CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/512,772, filed May 31 , 2017, the contents of which is incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Wireless communication systems continue to evolve. A new fifth generation may be referred to as 5G or New Radio (NR). An example of a previous generation of mobile communication system may be referred to as fourth (4G) long term evolution (LTE).

SUMMARY

[0003] Systems, methods, and instrumentalities are disclosed for supporting wireless power transfer in a wireless communication system. For example, a wireless transmit.receive unit (WTRU) (e.g., a user device) may be configured to receive information and/or power signals from one or more network entities. The network entities may coordinate the transmission of power and/or information signals by using a wireless power transfer management (WPTM) function. The WPTM function may collect information from a radio access network entity in a radio access network. The radio access network entity may include one or more radio access technologies (RATs), cells, transmit/receive points (TRPs), and/or the like. The WPTM function may configure the radio access network entity for a joint information and power transfer service for one or more user devices (e.g., WTRUs). The WPTM function may allocate and assign a radio resource of the radio access network entity for information and/or power transfer services. The WPTM function may notify the radio access network entity regarding the decisions on configurations and coordination.

[0004] A WTRU (e.g, a user device) may be configured to receive different information through different receiver chains. The WTRU may comprise multiple receiver chains. One of the WTRU's receiver chains may include at least one antenna and a transceiver. Another one of the WTRU's receiver chains may include at least one antenna, a transceiver, a power rectifier and a power booster. For example, the WTRU may receive an information transfer signal via the receiver chain that include the at least one antenna and the transceiver and/or attempts to decode the information transfer signal. The WTRU may receive a power transfer signal via the receiver chain that includes the power rectifier and the power booster. The power signal may include embedded information.

[0005] The WTRU may operate the receiver chain that includes the power rectifier and the power booster in an information transfer mode or a power transfer mode. In the power transfer mode, the WTRU is configured to process the power transfer signal to harvest power. In the information transfer mode, the WTRU is configured to process the power transfer signal to determine the information embedded in the power transfer signal. The information embedded in the power transfer signal may be related to the information transfer signal. The WTRU may operate in the power transfer mode.

[0006] If the attempt to decode the information transfer signal is unsuccessful, the WTRU may switch from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode. In the information transfer mode, the WTRU may attempt to decode the information transfer signal and the information embedded in the power transfer signal. For example, the WTRU may attempt to jointly decode information embedded in the power transfer signal using information received via the other receiver chain that processed the information signal. If the attempt to decode the information transfer signal and the information embedded in the power transfer signal is successful, the WTRU may switch back to the power transfer mode.

[0007] The WTRU may receive a configuration indicating the relationship between the information transfer signal and the information embedded in the power transfer signal. For example, the information embedded in the power transfer signal may be a different redundancy version of the information transfer signal. The switching may occur at a preconfigured timing. For example, the WTRU may switch from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode at subframe n+k when the WTRU determines that the attempt to decode the information transfer signal is unsuccessful at subframe n.

[0008] A network may configure one or more radio access network entities to transfer information and/or power to a user device. A network may establish a first connection with a first radio access network entity for information transfer. For example, the network may establish a first radio resource connection (RRC- connection) with the first radio access network entity for information transfer to one or more WTRUs. The network may establish a second connection with a second radio access network entity for power transfer to one or more WTRUs. For example, the network may establish a second RRC-connection with the second radio access network entity for power transfer. The radio access network entity may include one or more radio access technologies (RATs), cells, transmit/receive points (TRPs), and/or the like. The network may generate an additional redundancy version (RV) of information to be transmitted by the first radio access network entity and may share the additional RV of information with the second radio access network entity. The network may embed the additional RV of information onto a power signal to be emitted for power transfer by the second radio access network entity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0010] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A according to an embodiment;

[0011] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A according to an embodiment;

[0012] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A according to an embodiment;

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates examples of different receiver types for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT).

[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU)/user device receiving information and power from different radio access technologies (RATs).

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates an example receiver configuration for information/power decoupling between RATs.

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an orchestration framework of a wireless power transfer management (WPTM) function that may be used for the one or more wireless power transfer schemes.

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates an example framework with joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT.

[0018] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of receiver logic of a user terminal to fulfill the joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT.

[0019] FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary procedures of joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT.

[0020] FIG. 9 illustrates exemplary procedures for configurations of joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT.

[0021] FIG. 10 illustrates an example wireless power transfer facilitated with intra-cell intentional interference.

[0022] FIG. 11 illustrates an example wireless power transfer facilitated with inter-cell intentional interference.

[0023] FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary procedures of wireless power transfer via inter-cell intentional interference. [0024] FIG. 13 illustrates an example user-centric wireless power transfer utilizing downlink signals of nodes composing a virtual power beacon.

[0025] FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary procedures of constructing a user-centric virtual power beacon.

[0026] FIG. 15 illustrates exemplary procedures of virtual power beacon construction.

EXAMPLE NETWORKS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0027] FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104/1 13, a CN 106/1 15, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a "station" and/or a "STA", may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things

(loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0029] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and/or a base station

1 14b. Each of the base stations 1 14a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106/115, the Internet 1 10, and/or the other networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 1 14a, 114b may be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, a NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 1 14a, 1 14b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or network elements.

[0030] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104/1 13, which may also include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 1 14a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 1 14a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and/or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0031] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0032] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104/113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 1 15/1 16/1 17 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and/or High-Speed UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0033] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and/or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro). [0034] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access , which may establish the air interface 1 16 using New Radio (NR).

[0035] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and/or transmissions sent to/from multiple types of base stations (e.g., a eNB and a gNB).

[0036] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0037] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node B, Home eNode B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE- A Pro, NR etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1A, the base station 1 14b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106/115.

[0038] The RAN 104/113 may be in communication with the CN 106/115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106/1 15 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and/or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104/1 13 and/or the CN 106/115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104/1 13 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104/113, which may be utilizing a NR radio technology, the CN 106/115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0039] The CN 106/1 15 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and/or the other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit- switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 1 10 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common

communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and/or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and/or wireless communications networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 1 12 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104/1 13 or a different RAT.

[0040] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1 A may be configured to communicate with the base station 1 14a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 1 14b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0041] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 1 18, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and/or other peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0042] The processor 1 18 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0043] The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0044] Although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit/receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0045] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.1 1 , for example.

[0046] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touch pad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 1 18 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0047] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and/or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0048] The processor 1 18 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location- determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0049] The processor 1 18 may further be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and/or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality and/or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and/or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a Virtual Reality and/or Augmented Reality (VR/AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and/or a humidity sensor.

