EP4620238A1 - Procedures for enabling wtru cooperative cell and plmn selection - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless transmit /receive unit (WTRU) may be configured to perform cooperative cell selection with one or more other WTRUs. The WTRU may be configured to receive cooperative cell selection criteria information from the second WTRU. The cooperative cell selection criteria information may include one or more cells deemed suitable for the one or more other WTRUs, and/or measurement information. The WTRU may consider the cell selection criteria information as an input when selecting a cell. Once a suitable cell has been selected, the WTRU may be configured to camp on the suitable cell.

Description

PROCEDURES FOR ENABLING WTRU COOPERATIVE CELL AND PLMN SELECTION

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[OOOIJThis application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/425,605, filed on November 15, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) may implement one or more of 2G, 3G, 4G and/or 5G radio access technologies (RATs). WTRUs may perform public land mobile network (PLMN) selection, cell selection/re-selection and location registration including tracking area update procedures while in RRCJDLE mode, or RRCJNACTIVE mode. 5G devices may also support radio access network (RAN) Notification Area (RNA) updates and operation in RRCJNACTIVE state. When a WTRU is switched on, a PLMN may be selected by the WTRU. For the selected PLMN, associated RAT(s) may be set. With cell selection, the WTRU may search for a suitable cell of the selected PLMN. The WTRU may choose that cell to provide available services. The WTRU may monitor a control channel. The WTRU may register a presence by means of a non-access stratum (NAS) registration procedure in the tracking area of the chosen cell.

[0003] While in RRCJDLE, a WTRU may perform received signal strength measurements on serving and/or neighbor cells. For example, if the WTRU finds a more suitable cell according to the cell reselection criteria, the WTRU may reselect onto that cell and/or camp on it. If this new cell does not belong to at least one tracking area to which the WTRU is registered, location registration may be performed. The WTRU may also search for higher priority PLMNs at regular time intervals. The WTRU may search for a suitable cell if another PLMN has been selected by its NAS. If a WTRU loses coverage of the registered PLMN, either a new PLMN may be selected automatically or an indication of available PLMNs may be given to the user so that a manual selection can be performed. Various means of control exist for the network to prioritize cell selection onto certain RATs, to control the rate at which low, medium, or high mobility WTRUs perform cell re-selection and to bar selected tracking areas from re-selection by WTRUs.

SUMMARY

[0004] A wireless transmit /receive unit (WTRU) may be configured to request cooperative cell selection information from a second WTRU. The WTRU may be configured to receive configuration information which includes cooperative cell selection information from the second WTRU. The cooperative cell selection information may include a cell selection receive (RX) level value and a cell selection quality value. The WTRU may scan for cells corresponding to one or more selected networks. The WTRU may select a suitable cell based on the cooperative cell selection information. Once a suitable cell has been selected, the WTRU may be configured to camp on the suitable cell.

[0005] The WTRU may be configured to reevaluate the suitable cell based on a group cooperation configuration for cell suitability. A group cooperation configuration may include a reference signal received power (RSRP). A cell may be suitable when the RSRP is greater than a predetermined threshold.

[0006] A wireless transmit /receive unit may be configured to request cooperative public land mobile network (PLMN) selection information from a second WTRU. The WTRU may be configured to receive the cooperative PLMN selection information from the second WTRU. The cooperative PLMN selection information may include report configuration and/or exchange of capabilities between WTRUs. The WTRU may select a suitable cell based on the cooperative PLMN selection information. Once a suitable PLMN has been selected, the WTRU may be configured to camp on the suitable cell. [0007] The WTRU may be configured to reevaluate the suitable PLMN based on a group cooperation configuration. A group cooperation configuration may include a reference signal received power (RSRP). A cell may be suitable when the RSRP is greater than a predetermined threshold.

[0008] In some embodiments, a WTRU may comprise a processor. The WTRU processor may be configured to receive configuration information indicating that the WTRU is to perform cooperative cell selection with at least one other WTRU. The WTRLI processor may be configured to receive cell selection criteria information from the at least one other WTRU. The cell selection criteria information may indicate, for example, one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU, and/or measurement information for the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU. The WTRU processor may be configured to determine one or more cells that satisfy a cell selection criteria of the WTRU based on determining that the one or more cells that satisfy the cell selection criteria of the WTRU do not correspond to the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU. The WTRU processor may be configured to determine that at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU satisfy a cooperative cell selection criteria. The WTRU processor may be configured to select the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping. [0009] In some embodiments, the cooperative cell selection criteria may comprise an offset that is to be applied to lower a required reception level (Srxlev) and/or quality level (Squal) for selecting the at least one cell as suitable for camping.

[0010] In some embodiments, the WTRU processor may be configured to: determine that the at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU is not barred, and select the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping and is not barred.

[0011] In some embodiments, the WTRU processor may be configured to receive the cell selection criteria information from the at least one other WTRU via a sidelink transmission.

[0012] In some embodiments, the cooperative cell selection criteria may comprise group or aggregation configuration information. The WTRU use the group or aggregation configuration information to determine a cell category for the at least one cell that satisfied the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

[0013] In some embodiments, the WTRU processor may be configured to reevaluate the at least one cell selected for camping based on a group cooperation configuration for cell suitability. The group cooperation configuration may include a reference signal received power (RSRP) value. The RSRP value may be used as a threshold for determining cell suitability.

[0014] In some embodiments, the measurement information may comprise a RSRP measurement.

[0015] In some embodiments, the configuration information may comprise one or more of: an indication of available radio access technology (RAT) supported by the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a supported carrier of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of Uu or sidelink capabilities of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a power status of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a location of the at least one other WTRU, and/or an indication of the cooperation capabilities of the at least one other WTRU.

[0016] In some embodiments, a WTRU may perform a method for cooperative cell selection. The method may comprise receiving configuration information indicating that the WTRU is to perform cooperative cell selection with at least one other WTRU. The method may comprise receiving cell selection criteria information from the at least one other WTRU. The cell selection criteria information may indicate one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU, and/or measurement information for the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU. The method may comprise determining one or more cells that satisfy a cell selection criteria of the WTRU based on determining that the one or more cells that satisfy the cell selection criteria of the WTRU do not correspond to the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU. The method may comprise determining that at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU satisfy a cooperative cell selection criteria. The method may comprise selecting the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

[0017] In some embodiments, the cooperative cell selection criteria used in the method for cooperative cell selection may comprise an offset that is to be applied to lower a required reception level (Srxlev) and/or quality level (Squal) for selecting the at least one cell as suitable for camping.

[0018] In some embodiments, the method for cooperative cell selection may comprise determining that the at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU is not barred and selecting the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping and is not barred.

[0019] In some embodiments, the cell selection criteria information used in the method for cooperative cell selection may be received via a sidelink transmission.

[0020] In some embodiments, the cooperative cell selection criteria used in the method for cooperative cell selection may comprise group or aggregation configuration information. The group or aggregation configuration information may be used to determine a cell category for the at least one cell that satisfied the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

[0021] In some embodiments, the method for cooperative cell selection may comprise reevaluating the at least one cell selected for camping based on a group cooperation configuration for cell suitability, the group cooperation configuration including a RSRP value that is used as a threshold for determining cell suitability.

[0022] In some embodiments, the measurement information used in the method for cooperative cell selection may comprise a RSRP.

[0023] In some embodiments, the configuration information used in the method for cooperative cell selection may comprise one or more of: an indication of available RAT supported by the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a supported carrier of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of Uu or sidelink capabilities of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a power status of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a location of the at least one other WTRU, and/or an indication of the cooperation capabilities of the at least one other WTRU.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0025] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment. [0026] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment.

[0027] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment.

[0028] FIG. 2 is an example diagram of a network.

[0029] FIG. 3 is an example diagram of a network with two WTRUs, with direct communication on the left-side without network coverage, and two WTRUs with network coverage on the right-side.

[0030] FIG. 4 is an example diagram of a control plane protocol stack for cooperation messages.

[0031] FIG. 5 is an example diagram of a protocol stack and PC5 Coordination and an exchange between two WTRU control plane protocol stack with inter-WTRU cooperation and/or assistance.

[0032] FIG. 6 is an example diagram of a protocol stack and PC5 Coordination and an exchange between two WTRU control plane protocol stack with inter-WTRU cooperation and/or assistance.

[0033] FIG. 7 is an example diagram of architecture of cooperation with one NAS entity controlling multiple WTRU’s AS entities.

[0034] FIG. 8 is an example of a diagram of a network where a WTRU coordinator is connected to two WTRUs. The left-side shows a direct inter-WTRU connection, and the right-side shows no direct inter-WTRU connection.

[0035] FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure for cell selection with successive approach.

[0036] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure for cell selection.

[0037] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example of cooperative PMLN selection with result sharing between devices.

[0038] FIG. 12 is an example of an example diagram of a network.

