WO2026036261A1

WO2026036261A1 - Relay procedures according to mobile network operations

Info

Publication number: WO2026036261A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/111612
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hong Cheng; Jianhua Liu
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2024-08-13
Filing date: 2024-08-13
Publication date: 2026-02-19
Anticipated expiration: 2027-02-13

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. Relay user equipments (UEs) or remote UEs may transmit a message (e.g., a discovery solicitation message, a discovery response message, a direct communication request (DCR) or a direct communication accept (DCA) message, a link modification request message, a link modification accept message, among other examples) indicating that the UE supports an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. Based on this indication, the UEs may establish a communication link, and perform relay operations. The UEs may transmit a message (e.g., a DCA message) including an information element (IE) or an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation container including information that might otherwise be communicated by internet protocol (IP) layer signaling. Such UEs may then refrain from transmitting redundant IP signaling, resulting in increased efficiency, improved throughput, decreased power expenditures, improved throughput, and improved user experience.

Description

RELAY PROCEDURES ACCORDING TO MOBILE NETWORK OPERATIONS

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The following relates to wireless communications, including relay procedures according to mobile network operations.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) , or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) . A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations, each supporting wireless communication for communication devices, which may be known as user equipment (UE) .

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

A method for wireless communications by a first user equipment (UE) is described. The method may include transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs, establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, and performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

A first UE for wireless communications is described. The first UE may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively be operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to transmit a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs, establish a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, and perform relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

Another first UE for wireless communications is described. The first UE may include means for transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs, means for establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, and means for performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to transmit a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs, establish a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, and perform relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the message indicating the capability includes a discovery message that broadcasts or groupcast, to a set of multiple UEs of the set of UEs, that the first UE supports the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the message indicating the capability includes a discovery solicitation message requesting one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs.

Some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, based on transmitting the discovery solicitation message, one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, where establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations may be based on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the message indicating the capability includes a direct communication request or direct communication accept message that may be part of a connection establishment procedure.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the message indicating the capability includes an information element that includes information including at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE may be not currently able to communicate with, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a periodic sidelink link connection status maintenance message to the one or more additional UEs, the connection status maintenance message including at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE may be not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based on a link status change , where the link modification request message or the link modification accept message including at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE may be not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, performing the relaying operations may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from a second UE, wireless signaling, determining at least a third UE included in the local interface set in accordance with the information included in the information element, and relaying the wireless signaling to at least the third UE based on the local interface set including the third UE.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the message indicating the capability includes a mobile ad hoc network operation specific container.

Some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for refraining from using the information in the mobile ad hoc network operation specific container including, an interval time indicator, a validity time indicator, a link quality indicator, a message sequence number, or any combination thereof based on transmitting the message indicating the capability.

Some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based on a link status change , where the link modification request message or the link modification accept message includes the message indicating the capability and at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE may be not currently able to communicate with, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for refraining from transmitting an IP link status layer message including a HELLO message, a topology control message, or both, based on transmitting the message indicating the capability for the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples of the method, first user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, performing the relaying operations may include operations, features, means, or instructions for establishing one or more connections between one or more relay UEs and transmitting wireless signaling to a second UE via a set of multiple established connections between the one or more relay UEs according to a multi-hop deployment.

Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a process flow that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 4 and 5 show block diagrams of devices that support relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 8 through 10 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more user equipments (UEs) may communicate with each other in a peer-to-peer deployment. The UEs may establish an internet protocol (IP) connection, and may exchange information indicating UE capability to perform relaying communications, link status information, etc. When the UEs supports sidelink based communication, they may also perform sidelink control signaling. In some examples, the link management or establishment signaling for the sidelink links between UEs may carry information that is similar to (e.g. mapped to or used to infer information) or may be enhanced to include aspects of the information exchanged via IP layer signaling. Such duplicated signaling may be inefficient, resulting in inefficient use of available system resources, inefficient use of computational resources, increased system latency, and decreased throughput. Additionally, the sidelink control signaling (e.g. the link management or establishment) , can reflect the link status in a timelier manner than IP layer signaling.

According to techniques described herein, relay UEs or remote UEs may transmit a message (e.g., a discovery solicitation message, a discovery response message, a direct communication request (DCR) or a direct communication accept (DCA) message, a link modification request message, a link modification accept message, among other examples) indicating that the UE supports an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. Based on this indication, the UEs may establish a communication link, and perform the improved (e.g., optimized) relay operations. The UEs may transmit a message (e.g., a DCA message) including an information element (IE) or an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation container including information that might otherwise be communicated by IP layer signaling. Such UEs may then refrain from transmitting redundant IP signaling, resulting in increased efficiency, improved throughput, decreased power expenditures, reduced delay in topology adaptation, improved throughput, and improved user experience.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to wireless communications systems and process flows. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to relay procedures according to mobile network operations.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more devices, such as one or more network devices (e.g., network entities 105) , one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating in accordance with other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communications system 100 and may include devices in different forms or having different capabilities. In various examples, a network entity 105 may be referred to as a network element, a mobility element, a radio access network (RAN) node, a mobile relay, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some examples, network entities 105 and UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via communication link (s) 125 (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) access link) . For example, a network entity 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) over which the UEs 115 and the network entity 105 may establish the communication link (s) 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area over which a network entity 105 and a UE 115 may support the communication of signals according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs) .

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary, or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices in the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., other wireless communication devices, including UEs 115 or network entities 105) , as shown in FIG. 1.

As described herein, a node of the wireless communications system 100, which may be referred to as a network node, or a wireless node, may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein) , a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein) , a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, a node may be a UE 115. As another example, a node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In yet other aspects of this example, the first, second, and third nodes may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, reference to a UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like may include disclosure of the UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, or the like being a node. For example, disclosure that a UE 115 is configured to receive information from a network entity 105 also discloses that a first node is configured to receive information from a second node.

In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with a core network 130, or with one another, or both. For example, network entities 105 may communicate with the core network 130 via backhaul communication link (s) 120 (e.g., in accordance with an S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocol) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via backhaul communication link (s) 120 (e.g., in accordance with an X2, Xn, or other interface protocol) either directly (e.g., directly between network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130) . In some examples, network entities 105 may communicate with one another via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., in accordance with a midhaul interface protocol) or a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., in accordance with a fronthaul interface protocol) , or any combination thereof. The backhaul communication link (s) 120, midhaul communication links 162, or fronthaul communication links 168 may be or include one or more wired links (e.g., an electrical link, an optical fiber link) or one or more wireless links (e.g., a radio link, a wireless optical link) , among other examples or various combinations thereof. A UE 115 may communicate with the core network 130 via a communication link 155.

One or more of the network entities 105 or network equipment described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB) , a next-generation NodeB or giga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB) , a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB) , a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, a mobile gNB with Wireless Backhaul (MWAB) , or other suitable terminology) . In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in an aggregated (e.g., monolithic, standalone) base station architecture, which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within one network entity (e.g., a network entity 105 or a single RAN node, such as a base station 140) .