[0050] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the UL (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and/or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 1 18). In an embodiment, the WRTU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0051] FIG. 1 C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 1 16. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0052] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The el\lode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 1 16. In one embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0053] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and/or DL, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0054] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1 C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0055] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation/deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and/or WCDMA.

[0056] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to/from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter- eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0057] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 1 10, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0058] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 1 12, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers. [0059] Although the WTRU is described in FIGS. 1 A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0060] In representative embodiments, the other network 1 12 may be a WLAN.

[0061] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired/wireless network that carries traffic in to and/or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and/or referred to as peer-to- peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11 e DLS or an 802.1 1z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad- hoc" mode of communication.

[0062] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.1 1 systems. For CSMA/CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed/detected and/or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0063] High Throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0064] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and/or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and/or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to the Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0065] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.1 1 af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.1 1 af and 802.11 ah relative to those used in 802.11 η, and 802.1 1 ac. 802.1 1 af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11 ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non- TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11 ah may support Meter Type

Control/Machine-Type Communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and/or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0066] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.1 1 η, 802.1 1 ac, 802.1 1 af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and/or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.1 1 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and/or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and/or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0067] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11 ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0068] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0069] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 1 13 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and/or gNB 180c).

[0070] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, the OFDM symbol spacing and/or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and/or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying number of OFDM symbols and/or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0071] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and/or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with/connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with/connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and/or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. [0072] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and/or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E- UTRA, routing of user plane data towards User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0073] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0074] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 1 13 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b in order to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for machine type communication (MTC) access, and/or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 1 13 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and/or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0075] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N1 1 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet- based, and the like.

[0076] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet- switched networks, such as the Internet 1 10, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0077] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 1 15 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 1 15 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 1 12, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0078] In view of Figures 1A-1 D, and the corresponding description of Figures 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 1 14a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b, and/or any other device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and/or to simulate network and/or WTRU functions.

[0079] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and/or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and/or deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and/or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0080] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and/or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and/or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and/or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and/or receive data.

[0081] Radiative wireless power transfer may be able to sustain seamless operations of wireless sensor networks and/or moving networks. For example, a drone may be configured to serve as a base station that is capable of moving and/or flying to an area with mobile data services (e.g., with high demands). The operation of the drone-based access points may be maintained if efficient and persistent wireless power supply is available to charge their batteries (e.g., continuously). Configuring a drone to serve as a base station may be integrated into a cellular network framework, such as a 5G network framework. A 5G network may provide a dynamic and flexible network via convergence and/or coordination among a plurality of heterogeneous radio access technologies (RATs) and/or edge computation. Multi-RATs/nodes/cells coordination may be configured to support wireless power transfer as a feature of radio access networks. For example, one or more types of network services may be fulfilled by allowing different RATs to share context information in a logical computation entity. The logical computation entity may be located at edge/fog in a 5G framework. 5G over-the-air transmission may be referred to as NR transmisisons or transmissions using an NR RAT.

[0082] Cable-free battery charging may be a feature for a mobile communication device. To sustain seamless operations of some classes of battery-powered mobile devices and/or base stations (e.g., for moving networks) such as drones, driverless cars, and/or internet of things (loT) sensors, wireless power transfer may be provided. Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) may be provided. A receiver may be able to obtain information and may charge the receiver's battery by a radiated radio frequency (RF) signal from a transmitter, which may be the same radiated RF signal from the transmitter. With SWIPT, an amplitude and phase of radio signals may be used to modulate information, while the radio signals' radiation and vibration may be used to carry energy. When used herein, the terms transmitter, receiver, and transceiver may be used somewhat interchangeably. As may be appreciated, a transceiver may include radio frequency (RF) processing hardware capable of processing one or more information signals received and/or transmitted via an antenna. For an example, a transceiver may be configured to convert received signals from an RF carrier band to baseband and/or convert transitted signals from baseband to and RF carrier band. Technicques and systems described herein in terms of recievers and/or transmitters may be equally applicable to transceivers and vice versa.

[0083] One or more types of receiver schemes for SWIPT may be provided. For example, SWIPT receivers may include a time switching receiver and a power splitting receiver. FIG. 2 illustrates examples of different receiver types for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). For example, FIG. 2(a) illustrates a time-switching receiver, and FIG. 2(b) illustrates a power-splitting receiver. The time- switching receiver for SWIPT (e.g., shown in FIG. 2(a)) may switch between information mode and power mode in accordance to a pre-configured time allocation. When the time-switching receiver for SWIPT is switched to a power mode interval, an embedded information transmitted may be lost. The power-splitting receiver for SWIPT (e.g., shown in FIG. 2(b)) may divide the received signals into multiple (e.g., two) portions, for example, one for the information and one for power reception tunnels based on a pre-defined ratio. The power-splitting receiver may result in potential degradation in bit/packet error performance due to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) reduction.

[0084] A trade-off between data performance and power transfer efficiency may exist for the SWIPT receivers shown in FIG. 2. For multi-antenna schemes, power transfer efficiency may be maximized if some or all available power is allocated to the highest spatial link (e.g., rank-1 beamforming). Information capacity may be optimized if water-filling-based power allocation occurs (e.g., appropriate power allocation among spatial links). Channel state information (CSI) may be acquired to realize beamforming for a wireless power transfer.

[0085] The RAT/network may provide the WTRU/user device with information that can be used for assisting with reception of the power signal. For example, the the WTRU/user device may receive downlink control information (DCI) for the information transmission signal and/or for the power transfer signal. The WTRU may receive a joint DCI for both signals or individual DCIs for each signal. The DCI for the power transfer signal may include information used in order to tune a receiver of the WTRU/user device to one or more of the the power transfer signal, information to assist with attempting to maximize power transfer from the power transfer signal, and/or information regarding information bits (e.g., redundancy version information) transmitter in the power transfer signal. For example, the DCI (and/or other configuration messages) for the power transfer signal may include beamforming and/or precoding information associated with the power transfer signal. The DCI (and/or other configuration messages) for the power transfer signal may include frequency, time, or other allocation information (e.g., physical resource block assignment) regarding the power transfer signal. The DCI (and/or other configuration messages) for the power transfer signal may include one or more of redundancy version information, modulation information (e.g., modulation type, order, and/or the like), coding information (e.g., coding rate, coding type, and/or the like), modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information, and/or other information about the information signal embedded in power transfer signal. Rather than or in addition to providing such information explicitly in the DCI or other message, user equipment may be configured to implicitly determine information about the power transfer signal, for example, based on detecting (e.g., blindly detecting) other properties of the power transfer signal.

