Patent Publication Number: US-2023164820-A1

Title: Further enhancements to ultra-reliable low-latency communication (urllc) in unlicensed spectrum

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/298,095, which was filed Jan. 10, 2022; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/308,760, which was filed Feb. 10, 2022; the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) in the unlicensed spectrum. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an example user equipment (UE) transmission burst, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates an alternative example UE transmission burst, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an alternative example UE transmission burst, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    schematically illustrates a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    schematically illustrates components of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, 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. 
         FIG.  7    schematically illustrates an alternative wireless network in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  8    depicts an example technique to be performed by a UE of a cellular network, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  9    depicts an alternative example technique to be performed by a UE of a cellular network, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  10    depicts an alternative example technique to be performed by a UE of a cellular network, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG.  11    depicts an alternative example technique to be performed by a UE of a cellular network, in accordance with various embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B). 
     The achievable latency and reliability performance of new radio (NR) may support use cases with tighter requirements. In order to extend the NR applicability in various verticals, third generation partnership project (3GPP) Release 16 (Rel-16 or Rel.16 or Rel. 16) NR has evolved to support use cases including the following:
         3GPP Release 15 (Rel-15 or Rel.15 or Rel. 15) enabled use case improvements such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or other entertainment industry use cases   New Release 16 use cases with higher requirements such as:
           Factory automation   Transport Industry   Electrical Power Distribution   
               

     However, in some of the scenarios listed above, one limiting factor may be the availability in spectrum. To mitigate this, one of the objectives of 3GPP Release-17 (Rel-17 or Rel.17 or Rel. 17) is to identify potential enhancements to ensure Release 16 feature compatibility with unlicensed band ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC)/industrial internet of things (IIoT) operation in controlled environments. In this matter, it may be desirable to identify aspects of the design that can be enhanced when operating in unlicensed spectrum. 
     However, typically, such a system may be required to comply with the regulatory requirements dictated for the sub-6 gigahertz (GHz) band, where a listen before talk (LBT) procedure may be performed in some parts of the world to acquire the medium before a transmission can occur. Such a LBT procedure may be similar to that described in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) document EN 301 893. However, it may still be desirable to be able to guarantee the requirements in terms of reliability and latency identified for the design of URLLC/IIoT to meet the aforementioned use cases. Additional design considerations may therefore be considered. In fact, when operating URLLC/IIoT in the unlicensed spectrum, due to the LBT procedure and its aleatory nature, additional latency and loss in reliability may be introduced depending on the medium contention when the LBT fails. 
     During the NR-unlicensed (NR-U) work item (WI), both a load based (LBE) and frame based (FBE) design have been adopted to accommodate for different scenarios and the use of the LBT procedure. However, for the FBE framework, in order to exemplify the NR-U design, it was agreed by 3GPP that only the NR NodeB (gNB) can be acting as an initiating device, and the starting positions of the fixed frame periods align with every even frame given that the fixed frame period (FFP) can be {1 millisecond (ms), 2 ms, 2.5 ms, 4 ms, 5 ms, 10 ms}. However, this mode of operation may lead to very long delays when an LBT failure occurs at the gNB at the beginning of a FFP, because in this case all of the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions scheduled within that FFP may need to be postponed to the following FFP for which a gNB is able to succeed its LBT procedure. Given that URLLC/IIoT designs have emphasized meeting the stringent latency requirements described above, this mode of operation may need to be modified and the single point of failure at the gNB may need to be removed providing every device with more opportunities to be able to transmit and more importantly allowing every device to be able to operate as an initiating device and acquire their own channel occupancy time (COT). 
     For Rel. 17, when operating is semi-static channel access mode (a.k.a., FBE) and if ue-SemiStaticChannelAccessConfig is provided, both gNB and UE may operate as initiating device. In order to mitigate any ambiguity between a UE and a gNB regarding who will be operating as initiating or responding device, a specific framework has been established. However, in some specific cases the UE&#39;s behavior may not be fully defined, and some further additions to the legacy framework may be desirable. Among others, these are a few examples:
         When a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission falls within a u-FFP T u  and would end after its idle period, but the CG UL transmission still falls within a g-FFP T x  and ends before its idle period, it is unclear/undefined in the legacy framework what the UE&#39;s behavior would be, and whether the UE would first check that the UE already operates as initiating device or the UE should directly perform DL presence detection and establish whether the gNB has initiated T x , and it can operate as responding device.   When a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling downlink control information (DCI) are confined within different resource block (RB) sets across different carriers, the UE&#39;s behavior may not be defined in the legacy framework, and so it may be unclear whether the UE should always fall the COT initiation assumption indicated in the DCI, or should follow a difference behavior.       

     Various embodiments are described herein to address one or more of the above-described issues. 
     Other embodiments described herein may relate to how the UE should behave when a nominal transmission overlaps with a set of symbols associated to the idle period of a g-FFP in case the UE shares the g-FFP, or associated to the idle period of a u-FFP in case the UE has assumed a UE&#39;s initiated COT. As an example,  FIG.  1    shows an example of a case when a UE needs to transmit a burst composed of 8 configured grant (CG)-physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions (this could include eight consecutive repetitions or generally eight consecutive transmissions of the same transport block (TB) or repetitions of different TBs in case of multi-TB transmission within a burst). In particular,  FIG.  1    depicts an example case of when a UE is able to initiate two back-to-back u-FFPs and CG-PUSCH #4 overlaps with the UE&#39;s idle period. In this case, different possible options are illustrated: option 1 illustrates the case when segmentation is applied over a CG-PUSCH transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period, and the symbols overlapping with the idle period are considered invalid; options 2/3 illustrate the case when in similar conditions the entire overlapping CG-PUSCH will be dropped: for option 2 the UE&#39;s buffer is flashed, and CG-PUSCH #4 is lost, while for option 3 the UE postpones CG-PUSCH #4 and all other transmissions so that to be performed at the first transmission opportunity. 
     In this matter, in Rel.17, 3GPP agreed that for PUSCH repetition type B segmentation across an idle period overlapping with a nominal transmission would be applied. However, the legacy framework is unclear on whether this feature should be also applied when the cg-RetransmissionTimer is enabled and the Rel.16 NR-U PUSCH repetition scheme is used instead. In this matter, along this disclosure, are example details and possible options on how to enable segmentation across the idle period for the NR-U PUSCH repetition scheme. 
     To enable URLLC/IIoT design within the sub-6 gigahertz (GHz) band, some modifications may be required to some specific aspects of the design to ensure harmonization between the Rel.16 NR-U and Rel.16 URLLC design. Embodiments herein provide examples regarding on how the UE should behave when determining the channel occupancy time (COT) initiator assumptions and for the case when a nominal transmission may overlap with an idle period while NR-U repetition scheme is adopted. 
     Initiating COT Assessment Procedure for CG Uplink (UL) Transmissions 
     In Rel. 17, when a system operates in semi-static channel access mode a framework to allow a UE to determine the COT initiator has been defined, and the following general procedure has been established:
         When a configured UL transmission is aligned with a u-FFP boundary and ends before the idle period of that UE FFP associated to the UE, If the transmission is confined within a gNB FFP before the idle period of that gNB FFP, and the UE has already determined that gNB is initiated that gNB FFP, UE assumes that the configured UL transmission corresponds to gNB-initiated COT. Otherwise, UE assumes that the configured UL transmission corresponds to UE-initiated COT;   However, when a configured UL transmission starts after a UE FFP boundary and ends before the idle period of that UE FFP associated to the UE:
           If the UE has already initiated the UE FFP, then UE assumes that the configured UL transmission corresponds to UE-initiated COT;   Otherwise, if the transmission is confined within a gNB FFP before the idle period of that gNB FFP, and if the UE has already determined that gNB has initiated that gNB FFP, then UE assumes that the configured UL transmission corresponds to gNB-initiated COT.   
               

     Furthermore, 3GPP has agreed that in semi-static channel access mode, for a transmission burst that includes multiple transmissions, the associated COT-ownership for all transmissions in the transmission burst should be the same. 
     However, if a CG UL transmission falls within a u-FFP T u  and would end after its idle period, but the CG UL transmission falls within a g-FFP T x  and ends before its idle period, the outcome of the UE&#39;s initiating determination may be different based on whether the UE attempts to determine first whether the transmission should be performed as if the UE operates as a responding device, or whether the UE attempts first to determine whether is shall operate as an initiating device, and based on the assessment made a transmission may be even dropped. 
     In this matter,  FIG.  2    and  FIG.  3    illustrate various examples. 
       FIG.  2   —Illustration of two scenarios: 1) scenario #1 depicts an UL burst composed of multiple CG-PUSCH transmission where CG-PUSCH #4 overlaps with the u-FFP&#39;s idle period; 2) scenario #2 depicts the case when a UE initially acquires the u-FFP but a later CG-PUSCH transmission overlaps with the u-FFP&#39;s idle period. 
       FIG.  3   —Illustration of a scenario depicting the case when a UE initially acquires the u-FFP but a later CG-PUSCH transmission overlaps with the u-FFP&#39;s idle period, which may belong to another u-FFP for which the UE may not have performed yet presence detection. 
     In the figures above three scenarios are depicted: 
     Scenario #1 (for example, as depicted in  FIG.  2   ) illustrates the case when a CG UL transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period belongs to a contiguous burst. In this case, for each CG UL transmission of this burst the COT initiation assumption must be the same, and the CG UL transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period may only be unequivocally dropped if the UE assesses at the beginning of the burst whether it should operate as initiating device. 
     Scenario #2 (for example, as illustrated in  FIG.  2   ) illustrates the case when a CG UL transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period does not belong to a burst containing a transmission which starts at the beginning of the u-FFP. In this case, the outcome of the transmission may be different and ambiguously defined based on the UE&#39;s behavior. For example, if the UE has already determined that it shall operate as an initiating device within a u-FFP where the CG PUSCH transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period lies, then this CG PUSCH must be dropped. However, if the UE, instead of following the prior assessment, decides to determine whether it could operate as a responding device, that transmission may not be dropped if the gNB has indeed acquired a g-FFP over which this transmission may be performed. 
     Scenario #3 (as illustrated in  FIG.  3   ) illustrates the case when a CG UL transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period does not belong to a burst containing a transmission which starts at the beginning of the u-FFP. Furthermore, the CG UL transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period does not fall within the same g-FFP compared to the CG UL transmission that lies at the boundary of the u-FFP. In this case, it should be pointed out that the UE may have different behaviors. The following are some examples of possible UE behaviors:
         first perform presence detection and then assess whether to drop or not the CG UL transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period and therefore overwrite any possible assumptions that the UE has already made in terms of initiating device; or   first verify/assess whether based on the assumptions already made it shall perform as an initiating device and in this case drop the transmission, even before performing presence detection.       

     In some of cases indicated above, the outcome of the transmission may be different and ambiguously defined based on the UE&#39;s behavior. For example, if the UE has already determined that it shall operate as an initiating device within a u-FFP where the CG PUSCH transmission overlapping with the UE&#39;s idle period lies, then this CG PUSCH must be dropped. However, if the UE, instead of following the prior assessment, decides to determine whether it could operate as a responding device, that transmission may not be dropped if the gNB has indeed acquired a g-FFP over which this transmission may be performed. In some other cases, as in scenario #3 (e.g., as depicted in  FIG.  3   ), the outcome of the transmission may be the same, but some power saving may be achieved by skipping the presence detection operation. 
     In order to solve the ambiguity in UE&#39;s behavior highlighted above, a clearer UE&#39;s behavior may be desired. 
     In one embodiment, when the CG UL transmission occurs after the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  and would overlap with the idle duration corresponding to that period, the UE may be required to prioritize operation as a responding device and in this case it shall first determine whether it should operate as a responding device despite of previously made assumptions, and if it is not able to operate as responding device, this transmission may be dropped. In other words, if the configured UL transmission would occur after the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  and would overlap with the idle duration corresponding to that period, the following is applied:
         If the CG UL transmission would occur within a gNB&#39;s period of duration T x  and would end before the idle duration corresponding to that period and the UE has already determined that the gNB has initiated a channel occupancy in that period, the UE assumes that the CG UL transmission is associated with the channel occupancy that is initiated by the gNB.   Otherwise, the UE drops the CG UL transmission.       

