EP4646897A1

EP4646897A1 - Systems, methods, and devices for ue aggregation via relay

Info

Publication number: EP4646897A1
Application number: EP23710820.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Zhibin Wu; Naveen Kumar R PALLE VENKATA; Peng Cheng; Ralf ROSSBACH; Alexander Sirotkin; Fangli Xu; Ping-Heng Kuo; Haijing Hu; Yuqin Chen
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2023-02-16
Filing date: 2023-02-16
Publication date: 2025-11-12
Also published as: WO2024168699A1; CN120642564A

Abstract

The techniques described herein may include a remote user equipment (UE), a relay UE, and a base station. The remote UE and relay UE may be located within a coverage area of the base station. The remote UE may establish an aggregated or multi-path connection with base station. The aggregated or multi-path connection may include a direct 3rd generation partnership program (3GPP) connection with the base station and an indirect connection via the relay UE. The indirect path or connection may include a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-sidelink (SL) connection) between the remote UE and the relay UE, and a 3GPP relay connection between the relay UE and the base station. Additional examples, features and other techniques are also described herein.

Description

SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR UE AGGREGATION VIA RELAY

FIELD

This disclosure relates to wireless communication networks and mobile device capabilities.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication networks and wireless communication services are becoming increasingly dynamic, complex, and ubiquitous. For example, some wireless communication networks may be developed to implement fourth generation (4G) , fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) technology. Such technology may include solutions for enabling user equipment (UE) and network devices, such as base stations, to communicate with one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be readily understood and enabled by the detailed description and accompanying figures of the drawings. Like reference numerals may designate like features and structural elements. Figures and corresponding descriptions are provided as non-limiting examples of aspects, implementations, etc., of the present disclosure, and references to "an" or “one” aspect, implementation, etc., may not necessarily refer to the same aspect, implementation, etc., and may mean at least one, one or more, etc.
Fig. 1 is a diagram of an example of an overview of user equipment (UE) aggregation via relay according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 2 is a diagram of an example network according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 3 is a diagram of an example process for UE aggregation via a relay identifier (ID) during a relay CONNECTED state according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 4 is a diagram of an example process for UE aggregation via a relay identifier (ID) during a relay idle or inactive mode according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 5 is a diagram of an example process for UE aggregation via reporting a remote-relay association according to one or more implementations described herein.
Figs. 6-7 are diagrams of an example process for UE aggregation via an end-to-end message according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 8 is a diagram of an example information element (IE) for configuring a Uu interface between a relay UE and a base station according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 9 is a diagram of an example IE for indicating that an end-to-end radio bearer (RB) is configurable according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 10 is a diagram of another example IE for indicating that an end-to-end RB is configurable according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 11 is a diagram of an example IE for mapping an end-to-end remote UE radio bearer (RB) to a logical channel (LCH) identifier (ID) (LCID) according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 12 is a diagram of an example of a fixed configuration of LCIDs for a relay-to-base station link according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 13 is a diagram of an example process for reporting a quality of service (QoS) of a connection between UEs according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 14 is a diagram of an example of components of a device according to one or more implementations described herein.
Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to one or more implementations described herein, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar features, elements, operations, etc. Additionally, the present disclosure is not limited to the following description as other implementations may be utilized, and structural or logical changes made, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Telecommunication networks may include user equipment (UEs) capable of communicating with base stations and/or other network access nodes. UEs and base stations may implement various techniques and communications standards for enabling UEs and base stations to discover one another, establish and maintain connectivity, and exchange information in an ongoing manner. Objectives of such techniques may include connection reliability, seamless connectivity between devices, multiple points of connection, quality of service and throughput rates, and more. Aspects of telecommunications that relate to how devices communicate with each other include UE aggregation scenarios.
UE aggregation may include a scenario where a remote UE and a relay UE are each within a coverage area of a base station, and the remote UE connects to the base station via a direct connection with the base station and an indirect connection via the relay UE. In one scenario, each UE may be connected to the base station via 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connections, which may include a radio resource control (RRC) connection, and the UEs may be connected via a 3GPP sidelink (SL) connection. SL relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) may be implemented to enable such scenarios. However, such relay adaptations are limited to 3GPP connections between the remote UE and relay UE (e.g., to SL scenarios) . That is, SRAP may be limited to SL versions of SRAP entities being implemented by remote UE and relay UE, and corresponding Uu interface versions of the SRAP entities between the relay UE and the base station. SRAP, however, may fail to provide a solution for non-3GPP connections between the remote UE and relay UE, and SRAP therefore also fails to provide a solution for mapping the non-3GPP connection to the 3GPP connection between the relay UE and the base station. That is, currently available technologies provide no solution for a remote UE to connect to a base station through a 3GPP connection and also a relay UE when the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE is a non-3GPP connection. The currently available technologies provide no solution for how a remote UE, relay UE, and base station are to be configured to address such scenarios, nor are solutions provided for the signaling involved to achieve such a configuration. These and other deficiencies of currently available technology are addressed by one or more of the UE aggregation techniques described herein.
Fig. 1 is a diagram of an example of an overview 100 of UE aggregation via relay according to one or more implementations described herein. As shown, overview 100 may include a remote UE 110, a relay UE 110, and a base station 122. The remote UE 110-1 and relay UE 110-2 may be located within a coverage area of base station 122. The remote UE 110-1 may establish an aggregated or multi-path connection with base station 122. The aggregated or multi-path connection may include a direct 3GPP connection with base station 122 and an indirect path or connection via relay UE 110. The indirect path or connection may include a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-sidelink (SL) connection) between remote UE 110-1 and relay UE 110, and a 3GPP relay connection may be established between relay UE 110-2 and base station 122.
A 3GPP connection, as described herein, may include a wireless connection established in accordance with the 3GPP communication standards (e.g., a 3GPP RRC connection) . A non-3GPP connection may include aconnection, an IEEE 802.11 connection, or another type of device-to-device (D2D) wireless connection that is not defined by the 3GPP communication standards. A non-3GPP connection may be established and configured so as to be suitable to a simple user plane protocol stack, which may be limited to a one-to-one mapping between a resource bearer (RB) and logical channel (LCH) identifier (ID) (LCID) . A 3GPP relay connection, as described herein, may include a 3GPP connection between relay UE 110-2 and base station 122. The 3GPP relay connection, together with non-3GPP connection between remote UE and relay UE, can form an alternative indirect path to realize the “end-to-end” 3GPP connection between remote UE 110-1 and the base station 122. The 3GPP relay connection may function based on a mapping or logical association (at relay UE 110) between the direct path 3GPP connection (between remote UE 110-1 and base station 122) and the 3GPP relay connection (between relay UE 110-2 and base station 122) . Once established, remote UE 110-1 may communicate with base station 122 via the aggregated direct and indirect paths.
The techniques described herein address scenarios in which any one of remote 110, relay UE 110, and base station 122 may be configured by another of remote 110, relay UE 110, and base station 122. The configurations may include one or more of a variety of information elements (IEs) described herein. Additionally, the techniques described herein address scenarios in which remote UE 110-1 or relay UE 110-2 transitions from a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode to an RRC CONNECTED state. A quality of service (QoS) of the non-3GPP connection may also be reported to base station 122, which may enable the aggregated paths to be used in accordance with a capacity of the non-3GPP connection.
In some implementations, remote UE 110-1 may provide base station 122 with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) , a serving temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-TSMI) , or an identity (ID) not related to the Uu interface of relay UE 110. This may cause or enable base station 122 to map an association between remote UE 110-1 and relay UE 110. In some implementations, relay UE 110-2 may report (to base station 122) a remote-to-relay association between remote UE 110-1 and relay UE 110. This may include relay UE 110-2 providing base station 122 with a C-RNTI of UE 110. In other implementations, base station 122 may be configured to recognize a remote-to-relay association based on a first end-to-end message received from remote UE 110, which include the remote UE 110’s own identifier (e.g., a C-RNTI) . These and other features and capabilities are enabled by one or more of the techniques described herein.
Fig. 2 is an example network 200 according to one or more implementations described herein. Example network 200 may include UEs 210, 210-2, etc. (referred to collectively as “UEs 210” and individually as “UE 210” ) , a radio access network (RAN) 220, a core network (CN) 230, application servers 240, and external networks 250.