In some examples, a network entity 105 may be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) , which may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among multiple network entities (e.g., network entities 105) , such as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, a mobile IAB (mIAB) , an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance) , or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN) ) . For example, a network entity 105 may include one or more of a central unit (CU) , such as a CU 160, a distributed unit (DU) , such as a DU 165, a radio unit (RU) , such as an RU 170, a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) , such as an RIC 175 (e.g., a Near-Real Time RIC (Near-RT RIC) , a Non-Real Time RIC (Non-RT RIC) ) , a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system, such as an SMO system 180, or any combination thereof. An RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head (RRH) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , or a transmission reception point (TRP) . One or more components of the network entities 105 in a disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entities 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations) . In some examples, one or more of the network entities 105 of a disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., a virtual CU (VCU) , a virtual DU (VDU) , a virtual RU (VRU) ) .

The split of functionality between a CU 160, a DU 165, and an RU 170 is flexible and may support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, or any combinations thereof) are performed at a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170. For example, a functional split of a protocol stack may be employed between a CU 160 and a DU 165 such that the CU 160 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the DU 165 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, the CU 160 may host upper protocol layer (e.g., layer 3 (L3) , layer 2 (L2) ) functionality and signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) , service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) , Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) ) . The CU 160 (e.g., one or more CUs) may be connected to a DU 165 (e.g., one or more DUs) or an RU 170 (e.g., one or more RUs) , or some combination thereof, and the DUs 165, RUs 170, or both may host lower protocol layers, such as layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally, or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between a DU 165 and an RU 170 such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or multiple different cells (e.g., via one or multiple different RUs, such as an RU 170) . In some cases, a functional split between a CU 160 and a DU 165 or between a DU 165 and an RU 170 may be within a protocol layer (e.g., some functions for a protocol layer may be performed by one of a CU 160, a DU 165, or an RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer are performed by a different one of the CU 160, the DU 165, or the RU 170) . A CU 160 may be functionally split further into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. A CU 160 may be connected to a DU 165 via a midhaul communication link 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u) , and a DU 165 may be connected to an RU 170 via a fronthaul communication link 168 (e.g., open fronthaul (FH) interface) . In some examples, a midhaul communication link 162 or a fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented in accordance with an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities (e.g., one or more of the network entities 105) that are in communication via such communication links.

In some wireless communications systems (e.g., the wireless communications system 100) , infrastructure and spectral resources for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to a core network 130) . In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more of the network entities 105 (e.g., network entities 105 or IAB node (s) 104) may be partially controlled by each other. The IAB node (s) 104 may be referred to as a donor entity or an IAB donor. A DU 165 or an RU 170 may be partially controlled by a CU 160 associated with a network entity 105 or base station 140 (such as a donor network entity or a donor base station) . The one or more donor entities (e.g., IAB donors) may be in communication with one or more additional devices (e.g., IAB node (s) 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication link (s) 120) . IAB node (s) 104 may include an IAB mobile termination (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) of a coupled IAB donor. An IAB-MT may be equipped with an independent set of antennas for relay of communications with UEs 115 or may share the same antennas (e.g., of an RU 170) of IAB node (s) 104 used for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node (s) 104 (e.g., referred to as virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT) ) . In some examples, the IAB node (s) 104 may include one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) that support communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB node (s) 104, UEs 115) within the relay chain or configuration of the access network (e.g., downstream) . In such cases, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., the IAB node (s) 104 or components of the IAB node (s) 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.

For instance, an access network (AN) or RAN may include communications between access nodes (e.g., an IAB donor) , IAB node (s) 104, and one or more UEs 115. The IAB donor may facilitate connection between the core network 130 and the AN (e.g., via a wired or wireless connection to the core network 130) . That is, an IAB donor may refer to a RAN node with a wired or wireless connection to the core network 130. The IAB donor may include one or more of a CU 160, a DU 165, and an RU 170, in which case the CU 160 may communicate with the core network 130 via an interface (e.g., a backhaul link) . The IAB donor and IAB node (s) 104 may communicate via an F1 interface according to a protocol that defines signaling messages (e.g., an F1 AP protocol) . Additionally, or alternatively, the CU 160 may communicate with the core network 130 via an interface, which may be an example of a portion of a backhaul link, and may communicate with other CUs (e.g., including a CU 160 associated with an alternative IAB donor) via an Xn-C interface, which may be an example of another portion of a backhaul link.

IAB node (s) 104 may refer to RAN nodes that provide IAB functionality (e.g., access for UEs 115, wireless self-backhauling capabilities) . A DU 165 may act as a distributed scheduling node towards child nodes associated with the IAB node (s) 104, and the IAB-MT may act as a scheduled node towards parent nodes associated with IAB node (s) 104. That is, an IAB donor may be referred to as a parent node in communication with one or more child nodes (e.g., an IAB donor may relay transmissions for UEs through other IAB node (s) 104) . Additionally, or alternatively, IAB node (s) 104 may also be referred to as parent nodes or child nodes to other IAB node (s) 104, depending on the relay chain or configuration of the AN. The IAB-MT entity of IAB node (s) 104 may provide a Uu interface for a child IAB node (e.g., the IAB node (s) 104) to receive signaling from a parent IAB node (e.g., the IAB node (s) 104) , and a DU interface (e.g., a DU 165) may provide a Uu interface for a parent IAB node to signal to a child IAB node or UE 115.

For example, IAB node (s) 104 may be referred to as parent nodes that support communications for child IAB nodes, or may be referred to as child IAB nodes associated with IAB donors, or both. An IAB donor may include a CU 160 with a wired or wireless connection (e.g., backhaul communication link (s) 120) to the core network 130 and may act as a parent node to IAB node (s) 104. For example, the DU 165 of an IAB donor may relay transmissions to UEs 115 through IAB node (s) 104, or may directly signal transmissions to a UE 115, or both. The CU 160 of the IAB donor may signal communication link establishment via an F1 interface to IAB node (s) 104, and the IAB node (s) 104 may schedule transmissions (e.g., transmissions to the UEs 115 relayed from the IAB donor) through one or more DUs (e.g., DUs 165) . That is, data may be relayed to and from IAB node (s) 104 via signaling via an NR Uu interface to MT of IAB node (s) 104 (e.g., other IAB node (s) ) . Communications with IAB node (s) 104 may be scheduled by a DU 165 of the IAB donor or of IAB node (s) 104.

In the case of the techniques described herein applied in the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support test as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally, or alternatively, be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., components such as an IAB node, a DU 165, a CU 160, an RU 170, an RIC 175, an SMO system 180) .

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, among other examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in various objects such as appliances, vehicles, or meters, among other examples.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of devices, such as UEs 115 that may sometimes operate as relays, as well as the network entities 105 and the network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.

The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may wirelessly communicate with one another via the communication link (s) 125 (e.g., one or more access links) using resources associated with one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined PHY layer structure for supporting the communication link (s) 125. For example, a carrier used for the communication link (s) 125 may include a portion of an RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP) ) that is operated according to one or more PHY layer channels for a given RAT (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR) . Each PHY layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information) , control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing (TDD) component carriers. Communication between a network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between the devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of a network entity 105. For example, the terms “transmitting, ” “receiving, ” or “communicating, ” when referring to a network entity 105, may refer to any portion of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a CU 160, a DU 165, a RU 170) of a RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities, such as one or more of the network entities 105) .