[0086] Decoupled SWIPT may be provided. A node dubbed as power beacon may be deployed in a network to deliver power wirelessly to one or more WTRUs/user devices (e.g., rather than and/or in addition to embedding information within a power-conveyance signal as in SWIPT), while information services may be provided by the radio access nodes operating at different frequencies (e.g., to avoid interferences). A user terminal (e.g., one or more WTRUs/user devices) may be capable of receiving information and power from different nodes simultaneously.

[0087] Multi-nodes/multi-connectivity mechanisms for a 5G/NR radio access network (RAN) may be configured to enable one or more power beacons to blend into heterogeneous networks scenarios. One or more RATs and nodes with different topologies may co-exist. The term RAN may be used herein to include, but is not limited to, one or more of a microcell, a small cell operating in licensed spectrum, a small cell operating in unlicensed spectrum, a millimeter wave (mmW) cell, a Wi-Fi access point, a TRP, a wireless beacon, and/or the like.

[0088] Multi-RATs coordination in a 5G/NR network may be extended to power domain. For example, certain WTRU vendors may be conceiving wireless charging based on WiFi signals. For example, cellular- WiFi coordination may provide flexibility in joint information and power transfer. As an example of a wireless power transmission, power may be transferred by a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiated power signal may be detected, focused and/or sent to a particular point in a space to a device for wireless charging. Radiative wireless charging described herein may be provided in an exemplary manner, and those skilled in the art would appreciate that other forms of wireless charging may be used interchangeably.

[0089] A power beacon may be configured to be served by one or more types of access nodes (e.g., transmit/receive points (TRPs), small cells, and/or remote radio heads, etc.). CSI acquisition may be provided for wireless power transfer, and maturity of CSI acquisition mechanisms may be applicable to RATs/cells/TRPs in a cellular network. Based on multi-RATs/cells/TRPs coordination framework for a 5G/NR network, a user terminal may be able to receive power and/or information services (e.g., concurrently) from one or more nodes. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a WTRU/user device receiving information and power from different RATs. As shown in FIG. 3, multiple (e.g., two) RATs may be respectively designated as an information node and a power node. The configuration shown in FIG. 3 may allow for information and power transfer to be independently optimized. The battery charging services described herein may be supplied by a mobile operator as a part of subscription plan, or a third-party vertical (e.g., a power company) that may have rented a radio infrastructure from a mobile operator.

[0090] A user terminal (e.g., a WTRU) may include one or more receivers (e.g., receive chains). For example, at a user terminal side, in order to receive wireless power from the network, one or more transceivers corresponding to one or more different RATs may be configured to receive information and/or power for battery charging. FIG. 4 illustrates an example receiver configuration for information/power decoupling between RATs. As shown in FIG. 4, the transceivers for one or more RATs of the WTRU/user device 400 may be configured as an information receiver chain (e.g., tunnel) 402 and a power receiver chain (e.g., tunnel) 404. The information receiver chain (e.g., tunnel) 402 may be based on a first RAT, and the power receiver chain (e.g., tunnel) 404 may be based on a second RAT. The WTRU/user device 400 may include one or more processors (e.g., baseband processing). The information receiver chain 402 may include one or more of radio frequency to broadband (e.g., transceiver) 406, baseband processing 408 (e.g., a processor/baseband processor), and applications 410. The WTRU/user device 400 may include one or more processors (e.g., baseband processing). The power receiver chain (e.g., tunnel) 404 may include one or more of rectifier 412, booster 414, and battery 416. For example, the WTRU/user device 400 may include a second baseband processing in addition to the baseband processing 408. The second baseband processing may process the signal received via the power receiver chain 404 and/or provide input to the rectifier 412. The baseband processing 408 may process the signal received via the power receiver chain 404 and/or provide input to the rectifier 412.

[0091] When used herein, the term receiver chain may be used to refer to RF electronic(s), processor(s), and/or other equipment used to process wirless signals received via one or more antennas. A receiver chain may also be configured to process signals to be transmitted over one or more antennas. A receiver chain may be configured to process an information signal and/or a power signal.

[0092] Data transmission may be enabled along with a wireless power transfer service in a 5G/NR network framework. For example, a class of network functions may be provided for data transmission along with a wireless power transfer service in a 5G/NR network framework. The class of network function may include a wireless power transfer management (WPTM) function. The WPTM function may act as an orchestra function. For example, the WPTM function may be capable of collecting information (e.g., context information) from one or more of RATs, cells, TRPs, and/or the like. The WPTM function may configure a wireless information and a power transfer functionality based on the collected information. The WPTM function may consider coordination among one or more of multi-RATs, cells, nodes, or the like.

[0093] The class of network function can be hosted by any resources including physical or logical resources. For example, the WPTM function may be hosted by a computational resource and/or a computational platform (e.g., in a server). The WPTM function may be hosted by a physical computational platform or a logical computational platform. The WPTM function may be hosted by a physical computational resource or a logical computational resource. A WPTM function may be hosted in proximity to RAN (e.g., an edge/fog computation system (EFS)). The WPTM function may determine how to allocate one or more radio resources, for example, based on the collected information from the one or more of RATs, cells, TRPs, and/or the like that may be connected to a user terminal. The WPTM function may determine how to configure one or more of RATs/TRPs/cells to fulfill power transfer and/or information transfer services, for example, based on the collected information from the one or more of RATs, cells, TRPs, and/or the like that may be connected to the user terminal.

[0094] One or more of orchestration frameworks (e.g., of the WPTM function) may be used for one or more wireless power transfer schemes. The one or more wireless power transfer schemes may vary in different scenarios (e.g., wireless power transfer scenarios). The wireless power transfer scenarios may include one or more of the following: a WTRU/user device with an established radio resource control- connection (RRC-connection) to multiple RATs/TRPs/cells; a WTRU/user device with an established RRC- connection to a RAT/TRP/cell; or a WTRU/user device with no established RRC-connection, which may be in an idle mode.

[0095] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an orchestration framework of the WPTM function that may be used for the one or more wireless power transfer schemes. As shown in FIG. 5, the orchestration framework may launch a WPTM function 502 in an EFS 500 for wireless power transfer. The WPTM function 502 may orchestrate RAT services 504 and RAT services 506 to provide information/power transfer to a user terminal 512. RAT services 504 may be based on a first RAT, and RAT services 506 may be based on a second RAT. For example, the RAT services 504 may be provided by RAT 508 and RAT services 506 may be provided by RAT 510.

