing services may comprise at least one of: high-accuracy localization and tracking; simultaneous imaging, mapping and localization; augmented human sensing; or gesture and activity recognition; intruder detection on a highway, railway, restricted area for UAV, yard and home; monitoring of rainfall, tourist, flood, respiration and sport; navigation assistance; real-time map generation; or collision avoidance.

[0344] For example, each of the one or more sensing consumer may be identified by at least one of: an application function (AF) identifier; a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI); an application identifier; a client identifier; a tenant identifier; a data network name (DNN); or a data network access identifier (DNAI).

[0345] For example, a sensing service consumer may transmit a sensing service request with the help of an application function. For example, the sensing service consumer may transmit the sensing service request to get information about characteristics of an environment and / or objects within the environment using radio frequency signals. For example, the sensing request may trigger one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may comprise at least one of: transmitting configuration of one or more sensing signals; transmitting the one or more sensor / sensing signals in a sensing area / scene; receiving and taking measurements of one or more echoed sensor / sensing signals from within the sensing area / scene; collecting the measurement results; or transmitting the measurement results associated with the one or more echoed sensor / sensing signals to the ISAC function or sensing server for processing. For example, the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may require more complex coordination and data fusion from a plurality of network elements / nodes / entities to achieve accurate sensing.

[0346] For example, for a network node / element / entity to be ISAC capable or to support the ISAC, the network node / element / entity may be capable of handling the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, supporting the ISAC may mean that the network node / element / entity may be capable of handling the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the ISAC node may be capable of handling the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, if a BS supports the ISAC, the BS may be capable of handling the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, if a wireless device supports the ISAC, the wireless device may be capable of handling the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may be termed the ISAC node in the present disclosure.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0347] For example, terminologies such as sensing service request, ISAC service request and service request may mean the same unless stated otherwise and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure.

[0348] For example, the sensing service request from an AF may contain what type of sensing is required in a given area. For example, the sensing request from the AF may comprise one or more sensing requirements. For example, the ISAC function may process the sensing service request and determine at least one of: sensing accuracy required; sensing area to be considered; sensing modes to be used; or sensing methods to be used. For example, the ISAC function may decide at least one of the following based on the sensing service request: what sensing mode to be used; a number of the ISAC nodes to be used; a number of network nodes / elements / entities to be used; one or more key performance indicators (KPIs) associated with the sensing service request. For example, the one or more key performance indicators associated with the sensing service request may comprise at least one of: a horizontal accuracy / resolution, a vertical accuracy / resolution, an orientation accuracy / resolution, and a velocity accuracy / resolution.

[0349] In an example network, in case a wireless device is of the ISAC node type it may not be practically possible to expect that every base station (BS) supports the ISAC. For example, in a heterogenous network that supports one or more services, not every network function or base station may support the same feature or service. For example, this may be due to the fact that not every base station may not possess similar hardware and / or software functionalities. For example, in FIG. 23, a BS that is ISAC capable or ISAC enabled is denoted as the BS supporting ISAC. In other words, not every base station may support the ISAC. For example, a BS that is not ISAC capable may not necessarily connect to the ISAC CN. Similarly, not every wireless device may support the ISAC.

[0350] In a potential implementation of existing technologies, not every base station may support the ISAC and for a wireless device (e.g. , UE) to indicate the ISAC support, the wireless device may first need to camp on a base station (BS) that supports the ISAC. Also, the BS may need to put the UE in contact with a core network node that supports the ISAC. As a result, , it may be possible that an ISAC-capable wireless device may get connected to a network comprising at least a BS and CN that may not support the ISAC and thereby, making use of the ISAC-capable wireless device may be delayed. This may lead to delayed ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers, which can impact QoE as perceived by the sensing service consumer.

[0351] For example, terminologies such as sensing service consumer, ISAC service consumer, sensing consumer, ISAC consumer, sensing service customer, sensing customer and ISAC customer may mean the same unless stated otherwise and hence, may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure.

[0352] For example, in another potential implementation of existing technologies, it may be assumed that base stations may be homogenous in terms of the ISAC support. However, this may not hold true in heterogenous deployments where not every base station is equal to others in terms of the ISAC support. For example, if a BS does not support the ISAC, the BS may not necessarily connect to the ISAC CN.

[0353] For example, in one another potential implementation of existing technologies, it may be assumed that every wireless device may support the ISAC. However, this may not hold true and connecting a wireless device thatDocket No.: 25-1060PCTdoes not support the ISAC to the ISAC CN may not be useful and may make the ISAC CN unnecessarily be overloaded.

[0354] Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to an approach for solving the problems described above. These and other features of the present disclosure are described further below.

[0355] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to support the ISAC. For example, based on the first indication, the ISAC capable BS can select the ISAC-capable core network node to authorize the wireless device so that the ISAC capable BS can prepare the wireless device to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. This may lead to providing the ISAC / sensing services to one or more sensing service consumers when required, and thus enhancing QoE as perceived by the one or more sensing service consumers.

[0356] For example, the wireless device may include the first indication for an ISAC capable BS to select a core network node that support the ISAC. For example, based on the first indication, the core network node that supports the ISAC may check subscription information of the wireless device held in a UDM / UDR. For example, in case the subscription information of the wireless device allows the ISAC support, the core network node that supports the ISAC may transmit the second indication authorizing or allowing the wireless device to support the ISAC or to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the core network node may need to include a third indication to indicate to the ISAC- capable BS that the wireless device is allowed or authorized to support the ISAC or operate as the ISAC node. For example, based on the third indication, the ISAC capable BS may activate the AS security and get one or more IS AC- specific capabilities of the wireless device. For example, with the third indication, the ISAC capable BS may be able or allowed to get the one or more ISAC-specific capabilities from the wireless device. For example, by getting the one or more ISAC-specific capabilities from the wireless device, the ISAC capable BS may prepare the wireless device to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. Hence, connecting to the core network that supports the ISAC may be a pre-requisite with the first indication for the ISAC capable BS to get the one or more ISAC-specific capabilities from the wireless device and subsequently prepare the wireless device to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may thus solve the problems outlined.

[0357] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node.

[0358] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise a first indication indicating that theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTwireless device supports the ISAC. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations.

[0359] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise a first indication indicating that the wireless device is the ISAC node. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication from a core network node indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node.

[0360] For example, the core network node may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility management function (AMF); a mobility management entity; a sensing function (SF); or an ISAC function.

[0361]

[0362] For example, in case a wireless device does not include the first indication in the first message, the ISAC- capable BS may connect the wireless device to a core network node that does not support the ISAC. For example, the code network that does not support the ISAC may not necessarily authorize or allow the wireless device to support the ISAC or operate as the ISAC node preventing the I SAC-capable BS from getting the one or more ISAC-specific capabilities from the wireless device and subsequently preparing the wireless device to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, this may be due to that the core network node that does not support the ISAC may not be allowed to connect to a UDM / UDR instance that holds ISAC-related subscription data of one or more wireless devices For example, this may impact one or more ISAC / sensing services a network provides to the one or more sensing service consumers. However, including the first indication and / or the third indication may prevent the ISAC-capable BS from selecting a core network node that does not support the ISAC. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that an ISAC-capable BS may connect an ISAC-capable wireless device to a cored network node supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the wireless device to provide fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers may happen when required..