In some examples, such as in a carrier aggregation configuration, a carrier may have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for other carriers. A carrier may be associated with a frequency channel (e.g., an evolved universal mobile telecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absolute RF channel number (EARFCN) ) and may be identified according to a channel raster for discovery by the UEs 115. A carrier may be operated in a standalone mode, in which case initial acquisition and connection may be conducted by the UEs 115 via the carrier, or the carrier may be operated in a non-standalone mode, in which case a connection is anchored using a different carrier (e.g., of the same or a different RAT) .

The communication link (s) 125 of the wireless communications system 100 may include downlink transmissions (e.g., forward link transmissions) from a network entity 105 to a UE 115, uplink transmissions (e.g., return link transmissions) from a UE 115 to a network entity 105, or both, among other configurations of transmissions. Carriers may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in an FDD mode) or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in a TDD mode) .

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the RF spectrum and, in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wireless communications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a set of bandwidths for carriers of a particular RAT (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz (MHz) ) . Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., the network entities 105, the UEs 115, or both) may have hardware configurations that support communications using a particular carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communications using one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may include network entities 105 or UEs 115 that support concurrent communications using carriers associated with multiple carrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may be configured for operating using portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or all of a carrier bandwidth.

Signal waveforms transmitted via a carrier may be made up of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) ) . In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to resources of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The quantity of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both) , such that a relatively higher quantity of resource elements (e.g., in a transmission duration) and a relatively higher order of a modulation scheme may correspond to a relatively higher rate of communication. A wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of an RF spectrum resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., a spatial layer, a beam) , and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.

One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, and a numerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. A carrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same or different numerologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured with multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may be active at a given time and communications for the UE 115 may be restricted to one or more active BWPs.

The time intervals for the network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of T_s=1/ (Δf_max·N_f) seconds, for which Δf_max may represent a supported subcarrier spacing, and N_f may represent a supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms) ) . Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023) .

Each frame may include multiple consecutively-numbered subframes or slots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a quantity of slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable quantity of slots, and the quantity of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a quantity of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period) . In some wireless communications systems, such as the wireless communications system 100, a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., N_f) sampling periods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI) . In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., a quantity of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally, or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) ) .

Physical channels may be multiplexed for communication using a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed for signaling via a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET) ) for a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of the carrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 may monitor or search control regions for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a control channel candidate may refer to an amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs) ) associated with encoded information for a control information format having a given payload size. Search space sets may include common search space sets configured for sending control information to UEs 115 (e.g., one or more UEs) or may include UE-specific search space sets for sending control information to a UE 115 (e.g., a specific UE) .

A network entity 105 may provide communication coverage via one or more cells, for example a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or any combination thereof. The term “cell” may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a network entity 105 (e.g., using a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID) , a virtual cell identifier (VCID) ) . In some examples, a cell also may refer to a coverage area 110 or a portion of a coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over which the logical communication entity operates. Such cells may range from smaller areas (e.g., a structure, a subset of structure) to larger areas depending on various factors such as the capabilities of the network entity 105. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subset of a building, or exterior spaces between or overlapping with coverage areas 110, among other examples.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider supporting the macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a network entity 105 operating with lower power (e.g., a base station 140 operating with lower power) relative to a macro cell, and a small cell may operate using the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider or may provide restricted access to the UEs 115 having an association with the small cell (e.g., the UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , the UEs 115 associated with users in a home or office) . A network entity 105 may support one or more cells and may also support communications via the one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers.

In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) ) that may provide access for different types of devices.

In some examples, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving coverage area, such as the coverage area 110. In some examples, coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) associated with different technologies may overlap, but the coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) may be supported by the same network entity (e.g., a network entity 105) . In some other examples, overlapping coverage areas, such as a coverage area 110, associated with different technologies may be supported by different network entities (e.g., the network entities 105) . The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of the network entities 105 support communications for coverage areas 110 (e.g., different coverage areas) using the same or different RATs.

The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) may have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different network entities (e.g., different ones of the network entities 105) may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, network entities 105 may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different network entities (e.g., different ones of network entities 105) may, in some examples, not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be relatively low cost or low complexity devices and may provide for automated communication between machines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication) . M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies that allow devices to communicate with one another or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay such information to a central server or application program that uses the information or presents the information to humans interacting with the application program. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reduce power consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but not transmission and reception concurrently) . In some examples, half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for the UEs 115 may include entering a power saving deep sleep mode when not engaging in active communications, operating using a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communications) , or a combination of these techniques. For example, some UEs 115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs) ) within a carrier, within a guard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) . The UEs 115 may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communications may include private communication or group communication and may be supported by one or more services such as push-to-talk, video, or data. Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions may include prioritization of services, and such services may be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

In some examples, a UE 115 may be configured to support communicating directly with other UEs (e.g., one or more of the UEs 115) via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link, such as a D2D communication link 135 (e.g., in accordance with a peer-to-peer (P2P) , D2D, Proximity-based services (ProSe) , or sidelink protocol) . In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of a group that are performing D2D communications may be within the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , which may support aspects of such D2D communications being configured by (e.g., scheduled by) the network entity 105. In some examples, one or more UEs 115 of such a group may be outside the coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 or may be otherwise unable to or not configured to receive transmissions from a network entity 105. In some examples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may support a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to one or more of the UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, a network entity 105 may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be carried out between the UEs 115 without an involvement of a network entity 105.

In some systems, a D2D communication link 135 may be an example of a communication channel, such as a sidelink communication channel, between vehicles (e.g., UEs 115) . In some examples, vehicles may communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, or some combination of these. A vehicle may signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergencies, or any other information relevant to a V2X system. In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system may communicate with roadside infrastructure, such as roadside units, or with the network via one or more network nodes (e.g., network entities 105, base stations 140, RUs 170) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications, or with both.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC) , which may include at least one control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) , an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) and at least one user plane entity that routes packets or interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW) , a Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW) , or a user plane function (UPF) ) . The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for the UEs 115 served by the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 for one or more network operators. The IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, Intranet (s) , an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) , or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, which may be in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz) . Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features, which may be referred to as clusters, but the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 located indoors. Communications using UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than one hundred kilometers) compared to communications using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may also operate using a super high frequency (SHF) region, which may be in the range of 3 GHz to 30 GHz, also known as the centimeter band, or using an extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz) , also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UEs 115 and the network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140, RUs 170) , and EHF antennas of the respective devices may be smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In some examples, such techniques may facilitate using antenna arrays within a device. The propagation of EHF transmissions, however, may be subject to even greater attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The techniques disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions that use one or more different frequency regions, and designated use of bands across these frequency regions may differ by country or regulating body.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA) , LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) RAT, or NR technology using an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band. While operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carrier sensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations using unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in conjunction with component carriers operating using a licensed band (e.g., LAA) . Operations using unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among other examples.