[0096] One or more schemes (e.g., described herein) may provide preserved information reception reliability and a battery of a user terminal being replenished. The one or more schemes may be applicable to a WTRU/user device with an established RRC-connection to multiple RATs/TRPs/cells. For example, a user that has established more than one connectivity to a network (e.g., via RATs/TRPs/cells) may use the one or more schemes to replenish a battery of the user while preserving information reception reliability.

[0097] In one or more schemes, a user terminal may have established one or more RRC connections. For example, a user terminal may have established a dual-connectivity in LTE. A multi-RATs/cells/TRPs coordination scheme may be provided to facilitate (e.g., jointly) reliability enhancement and/or decoupled SWIPT.

[0098] For example, in a multi-RATs/cells/TRPs coordination scheme, a WTRU (e.g., a user device) may receive a signal including downlink information via a first receiver chain (e.g., from an (e.g., first) established connectivity). The WTRU may receive a signal including power information via a second receiver chain (e.g., from other (e.g., second) established connectivity). The first connectivity via the first receiver chain may be referred to as an information node The second connectivity via the second receiver chain may be referred to as a power node. Redundancy of information (e.g., additional parity bits) conveyed by the information node may be embedded in the signal including the power information to be emitted from the power node. The WTRU/user device may operate the second receiver chain, which may be dedicated to the power node, in a power transfer mode. The WTRU may operate the second receiver chain in (e.g., by switching to) an information transfer mode. For example, the WTRU may switch from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode when information reception errors are detected in the information node. The information redundancy acquired from the power node may be used to enhance reliability of information reception.

[0099] A core network (e.g., associated with the WPTM function) may coordinate (e.g., tightly) between the information node and the power node. For example, the WPTM function may coordinate the information node and the power node so that the information node and the power node operate jointly.

[0100] FIG. 6 illustrates an example framework with joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT. A coordination entity (e.g., WPTM 600) may coordinate the information node 602 and the power node 604. As shown in the framework of FIG. 6, information node 602 (e.g., the physical layer of) may process information 606 via channel coding 608 (e.g., a transport block passed from the medium access control (MAC) layer) to be transmitted at TX signal processing 616. The channel coding 608 may introduce redundancy. TX signal processing 616 may be configured optimally for information transfer. An additional redundancy version (RV) of the information 606 may be prepared via a channel coding process (e.g., alternative redundancy version generation) at 610. The additional RV 618 of the information 606 may be added to decode the information 606 from the information node 602 if an error is detected during a transmission (e.g., via 616) to a WTRU/user device 612. The additional RV 618 may include alternative RV bits. For example, the additional RV 618 may be similar to a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) mechanism in a LTE network, where a different subset of coded bits may be used to form the RV. The additional RV 618 may include a parity bit of the information node 602. The additional RV 618 may repeat the information 606 from the information node 602. The additional RV 618 may be a duplicate information signal transmitted via the information node 602 (e.g., through the TX signal processing 616). A WTRU/user device 612 may send a non-acknowledgment (NAK) (e.g., to a base station) if the WTRU/user device 612 determines that an attempt to jointly decode the TX signal processed at 616 and the additional RV 618 is unsuccessful. Upon sending the NAK, the WTRU/user device 612 may receive a first retransmission (e.g., from the information node 602) and a second retransmission (e.g., from the information node 602). The first retransmission may be a third redundancy version of the information 606. The second retransmission may be a fourth redundancy version of the information 606.

[0101] One or more additional RV bits may be passed to the power node 604. For example, the additional RV bits 618 may be passed to the power node 604 via inter-node interface 614 (e.g., backhaul, midhaul, and/or fronthaul interfaces). The power node 604 may have been configured to emit a radiative signal 622. The radiative signal 622 may be generated from power signal generation 620 for wireless power transfer. When the additional RV bits 618 from the information node 602 are received by the power node 604, the power node 604 may embed the additional RV bits 618 in a radiative power signal 622 through information embedding (e.g., modulation) 624. A radiative power signal with embedded additional RV bits 618 may be process at TX signal processing 626 and/or emitted to the WTRU/user device 612 for battery charging. The TX signal processing 626 may be configured optimally for power transfer. The additional RV 618 may be one or more information bits exposing to a physical layer.

[0102] The additional RV 618 may modulate the information bits onto the power signal waveform 622, for example, as in a SWIPT paradigm. As shown in FIG. 4, the additional RV 618 may be embedded in the power signal waveform 622 via information embedding 624. The output of the information embedding may be the power signal with RV embedded 628. The amplitude and phase of the power signal with RV embedded 628 may be used to modulate the information. The radiation and vibration of the power signal with RV embedded 628 may be used to carry energy. Amplitude/phase/frequency may be adjusted to represent information bits (e.g., similar to modulation). For example, the amplitude, phase, or frequency of the power signal with RV embedded 628 may be altered in accordance with the additional RV bits 628 to be modulated.

[0103] A coordination entity (e.g., WPTM) may coordinate the information node and the power node using the physical layer. The coordination between the two nodes (e.g., information node and power node) may involve some functionalities in the physical layer. Other upper protocol stack layers (e.g., MAC, RLC, PDCP, and above) may not be involved. One or more RAT(s) that has radio transmission capability (e.g., modulation) may participate in the coordination described herein.

[0104] A MIMO configuration may be used to maximize one or more of information transfer or power transfer. An information rate may be maximized if multiple spatial links (e.g., or rank(s)) are available and/or transmission power is allocated among them. For power transfer, a spatial link that is relative strong (e.g., strongest) may be used. Power may be concentrated on this spatial link. For example, some or all power may be injected onto an air pipe associated with the strongest spatial link (e.g., Rank-1 beamforming). If information node and power node are equipped with multiple antennas, the power node may apply Rank-1 beamforming for the RV-embedded power signal transmission as wireless power transfer, which may be the power node's prioritized task. When multiple layers/codewords/transport blocks are transmitted by the information node, the RV bits shared with the power node may be a cascaded bit stream of RVs associating to one or more of the layers, codewords, or transport blocks. The cascaded bit stream may be modulated onto the power signal transmitted from the power node for transmission. The length of a bit segment corresponding to a layer, codeword, or transport block may be pre-configured. The user may be able to use these RVs upon request. [0105] An information signal and additional RV of the information signal may be transmitted at the same or different time instants. A node(s) (e.g., an information node) may transmit the information signal. A different node(s) (e.g., a power node) may transmit the additional RV of the information signal. For example, if the information node sends the information X in a subframe n, the power node may emit the RV of the information X that is embedded in the power signal in the subframe n + k, where k≥ 0.