[0363] For example, a second wireless device may include the first indication in the first message to the ISAC- capable BS. For example, the ISAC-capable BS may select the core network node that supports the ISAC based on the first indication. However, the core network may not find relevant authorization in subscription data held in a UDM / UDR for the second wireless device. For example, the core network node may not authorize or allow the second wireless device to support the ISAC or operate as the ISAC node. For example, without the first or the third indication, the ISAC-capable BS may not activate AS security to trigger the UE capability enquiry procedure. For example, the second wireless device may be malicious or rogue. For example, including the first indication and / or the third indication may prevent a rogue or malicious wireless device from knowing ISAC-capabilities of an ISAC-capable BS. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may thus solve the problems outlined.

[0364] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive or read one or more system information broadcast (SIB) messages of a BS to determine whether the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the wireless deviceDocket No.: 25-1060PCTthat supports the ISAC may send the first message with the first indication after determining that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may indicate that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may transmit the first message with the first indication to a BS that supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may comprise at least one of: SIB1; SIB2; SIB3; SIB4; SIB5; SIB6; SIB7; SIB8; SIB9; SIB10; SIB11; SIB12; SIB13; SIB14; SIB15; SIB16; SIB17; SIB18; SIB19; SIB20; SIB21; SI B22; SIB23; SIB24; SIB25; or SIBxx, wherein the SIBxx may be a new SIB.

[0365] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC or the ISAC node receives and reads the one or more SIB messages when the wireless device or the ISAC node is in the RRCJDLE state.

[0366] For example, the wireless device may learn in terms of which (neighbor) BS or which frequency carrier or band supports the ISAC from an RRC release message when the wireless device moves from the RRC_CONNECTED state to either the RRC_IDLE or the RRCJNACTIVE state. For example, the frequency carrier / band may comprise at least one of: one or more NR frequencies; one or more inter-RAT frequencies; one or more intra-RAT frequencies; or one or more 6G frequencies. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message with the first indication after determining that the BS supports the ISAC.

[0367] For example, a wireless device may determine whether a BS that the wireless device camps on supports the ISAC based on contents of at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0368] For example, the wireless device may transmit the first message without the first indication if a BS does not support the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may not necessarily transmit the first indication to a BS that does not support the ISAC.

[0369] For example, receiving the second indication may ensure that the wireless device which is the ISAC node may be connected to the ISAC CN. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may thus solve the problems outlined. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that the wireless device gets connected to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the wireless device for performing the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may happen when required leading to fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0370] For example, receiving the second indication may ensure that the wireless device which is the ISAC node may not be connected to a CN which does not support the ISAC. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that the wireless device gets connected to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the e wireless device for performing the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may happen when required leading to fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0371] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device that does not support the ISAC may not erroneously be connected to the ISAC CN - thus minimizing the chances for the ISAC CN to get unnecessarily overloaded.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0372] For example, connecting an ISAC node to the ISAC CN may ensure that the ISAC CN can make use of the ISAC node when the ISAC function of the ISAC CN receives the sensing service request.

[0373] For example, the first message may be at least one of: an RRC setup complete message; a message for confirming an establishment of the RRC connection; a message for confirming an establishment of the RRC connection after receiving Msg4 of the 4-step RA procedure; a message transmitted in response to receiving from a BS that the RACH contention is resolved; an RRC resume complete message; or an RRC reestablishment message.

[0374] For example, the first indication may be used at least to indicate that the connection is being established by the ISAC node. For example, the first indication may help an ISAC capable BS select the ISAC CN for the ISAC node. For example, without the first indication, the ISAC capable BS may not necessarily select the ISAC CN for the ISAC node.

[0375] For example, the first indication may comprise 1 -bit

[0376] For example, a BS that supports the ISAC may transmit the one or more SIB messages to indicate that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may comprise at least one of: SIB1 ; SIB2; SIB3; SIB4; SIB5; SIB6; SIB7; SIB8; SIB9; SIB10; SIB11; SIB12; SIB13; SIB14; SIB15; SIB16; SIB17; SIB18; SIB19; SIB20; SIB21; SIB22; SIB23; SIB24; SIB25; orSIBxx, wherein the SIBxx maybe a new SIB.

[0377] For example, a BS currently serving the ISAC node or a wireless device may transmit a RRC release when the BS moves the ISAC node or the wireless device from the RRC_CONNECTED to the RRC_IDLE or RRC_I NACTIVE state. For example, the BS may include which (neighbor) BS or which frequency carrier or band supports the ISAC in the RRC release message. For example, the frequency carrier / band may comprise at least one of: one or more NR frequencies; one or more inter-RAT frequencies; one or more intra-RAT frequencies; or one or more 6G frequencies. For example, a BS may indicate that the BS supports the ISAC using at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0378] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a first message from a wireless device that supports the ISAC, wherein, the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; or a NAS message. For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may select a core network node supporting the ISAC based on receiving the first indication. For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a second message to the core network based on selecting the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the second message may comprise at least: the NAS message; or the first indication.

[0379] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a third indication from the core network node based on transmitting the second message, wherein the third indication may indicate that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node.

[0380] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a third message to the wireless device supporting the ISAC after receiving the second indication, wherein the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0381] For example, the third message may be at least one of: a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs; a UE capability enquiry (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiryj message; or a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs after the AS security is activated.

[0382] For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are specific to the ISAC using one or more filters.

[0383] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a fourth message from the wireless device in response to transmitting the third message, wherein the fourth message may comprise one or more radio capabilities for the ISAC. For example, the fourth message may comprise one or more radio capabilities that are associated with the ISAC. For example, the fourth message may comprise one or more radio capabilities that are specific to the ISAC.

[0384] For example, the fourth message may be at least one of: a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by the BS; or a UE capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) message; or a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by a BS after the AS security is activated.

[0385] For example, without the third indication, the ISAC capable BS may not be able or allowed to get the one or more ISAC-specific capabilities from the first wireless device. For example, without getting the one or more ISAC- specific capabilities from the first wireless device, the ISAC capable BS may not prepare the wireless device to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. Hence, connecting to the core network that supports the ISAC may be a pre-requisite with the first indication for the ISAC capable BS to get the one or more ISAC-specific capabilities from the wireless device and subsequently prepare the wireless device to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations.

[0386] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may thus solve the problems outlined. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a BS that supports the ISAC may connect an I SAC-capable wireless device to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the ISAC-capable wireless device may happen when required leading to providing fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0387] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a BS that supports the ISAC may not erroneously connect a wireless device that does not support the ISAC to the ISAC CN - thus minimizing the chances for the ISAC CN to get unnecessarily overloaded.

[0388] FIG. 24 illustrates an example as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. An example, as illustrated by FIG. 24 may be set to work in a heterogeneous deployment scenario where not every base station is identical to each other in terms of supporting the ISAC. .

[0389] As exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 24, a wireless device may receive a SIB comprising a first field indicating that a BS supports the ISAC. For example, the SIB may be of SIB1 type. For example, the first field may comprise 1- bit. For example, the first field may comprise a Boolean to indicate whether the BS supports the ISAC or not.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0390] For example, the wireless device may receive / read a SIB in at least one of the following situations: during cell (re)selection; or when the wireless device camps on. For example, the wireless device that camps on or (re)selects a cell may be in at least the following state: the RRCJDLE state; or RRCJ NACTIVE state.