A network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of a network entity 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a network entity 105 may be located at diverse geographic locations. A network entity 105 may include an antenna array with a set of rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally, or alternatively, an antenna panel may support RF beamforming for a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

The network entities 105 or the UEs 115 may use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such techniques may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, be transmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals may be received by the receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry information associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords) . Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) , for which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) , for which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagating along particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carried via the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation) .

A network entity 105 or a UE 115 may use beam sweeping techniques as part of beamforming operations. For example, a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a network entity 105 multiple times along different directions. For example, the network entity 105 may transmit a signal according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions along different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by a transmitting device, such as a network entity 105, or by a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for later transmission or reception by the network entity 105.

Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by a transmitting device (e.g., a network entity 105 or a UE 115) along a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device, such as another network entity 105 or UE 115) . In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based on a signal that was transmitted along one or more beam directions. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the network entity 105 along different directions and may report to the network entity 105 an indication of the signal that the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality.

In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., by a network entity 105 or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from a network entity 105 to a UE 115) . The UE 115 may report feedback that indicates precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured set of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The network entity 105 may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) , a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) ) , which may be precoded or unprecoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook) . Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted along one or more directions by a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170) , a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times along different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115) or for transmitting a signal along a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device) .

A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115) may perform reception operations in accordance with multiple receive configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals from a transmitting device (e.g., a network entity 105) , such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. For example, a receiving device may perform reception in accordance with multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” according to different receive configurations or receive directions. In some examples, a receiving device may use a single receive configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal) . The single receive configuration may be aligned along a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have a highest signal strength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , or otherwise acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions) .

The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or PDCP layer may be IP-based. An RLC layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate via logical channels. A MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer also may implement error detection techniques, error correction techniques, or both to support retransmissions to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, an RRC layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a network entity 105 or a core network 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. A PHY layer may map transport channels to physical channels.

The UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may support retransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is one technique for increasing the likelihood that data is received correctly via a communication link (e.g., the communication link (s) 125, a D2D communication link 135) . HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) ) , forward error correction (FEC) , and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ) ) . HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in relatively poor radio conditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise conditions) . In some examples, a device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, in which case the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received via a previous symbol in the slot. In some other examples, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.

According to techniques described herein, relay UEs 115 or remote UEs 115 may transmit a message (e.g., an announcement message, a discovery solicitation message, a discovery response message, a DCR or a DCA message, a link modification request message, a link modification accept message, among other examples) indicating that the UE supports an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. Based on this indication, the UEs 115 may establish a communication link, and perform the optimized relay operations. The UEs may transmit a message (e.g., a DCA message) including an information element (IE) or an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation container including information that might otherwise be communicated by IP layer signaling. Such UEs may then refrain from transmitting redundant IP signaling, resulting in increased efficiency, improved throughput, decreased power expenditures, improved throughput, and improved user experience.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system 200 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 200 may implement, or be implemented by, aspects of the wireless communications system 100. For example, the wireless communications system 200 may include one or more UEs 115 (e.g., the UE 115-a, the UE 115-b, the UE 115-c, the UE 115-d, and the UE 115-e, the UE 115-f) , which may be examples of corresponding devices described with reference to FIG. 1.

Some UEs may support a multi-hop relay deployment (e.g., a multi-hop UE-to-UE relay operation for 5G proximity services (ProSe) ) . ProSe communications may refer to D2D (Device-to-Device) communications that allows wireless devices to detect each other and to communicate directly. Such peer to peer communications may include a discovery phase and a direct communications phase. In such examples, the UEs 115 may relay signaling via other UEs 115 according to a multi-hop deployment. For instance, the UE 115-a (e.g., which may be referred to as a first remote UE 115) may generate a wireless message 205 (e.g., data signaling) for the UE 115-d (e.g., which may be referred to as a second remote UE 115) . The UE 115-a may send the wireless message 205 to the UE 115-d via one or more relay UEs 115 (e.g., the UE 115-b, and the UE 115-c) . Such multi-hop deployments include or rely on discovery signaling to establish an IP connection, an IP-based multi-hop UE-to-UE relay protocol, such as a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) protocol, and sidelink signaling. In some examples, a remote UE may refer to a UE that is sending or receiving a wireless message 205 (e.g., an end-point of a route) , or may refer to a UE that is out of range of or otherwise unable to communicate with a target (e.g., recipient) UE directly. In some examples, a relay UE may refer to a UE that participates in relaying signaling (e.g., in the multi-hop UE-to-UE relay operation) of the communications between two or more remote UEs.

Support for IP based multi-hop routing protocols (e.g., MANET operations) may include multiple rounds of IP layer signaling exchanges. Remote UEs 115 and relay UEs 115 may perform a discovery operation. The discovery operation may include model A discovery or model B discovery procedure. In model A discovery, a UE may broadcast or groupcast information about itself (e.g. an announcement message) , indicating its capability to support various peer to peer operations to other candidate UEs for the network. In model B discovery, a UE may transmit a discovery solicitation message requesting discovery response messages from other UEs, and UEs that receive the discovery solicitation message (e.g., and that support certain capabilities which may be reported in the discovery solicitation message) may transmit a discovery response message. For example, the remote UE 115 may indicate its desire to find a relay UE that supports the enhanced multi-hop relay operations in the discovery solicitation message. A relay UE 115 that supports such capability may reply with a discovery response message, indicating its identity and the supported capabilities. The UEs 115 may establish an IP connection with one or more discovered suitable UEs 115 or relay UEs 115 based on the discovery procedure. The sidelink connection establishment procedure may also involve necessary security association set up (e.g. the remote UE 115 and the relay UE 115 may mutually authenticate each other based on some configured or preconfigured security materials or signaling. The following (e.g., subsequent) communications over the connection may be protected by the security association.

IP-based protocols may be initiated upon establishment of the IP connection via the Sidelink. For example, IP layer signaling may include a reporting message or an introductory message, which may be referred to as a HELLO message, and a topology control (TC) message to be transmitted and forwarded between UEs 115. Upon setup of an IP connection, multi-hop IP routing protocols (e.g., the MANET protocol) may be initiated. For example, an NHDP message may be used to identify neighbors (e.g., 1-hop neighbors, and 2-hop neighbors) . For instance, an NHDP message received by the UE 115-b may identify one or more 1-hop neighbors (e.g., the UE 115-e and the UE 115-c) , and one or more two-hop neighbors (e.g., the UE 115-f, the UE 115-d, or both) . A HELLO message may be used to indicate willingness to act as a flooding MRP (e.g., a device that forwards some or all received relay signaling via multiple or all connected neighbor UEs 115) or a routing MRP (e.g., a device that is capable of receiving signaling and forwarding the signaling via a specific route or subset of relay UEs 115) , one or more link metrics, among other examples. For instance, the UE 115-c may transmit a HELLO message to the UE 115-b indicating that the UE 115-e is capable of acting in the role of flooding MRP (e.g., in which case the UE 115-e could receive relay signaling from the UE 115-b and relay the received signaling to the UE 115-c and the UE 115-f) , or capable of acting in the role of a routing MRP (e.g., in which case the UE 115-e could receive routed relay signaling and forward the routed relay signaling to a specific remote UE, such as the UE 115-d) via an indicated route, such as via the UE 115-c or via the UE 115-f) . A TC message may be periodically signaled, and may indicate links for building a routing table, or maintenance or update signaling for an existing routing table or link setup, among other examples.