[0106] The value of k may be determined (e.g., chosen) based on service type and/or device class. The core network (e.g., the WPTM) may determine the value of k. A smaller value of k is associated with a lower latency. For example, if the service that the WTRU/user device is receiving uses a low-latency application (e.g., ultra-reliable and low latency communication (ULLRC) applications), k may be set with a small value in order to reduce the latency (e.g., time delay). The latency in the transport interface between network nodes (e.g., between the information node and the power node) may be taken into account when determining the value of k. For example, if a delay (e.g., large delay) is expected in an inter-node connection, a larger value of k may be chosen to accommodate such non-ideality (e.g., the delay).

[0107] The core network may determine a relationship (e.g., a timing relationship including the value of k) between a signal to be transmitted from the information node and a signal to be transmitted from the power node. The core network may determine and/or provide the value of k to the WTRU/user device. The WTRU/user device may be preconfigured the value of k. For example, the value of k may be given to the WTRU/user device prior to the commencement of the provided operation (e.g., switching from an information transfer mode to an power transfer mode). The WTRU/user device may be able to process the value of k and/or use the value of k.

[0108] At the user terminal side, a receiver for the power node may be configured to a time-switching- based SWIPT receiver. For example, the time-switching-based SWIPT receiver for the power node may be similar to the one shown in FIG. 2(a).

[0109] A WTRU may operate in one or more of a power transfer mode or an information transfer mode. The WTRU may include multiple receiver chains (e.g., two receiver chains as shown in FIG. 4). The WTRU may operate one or more receiver chains in multiple modes (e.g., in both the power transfer mode and the information transfer mode). For example, the WTRU may receive a first signal comprising a first information via the first receiver chain and/or a second signal comprising a second information via the second receiver chain. The WTRU may operate the second receiver chain in the power transfer mode and/or the information transfer mode. For example, in the power transfer mode, the WTRU may process the second signal received via the second receiver chain to harvest power from the second signal. The second signal may include a power signal with embedded information signal (e.g., power signal with RV embedded 628). In the information transfer mode, the WTRU may process the second signal received via the second receiver chain to determine the second information.

[0110] A WTRU may switch between a power transfer mode and an information transfer mode. The switching provided herein may be conducted in an event-triggered manner. The triggering event may include a detection of a reception error. For example, the WTRU may switch the second receiver chain from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode upon a detection of an unsuccessful attempt to decode the first information received at the first receiver chain (e.g., a reception error at the first receiver chain).

[0111] Switching from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode for a receiver chain (e.g., a power node receiver, the second receiver chain, or the like) may depend on detection results of a packet received by the WTRU. The WTRU may fail to receive a packet, for example, from the information node. The WTRU may attempt to decode the packet received (e.g., from the information node). The attempt to decode the packet received may be unsuccessful. The unsuccessful attempt may occur at a subframe(s) n. For example, the WTRU may determine that the attempt to decode the packet received is unsuccessful at the subframe(s) n. If a reception error occurs for the packet from the information node in the subframe n, the WTRU ( e.g., one of the WTRU's receivers operating in the power transfer node) may switch to the information transfer mode in the subframe n + k in order to demodulate additional RV(s). The demodulated RV(s) may be shared with a receiver of the information node for joint decoding.

[0112] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of receiver logic of a user terminal to fulfill the joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT. The user terminal (e.g., WTRU 700) may include a first connectivity receiver module and/or a first receiver chain 702 and/or a second connectivity receiver module and/or a second receiver chain. The first receiver chain 702 may include an information tunnel. The second receiver chain may include an information tunnel 704 and a power tunnel 706. The second receiver chain may operate using the a power tunnel 706 as a default. The WTRU 700 may operate the second receiver chain in an information transfer mode using the information tunnel 704. The WTRU 700 may operate the second receiver chain in an power transfer mode using the power tunnel 706. The WTRU 700 may switch between the information transfer mode and the power transfer mode (e.g., from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode).

[0113] The WTRU 700 may receive a first signal via the first receiver chain. The first receiver chain may include one or more antennas and a first transceiver(s). The WTRU 700 may receive the first signal via one or more antennas. The WTRU 700 may process the first signal from radio frequency(RF) to baseband signals at 708 (e.g., RF-to-BB 708 may correspond to a transceiver). The WTRU 700 may process the baseband signals at 710, for example via a broadband signal processor. The WTRU 700 may determine whether an error is detected (e.g., at subframe n) at 712 (e.g., the broadband processor may determine that an error occurred during decoding). If the WTRU 700 determines that no error is detected at 712, the WTRU 700 may forward the processed baseband signals to the upper layer 714. . If the WTRU 700 determines that an error is detected at 712, the WTRU may buffer the processed baseband signals (bits) at 716. If the WTRU 700 determines that an error is detected at 712, the WTRU 700 may indicate the error as an event to trigger the switching of the second receiver chain from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode.

[0114] The WTRU 700 may receive a second signal via the second receiver chain. The second receiver chain may include one or more antennas. The WTRU 700 may switch between the power tunnel 706 and the information tunnel 704. The WTRU 700 may operate in the power transfer mode using the power tunnel 706. The power tunnel 706 may include a power rectifier and/or a power booster. The power tunnel may include a battery. The WTRU 700 may receive the second signal via one or more antennas and the second transceiver(s). The WTRU 700 may process the second signal through the power rectifier 724. The WTRU 700 may process the rectified second signal through the power booster 726 to harvest power from the second signal. The WTRU 700 may store the harvested power in battery 728. The WTRU 700 may not decode the second signal for information.

[0115] The WTRU 700 may switch from the power tunnel 706 to the information tunnel 704, for example based on determining that a decoding error occurred for data received via the first receiver chain. The WTRU 700 may operate in the information transfer mode using the information tunnel 704. The information tunnel 704 of the second receiver chain may include RF-to BB 720 and baseband processing 722. The WTRU 700 may receive the second signal via one or more antennas, e.g., while operating the second receiver chain in the information transfer mode. The WTRU 700 may process the second signal from radio frequency (RF) to baseband signals at 720. The WTRU 700 may process the baseband signals at 722. If the WTRU determines that an error is detected at 712, the WTRU 700 may attempt to jointly decode the processed baseband signals (bits) buffered at 716 and the processed baseband signals from 722 through joint detection 718. For example, the bits received via the first receiver chain and the bits receivd via the second receviver chain may be decoded jointly. The bits from the first and second receiver chains may correspond to different redundancy versions of the same original information bits.

[0116] A receiver for the power node (e.g. , the second receiver chain in FIG. 7) may be configured to operate in a power transfer mode (e.g. , by default). For example, if an error or an unsuccessful attempt to decode is detected by a receiver for the information node, the receiver for the power node may be configured to switch to the information transfer mode from the power transfer mode. The WTRU may switch back from the information transfer mode to the power transfer mode, for example, based on determining that a decoding of a second information (e.g., received from the power node) with the first information (e.g., received from the information node) is successful.