[0039] FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure for cell selection. [0040] FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure for cell selection with a coordinator.

[0041] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of cooperative PLMN selection with a coordinator. [0042] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a cell selection cooperation procedure.

[0043] FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart of an example of cooperative PLMN selection with a coordinator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104/113, a CN 106/115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and/or a “STA”, may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscriptionbased unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a headmounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a WTRU.

[0046] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and/or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106/115, the Internet 110, and/or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or network elements. [0047] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104/113, which may also include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e. , one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and/or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0048] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0049] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104/113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115/116/117 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and/or High-Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0050] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and/or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0051] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access , which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0052] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and/or transmissions sent to/from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB). [0053] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1 X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0054] The base station 114b in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106/115.

[0055] The RAN 104/113 may be in communication with the CN 106/115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106/115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and/or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104/113 and/or the CN 106/115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104/113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104/113, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106/115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E- UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0056] The CN 106/115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and/or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and/or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and/or wireless communications networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104/113 or a different RAT.

[0057] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1 A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0058] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and/or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any subcombination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment. [0059] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0060] The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0061] Although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0062] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11 , for example.

[0063] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic lightemitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0064] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and/or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li- ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0065] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment. [0066] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and/or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and/or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and/or Augmented Reality (VR/AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and/or a humidity sensor.

[0067] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and/or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit 139 to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a halfduplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0068] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0069] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0070] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the LIL and/or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0071] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1 C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0072] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation/deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and/or WCDMA.

[0073] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to/from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0074] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. [0075] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers.

[0076] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1 A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily, or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0077] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0078] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired/wireless network that carries traffic in to and/or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and/or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to- peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11 e DLS or an 802.11 z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an “ad-hoc” mode of communication. [0079] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA/CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed/detected and/or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0080] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0081]Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and/or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and/or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0082] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11 af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11 n, and 802.11ac. 802.11 af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11 ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11 ah may support Meter Type Control/Machine-Type Communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and/or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0083] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11 ac, 802.11 af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and/or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and/or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and/or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0084] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11 ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0085] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0086] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and/or gNB 180c). [0087] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and/or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and/or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying number of OFDM symbols and/or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0088] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and/or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with/connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with/connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and/or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0089] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and/or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0090] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator. [0091] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and/or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and/or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0092] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating WTRU IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0093] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0094] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0095] In view of Figures 1 A-1 D, and the corresponding description of Figures 1 A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-ab, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and/or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and/or to simulate network and/or WTRU functions. [0096] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and/or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and/or deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and/or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0097] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and/or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and/or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and/or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and/or receive data.

[0098] When a WTRU camps on a cell in RRCJDLE state or in RRCJNACTIVE state, it may receive system information from the public land mobile network (PLMN). The WTRU may establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection or resume a suspended RRC connection, and it may receive earthquake and tsunami warning system (ETWS) and/or commercial mobile alert service (CMAS) notifications. Moreover, if the network needs to send a control message or deliver data to a registered WTRU, the network may know the set of tracking areas in which the WTRU is camped. A paging message may then be sent to the WTRU. A paging message may be sent on control channels of cells in the corresponding set of areas. The WTRU may then receive a paging message and may respond.

[0099] The WTRU may scan radio frequency (RF) channels in the new radio (NR) bands according to its capabilities. For example, the WTRU may scan to find available PLMNs and available closed-access groups (CAGs). On a carrier, the WTRU may search for a strongest cell and read system information, in order to find out which PLMN(s) the cell belongs to and any associated CAG(s). In some embodiments, for operation with shared spectrum channel access, the WTRU may read the system information of multiple strongest cell(s). If the WTRU can read one or several PLMN identities in the strongest cell or the multiple strongest cell(s) in case of operation with shared spectrum channel access, each found PLMN (see the PLMN reading in TS 38.331 [3]) may be reported to the non-access stratum (NAS) as a high quality PLMN (but without the RSRP value) and any associated CAG-identifier (CAG-ID). For example, the WTRU may perform this provided that, for an NR cell, the measured reference signal received power (RSRP) value may be greater than or equal to -110 dBm. Found PLMNs that do not satisfy the high-quality criterion but for which the WTRU has been able to read the PLMN identities may be reported to the NAS. The PLMNs may be reported together with one or more of corresponding RSRP values and associated CAG-ID. The quality measure reported by the WTRU to NAS may be the same for each PLMN found in one cell. The search for PLMNs may be stopped on request from the NAS. The WTRU may optimize a PLMN search by using stored information (e.g., frequencies). The WTRU may additionally or alternatively optimize a PLMN search based on information on cell parameters from previously received measurement control information elements. In some embodiments, once the WTRU has selected a PLMN, the cell selection procedure may be performed in order to select a suitable cell of that PLMN to camp on.

[0100] In some embodiments, a WTRU may perform cell selection using an initial cell selection procedure (e.g., no prior knowledge of which RF channels are NR frequencies). For example, the WTRU may scan RF channels in the NR bands according to capabilities to find a suitable cell. On each frequency, the WTRU may search for the strongest cell. Additionally, or alternatively, the WTRU may not only search for the strongest cell for operation with shared spectrum channel access where the WTRU may search for the next strongest cell(s). Once a suitable cell is found, The WTRU may select the suitable cell.

[0101] In some embodiments, a WTRU may perform cell selection by leveraging stored information procedure. For example, the procedure may utilize stored information of frequencies. Additionally, or alternatively, the procedure may utilize information on cell parameters from previously received measurement control information elements or from previously detected cells. Once a suitable cell is found, this cell may be selected. If no suitable cell is found, the WTRU may start an initial cell selection procedure.

[0102] In some embodiments the WTRU may perform measurements for cell selection and/or reselection purposes, for example, as in TS 38.133. When evaluating Srxlev and Squal of non-serving cells for reselection evaluation purposes, the WTRU may use parameters provided by the serving cell and for the final check on cell selection criterion. For example, the WTRU may use parameters provided by the target cell for cell reselection. The NAS may control the RAT(s) in which the cell selection should be performed. For example, by indicating RAT(s) associated with the selected PLMN, and by maintaining a list of forbidden registration area(s) and a list of equivalent PLMNs. The WTRU may select a suitable cell based on RRCJDLE and/or RRC_INACTIVE state measurements. Additionally, or alternatively, the WTRU may select a suitable cell based on cell selection criteria. In order to expedite the cell selection process, the WTRU may use stored information for several RATs, if available. When camped on a cell, the WTRU may periodically search for a better cell according to cell reselection criteria. If a better cell is found, then that cell may be selected. A change of cell may imply a change of RAT. Cell selection criterion S may be fulfilled when Srxlev > 0 AND Squal > 0, where Srxlev — Qrxlevmeas — (Qrxlevmin + Qrxlevminoffset )— Pcompensation - Qoffsettemp, and/or Squal ⁼ Qquaimeas — (Qquaimin + Qquaiminoffset) - Qoffsettemp. Srxlev may be the Cell selection RX level value (dB) and Squal may be the Cell selection quality value (dB), for example, as defined in 38.304.

[0103] Personal internet-of-things (loT) Networks (PINs) and Customer Premises Networks (CPNs) may provide local connectivity between WTRUs and/or non-3GPP devices. The CPN via an evolved Residential Gateway (eRG), or PIN Elements via a PIN Element with Gateway Capability may provide access to 5G network services for the WTRUs and/or non-3GPP devices. Access may be provided on the CPN or PIN. CPNs and/or PINs may be owned, installed and/or, at least partially, configured by a customer of a public network operator. A Customer Premises Network (CPN) may be a network located within a premises (e.g., a residence, office or shop). In some embodiments, the CPN may provide connectivity to the 5G network via an eRG. The eRG may be connected to a 5G core network via one or more of: wireline, wireless, and/or hybrid access. A Premises Radio Access Station (PRAS) may be a base station installed in a CPN. Through the PRAS, a WTRU may obtain access to the CPN and/or 5G network services. The PRAS may be configured to use one or more of: licensed, unlicensed, and/or both frequency bands. Connectivity between the one or more of eRG and the WTRU, non-3GPP Device, or PRAS can use any suitable non-3GPP technology e.g., Ethernet, optical, WLAN).

[0104]A Personal loT Network (PIN) may include PIN Elements that communicate using PIN Direct Connection or direct network connection and is managed locally (e.g., using a PIN Element with Management Capability). Examples of PINs include networks of wearables and smart home / smart office equipment. PIN Elements may have access to the 5G network services via a PIN Element with Gateway Capability. PIN Elements may communicate with PIN Elements that are not within range to use PIN Direct Connection. A PIN may include at least one PIN Element with Gateway Capability and/or at least one PIN Element with Management Capability. A PIN Element with Management Capability may be a PIN Element that may provide a means for an authorized administrator to configure and manage a PIN.