The UEs may also establish wireless connections with each other (e.g., sidelink connections, which may be referred to as PC5 connections of PC5-Sbased links) . Sidelink link establishment and management signaling may include some, most, or all of the same information exchanged between the same UEs 115 via the IP layer signaling. Exchanging the same information via both the IP layer signaling and sidelink link establishment and management signaling, (e.g., the PC5-Ssignaling) , may result in unnecessary expenditures of power by the UEs 115, decreased battery life, inefficient use of available system resources, inefficient use of computational resources, increased system congestion, increased system latency, and decreased user experience. Because the IP communication will happen later than the PC5-Scontrol signaling, relying on the IP layer signaling to exchange the information may also cause delay in establishing the routing table and result in potential service gaps when link status changes quickly.

Multi-hop relay deployments (e.g., the ProSe multi-hop UE-to-UE relaying) may operate more efficiently according to techniques described herein. For example, sidelink link establishment or management signaling described herein may be used to carry the needed information for multi-hop IP routing operation, which may reduce unnecessary IP layer signaling and improve throughput and efficiency. In some examples of techniques described herein, unnecessary MANET signaling may be reduced. Responses to link changes or topology adaptations may be reflected quickly, resulting in more dynamic updates, increased throughput, and decreased system latency or service interruptions. In some examples of techniques described herein, quality of service (QoS) may be better (e.g., more accurately) reflected in the UE-to-UE relay route selection and control. Thus, according to techniques established herein, because sidelink signaling (e.g., existing link management protocols, such as PC5-Sover a control plane) already provides at least some of the information to be exchanged in multi-hop IP-layer routing protocol signaling (e.g. MANET signaling) , efficiency may be improved by extending sidelink signaling to replace the IP layer signaling (e.g., to reduce IP signaling resulting in improved power savings, reduced overhead, extended battery life, improved throughput, and more efficient use of available system and computational resources) . Sidelink link status information may be exchanged without sending the IP layer signaling (e.g., such as the HELLO message) . Link status updates may be triggered by sidelink signaling (e.g., a PC5 keepalive or link status update message, which may be faster and more reliable than IP layer signaling) .

In some examples, as described herein, a relay UE (e.g., the UE 115-b) may indicate to other UEs (e.g., other relay UEs 115 or remote UEs 115 or both) that the relay UE is capable of supporting the enhanced operations (e.g., enhanced sidelink signaling to improve MANET operations) in which the UE conveys information via sidelink control signaling (e.g., instead of IP layer signaling such as MANET operations) . Such an indication may indicate that the UE 115-b is capable of transmitting some information (e.g., such as that included in the MANET HELLO message) via sidelink control signaling (e.g., instead of IP layer signaling) . For instance, the UE 115-b may transmit (e.g., broadcast, groupcast, or multicast) a discovery message (e.g., a model A discovery message) that indicates support of such enhanced operations (e.g., an indication that the UE 115-b supports enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among multiple other UEs 115) . In some examples, a relay UE 115 (e.g., such as the UE 115-b) or a remote UE (e.g., such as the UE 115-a) may indicate a capability to support the enhanced operations described herein (e.g., enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support) via a model B discovery solicitation message. For example, a remote UE (e.g., the UE 115-a) or a relay UE (e.g., the UE 115-e) may transmit a model B discovery solicitation message indicating support of the enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support. A relay UE (e.g., the UE 115-b) that receives the model B discovery solicitation message may also support the enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support and may respond to the model B discovery solicitation message. In some examples, the relay UE 115-b may include, in the response to the model B discovery solicitation message, an indication that the UE 115-b also supports the enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support. In some examples, the response to the model B discovery solicitation message (e.g., including the indication of the capability of the UE 115-a or the UE 115-e) may implicitly indicate that the UE 115-b also supports the enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support (e.g., a relay UE may only respond to the model B discovery solicitation message if the relay UE also supports the enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support) .

In some examples, different UEs 115 may indicate whether they support such enhanced operations (e.g., an indication that the UE 115-b supports enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among multiple other UEs 115) via link establishment procedures. For example, during a link establishment procedure (e.g., a direct communication request (DCR) message, or a direct communication accept (DCA) message of an L2 link establishment procedure) , a relay UE (e.g., the UE 115-c) or a remote UE (e.g., the UE 115-a) may indicate the use of an enhanced operation (e.g., an enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support) .

In some examples, a UE 115 that has indicated support of such enhanced operations (e.g., an enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support) , such a UE 115 may refrain from transmitting some signaling or some information, via IP layer signaling. For instance, when a relay UE 115 (e.g., the UE 115-b) or a remote UE (e.g., the UE 115-a) has indicated support of enhanced sidelink operation for MANET support, such a UE may refrain from transmitting one or more IP layer messages (e.g., such as the MANET HELLO messages over the same PC5 link) . Instead, such a UE 115 may include additional information in the link establishment procedure, e.g. the security establishment phase (e.g., between a DCA and DCR message) . For instance, the UE 115 that supports the enhanced operations described herein may perform a security establishment procedure, and may transmit a security establishment procedure message (e.g., and a DCA message) . Such a security message (e.g., the DCA message) may include an information element (IE) . The IE may include a local interface set (e.g., a list of network addresses for L2 link supported by the transmitting UE, such as a list of addresses at which multiple neighbors may communicate with the reporting UE) , a neighbor set (e.g., a list of neighbor addresses, a symmetric flag, among other examples, indicating neighbors with which the reporting UE is connected to or to which the UE has established a connection) , a lost neighbor set (e.g., a list of neighbor addresses indicating neighbors with which the reporting UE has previously been connected but with which the connection has been lost) , an indication of whether the reporting UE is an MRP willing UE (e.g.., whether the UE is able to act as a flooding MRP, a routing MRP, or both) , or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the security message (e.g., the DCA message) may include an IP layer container (e.g., a MANET container) , which may include information similar to or including information corresponding to the MANET HELLO message. In some examples, the IP layer container may include the HELLO message. In some examples, the IP layer container may include the HELLO message but may exclude specific contents from the HELLO message. For example, the MANET container may include the HELLO message, but may exclude from the MANET container a first time interval or timer (e.g., Interval_TIME, which may not be utilized because event driven link updates may ensure that no message is needed) , a second time interval or timer (e.g., Validity_Time, which may not be needed as a neighbor network address may be determined to be valid without the second timer) , a link quality indication (e.g., which may not be needed because link quality may be indicated via PC5 QoS management and signaling) , and message sequence numbers (e.g., which may not be needed because they are carried over more reliable PC5 control signaling) . In such examples (e.g., where information corresponding to the HELLO message in IP layer signaling is conveyed via the DCA message) , the UEs 115 may refrain from transmitting the same IP layer signals (e.g., the HELLO message) via the IP layer. For example, a UE 115 may determine that the same IP layer signals (e.g., the HELLO message) is not to be transmitted via the IP layer based on receiving the DCA message, based on the contents of the DCA message (e.g., upon detection of the HELLO message information in the DCA, the UE 115 may refrain from transmitting the same IP layer signals (e.g., the HELLO message) via the IP layer. In some examples, the UE 115 may determine that the same IP layer signals (e.g., the HELLO message) is not to be transmitted via the IP layer based on the discovery layer signaling (e.g., indicating capability to perform the enhanced sidelink signaling to improve MANET operations) . Based on such capability signaling, the UE 115 may refrain from transmitting the same IP layer signals (e.g., the HELLO message) via the IP layer.