[0391] For example, after determining that the BS supports the ISAC, a wireless device may transmit a randomaccess preamble in MSg1 of the 4-step RA type. In response to transmitting the random-access preamble, the wireless device may receive a random-access response (e.g . , Msg2) with an initial uplink grant. Using the uplink grant provided in Msg2, the wireless device may transmit Msg3. For example, the wireless device may transmit the Msg3 on the physical uplink shared channel (RUSCH). For example, the Msg3 may carry RRC setup request message requesting an establishment of an RRC connection. For example, in response to transmitting the Msg3, the wireless device may receive Msg4, wherein the Msg4 may be a MAC data indicating that contention is resolved. The Msg4 may carry an RRC setup message.

[0392] For example, on receiving the RRC setup message, the wireless device may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message (e.g., including the first indication), the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to support the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0393] For example, a wireless device may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message (e.g., including the first indication), the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; ora core network node.

[0394] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message (e.g., including the first indication), the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0395] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device is the ISAC node; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message (e.g., including the first indication), the wireless device may receive a second indication from a core network node indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0396] For example, the first indication may comprise at least one of: a wireless device may support the ISAC; a wireless device is the ISAC node; a wireless device is ISAC-enabled; or a wireless device is I SAC-capable.

[0397] For example, the second indication may comprise at least one of: a wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node; a wireless device is allowed to support the ISAC; or a wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations.

[0398] For example, the first NAS message may comprise at least one of: a registration request message; or an UL NAS transport message. For example, the first NAS message may comprise at least one of: a non-access stratum (NAS) information element (IE) indicating that the wireless device is the ISAC node; or a non-access stratum (NAS) information element (IE) indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC.

[0399] For example, the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node may be set / encoded via at least one of: a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability information element; or a 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability information element.

[0400] For example, the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC node may be set / encoded via at least one of: a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability information element; or a 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability information element.

[0401] For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication authorizing the wireless device to operate as the ISAC node based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node.

[0402] For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication allowing the wireless device to support the ISAC based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC.

[0403] For example, the core network node may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility management function (AMF); a mobility management entity; a sensing function (SF); or an ISAC function.

[0404] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive or read one or more system information broadcast (SIB) messages of a BS to determine whether the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message, wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message. For example, the one or more SIB messages may indicate that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may transmitthe first message with the first indication to a BS that supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may comprise at least one of: SIB1; SIB2; SIB3; SIB4; SIB5; SIB6; SIB7; SIB8; SIB9; SIB10; SIB11; SIB12; SIB13; SIB14; SIB15; SIB16; SIB17; SIB18; SIB19; SIB20; SIB21; SIB22; SIB23; SIB24; SIB25; orSIBxx, wherein the SI Bxx may be a new SIB.

[0405] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message after determining that the BS supports the ISAC.

[0406] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC or the ISAC node receives and reads the one or more SIB messages when the wireless device or the ISAC node is in the RRCJDLE state.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0407] For example, the wireless device may learn in terms of which (neighbor) BS or which frequency carrier or band supports the ISAC from an RRC release message when the wireless device moves from the RRC_CONNECTED state to either the RRC_IDLE or the RRCJNACTIVE state. For example, the frequency carrier / band may comprise at least one of: one or more NR frequencies; one or more inter-RAT frequencies; one or more intra-RAT frequencies; or one or more 6G frequencies. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message, wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message after determining that the BS supports the ISAC.

[0408] For example, a wireless device may determine whether a BS that the wireless device camps on supports the ISAC based on contents of at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message

[0409] For example, the wireless device may transmit the first message without the first indication if a BS does not support the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may not necessarily transmit the first indication to a BS that does not support the ISAC.

[0410] For example, receiving the second indication may ensure that the wireless device which is the ISAC node may be connected to the ISAC CN. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may thus solve the problems outlined. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device gets connected to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the wireless device for performing the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may happen when required leading to fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0411] For example, receiving the second indication may ensure that the wireless device which is the ISAC node may not be connected to a CN which does not support the ISAC. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device gets connected to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the wireless device for performing the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may happen when required leading to fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0412] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device that does not support the ISAC may not erroneously be connected to the ISAC CN - thus minimizing the chances for the ISAC CN to get unnecessarily overloaded.

[0413] For example, connecting an ISAC node to the ISAC CN may ensure that the ISAC CN can make use of the ISAC node when the ISAC function of the ISAC CN receives the sensing service request.

[0414] For example, the first message may be at least one of: an RRC setup complete message; a message for confirming an establishment of the RRC connection; a message for confirming an establishment of the RRC connection after receiving Msg4 of the 4-step RA procedure; a message transmitted in response to receiving from a BS that the RACH contention is resolved; an RRC resume complete message; a registration request message, an UL NAS transport message; or an RRC reestablishment message.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0415] For example, the first indication may be used at least to indicate that the connection is being established by the ISAC node. For example, the first indication may help an ISAC capable BS select the ISAC CN for the ISAC node. For example, without the first indication, the ISAC capable BS may not necessarily select the ISAC CN for the ISAC node.

[0416] For example, the first indication may comprise 1 -bit

[0417] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may determine whether a BS that the wireless device camps on supports the ISAC based on contents of at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0418] For example, on determining that the BS supports the ISAC, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e. , the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive a command message to activate an access stratum (AS) security from the ISAC-capable BS. For example, in response to receiving the command message, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a security mode complete message for confirming completion of a security mode command.

[0419] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive a third message requesting radio access capabilities. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive the third message from the ISAC-capable BS. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a fourth message in response to the third message. For example, the fourth message may comprise one or more radio access capabilities for the ISAC. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit the fourth message to the ISAC- capable BS.

[0420] For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are specific to the ISAC using one or more filters. For example, this is because the ISAC-capable BS may receive the third indication from the core network node indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are associated with the ISAC using one or more filters.

[0421] For example, the third message may be at least one of: a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs; a UE capability enquiry (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiry message; or a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs after the AS security is activated.

[0422] For example, the fourth message may be at least one of: a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by the BS; or a UE capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) message; or a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by a BS after the AS security is activated.

[0423] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, the second indication. For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0424] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, the second indication. For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication from a core network node indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message

[0425] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, the second indication. For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a core network node, a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message.

[0426] For example, the core network node may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility management function (AMF); a mobility management entity; a sensing function (SF); or an ISAC function.

[0427] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive the second indication via at least one of: an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration); a downlink information transfer (e.g., DLlnformationTransfer) message; a registration accept message; a DL NAS transport message; or a message for downlink transfer of NAS dedicated information.

[0428] For example, the first indication may be used at least for one of the following: to indicate that the connection is being established by the ISAC node; or for the I SAC-capable BS to select the core network node that supports the ISAC.

[0429] For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive a fifth message comprising the second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the fifth message may be at least one of: a registration accept message; a DL NAS transport message; an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration); a downlink information transfer (e.g., DLlnformationTransfer) message; or a message for downlink transfer of NAS dedicated information.

[0430] For example, the fifth message may comprise the second NAS message, wherein the second NAS message may comprise the second indication. For example, the second NAS message may comprise at least one of: a registration accept message. For example, the second NAS message may be at least one of: a registration accept message; DL NAS transport message. For example, the registration accept message may comprise the second indication.

[0431] For example, the registration accept message may comprise a network feature support field. For example, the network feature support field may comprise at least one of: a 5GS network feature support information element (IE); or a 6lhgeneration system (6GS) network feature support IE. For example, the network feature support field may be a type 4 information element with a minimum of 3 octets and a maximum length of 6 octets. For example, the network feature support field may comprise the second indication.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0432] For example, the fifth message may comprise at least one of: one or more sensing-related or sensing operation related configurations used by the wireless device; or sensing system information blocks. For example, the sensing system information blocks may comprise sensing assistance data. For example, the sensing system information blocks may mean a dedicated SIB to be used by one or more ISAC-capable wireless devices or ISAC nodes.