[0105] In current 3GPP work (e.g., for example, see 3GPP Tdoc RP-221262), WTRU aggregation may refer to an enhancement of NR sidelink (SL) relay with specific multipath properties. A multi-path relay solution may also be utilized for WTRU aggregation where a WTRU is connected to the network via direct path and via another WTRU using a non-standardized WTRU-WTRU interconnection. In some embodiments, WTRU aggregation aims to provide applications requiring high uplink (UL) bitrates on 5G terminals, in cases when normal WTRUs are too limited by UL WTRU transmission power to achieve required bitrate, for example, at the edge of a cell. Additionally, WTRU aggregation may improve one or more of reliability, stability, and reduction delay of services. For example, if a channel condition of a terminal is deteriorating, another terminal can be used to make up for the traffic performance unsteadiness caused by channel condition variation.

[0106] WTRUs may spend most of their time in RRC IDLE/INACTIVE mode states. Therefore, power consumption associated with IDLE and INACTIVE mode operations may have a strong impact on the WTRLTs battery life, for example. Active scanning operations during IDLE and INACTIVE modes, such as scanning the radio channel for PLMN/cell (re)selection, may be one of the key power drains in IDLE and INACTIVE modes. A wide variety of devices and usages may be enabled. Some devices may be limited by one or more of their capabilities (e.g., power, energy, and connectivity to access the network, etc.). Applications and usage may also require devices to be grouped to deliver their services.

[0107] In some embodiments, in order to improve devices’ performance, another device may assist, creating a group or aggregation of devices. For example, by grouping devices together, beyond inter-device communication, an “aggregated” device may assist an “anchor” device with one or more of: resources, time, and/or processing power. Devices in groups may be close to each other. Devices in groups may have requirements of service from the cells and/or network provider. For example, requirement may include being served by a specific cell. Cooperation between WTRUs may not be currently enabled and/or supported in cell or PLMN selection, where each WTRU may individually perform the procedure without any input from other WTRUs. Therefore, methods and procedures are needed to enable WTRU cooperation and procedures performed by WTRUs need to be modified to support WTRU cooperation. [0108] Solutions and methods are developed to enable the cooperation between WTRUs in RRC IDLE or INACTIVE modes. In some embodiments, cooperative cell selection may be enabled, signaled, and/or configured. For example, WTRUs may share cell selection outputs with each other to improve the cell selection as a group. In some embodiments, cooperative PLMN selection may be enabled, signaled, and/or configured. For example, WTRUs may share PLMN selection outputs with each other to improve the PLMN selection as a group. In some embodiments, there may be definition and usage of grouped cell categories and/or cell selection criterion, and/or grouped PLMN criteria.

[0109] An anchor WTRU may be a WTRU that is the source or destination of the traffic and payload data. In the context of NR SL Relay, this may correspond to a Remote WTRU. An anchor WTRU may or may not have a direct connection to the network. A WTRU may require assistance from other nodes. An aggregated WTRU may refer to a WTRU that assists/helps an anchor WTRU to access the network. The assistance may involve relaying the traffic (e.g., a SL Relay in NR SL terminology), and/or offloading certain tasks and procedures from an anchor WTRU. A coordinator WTRU may refer to a WTRU that manages the cooperation in a group of WTRUs. A coordinator WTRU may be used in a variety of functions, including but not limited to offloading tasks from other WTRUs, receiving and/or sending cooperation information to other devices, and/or assigning and/or controlling tasks performed by other WTRUs. The coordinator WTRU may be interchangeably referred to a controller, a manager or a primary WTRU.

[0110] In some embodiments, a WTRU may already be in a group and/or have an inter- WTRU connection established with one or more other WTRU. A group may be set for different application services and/or performance purposes. A group may be set depending on WTRU configuration(s). In some embodiments, a group may include a coordinator device.

[0111] Several architectures may be used for inter-WTRU cooperation for RRC IDLE and INACTIVE mode procedures. In some embodiments, inter-WTRU cooperation may be performed using an inter-WTRU connection, for example, PC5 (Sidelink) or any other communication system, standardized outside of 3GPP or non-standardized, for example, WiFi, Bluetooth, wired connection, or etc. Using NR Sidelink may be a default, however, another inter-WTRU interface may be used interchangeably. In some embodiments, WTRUs may or may not be under the coverage of the network. A connection to a network may not always be necessary to perform direct inter-WTRU cooperation.

[0112] In some embodiment architectures, two WTRUs may be capable of exchanging information for cooperation over a PC5 link. A transmission can be performed using, for example, a new PC5-Cooperation (PC5-C) interface, which may link a Cooperation layer in one or more devices via direct PC5 communication, as in the protocol stack for cooperation. A PC5-Cooperation interface may be a dedicated interface, for example, with a dedicated SRB for cooperation information. Alternatively, or interchangeably, the PC5-Cooperation may be performed using the PC5 Signaling (PC5-S) or SL RRC messages (PC5-RRC). In some embodiments, the cooperation may be implemented as an actual layer in the sidelink protocol stack or reusing the SL Signaling protocol layer or RRC layer. The purpose of the Cooperation layer may, for example, be to enable cooperation and communication between layers of protocol stacks (e.g., NAS or NR unix-unix (Uu) AS control planes) of different WTRUs.

[0113] There may be a control plane of the users. An example of 3GPP Sidelink inter- WTRLI connection is shown where the NAS of WTRU 1 is exchanging messages to the NAS of WTRU 2 via PC5-C. The access strata (AS) of two different WTRUs may also communicate. In some embodiments, for each WTRU, the AS and NAS can each perform their own task for the connectivity and procedures of the WTRU but may exchange information that is used as input for decisions.

[0114] Prior to performing coordinated procedures, the WTRUs may exchange cooperation configuration information to configure how they can coordinate, respective capabilities and communication channels. A cooperation configuration information may include, for example, one or more of available RATs; supported bands/carriers; Uu and SL capabilities; WTRU profile (WTRU type, power profile); cooperation capabilities (e.g., which procedures are supported to be coordinated, which information requests or sharing are supported). In some embodiments, A WTRU may send direct transmissions to the users in a group using one or more topology and/or one or more method (e.g., PC5, unicast, groupcast, broadcast transmissions, etc.). Transmissions may be periodic or aperiodic, depending, for example, on the content of the transmissions. The cooperation configuration information may include scheduling information or indicate occasions where the WTRU may transmit and/or receive cooperation signaling (e.g., using periodic or dynamic scheduling or the signaling). A WTRU may request information from another WTRU including, for example, by sending a request over PC5- C and receiving a reply/report also on PC5-C, at the layer corresponding to the cooperation. A request may be for a one-time report or may be for triggering periodic/aperiodic reports (e.g., subscribing to a cooperation content). When a WTRU receives a request, in some embodiments, the WTRU may reply with the information to report if available (for example, possibly after performing some related procedures). A WTRU may report to the WTRU that transmitted the request. When WTRUs are registered for specific periodic cooperation, a WTRU may periodically or be triggered by an information update report to the requesting/registered WTRUs.

[0115] In an example of 3GPP Sidelink inter-WTRU connection the NAS of WTRU 1 may use the AS of two different WTRUs to perform a task or may use the AS of another user to perform (for example, jointly) a task. Similar operations may apply at different layers of the AS.

[0116] Cooperating WTRUs may coordinate, for example, their NAS and AS configurations (e.g., available RATs, supported frequency and procedures). The NAS of the first WTRU (WTRU1 ) may send a command to the AS of the second WTRU (WTRU2) using, for example, PC5-C. WTRU2 may perform a procedure or task requested. After completing the procedure or task, in some embodiments, WTRU2 may report the output to the NAS of WTRU1 . For minimum interface and specification change, the content of the reports and commands may be similar to a classic inter-layer communication within a single WTRU. Destinations may be changed to the upper-layer (or lower-layer) of another WTRU.

[0117] In some embodiments, the NAS of WTRU 1 may also perform tasks using the AS of WTRU2, for example, via communication through the NAS layer of WTRU2. One or more tasks may be forwarded to an AS, for example, either transparently or controlling AS behavior for compatibility with the rest of the WTRU’s tasks. Another possible architecture is, for example, where a single NAS entity may directly control AS entities of multiple WTRUs, similar to a Dual Connectivity. A NAS entity may be located within one of the controlled WTRUs or in another WTRU. Communication between the NAS and AS layers that are not collocated may be performed using inter-WTRU cooperation in some embodiments (e.g., PC5-C or other inter-WTRU links).

[0118] In some embodiments, for example, as in Personal loT Networks (PINs), tethered devices (e.g., wearables) or interactive services (e.g., NCIS), a group of devices may be formed by the service or application where the devices need to communicate with each other for their services. Additionally, or alternatively, the group may be formed based on a potential network connection. In application or service- oriented groups, the WTRUs in the group may be selected and/or managed by the service/application in a higher layer. The group formation communication exchanges may be configured during the PC5 connection establishment phase, or after the connection is established using PC5-RRC or PC5-S types of signaling.