The systems and devices of example network 200 may operate in accordance with one or more communication standards, such as 2nd generation (2G) , 3rd generation (3G) , 4th generation (4G) (e.g., long-term evolution (LTE) ) , and/or 5th generation (5G) (e.g., new radio (NR) ) communication standards of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) . Additionally, or alternatively, one or more of the systems and devices of example network 200 may operate in accordance with other communication standards and protocols discussed herein, including future versions or generations of 3GPP standards (e.g., sixth generation (6G) standards, seventh generation (7G) standards, etc. ) , institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) standards (e.g., wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) , worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) , etc. ) , and more.
As shown, UEs 210 may include smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more wireless communication networks) . Additionally, or alternatively, UEs 210 may include other types of mobile or non-mobile computing devices capable of wireless communications, such as personal data assistants (PDAs) , pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, etc. In some implementations, UEs 210 may include internet of things (IoT) devices (or IoT UEs) that may comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. Additionally, or alternatively, an IoT UE may utilize one or more types of technologies, such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications or machine-type communications (MTC) (e.g., to exchanging data with an MTC server or other device via a public land mobile network (PLMN) ) , proximity-based service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communications, sensor networks, IoT networks, and more. Depending on the scenario, an M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange, and an IoT network may include interconnecting IoT UEs (which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within an Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. In some scenarios, IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc. ) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.
UEs 210 may communicate and establish a connection with one or more other UEs 210 via one or more wireless channels 212, each of which may comprise a physical communications interface /layer. The connection may include an M2M connection, MTC connection, D2D connection, SL connection, etc. The connection may involve a PC5 interface. In some implementations, UEs 210 may be configured to discover one another, negotiate wireless resources between one another, and establish connections between one another, without intervention or communications involving RAN node 222 or another type of network node. In some implementations, discovery, authentication, resource negotiation, registration, etc., may involve communications with RAN node 222 or another type of network node.
UEs 210 may use one or more wireless channels 212 to communicate with one another. As described herein, UE 210 may communicate with RAN node 222 to request SL resources. RAN node 222 may respond to the request by providing UE 210 with a dynamic grant (DG) or configured grant (CG) regarding SL resources. A DG may involve a grant based on a grant request from UE 210. A CG may involve a resource grant without a grant request and may be based on a type of service being provided (e.g., services that have strict timing or latency requirements) . UE 210 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure based on the DG or CG, select SL resources based on the CCA procedure and the DG or CG; and communicate with another UE 210 based on the SL resources. The UE 210 may communicate with RAN node 222 using a licensed frequency band and communicate with the other UE 210 using an unlicensed frequency band.
UEs 210 may communicate and establish a connection with (e.g., be communicatively coupled) with RAN 220, which may involve one or more wireless channels 214-1 and 214-2, each of which may comprise a physical communications interface /layer. In some implementations, a UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC) as a multi-radio access technology (multi-RAT) or multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) , where a multiple receive and transmit (Rx/Tx) capable UE may use resources provided by different network nodes (e.g., 222-1 and 222-2) that may be connected via non-ideal backhaul (e.g., where one network node provides NR access and the other network node provides either E-UTRA for LTE or NR access for 5G) . In such a scenario, one network node may operate as a master node (MN) and the other as the secondary node (SN) . The MN and SN may be connected via a network interface, and at least the MN may be connected to the CN 230. Additionally, at least one of the MN or the SN may be operated with shared spectrum channel access, and functions specified for UE 210 can be used for an integrated access and backhaul mobile termination (IAB-MT) . Similar for UE 210, the IAB-MT may access the network using either one network node or using two different nodes with enhanced dual connectivity (EN-DC) architectures, new radio dual connectivity (NR-DC) architectures, or the like. In some implementations, a base station (as described herein) may be an example of network node 222.
As described herein, UE 210 may receive and store one or more configurations, instructions, and/or other information for enabling SL-U communications with quality and priority standards. A PQI may be determined and used to indicate a QoS associated with an SL- U communication (e.g., a channel, data flow, etc. ) . Similarly, an L1 priority value may be determined and used to indicate a priority of an SL-U transmission, SL-U channel, SL-U data, etc. The PQI and/or L1 priority value may be mapped to a CAPC value, and the PQI, L1 priority, and/or CAPC may indicate SL channel occupancy time (COT) sharing, maximum (MCOT) , timing gaps for COT sharing, LBT configuration, traffic and channel priorities, and more.
As shown, UE 210 may also, or alternatively, connect to access point (AP) 216 via connection interface 218, which may include an air interface enabling UE 210 to communicatively couple with AP 216. AP 216 may comprise a wireless local area network (WLAN) , WLAN node, WLAN termination point, etc. The connection 216 may comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 702.11 protocol, and AP 216 may comprise a wireless fidelity router or other AP. While not explicitly depicted in Fig. 2, AP 216 may be connected to another network (e.g., the Internet) without connecting to RAN 220 or CN 230. In some scenarios, UE 210, RAN 220, and AP 216 may be configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) techniques or LTE WLAN radio level integration with IPsec tunnel (LWIP) techniques. LWA may involve UE 210 in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by RAN 220 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP may involve UE 210 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection interface 218) via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) packets) communicated via connection interface 218. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entirety of original IP packets and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packets.
RAN 220 may include one or more RAN nodes 222-1 and 222-2 (referred to collectively as RAN nodes 222, and individually as RAN node 222) that enable channels 214-1 and 214-2 to be established between UEs 210 and RAN 220. RAN nodes 222 may include network access points configured to provide radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity between users and the network based on one or more of the communication technologies described herein (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, WiFi, etc. ) . As examples therefore, a RAN node may be an E-UTRAN Node B (e.g., an enhanced Node B, eNodeB, eNB, 4G base station, etc. ) , a next generation base station (e.g., a 5G base station, NR base station, next generation eNBs (gNB) , etc. ) . RAN nodes 222 may include a roadside unit (RSU) , a transmission reception point (TRxP or TRP) , and one or more other types of ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) . In some scenarios, RAN node 222 may be a dedicated physical device, such as a macrocell base station, and/or a low power (LP) base station for providing femtocells, picocells or the like having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.
Some or all of RAN nodes 222, or portions thereof, may be implemented as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a centralized RAN (CRAN) and/or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP) . In these implementations, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) split wherein radio resource control (RRC) and PDCP layers may be operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other Layer 2 (L2) protocol entities may be operated by individual RAN nodes 222; a media access control (MAC) /physical (PHY) layer split wherein RRC, PDCP, radio link control (RLC) , and MAC layers may be operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and the PHY layer may be operated by individual RAN nodes 222; or a “lower PHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of the PHY layer may be operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHY layer may be operated by individual RAN nodes 222. This virtualized framework may allow freed-up processor cores of RAN nodes 222 to perform or execute other virtualized applications.
In some implementations, an individual RAN node 222 may represent individual gNB-distributed units (DUs) connected to a gNB-control unit (CU) via individual F1 or other interfaces. In such implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or more remote radio heads or radio frequency (RF) front end modules (RFEMs) , and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in RAN 220 or by a server pool (e.g., a group of servers configured to share resources) in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more of RAN nodes 222 may be next generation eNBs (i.e., gNBs) that may provide evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward UEs 210, and that may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC) 230 via an NG interface.
Any of the RAN nodes 222 may terminate an air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for UEs 210. In some implementations, any of the RAN nodes 222 may fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 220 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. UEs 210 may be configured to communicate using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 222 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMA communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink (SL) communications) , although the scope of such implementations may not be limited in this regard. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.
In some implementations, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 222 to UEs 210, and uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid (e.g., a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid) that represents the physical resource for downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block may comprise a collection of resource elements (REs) ; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently may be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.