[0433] For example, a BS that supports the ISAC may transmit the one or more SIB messages to indicate that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may comprise at least one of: SIB1; SIB2; SIB3; SIB4; SIB5; SIB6; SIB7; SIB8; SIB9; SIB10; SIB11; SIB12; SIB13; SIB14; SIB15; SIB16; SIB17; SIB18; SIB19; SIB20; SIB21 ; SIB22; SIB23; SIB24; SIB25; orSIBxx, wherein the SIBxx may be a new SIB.

[0434] For example, a BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a SIB comprising a first field indicating that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the SIB may be of SIB1 type. For example, the first field may comprise 1-bit. For example, the first field may comprise a Boolean to indicate whether the BS supports the ISAC or not.

[0435] For example, a BS currently serving the ISAC node or a (ISAC-capable) wireless device may transmit an RRC release when the BS moves the ISAC node or the ISAC-capable wireless device from the RRC_CONNECTED to the RRCJDLE or RRC_I NACTIVE state. For example, the BS may include which (neighbor) BS or which frequency carrier or band supports the ISAC in the RRC release message. For example, the frequency carrier / band may comprise at least one of: one or more NR frequencies; one or more inter-RAT frequencies; one or more intra-RAT frequencies; or one or more 6G frequencies. For example, a BS may indicate to one or more wireless devices that the BS supports the ISAC using at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0436] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a first message from a wireless device that supports the ISAC, wherein, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message. For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may select the core network node supporting the ISAC based on receiving the first indication. For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a second message to the core network based on selecting the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the second message may comprise at least: the NAS message; or the first indication.

[0437] For example, the first indication may help the BS that supports the ISAC select the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the first indication may help the ISAC-capable BS select the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the first indication may help the BS that supports the ISAC select the ISAC CN. For example, if the first indication is not included in the first message, the BS may not necessarily select a core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, if the first indication is not included in the first message, the BS may select a core network node that does not support the ISAC.

[0438] For example, the core network node may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility management function (AMF); a mobility management entity; a sensing function (SF); or an ISAC function.

[0439] For example, the second message may be at least one of: an initial UE message which may be used by the BS that supports the ISAC to forward a first uplink NAS message from the wireless device to the core networkDocket No.: 25-1060PCTnode; an initial UE message; an application layer protocol message of an interface between the BS and the core network (e.g., N2, NGAP) to be used by the BS to forward a first uplink NAS message from the wireless device to the core network node.

[0440] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a third indication from the core network node based on transmitting the second message, wherein the third indication may indicate that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node.

[0441] For example, the core network may authorize the wireless device to operate as the ISAC node based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node.

[0442] For example, the core network may allow the wireless device to support the ISAC node based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC.

[0443] For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication authorizing the wireless device to operate as the ISAC node based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node.

[0444] For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication allowing the wireless device to support the ISAC based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC.

[0445] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive the third indication from the core network node via at least one of: a message from the core network node requesting the setup of a UE context; an initial context setup request; or downlink NAS transport message.

[0446] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a third message to the wireless device supporting the ISAC after receiving the third indication, wherein the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device.

[0447] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a third message to the wireless device supporting the ISAC after receiving the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node, wherein the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device.

[0448] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a third message to the wireless device supporting the ISAC after receiving the wireless device is allowed to support the ISAC, wherein the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device.

[0449] For example, the third message may be at least one of: a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs; a UE capability enquiry (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiry) message; or a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs after the AS security is activated.

[0450] For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are specific to the ISAC using one or more filters. For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are associated with the ISAC using one or more filters.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0451] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a fourth message from the wireless device in response to transmitting the third message, wherein the fourth message may comprise one or more radio capabilities for the ISAC. For example, the fourth message may comprise one or more radio capabilities that are associated with the ISAC. For example, the fourth message may comprise one or more radio capabilities that are specific to the ISAC.

[0452] For example, the fourth message may be at least one of: a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by the BS or a UE capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) message; or a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by a BS after the AS security is activated.

[0453] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit the second indication to the wireless device that supports the ISAC via at least one of: an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration); a downlink information transfer (e.g., DLlnformationTransfer) message; or a message for downlink transfer of NAS dedicated information.

[0454] For example, after receiving the fourth message, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a fifth message comprising the second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the fifth message may be at least one of: an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration)', a downlink information transfer (e.g., DLlnformationTransfer) message; or a message for downlink transfer of NAS dedicated information.

[0455] For example, terminologies such as ISAC node, ISAC-capable wireless device and wireless device supporting the ISAC may mean the same unless stated otherwise, and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure An example, as illustrated by FIG. 25A and FIG. 25B is set to work in a scenario where one or more network nodes / elements / entities are sensing capable. For example, the sensing capable means that a network node / element / entity may be capable of handling at least one of the following one or more sensing operations: transmitting one or more sensor / sensing signals in a sensing scene; receiving and measuring one or more echoed sensor / sensing signals from within the sensing scene; identifying / extracting vital signs, object detection and / or movement recognition of targets in a sensing scene. For example, terminologies such as sensing task, sensing operation and sensing procedure may mean the same and may be used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure unless stated otherwise.

[0456] FIG. 25A exemplarily illustrates a sensing architecture. For example, an ISAC-capable RAN or an ISAC- capable base station (BS) may connect to a sensing function (SF) or an ISAC function (ISACF) via a new interface called Nx. For example, the sensing function maybe responsible for receiving a sensing request from an ISAC service consumer and providing a sensing result to the ISAC service consumer.

[0457] For example, the sensing function (SF) or the ISAC function (ISACF) may perform at least one or more of the following: transmitting a sensing request to one or more transmission reception points (TRPs) and / or one or more wireless devices operating as the ISAC nodes (e.g., transmitting a sensing request to the one or more network nodes / elements / entities); collecting one or more sensing measurement results; processing the one or more sensingDocket No.: 25-1060PCTmeasurement results; generating one or more sensing results; or exposing the one or more sensing results to one or more NFs or authorized AFs.

[0458] For example, terminologies such as sensing function (SF) and ISAC function (ISACF) may mean the same unless state otherwise and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure. For example, terminologies such as sensing operation, sensing procedure, sensing task, ISAC operation, ISAC task, and ISAK procedure may mean the same unless state otherwise and hence, are used interchangeably throughout the present disclosure.

[0459] For example, the sensing service request refers to getting information about characteristics of an environment and / or objects within the environment using radio frequency signals of one or more wireless devices. For example, the sensing service request triggers the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations to be performed by at least one of: the ISAC node; the one or more network nodes / elements / entities.

[0460] For example, the sensing service request triggers the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations to be performed by at least one of: the one or more network nodes / elements / entities; or the ISAC node.

[0461] For example, information about characteristics of an environment and / or objects within the environment comprises at least one or more of: shape; size; orientation; speed; location; distances between objects; or relative motion between objects.

[0462] For example, the SF or the ISACF may register with an NRF with at least one of the following: an NF profile. For example, the NF profile may enable the discovery of SF or ISACF instances e.g. by an NEF. For example, the NF profile may include at least one of: an I D / address of the SF or the ISACF; NF type; information used to allow the NEF to discover the SF or the ISACF instances, e.g. based on a target area or a sensing area or service are information in an AF request or sensing service request from an AF.