[0119] In some embodiments, some of the devices may be limited by one or more of their capabilities (e.g., power, energy, or connectivity to access the network). To increase the performance of these WTRUs, WTRUs may be “aggregated” where one “aggregated” WTRU assists another “anchor”. Assistance may be in the form of task offloading or relaying, for example. In some embodiments, the RAN, either at the WTRU or gNB level, may perform the grouping of devices, using, for example, PC5-C or Uu signaling. Groups of WTRUs are in practice dynamic, where WTRUs may be added and removed, depending on the devices and services. Depending on the purpose of the group, certain requirements, such as performance requirements, and connectivity between WTRUs in a group may be configured. Requirements may be configured at the group formation. Information may be transmitted, for example, using PC5-C, or Uu, if managed by the network. For example, one connectivity requirement may be that WTRUs in a group shall ensure having a direct or indirect connection to any other WTRU in the group, and/or to a specific WTRU in the group. Another example requirement may be that the group (e.g., or a part of a group), should be served one or more of the same cells, same gNB, or same PLMN. This requirement may, for example, be useful for devices that support multi-path (Uu and SL) but do not support being relayed by a WTRU that is not served by the same cell (e.g., expected SL multi-path Relay feature in Rel.18). In some embodiments, this may alternatively or additionally be a requirement of the network to facilitate one or more of the management and communication with the WTRUs without inter-gNB or roaming exchanges.

[0120] In a group, WTRUs may have one or more kinds of relationships in some embodiments, depending on the hierarchy between them. For example, the WTRUs may be viewed as peers in a group. In some embodiments, there may be no user managing the others. For example, cooperation within the group may involve sharing information and/or requesting assistance and/or forwarding data or control information to each other.

[0121] In some embodiments, there may be primary and secondary devices. Coordinator and Primary WTRUs may be used interchangeably and/or may assume one or more roles associated with the other. Primary devices may act as one or more of: managing, coordinating, and/or controlling devices for other devices. Primary devices may centralize decisions and information in the group and/or may be used to offload tasks and/or procedures. A WTRU may also be used as a coordinator to facilitate the cooperation between other WTRUs (and itself if needed). A coordinator WTRU may also be connected to other devices and/or may centralize information distribution among WTRUs. In some embodiments, when a coordinator WTRU is present, the direct inter-WTRU cooperation link between two WTRUs performing the cooperation may not be necessary.

[0122] WTRU information shared between WTRUs of a group may be transmitted through a coordinator WTRU in some embodiments. For example, WTRU information shared between WTRUs of a group may be transmitted through a coordinator WTRU when there is no direct PC5 connection between the WTRUs performing the cooperation or through Uu (e.g., via RRC or higher layer signaling). A coordinator WTRU may receive cooperation information from WTRUs. A coordinator WTRU may transmit information to corresponding destinations. A coordinator WTRU may also store cooperation information and/or share it with users when requested afterward. A WTRU may send a transmission to the coordinator WTRU to request information that corresponds to a specific WTRU or information for the group. Cooperation between WTRUs may require specific procedures and implementation capabilities. Some devices may implement the necessary features to be a group coordinator, and/or these features may be represented with a specific WTRU Category and/or WTRU Class. In some embodiments, a device may only support (sub)groups of cooperation features. [0123] To perform cooperation between the WTRUs of a group, some configuration information may be shared so that WTRUs may know about each other’s capabilities and status. This information may be used for group cooperation management and/or determining which WTRU is best to perform cooperation with other WTRUs, for example coordinator selection, task distribution and/or report sharing in some embodiments. The configuration information may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: The configuration information may indicate the capabilities of one or more WTRUs (e.g., frequency band support, RAT support, antenna/beam support, measurement capabilities etc.). The configuration information may include information related to how the WTRUs in the group can perform the measurement on the SSBs and cell search. The configuration information may include WTRU stored information, that indicates what one or more WTRUs in the group already found previously and may quickly find upon performing the stored information-based cell selection. The configuration information may indicate the battery/energy status for one or more WTRUs in the group and may indicate whether the device needs to preserve its energy and should be avoided to perform tasks. The configuration information may include location and/or spatial information for one or more WTRUs in the group (e.g., absolute, or relative position, direction, speed) which may be useful to determine the proximity between devices and/or redundancy of their measurements. The configuration information may indicate WTRU inter-connection in the group, where an inter-connected WTRU may easily share information directly and can update each other. The configuration information may indicate WTRU cooperation capabilities(e.g., cooperation capabilities supported in the group, whether one or more WTRUs are acting as coordinators, which features, and/or procedures are supported to be coordinated, distributed or offloaded, and/or WTRU service type and QoS requirements (e.g., what type of service is needed to be supported in the group for this user and what kind of requirement the WTRU expects to be assisted with for this group)). In some embodiments, configuration information may be shared between the users, one or more of directly or via a coordinator, using PC5-C interface, between the AS (e.g., at the RRC level) and/or at the NAS level depending on the coordinated procedures. Configuration information may be exchanged during or after the PC5 link establishment between the devices, when exchanging configuration or capabilities about devices. Some information may additionally or alternatively be shared between the users, periodically and/or on- demand, to keep updated the devices in the group in some embodiments.

[0124] In some embodiments, devices may improve cell selection with inter-WTRU cooperation (e.g., by sharing information about their cell selection results and measurements with each other). After selecting a PLMN (e.g., or standalone non-public network (SNPN)), a NAS may provide a list of equivalent PLMNs, if available, that the AS shall use for cell selection and cell reselection. With cell selection, the WTRU may search for the strongest suitable cell of the selected PLMN and/or selected SNPN. The WTRU may choose that cell to provide available services, and /or monitor a control channel, e.g., the WTRU searches for a cell to camp on. In some embodiments, frequency priorities provided by NAS and/or dedicated signaling may not apply to cell selection in current specification.

[0125] There may be configuration and/or criterion for cooperative cell selection. In some embodiments, for a cell to be considered as a suitable cell, the cell may satisfy one or more of the following: A PLMN may be part of one or more of the selected PLMN, registered PLMN, and/or PLMN of the equivalent list; cell selection criterion S may be fulfilled; the cell is not barred, according to the NAS; and/or the cell may be part of at least one tracking area (TA) that is not part of the list of "Forbidden Tracking Areas for Roaming”. In some embodiments, for a cell to be considered as an acceptable cell, (e.g., that can be camped on but provide limited services), the cell may satisfy one or more of the following: the cell is not barred; and/or the cell selection criterion S may be satisfied. A cell may be barred if it is so indicated in the system information (e.g., carrying the cellBarred indication in the MIB or SIB1 ).

[0126] The system information may also indicate that the cell is barred for specific WTRUs such as non-terrestrial network (NTN) WTRUs or reduced capacity (RedCap) WTRUs, using dedicated cell barring indication. In some embodiments, a cell may be reserved, e.g., for operator use only to restrict the usage, also using system information indications. When cell status is indicated as "not barred" and "not reserved" for operator use and not "true" for other use and not "true" for future use, WTRUs may treat this cell as a candidate during the cell selection and cell reselection procedures, for example. When configured as a group, WTRUs may take the group or aggregation configuration into account for determining the cell category for the cell selection and/or reselection procedure. Additionally, or alternatively, WTRUs may take other WTRUs properties into account for determining the cell category for the cell selection and/or reselection procedure. The configuration may be exchanged between the WTRUs, e g., via PC5-S, or obtained from network.

[0127] In some embodiments, a cell may be considered suitable for a group of WTRUs configured to be served by the same cell if all the criterions of suitable cell are satisfied for all the WTRUs in the group. In other embodiments, the cell can be considered suitable if at least one (or a configured number of) WTRU of the group satisfies the suitability criterions. Beyond the overall cell category definition, the criterion to be considered suitable, acceptable, barred and/or reserved may also be updated for the group of WTRU in some embodiments. Cell selection criterion S and/or the sub-criterion Srxlev (RX level) and/or Squal (cell selection quality) that are measured by a WTRU, may be adapted to consider the presence of other WTRUs in the group, for example. In some embodiments, the criterion is relaxed so that the WTRU may consider that the cell selection criterion satisfies with a lower RX level or quality, for example, assuming that the cooperation will compensate for a lower cell signal quality. This may be implemented by either having a Qrxlevmin and/or Qqualmin specifically defined for cooperation group or alternatively or additionally, by adding a specific offset to the Srxlev and/or Squal computation.