Further, RAN nodes 222 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with UEs 210, and/or one another, over a licensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/or the “licensed band” ) , an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as the “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band” ) , or combination thereof. A licensed spectrum may correspond to channels or frequency bands selected, reserved, regulated, etc., for certain types of wireless activity (e.g., wireless telecommunication network activity) , whereas an unlicensed spectrum may correspond to one or more frequency bands that are not restricted for certain types of wireless activity. Whether a particular frequency band corresponds to a licensed medium or an unlicensed medium may depend on one or more factors, such as frequency allocations determined by a public-sector organization (e.g., a government agency, regulatory body, etc. ) or frequency allocations determined by a private-sector organization involved in developing wireless communication standards and protocols, etc.
To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UEs 210 and the RAN nodes 222 may operate using stand-alone unlicensed operation, licensed assisted access (LAA) , eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, UEs 210 and the RAN nodes 222 may perform one or more known medium-sensing operations or carrier-sensing operations in order to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.
The PDSCH may carry user data and higher layer signaling to UEs 210. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. The PDCCH may also inform UEs 210 about the transport format, resource allocation, and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (e.g., assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 210 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 222 based on channel quality information fed back from any of UEs 210. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of UEs 210.
The techniques described herein may include a remote UE 210, a relay UE 210, and a base station 222. Remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210-2 may be located within a coverage area of base station 222. Remote UE 210-1 may establish an aggregated or multi-path connection with base station 222. The aggregated or multi-path connection may include a direct 3GPP connection with base station 222 and an indirect path or connection via relay UE 210. The indirect path or connection may include a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-SL connection) between remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210-2 and a 3GPP relay connection between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222. Once setup, remote UE 210-1 may communicate with base station 222 via the aggregated direct and indirect paths.
The RAN nodes 222 may be configured to communicate with one another via interface 223. In implementations where the system is an LTE system, interface 223 may be an X2 interface. In NR systems, interface 223 may be an Xn interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 222 (e.g., two or more eNBs /gNBs or a combination thereof) that connect to evolved packet core (EPC) or CN 230, or between two eNBs connecting to an EPC. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C) . The X2-U may provide flow control mechanisms for user data packets transferred over the X2 interface and may be used to communicate information about the delivery of user data between eNBs or gNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information for user data transferred from a master eNB (MeNB) to a secondary eNB (SeNB) ; information about successful in sequence delivery of PDCP packet data units (PDUs) to a UE 210 from an SeNB for user data; information of PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to a UE 210; information about a current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting to the UE user data; and the like. The X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functionality (e.g., including context transfers from source to target eNBs, user plane transport control, etc. ) , load management functionality, and inter-cell interference coordination functionality.
As shown, RAN 220 may be connected (e.g., communicatively coupled) to CN 230. CN 230 may comprise a plurality of network elements 232, which are configured to offer various data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g., users of UEs 210) who are connected to the CN 230 via the RAN 220. In some implementations, CN 230 may include an evolved packet core (EPC) , a 5G CN, and/or one or more additional or alternative types of CNs. The components of the CN 230 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes including components to read and execute instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) . In some implementations, network function virtualization (NFV) may be utilized to virtualize any or all the above-described network node roles or functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below) . A logical instantiation of the CN 230 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 230 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) architectures and infrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions, alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems may be used to execute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPC components/functions.
As shown, CN 230, application servers 240, and external networks 250 may be connected to one another via interfaces 234, 236, and 238, which may include IP network interfaces. Application servers 240 may include one or more server devices or network elements (e.g., virtual network functions (VNFs) offering applications that use IP bearer resources with CM 230 (e.g., universal mobile telecommunications system packet services (UMTS PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc. ) . Application servers 240 may also, or alternatively, be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., voice over IP (VoIP sessions, push-to-talk (PTT) sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc. ) for UEs 210 via the CN 230. Similarly, external networks 250 may include one or more of a variety of networks, including the Internet, thereby providing the mobile communication network and UEs 210 of the network access to a variety of additional services, information, interconnectivity, and other network features.
Fig. 3 is a diagram of an example process 300 for UE aggregation via a relay identifier (ID) during a relay CONNECTED state according to one or more implementations described herein. Process 300 may be implemented by remote UE 210, relay UE 210, and base station 222. In some implementations, some or all of process 300 may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of Fig. 2. Additionally, process 300 may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in Fig. 3. In some implementations, some or all of the operations of process 300 may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of process 300. As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or processes depicted in Fig. 3. Example process 300 may be implemented in combination with one or more of the information elements (IEs) described herein, including one or more of example information elements (IEs) of Figs. 8-11.
Process 300 includes remote UE 210-1 sending a request to base station 222 for multi-path support with a relay ID (at 3.1) . The relay ID may include an ID of relay UE 210. The request may indicate, to base station 222, that UE 210 is to aggregate connections that include a direct 3GPP connection with base station 222 and indirect path of relay connection with relay UE 210. The relay connection (also referred to as an indirect connection or path) may include a combination of a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-SL connection) between remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210-2 and a 3GPP connection between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222. A 3GPP connection, as described herein, may include a wireless connection established in accordance with the 3GPP communication standards (e.g., a 5G connection, a 6G connection, etc. ) . A non-3GPP connection may include aconnection, an IEEE 802.11 connection, or another type of device-to-device (D2D) wireless connection that is not defined by the 3GPP communication standards) . A non-3GPP connection may be established and configured to use a simple user plane protocol stack, which may require a one-to-one mapping between an end-to-end RB and LCID.
Base station 222 may respond to the request by sending relay UE 210-2 relay configuration information (at 3.2) . The configuration information may be relay configuration information and may cause or enable relay UE 210-2 to operate as a relay UE for remote UE 210. For example, the relay configuration information may cause relay UE 210-2 to map the 3GPP connection between remote UE and relay UE 222 to a 3GPP connection (referred to herein as a 3GPP relay connection) between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222. In some implementations, base station 222 may determine that relay UE 222 is in an RRC CONNECTED state prior to sending the configuration information to UE 210 since other operations may be involved if/when relay UE 210-2 is in an IDLE state.
Base station 222 may also send a path addition command to remote UE 210-1 (at 3.3) . The path addition command may include information and/or instructions for remote UE 210-1 to use an aggregated connection that includes the 3GPP connection with base station 222 and a non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210. For example, remote UE 210-1 may reconfigure a Uu service resource bearer (SRB) and/or data resource bearer (DRB) to be implemented as a combination of the 3GPP connection with base station 222 and the non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210. Remote UE 210-1 may also generate and send a “COMPLETE” message to base station 222 via the indirect path involving relay UE 210-2 or a direct path using the 3GPP connection with base station 222. The COMPLETE message may include or comprise an MP-config-complete” IE or message and may indicate to base station 222 that remote UE 210-1 is successfully configured to use aggregated direct and indirect paths.
In some implementations, a similar process may be used for path deletion. For example, remote UE 210-1 may send a path deletion request to base station 222. Base station may send a path deletion command to relay UE 210-2 and remote UE 210. Upon reception of the commands, remote UE 210-1 may discontinue using a non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210, and relay UE 210-2 may discontinue a configuration for operating as a relay UE for remote UE 210. Remote UE 210-1 may send base station 222 a COMPLETE message once the connections aggregation is discontinued.
Fig. 4 is a diagram of an example process for UE aggregation via a relay ID during a relay idle or inactive mode according to one or more implementations described herein. Process 400 may be implemented by remote UE 210, relay UE 210, and base station 222. In some implementations, some or all of process 400 may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of Fig. 2. Additionally, process 400 may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in Fig. 4. In some implementations, some or all of the operations of process 400 may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of process 400. As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or processes depicted in Fig. 4. Example process 400 may be implemented in combination with one or more of the IEs described herein, including one or more of example IEs of Figs. 8-11.