     In another embodiment, when the CG UL transmission occurs after the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  and would overlap with the idle duration corresponding to that period, the UE may be required to prioritize any previously made assumptions. If the UE has already assessed that it shall operate as an initiating device, then this transmission should be dropped, and the UE should not perform any additional assessment of whether it could operate as a responding device. In other words, if the CG UL transmission would occur after the beginning of a period of duration T u  and would overlap with the idle duration corresponding to that period, the following is applied:
         If the UE has not already initiated a channel occupancy in that period
           If the configured UL transmission would occur within a period of duration T x  and would end before the idle duration corresponding to that period and the UE has already determined that the gNB has initiated a channel occupancy in that period as described in Clause 4.3.1.2.1, the UE assumes that the configured UL transmission is associated with the channel occupancy that is initiated by the gNB.   Otherwise, the UE drops the configured UL transmission.   
           Otherwise, the UE drops the configured UL transmission.       

     Initiating COT Assessment Procedure for Cross-Carrier Scheduled UL Transmissions 
     During Rel.17, the UE&#39;s behavior in terms of COT initiation assumptions for dynamic grant (DG) UL transmissions that occur within the case carrier where the related UL scheduling DCI is transmitted has been defined and the following agreement was reached by 3GPP: 
     Agreement 
     In semi-static channel access mode, when the gNB schedules by a downlink control information (DCI) a UL transmission and the scheduling DCI and the scheduled UL transmission are in a same g-FFP but on different resource block (RB) sets of the g-FFP bandwidth:
         If DCI indicates gNB initiated COT, validation of the gNB-initiated COT (based on the detection of DL transmission from the gNB) for the RB sets with scheduled UL can be skipped.       

     However, the UE&#39;s behavior in case the DG UL transmission and the related UL scheduling DCI are transmitted in different carriers was not discussed and the related UE&#39;s behavior may be undefined by the legacy framework. 
     In one embodiment, when a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling DCI are confined within the same g-FFP of duration T x  over which the DCI is transmitted (it will be noted that that cross-FFP scheduling is referred here to the case when the scheduled UL will not fall within the g-FFP over which the scheduling DCI is transmitted regardless of whether they are transmitted within the same carrier or not) or as an alternative the g-FFP of duration T x  corresponding to the same carrier(s) over which the UL transmission is scheduled (it will be noted that cross-FFP scheduling is referred here to the case when the scheduled UL will not fall within the g-FFP belonging to the same carrier), but they are confined in different RB sets (within or over an LBT BW or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) across different carriers (which may be different than those used by the g-FFP transmitting the UL scheduling DCI), the UE&#39;s behavior may be as follows:
         if the DCI indicates that the UE should operate as responding device, the UE can skip validating the COT assumptions, and follow that indicated by the DCI. Therefore, under the assumption that the UE operates indeed as responding device, a DG transmission will be performed upon applying the cyclic prefix indicated in the DCI and upon the channel access procedure is satisfied/successful, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.   If the DCI indicates that the UE should operate as an initiating device:
           If the UL transmission would occur at the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), the UE is expected to sense the channel immediately before the UL transmission, and if the channel is sensed to be idle, the UE is expected to transmit the UL transmission. Otherwise, the transmission will be dropped.   If the UL transmission would occur after the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), if the UE has not initiated that FFP (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), the UE is expected to drop the transmission. Otherwise, if the UE has initiated that FFP, and the DG transmission does not overlap with the idle period that FFP, the DG transmission will be performed upon applying the cyclic prefix indicated in the DCI and upon the channel access procedure is satisfied/successful, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.   
               

     Notice that when the UE is indicated to operate as an initiating device, the above behavior may be either applied cumulatively across all RB sets or LBT BWs over which the UL transmission may span, or may be individually applied per RB set or LBT BW. In case the described behavior is
         cumulatively applied across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span, then the FFP configuration across RB sets (or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) must be the same for each UEs and/or for the gNB;   individually applied across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span, then transmission occurs only if the channel access requirements are met across all the RB sets or LBT BWS, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.       

     In one option of this embodiment, the FFP configurations across RB sets (or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) may be the same for the each UE and/or for the gNB. 
     In another option, if a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling DCI are not confined within the same g-FFP of duration T x  over which the DCI is transmitted (notice that cross-FFP scheduling is referred here to the case when the scheduled UL won&#39;t fall within the g-FFP over which the scheduling DCI is transmitted regardless of whether they are transmitted within the same carrier or not) or as an alternative the g-FFP of duration T x  corresponding to the same carrier(s) over which the UL transmission is scheduled (notice that cross-FFP scheduling is referred here to the case when the scheduled UL won&#39;t fall within the g-FFP belonging to the same carrier), but they are confined within different RB sets (within or over an LBT BW or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) across different carriers (which may be different than those used by the g-FFP transmitting the UL scheduling DCI), the UE&#39;s behavior is as follows:
         if the DCI indicates that the UE should operate as responding device,
           If the DG UL transmission would occur after the beginning of the gNB&#39;s period of duration T x  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), and ends before the idle period of that period, and if the UE has been able to determine that the channel occupancy time of that period has been initiated by the gNB, then UE may be able to perform that transmission upon applying the cyclic prefix indicated in the DCI and upon the channel access procedure is satisfied/successful, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.   
               

     It will be noted that the UE could either cumulatively check whether the conditions provided above are met or in alternative it could check individually across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span. In this last case, it must make sure that the conditions provided above are met across all RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span.
         If the DCI indicates that the UE should operate as an initiating device,
           If the UL transmission would occur at the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), the UE is expected to sense the channel immediately before the UL transmission, and if the channel is sensed to be idle, the UE is expected to transmit the UL transmission. Otherwise, the transmission will be dropped.   If the UL transmission would occur after the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), if the UE has not initiated that FFP (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), the UE is expected to drop the transmission. Otherwise, if the UE has initiated that FFP, and the DG transmission does not overlap with the idle period that FFP, the DG transmission will be performed upon the channel access procedure if satisfied, otherwise it will be dropped.   
               

     It will be noted that when the UE is indicated to operate as an initiating device, the above behavior could be either applied cumulatively across all RB sets or LBT BWs over which the UL transmission may span, or can be individually applied per RB set or LBT BW. In case the described behavior is
         cumulatively applied across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span, then the FFP configuration across RB sets (or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) must be the same for each UEs and/or for the gNB;   individually applied across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span, then transmission occurs only if the channel access requirements are met across all the RB sets or LBT BWS, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.       

     In one option of this embodiment, the FFP configurations across RB sets (or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) is the same for the each UE and/or for the gNB. 
     In another option, regardless of whether a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling DCI are confined or not within the same g-FFP of duration T x  over which the DCI is transmitted (notice that cross-FFP scheduling is referred here to the case when the scheduled UL won&#39;t fall within the g-FFP over which the scheduling DCI is transmitted regardless of whether they are transmitted within the same carrier or not) or as an alternative the g-FFP of duration T x  corresponding to the same carrier(s) over which the UL transmission is scheduled (notice that cross-FFP scheduling is referred here to the case when the scheduled UL won&#39;t fall within the g-FFP belonging to the same carrier), but they are confined within different RB sets (within or over an LBT BW or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) across different carriers (which may be different than those used by the g-FFP transmitting the UL scheduling DCI), the UE&#39;s behavior may be as follows:
         if the DCI indicates that the UE should operate as responding device,
           If the DG UL transmission would occur after the beginning of the gNB&#39;s period of duration T x  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), and ends before the idle period of that period, and if the UE has been able to determine that the channel occupancy time of that period has been initiated by the gNB, then UE may be able to perform that transmission upon applying the cyclic prefix indicated in the DCI and upon the channel access procedure is satisfied/successful, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.   
               

     It will be noted that the UE could either cumulatively check whether the conditions provided above are met or in alternative it could check individually across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span. In this last case, the UE may be required to ensure that the conditions provided above are met across all RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span.
         If the DCI indicates that the UE should operate as an initiating device,
           If the UL transmission would occur at the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), the UE is expected to sense the channel immediately before the UL transmission, and if the channel is sensed to be idle, the UE is expected to transmit the UL transmission. Otherwise, the transmission will be dropped.   If the UL transmission would occur after the beginning of a UE&#39;s period of duration T u  (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), if the UE has not initiated that FFP (e.g., per cell or across all RB sets or LBT BWs), the UE is expected to drop the transmission. Otherwise, if the UE has initiated that FFP, and the DG transmission does not overlap with the idle period that FFP, the DG transmission will be performed upon the channel access procedure if satisfied, otherwise it will be dropped.   
               

     It will be noted that when the UE is indicated to operate as an initiating device, the above behavior could be either applied cumulatively across all RB sets or LBT BWs over which the UL transmission may span, or can be individually applied per RB set or LBT BW. In case the described behavior is
         cumulatively applied across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span, then the FFP configuration across RB sets (or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) must be the same for each UEs and/or for the gNB;   individually applied across all the RB sets or LBT BW over which the UL transmission may span, then transmission occurs only if the channel access requirements are met across all the RB sets or LBT BWS, otherwise the transmission will be dropped.       

     In one option of this embodiment, the FFP configurations across RB sets (or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) may be the same for the each UE and/or for the gNB. 
     Notice that the embodiments and/or options listed above are not mutually exclusive, and one or more of them may apply together. 
     Segmentation Across the Idle Period when the cg-RetransmissionTimer-16 is Enabled 
     As mentioned previously, during Rel.17, 3GPP agreed that for PUSCH repetition Type B, segmentation of a nominal repetition would be performed if this overlaps with a set of symbols associated to the idle period of a g-FFP in case the UE shares the g-FFP&#39;s COT, or associated to the idle period of a u-FFP in case the UE assumed UE&#39;s initiated COT. The agreement was as follows: 
     Agreement 
     In semi-static channel access mode, for PUSCH repetition Type B: If a nominal repetition overlaps with a set of symbols in an idle period associated to gNB&#39;s FFP in case UE shares gNB-initiated COT for the nominal repetition or associated to UE&#39;s FFP in case UE assumes UE-initiated COT for the nominal repetition, all the symbols in the idle period should be considered as invalid symbols which are not considered for an actual repetition as in Rel-16.
         Segmentation before and/or after the idle period is applied when applicable.   FFS on impact of processing timeline for PUSCH on the UE behaviour       

     However, the legacy framework and agreements may not clarify whether this feature should be also extended to other types of repetition schemes supported when operating URLLC in unlicensed spectrum. 
     In this matter, in one embodiment of this disclosure, when the higher layer parameter cg-RetransmissionTimer-16 is enabled, if a nominal repetition overlaps with the idle period of a g-FFP in case the UE shares the g-FFP&#39;s COT, or associated to the idle period of a u-FFP in case the UE assumed UE&#39;s initiated COT, segmentation should be applied. In this case, the symbols overlapping with the idle period of a g-FFP in case the UE shares the g-FFP&#39;s COT, or associated to the idle period of a u-FFP in case the UE assumed UE&#39;s initiated COT will be considered invalid. 
     In one embodiment, when the higher layer parameter cg-RetransmissionTimer-16 is enabled and a nominal transmission overlaps with the idle period of a g-FFP in case the UE shares the g-FFP&#39;s COT, or associated to the idle period of a u-FFP in case the UE assumed UE&#39;s initiated COT, if a PUCCH is multiplexed with the corresponding CG-PUSCH transmission and an HARQ-ACK feedback is not multiplexed on a CG-PUSCH, then the number of resource elements (REs) devoted to CG-UCI for the actual transmission of that CG-PUSCH transmission should be modified as shown in red and calculated as follows: 
     
       
         
           
             
               Q 
               
                 CG 
                 - 
                 UCI 
               
               ′ 
             
             = 
             
               min 
               ⁢ 
               
                 { 
                 
                   
                     ⌈ 
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             
                               
                                 ( 
                                 
                                   
                                     O 
                                     
                                       CG 
                                       - 
                                       UCI 
                                     
                                   
                                   + 
                                   
                                     L 
                                     
                                       CG 
                                       - 
                                       UCI 
                                     
                                   
                                 
                                 ) 
                               
                               · 
                             
                           
                         
                         
                           
                             
                               
                                 β 
                                 
                                   o 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   f 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   f 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   s 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   e 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   t 
                                 
                                 
                                   P 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   U 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   S 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   C 
                                   ⁢ 
                                   H 
                                 
                               
                               · 
                               
                                 
                                   ∑ 
                                   
                                     l 
                                     = 
                                     0 
                                   
                                   
                                     
                                       N 
                                       
                                         
                                           s 
                                           ⁢ 
                                           y 
                                           ⁢ 
                                           m 
                                           ⁢ 
                                           b 
                                         