In some examples, whenever a link status changes (e.g., when a router establishes a link with another router) , a link modification request message, or a link modification accept message for sidelink control may be used to update existing neighbors with new identifiers, or a new container. For example, a link modification message (e.g., a link modification request message, or a link modification accept message) may carry the IE, or the MANET container, or both. In some examples, a PC5-Skeepalive message, or a feedback message (e.g., an acknowledgement (ACK) message) may include the information described herein (e.g., the IE, or the MANET container, or both) . In the operation, once the UE or the relay receives a PC5 signaling message containing the additional information element (IE) or the MANET Containers, the contained information will be passed to the IP layer MANET stack. The MANET stack of the UE or the relay will use the information to establish the routing table, or update the corresponding neighbor list or the mappings. Additionally, when the MANET stack at the IP layer decides that some of the status needs to be changed, e.g. the neighbor list, or its preference to operate as a MRP for its neighbors, it will preferentially use the corresponding PC5-Ssignaling message, e.g. Link Modification, or KeepAlive message, to deliver the corresponding information to the corresponding UEs or neighbor relays.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a process flow 300 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The process flow 300 may implement, or be implemented by, aspects of the wireless communications system 100 or the wireless communications system 200. For example, the process flow 300 may include a UE 115-g and a UE 115-h, which may be examples of corresponding devices described with reference to FIGs. 1-2. For example, the UE 115-g may be an example of a remote UE (e.g., such as the UE 115-a or the UE 115-d) , or a relay UE (e.g., such as the UE 115-b, the UE 115-e, the UE 115-f, or the UE 115-c) .

At 305, the UE 115-g may transmit a message that indicates a capability for the UE 115-g to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation (e.g., an enhanced MANET operation) for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs 115 comprising the UE 115-g and one or more additional UEs 115. In some examples, the message may indicate the capability may be a discovery message (e.g., a model A discovery message) that broadcasts or groupcasts, to multiple UEs 115, that the UE 115-g supports the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability of the UE 115-g may be a discovery solicitation message (e.g., a model B discovery solicitation message) requesting one or more discovery messages (e.g., model B discovery response messages) from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs. In such examples, at 310, the UE 115-g may receive one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs (e.g., a discovery response message from at least the UE 115-h) indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. In some examples, establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations may be based at least in part on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability may be a DCR message, or a DCA message, which may be part of the connection procedure (e.g., a connection establishment message or a security message) .

In some examples, the message indicating the capability may include a DCA message (e.g., or a DCR message) . In some examples, at 320, the UE 115-g may transmit a DCA message. The DCA message may be transmitted (e.g., as part of the connection establishment) based on having previously transmitted or received the capability information indicating that the UE 115-g (e.g., and the UE 115-h) support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. In some examples, the DCA message may be the message that includes the capability information (e.g., the DCA may be transmitted at 305, at 320, or both) . The DCA message (e.g., or the capability information, or both) may include an IE, which includes at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the UE 115-g, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE 115-g is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability may include a mobile ad hoc network operation specific container.

In some examples (e.g., upon transmitting the DCA including the IE which indicates at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the UE 115-g, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE 115-g is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof, or upon transmitting the DCA or capability information including the MANET specific container) , the UE 115-g may refrain from transmitting some information via IP layer signaling. For example, the UE 115-g may refrain from transmitting some information from a HELLO message (e.g., an interval time indicator, a validity time indicator, a link quality indicator, a message sequence number, or any combination thereof) via IP layer signaling. In some examples, the UE 115-g may refrain from transmitting an IP link status layer message including a HELLO message, a TC message, or both, based on transmitting the capability information, the DCA, or both.

At 315, the UE 115-g may establish a connection with one or more additional UEs 115 based at least in part on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

At 325, the UE 115-g may perform relay operations among the set of UEs 115 via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the UE 115-g to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. Performing the relaying operation may include receiving (e.g., from another UE 115) , wireless signaling (e.g., a wireless message 205) , determining at least a third UE 115 (e.g., the UE 115-h) in accordance with information included in an IE (e.g., an IE in the DCA message) , and relaying the wireless signaling to at least the UE 115-h based on the local interface set including the UE 115-h. For instance, the UE 115-g may be a relay UE, and may indicate (e.g., at 305) that the UE 115-g is a routing MRP. In some examples, the DCA message, or another DCA message, or another message from another UE may indicate one or more routes including the UE 115-g and the UE 115-h. The DCA or a message including the wireless signaling may indicate a route from a first remote UE to a second remote UE via the UE 115-h and the UE 115-h. The UE 115-g may receive the wireless signaling, and forward it to the UE 115-h (e.g., to the second remote UE via the UE 115-h) according to the indicated routing pattern. If the UE 115-g is a flooding MRP, the UE 115-g may forward the received signaling to multiple (e.g., all) connected UEs 115 (e.g., all the UEs 115 of the set of UEs indicated in the capability information, the DCA, or both) .

At 330, the UE 115-g may transmit a link connection message. For example, the UE 115-g may transmit a periodic sidelink link connection status maintenance message to the one or more additional UEs 115 (e.g., the UE 115-h) . The sidelink link connection status maintenance message may include at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the UE 115-g, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE 115-g is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the link connection message may include a link modification request message or a link modification accept message (e.g., based on a link status change) . The link modification request message or the link modification accept message may include at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the UE 115-g, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE 115-g is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the UE 115-g may transmit a link modification request message or a link modification accept message (e.g., based on a link status change. The link modification request message or the link modification accept message may include at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the UE 115-g, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE 115-g is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram 400 of a device 405 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 405 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 405 may include a receiver 410, a transmitter 415, and a communications manager 420. The device 405, or one or more components of the device 405 (e.g., the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, the communications manager 420) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 410 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to relay procedures according to mobile network operations) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 405. The receiver 410 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 415 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 405. For example, the transmitter 415 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to relay procedures according to mobile network operations) . In some examples, the transmitter 415 may be co-located with a receiver 410 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 415 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of relay procedures according to mobile network operations as described herein. For example, the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor (e.g., referred to as a processor-executable code) . If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 420, the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 420 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or both. For example, the communications manager 420 may receive information from the receiver 410, send information to the transmitter 415, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 420 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 420 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs. The communications manager 420 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The communications manager 420 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