Process 400 may include remote UE 210-1 sending a request to base station 222 for multi-path support with a relay ID (at 4.1) . The relay ID may include an ID (or relay ID) of relay UE 210. The request may indicate, to base station 222, that remote UE 210-1 is to aggregate connections that include a 3GPP connection with base station 222 (also referred to as a direction connection or path) and a relay connection with UE 210 (also referred to as an indirect connection or path) . The relay connection may include a combination of a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-SL connection) between remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210-2 and a 3GPP connection between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222.
Base station 222 may respond to the request by determining whether relay UE is registered or connected to base station 222. In one example of process 400, relay UE 210-2 is assumed to be in IDLE state (or otherwise INACTIVE state) , and base station 222 is therefore unable to locate relay UE 210-2 (at 4.2) . Base station 222 may send a path addition command to remote UE 210-1 (at 4.3) . The path addition command may include information and/or instructions for remote UE 210-1 to use an aggregated connection that includes the 3GPP connection with base station 222 and a non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210. The path addition command may cause or enable remote UE 210-1 to use the non-3GPP connection to send a prompt, command, or trigger to relay UE 210-2 to enter RRC CONNECTED state (at 4.3B) .
Relay UE 210-2 may respond to the trigger from remote UE 210-1 by exiting an IDLE or INACITVE state and reconnecting with base station 222. Relay UE 210-2 may provide base station 222 with a relay ID of relay UE 210. In so doing, base station 222 may become aware of relay UE 210. Base station 222 may generate and provide relay UE 210-2 with configuration information (at 4.5) , which may cause or enable relay UE 210-2 to self-configure to operate as a relay device for remote UE 210. Relay UE 210-2 may communicate with remote UE 210, via the non-3GPP connection, and inform remote UE 210-1 that the multiple-path (MP) connection with base station 222 is ready for use (at 4.5B) .
Remote UE 210-1 may reconfigure a Uu SRB and/or DRB at remote UE 210-1 indirect path to the base station via the and the 3GGP relay connection. Remote UE 210-1 may also generate and send a “COMPLETE” message to base station 222 via the indirect path involving relay UE 210-2 or a direct path using the 3GPP connection with base station 222. The COMPLETE message may include or comprise an MP-config-complete” IE or message and may indicate to base station 222 that remote UE 210-1 is configured to use aggregated direct and indirect connections.
In other implementations, operations of example process 400 may be implemented in scenarios where relay UE 210-2 is in an RRC CONNECTED state and relay UE 210-2 is in an RRC IDLE mode. In such scenarios, relay UE 210-2may provide base station 222 with a MP request and a C-RNTI of remote UE 210. Base station 222 may send a path addition command to remote UE 210-1 and configure relay UE 210-2 to operate as a relay UE for remote UE 210. Remote UE 210-1 may communicate with relay UE 210-2 to configure a Uu SRB/DRB and send a COMPLETE message to base station 222.
Fig. 5 is a diagram of an example process for UE aggregation via reporting a remote-relay association according to one or more implementations described herein. Process 500 may be implemented by remote UE 210, relay UE 210, and base station 222. In some implementations, some or all of process 500 may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of Fig. 2. Additionally, process 500 may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in Fig. 5. In some implementations, some or all of the operations of process 500 may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of process 500. As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or processes depicted in Fig. 5. Example process 500 may be implemented in combination with one or more of the IEs described herein, including one or more of example IEs of Figs. 8-11.
Process 500 may include remote UE 210-1 using a non-3GPP connection to communicate a request to relay UE for a multi-path UE aggregation scenario involving a direct connection with base station 222 and an indirect connection with base station 222 via relay UE 210-2 (at 5.1) . Relay UE 210-2 may respond to the request by sending a request to base station 222 for multi-path support with remote UE 210-1 (at 5.2) . The request may include an identifier of remote UE 210, such as a C-RNTI. The request may indicate, to base station 222, that remote UE 210-1 is to aggregate connections that include a 3GPP connection with base station 222 and relay connection with UE 210. The relay connection (also referred to as an indirect connection or path) may include a combination of a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-SL connection) between remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210-2 and a 3GPP connection between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222.
Base station 222 may generate and provide relay UE 210-2 with configuration information (at 5.3) , which may cause or enable relay UE 210-2 to self-configure to operate as a relay device for remote UE 210. Base station 222 may send remote UE 210-1 a path addition command to remote UE 210-1 (at 5.4) . The path addition command may include information and instructions for remote UE 210-1 to use an aggregated connection that includes the 3GPP connection with base station 222 and a non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210.
Remote UE 210-1 may reconfigure a Uu SRB and/or DRB to be implemented as a combination of the 3GPP connection with base station 222 and the non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210. Remote UE 210-1 may also generate and send a “COMPLETE” message to base station 222 via the indirect path involving relay UE 210-2 or a direct path using the 3GPP connection with base station 222. The COMPLETE message may include or comprise an “MP-config-complete” IE or message and may indicate to base station 222 that remote UE 210-1 is configured to use aggregated direct and indirect connections.
Figs. 6-7 are diagrams of an example process 600 for UE aggregation via an end-to-end message according to one or more implementations described herein. Process 600 may be implemented by remote UE 210, relay UE 210, and base station 222. In some implementations, some or all of process 600 may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of Fig. 2. Additionally, process 600 may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in Figs. 6-7. In some implementations, some or all of the operations of process 600 may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of process 600. As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or processes depicted in Figs. 6-7. Example process 600 may be implemented in combination with one or more of the IEs described herein, including one or more of example IEs of Figs. 8-11.
As shown, process 600 may include remote UE 210-1 operating in an RRC CONNECTED state with respect to base station 222 (at 610) . Remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210-2 may communicate with one another and establish a direct but non-3GPP connection with one another (e.g., a non-SL connection) (at 620) . For purposes of explaining example 600, assume that relay UE 210-2 is in an RRC IDLE or INACTIVE mode with respect to base station 222. Remote UE 210-1 may communicate a trigger, prompt, or command to relay UE 210-2 (at 630) , which may cause remote UE 210-1 to establish an RRC connection with base station 222 (at 640) .
Relay UE 210-2 may generate UE assistance information and provide the information to base station 222 (at 650) . The UE assistance information may include an MPsce2-relay IE. The MPsce2-relay may include information, such as the relay UE is acting as a multi-path relay for Scenario 2 (UE aggregation) In some implementations, some or all of this information may be provided in an RRCSetupRequest message, e.g., with a new RRC establishment cause. Base station 222 may provide relay UE 210-2 with RRC reconfiguration information (at 660) . The RRC reconfiguration information may include a default RLC channel (e.g., a randomly selected RLC channel consistent with a direct connection with a typical UE and base station 222) .
At some point, remote UE 210-1 may communicate an MP indirect path request to base station 222) (at 670) . This may be sent via the indirect path via the non-3GPP connection and relay UE 210. The request may include a request for remote UE 210-1 to aggregate MP connections with base station 222 (e.g., a direct 3GPP path and an indirect path using a non-3GPP connection with relay UE 210) . The request may include one or more of a variety of types of information, such as a C-RNTI of remote UE 210, an indication of a level of QoS for a non-3GPP link between remote UE 210-1 and relay UE 210, and more. It is worth noting that the C-RNTI of remote UE is to be sent in plain text, not ciphered with any security key even when remote UE 210 and base station has already established a direct 3GPP connection with security association. This is because the above-mentioned request message is forwarded by relay UE in 3GPP relay connection. The base station can derive the relay UE context from 3GPP relay connection, but not the remote UE context.
Referring to Fig. 7, base station 222 may map or associate remote UE 210-1 with relay UE 210-2 (at 710) . In some implementations, this may include base station 222 mapping the remote UE context (identified by the C-RNTI of remote UE 210) to a context of relay UE 210, which is identified by 3GPP relay connection (3GPP connection between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222) . Base station 222 may also provide relay UE 210-2 with RRC reconfiguration information (at 720) . The RRC reconfiguration information may include Uu relay RLC channels (e.g., RLC channels designated, reserved, or fixed for relay channels or connections. Relay UE 210-2 may implement the RRC reconfiguration in preparation for enabling the MP path aggregation between remote UE 210-1 and base station 222. Base station 222 may also provide remote UE 210-1 with a MP path add command (at 730) . The command may include information and instructions that cause or enable remote UE 210-1 to self-configure and begin communicating with base station 222 via an indirect, non-3GPP path via relay UE 210-2 in addition to the direct, 3GPP path already established. As such, remote UE 210-1 may communicate an MP path add complete message (or another type of COMPLETE message) to base station 222 (at 740) .