                                         , 
                                         nominal 
                                       
                                       
                                         P 
                                         ⁢ 
                                         U 
                                         ⁢ 
                                         S 
                                         ⁢ 
                                         C 
                                         ⁢ 
                                         H 
                                       
                                     
                                     - 
                                     1 
                                   
                                 
                                 
                                   
                                     M 
                                     
                                       sc 
                                       , 
                                       nominal 
                                     
                                     
                                       U 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       C 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       I 
                                     
                                   
                                   ⁢ 
                                   
                                     ( 
                                     l 
                                     ) 
                                   
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                       
                         
                           ∑ 
                           
                             r 
                             = 
                             0 
                           
                           
                             
                               C 
                               
                                 UL 
                                 - 
                                 SCH 
                               
                             
                             - 
                             1 
                           
                         
                         r 
                       
                     
                     ⌉ 
                   
                   , 
                   
                     ⌈ 
                     
                       α 
                       · 
                       
                         
                           ∑ 
                           
                             l 
                             = 
                             0 
                           
                           
                             
                               N 
                               
                                 symb 
                                 , 
                                 nominal 
                               
                               
                                 P 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 U 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 S 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 C 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 H 
                               
                             
                             - 
                             1 
                           
                         
                         
                           
                             M 
                             
                               sc 
                               , 
                               nominal 
                             
                             UCI 
                           
                           ( 
                           l 
                           ) 
                         
                       
                     
                     ⌉ 
                   
                   , 
                   
                     
                       ∑ 
                       
                         l 
                         = 
                         0 
                       
                       
                         
                           N 
                           
                             symb 
                             , 
                             actual 
                           
                           
                             P 
                             ⁢ 
                             U 
                             ⁢ 
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             C 
                             ⁢ 
                             H 
                           
                         
                         - 
                         1 
                       
                     
                     
                       
                         M 
                         
                           sc 
                           , 
                           actual 
                         
                         UCI 
                       
                       ( 
                       l 
                       ) 
                     
                   
                 
                 } 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     where
         O CG-UCI  is the number of CG-UCI bits;
           L CG-UCI  is the number of CRC bits for CG-UCI determined according to Clause 6.3.1.2.1;   β offset   PUSCH =β offset   CG-UCI ;   C UL-SCH  is the number of code blocks for UL-SCH of the PUSCH transmission;   K r  is the r-th code block size for UL-SCH of the PUSCH transmission;   
           M sc,nominal   UCI (l) is the number of resource elements that can be used for transmission of UCI in OFDM symbol l, for l=0, 1, 2, . . . , N symb,nominal   PUSCH −1, in the PUSCH transmission assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation, and N symb,nominal   PUSCH  is the total number of OFDM symbols in a nominal repetition of the PUSCH, including all OFDM symbols used for DMRS;
           for any OFDM symbol that carries DMRS of the PUSCH assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation, M sc,nominal   UCI (l)=0;   for any OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS of the PUSCH assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation, M sc,nominal   UCI (l)=M sc   PUSCH −M sc,nominal   PT-RA (l) where M sc,nominal   PT-RA (l) is the number of subcarriers in OFDM symbol l that carries PTRS, in the PUSCH transmission assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation;   
           M sc,actual   UCI (l) is the number of resource elements that can be used for transmission of UCI in OFDM symbol l, for l=0, 1, 2, . . . , N symb,actual   PUSCH −1, in the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, and N symb,actual   PUSCH  is the total number of OFDM symbols in the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, including all OFDM symbols used for DMRS;
           for any OFDM symbol that carries DMRS of the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, M sc,actual   UCI (l)=0;   for any OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS of the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, M sc,actual   UCI (l)=M sc   PUSCH −M sc,actual   PT-RS (l) where M sc,actual   PT-RS (l) is the number of subcarriers in OFDM symbol l that carries PTRS, in the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission;   α is configured by higher layer parameter scaling.   
               

     In one embodiment, when the higher layer parameter cg-RetransmissionTimer-16 is enabled and a nominal transmission overlaps with the idle period of a g-FFP in case the UE shares the g-FFP&#39;s COT, or associated to the idle period of a u-FFP in case the UE assumed UE&#39;s initiated COT, if a PUCCH is multiplexed with the corresponding CG-PUSCH transmission and HARQ-ACK feedback is multiplexed on that CG-PUSCH, and jointly encoded with it, then the number of RE devoted to HARQ-ACK and CG_UCI, called Q′ ACK , for the actual transmission of that CG-PUSCH transmission should be modified, and calculated as follows: 
     
       
         
           
             
               Q 
               ACK 
               ′ 
             
             = 
             
               min 
               ⁢ 
               
                 { 
                 
                   
                     ⌈ 
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             
                               
                                 ( 
                                 
                                   
                                     O 
                                     
                                       A 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       C 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       K 
                                     
                                   
                                   + 
                                   
                                     O 
                                     
                                       CG 
                                       - 
                                       UCI 
                                     
                                   
                                   + 
                                   
                                     L 
                                     
                                       A 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       C 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       K 
                                     
                                   
                                 
                                 ) 
                               
                               · 
                               
                                 β 
                                 offset 
                                 PUSCH 
                               
                               · 
                             
                           
                         
                         
                           
                             
                               
                                 Σ 
                                 
                                   l 
                                   = 
                                   0 
                                 
                                 
                                   
                                     N 
                                     
                                       symb 
                                       , 
                                       nominal 
                                     
                                     
                                       P 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       U 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       S 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       C 
                                       ⁢ 
                                       H 
                                     
                                   
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 
                                   M 
                                   
                                     sc 
                                     , 
                                     nominal 
                                   
                                   
                                     U 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     C 
                                     ⁢ 
                                     I 
                                   
                                 
                                 ( 
                                 l 
                                 ) 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                       
                       
                         
                           Σ 
                           
                             r 
                             = 
                             0 
                           
                           
                             C 
                             
                               UL 
                               - 
                               
                                 SCH 
                                 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           K 
                           r 
                         
                       
                     
                     ⌉ 
                   
                   , 
                   
                     ⌈ 
                     
                       α 
                       · 
                       
                         
                           ∑ 
                           
                             l 
                             = 
                             0 
                           
                           
                             
                               N 
                               
                                 symb 
                                 , 
                                 nominal 
                               
                               
                                 P 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 U 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 S 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 C 
                                 ⁢ 
                                 H 
                               
                             
                             - 
                             1 
                           
                         
                         
                           
                             M 
                             
                               sc 
                               , 
                               nominal 
                             
                             UCI 
                           
                           ( 
                           l 
                           ) 
                         
                       
                     
                     ⌉ 
                   
                   , 
                   
                     
                       ∑ 
                       
                         l 
                         = 
                         0 
                       
                       
                         
                           N 
                           
                             symb 
                             , 
                             actual 
                           
                           
                             P 
                             ⁢ 
                             U 
                             ⁢ 
                             S 
                             ⁢ 
                             C 
                             ⁢ 
                             H 
                           
                         
                         - 
                         1 
                       
                     
                     
                       
                         M 
                         
                           sc 
                           , 
                           actual 
                         
                         UCI 
                       
                       ( 
                       l 
                       ) 
                     
                   
                 
                 } 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     where
         O ACK  is the number of HARQ-ACK bits;
           O CG-UCI  is the number of CG-UCI bits;   if O ACK +O CG-UCI &gt;360, L ACK =11; otherwise L ACK  is the number of CRC bits for HARQ-ACK and CG-UCI determined according to Clause 6.3.1.2.1;   β offset   PUSCH =β offset   HARQ-ACK ;   
           C UL-SCH  is the number of code blocks for UL-SCH of the PUSCH transmission;
           K r  is the r-th code block size for UL-SCH of the PUSCH transmission;   
           M sc,nominal   UCI (l) is the number of resource elements that can be used for transmission of UCI in OFDM symbol l, for l=0, 1, 2, . . . , N symb,nominal   PUSCH −1, in the PUSCH transmission assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation, and N symb,nominal   PUSCH  is the total number of OFDM symbols in a nominal repetition of the PUSCH, including all OFDM symbols used for DMRS;
           for any OFDM symbol that carries DMRS of the PUSCH assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation, M sc,nominal   UCI (l)=0;   for any OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS of the PUSCH assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation, M sc,nominal   UCI (l)=M sc   PUSCH −M sc,nominal   PT-RS (l) where M sc,nominal   PT-RS (l) is the number of subcarriers in OFDM symbol l that carries PTRS, in the PUSCH transmission assuming a nominal repetition without segmentation;   
           M sc,actual   UCI (l) is the number of resource elements that can be used for transmission of UCI in OFDM symbol l, for l=0, 1, 2, . . . , N symb,actual   PUSCH −1, in the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, and N symb,actual   PUSCH  is the total number of OFDM symbols in the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, including all OFDM symbols used for DMRS;
           for any OFDM symbol that carries DMRS of the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, M sc,actual   UCI (l)=0;   for any OFDM symbol that does not carry DMRS of the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission, M sc,actual   UCI (l)=M sc   PUSCH −M sc,actual   PT-RS (l) where M sc,actual   PT-RS (l) is the number of subcarriers in OFDM symbol l that carries PTRS, in the actual repetition of the PUSCH transmission;   α is configured by higher layer parameter scaling.   
               