[0128] These configurations may be obtained in System Information that may override the regular values if any and/or obtained through group configuration, for example. In some embodiments, this criterion may be tightened to be stricter, e.g., for coordinator WTRUs, so that these WTRU may require stronger cells quality to maintain a suitable service for the group. For example, a cell may be considered to be barred for a WTRU in a group if any WTRU in the group would consider the cell as barred. Alternatively, or additionally, the cell may be considered as "not barred” if any WTRU (or a configured number of WTRUs) consider the cell as “not barred”. In some embodiments, a new “barring” indication (e.g., “cellBarredAggregation” IE type: "barred" or "not barred") may also be defined and/or signaled in MIB and/or SIB1 , where the barring indication targets groups of users or aggregated user. For example, when present and set to “barred”, a WTRU configured to be in a group may consider this cell as barred.

[0129] In some embodiments, a WTRU may be configured such that all the WTRUs in the group must satisfy the cooperative cell selection criteria for that cell can be considered as suitable. The WTRU may additionally or alternatively receive information about the WTRU in its group, e.g., during the group cooperation (re)configuration, through PC5-S or via network. Information may include WTRU type or category (e.g., NTN, RedCap, Coordinator WTRU) in some embodiments. The WTRU may read the System Information of a cell during a cell (re)selection procedure. In some embodiments, to determine suitability, the WTRU may use one or more of the received group configurations, its own WTRU information, and/or the received WTRU information to evaluate if the cell is barred and/or if the cell selection criteria as a group are satisfied. For example, the WTRU may evaluate the S criterion using the received dedicated Qrxlevmin and/or Qqualmin. The WTRU may determine that the cell satisfies the cell selection criteria. Then, assuming the group configuration indicates that all WTRUs shall not consider the cell as barred and its group contains a RedCapI Rx user, for example. In some embodiments, if the indication in the System Information indicates cellBarred = “not barred” and/or cellBarredRedCap1 Rx= “barred”, then the WTRU may consider the cell as barred because of the other WTRU in the group and/or does not consider this cell as a candidate for cell selection.

[0130] In some embodiments, cell selection cooperation may be performed in one or more of the following options: Independent cell selection, with a report of selected cell to check for group validity; and/or Successive selection, where the WTRU may asynchronously perform cell selection and/or take the results of other WTRUs that already selected cells as input. In some embodiments, if there is cooperative cell selection between two or more devices, there may be an extension to multiple cooperative devices. The multiple cooperative devices may share their cell selection results and/or reports. The receiving device may regroup and/or aggregate received reports.

[0131] In some embodiments, the WTRU may asynchronously perform cell selection and take inputs from other WTRUs that reported cell selection results as input for the cell selection as a group, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure 900 for cell selection with successive approach. [0132] In a successive selection option, WTRUs in cooperation (e.g., WTRU A and WTRU B) may first exchange configuration information about cell selection cooperation at 901 . In some embodiments, the configuration information for cooperation on the cell selection may include one or more of: enabling the exchange of cell selection reports; supported carriers, RAT and/or preferred PLMNs; reporting criterion; and/or cell selection criteria information for the group.

[0133] At 902, the WTRU A may perform a cell selection procedure. When searching a cell over a dedicated spectrum, the WTRU A may, for example, only look for the strongest cell. If the cell is suitable, the WTRU A may select the cell to be camped on. For example, in the case of shared spectrum, the WTRU A may search for multiple strongest cells. The best cell of a WTRU may not be the best for another WTRU due to, for example, different channel conditions. In some embodiments, a WTRU may scan multiple strongest cells of a frequency, for example, even when performing a cell selection in a dedicated spectrum and preparing to provide information to another WTRU.

[0134] At 903, the WTRU A may share its selection and/or scanning results to another WTRU in the group (e.g., the WTRU B). The WTRU A may send its selection and/or scanning results with the WTRU B based on one or more triggers, such as a cooperative cell selection request from another WTRU and/or a request for cell selection results. The request may include one or more of: carriers, PLMN, and/or RATs to be considered for a report. Additionally, or alternatively, the request may include configurations for reporting content and/or resources. Selection and/or scanning results may, for example, be based on the cooperation configuration, e.g., for the supported carriers, and RATs. In some embodiments, the report may include information about one or more of the following cells, depending on the cooperation configuration; the cell that the WTRU selected; the cells that the WTRU found suitable; the cells suitable for the group (as per group configuration); and/or other cells that were found but are not suitable, with an indication of whether the cell was one or more of barred, restricted, and not passing the cell selection criterion.

[0135] The cell selection report may be sent to one or more specific WTRUs (e.g., WTRUs that requested and/or registered to receive that information), and/or a group of users (e.g., using groupcast and/or broadcast transmission). The cell selection report may be sent to the WTRU coordinator of a group. The WTRU coordinator of a group may combine and share information (e.g., an indication of available cells) from one or more cell selection reports with the users of the group. A cell selection report may contain information related to one or more of: PLMNs; carriers; frequency channels; cells; RSRPs; time and/or location of measurements. The content of a cell selection report may be limited based on the configuration information to reduce overhead. For example, the content of a cell selection report may be limited to information related to PLMN, carriers and frequencies supported by the destination.

[0136] The transmission of the report of the found and/or selected cell to another WTRU may be performed using the PC5-C interface for signaling communication between the WTRUs. The transmission of a cell selection report to another WTRU and/or the coordinator may be triggered by a sharing cell selection request and/or can sub-select the cells and/or information that match the requests, e.g., based on PLMN or carriers supported indicated in the request. The WTRU may send the selected cell to another WTRU, and/or may perform this cell indication not only after cell selection, but additionally or alternatively after cell reselection and/or after handover when in RRC CONNECTED mode. The WTRU receiving the indication may be in RRC INACTIVE/IDLE mode for the reception of the cell indication.

[0137] At 904, the WTRU B may take the cell selection report as an input when performing the cell selection procedure. The input may be combined with the WTRUs own cell search results, to select and camp on a cell, for example. Steps discussed previously and subsequently may be performed in any order and are not restricted to the order presented.

[0138] In some embodiments, a WTRU, preparing and/or performing a cell selection, and/or receiving a list of cells and cell information from other WTRUs (and/or possibly a coordinator WTRU), may consider the received cells and/or the common cell(s) among the received cells with higher priority. For example, the reception of the cell selection report from another WTRU may be triggered by a request from the receiving WTRU, when preparing and/or during a cell selection procedure. In some embodiments, the request may be associated with a list of carriers and/or channels to be reported, either included in the request and/or based on a shared capability/configuration between the WTRUs. In some embodiments, changing the cell selection criterion to match another WTRU cell selection (e.g., at 904) may be constrained by the configuration that a WTRU should prefer being served by the same cell. This configuration may, for example, be set in the group and/or cooperation configuration. For example, on a given carrier, if the received report indicates a cell, while the WRTU measured the cell that is not the highest RSRP in that carrier, the WTRU may still select this cell so that the two WTRUs will camp on the same cell. In some embodiments, this priority change may be constrained to having a measured RSRP no lower than a threshold below the strongest cell, for example, 3dB.

[0139] In some embodiments, the cell selected by another WTRU is the strongest cell of a carrier, but the carrier may not be the highest priority of the WTRU. The WTRU may select to camp on the lower priority carrier cell, provided that the cell is suitable, and/or that the priority is no lower than another threshold below the potentially selectable highest priority cell found, for example. In some embodiments, the WTRU may exclude cells that are not listed in the received report for selection if they are configured to select the same cell. In other embodiments, the WTRU may exclude cells that are not suitable for the group, e.g., barred for other users in the group, based on the list of received barred cell for example, and/or based on the information of the other WTRUs, and/or according to the configuration of the group and definition of a suitable cell for the group. [0140] An exemplary flowchart of a cell selection procedure 1000 performed by a WTRU is shown in FIG. 10. The WTRU may first be configured and/or enabled to perform cooperative cell selection. Additionally, or alternatively, the WTRU may be configured and/or enabled to include or receive configuration information which indicates that the WTRU should perform inter-WTRU communications for cooperative cell selection. The configuration information may also include criteria for cooperative cell selection. In some embodiments, the WTRU may send a request for cooperative cell selection including one or more of requested PLMN, frequencies, and RATs. The WTRU may have received the reports for cell selection (or re-selection) at 1001 from other WTRUs. The WTRU may perform spectrum scanning for cells and/or cell selection measurements at 1002. In some embodiments, the WTRU may exclude cells that are not suitable for the group at 1003, based on one or more of the group configurations, WTRU information, and received reports. [0141] When considering the cell to select, the WTRII may determine whether it is configured to use the same cell as another WTRU at 1004. If the WTRII is not configured to use the same cell as another WTRU, the WTRU may camp on the strongest cell at 1008. If the WTRU is configured to use the same cell as another cell, the WTRU may determine whether the strongest cell is the same as the cell indicated by the coordinated cell selection at 1005. For example, the WTRU may determine whether the received cell report for cooperation with another WTRU is the same as its own (pre)selected cell. If the WTRU determines that the strongest cell is the same as the cell indicated by the coordinated cell selection, the WTRU may camp of the strongest measured cell at 1108.