[0463] For example, FIG. 25A and FIG. 25B exemplarily depicts a direct-path sensing architecture, using the reference point representation, showing how the SF or ISACF may access the ISAC-capable BS by a direct interface. For example, in an ISAC architecture as depicted exemplarily in FIG 25A and 25B, the ISAC-capable BS may be directly connected to the SF or ISACF. For example, according to this ISAC architecture, the ISAC-capable BS and the ISAF may communicate directly. For example, the SF or the ISACF may communicate with the ISAC-capable BS via a direct interface reference point, Nx. For example, the Nx may be a reference point between the ISAC-capable RAN and the SF or the ISACF.

[0464] For example, in case the ISAC-capable BS is directly connected to the SF or the ISACF (e.g., according to the direct-path sensing architecture as depicted in FIG. 25A and FIG. 25B), the ISAC-capable BS may require an identifier of an SF or ISACF instance that needs to be used for a given wireless device. For example, the wireless device may include the identifier of the SF or the ISACF as part of an RRC setup complete message (e.g., the first message of FIG. 24) and transmit to the ISAC-capable BS. For example, one or more new lEs (2180) may be used to hold the first indication and the identifier of the SF / ISACF in the first message as exemplarily illustrated in FIG.21.Docket No.: 25-1060PCTFor example, the wireless device may get the identifier of the SF or the ISACF either from upper layers or based on stored data (e.g the identifier of an SF or ISACF instance used in an earlier connection).

[0465] For example, the ISAC-capable BS may receive the identifier of the SF or the ISACF as part of an RRC setup complete message (e.g., the first message of FIG. 24) and select the SF or the ISACF using the identifier. For example, inclusion of the identifier may help the ISAC-capable BS to select the same SF or the ISACF that was previously used by the wireless device. For example, using the same SF or the ISACF may mean that the SF or the ISACF may hold required sensing-related context information of the wireless device so that making use of the wireless to provide the one or more ISAC services may happen fast. On the other hand, if a different SF or ISAF is selected, sensing-related context information of the wireless device may need to be retrieved / fetched from elsewhere that may delay providing the one or more ISAC services.

[0466] FIG.25C exemplarily illustrates a protocol stack existing among a wireless device (e.g., ISAC node), ISAC- capable BS (e.g., RAN) and the ISACF or SF. For example, a new application protocol (denoted as XX-AP) may be introduced between the ISAC-capable BS and the SF or ISACF for the purpose of transporting one or more sensing control parameters. For example, the XX-AP may be similar to NGAP of 5G.

[0467] FIG. 25C exemplarily illustrates a protocol stack existing among the wireless device (e.g., ISAC node), ISAC-capable BS (e.g., RAN), the ISACF or SF, an NEF and an AF. FIG. 26 maybe an elaborate representation of FIG. 25C.

[0468] FIG. 27A and FIG. 27B exemplarily depicts an indirect-path sensing architecture, using the reference point representation, showing how the SF or ISACF may access the ISAC-capable BS by via an ISAC-capable AMF using an indirect interface. For example, Ny may be a reference between the wireless device and the SF or the ISACF. For example, the SF or the ISACF may connect with the ISAC-capable BS (or ISAC-capable RAN) via an ISAC-capable AMF. For example, the NGAP over the N2 reference point between the ISAC-capable RAN and the ISAC-capable AMF may support transportation of one or more sensing requests and sensing measurement results.

[0469] FIG. 28 illustrates an example protocol stack of the indirect-path sensing architecture of FIG. 27A and FIG.27B. For example, sensing data may represent information exchanged between the wireless device and an AF. For example, sensing control may represent requests and responses between the ISAC-capable BS and the SF or the ISACF. For example, sensing control may consist of one or more sensing control parameters; wherein the one or more sensing control parameters may comprise at least one of: sensing-related configuration parameters sent by the SF or the ISACF to the ISAC-capable BS; or sensing-related configuration parameters for taking measurement by the ISAC-capable BS.

[0470] For example, in FIG. 28, a new application protocol (denoted as XY-AP) may be introduced between the ISAC-capable BS and the ISAC-capable AMF for the purpose of transporting the one or more sensing control parameters. For example, the XY-AP may be similar to NGAP of 5G.

[0471] For example, as illustrated in FIG. 28, sensing NAS may represent requests and responses between the wireless device and the SF or the ISACF. For example, the sensing NAS may consist of one or more sensing controlDocket No.: 25-1060PCTparameters; wherein the one or more sensing control parameters may comprise at least one of: sensing-related configuration parameters sent by the SF or the ISACF to the wireless device; or sensing-related configuration parameters for taking measurement by the wireless device.

[0472] For example, a new reference point Nz of FIG. 28 may exist between the I SAC-capable AMF and the SF or the ISACF. For example, on the Nz reference point, the I SAC-capable AMF may support sensing-related services which may be used by the SF or the ISACF for one or more operations, wherein the one or more operations comprise at least one of: transmitting a sensing request to the one or more network nodes / elements / entities or ISAC nodes; or collecting one or more sensing measurement results.

[0473] For example, on an interface (e.g., N2) between the ISAC-capable AMF and the ISAC-capable BS, the ISAC-capable AMF may support sending sensing information to the ISAC-capable BS (eg. operation requests) and receiving responses from the ISAC-capable BS.

[0474] FIG. 29 exemplarily illustrates user-plane sensing architecture. For example, as depicted in FIG. 29, a wireless device (e.g., UE) may connect to the SF or the ISACF based on sensing application protocol (AP) using an IP PDU session between the wireless device and an UPF as transport.

[0475] FIG.30 illustrates an example protocol stack of the user-plane sensing architecture of FIG 29. For example, sensing data may represent information exchanged between a wireless device and an AF. For example, sensing control may represent requests and responses between the wireless device and the SF or the ISACF. For example, sensing control may consist of one or more sensing control parameters; wherein the one or more sensing control parameters may comprise at least one of: sensing-related configuration parameters sent by the SF or the ISACF to the wireless device; or sensing-related configuration parameters for taking measurement by the wireless device. For example, sensing NAS may support procedures and information to be exchanged between the wireless and the SF or the ISACF.

[0476] FIG. 31 illustrates an example as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. An example, as illustrated by FIG. 31 may be set to work in a heterogenous deployment scenario where not every base station is identical to each other in terms of supporting the ISAC. An example, as illustrated by FIG.31 may be set to work in a scenario where not every base station is identical to each other in terms of supporting the ISAC.

[0477] As exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 31, a wireless device may receive a SIB comprising a first field indicating that a BS supports the ISAC. For example, the SIB may be of SIB1 type. For example, the first field may comprise 1- bit. For example, the first field may comprise a Boolean to indicate whether the BS supports the ISAC or not.

[0478] For example, a wireless device may receive / read a SIB in at least one of the following situations: during cell ( reflection; or when the wireless device camps on. For example, the wireless device that camps on or (reflects a cell may be in at least the following state: the RRCJDLE state; or RRCJ NACTIVE state.