     It will be noted that the embodiments and options listed above are not mutually exclusive, and one or more of them may apply together. 
     Report for Systematic/Consistent Uplink LBT Failure in Semi-Static Channel Access Mode 
     Within the NR-U Rel.16 design, a procedure to handle consistent/systematic uplink listen-before-talk (LBT) failures was established, through which by reporting to higher layers any channel access failures a UE counts the LBT failures and, once it establishes that a consistent LBT failure has occurred, it reports this information to the serving cell. Furthermore in Rel.16, regardless of whether a system operates in semi-static channel access mode and a UE operates as a responding device or operates in dynamic channel access mode, if a UE fails to acquire a channel(s) by assessing it to be idle during the LBT procedure, a UE may have multiple other back-to-back opportunities to reperform LBT again, acquire the channel(s), and then transmit. However, in Rel.17 a system operating in unlicensed mode may now allow a UE to operate as an initiating device when configured to operate in semi-static channel access mode. In this case, if the UE fails to acquire the channel(s) when the UE operates as initiating device and the intended UL transmission occurs at the u-FFP boundary, a UE may not be able to transmit and perform any additional sensing for the entire duration of that u-FFP. Therefore, a technique to distinguish or highlight/weight with higher priority such an LBT failure, which may be detrimental for system performance and latency, may be desirable. 
     In one embodiment, for the case when a UE operates as an initiating device, and the UE fails to access the channel(s) prior to an intended UL transmission which aligns with a u-FFP, Layer 1 only notifies higher layer about the channel access failure occurring at the beginning of the u-FFP. 
     In one embodiment, for the case when a UE operates as an initiating device, and the UE fails to access the channel(s) prior to an intended UL transmission which aligns with a u-FFP, Layer 1 notifies higher layer about a channel access failure for each burst that the UE was intended to transmit within that u-FFP, including that aligning with that u-FFP. 
     In one embodiment, for the case when a UE operates as an initiating device, and the UE fails to access the channel(s) prior to an intended UL transmission which aligns with a u-FFP, Layer 1 notifies higher layer about a channel access failure for each UL transmission that the UE was intended to transmit within that u-FFP, including that aligning with that u-FFP. 
     In one embodiment, for the case when a UE is configured to operate as an initiating device, and the UE fails to access the channel(s) prior to an intended UL transmission which aligns with a u-FFP, Layer 1 notifies higher layer about a channel access failure for any UL bursts occurring within that u-FFP for which the UE assesses that it may operate as an initiating device except for the case when an UL burst is composed by an UL transmission which overlaps with the UE&#39;s idle period. 
     In one embodiment, for the case when a UE is configured to operate as an initiating device, and the UE fails to access the channel(s) prior to an intended UL transmission which aligns with a u-FFP, Layer 1 notifies higher layer about a channel access failure for any UL transmission occurring within that u-FFP for which the UE assesses that it may operate as an initiating device except for UL transmissions which overlaps with the UE&#39;s idle period. 
     In another embodiment, additionally to the LBT failure reporting introduced in Rel.16, a UE may additionally notify higher layer and make separate counts of any LBT failure occurring at a u-FFP boundary when the UE assesses that it should operate as an initiating device. 
     Systems and Implementations 
       FIGS.  4 - 7    illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates a network  400  in accordance with various embodiments. The network  400  may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like. 
     The network  400  may include a UE  402 , which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN  404  via an over-the-air connection. The UE  402  may be communicatively coupled with the RAN  404  by a Uu interface. The UE  402  may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, IoT device, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the network  400  may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the UE  402  may additionally communicate with an AP  406  via an over-the-air connection. The AP  406  may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN  404 . The connection between the UE  402  and the AP  406  may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP  406  could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE  402 , RAN  404 , and AP  406  may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE  402  being configured by the RAN  404  to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources. 
     The RAN  404  may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN  408 . AN  408  may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE  402  by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and L1 protocols. In this manner, the AN  408  may enable data/voice connectivity between CN  420  and the UE  402 . In some embodiments, the AN  408  may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN  408  be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN  408  may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells. 
     In embodiments in which the RAN  404  includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN  404  is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN  404  is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc. 
     The ANs of the RAN  404  may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE  402  with an air interface for network access. The UE  402  may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN  404 . For example, the UE  402  and RAN  404  may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE  402  to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc. 
     The RAN  404  may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol. 
     In V2X scenarios the UE  402  or AN  408  may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network. 
     In some embodiments, the RAN  404  may be an LTE RAN  410  with eNBs, for example, eNB  412 . The LTE RAN  410  may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI-RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands. 
     In some embodiments, the RAN  404  may be an NG-RAN  414  with gNBs, for example, gNB  416 , or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB  418 . The gNB  416  may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB  416  may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB  418  may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB  416  and the ng-eNB  418  may connect with each other over an Xn interface. 
     In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN  414  and a UPF  448  (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN  414  and an AMF  444  (e.g., N2 interface). 
     The NG-RAN  414  may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH. 
     In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE  402  can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE  402 , the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE  402  with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE  402  and in some cases at the gNB  416 . A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load. 
     The RAN  404  is communicatively coupled to CN  420  that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE  402 ). The components of the CN  420  may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN  420  onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN  420  may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN  420  may be referred to as a network sub-slice. 
     In some embodiments, the CN  420  may be an LTE CN  422 , which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN  422  may include MME  424 , SGW  426 , SGSN  428 , HSS  430 , PGW  432 , and PCRF  434  coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN  422  may be briefly introduced as follows. 
     The MME  424  may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE  402  to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc. 
     The SGW  426  may terminate an S1 interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN  422 . The SGW  426  may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. 
     The SGSN  428  may track a location of the UE  402  and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN  428  may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME  424 ; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME  424  and the SGSN  428  may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle/active states. 
     The HSS  430  may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities&#39; handling of communication sessions. The HSS  430  can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS  430  and the MME  424  may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN  420 . 
     The PGW  432  may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN)  436  that may include an application/content server  438 . The PGW  432  may route data packets between the LTE CN  422  and the data network  436 . The PGW  432  may be coupled with the SGW  426  by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW  432  may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW  432  and the data network  436  may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW  432  may be coupled with a PCRF  434  via a Gx reference point. 
     The PCRF  434  is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN  422 . The PCRF  434  may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server  438  to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF  432  may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI. 
     In some embodiments, the CN  420  may be a 5GC  440 . The 5GC  440  may include an AUSF  442 , AMF  444 , SMF  446 , UPF  448 , NSSF  450 , NEF  452 , NRF  454 , PCF  456 , UDM  458 , and AF  460  coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC  440  may be briefly introduced as follows. 
     The AUSF  442  may store data for authentication of UE  402  and handle authentication-related functionality. The AUSF  442  may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC  440  over reference points as shown, the AUSF  442  may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface. 
     The AMF  444  may allow other functions of the 5GC  440  to communicate with the UE  402  and the RAN  404  and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE  402 . The AMF  444  may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE  402 ), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF  444  may provide transport for SM messages between the UE  402  and the SMF  446 , and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF  444  may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE  402  and an SMSF. AMF  444  may interact with the AUSF  442  and the UE  402  to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF  444  may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN  404  and the AMF  444 ; and the AMF  444  may be a termination point of NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF  444  may also support NAS signaling with the UE  402  over an N3 IWF interface. 
     The SMF  446  may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF  448  and AN  408 ); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF  448  to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF  444  over N2 to AN  408 ; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE  402  and the data network  436 . 
     The UPF  448  may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network  436 , and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF  448  may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF-to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF  448  may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network. 
     The NSSF  450  may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE  402 . The NSSF  450  may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF  450  may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE  402 , or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF  454 . The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE  402  may be triggered by the AMF  444  with which the UE  402  is registered by interacting with the NSSF  450 , which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF  450  may interact with the AMF  444  via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF  450  may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface. 
     The NEF  452  may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF  460 ), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF  452  may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF  452  may also translate information exchanged with the AF  460  and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF  452  may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF  452  may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF  452  as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF  452  to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF  452  may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface. 
     The NRF  454  may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF  454  also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF  454  may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface. 
     The PCF  456  may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF  456  may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM  458 . In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF  456  exhibit an Npcf service-based interface. 
     The UDM  458  may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities&#39; handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE  402 . For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM  458  and the AMF  444 . The UDM  458  may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM  458  and the PCF  456 , and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs  402 ) for the NEF  452 . The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR  221  to allow the UDM  458 , PCF  456 , and NEF  452  to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM  458  may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface. 
     The AF  460  may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. 
     In some embodiments, the 5GC  440  may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE  402  is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC  440  may select a UPF  448  close to the UE  402  and execute traffic steering from the UPF  448  to data network  436  via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF  460 . In this way, the AF  460  may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF  460  is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF  460  to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF  460  may exhibit an Naf service-based interface. 
     The data network  436  may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server  438 . 
       FIG.  5    schematically illustrates a wireless network  500  in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network  500  may include a UE  502  in wireless communication with an AN  504 . The UE  502  and AN  504  may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein. 
     The UE  502  may be communicatively coupled with the AN  504  via connection  506 . The connection  506  is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6 GHz frequencies. 
     The UE  502  may include a host platform  508  coupled with a modem platform  510 . The host platform  508  may include application processing circuitry  512 , which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry  514  of the modem platform  510 . The application processing circuitry  512  may run various applications for the UE  502  that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry  512  may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations 
     The protocol processing circuitry  514  may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection  506 . The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry  514  may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations. 
     The modem platform  510  may further include digital baseband circuitry  516  that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry  514  in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions. 
     The modem platform  510  may further include transmit circuitry  518 , receive circuitry  520 , RF circuitry  522 , and RF front end (RFFE)  524 , which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels  526 . Briefly, the transmit circuitry  518  may include a digital-to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry  520  may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry  522  may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE  524  may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry  518 , receive circuitry  520 , RF circuitry  522 , RFFE  524 , and antenna panels  526  (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry  514  may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components. 
     A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels  526 , RFFE  524 , RF circuitry  522 , receive circuitry  520 , digital baseband circuitry  516 , and protocol processing circuitry  514 . In some embodiments, the antenna panels  526  may receive a transmission from the AN  504  by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels  526 . 
     A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry  514 , digital baseband circuitry  516 , transmit circuitry  518 , RF circuitry  522 , RFFE  524 , and antenna panels  526 . In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE  504  may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels  526 . 
     Similar to the UE  502 , the AN  504  may include a host platform  528  coupled with a modem platform  530 . The host platform  528  may include application processing circuitry  532  coupled with protocol processing circuitry  534  of the modem platform  530 . The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry  536 , transmit circuitry  538 , receive circuitry  540 , RF circuitry  542 , RFFE circuitry  544 , and antenna panels  546 . The components of the AN  504  may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE  502 . In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN  508  may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling. 
       FIG.  6    is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, 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.  6    shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources  600  including one or more processors (or processor cores)  610 , one or more memory/storage devices  620 , and one or more communication resources  630 , each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus  640  or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor  602  may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources  600 . 
     The processors  610  may include, for example, a processor  612  and a processor  614 . The processors  610  may be, for example, 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 DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof. 
     The memory/storage devices  620  may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices  620  may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-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. 
     The communication resources  630  may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices  604  or one or more databases  606  or other network elements via a network  608 . For example, the communication resources  630  may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components. 
     Instructions  650  may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors  610  to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions  650  may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors  610  (e.g., within the processor&#39;s cache memory), the memory/storage devices  620 , or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions  650  may be transferred to the hardware resources  600  from any combination of the peripheral devices  604  or the databases  606 . Accordingly, the memory of processors  610 , the memory/storage devices  620 , the peripheral devices  604 , and the databases  606  are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media. 
       FIG.  7    illustrates a network  700  in accordance with various embodiments. The network  700  may operate in a matter consistent with 3GPP technical specifications or technical reports for 6G systems. In some embodiments, the network  700  may operate concurrently with network  400 . For example, in some embodiments, the network  700  may share one or more frequency or bandwidth resources with network  400 . As one specific example, a UE (e.g., UE  702 ) may be configured to operate in both network  700  and network  400 . Such configuration may be based on a UE including circuitry configured for communication with frequency and bandwidth resources of both networks  400  and  700 . In general, several elements of network  700  may share one or more characteristics with elements of network  400 . For the sake of brevity and clarity, such elements may not be repeated in the description of network  700 . 
     The network  700  may include a UE  702 , which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN  708  via an over-the-air connection. The UE  702  may be similar to, for example, UE  402 . The UE  702  may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, IoT device, etc. 
     Although not specifically shown in  FIG.  7   , in some embodiments the network  700  may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc. Similarly, although not specifically shown in  FIG.  7   , the UE  702  may be communicatively coupled with an AP such as AP  406  as described with respect to  FIG.  4   . Additionally, although not specifically shown in  FIG.  7   , in some embodiments the RAN  708  may include one or more ANss such as AN  408  as described with respect to  FIG.  4   . The RAN  708  and/or the AN of the RAN  708  may be referred to as a base station (BS), a RAN node, or using some other term or name. 
     The UE  702  and the RAN  708  may be configured to communicate via an air interface that may be referred to as a sixth generation (6G) air interface. The 6G air interface may include one or more features such as communication in a terahertz (THz) or sub-THz bandwidth, or joint communication and sensing. As used herein, the term “joint communication and sensing” may refer to a system that allows for wireless communication as well as radar-based sensing via various types of multiplexing. As used herein, THz or sub-THz bandwidths may refer to communication in the 80 GHz and above frequency ranges. Such frequency ranges may additionally or alternatively be referred to as “millimeter wave” or “mmWave” frequency ranges. 
     The RAN  708  may allow for communication between the UE  702  and a 6G core network (CN)  710 . Specifically, the RAN  708  may facilitate the transmission and reception of data between the UE  702  and the 6G CN  710 . The 6G CN  710  may include various functions such as NSSF  450 , NEF  452 , NRF  454 , PCF  456 , UDM  458 , AF  460 , SMF  446 , and AUSF  442 . The 6G CN  710  may additional include UPF  448  and DN  436  as shown in  FIG.  7   . 
     Additionally, the RAN  708  may include various additional functions that are in addition to, or alternative to, functions of a legacy cellular network such as a 4G or 5G network. Two such functions may include a Compute Control Function (Comp CF)  724  and a Compute Service Function (Comp SF)  736 . The Comp CF  724  and the Comp SF  736  may be parts or functions of the Computing Service Plane. Comp CF  724  may be a control plane function that provides functionalities such as management of the Comp SF  736 , computing task context generation and management (e.g., create, read, modify, delete), interaction with the underlaying computing infrastructure for computing resource management, etc. Comp SF  736  may be a user plane function that serves as the gateway to interface computing service users (such as UE  702 ) and computing nodes behind a Comp SF instance. Some functionalities of the Comp SF  736  may include: parse computing service data received from users to compute tasks executable by computing nodes; hold service mesh ingress gateway or service API gateway; service and charging policies enforcement; performance monitoring and telemetry collection, etc. In some embodiments, a Comp SF  736  instance may serve as the user plane gateway for a cluster of computing nodes. A Comp CF  724  instance may control one or more Comp SF  736  instances. 
     Two other such functions may include a Communication Control Function (Comm CF)  728  and a Communication Service Function (Comm SF)  738 , which may be parts of the Communication Service Plane. The Comm CF  728  may be the control plane function for managing the Comm SF  738 , communication sessions creation/configuration/releasing, and managing communication session context. The Comm SF  738  may be a user plane function for data transport. Comm CF  728  and Comm SF  738  may be considered as upgrades of SMF  446  and UPF  448 , which were described with respect to a 5G system in  FIG.  4   . The upgrades provided by the Comm CF  728  and the Comm SF  738  may enable service-aware transport. For legacy (e.g., 4G or 5G) data transport, SMF  446  and UPF  448  may still be used. 
     Two other such functions may include a Data Control Function (Data CF)  722  and Data Service Function (Data SF)  732  may be parts of the Data Service Plane. Data CF  722  may be a control plane function and provides functionalities such as Data SF  732  management, Data service creation/configuration/releasing, Data service context management, etc. Data SF  732  may be a user plane function and serve as the gateway between data service users (such as UE  702  and the various functions of the 6G CN  710 ) and data service endpoints behind the gateway. Specific functionalities may include include: parse data service user data and forward to corresponding data service endpoints, generate charging data, report data service status. 
     Another such function may be the Service Orchestration and Chaining Function (SOCF)  720 , which may discover, orchestrate and chain up communication/computing/data services provided by functions in the network. Upon receiving service requests from users, SOCF  720  may interact with one or more of Comp CF  724 , Comm CF  728 , and Data CF  722  to identify Comp SF  736 , Comm SF  738 , and Data SF  732  instances, configure service resources, and generate the service chain, which could contain multiple Comp SF  736 , Comm SF  738 , and Data SF  732  instances and their associated computing endpoints. Workload processing and data movement may then be conducted within the generated service chain. The SOCF  720  may also responsible for maintaining, updating, and releasing a created service chain. 
     Another such function may be the service registration function (SRF)  714 , which may act as a registry for system services provided in the user plane such as services provided by service endpoints behind Comp SF  736  and Data SF  732  gateways and services provided by the UE  702 . The SRF  714  may be considered a counterpart of NRF  454 , which may act as the registry for network functions. 
     Other such functions may include an evolved service communication proxy (eSCP) and service infrastructure control function (SICF)  726 , which may provide service communication infrastructure for control plane services and user plane services. The eSCP may be related to the service communication proxy (SCP) of 5G with user plane service communication proxy capabilities being added. The eSCP is therefore expressed in two parts: eCSP-C  712  and eSCP-U  734 , for control plane service communication proxy and user plane service communication proxy, respectively. The SICF  726  may control and configure eCSP instances in terms of service traffic routing policies, access rules, load balancing configurations, performance monitoring, etc. 
     Another such function is the AMF  744 . The AMF  744  may be similar to  444 , but with additional functionality. Specifically, the AMF  744  may include potential functional repartition, such as move the message forwarding functionality from the AMF  744  to the RAN  708 . 
     Another such function is the service orchestration exposure function (SOEF)  718 . The SOEF may be configured to expose service orchestration and chaining services to external users such as applications. 
     The UE  702  may include an additional function that is referred to as a computing client service function (comp CSF)  704 . The comp CSF  704  may have both the control plane functionalities and user plane functionalities, and may interact with corresponding network side functions such as SOCF  720 , Comp CF  724 , Comp SF  736 , Data CF  722 , and/or Data SF  732  for service discovery, request/response, compute task workload exchange, etc. The Comp CSF  704  may also work with network side functions to decide on whether a computing task should be run on the UE  702 , the RAN  708 , and/or an element of the 6G CN  710 . 
     The UE  702  and/or the Comp CSF  704  may include a service mesh proxy  706 . The service mesh proxy  706  may act as a proxy for service-to-service communication in the user plane. Capabilities of the service mesh proxy  706  may include one or more of addressing, security, load balancing, etc. 
     Example Procedures 
     In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of  FIGS.  4 - 7   , or some other figure herein, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in  FIG.  8   . The process may be performed by a UE of a cellular network, one or more elements of a UE, and/or an electronic device that includes or implements a UE. The process may include identifying, at  805 , that the UE is to transmit a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission when operating in an unlicensed spectrum; identifying, at  810 , one or more channel occupancy time (COT) assumptions related to the CG UL transmission; identifying, at  815 , whether to validate the one or more COT assumptions based on one or more factors related to the cellular network; and validating or not validating, at  820 , the one or more COT assumptions. 
     Another such process is depicted in  FIG.  9   . The process may be performed by a UE of a cellular network, one or more elements of a UE, and/or an electronic device that includes or implements a UE. The process may include identifying, at  905 , that a failure of a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure is related to alignment with a u-FFP; and repeating, at  910  based on the identification, the LBT procedure. 
     Another such process is depicted in  FIG.  10   . The process may be performed by a UE of a cellular network, one or more elements of a UE, and/or an electronic device that includes or implements a UE. The process may include identifying, at  1005 , that the UE is to transmit a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission when operating in an unlicensed spectrum; identifying, at  1010 , one or more channel occupancy time (COT) assumptions related to the CG UL transmission; identifying, at  1015 , whether to validate the one or more COT assumptions based on one or more factors related to the cellular network; and validating or not validating, at  1020  based on the identifying, the one or more COT assumptions. 
     Another such process is depicted in  FIG.  11   . The process may be performed by a UE of a cellular network, one or more elements of a UE, and/or an electronic device that includes or implements a UE. The process may include identifying, at  1105 , that a failure of a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure is related to alignment with a u-FFP; and notifying, at  1120  based on the identification, a higher layer about the failure of the LBT procedure. 
     For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section. 
     EXAMPLES 
     Example 1 may include this disclosure provides different options on how the UE should behave when determining the COT initiator assumptions when transmitting a CG UL transmission when operating in unlicensed spectrum. 
     Example 2 may include this disclosure also provides different options on how the UE should behave in case of multi-carrier operation, and provides a new definition of intra and cross-FFP scheduling. 
     Example 3 may include the method of example 2 and/or some other example herein, when a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling DCI are confined within the same g-FFP of duration T x  over which the DCI is transmitted or as an alternative the g-FFP of duration T x  corresponding to the same carrier(s) over which the UL transmission is, but they are confined in different RB sets (within or over an LBT BW or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) across different carriers (which may be different than those used by the g-FFP transmitting the UL scheduling DCI), if the UE is indicated to operate as responding device it may skip the process of validating the COT assumption. 
     Example 4 may include the method of example 2 and/or some other example herein, when a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling DCI are not confined within the same g-FFP of duration T x  over which the DCI is transmitted or as an alternative the g-FFP of duration T x  corresponding to the same carrier(s) over which the UL transmission is, but they are confined in different RB sets (within or over an LBT BW or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) across different carriers (which may be different than those used by the g-FFP transmitting the UL scheduling DCI), if the UE is indicated to operate as responding device, before transmitting it may need to validate the COT assumption. 
     Example 5 may include the method of example 2 and/or some other example herein, wherein regardless of whether a scheduled UL transmission and the corresponding scheduling DCI are confined or not within the same g-FFP of duration T x  over which the DCI is transmitted or as an alternative the g-FFP of duration T x  corresponding to the same carrier(s) over which the UL transmission is, but they are confined in different RB sets (within or over an LBT BW or LBT BWs, each of 20 MHz) across different carriers (which may be different than those used by the g-FFP transmitting the UL scheduling DCI), if the UE is indicated to operate as responding device, before transmitting it may need to validate the COT assumption. 
     Example 6 may include this disclosure also provides details on how to enable segmentation across an idle period when the NR-U repetition scheme is used. 
     Example 7 may include details on how to distinguish or highlight/weight with higher priority an LBT failure occurring at a UE for an intended UL transmission aligning with a u-FFP when that UE assesses that it should operates as an initiating device, compared to other typical cases when LBT fails at the UE&#39;s side, and the UE may have other back-to-back opportunities to attempt again the LBT procedure and transmission. 
     Example 8 includes a method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network, the method comprising: identifying that the UE is to transmit a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission when operating in an unlicensed spectrum; identifying one or more channel occupancy time (COT) assumptions related to the CG UL transmission; identifying whether to validate the one or more COT assumptions based on one or more factors related to the cellular network; and validating or not validating the one or more COT assumptions. 
     Example 9 includes a method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network, the method comprising: identifying that a failure of a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure is related to alignment with a u-FFP; and repeating, based on the identification, the LBT procedure. 
     Example 10 includes a method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network, the method comprising: identifying that the UE is to transmit a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission when operating in an unlicensed spectrum; identifying one or more channel occupancy time (COT) assumptions related to the CG UL transmission; identifying whether to validate the one or more COT assumptions based on one or more factors related to the cellular network; and validating or not validating, based on the identifying, the one or more COT assumptions. 
     Example 11 includes the method of example 10, and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more COT assumptions are based on a downlink control information (DCI). 
     Example 12 includes the method of any of examples 10-11, and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more factors related to the cellular network include an identification that the UL transmission and an indication of the one or more COT assumptions are within a same g-fixed frame period (FFP). 
     Example 13 includes the method of any of examples 10-12, and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more factors related to the cellular network is based on a resource block (RB) set to which the UL transmission is confined. 
     Example 14 includes the method of any of examples 10-12, and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more factors related to the cellular network include an indication from a base station that the UE is to operate as a responding device. 
     Example 15 includes the method of any of examples 10-14, and/or some other example herein, wherein the one or more factors related to the cellular network include an indication from a base station that the UE is to operate as an initiating device. 
     Example 16 includes a method to be performed by a user equipment (UE) of a cellular network, the method comprising: identifying that a failure of a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure is related to alignment with a u-FFP; and notifying, based on the identification, a higher layer about the failure of the LBT procedure. 
     Example 17 includes the method of example 16, and/or some other example herein, wherein the failure of the LBT procedure is based on an intended uplink (UL) transmission to which the LBT procedure is related aligning with a boundary of the u-FFP. 
     Example 18 includes the method of any of examples 16-17, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notifying the higher layer includes notifying the higher layer about failure of the LBT procedure related to an uplink (UL) transmission that aligns with a boundary of the u-FFP. 
     Example 19 includes the method of any of examples 16-18, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notifying includes notifying the higher layer about failure of the LBT procedure related to a plurality of uplink (UL) transmissions within the u-FFP. 
     Example 20 includes the method of example 19, and/or some other example herein, wherein the plurality of UL transmissions does not include a UL transmission that overlaps with an idle period of the UE. 
     Example 21 includes the method of any of examples 16-20, and/or some other example herein, wherein the UE is to operate as an initiating device. 
     Example 22 includes the method of any of examples 16-21, and/or some other example herein, wherein the notifying includes an indication of a number of times the LBT procedure has failed. 
     Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or any other method or process described herein. 
     Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or any other method or process described herein. 
     Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or any other method or process described herein. 
     Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof. 
     Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions thereof. 
     Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof. 
     Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure. 
     Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure. 
     Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure. 
     Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions thereof. 
     Example Z11 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-22, or portions thereof. 
     Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein. 
     Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein. 
     Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. 
     Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein. 
     Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments. 
     Abbreviations 
     Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 v16.0.0 (2019 June). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 3GPP  
                 Third Generation Partnership Project 
               