In some implementations, one or more of operations 620, 630, and 640 may be optional. Operation 640 may occur whenever relay UE 210-2 enters RRC CONNECTED mode. Additionally, or alternatively, a default RLC channel for Uu SRB (SRB0 or SRB1, depends on which SRB carries the MP indirect path request message) may be established using default parameters (e.g., without explicit signaling) . In some implementations, relay UE 210-2 may provide base station 222 with a “non-3GPP relay status) during the RRC attachment procedure or at another time. Base station 222 may map remote UE 210-1 with relay UE 210-2 (or vice versa) by logically associating the UEs in an end-to-end SRB message. This may be done using an identifier of remote UE 210-1 (e.g., a C-RNTI or another type of identifier) . In some implementations, the remote UE can simply use “MP indirect path request” RRC message to trigger the IDLE/INACTIVE relay UE 210-2 to enter CONNECTED state instead of using an explicit message over non-3GPP connection to trigger that. This is because the “MP indirect path request” message is a message meant to be delivered to the base station 222, so the relay UE, if not in CONNECTED state, needs to enter CONNECTED state so that the message can be forwarded.
Figs. 8-11 are examples of IEs 800, 900, 1000, and 1100 (collectively referred to as IEs 800-1100) for UE aggregation via relay according to one or more implementations described herein. Each of IEs 800-1100 may include one or more types of example information, such as an IE type, an IE name, IE fields, IE values, and so one. IEs 800-1100 are provided as non-limiting examples. The techniques described herein may use additional, alternative, and/or different IEs without departing from the scope of the techniques described herein.
Fig. 8 is a diagram of an example IE 800 for configuring a Uu interface between a relay UE and a base station according to one or more implementations described herein. IE 800 may be an UuRelayRLCChannelConfig IE. IE 800 may be used by base station 222 to configure relay UE 210-2 for each end-to-end RB for remote UE 210. IE 800 may be used during a Uu interface configuration procedure, such as an RRC reconfiguration procedure or the like.
Fig. 9 is a diagram of an example IE 900 indicating that an end-to-end RB is configurable according to one or more implementations described herein. IE 900 may include a RemoteUE-RB-Identity-r17 IE or the like. For each Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelConfig IE, IE 900 may be included to indicate that an end-to-end RB may be configurable. Thus, for each SRB or DRB, an RB index value may be indicated along with an RB type (e.g., whether the SRB or DRB is configurable as an end-to-end RB) .
Fig. 10 is a diagram of another example IE 1000 for indicating that an end-to-end RB is configurable according to one or more implementations described herein. IE 1000 may include a RemoteUERB-Config IE or the like. As shown, IE 1000 may include a mapping (or logical association) between an end-to-end remote UE RB and a relay RLC channel (e.g., an LCID) , which may be represented in a Uu-RelayRLC-ChannelID value.
Fig. 11 is a diagram of an example IE 1100 for mapping an end-to-end remote UE RB to a LCID according to one or more implementations described herein. IE 1100 may include a CellGroupConfig IE or the like. IE 1100 may be used in dedicated RRC signaling to relay UE 210. IE 1100 ma indicate a mapping or association between an LCID and end-to-end RB ID.
Fig. 12 is a diagram of an example table 1200 of a fixed configuration of LCIDs for a relay-to-base station link according to one or more implementations described herein. As shown, table 1200 may include a code point (e.g., 37, 38, 39, etc. ) and a corresponding end-to-end RB (e.g., end-to-end SRB0, end-to-end SRB 1, end-to-end SRB 2, end-to-end DRB1, etc. ) . LCIDs allocated to a link between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222 may be fixed or statically associated with an end-to-end SRB and/or DRB used between remote UE 210-1 and base station 222. As such, a link between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222 may be configured based on an end-to-end SRB and/or DRB between remote UE 210-1 and base station 222 and table 1200.
In some implementations, all RBs (e.g., SRBs and DRBs) may be fixed or statically associated as described above. In other implementations, one or more (but not all) RBs may be fixed or statically associated as described above. For example, SRB0 may be the only RB statically associated with an LCID (e.g., LCID 37) and a default RLC configuration. In another example SRB1 may be the only RB statically associated with an LCID (e.g., LCID 37) if SRB0 is deemed never to occur in the indirect path. Non-statically associated RBs and RLC configurations be configured dynamically based on dedicated RRC signaling from the base station 222.
An example of another fixed RLC channel configuration may include using an extended (eLCID) header (similar to UL shared channel (SCH) (UL-SCH) or DL-SCH) with one or more additional octets or bit configurations for UL-SCH or DL-SCH. As such, an R/F/LCID//L and/or R/LCID sub-headers in the MAC packet data unit (PDU) may be R/F/LCID/ (eLCID) /L and/or R/LCID/ (eLCID) sub-headers, where R represents reserved bit (s) , F is a flag and L represents the length of payload One Uu LCID value (e.g., 20) may be used as an extended logical channel ID field (e.g., with one or more octet eLCID fields) . Additionally, when a Uu LCID is set to this value, the eLCID fields may be present in the Uu MAC PDU. Additionally, an additional table can be used with values of the one-octet eLCID for Uu to in the link between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222 to be statically associated with an end-to-end SRB and/or DRB between remote UE 210-1 and base station 222. Another example of fixed RLC channel configuration may include using an R-bit in the R/F/LCID//L and R/LCID sub headers. When the R-bit is set to 1, the LCID space may begin at a given value (e.g., 64) and may end at a corresponding value (e.g., 127) in another type of eLCID or other type of ID or data structure. In some implementations, the R-bit may be an extension-bit (e.g., an E-bit) or the like to preserve the size of the header.
Fig. 13 is a diagram of an example process for reporting a quality of service (QoS) of a connection between UEs according to one or more implementations described herein. Process 1300 may be implemented by remote UE 210-1 or relay UE 210. In some implementations, some or all of process 1300 may be performed by one or more other systems or devices, including one or more of the devices of Fig. 2. Additionally, process 1300 may include one or more fewer, additional, differently ordered and/or arranged operations than those shown in Fig. 13. In some implementations, some or all of the operations of process 1300 may be performed independently, successively, simultaneously, etc., of one or more of the other operations of process 1300. As such, the techniques described herein are not limited to a number, sequence, arrangement, timing, etc., of the operations or processes depicted in Fig. 13.
Process 1300 may include establishing a non-3GPP connection (block 1310) . For example, remote UE 210-1 may establish a non-3GPP connection with remote UE 210. The non-3GPP connection may use IEEE 802.11, or another type of non-3GPP communication standard.
Process 1300 may include determine a QoS of the non-3GPP connection (block 1320) . For example, remote UE 210-1 may measure and/or monitor a signal strength, bandwidth, reliability, latency and/or one or more other types of characteristics of the non-3GPP connection. UE 210 may determine or estimate a QoS of the non-3GPP connection based on the measured connection characteristics. The QoS may be determined in terms of a 5G QoS indicator (5QI) .
Process 1300 may include providing the QoS of the non-3GPP connection to base station 222 (block 1330) . For example, remote UE 210-1 may communicate the QoS of the non-3GPP connection to base station 222. In some implementations, the QoS may be communicated via a direct, 3GPP connection. Additionally, or alternatively, the QoS may be communicated to base station 222 via an indirect path (e.g., via the non-3GPP connection and/or connection between relay UE 210-2 and base station 222) . In some implementations, relay UE 210-2 may perform one or more of the operations of example process 1300, including establishing the non-3GPP connection, determining the QoS, and providing the QoS to base station 222.
Fig. 14 is a diagram of an example of components of a device according to one or more implementations described herein. In some implementations, the device 1400 can include application circuitry 1402, baseband circuitry 1404, RF circuitry 1406, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1408, one or more antennas 1410, and power management circuitry (PMC) 1412 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 1400 can be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some implementations, the device 1400 can include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 1402, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from a CN or an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) ) . In some implementations, the device 1400 can include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor (including one or more temperature sensors, such as a single temperature sensor, a plurality of temperature sensors at different locations in device 1400, etc. ) , or input/output (I/O) interface. In other implementations, the components described below can be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries can be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations) .
The application circuitry 1402 can include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 1402 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor (s) can include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc. ) . The processors can be coupled with or can include memory/storage and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 1400. In some implementations, processors of application circuitry 1402 can process IP data packets received from an EPC.
The baseband circuitry 1404 can include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 1404 can include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1406 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1406. Baseband circuity 1404 can interface with the application circuitry 1402 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1406. For example, in some implementations, the baseband circuitry 1404 can include a 3G baseband processor 1404A, a 4G baseband processor 1404B, a 5G baseband processor 1404C, or other baseband processor (s) 1404D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., 5G, 6G, etc. ) . The baseband circuitry 1404 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 1404A-D) can handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1406. In other implementations, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 1404A-D can be included in modules stored in the memory 1404G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1404E. The radio control functions can include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some implementations, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1404 can include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) , precoding, or constellation mapping/de-mapping functionality. In some implementations, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1404 can include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Implementations of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and can include other suitable functionality in other implementations.