[0142] If the WTRU determines that the strongest cell is not the same as the cell indicated by the coordinated cell selection, the WTRU may determine whether the coordinated cell satisfies criteria for cooperation selection at 1006. In some examples, the WTRU may determine whether the reported coordinated cell satisfies the criterion and is not less than a certain threshold below the strongest cell (e.g., no less than 3dB below the strongest cell) at 1006. If the WTRU determines that the reported coordinated cell does not satisfy the criterion and/or is less than the threshold below the strongest cell, the WTRU may camp on the WTRU may camp on the strongest measured cell at 1008. If the WTRU determines that reported coordinated cell does satisfy the criterion and is not less than the threshold below the strongest cell, the cell reported in the coordinated cell selection information at 1007.

[0143] In some embodiments, if present, a coordinator WTRU may be in charge of collecting the found cells reports for a group of WTRUs, and/or the selected cells, and/or the corresponding information (e.g., PLMN, carrier, RAT, user location, corresponding cell ID, etc.). When receiving the reports of the other WTRUs, the coordinator may merge and/or aggregate the cell selection criteria information reports 1404. In some embodiments, the WTRU may update the cell present for different carriers and their PLMN, and/or update the measured RSRP. The coordinator may keep track of multiple status and/or values for the cells in some embodiments, e.g., with respect to the time and/or location of the measurements and/or a cell selected for each WTRU. [0144] The coordinator may transmit a cell report to the group. The report may be transmitted using, for example, one or more of: broadcast, groupcast, or unicast. The report may be reported periodically, and/or on-demand to the users for example. In some embodiments, the coordinator may receive requests and/or configurations that specify PLMN, carrier and/or channels for each user, and/or adapt the report sent to them based on their capabilities/configurations.

[0145] In some embodiments, on request of the NAS, the AS may perform a search for available PLMNs and/or report them to NAS. For example, the WTRU may scan one or more RF channels in the NR bands (considering the 3GPP NR RAT) according to WTRU capabilities to find available PLMNs and/or available CAGs. In some embodiments, on each carrier, the WTRU may search for the strongest cell and read system information, in order to find out which PLMN(s) the cell belongs to and/or any associated CAG(s).

[0146] The PLMNs of NR cells whose RSRP are measured above a threshold (e.g., - 110dBm in 3GPP Rel-17) may be reported as high-quality cells to the NAS in some embodiments. The PLMNs of NR cells whose RSRP are measured below a threshold but whose PLMN was still decoded from the cell’s system information may additionally or alternatively be reported along with their RSRP, in some embodiments. SNPN selection may additionally or alternatively be performed similarly, for the WTRUs operating in SNPN access mode, for example.

[0147] The coordination for PLMN selection may enhance the reporting of PLMNs to NAS, using measurements and/or reports from other WTRUs and/or WTRU selfmeasurements. Measurements and classification may be merged/aggregated to provide new cooperative criterion, for example. In some embodiments, in the case of cooperation in a group of WTRUs, the AS may also report to the NAS when a PLMN was found by another WTRU in the group, for example, when other WTRUs measured the PLMN with high-quality. For example, a WTRU, receiving reports from another WTRU that a given PLMN is of high-quality, but did not measure it with a RSRP value satisfying the threshold, may report the measured RSRP and/or an indication that other WTRUs found the PLMN with high-quality. This may be brought to NAS as input to select the PLMN, for example, even if the quality is lower than expected, taking advantage of either the cooperation between the user to improve the signal quality, relay information and/or that locations near the WTRU have better signal quality. In some embodiments, on a given carrier, if the received cell selection criteria information report indicates a PLMN with high quality, while the WTRLI AS measured the PLMN with a RSRP below the high-quality threshold, the WTRU may report to the NAS that the PLMN actually satisfies the high-quality threshold. This can be constrained to having a measured RSRP that is higher than a second threshold, lower than the existing high- quality criterion; and/or that the reported high-quality RSRP was measured by a WTRU in proximity (using the location information); and/or that the reported RSRP is measured by a WTRU physically co-located with the WTRU, for example. In some embodiments, if the coordination configuration indicates that the WTRUs shall select the same PLMN, the WTRU may exclude the PLMNs that it found itself if they are not included in the PLMN list reported by another WTRU, or the PLMN in the reports that are with a too low RSRP value.

[0148] In some embodiments, there are solutions for coordinated PLMN selection. For example, users may exchange their PLMN selection and/or measurements with each other to assist the selection. In some embodiments, knowing the available PLMN for each carrier enables the other WTRUs to perform a wider range of selection. Knowing the selected PLMN may lead the other WTRUs to select similar PLMN for example, e.g., to avoid roaming or based on grouping requirement. In some embodiments, PLMN selection cooperation may be performed in one or more of the following options: Independent PLMN selection, with a report of selected PLMN to check for group validity; and/or Successive selection, where the WTRU may asynchronously perform PLMN selection and take the results of other WTRUs that already selected PLMN as input. In some embodiments, if there is cooperative PLMN selection between two or more devices, there may be an extension to multiple cooperative devices. The multiple cooperative devices may share their PLMN results and/or reports. The receiving device may regroup and/or aggregate received reports.

[0149] In some embodiments, the WTRUs may perform their PLMN selection independently, using individual PLMN selection criterion. For example, after they selected their PLMN, they may exchange the result of their selection with the WTRUs in the group and/or with a coordinator. In some embodiments, upon reception of the selected PLMNs by other WTTRUs, each WTRU may reevaluate whether the selected PLMN satisfies the group selection criterion. Reevaluation may be based on the group cooperation configuration. This may be as discussed above in some embodiments. If a WTRU determines that its PLMN is not suitable for the group of WTRU, the WTRU may trigger a new PLMN selection by adding restriction on the previously found PLMN, for example.

[0150] Successive PLMN selection may be when a WTRU asynchronously performs PLMN selection and/or takes the results of other WTRUs that already selected their PLMN as input for their own selection.

[0151] FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart of an example of cooperative PMLN selection procedure 1100 with result sharing between devices. At 1102, WTRU A and WTRU B may exchange configuration information. For example, the configuration information may enable the WTRUs for cooperative PLMN selection. The configuration information may include the report configuration, and/or information related to the capabilities of the WTRUs (e.g., supported RATs, carriers). In some embodiments, the report configuration may include the criterions and/or type of found PLMNs to report, for example, whether the WTRU should share only the selected PLMN and/or the list of high quality PLMN, and/or all found PLMNs and their RSRP values. A threshold of RSRP may be configured to limit the number of PLMN to report in some embodiments. For example, the threshold for high-quality PLMN may be additionally or alternatively modified for the reporting purpose, e.g., adding an offset, to account for measurement reliability.

[0152] In some embodiments, at 1104 a WTRU A may perform a PLMN selection. In some embodiments, at 1106, a WTRU may receive a sharing PLMN request from another WTRU (or from a coordinator). A WTRU, preparing to perform a PLMN selection, may request other WTRUs to share their list of known and/or recently measured PLMNs for example. In some embodiments, the request may be associated with a list of carriers and/or channels to be reported, either included in the request and/or based on a shared capability/configuration between the WTRUs. [0153] In some embodiments, at 1108 a WTRU A may transmit a cell selection criteria information report. The report may include a list of suitable PLMNs to another WTRU according to, for example, the configured cooperation (e.g., using inter-WTRU communication over PC5-C, between the NAS layers of the WTRUs, and/or between the AS layers). The cell selection criteria information report may be sent to specific WTRUs (e.g., ones that requested or registered to receive that information), the group of users (e.g., using groupcast or broadcast transmission), and/or reported to the WTRU coordinator of a group, so that it will combine and share the PLMNs available to the users of the group. The report may additionally or alternatively include one or more of: information about which carriers and frequency channels the PLMNs are found, their measured RSRP(s), time and/or location measurement information. The reported PLMN may be down selected to match, for example, one or more of the requested RAT, carriers, and frequencies. The reported PLMN may be down selected to satisfy one or more configured reporting criteria. For example, the configured reporting criteria may be one or more of reporting only high quality PLMNs, PLMNs up to a high-quality threshold, PLMNs up to a high-quality threshold plus an offset, and a direct threshold on a measured PLMN. In some embodiments, the information exchanged may be carrier specific (e.g., matching the carrier capabilities of the receiving WTRU), to limit the overhead of the inter-WTRU communication.

[0154] In some embodiments, at 1110, WTRU B may perform scanning of the RF channels and /or bands supported for PLMN selection. In some embodiments, at 1112, the WTRU may report the found and shared PLMNs to its NAS, according to the cooperation configuration. If the reported PLMN indicates the selected PLMN of another WTRU, the NAS may take that PLMN into account for PLMN selection (e.g., choosing the same PLMN as the other user to avoid roaming, if the group configuration requests to be served by the same PLMN). In some embodiments, this selection may be subject to having measured the PLMN with high-quality and/or the PLMN having a priority not too low compared to the PLMN that would be selected without that information, e.g., the next or second to next in the order of priority. A WTRU, receiving a report of another WTRU that includes a PLMN of higher priority present compared to the PLMN that it currently selected, may initiate a PLMN search/selected, based on the PLMN and/or carrier information received, to try and possibly change its PLMN.