               
                 4G  
                 Fourth Generation 
               
               
                 5G  
                 Fifth Generation 
               
               
                 5GC  
                 5G Core network 
               
               
                 AC 
                 Application Client 
               
               
                 ACR  
                 Application Context Relocation 
               
               
                 ACK  
                 Acknowledgement 
               
               
                 ACID 
                 Application Client Identification 
               
               
                 AF  
                 Application Function 
               
               
                 AM  
                 Acknowledged Mode 
               
               
                 AMBR 
                 Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate 
               
               
                 AMF  
                 Access and Mobility Management Function 
               
               
                 AN  
                 Access Network 
               
               
                 ANR  
                 Automatic Neighbour Relation 
               
               
                 AOA 
                 Angle of Arrival 
               
               
                 AP  
                 Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point 
               
               
                 API  
                 Application Programming Interface 
               
               
                 APN  
                 Access Point Name 
               
               
                 ARP  
                 Allocation and Retention Priority 
               
               
                 ARQ  
                 Automatic Repeat Request 
               
               
                 AS  
                 Access Stratum 
               
               
                 ASP 
                 Application Service Provider 
               
               
                 ASN.1 
                 Abstract Syntax Notation One 
               
               
                 AUSF  
                 Authentication Server Function 
               
               
                 AWGN 
                 Additive White Gaussian Noise 
               
               
                 BAP  
                 Backhaul Adaptation Protocol 
               
               
                 BCH  
                 Broadcast Channel 
               
               
                 BER  
                 Bit Error Ratio 
               
               
                 BFD 
                 Beam Failure Detection 
               
               
                 BLER  
                 Block Error Rate 
               
               
                 BPSK  
                 Binary Phase Shift Keying 
               
               
                 BRAS  
                 Broadband Remote Access Server 
               
               
                 BSS  
                 Business Support System 
               
               
                 BS  
                 Base Station 
               
               
                 BSR  
                 Buffer Status Report 
               
               
                 BW  
                 Bandwidth 
               
               
                 BWP  
                 Bandwidth Part 
               
               
                 C-RNTI 
                 Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity 
               