[0479] For example, a wireless device may determine that a BS supports the ISAC. For example, the, a wireless device may transmit a random-access preamble in MSg 1 of the 4-step RA type to the BS. In response to transmitting the random-access preamble, the wireless device may receive a random-access response (e.g., Msg2) with an initialDocket No.: 25-1060PCTuplink grant from the BS. Using the uplink grant provided in Msg2, the wireless device may transmit Msg3 to the BS. For example, the wireless device may transmit the Msg3 on the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). For example, the Msg3 may carry RRC setup request message requesting an establishment of an RRC connection. For example, in response to transmitting the Msg3, the wireless device may receive Msg4, wherein the Msg4 may be a MAC data indicating that contention is resolved. The Msg4 may carry an RRC setup message.

[0480] For example, on receiving the RRC setup message, the wireless device may transmit a first message to the BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; an identifier of a core network node; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message (e.g., including the first indication), the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to support the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0481] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; an identifier of a core network node; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message (e.g., including the first indication), the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0482] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; an identifier of a core network node; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0483] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e., the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication indicating that the wireless device is the ISAC node; an identifier of a core network node; or a first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first indication, the wireless device may receive a second indication from a core network node indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0484] For example, the first indication may comprise at least one of: a wireless device may support the ISAC; a wireless device is the ISAC node; a wireless device is ISAC-enabled; or a wireless device is I SAC-capable.

[0485] For example, the second indication may comprise at least one of: a wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node; a wireless device is allowed to support the ISAC; or a wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0486] For example, the first NAS message may comprise at least one of: a registration request message; or an UL NAS transport message. For example, the first NAS message may comprise at least one of: a non-access stratum (NAS) information element (IE) indicating that the wireless device is the ISAC node; a non-access stratum (NAS) information element (IE) indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; one or more sensing modes supported by the wireless device operating as the ISAC node; or one or more sensing modes supported by the wireless device.

[0487] For example, the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node may be set / encoded via at least one of: a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability information element; or a 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability information element.

[0488] For example, the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC node may be set / encoded via at least one of: a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability information element; or a 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability information element.

[0489] For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication authorizing the wireless device to operate as the ISAC node based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node.

[0490] For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication allowing the wireless device to support the ISAC based on at least one of: the first indication; or the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC.

[0491] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive or read one or more system information broadcast (SIB) messages of a BS to determine whether the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message, wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; or the first NAS message. For example, the one or more SIB messages may indicate that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may transmitthe first message with the first indication to a BS that supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may comprise at least one of: SIB1; SIB2; SIB3; SIB4; SIB5; SIB6; SIB7; SIB8; SIB9; SIB10; SIB11; SIB12; SIB13; SIB14; SIB15; SIB16; SIB17; SIB18; SIB19; SIB20; SIB21; SIB22; SIB23; SIB24; SIB25; orSIBxx, wherein the SI Bxx maybe a new SIB.

[0492] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message after determining that the BS supports the ISAC.

[0493] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC or the ISAC node receives and reads the one or more SIB messages when the wireless device or the ISAC node is in the RRCJDLE state.

[0494] For example, the wireless device may learn in terms of which (neighbor) BS or which frequency carrier or band supports the ISAC from an RRC release message when the wireless device moves from the RRC_CONNECTED state to either the RRCJDLE or the RRC_INACTIVE state. For example, the frequency carrier / band may comprise at least one of: one or more NR frequencies; one or more inter-RAT frequencies; one or more intra-RAT frequencies; or one or more 6G frequencies. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message, wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: a first indication; an identifier ofDocket No.: 25-1060PCTa core network node; or a first NAS message. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may send the first message after determining that the BS supports the ISAC.

[0495] For example, a wireless device may determine whether a BS that the wireless device camps on supports the ISAC based on contents of at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0496] For example, the wireless device may transmit the first message without the first indication if a BS does not support the ISAC. For example, the wireless device may not necessarily transmit the first indication to a BS that does not support the ISAC.

[0497] For example, receiving the second indication may ensure that the wireless device which is the ISAC node may be connected to the ISAC CN. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may thus solve the problems outlined. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device gets connected to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the wireless device for performing the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may happen when required leading to fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0498] For example, receiving the second indication may ensure that the wireless device which is the ISAC node may not be connected to a CN which does not support the ISAC. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device gets connected to a network supporting the ISAC and thereby, making use of the wireless device for performing the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations may happen when required leading to fast ISAC / sensing services to sensing service consumers - this may enhance QoE as perceived by a sensing service consumer.

[0499] Example embodiments of the present disclosure may ensure that a wireless device that does not support the ISAC may not erroneously be connected to the ISAC CN - thus minimizing the chances for the ISAC CN to get unnecessarily overloaded.

[0500] For example, connecting an ISAC node to the ISAC CN may ensure that the ISAC CN can make use of the ISAC node when the ISAC function of the ISAC CN receives the sensing service request.

[0501] For example, the first message may be at least one of: an RRC setup complete message; a message for confirming an establishment of the RRC connection; a message for confirming an establishment of the RRC connection after receiving Msg4 of the 4-step RA procedure; a message transmitted in response to receiving from a BS that the RACH contention is resolved; an RRC resume complete message; a registration request message, an UL NAS transport message; or an RRC reestablishment message.

[0502] For example, the first indication may be used at least to indicate that the connection is being established by the ISAC node. For example, the first indication may help an ISAC capable BS select the ISAC CN for the ISAC node. For example, without the first indication, the ISAC capable BS may not necessarily select the ISAC CN for the ISAC node.

[0503] For example, the first indication may comprise 1 -bitDocket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0504] For example, a wireless device that supports the ISAC may determine whether a BS that the wireless device camps on supports the ISAC based on contents of at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0505] For example, on determining that the BS supports the ISAC, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a first message to an ISAC capable BS (i.e. , the BS supports the ISAC), wherein the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; an identifier of a core network node; or the first NAS message. For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive a command message to activate an access stratum (AS) security from the ISAC-capable BS. For example, in response to receiving the command message, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a security mode complete message for confirming completion of a security mode command.

[0506] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive a third message requesting radio access capabilities. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive the third message from the ISAC-capable BS. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit a fourth message in response to the third message. For example, the fourth message may comprise one or more radio access capabilities for the ISAC. For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may transmit the fourth message to the ISAC- capable BS.

[0507] For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are specific to the ISAC using one or more filters. For example, this is because the ISAC-capable BS may receive the third indication from the core network node indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the third message may request radio access capabilities of the wireless device that are associated with the ISAC using one or more filters.

[0508] For example, the third message may be at least one of: a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs; a UE capability enquiry (e.g., UECapabilityEnquiry message; or a message requesting UE radio capabilities for NR, 6G or other RATs after the AS security is activated.

[0509] For example, the fourth message may be at least one of: a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by the BS; or a UE capability information (e.g., UECapabilitylnformation) message; or a message comprising one or more UE radio capabilities requested by a BS after the AS security is activated.

[0510] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; an identifier of a core network node; or the first NAS message. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0511] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive the second indication. For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive a second indication indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node. For example, the first message may comprise at leastDocket No.: 25-1060PCTone of: the first indication; an identifier of the core network node; or the first NAS message. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0512] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive the second indication. For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive from a second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; an identifier of a core network node; or the first NAS message. For example, the wireless device may receive the second indication from at least one of: the ISAC capable BS; or a core network node.

[0513] For example, the core network node may comprise at least one of: an access and mobility management function (AMF); a mobility management entity; the sensing function (SF); or the ISAC function.

[0514] For example, the wireless device that supports the ISAC may receive the second indication via at least one of: an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration); a downlink information transfer (e.g., DLlnformationTransfer) message; a registration accept message; a DL NAS transport message; or a message for downlink transfer of NAS dedicated information.