In some implementations, memory 1404G may receive and/or store information and instructions for the aggregation of multiple connection paths between a remote UE and a base station as described herein. The remote UE and a relay UE may be located within a coverage area of the base station. The remote UE may establish an aggregated or multi-path connection with base station. The aggregated or multi-path connection may include a direct 3GPP connection with the base station and an indirect connection via the relay UE. The indirect path or connection may include a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-SL connection) between the remote UE and the relay UE, and a 3GPP relay connection between the relay UE and the base station.
In some implementations, the baseband circuitry 1404 can include one or more audio digital signal processor (s) (DSP) 1404F. The audio DSPs 1404F can include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and can include other suitable processing elements in other implementations. Components of the baseband circuitry can be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some implementations. In some implementations, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1404 and the application circuitry 1402 can be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC) .
In some implementations, the baseband circuitry 1404 can provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some implementations, the baseband circuitry 1404 can support communication with a NG-RAN, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN) , a wireless local area network (WLAN) , a wireless personal area network (WPAN) , etc. Implementations in which the baseband circuitry 1404 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol can be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.
RF circuitry 1406 can enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various implementations, the RF circuitry 1406 can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 1406 can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1408 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1404. RF circuitry 1406 can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1404 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1408 for transmission.
In some implementations, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1406 can include mixer circuitry 1406A, amplifier circuitry 1406B and filter circuitry 1406C. In some implementations, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1406 can include filter circuitry 1406C and mixer circuitry 1406A. RF circuitry 1406 can also include synthesizer circuitry 1406D for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path can be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1408 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1406D. The amplifier circuitry 1406B can be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1406C can be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals can be provided to the baseband circuitry 1404 for further processing. In some implementations, the output baseband signals can be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some implementations, mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path can comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect.
In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 1406A of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1406D to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1408. The baseband signals can be provided by the baseband circuitry 1404 and can be filtered by filter circuitry 1406C.
In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1406A of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for quadrature down conversion and up conversion, respectively. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1406A of the transmit signal path can include two or more mixers and can be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection) . In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry`1406A can be arranged for direct down conversion and direct up conversion, respectively. In some implementations, the mixer circuitry 1406A of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1406A of the transmit signal path can be configured for super-heterodyne operation.
In some implementations, the output baseband signals, and the input baseband signals can be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect. In some alternate implementations, the output baseband signals, and the input baseband signals can be digital baseband signals. In these alternate implementations, the RF circuitry 1406 can include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 1404 can include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 1406.
In some dual-mode implementations, a separate radio IC circuitry can be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect.
In some implementations, the synthesizer circuitry 1406D can be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers can be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1406D can be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.
The synthesizer circuitry 1406D can be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1406A of the RF circuitry 1406 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some implementations, the synthesizer circuitry 1406D can be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer.
In some implementations, frequency input can be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) , although that is not a requirement. Divider control input can be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1404 or the applications circuitry 1402 depending on the desired output frequency. In some implementations, a divider control input (e.g., N) can be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications circuitry 1402.
Synthesizer circuitry 1406D of the RF circuitry 1406 can include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL) , a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some implementations, the divider can be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator can be a digital phase accumulator (DPA) . In some implementations, the DMD can be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example implementations, the DLL can include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these implementations, the delay elements can be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.
In some implementations, synthesizer circuitry 1406D can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other implementations, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some implementations, the output frequency can be a LO frequency (fLO) . In some implementations, the RF circuitry 1406 can include an IQ/polar converter.
FEM circuitry 1408 can include a receive signal path which can include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1410, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1406 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1408 can also include a transmit signal path which can include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 1406 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1410. In various implementations, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths can be done solely in the RF circuitry 1406, solely in the FEM circuitry 1408, or in both the RF circuitry 1406 and the FEM circuitry 1408.
In some implementations, the FEM circuitry 1408 can include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry can include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry can include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1406) . The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1408 can include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1406) , and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1410) .
In some implementations, the PMC 1412 can manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 1404. In particular, the PMC 1412 can control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 1412 can often be included when the device 1400 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 1412 can increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.
While Fig. 14 shows the PMC 1412 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 1404. However, in other implementations, the PMC 1412 may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 1402, RF circuitry 1406, or FEM circuitry 1408.
In some implementations, the PMC 1412 can control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 1400. For example, if the device 1400 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it can enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 1400 can power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.
If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 1400 can transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 1400 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 1400 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it can transition back to RRC_Connected state.
An additional power saving mode can allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours) . During this time, the device is unreachable to the network and can power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.
Processors of the application circuitry 1402 and processors of the baseband circuitry 1404 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 1404, alone or in combination, can be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the baseband circuitry 1404 can utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers) . As referred to herein, Layer 3 can comprise a RRC layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 can comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 can comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.
Fig. 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example implementations, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Fig. 15 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1500 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1510, one or more memory/storage devices 1520, and one or more communication resources 1530, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1540. For implementations where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1500.
The processors 1510 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) , a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) , another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 1512 and a processor 1514.
The memory/storage devices 1520 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 1520 may include, but are not limited to any type of volatile or non-volatile memory such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) , static random-access memory (SRAM) , erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) , electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) , Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.
In some implementations, memory/storage devices 1520 receive and/or store information and instructions 1555 for the aggregation of multiple connection paths between a remote UE and a base station as described herein. The remote UE and a relay UE may be located within a coverage area of the base station. The remote UE may establish an aggregated or multi-path connection with base station. The aggregated or multi-path connection may include a direct 3GPP connection with the base station and an indirect connection via the relay UE. The indirect path or connection may include a non-3GPP connection (e.g., a non-SL connection) between the remote UE and the relay UE, and a 3GPP relay connection between the relay UE and the base station.