               
                 CA 
                 Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority 
               
               
                 CAPEX 
                 CAPital Expenditure 
               
               
                 CBRA  
                 Contention Based Random Access 
               
               
                 CC  
                 Component Carrier, Country Code, 
               
               
                   
                 Cryptographic Checksum 
               
               
                 CCA  
                 Clear Channel Assessment 
               
               
                 CCE  
                 Control Channel Element 
               
               
                 CCCH  
                 Common Control Channel 
               
               
                 CE  
                 Coverage Enhancement 
               
               
                 CDM  
                 Content Delivery Network 
               
               
                 CDMA 
                 Code-Division Multiple Access 
               
               
                 CDR  
                 Charging Data Request 
               
               
                 CDR  
                 Charging Data Response 
               
               
                 CFRA  
                 Contention Free Random Access 
               
               
                 CG  
                 Cell Group 
               
               
                 CGF 
                 Charging Gateway Function 
               
               
                 CHF 
                 Charging Function 
               
               
                 CI  
                 Cell Identity 
               
               
                 CID  
                 Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method) 
               
               
                 CIM  
                 Common Information Model 
               
               
                 CIR  
                 Carrier to Interference Ratio 
               
               
                 CK  
                 Cipher Key 
               
               
                 CM  
                 Connection Management, Conditional 
               
               
                   
                 Mandatory 
               
               
                 CMAS  
                 Commercial Mobile Alert Service 
               
               
                 CMD  
                 Command 
               
               
                 CMS  
                 Cloud Management System 
               
               
                 CO  
                 Conditional Optional 
               
               
                 CoMP  
                 Coordinated Multi-Point 
               
               
                 CORESET  
                 Control Resource Set 
               
               
                 COTS  
                 Commercial Off-The-Shelf 
               
               
                 CP  
                 Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point 
               
               
                 CPD  
                 Connection Point Descriptor 
               
               
                 CPE  
                 Customer Premise Equipment 
               
               
                 CPICH 
                 Common Pilot Channel 
               
               
                 CQI  
                 Channel Quality Indicator 
               
               
                 CPU  
                 CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit 
               
               
                 C/R  
                 Command/Response field bit 
               
               
                 CRAN  
                 Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN 
               
               
                 CRB  
                 Common Resource Block 
               
               
                 CRC  
                 Cyclic Redundancy Check 
               
               
                 CRI  
                 Channel-State Information Resource Indicator,  
               
               
                   
                 CSI-RS Resource Indicator 
               
               
                 C-RNTI 
                 Cell RNTI 
               
               
                 CS  
                 Circuit Switched 
               
               
                 CSCF 
                 call session control function 
               
               
                 CSAR  
                 Cloud Service Archive 
               
               
                 CSI  
                 Channel-State Information 
               
               
                 CSI-IM  
                 CSI Interference Measurement 
               
               
                 CSI-RS 
                 CSI Reference Signal 
               
               
                 CSI-RSRP 
                 CSI reference signal received power 
               
               
                 CSI-RSRQ 
                 CSI reference signal received quality 
               
               
                 CSI-SINR  
                 CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio 
               
               
                 CSMA  
                 Carrier Sense MultipleAccess 
               
               
                 CSMA/CA  
                 CSMA with collision avoidance 
               
               
                 CSS  
                 Common Search Space, Cell-specific Search Space 
               
               
                 CTF 
                 Charging Trigger Function 
               
               
                 CTS  
                 Clear-to-Send 
               
               
                 CW  
                 Codeword 
               
               
                 CWS  
                 Contention Window Size 
               
               
                 D2D  
                 Device-to-Device 
               
               
                 DC  
                 Dual Connectivity, Direct Current 
               
               
                 DCI  
                 Downlink Control Information 
               
               
                 DF  
                 Deployment Flavour 
               
               
                 DL  
                 Downlink 
               
               
                 DMTF  
                 Distributed Management Task Force 
               
               
                 DPDK  
                 Data Plane Development Kit 
               
               
                 DM-RS, DMRS 
                 Demodulation Reference Signal 
               
               
                 DN  
                 Data network 
               
               
                 DNN  
                 Data Network Name 
               
               
                 DNAI  
                 Data Network Access Identifier 
               
               
                 DRB  
                 Data Radio Bearer 
               
               
                 DRS  
                 Discovery Reference Signal 
               
               
                 DRX  
                 Discontinuous Reception 
               
               
                 DSL  
                 Domain Specific Language. Digital 
               
               
                   
                 Subscriber Line 
               
               
                 DSLAM 
                 DSL Access Multiplexer 
               
               
                 DwPTS 
                 Downlink Pilot Time Slot 
               
               
                 E-LAN 
                 Ethernet Local Area Network 
               
               
                 E2E  
                 End-to-End 
               
               
                 EAS  
                 Edge Application Server 
               
               
                 ECCA  
                 extended clear channel assessment, extended CCA 
               
               
                 ECCE  
                 Enhanced Control Channel Element, 
               
               
                   
                 Enhanced CCE 
               
               
                 ED  
                 Energy Detection 
               
               
                 EDGE  
                 Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution 
               
               
                   
                 (GSM Evolution) 
               
               
                 EAS 
                 Edge Application Server 
               
               
                 EASID 
                 Edge Application Server Identification 
               
               
                 ECS 
                 Edge Configuration Server 
               
               
                 ECSP 
                 Edge Computing Service Provider 
               
               
                 EDN 
                 Edge Data Network 
               
               
                 EEC 
                 Edge Enabler Client 
               
               
                 EECID 
                 Edge Enabler Client Identification 
               
               
                 EES 
                 Edge Enabler Server 
               
               
                 EESID 
                 Edge Enabler Server Identification 
               
               
                 EHE 
                 Edge Hosting Environment 
               
               
                 EGMF  
                 Exposure Governance Management Function 
               
               
                 EGPRS 
                 Enhanced GPRS 
               
               
                 EIR  
                 Equipment Identity Register 
               
               
                 eLAA  
                 enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, enhanced  
               
               
                   
                 LAA 
               
               
                 EM  
                 Element Manager 
               
               
                 eMBB  
                 Enhanced Mobile Broadband 
               
               
                 EMS  
                 Element Management System 
               
               
                 eNB  
                 evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B 
               
               
                 EN-DC 
                 E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity 
               
               
                 EPC  
                 Evolved Packet Core 
               
               
                 EPDCCH  
                 enhanced Physical Downlink Control Cannel 
               
               
                 enhanced 
                   
               
               
                 PDCCH,  
                   
               
               
                 EPRE  
                 Energy per resource element 
               
               
                 EPS  
                 Evolved Packet System 
               
               
                 EREG  
                 enhanced REG, enhanced resource element  
               
               
                   
                 groups 
               
               
                 ETSI  
                 European Telecommunications Standards Institute 
               
               
                 ETWS  
                 Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System 
               
               
                 eUICC  
                 embedded UICC, embedded Universal Integrated  
               
               
                   
                 Circuit Card 
               
               
                 E-UTRA 
                 Evolved UTRA 
               
               
                 E-UTRAN  
                 Evolved UTRAN 
               
               
                 EV2X  
                 Enhanced V2X 
               
               
                 F1AP  
                 F1 Application Protocol 
               
               
                 F1-C  
                 F1 Control plane interface 
               
               
                 F1-U  
                 F1 User plane interface 
               
               
                 FACCH 
                 Fast Associated Control CHannel 
               
               
                 FACCH/F  
                 Fast Associated Control Channel/Full rate 
               
               
                 FACCH/H  
                 Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate 
               
               
                 FACH  
                 Forward Access Channel 
               
               
                 FAUSCH  
                 Fast Uplink Signalling Channel 
               
               
                 FB  
                 Functional Block 
               
               
                 FBI  
                 Feedback Information 
               
               
                 FCC  
                 Federal Communications Commission 
               
               
                 FCCH  
                 Frequency Correction CHannel 
               
               
                 FDD  
                 Frequency Division Duplex 
               
               
                 FDM  
                 Frequency Division Multiplex 
               
               
                 FDMA 
                 Frequency Division Multiple Access 
               
               
                 FE  
                 Front End 
               
               
                 FEC  
                 Forward Error Correction 
               
               
                 FFS  
                 For Further Study 
               
               
                 FFT 
                 Fast Fourier Transformation feLAA further  
               
               
                   
                 enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, further 
               
               
                   
                 enhanced LAA 
               
               
                 FN  
                 Frame Number 
               
               
                 FPGA 
                 Field-Programmable Gate Array 
               
               
                 FR  
                 Frequency Range 
               
               
                 FQDN  
                 Fully Qualified Domain Name 
               
               
                 G-RNTI 
                 GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity 
               
               
                 GERAN  
                 GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio 
               
               
                   
                 Access Network 
               
               
                 GGSN  
                 Gateway GPRS Support Node 
               
               
                 GLONASS  
                 GLObal&#39;naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya 
               
               
                   
                 Sistema (Engl.: Global Navigation Satellite  
               
               
                   
                 System) 
               
               
                 gNB  
                 Next Generation NodeB 
               
               
                 gNB-CU 
                 gNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB 
               
               
                   
                 centralized unit 
               
               
                 gNB-DU  
                 gNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB 
               
               
                   
                 distributed unit 
               
               
                 GNSS  
                 Global Navigation Satellite System 
               
               
                 GPRS  
                 General Packet Radio Service 
               
               
                 GPSI 
                 Generic Public Subscription Identifier 
               
               
                 GSM  
                 Global System for Mobile Communications, 
               
               
                   
                 Groupe Spécial Mobile 
               
               
                 GTP  
                 GPRS Tunneling Protocol 
               
               
                 GTP-UGPRS  
                 Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane 
               
               
                 GTS  
                 Go To Sleep Signal 
               
               
                   
                 (related to WUS) 
               
               
                 GUMMEI  
                 Globally Unique MME Identifier 
               
               
                 GUTI  
                 Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity 
               
               
                 HARQ  
                 Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request 
               
               
                 HANDO  
                 Handover 
               
               
                 HFN  
                 HyperFrame Number 
               
               
                 HHO  
                 Hard Handover 
               
               
                 HLR  
                 Home Location Register 
               
               
                 HN  
                 Home Network 
               
               
                 HO 
                 Handover 
               
               
                 HPLMN 
                 Home Public Land Mobile Network 
               
               
                 HSDPA  
                 High Speed Downlink Packet Access 
               
               
                 HSN  
                 Hopping Sequence Number 
               
               
                 HSPA  
                 High Speed Packet Access 
               
               
                 HSS  
                 Home Subscriber Server 
               
               
                 HSUPA 
                 High Speed Uplink Packet Access 
               
               
                 HTTP  
                 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol 
               
               
                 HTTPS 
                 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https is 
               
               
                   
                 http/1.1 over SSL, i.e. port 443) 
               
               
                 I-Block 
                 Information Block 
               
               
                 ICCID  
                 Integrated Circuit Card Identification 
               
               
                 IAB  
                 Integrated Access and Backhaul 
               
               
                 ICIC  
                 Inter-Cell Interference Coordination 
               
               
                 ID  
                 Identity, identifier 
               
               
                 IDFT  
                 Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform 
               
               
                 IE  
                 Information element 
               
               
                 IBE  
                 In-Band Emission 
               
               
                 IEEE  
                 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 
               
               
                 IEI  
                 Information Element Identifier 
               
               
                 IEIDL  
                 Information Element Identifier Data Length 
               
               
                 IETF  
                 Internet Engineering Task Force 
               
               
                 IF  
                 Infrastructure 
               
               
                 IIOT  
                 Industrial Internet of Things 
               
               
                 IM  
                 Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP 
               
               
                   