By including or configuring the communications manager 420 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 405 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 410, the transmitter 415, the communications manager 420, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for relay procedures according to mobile network operations resulting in improved throughput, reduced processing, reduced power consumption, and more efficient utilization of communication resources.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 of a device 505 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of a device 405 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a transmitter 515, and a communications manager 520. The device 505, or one of more components of the device 505 (e.g., the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, the communications manager 520) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 510 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to relay procedures according to mobile network operations) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 515 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 505. For example, the transmitter 515 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to relay procedures according to mobile network operations) . In some examples, the transmitter 515 may be co-located with a receiver 510 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 515 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The device 505, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of relay procedures according to mobile network operations as described herein. For example, the communications manager 520 may include a capability information manager 525, a connection manager 530, a relay operation manager 535, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 520 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 420 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 520, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or both. For example, the communications manager 520 may receive information from the receiver 510, send information to the transmitter 515, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 520 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The capability information manager 525 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs. The connection manager 530 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The relay operation manager 535 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of a communications manager 620 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 620 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 420, a communications manager 520, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 620, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of relay procedures according to mobile network operations as described herein. For example, the communications manager 620 may include a capability information manager 625, a connection manager 630, a relay operation manager 635, a link modification message manager 640, a discovery procedure manager 645, a link status message manager 650, a mobile ad hoc network container manager 655, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The communications manager 620 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The capability information manager 625 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs. The connection manager 630 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The relay operation manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability includes a discovery message that broadcasts or groupcast, to a set of multiple UEs of the set of UEs, that the first UE supports the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability includes a discovery solicitation message requesting one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs.

In some examples, the discovery procedure manager 645 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, based on transmitting the discovery solicitation message, one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, where establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations is based on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability includes a direct communication request or direct communication accept message that is part of a connection establishment procedure.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability includes an information element that includes information including at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the link status message manager 650 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a periodic sidelink link connection status maintenance message to the one or more additional UEs, the connection status maintenance message including at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the link modification message manager 640 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based on a link status change, where the link modification request message or the link modification accept message including at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, to support performing the relaying operations, the relay operation manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a second UE, wireless signaling. In some examples, to support performing the relaying operations, the relay operation manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for determining at least a third UE included in the local interface set in accordance with the information included in the information element. In some examples, to support performing the relaying operations, the relay operation manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for relaying the wireless signaling to at least the third UE based on the local interface set including the third UE.

In some examples, the message indicating the capability includes a mobile ad hoc network operation specific container.

In some examples, the mobile ad hoc network container manager 655 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for refraining from using the information in the mobile ad hoc network operation specific container including, an interval time indicator, a validity time indicator, a link quality indicator, a message sequence number, or any combination thereof based on transmitting the message indicating the capability.

In some examples, the link modification message manager 640 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based on a link status change, where the link modification request message or the link modification accept message includes the message indicating the capability and at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the capability information manager 625 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for refraining from transmitting an IP link status layer message including a HELLO message, a topology control message, or both, based on transmitting the message indicating the capability for the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

In some examples, to support performing the relaying operations, the relay operation manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for establishing one or more connections between one or more relay UEs. In some examples, to support performing the relaying operations, the relay operation manager 635 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting wireless signaling to a second UE via a set of multiple established connections between the one or more relay UEs according to a multi-hop deployment.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a system 700 including a device 705 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 705 may be an example of or include components of a device 405, a device 505, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more other devices (e.g., network entities 105, UEs 115, or a combination thereof) . The device 705 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 720, an input/output (I/O) controller, such as an I/O controller 710, a transceiver 715, one or more antennas 725, at least one memory 730, code 735, and at least one processor 740. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 745) .

The I/O controller 710 may manage input and output signals for the device 705. The I/O controller 710 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 705. In some cases, the I/O controller 710 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, the I/O controller 710 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally, or alternatively, the I/O controller 710 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 710 may be implemented as part of one or more processors, such as the at least one processor 740. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 705 via the I/O controller 710 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 710.

In some cases, the device 705 may include a single antenna. However, in some other cases, the device 705 may have more than one antenna, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 715 may communicate bi-directionally via the one or more antennas 725 using wired or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 715 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 715 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 725 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 725. The transceiver 715, or the transceiver 715 and one or more antennas 725, may be an example of a transmitter 415, a transmitter 515, a receiver 410, a receiver 510, or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.

The at least one memory 730 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The at least one memory 730 may store computer-readable, computer-executable, or processor-executable code, such as the code 735. The code 735 may include instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 740, cause the device 705 to perform various functions described herein. The code 735 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 735 may not be directly executable by the at least one processor 740 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 730 may include, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The at least one processor 740 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., one or more general-purpose processors, one or more DSPs, one or more CPUs, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) , one or more neural processing units (NPUs) (also referred to as neural network processors or deep learning processors (DLPs) ) , one or more microcontrollers, one or more ASICs, one or more FPGAs, one or more programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, one or more discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 740 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the at least one processor 740. The at least one processor 740 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the at least one memory 730) to cause the device 705 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting relay procedures according to mobile network operations) . For example, the device 705 or a component of the device 705 may include at least one processor 740 and at least one memory 730 coupled with or to the at least one processor 740, the at least one processor 740 and the at least one memory 730 configured to perform various functions described herein.

In some examples, the at least one processor 740 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 730 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 740 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 740) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 730) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. For example, the at least one processor 740 or a processing system including the at least one processor 740 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 705 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code 735 (e.g., processor-executable code) stored in the at least one memory 730 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

The communications manager 720 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 720 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs. The communications manager 720 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The communications manager 720 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

By including or configuring the communications manager 720 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 705 may support techniques for relay procedures according to mobile network operations resulting in improved throughput, reduced power consumption, extended battery life, reduced processing, more efficient utilization of communication resources, improved coordination between devices, improved throughput, decreased system latency, and improved user experience.

In some examples, the communications manager 720 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 715, the one or more antennas 725, or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 720 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 720 may be supported by or performed by the at least one processor 740, the at least one memory 730, the code 735, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 735 may include instructions executable by the at least one processor 740 to cause the device 705 to perform various aspects of relay procedures according to mobile network operations as described herein, or the at least one processor 740 and the at least one memory 730 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 800 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 800 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 800 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 805, the method may include transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs. The operations of 805 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 805 may be performed by a capability information manager 625 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 810, the method may include establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The operations of 810 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 810 may be performed by a connection manager 630 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 815, the method may include performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The operations of 815 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 815 may be performed by a relay operation manager 635 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 900 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 900 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 900 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 905, the method may include transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs, where the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery solicitation message requesting one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs. The operations of 905 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 905 may be performed by a capability information manager 625 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 910, the method may include receiving, based on transmitting the discovery solicitation message, one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, where establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations is based on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs. The operations of 910 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 910 may be performed by a discovery procedure manager 645 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 915, the method may include establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The operations of 915 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 915 may be performed by a connection manager 630 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 920, the method may include performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The operations of 920 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 920 may be performed by a relay operation manager 635 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 that supports relay procedures according to mobile network operations in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1000 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1000 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 7. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1005, the method may include transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs including the first UE and one or more additional UEs, where the message indicating the capability includes an information element that includes information comprising at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof. The operations of 1005 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1005 may be performed by a capability information manager 625 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 1010, the method may include transmitting a periodic sidelink link connection status maintenance message to the one or more additional UEs, the connection status maintenance message including at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof. The operations of 1010 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1010 may be performed by a link status message manager 650 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 1015, the method may include establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The operations of 1015 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1015 may be performed by a connection manager 630 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

At 1020, the method may include performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation. The operations of 1020 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1020 may be performed by a relay operation manager 635 as described with reference to FIG. 6.