[0117] The switching provided herein may be conducted according to a pre-configured timing, for example, a preconfigured time after occurrence of a decoding erorr in the information transfer receiver chain. For example, the WTRU may switch from a power transfer mode to an information transfer mode in the subframe n +k based on a determination that an attempt to decode a signal (e.g., a packet) that the WTRU receives is unsuccessful at subframe n. The WTRU/user device may receive a configuration indicating the value of k.

[0118] The WTRU/user device may receive a configuration indicating a relationship between a signal received from the information node and a signal received from the power node. The relationship between the signal received from the information node and the signal received from the power node may include one or more of a timing relationship, resources used by the information node and/or the power node for transmitting signals, the redundancy relationship between the signal received from the information node and the signal received from the power node. The redundancy relationship between the signal received from the information node and the signal received from the power node may indicate that the signal received from the information node and the signal received from the power node are different redundancy version of same information.

[0119] The switching provided herein may be conducted based on a power reserve of the WTRU. For example, the WTRU may maintain the power reserve of the WTRU at certain level (e.g., equal or above a threshold). When the power reserve of the WTRU is below the threshold, the WTRU may not switch from the power transfer mode to the information transfer mode in the subframe n +k even if the WTRU determines that an attempt to decode a signal (e.g., a packet) that the WTRU receives is unsuccessful at subframe n.

[0120] The scheme of joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT described herein may be triggered by a user terminal (e.g., a user device or a WTRU) and/or a user. For example, the user terminal may trigger (e.g., automatically) the joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT via detecting low battery level. A user (e.g., a human user) may trigger the joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT by activation (e.g., manually). When the joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT is triggered, the user terminal may send a request to one or more of the connected RATs/cells/TRPs. The request may include a message asking for power transfer services. When one or more of the connected RATs/cells/TRPs receives the request, the one or more of the connected RATs/cells/TRPs may forward certain information (e.g., traffic loads and channel status with respect to the user terminal and/or the profile of the user terminal) to a WPTM function for a resource configuration. The WPTM function may be configured to decide which RAT/TRP/cell may be assigned as an information node (e.g., a default information node). The WPTM function may be configured to decide which RAT/TRP/cell may be assigned as a power node (e.g., a default power node). FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary procedures of joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT. The numbers shown in FIG. 8 may be presented for the purpose of reference. As such, the numbered actions may be performed in a different order (e.g., in whole or in part) and/or may be skipped.

[0121] A user terminal (e.g., a user device or a WTRU) may establish one or more RRC-connections with two or more RATs/cells/TRPs (e.g., as shown in Element 802 in FIG. 8). Element 802 may be the similar or the same as a procedure of initializing multi-connectivity.

[0122] The user terminal may determine if a wireless power transfer from a network may be needed and/or may send a corresponding request message to the network to trigger the wireless power transfer (e.g., as shown in Element 804 in FIG. 8). For example, the user terminal may examine (e.g., regularly) the user terminal's own battery status in an autonomous manner. If the remaining battery power is lower than a threshold level, a request message may be sent to the network to activate wireless power transfer from one or more of the connected RATs/cells/TRPs. A human user of the user terminal may turn on a power transfer mode manually via an application interface. If power transfer mode is activated by the user, the user terminal may send a request message to the network. The request message may be transmitted with one or more of an uplink higher-layer control signaling (e.g., RRC), a physical-layer control signaling (e.g., PUCCH), and/or the like. The request message may include a battery status (e.g., an instantaneous battery status) of the user terminal.

[0123] The one or more of the connected RATs/cells/TRPs may receive the request message. The RATs/cells/TRPs that receives the request message from the user terminal may process the request message and/or prepare the information that may be forwarded to the WPTM function (e.g., as shown in Element 806 in FIG. 8). The one or more of the connected RATs/cells/TRPs may forward the information to the WPTM function. The information may include one or more of the following: traffic loading status of one or more RAT/cell/TRP; the ID of the user terminal that made a request; the battery status of the user terminal that made a request; and/or channel status information with respect to the user terminal.

[0124] As shown in Element 808 in FIG. 8, the WPTM function may be configured to make a decision based on the information forwarded by the RATs/cells/TRPs. The WPTM function may be configured to make one or more of the following decisions (e.g., configuration decisions): whether or not power transfer mode may be applied for the user terminal that made a request; which connected RATs/cells/TRPs may be designated as an information node (e.g., the first connectivity); which connected RATs/cells/TRPs may be designated as a power node (e.g., the second connectivity); and/or the value of k, which may be decided based on latency requirement(s).

[0125] A role selection of an information node and a power node between RATs/cells/TRPs (e.g., two RATs/cells/TRPs) may be determined based on the number of independent spatial links (e.g., ranks) in a MIMO channel. FIG. 9 illustrates exemplary procedures for configurations of joint reliability enhancement with decoupled SWIPT. As shown in FIG. 9, whether the remaining battery power of the user terminal is lower than a threshold level may be determined. If the remaining battery power of the user terminal is lower than the threshold level, one or more of RATs/cells/TRPs (e.g., with a higher MIMO rank) may be selected as an information node, and one or more of RATs/cells/TRPs (e.g., with a lower MIMO rank) may be selected as a power node. If the remaining battery power of the user terminal is higher than the threshold level, the wireless power transfer request may be refused.

[0126] One or more decisions by the WPTM function may be forwarded to some or all the

RATs/cells/TRPs that may be involved in the operation (e.g., as shown in Element 810 in FIG. 8). The some or all the RATs/cells/TRPs may process the decisions (e.g., to generate configurations). One or more configurations (e.g., configuration decisions) may be shared with the user terminal (e.g., via notification such as decision notification). For example, one or more shared relevant configurations may include at least one or more of the following: the value of k; the roles of one or more of the

RATs/cells/TRPs involved in the operation (e.g., which one is assigned as an information node and which one is assigned as a power node); and/or the information relating to mapping between

layers/codewords/transport blocks (e.g., from the information node) and the RV bit streams (e.g., from the power node).

[0127] The user terminal may configure the receivers of the user terminal and/or may decode the information based on one or more configurations described herein.