The communication resources 1530 may include interconnection or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1506 via a network 1508. For example, the communication resources 1530 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) ) , cellular communication components, NFC components, components (e.g., Low Energy) , components, and other communication components.
Instructions 1550 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1510 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1550 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1510 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory) , the memory/storage devices 1520, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1550 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1500 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1504 or the databases 1506. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1510, the memory/storage devices 1520, the peripheral devices 1504, and the databases 1506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.
acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readable medium including executable instructions that, when performed by a machine (e.g., a processor (e.g., processor , etc. ) with memory, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , or the like) cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to implementations and examples described.
In example 1, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, a relay user device (UE) may comprise: a memory; and one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the relay UE to: establish a non-3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connection with a remote UE; establish a 3GPP relay connection with a base station; map the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between the relay UE and the base station; and relay information between the remote UE and the base station via the non-3GPP connection and the 3GPP relay connection.
In example 2, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to map 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between relay UE and the base station based on relay configuration information received from the base station.
In example 3, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, wherein the relay UE is configured to relay a complete message from the remote UE to the base station.
In example 4, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to provide the base station with a relay UE identifier (ID) of the relay UE.
In example 5, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to exit a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode and enter an RRC connected mode in response to receiving a trigger from the remote UE.
In example 6, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to relay a request, from the remote UE to the base station, to cause the base station to associate the remote UE with the relay UE.
In example 7, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the 3GPP connection comprises a 3GPP relay connection configured by the base station.
In example 8, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the 3GPP relay connection corresponds to a configurable resource bearer (RB) .
In example 9, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to map 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between relay UE and the base station based on configuration information, received from the base station, indicating an association between a logical channel (LCH) identity (ID) (LCID) and an end-to-end RB ID.
In example 10, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to map the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and base station to the 3GPP connection between the relay UE and the base station based on an LCID of the 3GPP relay connection being statically associated with a radio bearer (RB) of the 3GPP connection.
In example 11, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the LCID statically associated with the RB comprises an LCID designated to a signaling radio bearer (SRB) for the remote UE to use in sending an RRC request message to the base station.
In example 12, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, a remote user device (UE) may comprise: a memory; and one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the remote UE to: establish a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connection with a base station; establish a non-3GPP connection with a relay UE; and communicate, via the non-3GPP connection and the relay UE with the base station indirectly and a direct 3GPP connection with the base station.
In example 13, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the remote UE is configured to send a request to the base station for multi-path service comprising the 3GPP connection and an indirect path involving the non-3GPP connection to the relay UE.
In example 14, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the remote UE is configured to receive a path addition command from the base station, reconfigure a Uu radio bearer based on the path addition command, and send a complete message the base station via the indirect path involving a non-3GPP connection to the relay UE.
In example 15, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the remote UE is configured to send a trigger to the relay UE for entering a radio resource control (RRC) CONNECTED state.
In example 16, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the remote UE is configured to send a request, for multi-path communication with the base station, to the relay UE to be forwarded to the base station.
In example 17, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the remote UE provides its remote UE identifier to the base station in this request message.
In example 18, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the remote UE is configured to determine a quality of service (QoS) of the non-3GPP connection and provide a quality of service (QoS) to the base station.
In example 19, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the QoS is provided to the base station via the relay UE.
In example 20, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station is mapped to a 3GPP relay connection by the relay UE.
In example 21, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the 3GPP relay connection corresponds to a configurable resource bearer (RB) .
In example 22, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station is mapped to the 3GPP relay connection via an association between a logical channel (LCH) identity (ID) (LCID) and an end-to-end radio bearer (RB) ID.
In example 23, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the relay UE is configured to map the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between relay UE ang the base station based on an LCID of the 3GPP relay connection being statically associated with a RB of the 3GPP connection.
In example 24, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, a base station may comprise a memory; and one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the base station to: establish a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connection with a remote user equipment (UE) ; establish a 3GPP relay connection with a relay UE; and communicate with the remote UE via the 3GPP connection and the 3GPP relay connection.
In example 25, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the base station is configured to receive a multi-path (MP) request and a relay identity (ID) of the relay UE from the remote UE.
In example 26, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the base station is configured to establish the 3GPP relay connection by providing the relay UE with relay configuration information in response to the MP request based on a received relay UE identifier.
In example 27, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the base station is configured to receive a MP request from the relay UE on behalf of the remote UE and provide a path addition command to the remote UE in response to the MP request.
In example 28, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the base station is configured to receive an MP request from remote UE, which is forwarded by the relay UE via a 3GPP relay connection, identify an existing end-to-end 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station based on a received remote UE identifier, and associate the 3GPP connection and the 3GPP relay connection in response to the MP request.
In example 29, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the base station is configured to receive a quality of service (QoS) , from the remote UE, regarding a non-3GPP connection between the remote UE and the relay UE.
In example 30, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, wherein the base station is configured to determine whether to enable or disable usage of a non-3GPP connection and the 3GPP relay connection in accordance with a QoS between the remote UE and the relay UE.
In example 30, which may also include one or more of the examples described herein, the base station is configured to provide a minimum required QoS threshold to the remote UE so that remote UE can only request an indirect path when a quality of service (QoS) between the remote UE and the relay UE meets or exceed the QoS threshold.
The examples discussed above also extend to method, computer-readable medium, and means-plus-function claims and implementations, an of which may include one or more of the features or operations of any one or combination of the examples mentioned above.
The above description of illustrated examples, implementations, aspects, etc., of the subject disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed aspects to the precise forms disclosed. While specific examples, implementations, aspects, etc., are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possible that are considered within the scope of such examples, implementations, aspects, etc., as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.
In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described in connection with various examples, implementations, aspects, etc., and corresponding Figures, where applicable, it is to be understood that other similar aspects can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the disclosed subject matter for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitute function of the subject matter without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single example, implementation, or aspect described herein, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.
In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc. ) , the terms (including a reference to a “means” ) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent) , even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations. In addition, while a particular feature may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given application.
As used herein, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or” . That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B;or X employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including” , “includes” , “having” , “has” , “with” , or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising. ” Additionally, in situations wherein one or more numbered items are discussed (e.g., a “first X” , a “second X” , etc. ) , in general the one or more numbered items can be distinct, or they can be the same, although in some situations the context may indicate that they are distinct or that they are the same.
It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Claims