The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at a first UE, comprising: transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs comprising the first UE and one or more additional UEs; establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based at least in part on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation; and performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery message that broadcasts or groupcast, to a plurality of UEs of the set of UEs, that the first UE supports the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1 through 2, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery solicitation message requesting one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs.

Aspect 4: The method of aspect 3, further comprising: receiving, based at least in part on transmitting the discovery solicitation message, one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, wherein establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations is based at least in part on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs.

Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a direct communication request or direct communication accept message that is part of a connection establishment procedure.

Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, wherein the message indicating the capability includes an information element that includes information comprising at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate with, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, further comprising: transmitting a periodic sidelink link connection status maintenance message to the one or more additional UEs, the connection status maintenance message comprising at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 6 through 7, further comprising: transmitting a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based at least in part on a link status change , wherein the link modification request message or the link modification accept message comprising at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 6 through 8, wherein performing the relaying operations comprises: receiving, from a second UE, wireless signaling; determining at least a third UE included in the local interface set in accordance with the information included in the information element; and relaying the wireless signaling to at least the third UE based at least in part on the local interface set including the third UE.

Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 through 9, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a mobile ad hoc network operation specific container.

Aspect 11: The method of aspect 10, further comprising: refraining from using the information in the mobile ad hoc network operation specific container comprising, an interval time indicator, a validity time indicator, a link quality indicator, a message sequence number, or any combination thereof based at least in part on transmitting the message indicating the capability.

Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, further comprising: transmitting a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based at least in part on a link status change , wherein the link modification request message or the link modification accept message comprises the message indicating the capability and at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate with, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, further comprising: refraining from transmitting an IP link status layer message comprising a HELLO message, a topology control message, or both, based at least in part on transmitting the message indicating the capability for the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.

Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 1 through 13, wherein performing the relaying operations comprises: establishing one or more connections between one or more relay UEs; and transmitting wireless signaling to a second UE via a plurality of established connections between the one or more relay UEs according to a multi-hop deployment.

Aspect 15: A first UE for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 14.

Aspect 16: A first UE for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 14.

Aspect 17: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 14.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations. The operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR networks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable to various other wireless communications systems such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, as well as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a neural processing unit (NPU) , an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor but, in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration) . Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a processor may be performed by multiple processors that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.

The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as or transmitted using one or more instructions or code of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc. Disks may reproduce data magnetically, and discs may reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media. Any functions or operations described herein as being capable of being performed by a memory may be performed by multiple memories that, individually or collectively, are capable of performing the described functions or operations.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” ) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) . Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on. ”

As used herein, including in the claims, the article “a” before a noun is open-ended and understood to refer to “at least one” of those nouns or “one or more” of those nouns. Thus, the terms “a, ” “at least one, ” “one or more, ” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. For example, if a claim recites “a component” that performs one or more functions, each of the individual functions may be performed by a single component or by any combination of multiple components. Thus, the term “a component” having characteristics or performing functions may refer to “at least one of one or more components” having a particular characteristic or performing a particular function. Subsequent reference to a component introduced with the article “a” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, a component introduced with the article “a” may be understood to mean “one or more components, ” and referring to “the component” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ” Similarly, subsequent reference to a component introduced as “one or more components” using the terms “the” or “said” may refer to any or all of the one or more components. For example, referring to “the one or more components” subsequently in the claims may be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components. ”

The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure) , ascertaining, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information) , accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in memory) , and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, obtaining, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label or other subsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples. ” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some figures, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A first user equipment (UE) , comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

transmit a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs comprising the first UE and one or more additional UEs;

establish a connection with the one or more additional UEs based at least in part on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation; and

perform relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery message that broadcasts or groupcast, to a plurality of UEs of the set of UEs, that the first UE supports the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery solicitation message requesting one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs.
The first UE of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, based at least in part on transmitting the discovery solicitation message, one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, wherein establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations is based at least in part on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a direct communication request or direct communication accept message that is part of a connection establishment procedure.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the message indicating the capability includes an information element that includes information comprising at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.
The first UE of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

transmit a periodic sidelink link connection status maintenance message to the one or more additional UEs, the connection status maintenance message comprising at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.
The first UE of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

transmit a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based at least in part on a link status change, wherein the link modification request message or the link modification accept message comprising at least the local interface set indicating the list of addresses supported by the first UE, the neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, the lost neighbor set indicating the list of addresses corresponding to the UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, the media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.
The first UE of claim 6, wherein, to perform the relaying operations, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

receive, from a second UE, wireless signaling;

determine at least a third UE included in the local interface set in accordance with the information included in the information element; and

relay the wireless signaling to at least the third UE based at least in part on the local interface set including the third UE.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a mobile ad hoc network operation specific container.
The first UE of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

refrain from using information in the mobile ad hoc network operation specific container comprising, an interval time indicator, a validity time indicator, a link quality indicator, a message sequence number, or any combination thereof based at least in part on transmitting the message indicating the capability.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

transmit a link modification request message or a link modification accept message based at least in part on a link status change, wherein the link modification request message or the link modification accept message comprises the message indicating the capability and at least a local interface set indicating a list of addresses supported by the first UE, a neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs, a lost neighbor set indicating a list of addresses corresponding to UEs with which the UE is not currently able to communicate, a media redundancy protocol indicator, or any combination thereof.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

refrain from transmitting an IP link status layer message comprising a HELLO message, a topology control message, or both, based at least in part on transmitting the message indicating the capability for the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.
The first UE of claim 1, wherein, to perform the relaying operations, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to:

establish one or more connections between one or more relay UEs; and

transmit wireless signaling to a second UE via a plurality of established connections between the one or more relay UEs according to a multi-hop deployment.
A method for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE) , comprising:

transmitting a message that indicates a capability for the first UE to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs comprising the first UE and one or more additional UEs;

establishing a connection with the one or more additional UEs based at least in part on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation; and

performing relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.
The method of claim 15, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery message that broadcasts or groupcast, to a plurality of UEs of the set of UEs, that the first UE supports the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.
The method of claim 15, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a discovery solicitation message requesting one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs.
The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving, based at least in part on transmitting the discovery solicitation message, one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs indicating a capability of the one or more additional UEs of the set of UEs to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation, wherein establishing the connection and performing the relaying operations is based at least in part on receiving the one or more discovery messages from the one or more additional UEs.
The method of claim 15, wherein the message indicating the capability comprises a direct communication request or direct communication accept message that is part of a connection establishment procedure.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to:

transmit a message that indicates a capability for a first user equipment (UE) to support an enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation for peer-to-peer communications among a set of UEs comprising the first UE and one or more additional UEs;

establish a connection with the one or more additional UEs based at least in part on the indicated capability to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation; and

perform relaying operations among the set of UEs via the established connection and in accordance with the indicated capability of the first UE to support the enhanced multi-hop mobile network operation.