[0155] In some embodiments, if present, a coordinator WTRU may be in charge of collecting the PLMN reports for a group of WTRUs, and/or the selected PLMNs, and/or the corresponding information (e.g., carrier, RAT, user location, corresponding cell ID, etc.).

[0156] For example, when receiving the reports of the other WTRUs, the coordinator may merge or aggregate the PLMN measurement information reports. In some embodiments, the coordinator may update the PLMN present for different carriers, and/or update the RSRP and/or the satisfaction of high-quality criterion. In some embodiments, the coordinator may keep track of multiple status and/or values for the PLMN, e.g., with respect to the time and/or location of the measurements.

[0157]The coordinator may transmit a PLMN report to the group. The report can be transmitted using one or more of: broadcast, groupcast and/or unicast, for example. Additionally, or alternatively, the report may be reported periodically and/or on-demand to the users. In some embodiments, the coordinator may receive requests or configurations that specify carrier and channels for each user, and/or adapt the report sent based on their capabilities/configurations.

[0158] In some embodiments, the coordinator may receive requests and/or configurations about the preferred PLMNs (or list of PLMN priority) for each user. When the coordinator knows about the presence of a preferred PLMN of a user compared to the PLMN that user selected previously, the coordinator may transmit a report to that user to indicate the presence and information of that preferred PLMN for example.

[0159] In some embodiments, for example as in FIG. 10, a WTRU may be configured for cooperative cell selection in a group and/or WTRU information. The WTRU may request cooperative cell selection information from another WTRU and/or a coordinator. The request and/or information may be based on the location of the WTRU, for example. At 1001 , the WTRU may receive a report for cell selection and/or re-selection from other WTRUs. The report may include, for example, cell measurements and/or PLMN of the found suitable cells. In some embodiments, at 1002, the WTRU may perform cell selection scanning and/or, at 1003, exclude cells that are not suitable for the group, based on one or more of the group cooperation configurations, WTRU information, and received reports. When considering the cell to select, at 1004, the WTRU may check whether it is configured to use the same cell as another WTRU if possible, for example. In some embodiments, at 1005, the WTRU may check if the received cell report for cooperation with another WTRU is the same as its own (pre)selected cell. If not, at 1006 the WTRU may check if the cell satisfies criteria for cooperation selection. If the criteria are not satisfied, at 1008, the WTRU may select its own best cell. In some embodiments, at 1007, the WTRU may otherwise select the cell in the reported cooperation.

[0160] In some embodiments a WTRU may be configured for cooperative cell selection in a group. The WTRU may perform cell selection using individual cell selection criterion and/or suitability criterion. After the WTRU camps on the selected cell, the WTRU may exchange the result of its selection with another WTRU in the users in the group in some embodiments. Upon reception of the selected cells by other WTRUs, each WTRU may reevaluate whether the selected cell is suitable and/or satisfies the cell selection criterion for the WTRUs in the group. Reevaluation may be based on the group cooperation configuration for cell suitability, for example. If the WTRU determines that its cell is not suitable for the group of WTRU, the WTRU may trigger a new cell selection by adding restriction on the previously found cell or trigger a cell reselection in some embodiments. [0161] In some embodiments, a WTRU may receive a configuration that all the WTRUs in the group must satisfy the suitability criterions so that a cell may be considered as suitable. The WTRU may additionally or alternatively receive information about the WTRU in its group, e.g., during the group cooperation (re)configuration, through PC5-S or via network. The information may include, for example, a WTRU type and/or category (e.g., NTN, RedCap, Coordinator WTRU). In some embodiments, a WTRU may then read System Information of a cell during a cell (re)selection procedure. To determine suitability of the cell, a WTRU may use one or more of the received group configurations, its own WTRU information, and/or the received WTRU information to evaluate if the cell is barred. If the cell is barred for group of WTRUs, and/or barred for any WTRU of the group, the WTRU may consider the cell as barred and/or excludes the cell from the selection in some embodiments. [0162] A coordinator WTRU may be configured and/or enable to manage cooperative cell selection in a group as illustrated in, for example, FIG. 14. In some embodiments, a coordinator WTRU may collect the found and/or selected cells reports for a group of WTRUs. A coordinator WTRU may additionally or alternatively collect corresponding information (e.g., PLMN, carrier, RAT, user location, corresponding cell ID, etc.). In some embodiments, when receiving the reports of the other WTRUs, the coordinator may merge and/or aggregate the cell reports. For example, the coordinator may update the cell presence for different carriers and/or their PLMN. The coordinator may additionally or alternatively update the measured RSRP and/or suitability status. The coordinator may alternatively or additionally keep track of multiple status and/or values for the cells, e.g., with respect to the time and/or location of the measurements and/or selected cells for the WTRUs. The coordinator may select which cell selection information to report to the requesting WTRU. The selection and/or information may be based on one or more of received reports, the time the report was received, the time since the report was received, the location of other WTRUs, and the relation (e.g., group role, inter-connection) between WTRUs. In some embodiments, the coordinator may transmit a cooperative cell report to the requesting WTRU, including one or more of the WTRUs selected cell, suitable cells, and RSRP/RSRQ.

[0163]A WTRU may be configured for a group for cooperative PLMN selection. The WTRU may perform its PLMN selection independently, using individual PLMN selection criterion, for example. After the WTRU selects its PLMN, the WTRU may exchange the PLMN selected with the WTRUs in the group and/or with a coordinator. In some embodiments, upon reception of the selected PLMNs by other WTRUs, the WTRU may reevaluate whether the selected PLMN satisfies the group selection criterion. Group selection criterion may be based on the group cooperation configuration, e.g., whether all the WTRUs measured that PLMN with high-quality. In some embodiments, if a WTRU determines that its PLMN is not suitable for the group of WTRUs, the WTRU may trigger a new PLMN selection by adding restriction on the previously selected PLMN, for example.

[0164] In some embodiments, for example as illustrated in FIG. 17, a coordinator WTRU may be configured and/or enabled to manage cooperative PLMN selection in a group. The coordinator WTRU may collect the found and/or selected PLMNs reports for a group of WTRUs. A coordinator WTRU may additionally or alternatively collect corresponding information (e.g., carrier, RAT, user location, corresponding cell ID, etc.). When receiving the reports of the other WTRUs, the coordinator may merge and/or aggregate the PLMN reports. For example, the coordinator may update the PLMN presence for different carriers and/or associated cells. The coordinator may additionally or alternatively update the measured RSRP. In some embodiments, the coordinator may keep track of multiple status and/or values for the PLMNs, e.g., with respect to the time and/or location of the measurements and/or keep track of selected PLMNs of the WTRUs. The coordinator may transmit a PLMN report to the group, for example. In some embodiments, the coordinator may select which WTRU and/or PLMN information to report to the requesting WTRU. The selection and/or information may be based on one or more of the received reports, the time the report was received, the time since the report was received, the location of other WTRUs, and the relation (e.g., group role, inter-connection) between WTRUs. The coordinator may transmit the WTRU and/or PLMN information report to a requesting WTRU. For example, the information may include one or more of which WTRU selected which PLMNs and a high-quality status.

[0165] FIG. 12 is an example of a diagram of a network. A network may include a variety of types of devices including but not limited to WTRUs, UEs, base stations, switches and/or routing devices.

[0166] FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure for cell selection. A WTRU A may send and/or receive configuration information to/from another WTRU B 1301 . The configuration information may include an indication that WTRU A and/or WTRU B should participate in cooperative cell selection. WTRU A and/or WTRU B may be triggered to engage in joint cell selection 1302 (e.g., a transmission from WTRU A to WTRU B or vice versa may indicate a request which triggers joint cell selection). WTRU A and/or WTRU B may perform a cell selection search 1303 (e.g., according to a request to engage in joint cell selection). WTRU A and/or WTRU B may send and/or receive cell selection criteria information to/from each other 1304. The cell selection criteria information may include information related to cells found during the search, and/or measurement information. WTRU A and/or WTRU B may select and camp on a cell based on the results of their respective cell selection searches and/or the information contained in the cell selection criteria information sent by the other 1305. [0167] FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of an example procedure for cell selection with a coordinator. 1401 may be similar to 901. 1401 may include WTRLI exchange of configuration for cooperative cell selection. The configuration information may additionally or alternatively include a coordinator WTRU role and/or resources to communicate with it. 1402 and/or 1403 may be similar to 902 and/or 903 as above. At 1402, the WTRU may perform cell selection and camp on a selected cell. At 1403, the WTRU may send a cell selection criteria information report to a coordinator WTRU in some embodiments. At 1404, for example, when receiving the reports of the other WTRUs, the coordinator may merge and/or aggregate the cell selection criteria information reports. The reports may include measurement information and/or a list of cells deemed suitable by the other WTRUs. In some embodiments, the WTRU may update the cell present for different carriers and their PLMN, and/or update the measured RSRP. The coordinator may keep track of multiple status and/or values for the cells in some embodiments, e.g., with respect to the time and/or location of the measurements and/or a cell selected for each WTRU. At 1405, a WTRU may perform a cooperative cell selection procedure and/or send a cooperative cell selection request to a coordinator. The request may include, for example, one or more of: carriers, PLMN, and/or RATs to be considered for a report. Additionally, or alternatively the request may include configurations for reporting content and/or resources. At 1406, the coordinator may select which cell selection information to report to a requesting WTRU. The selection may be based on one or more of a received report, the time a report was received, the time since a report was received, the location of another WTRU, and a relation (e.g., group role, inter-connection) between WTRUs. At 1407, the WTRU may transmit a cooperative cell selection report to a requesting WTRU. This may be similar to 1403. At 1408, a requesting WTRU may perform cell selection and/or select a cell to camp on. The selection may be based on one or more of received reports and configuration.