[0515] For example, the first indication may be used at least for one of the following: to indicate that the connection is being established by the ISAC node; or for the I SAC-capable BS to select the core network node that supports the ISAC.

[0516] For example, after transmitting the first message, the wireless device may receive a fifth message comprising the second indication indicating that the wireless device is allowed to perform the one or more ISAC tasks / procedures / operations. For example, the fifth message may be at least one of: a registration accept message; a DL NAS transport message; an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., RRCReconfiguration)] a downlink information transfer (e.g., DLlnformationTransfer) message; or a message for downlink transfer of NAS dedicated information.

[0517] For example, the fifth message may comprise the second NAS message, wherein the second NAS message may comprise the second indication. For example, the second NAS message may comprise at least one of: a registration accept message. For example, the second NAS message may be at least one of: a registration accept message; DL NAS transport message. For example, the registration accept message may comprise the second indication.

[0518] For example, the registration accept message may comprise a network feature support field. For example, the network feature support field may comprise at least one of: a 5GS network feature support information element (IE); or a 6lhgeneration system (6GS) network feature support IE. For example, the network feature support field may be a type 4 information element with a minimum of 3 octets and a maximum length of 6 octets. For example, the network feature support field may comprise the second indication.

[0519] For example, the fifth message may comprise at least one of: one or more sensing-related or sensing operation related configurations used by the wireless device; or sensing system information blocks. For example, theDocket No.: 25-1060PCTsensing system information blocks may comprise sensing assistance data. For example, the sensing system information blocks may mean a dedicated SIB to be used by one or more wireless devices or ISAC nodes.

[0520] For example, a BS that supports the ISAC may transmit the one or more SIB messages to indicate that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the one or more SIB messages may comprise at least one of: SIB1 ; SIB2; SIB3; SIB4; SIB5; SIB6; SIB7; SIB8; SI B9; SIB10; SIB11; SIB12; SIB13; SIB14; SIB15; SIB16; SIB17; SIB18; SIB19; SIB20; SIB21; SIB22; SIB23; SIB24; SIB25; orSIBxx, wherein the SIBxx maybe a new SIB.

[0521] For example, a BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a SIB comprising a first field indicating that the BS supports the ISAC. For example, the SIB may be of SIB1 type. For example, the first field may comprise 1-bit. For example, the first field may comprise a Boolean to indicate whether the BS supports the ISAC or not.

[0522] For example, a BS currently serving the ISAC node or a wireless device may transmit an RRC release when the BS moves the ISAC node or the wireless device from the RRC_CONNECTED to the RRCJDLE or RRCJ NACTIVE state. For example, the BS may include which (neighbor) BS or which frequency carrier or band supports the ISAC in the RRC release message. For example, the frequency carrier / band may comprise at least one of: one or more NR frequencies; one or more inter-RAT frequencies; one or more intra-RAT frequencies; or one or more 6G frequencies. For example, a BS may indicate to one or more wireless devices that the BS supports the ISAC using at least one of: the one or more SIBs; or the RRC release message.

[0523] For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may receive a first message from a wireless device that supports the ISAC, wherein, the first message may comprise at least one of: the first indication; an identifier of the core network node; or the first NAS message. Forexample, the BS that supports the ISAC may select the core network node supporting the ISAC based on receiving at least one of: the first indication; or an identifier of the core network node. For example, the BS that supports the ISAC may transmit a second message to the core network based on selecting the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the second message may comprise at least: the first NAS message; or the first indication.

[0524] For example, inclusion of the identifier may help the ISAC-capable BS to select the same SF or the ISACF that was previously used by the wireless device. For example, using the same SF or the ISACF may mean that the SF or the ISACF may hold required sensing-related context information of the wireless device so that making use of the wireless to provide the one or more ISAC services may happen fast. On the other hand, if a different SF or ISAF is selected, sensing-related context information of the wireless device may need to be retrieved / fetched from elsewhere that may delay providing the one or more ISAC services.

[0525] For example, the first NAS message may comprise at least one of: a registration request message; or an UL NAS transport message. For example, the first NAS message may comprise at least one of: a non-access stratum (NAS) information element (IE) indicating that the wireless device is the ISAC node; a non-access stratum (NAS) information element (IE) indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC; one or more sensing modes supported by the wireless device operating as the ISAC node; or one or more sensing modes supported by the wireless device.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT

[0526] For example, the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node may be set / encoded via at least one of: a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability information element; or a 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability information element.

[0527] For example, the NAS IE indicating that the wireless device supports the ISAC node may be set / encoded via at least one of: a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability information element; or a 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability information element.

[0528] For example, the first indication may help the BS that supports the ISAC select the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the first indication may help the ISAC-capable BS select the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the first indication may help the BS that supports the ISAC select the ISAC CN. For example, if the first indication is not included in the first message, the BS may not necessarily select a core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, if the first indication is not included in the first message, the BS may select a core network node that does not support the ISAC.

[0529] For example, the first indication or an identifier of the core network node may help the BS that supports the ISAC select the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the first indication or an identifier of the core network node may help the ISAC-capable select the core network node that supports the ISAC. For example, the first indication or an identifier of the core network node may help the BS that supports the ISAC select the ISAC CN. For example, if neither the first indication nor the identifier of the core network node is i...

Claims

Docket No.: 25-1060PCTCLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:transmitting, by a wireless device to a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) setup complete message comprising:a field indicating that the wireless device is an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) node; andan identifier of an ISAC function;receiving, by the wireless device from the ISAC function and after transmitting the RRC setup complete message, authorization information indicating that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node;receiving, by the wireless device from the base station and after receiving the authorization information, a request for radio access capabilities for ISAC; andtransmitting, by the wireless device to the base station and in response to the request, information indicating the radio access capabilities for ISAC.

2. A method comprising:transmitting, by a wireless device to a base station, a first message comprising:a first indication that the wireless device is an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) node; andan identifier (ID) of a core network node; andreceiving, by the wireless device from the core network node, a second indication that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node.

3. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, wherein the first indication is associated with at least one of:establishment of a connection for the wireless device operating as the ISAC node; orselection of the core network node supporting ISAC.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first message comprises at least one of:a region ID of the core network node;a set ID of the core network node;a pointer of the core network node;a fully qualified domain name (FQDN);an Internet Protocol (IP) v4 (IPv4) address;an IPv6 address; oran I Pv4v6 address.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first message comprises at least one of:a radio resource control (RRC) setup complete message;an RRC resume complete message; oran RRC reestablishment message.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the core network node comprises at least one of:an access and mobility management function (AMF);a mobility management entity; oran ISAC function.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the ISAC function comprises a network function responsible for receiving a sensing request from an ISAC service consumer and providing a sensing result to the ISAC service consumer.

8. The method of any of claims 6 to 7, wherein the ISAC function comprises one or more capabilities to one or more of:transmit a sensing request to at least one of:one or more transmission reception points (TRPs); andone or more wireless devices operating as ISAC nodes;collect one or more sensing measurement results;process the one or more sensing measurement results;generate one or more sensing results; orexpose the one or more sensing results.

9. The method of any of claims 6 to 8, further comprising:transmitting one or more sensing signals in an area;performing one or more measurements on one or more echoed signals of the one or more sensing signals; andtransmitting results of the one or more measurements to the ISAC function.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:receiving a configuration for the one or more sensing signals.