                 Multimedia 
               
               
                 IMC 
                 IMS Credentials 
               
               
                 IMEI  
                 International Mobile Equipment Identity 
               
               
                 IMGI  
                 International mobile group identity 
               
               
                 IMPI  
                 IP Multimedia Private Identity 
               
               
                 IMPU  
                 IP Multimedia PUblic identity 
               
               
                 IMS  
                 IP Multimedia Subsystem 
               
               
                 IMSI  
                 International Mobile Subscriber Identity 
               
               
                 IoT  
                 Internet of Things 
               
               
                 IP  
                 Internet Protocol 
               
               
                 Ipsec 
                 IP Security, Internet Protocol Security 
               
               
                 IP-CAN 
                 IP-Connectivity Access Network 
               
               
                 IP-M  
                 IP Multicast 
               
               
                 IPv4  
                 Internet Protocol Version 4 
               
               
                 IPv6  
                 Internet Protocol Version 6 
               
               
                 IR  
                 Infrared 
               
               
                 IS 
                 In Sync 
               
               
                 IRP  
                 Integration Reference Point 
               
               
                 ISDN 
                 Integrated Services Digital Network 
               
               
                 ISIM  
                 IM Services Identity Module 
               
               
                 ISO  
                 International Organisation for Standardisation 
               
               
                 ISP  
                 Internet Service Provider 
               
               
                 IWF 
                 Interworking-Function 
               
               
                 I-WLAN 
                 Interworking WLAN Constraint length of the  
               
               
                   
                 convolutional code, USIM Individual key 
               
               
                 kB  
                 Kilobyte (1000 bytes) 
               
               
                 kbps 
                 kilo-bits per second 
               
               
                 Kc  
                 Ciphering key 
               
               
                 Ki  
                 Individual subscriber authentication key 
               
               
                 KPI  
                 Key Performance Indicator 
               
               
                 KQI  
                 Key Quality Indicator 
               
               
                 KSI  
                 Key Set Identifier 
               
               
                 ksps  
                 kilo-symbols per second 
               
               
                 KVM 
                 Kernel Virtual Machine 
               
               
                 L1  
                 Layer 1 (physical layer) 
               
               
                 L1-RSRP  
                 Layer 1 reference signal received power 
               
               
                 L2  
                 Layer 2 (data link layer) 
               
               
                 L3  
                 Layer 3 (network layer) 
               
               
                 LAA  
                 Licensed Assisted Access 
               
               
                 LAN  
                 Local Area Network 
               
               
                 LADN 
                 Local Area Data Network 
               
               
                 LBT  
                 Listen Before Talk 
               
               
                 LCM  
                 LifeCycle Management 
               
               
                 LCR  
                 Low Chip Rate 
               
               
                 LCS  
                 Location Services 
               
               
                 LCID 
                 Logical Channel ID 
               
               
                 LI  
                 Layer Indicator 
               
               
                 LLC  
                 Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility 
               
               
                 LMF 
                 Location Management Function 
               
               
                 LOS 
                 Line of Sight 
               
               
                 LPLMN 
                 Local PLMN 
               
               
                 LPP  
                 LTE Positioning Protocol 
               
               
                 LSB  
                 Least Significant Bit 
               
               
                 LTE  
                 Long Term Evolution 
               
               
                 LWA  
                 LTE-WLAN aggregation 
               
               
                 LWIP  
                 LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration with 
               
               
                   
                 IPsec Tunnel 
               
               
                 LTE  
                 Long Term Evolution 
               
               
                 M2M  
                 Machine-to-Machine 
               
               
                 MAC  
                 Medium Access Control (protocol layering context) 
               
               
                 MAC  
                 Message authentication code (security/encryption 
               
               
                   
                 context) 
               
               
                 MAC-A 
                 MAC used for authentication and key agreement 
               
               
                   
                 (TSG T WG3 context) 
               
               
                 MAC-IMAC  
                 used for data integrity of signalling messages 
               
               
                   
                 (TSGT WG3 context) 
               
               
                 MANO 
                 Management and Orchestration 
               
               
                 MBMS 
                 Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service 
               
               
                 MBSFN 
                 Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single  
               
               
                   
                 Frequency Network 
               
               
                 MCC  
                 Mobile Country Code 
               
               
                 MCG  
                 Master Cell Group 
               
               
                 MCOT  
                 Maximum Channel Occupancy Time 
               
               
                 MCS  
                 Modulation and coding scheme 
               
               
                 MDAF  
                 Management Data Analytics Function 
               
               
                 MDAS  
                 Management Data Analytics Service 
               
               
                 MDT  
                 Minimization of Drive Tests 
               
               
                 ME  
                 Mobile Equipment 
               
               
                 MeNB  
                 master eNB 
               
               
                 MER  
                 Message Error Ratio 
               
               
                 MGL  
                 Measurement Gap Length 
               
               
                 MGRP  
                 Measurement Gap Repetition Period 
               
               
                 MIB  
                 Master Information Block, Management 
               
               
                   
                 Information Base 
               
               
                 MIMO  
                 Multiple Input Multiple Output 
               
               
                 MLC  
                 Mobile Location Centre 
               
               
                 MM  
                 Mobility Management 
               
               
                 MME  
                 Mobility Management Entity 
               
               
                 MN  
                 Master Node 
               
               
                 MNO 
                 Mobile Network Operator 
               
               
                 MO  
                 Measurement Object, Mobile Originated 
               
               
                 MPBCH 
                 MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel 
               
               
                 MPDCCH  
                 MTC Physical Downlink Control CHannel 
               
               
                 MPDSCH  
                 MTC Physical Downlink Shared CHannel 
               
               
                 MPRACH  
                 MTC Physical Random Access CHannel 
               
               
                 MPUSCH MTC 
                 Physical Uplink Shared Channel 
               
               
                 MPLS  
                 MultiProtocol Label Switching 
               
               
                 MS  
                 Mobile Station 
               
               
                 MSB  
                 Most Significant Bit 
               
               
                 MSC  
                 Mobile Switching Centre 
               
               
                 MSI  
                 Minimum System Information, MCH 
               
               
                   
                 Scheduling Information 
               
               
                 MSID  
                 Mobile Station Identifier 
               
               
                 MSIN  
                 Mobile Station Identification Number 
               
               
                 MSISDN  
                 Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number 
               
               
                 MT  
                 Mobile Terminated, MobileTermination 
               
               
                 MTC  
                 Machine-Type Communications 
               
               
                 mMTC 
                 massive MTC, massive Machine-Type  
               
               
                   
                 Communications 
               
               
                 MU-MIMO  
                 Multi User MIMO 
               
               
                 MWUS 
                 MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS 
               
               
                 NACK  
                 Negative Acknowledgement 
               
               
                 NAI  
                 Network Access Identifier 
               
               
                 NAS  
                 Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access 
               
               
                   
                 Stratum layer 
               
               
                 NCT  
                 Network Connectivity Topology 
               
               
                 NC-JT 
                 Non-coherent Joint Transmission 
               
               
                 NEC  
                 Network Capability Exposure 
               
               
                 NE-DC 
                 NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity 
               
               
                 NEF  
                 Network Exposure Function 
               
               
                 NF  
                 Network Function 
               
               
                 NFP  
                 Network Forwarding Path 
               
               
                 NFPD  
                 Network Forwarding Path Descriptor 
               
               
                 NFV  
                 Network Functions Virtualization 
               
               
                 NFVI  
                 NFV Infrastructure 
               
               
                 NFVO  
                 NFV Orchestrator 
               
               
                 NG  
                 Next Generation, Next Gen 
               
               
                 NGEN-DC 
                 NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity 
               
               
                 NM  
                 Network Manager 
               
               
                 NMS  
                 Network Management System 
               
               
                 N-PoP  
                 Network Point of Presence 
               
               
                 NMIB, N-MIB  
                 Narrowband MIB 
               
               
                 NPBCH 
                 Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel 
               
               
                 NPDCCH  
                 Narrowband Physical Downlink Control  
               
               
                   
                 CHannel 
               
               
                 NPDSCH  
                 Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared  
               
               
                   
                 CHannel 
               
               
                 NPRACH  
                 Narrowband Physical Random Access  
               
               
                   
                 CHannel 
               
               
                 NPUSCH  
                 Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared  
               
               
                   
                 CHannel 
               
               
                 NPSS  
                 Narrowband Primary Synchronization 
               
               
                   
                 Signal 
               
               
                 NSSS  
                 Narrowband Secondary Synchronization 
               
               
                   
                 Signal 
               
               
                 NR  
                 New Radio, Neighbour Relation 
               
               
                 NRF 
                 NF Repository Function 
               
               
                 NRS  
                 Narrowband Reference Signal 
               
               
                 NS  
                 Network Service 
               
               
                 NSA  
                 Non-Standalone operation mode 
               
               
                 NSD  
                 Network Service Descriptor 
               
               
                 NSR  
                 Network Service Record 
               
               
                 NSSAI 
                 Network Slice Selection Assistance 
               
               
                   
                 Information 
               
               
                 S-NNSAI  
                 Single-NSSAI 
               
               
                 NSSF  
                 Network Slice Selection Function 
               
               
                 NW  
                 Network 
               
               
                 NWUS  
                 Narrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband 
               
               
                   
                 WUS 
               
               
                 NZP  
                 Non-Zero Power 
               
               
                 O&amp;M  
                 Operation and Maintenance 
               
               
                 ODU2  
                 Optical channel Data Unit - type 2 
               
               
                 OFDM  
                 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing 
               
               
                 OFDMA 
                 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access 
               
               
                 OOB  
                 Out-of-band 
               
               
                 OOS  
                 Out of Sync 
               
               
                 OPEX  
                 OPerating EXpense 
               
               
                 OSI  
                 Other System Information 
               
               
                 OSS  
                 Operations Support System 
               
               
                 OTA  
                 over-the-air 
               
               
                 PAPR  
                 Peak-to-Average Power Ratio 
               
               
                 PAR  
                 Peak to Average Ratio 
               
               
                 PBCH  
                 Physical Broadcast Channel 
               
               
                 PC  
                 Power Control, Personal Computer 
               
               
                 PCC  
                 Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC 
               
               
                 P-CSCF 
                 Proxy CSCF 
               
               
                 PCell  
                 Primary Cell 
               
               
                 PCI  
                 Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity 
               
               
                 PCEF  
                 Policy and Charging Enforcement Function 
               
               
                 PCF  
                 Policy Control Function 
               
               
                 PCRF  
                 Policy Control and Charging Rules Function 
               
               
                 PDCP  
                 Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet  
               
               
                   
                 Data Convergence Protocol layer 
               
               
                 PDCCH 
                 Physical Downlink Control Channel 
               
               
                 PDCP  
                 Packet Data Convergence Protocol 
               
               
                 PDN  
                 Packet Data Network, Public Data 
               
               
                   
                 Network 
               
               
                 PDSCH 
                 Physical Downlink Shared Channel 
               
               
                 PDU  
                 Protocol Data Unit 
               
               
                 PEI  
                 Permanent Equipment Identifiers 
               
               
                 PFD  
                 Packet Flow Description 
               
               
                 P-GW  
                 PDN Gateway 
               
               
                 PHICH 
                 Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel 
               
               
                 PHY  
                 Physical layer 
               
               
                 PLMN  
                 Public Land Mobile Network 
               
               
                 PIN  
                 Personal Identification Number 
               
               
                 PM  
                 Performance Measurement 
               
               
                 PMI 
                 Precoding Matrix Indicator 
               
               
                 PNF  
                 Physical Network Function 
               
               
                 PNFD  
                 Physical Network Function Descriptor 
               
               
                 PNFR  
                 Physical Network Function Record 
               
               
                 POC  
                 PTT over Cellular PP, PTP Point-to-Point 
               
               
                 PPP  
                 Point-to-Point Protocol 
               
               
                 PRACH 
                 Physical RACH 
               
               
                 PRB  
                 Physical resource block 
               
               
                 PRG  
                 Physical resource block group 
               
               
                 ProSe  
                 Proximity Services, Proximity-Based Service 
               
               
                 PRS  
                 Positioning Reference Signal 
               
               
                 PRR  
                 Packet Reception Radio 
               
               
                 PS  
                 Packet Services 
               
               
                 PSBCH 
                 Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel 
               
               
                 PSDCH 
                 Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel 
               
               
                 PSCCH 
                 Physical Sidelink Control Channel 
               
               
                 PSSCH 
                 Physical Sidelink Shared Channel 
               
               
                 PSCell 
                 Primary SCell 
               
               
                 PSS  
                 Primary Synchronization Signal 
               
               
                 PSTN  
                 Public Switched Telephone Network 
               
               
                 PT-RS  
                 Phase-tracking reference signal 
               
               
                 PTT  
                 Push-to-Talk 
               
               
                 PUCCH 
                 Physical Uplink Control Channel 
               
               
                 PUSCH 
                 Physical Uplink Shared Channel 
               
               
                 QAM  
                 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation 
               
               
                 QCI  
                 QoS class of identifier 
               
               
                 QCL  
                 Quasi co-location 
               
               
                 QFI  
                 QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier 
               
               
                 QoS  
                 Quality of Service 
               
               
                 QPSK  
                 Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying 
               