[0128] Based on the decisions made by the WPTM function, one or more of the involved

RATs/cells/TRPs may configure transmissions towards the user terminal accordingly (e.g., as shown in Element 812 in FIG. 8). For example, one or more of the RATs/cells/TRPs that have been designated as a power node may configure themselves to maximize a power transfer efficiency. The one or more of the RATs/cells/TRPs that have been designated as a power node may apply some or all power to a spatial link (e.g., rank-1 beamforming, regardless of the channel condition). An interface for message exchange and redundancy version sharing may be set up between the RATs/cells/TRPs that are involved in the coordination (e.g., an information node and a power node). The user terminal may configure the user terminal's receivers (e.g., receiver modules) according to instructions from the network. For example, the receivers may be configured in accordance to the role assignment of the information node and the power node.

[0129] When some or all the involved RATs/cells/TRPs and the user terminal are configured based on one or more of the network configuration decisions, the network may begin the operation of the joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT scheme as described herein (e.g., as shown in Element 814 in FIG. 8). The joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT scheme may include joint information and power services. The joint reliability enhancement and decoupled SWIPT scheme may allow the user terminal to replenish the user terminal's battery and/or increase (e.g., concurrently) the information reception reliability. A HARQ feedback may be exempted or relaxed. The user terminal may receive additional redundancy from different nodes/RATs to increase reliability (e.g., decoding reliability). Delay caused by the HARQ feedback may be reduced.

[0130] A wireless power transfer scheme with a user that has a (e.g., only) RRC connection to one (e.g., only one) RAT/cell/TRP may be provided. Other nodes of different RATs/cells/TRPs may be nearby. A wireless power transfer may be fulfilled with an intra-cell operation and/or inter-cell operation. For an intra- cell operation, two or more (e.g., two) set of radio resources corresponding to information and power radio resources respectively may be scheduled by the connected cell. Information radio resources may be used for information transfer, and/or power radio resources may be used for power transfer. The intra-cell interference perceived in the radio resources may be utilized for power transfer. For an inter-cell operation, uplink and downlink signals of a neighboring cell(s) (e.g., inter-cell interference) may be configured to be exploited for wireless power transfer.

[0131] Intra-cell intentional interference scheme(s) may be described herein. An intra-cell intentional interference scheme may utilize downlink and/or uplink interferences of one or more orthogonal radio resources within a cell to replenish a battery of a user terminal. FIG. 10 illustrates an example wireless power transfer facilitated by an intra-cell intentional interference. As shown in FIG. 10, a targeted user terminal 1006 may be scheduled with two radio resources. Radio resource 1002 may be scheduled for information transfer. Radio resource 1004 may be scheduled for power transfer (e.g., from device 1006 perspective). Radio resource 1004 may be scheduled for information transfer (e.g., from device 1008 perspective). The radio resource scheduled for power transfer (e.g., radio resource 1004 in FIG. 10) may be partially or fully overlapped with radio resource(s) that has been allocated for information services of other users (e.g., user 1008) within the same cell 1010. The intentional intra-cell interference 1016 in radio resource 1004 may be equivalent of creating an intentional intra-cell interference 1014 in radio resource 1004 as shown in FIG. 10. An intentional intra-cell interference 1014 in radio resource 1004 may be exploited for wireless battery charging. [0132] Radio resources may be scheduled according to a priority. For example, the radio resources 1002 for information may be determined for the target user terminal 1006. Other resource(s) that is not allocated for information transfer for the target user terminal 1006 may be assigned for power transfer (e.g., radio resource 1004). The resource allocation decisions may be made by a WPTM function 1012 as described herein.

[0133] The dual-purpose resource allocation described herein may be configured with one or more of the following. A user terminal may determine if a wireless power transfer from a network is needed. The user terminal may send a corresponding request message to the network to trigger the wireless power transfer. For example, the user terminal may examine (e.g., regularly) the user terminal's own battery status in an autonomous manner. If the remaining battery power is lower than a threshold level, a request message may be sent to the network to activate the wireless power transfer from a connected

RAT/cell/TRP. A user (e.g., a human user) of the user terminal may turn on a wireless power transfer mode (e.g., manually) via an application interface. If the wireless power transfer mode is activated by the user, the user terminal may send a request message to the network. The request message may be transmitted with an uplink higher-layer control signaling (e.g., RRC) or a physical-layer control signaling (e.g., PUCCH). The request message may include a battery status (e.g., an instantaneous battery status) of the user terminal.

[0134] The dual-purpose resource allocation described herein may be configured with one or more of the following. The user terminal may transmit an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) to the connected RAT/cell/cell base station/TRP. The connected RAT/cell base station may be configured to obtain a downlink channel status with respect to the user over one or more radio resources (e.g., physical resource blocks and/or beams).

[0135] The dual-purpose resource allocation described herein may be configured with one or more of the following. Based on the measured channel state information, the connected RAT/cell base station may determine the radio resource for information transfer for the user and/or may assign other radio resource for power transfer. Based on the resource allocation and/or precoding information of one or more of the other users (e.g., active users), the WPTM function may instruct the base station to allocate (e.g., deliberately) the power-transfer resource(s) to other users. The other users may have the same or highly correlated precoding preference for the information transfer.

[0136] Inter-cell intentional interference scheme be described herein. The inter-cell intentional interference scheme may utilize downlink and/or uplink interferences from one or more neighboring cells to replenish a battery of a user terminal. The inter-cell intentional interference scheme may be similar to a coordinated multi-points (CoMP) scheme(s). For example, the inter-cell intentional interference scheme and the CoMP scheme(s) may be implemented via multi-nodes coordination. CoMP schemes may aim to minimize interference leakage to neighboring cells (e.g., to improve information transfer quality). The inter- cell intentional interference scheme may aim to maximize interference leakage to neighboring cells. By maximizing interference leakage to neighboring cells, the inter-cell intentional interference scheme may increase energy harvesting efficiency of the users in neighboring cells. FIG. 1 1 illustrates an example wireless power transfer facilitated with an inter-cell intentional interference.

[0137] In inter-cell intentional interference scheme, if a target user terminal 1 106 detects low battery condition, the target user terminal 1106 may send a request message to the connected cell node 1110. The request message may include a request for wireless battery charging to the connected node 11 10. When the request has been received by the connected node 11 10, the connected node 1110 (e.g., serving node) may check if a radio resource (e.g., a physical resource block) can be used for wireless power transfer.