A relay user device (UE) , comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the relay UE to:

establish a non-3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connection with a remote UE;

establish a 3GPP relay connection with a base station;

map the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between the relay UE and the base station; and

relay information between the remote UE and the base station via the non-3GPP connection and the 3GPP relay connection.
The relay UE of claim 1, wherein the relay UE is configured to map 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between relay UE and the base station based on relay configuration information received from the base station.
The relay UE of claim 1, wherein the relay UE is configured to relay a complete message from the remote UE to the base station.
The relay UE of claim 1, wherein the relay UE is configured to provide the base station with a relay UE identifier (ID) of the relay UE.
The relay UE of claim 1, wherein the relay UE is configured to exit a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode and enter an RRC connected mode in response to receiving a trigger from the remote UE.
The relay UE of claim 1, wherein the relay UE is configured to relay a request, from the remote UE to the base station, to cause the base station to associate the remote UE with the relay UE.
The relay UE of claim 6, wherein the relay UE is configured to map 3GPP connection between the remote UE and the base station to the 3GPP connection between relay UE and the base station based on configuration information, received from the base station, indicating an association between a logical channel (LCH) identity (ID) (LCID) and an end-to-end RB ID.
The relay UE of claim 6, wherein the relay UE is configured to map the 3GPP connection between the remote UE and base station to the 3GPP connection between the relay UE and the base station based on an LCID of the 3GPP relay connection being statically associated with a radio bearer (RB) of the 3GPP connection.
The relay UE of claim 8, wherein the LCID statically associated with the RB comprises an LCID designated to a signaling radio bearer (SRB) for the remote UE to use in sending an RRC request message to the base station.
A remote user device (UE) , comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the remote UE to:

establish a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connection with a base station;

establish a non-3GPP connection with a relay UE; and

communicate, via the non-3GPP connection and the relay UE with the base station indirectly and a direct 3GPP connection with the base station.
The remote UE of claim 10, wherein the remote UE is configured to send a request to the base station for multi-path service comprising the 3GPP connection and an indirect path involving the non-3GPP connection to the relay UE.
The remote UE of claim 10, wherein the remote UE is configured to receive a path addition command from the base station, reconfigure a Uu radio bearer based on the path addition command, and send a complete message the base station via the indirect path involving a non-3GPP connection to the relay UE.
The remote UE of claim 10, wherein the remote UE is configured to send a trigger to the relay UE for entering a radio resource control (RRC) CONNECTED state.
The remote UE of claim 10, wherein the remote UE is configured to determine a quality of service (QoS) of the non-3GPP connection and provide a quality of service (QoS) to the base station.
A base station, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors configured to, when executing instructions stored in the memory, cause the base station to:

establish a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) connection with a remote user equipment (UE) ;

establish a 3GPP relay connection with a relay UE; and

communicate with the remote UE via the 3GPP connection and the 3GPP relay connection.
The base station of claim 15, wherein the base station is configured to receive a multi-path (MP) request and a relay identity (ID) of the relay UE from the remote UE.
The base station of claim 16, wherein the base station is configured to establish the 3GPP relay connection by providing the relay UE with relay configuration information in response to the MP request based on a received relay UE identifier.
The base station of claim 15, wherein the base station is configured to receive a MP request from the relay UE on behalf of the remote UE and provide a path addition command to the remote UE in response to the MP request.
The base station of claim 18, wherein the base station is configured to receive a quality of service (QoS) , from the remote UE, regarding a non-3GPP connection between the remote UE and the relay UE.
The base station of claim 19, wherein the base station is configured to provide a minimum required QoS threshold to the remote UE so that remote UE can only request an indirect path when a quality of service (QoS) between the remote UE and the relay UE meets or exceed the QoS threshold.