               
                 QZSS  
                 Quasi-Zenith Satellite System 
               
               
                 RA-RNTI  
                 Random Access RNTI 
               
               
                 RAB  
                 Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst 
               
               
                 RACH  
                 Random Access Channel 
               
               
                 RADIUS 
                 Remote Authentication Dial In User Service 
               
               
                 RAN  
                 Radio Access Network 
               
               
                 RAND  
                 RANDom number (used for authentication) 
               
               
                 RAR  
                 Random Access Response 
               
               
                 RAT  
                 Radio Access Technology 
               
               
                 RAU  
                 Routing Area Update 
               
               
                 RB  
                 Resource block, Radio Bearer 
               
               
                 RBG  
                 Resource block group 
               
               
                 REG  
                 Resource Element Group 
               
               
                 Rel  
                 Release 
               
               
                 REQ  
                 REQuest 
               
               
                 RF  
                 Radio Frequency 
               
               
                 RI  
                 Rank Indicator 
               
               
                 RIV  
                 Resource indicator value 
               
               
                 RL 
                 Radio Link 
               
               
                 RLC  
                 Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer 
               
               
                 RLC AM  
                 RLC Acknowledged Mode 
               
               
                 RLC UM 
                 RLC Unacknowledged Mode 
               
               
                 RLF  
                 Radio Link Failure 
               
               
                 RLM  
                 Radio Link Monitoring 
               
               
                 RLM-RS 
                 Reference Signal for RLM 
               
               
                 RM  
                 Registration Management 
               
               
                 RMC  
                 Reference Measurement Channel 
               
               
                 RMSI  
                 Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum 
               
               
                   
                 System Information 
               
               
                 RN  
                 Relay Node 
               
               
                 RNC  
                 Radio Network Controller 
               
               
                 RNL  
                 Radio Network Layer 
               
               
                 RNTI 
                 Radio Network Temporary Identifier 
               
               
                 ROHC  
                 RObust Header Compression 
               
               
                 RRC  
                 Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource 
               
               
                   
                 Control layer 
               
               
                 RRM  
                 Radio Resource Management 
               
               
                 RS  
                 Reference Signal 
               
               
                 RSRP  
                 Reference Signal Received Power 
               
               
                 RSRQ  
                 Reference Signal Received Quality 
               
               
                 RSSI  
                 Received Signal Strength Indicator 
               
               
                 RSU  
                 Road Side Unit 
               
               
                 RSTD  
                 Reference Signal Time difference 
               
               
                 RTP  
                 Real Time Protocol 
               
               
                 RTS  
                 Ready-To-Send 
               
               
                 RTT  
                 Round Trip Time Rx Reception, 
               
               
                   
                 Receiving, Receiver 
               
               
                 S1AP  
                 S1 Application Protocol 
               
               
                 S1-MME 
                 S1 for the control plane 
               
               
                 S1-U  
                 S1 for the user plane 
               
               
                 S-CSCF 
                 serving CSCF 
               
               
                 S-GW  
                 Serving Gateway 
               
               
                 S-RNTI 
                 SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identity 
               
               
                 S-TMSI 
                 SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier 
               
               
                 SA  
                 Standalone operation mode 
               
               
                 SAE  
                 System Architecture Evolution 
               
               
                 SAP  
                 Service Access Point 
               
               
                 SAPD  
                 Service Access Point Descriptor 
               
               
                 SAPI  
                 Service Access Point Identifier 
               
               
                 SCC  
                 Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC 
               
               
                 SCell  
                 Secondary Cell 
               
               
                 SCEF 
                 Service Capability Exposure Function 
               
               
                 SC-FDMA  
                 Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple 
               
               
                   
                 Access 
               
               
                 SCG  
                 Secondary Cell Group 
               
               
                 SCM  
                 Security Context Management 
               
               
                 SCS  
                 Subcarrier Spacing 
               
               
                 SCTP  
                 Stream Control Transmission Protocol 
               
               
                 SDAP  
                 Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service  
               
               
                   
                 Data Adaptation Protocol layer 
               
               
                 SDL  
                 Supplementary Downlink 
               
               
                 SDNF  
                 Structured Data Storage Network Function 
               
               
                 SDP  
                 Session Description Protocol 
               
               
                 SDSF  
                 Structured Data Storage Function 
               
               
                 SDT  
                 Small Data Transmission 
               
               
                 SDU  
                 Service Data Unit 
               
               
                 SEAF  
                 Security Anchor Function 
               
               
                 SeNB  
                 secondary eNB 
               
               
                 SEPP  
                 Security Edge Protection Proxy 
               
               
                 SFI  
                 Slot format indication 
               
               
                 SFTD  
                 Space-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and 
               
               
                   
                 frame timing difference 
               
               
                 SFN 
                 System Frame Number 
               
               
                 SgNB  
                 Secondary gNB 
               
               
                 SGSN  
                 Serving GPRS Support Node 
               
               
                 S-GW  
                 Serving Gateway 
               
               
                 SI 
                 System Information 
               
               
                 SI-RNTI 
                 System Information RNTI 
               
               
                 SIB  
                 System Information Block 
               
               
                 SIM 
                 Subscriber Identity Module 
               
               
                 SIP 
                 Session Initiated Protocol 
               
               
                 SiP  
                 System in Package 
               
               
                 SL  
                 Sidelink 
               
               
                 SLA  
                 Service Level Agreement 
               
               
                 SM  
                 Session Management 
               
               
                 SMF  
                 Session Management Function 
               
               
                 SMS  
                 Short Message Service 
               
               
                 SMSF 
                 SMS Function 
               
               
                 SMTC  
                 SSB-based Measurement Timing Configuration 
               
               
                 SN  
                 Secondary Node, Sequence Number 
               
               
                 SoC  
                 System on Chip 
               
               
                 SON 
                 Self-Organizing Network 
               
               
                 SpCell 
                 Special Cell 
               
               
                 SP-CSI-RNTI 
                 Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI 
               
               
                 SPS  
                 Semi-Persistent Scheduling 
               
               
                 SQN  
                 Sequence number 
               
               
                 SR  
                 Scheduling Request 
               
               
                 SRB  
                 Signalling Radio Bearer 
               
               
                 SRS  
                 Sounding Reference Signal 
               
               
                 SS 
                 Synchronization Signal 
               
               
                 SSB  
                 Synchronization Signal Block 
               
               
                 SSID  
                 Service Set Identifier 
               
               
                 SS/PBCH  
                 Block SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource 
               
               
                   
                 Indicator, Synchronization Signal Block 
               
               
                   
                 Resource Indicator 
               
               
                 SSC  
                 Session and Service Continuity 
               
               
                 SS-RSRP 
                 Synchronization Signal based Reference 
               
               
                   
                 Signal Received Power 
               
               
                 SS-RSRQ 
                 Synchronization Signal based Reference 
               
               
                   
                 Signal Received Quality 
               
               
                 SS-SINR 
                 Synchronization Signal based Signal to 
               
               
                   
                 Noise and Interference Ratio 
               
               
                 SSS  
                 Secondary Synchronization Signal 
               
               
                 SSSG  
                 Search Space Set Group 
               
               
                 SSSIF  
                 Search Space Set Indicator 
               
               
                 SST  
                 Slice/Service Types 
               
               
                 SU-MIMO  
                 Single User MIMO 
               
               
                 SUL 
                 Supplementary Uplink 
               
               
                 TA  
                 Timing Advance, Tracking Area 
               
               
                 TAC  
                 Tracking Area Code 
               
               
                 TAG  
                 Timing Advance Group 
               
               
                 TAI 
                 Tracking Area Identity 
               
               
                 TAU  
                 Tracking Area Update 
               
               
                 TB  
                 Transport Block 
               
               
                 TBS  
                 Transport Block Size 
               
               
                 TBD  
                 To Be Defined 
               
               
                 TCI  
                 Transmission Configuration Indicator 
               
               
                 TCP  
                 Transmission Communication Protocol 
               
               
                 TDD  
                 Time Division Duplex 
               
               
                 TDM 
                 Time Division Multiplexing 
               
               
                 TDMA 
                 Time Division Multiple Access 
               
               
                 TE  
                 Terminal Equipment 
               
               
                 TEID  
                 Tunnel End Point Identifier 
               
               
                 TFT  
                 Traffic Flow Template 
               
               
                 TMSI  
                 Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity 
               
               
                 TNL  
                 Transport Network Layer 
               
               
                 TPC  
                 Transmit Power Control 
               
               
                 TPMI  
                 Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator 
               
               
                 TR  
                 Technical Report 
               
               
                 TRP, TRxP  
                 Transmission Reception Point 
               
               
                 TRS  
                 Tracking Reference Signal 
               
               
                 TRx  
                 Transceiver 
               
               
                 TS  
                 Technical Specifications, Technical Standard 
               
               
                 TTI  
                 Transmission Time Interval 
               
               
                 Tx  
                 Transmission, Transmitting, Transmitter 
               
               
                 U-RNTI 
                 UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity 
               
               
                 UART 
                 Universal Asynchronous Receiver and 
               
               
                   
                 Transmitter 
               
               
                 UCI  
                 Uplink Control Information 
               
               
                 UE  
                 User Equipment 
               
               
                 UDM  
                 Unified Data Management 
               
               
                 UDP  
                 User Datagram Protocol 
               
               
                 UDSF  
                 Unstructured Data Storage Network 
               
               
                   
                 Function 
               
               
                 UICC  
                 Universal Integrated Circuit Card 
               
               
                 UL  
                 Uplink 
               
               
                 UM  
                 Unacknowledged Mode 
               
               
                 UML  
                 Unified Modelling Language 
               
               
                 UMTS  
                 Universal Mobile Telecommunications 
               
               
                   
                 System 
               
               
                 UP  
                 User Plane 
               
               
                 UPF  
                 User Plane Function 
               
               
                 URI  
                 Uniform Resource Identifier 
               
               
                 URL  
                 Uniform Resource Locator 
               
               
                 URLLC 
                 Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency 
               
               
                 USB  
                 Universal Serial Bus 
               
               
                 USIM  
                 Universal Subscriber Identity Module 
               
               
                 USS  
                 UE-specific search space 
               
               
                 UTRA  
                 UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access 
               
               
                 UTRAN 
                 Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network 
               
               
                 UwPTS 
                 Uplink Pilot Time Slot 
               
               
                 V2I  
                 Vehicle-to-Infrastruction 
               
               
                 V2P  
                 Vehicle-to-Pedestrian 
               
               
                 V2V  
                 Vehicle-to-Vehicle 
               
               
                 V2X  
                 Vehicle-to-everything 
               
               
                 VIM  
                 Virtualized Infrastructure Manager 
               
               
                 VL  
                 Virtual Link, VLAN Virtual LAN, 
               
               
                   
                 Virtual Local Area Network 
               
               
                 VM  
                 Virtual Machine 
               
               
                 VNF  
                 Virtualized Network Function 
               
               
                 VNFFG 
                 VNF Forwarding Graph 
               
               
                 VNFFGD  
                 VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor 
               
               
                 VNFM 
                 VNF Manager 
               
               
                 VoIP  
                 Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol 
               
               
                 VPLMN 
                 Visited Public Land Mobile Network 
               
               
                 VPN  
                 Virtual Private Network 
               
               
                 VRB  
                 Virtual Resource Block 
               
               
                 WiMAX 
                 Worldwide Interoperability for 
               
               
                   
                 Microwave Access 
               
               
                 WLAN 
                 Wireless Local Area Network 
               
               
                 WMAN 
                 Wireless Metropolitan Area Network 
               
               
                 WPAN 
                 Wireless Personal Area Network 
               
               
                 X2-C  
                 X2-Control plane 
               
               
                 X2-U  
                 X2-User plane 
               
               
                 XML  
                 extensible Markup Language 
               
               
                 XRES  
                 EXpected user RESponse 
               
               
                 XOR  
                 exclusive OR 
               
               
                 ZC  
                 Zadoff-Chu 
               
               
                 ZP  
                 Zero Power 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Terminology 
     For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein. 
     The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry. 
     The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.” 
     The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like. 
     The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface. 
     The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like. 
     The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and/or networking resources. 
     The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource. 
     The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/systems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable. 
     The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information. 
     The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. 
     The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and/or the like. 
     The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content. 
     The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration. 
     The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block. 
     The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure. 
     The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation. 
     The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA. 
     The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC. 
     The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell. 
     The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/. 
     The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.