11. The method of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first message further comprises one or more parameters indicating at least one of:Docket No.: 25-1060PCTISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being restricted;ISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being conditional; orISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being unconditional;a user consent to one or more ISAC operations supported by the wireless device operating as the ISAC node;a residual energy level of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node;the wireless device being stationary or non-stationary;the wireless device further operating as a sensing reference unit (SRU); orone or more sensing modes supported by the wireless device operating as the ISAC node.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more parameters are included in a non-access stratum (NAS) message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the NAS message comprises at least one of:a registration request message; oran uplink (UL) NAS transport message.

14. The method of any of claims 12 to 13, wherein the NAS message further comprises an NAS information element (IE) comprising at least one of:an indication that the wireless device supports ISAC; ora third indication that the wireless device is operating as the ISAC node.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the NAS IE is set via at least one of:a 5G mobility management (5GMM) capability IE; ora 6G mobility management (6GMM) capability IE.

16. The method of any of claims 11 to 15, wherein the ISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being unconditional is at least one of:that one or more ISAC service consumers from requesting one or more sensing services is not restricted; or that one or more time durations are not restricted for operating as the ISAC node.

17. The method of any of claims 11 to 16, wherein the ISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being conditional is at least one of:that one or more ISAC service consumers are restricted from requesting one or more sensing services; or that one or more time durations are restricted for operating as the ISAC node.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT18. The method of any of claims 11 to 17, wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more conditions for the wireless device to operate as the I SAC node.

19. The method of any of claims 11 to 18, wherein the first message comprises a third indication indicating that the wireless device operates as the ISAC node that is based on at least one condition being satisfied, wherein the at least one condition being satisfied is based on at least one of:an ISAC service request originating from one or more ISAC service consumers;one or more first times at which the wireless device operating as the ISAC node starts performing one or more ISAC operations; orone or more second times at which the wireless device operating as the ISAC node stops performing the one or more ISAC operations.

20. The method of any of claims 11 to 19, wherein the first message comprises a third indication that indicates a confirmation of the ISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being unconditional21. The method of any of claims 11 to 20, wherein the first message comprises a third indication that indicates a confirmation of the ISAC support of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node being conditional.

22. The method of any of claims 1 to 21, wherein the first message comprises a third indication that indicates a confirmation of one or more sensing modes that the wireless device operating as the ISAC node is authorized to use.

23. The method of any of claims 1 to 22, further comprising:receiving, by the wireless device from the base station and before transmitting the first message, a system information block (SIB) message comprising a field indicating that the base station supports ISAC.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the field indicating that the base station supports ISAC comprises one bit.

25. The method of any of claims 23 to 24, wherein a radio resource control (RRC) state of the wireless device comprises an RRC idle state when the SIB message is received.

26. The method of any of claims 23 to 25, wherein the SIB message comprises one of:a SIB1;a SIBxx; orDocket No.: 25-1060PCTa numbered SIB.

27. The method of any of claims 1 to 26, wherein the first indication that the wireless device supports ISAC comprises one bit.

28. The method of any of claims 1 to 27, further comprising:performing, by the wireless device, a sensing procedure using radio frequency (RF) signals to acquire information associated with an environment of the wireless device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the information associated with the environment comprises information indicating at least one of:a size of an object in the environment;a shape of the object;an orientation of the object;a speed of the object;a location of the object;a distance between the object and at least one other object; andmotion of the object relative to at least one other object.

30. The method of any of claims 1 to 29, further comprising:receiving, by the wireless device from the base station, a command message to activate access stratum (AS) security;transmitting, based on the command message, a security mode complete message confirming activation of the AS security;receiving, by the wireless device from the base station after transmitting the security mode complete message, a request for information indicating radio access capabilities of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node; andtransmitting, by the wireless device to the base station based on the request, a response message indicating one or more of the radio access capabilities of the wireless device operating as the ISAC node.

31. The method of any of claims 1 to 30, wherein the wireless device supports one or more sensing modes comprising at least one of:a TRP-wireless device bistatic mode;a wireless device-TRP bistatic mode;a wireless device-wireless device bistatic mode; andDocket No.: 25-1060PCTa wireless device monostatic mode.

32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising:receiving, by the wireless device in the TRP-wireless device bistatic mode, one or more sensing signals from a TRP; andperforming, by the wireless device in the TRP-wireless device bistatic mode, one or more measurements on the one or more sensing signals.

33. The method of any of claims 31 to 32, further comprising:transmitting, by the wireless device in the wireless device-TRP bistatic mode, one or more sensing signals for one or more measurements by a TRP.

34. The method of any of claims 31 to 33, further comprising:receiving, by the wireless device in the wireless device-wireless device bistatic mode, one or more sensing signals from a second wireless device; andperforming, by the wireless device in the wireless device-wireless device bistatic mode, one or more measurements on the one or more sensing signals.

35. The method of any of claims 31 to 34, further comprising:transmitting, by the wireless device in the wireless device monostatic mode, one or more sensing signals; receiving, by the wireless device in the wireless device monostatic mode, one or more echo signals of the one or more sensing signals; andperforming, by the wireless device in the wireless device monostatic mode, one or more measurements on the one or more echo signals.

36. The method of any of claims 1 to 35, wherein an ISAC service consumer is identified by at least one of:an application function (AF) ID;a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI);an application ID;a client ID;a tenant ID;a data network name (DNN); ora data network access ID (DNAI).Docket No.: 25-1060PCT37. The method of any of claims 1 to 36, wherein the first message further comprises information indicating one or more sensing modes supported by the wireless device.

38. An apparatus comprising:one or more processors; andmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 37.

39. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 37.

40. A system comprising:a base station; anda wireless device comprising one or more processors and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 37.

41. A method comprising:receiving, by a base station from a wireless device, a first message comprising:a first indication that the wireless device is an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) node; andan identifier (ID) of a core network node; andtransmitting, by the base station to the wireless device, a second indication that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node.

42. The method of claim 41 , further comprising:receiving, by the base station from the core network node, a third indication that the wireless device is authorized to operate as the ISAC node;transmitting, by the base station to the wireless device, a request for radio access capabilities for ISAC; and receiving, by the base station from the wireless device and in response to the request, one or more radio access capabilities for ISAC.

43. The method of any of claims 41 to 42, wherein the first indication is associated with at least one of:establishment of a connection for the wireless device operating as the ISAC node; orselection of the core network node supporting ISAC.Docket No.: 25-1060PCT44. The method of any of claims 41 to 43, wherein the first message comprises at least one of:a region ID of the core network node;a set ID of the core network node;a pointer of the core network node;a fully qualified domain name ( FQDN ) ;an Internet Protocol (IP) v4 (IPv4) address;an IPv6 address; oran I Pv4v6 address.

45. The method of any of claims 41 to 44, wherein the first message comprises at least one of:a radio resource control (RRC) setup complete message;an RRC resume complete message; oran RRC reestablishment message.

46. The method of any of claims 41 to 45, wherein the core network node comprises at least one of:an access and mobility management function (AMP);a mobility management entity; oran ISAC function.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the ISAC function comprises a network function responsible for receiving a sensing request from an ISAC service consumer and providing a sensing result to the ISAC service consumer.

48. An apparatus comprising:one or more processors; andmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 41 to 47.

49. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 41 to 47.

50. A system comprising:a wireless device; anda base station comprising one or more processors and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the base station to perform the method of any one of claims 41 to 47.

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