[0168] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of cooperative PLMN selection with a coordinator. A WTRU A may send and/or receive configuration information to/from a coordinator WTRU 1501 . The WTRU A may perform a PLMN selection procedure 1502. The WTRLI A may send a report including information related to one or more selected and/or found PLMNs to the coordinator WTRU 1503. The coordinator WTRU may aggregate and/or update the report 1504. The coordinator WTRU may send and/or receive a request for PLMN information to another WTRU B 1505. The coordinator WTRU may select information to transmit in response to a request for PLMN information from another WTRU B 1506. The coordinator WTRU may transmit the selected PLMN information (e.g., via PC5 or broadcast) 1507. The WTRU B may receive the PLMN information and perform PLMN selection using the PLMN information as input to the selection function 1508. At 1509, the WTRU B may scan to find PLMNs in supported bands and channels. At 1510, the WTRU B may report found and shared PLMNs to the NAS for selection.

[0169] FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a cell selection cooperation procedure. A WTRU may be configured and enabled to perform a cooperative cell selection procedure. At 1601 , the WTRU may request cooperative cell selection information from another WTRU. At 1602, the WTRU may receive cooperative cell selection information from another WTRU. At 1603, the WTRU may scan the spectrum for cells corresponding to selected PLMN and/or SNPN. At 1604, the WTRU may exclude cells not suitable for the group. At 1605, the WTRU may determine whether the WTRU is configured to select the same cell as other WTRUs in the group. If the WTRU is not configured to select the same cell as other WTRUs in the group, then the WTRU may camp on the strongest measured cell at 1609. If the WTRU is configured to select the same cell as other WTRUs in the group, then at 1606 the WTRU may determine whether the strongest measured cell is the same cell as the cell indicated in the cooperative cell selection information. If the strongest measured cell is the same cell as indicated in the cooperative cell selection information, then the WTRU may camp on the strongest measured cell at 1609. If the strongest measured cell is different than the cell indicated in the cooperative cell selection information, then at 1607 the WTRU may determine whether the cell indicated in the cooperative cell selection criteria information satisfies the S criteria and is not less than three decibels below the strongest measured cell. If the cell indicated in the cooperative cell selection criteria information does not satisfy the S criteria and/or is more than three decibels below the strongest cell, then the WTRU may camp on the strongest measured cell at 1609. Otherwise, the WTRU may camp on the cell reported in the cell selection criteria information at 1608.

[0170] FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart of a cooperative PLMN selection with a coordinator. As illustrated in FIG. 17, 1701 may be similar to 1401 above. 1701 may include WTRU exchange of configuration for cooperative PLMN selection. The configuration may additionally or alternatively include a coordinator WTRU role and/or resources to communicate with it. 1702 and/or 1703 may be similar to 1402 and/or 1403 as above. The WTRU that performed a PLMN selection 1702 and/or measurement update may send a report to a coordinator WTRU 1703. The report may be based on a configuration. At 1704, for example, when receiving the reports of the other WTRUs, the coordinator may merge and/or aggregate the PLMN measurement information reports. In some embodiments, the WTRU may update the PLMN present for different carriers, and/or update the RSRP and/or the satisfaction of high-quality criterion. The coordinator may keep track of multiple status and/or values for the PLMN in some embodiments, e.g., with respect to the time and/or location of the measurements and/or a PLMN selected for each WTRU. At 1705, a WTRU may perform a cooperative PLMN selection procedure and/or send a cooperative PLMN selection request to a coordinator. The request may include, for example, one or more of: carriers, PLMN, and/or RATs to be considered for a report. Additionally, or alternatively the request may include configurations for reporting content and/or resources. At 1706, the coordinator may select which PLMN selection information to report to a requesting WTRU. The selection may be based on one or more of a received report, the time a report was received, the time since a report was received, the location of another WTRU, and a relation (e.g., group role, inter-connection) between WTRUs. When a coordinator knows about the presence of a preferred PLMN of a user compared to the PLMN previously selected by the user, the coordinator may transmit a report to the user to indicate the presence and/or information of the preferred PLMN. This report may not, for example, be triggered to a WTRU request. At 1707, the WTRU may transmit a cooperative cell selection report to a requesting WTRU. This may be similar to previous step 1703. Alternatively, or additionally a coordinator may transmit a PLMN report to a group. The report may be transmitted using one or more of: broadcast, groupcast, and/or unicast. At 1708, a requesting WTRU may perform cell selection and/or select a cell to camp on. The selection may be based on one or more of received reports and configuration.

[0171]Although the features and elements of the present invention are described in the preferred embodiments in particular combinations, each feature or element may be used alone without the other features and elements of the preferred embodiments or in any combination with or without other features and elements of the present invention and embodiments.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor configured to: receive configuration information indicating that the WTRU is to perform cooperative cell selection with at least one other WTRU; receive cell selection criteria information from the at least one other WTRU, the cell selection criteria information indicating: one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU, and measurement information for the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU; determine one or more cells that satisfy a cell selection criteria of the WTRU; based on determining that the one or more cells that satisfy the cell selection criteria of the WTRU do not correspond to the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU, determine that at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU satisfy a cooperative cell selection criteria; and select the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

2. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the cooperative cell selection criteria comprise an offset that is to be applied to lower a required reception level (Srxlev) or quality level (Squal) for selecting the at least one cell as suitable for camping.

3. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to: determine that the at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU is not barred; and select the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping and is not barred.

4. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to receive the cell selection criteria information from the at least one other WTRU via a sidelink transmission.

5. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the cooperative cell selection criteria comprise group or aggregation configuration information that is used to determine a cell category for the at least one cell that satisfied the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

6. The WTRU of claim 1 , the processor further configured to: reevaluate the at least one cell selected for camping based on a group cooperation configuration for cell suitability, the group cooperation configuration including a reference signal received power (RSRP) value that is used as a threshold for determining cell suitability.

7. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the measurement information comprises a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement.

8. The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of available radio access technology (RAT) supported by the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a supported carrier of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of Uu or sidelink capabilities of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a power status of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a location of the at least one other WTRU, or an indication of the cooperation capabilities of the at least one other WTRU.

9. A method performed by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receiving configuration information indicating that the WTRU is to perform cooperative cell selection with at least one other WTRU; receiving cell selection criteria information from the at least one other WTRU, the cell selection criteria information indicating: one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRLI, and measurement information for the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU; determining one or more cells that satisfy a cell selection criteria of the WTRU; based on determining that the one or more cells that satisfy the cell selection criteria of the WTRU do not correspond to the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU, determining that at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU satisfy a cooperative cell selection criteria; and selecting the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the cooperative cell selection criteria comprise an offset that is to be applied to lower a required reception level (Srxlev) or quality level (Squal) for selecting the at least one cell as suitable for camping.

11 . The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining that the at least one cell of the one or more cells indicated as suitable for the at least one other WTRU is not barred; and selecting the at least one cell that satisfies the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping and is not barred.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the cell selection criteria information is received via a sidelink transmission.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the cooperative cell selection criteria comprise group or aggregation configuration information that is used to determine a cell category for the at least one cell that satisfied the cooperative cell selection criteria for camping.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising: reevaluating the at least one cell selected for camping based on a group cooperation configuration for cell suitability, the group cooperation configuration including a reference signal received power (RSRP) value that is used as a threshold for determining cell suitability.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the measurement information comprises a reference signal received power (RSRP).

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of available radio access technology (RAT) supported by the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a supported carrier of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of Uu or sidelink capabilities of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a power status of the at least one other WTRU, an indication of a location of the at least one other WTRU, or an indication of the cooperation capabilities of the at least one other WTRU.