[0138] The target user terminal 1106 may eavesdrop downlink and/or uplink reference signals (e.g., periodically) from the neighboring RATs/cells/TRPs base stations (e.g., cell node 1 118) and/or user terminals (e.g., user terminal 1108). A channel state information (e.g., including MIMO precoding and/or beamforming information) derived based on the eavesdropped reference signals may be shared with the connected cells (e.g., the connected node 11 10). The channel state information may be included along with the request message for wireless power transfer. Based on the information shared by the target user terminal 1 106, the connected cell/node 11 10 may notify a WPTM function 1 112. The WPTM function 1 112 may be connected to the neighboring RATs/cells/TRPs base stations (e.g., the one that the target user terminal 1106 may have been eavesdropping, e.g., cell node 1118). The WPTM function 1 112 may instruct corresponding neighboring cells (e.g., cell node 1 118) to configure the corresponding neighboring cells' transceiver parameters to match what has been shared by the target user terminal 1 106. For example, the neighboring RATs/cells/TRPs base stations (e.g., cell node 1 118) may deliberately schedule one or more downlink/uplink resources to a user (e.g., user terminal 1 108) that may have the same or highly correlated MIMO precoder recommendation. The downlink and/or uplink data signals provided by the neighboring RATs/cells/TRPs base stations (e.g., cell node 1 118) may be exploited by the target user terminal 1106 for efficiently harvesting energy. Intentional interference may occur (e.g., intentional interference 1 114 and intentional interference 11 16).

[0139] FIG 12 illustrates exemplary procedures of wireless power transfer via inter-cell intentional interference. The numbers shown in FIG. 12 may be presented for the purpose of reference. As such, the numbered actions may be performed in a different order (e.g., in whole or in part) and/or may be skipped. [0140] A target user terminal may be capable of eavesdropping signals from and/or to neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s) that may not have a RRC connection to the target user terminal (e.g., as shown in Element 1202 in FIG. 12). The signals may include downlink reference signals from neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s) and/or uplink reference signals from a neighboring user terminal to the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s). The target user terminal may be configured to evaluate a channel condition (e.g., channel strength, precoding information, angle of arrival, channel state information, and/or the like) with respect to the entities (e.g., infrastructures and/or

WTRUs/user devices) in the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s), for example, based on the signals.

[0141] The target user terminal may determine if a wireless power transfer from a network is needed (e.g., as shown in Element 1204 in FIG. 12). If the target user terminal determines a wireless power transfer from a network is needed, the target user terminal may send a corresponding request message to the network to trigger the wireless power transfer. For example, the target user terminal may examine (e.g., regularly) the target user terminal's own battery status in an autonomous manner. If the remaining battery power is lower than a threshold level, a request message may be sent to the network to activate a wireless power transfer from one or more of the connected RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s). The request message may be sent along with a channel condition that the target user terminal may have acquired from eavesdropping. A user (e.g., a human user) of the target user terminal may turn on a power transfer mode (e.g., manually) via an application interface. If the power transfer mode is activated by the user, the target user terminal may send a request message to the network. The request message may be transmitted with uplink higher-layer control signaling (e.g., RRC) and/or physical-layer control signaling (e.g., PUCCH). The request message may include a battery status (e.g., an instantaneous battery status) of the target user terminal.

[0142] Element 1202 and Element 1204 shown in FIG. 12 may be swapped. A target user terminal may begin eavesdropping after sending a request and/or receiving an instruction from a RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s). The target user terminal may conduct eavesdropping of signals from the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s) and/or CSI derivation when the target user terminal is triggered.

[0143] As shown in Element 1206 in FIG. 12, when one or more RRC-connected RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base stations have received the request message from the target user terminal, the one or more RRC- connected RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base stations may process the request and/or may forward the request and/or a physical-layer configuration to a WPTM function (e.g., via notification). For example, the physical- layer configuration may include the preferred physical-layer configuration that may be based on the CSI shared by the target user terminal. The base stations of neighboring RATs/cells/TRPs may share the base stations' status information (e.g., periodically) with the WPTM function(s). The shared status information by the base stations may include one or more of a traffic load, channel feedback information of the active users of the base stations, and/or the like.

[0144] Based on information from a connected RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base station(s), the WPTM function may conduct resource allocation (e.g., determine configuration) for the neighboring

RATs/cells/TRPs (e.g., as shown in Element 1208 in FIG. 12). The WPTM function may determine the radio resource that the target user terminal may use to receive power. For example, the WPTM function may deliberately allocate a subset of radio resources of neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) to users with a precoding preference that is highly-correlated to the target user terminal. The WPTM function may choose the same subset of radio resources as the ones that the target user terminal uses to try to harvest energy from the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s). The results of the resource allocation may be shared with the neighboring and connected RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) base stations (e.g., via a notification messaging).

[0145] As shown in Element 1210 in FIG. 12, the connected RAT(s)/cell(s) TRP(s) may send the resource allocation results (e.g., via control signals such as PDCCH) to the target user terminal (e.g., via notification forwarding). The target user terminal may be able to configure itself to harvest the RF energy radiating from downlink and/or uplink signals of the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s).

[0146] As shown in Element 1212 in FIG. 12, the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) and neighboring user terminal (e.g., WTRUs/user devices) associated with the neighboring RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) may launch downlink and/or uplink transmissions respectively, for example, in accordance to the resource allocation determined by the WPTM function. The radiated energy (e.g., by the transmissions of the downlink and/or uplink signals) may be exploited by the target user terminal for battery replenishing (e.g., via intentional interference).

[0147] A wireless power transfer scheme for a user terminal that has no RRC connection to

RAT/cell/TRP may be provided. The wireless power transfer scheme with no RRC connection may be referred to as an idle mode. A WTRU/user device may be associated with a virtual power beacon. The virtual power beacon may follow the WTRU/user device's movement even if the user terminal is in an idle mode (e.g., no RRC-connection may have established with a network). A virtual power beacon may be a logical entity that may be formed with an access node or with a coordination among multiple access nodes (e.g., belonging to the same or different RATs). A virtual power beacon may be similar to a virtual cell in the paradigm of a user-centric access. A virtual power beacon may be constructed for power transfer (e.g., instead of providing data services). Initializing a virtual power beacon for a user/user terminal may be similar to setting up a constant wireless power supply for a device, regardless of the user/user terminal's location. [0148] Composition of a virtual power beacon may be updated (e.g., dynamically) in accordance to the location of the user terminal. Updating the composition of a virtual power may enable seamless RF-based wireless power supply to a user terminal. An involved access node in a virtual power beacon may have its own users to serve. If an involved access node participated in a construction of a virtual power beacon, the involved access node may schedule (e.g., deliberately) the users that have the same or highly correlated precoding preferences as the target user terminal requesting wireless power transfer. The signal may be jointly used for downlink services and power transfer. FIG. 13 illustrates an example user-centric wireless power transfer utilizing downlink signals of nodes composing the virtual power beacon. Formation and update of a virtual power beacon may be handled by the WPTM function, which may be connected to some or all the RATs/cells/TRPs that may be involved.

[0149] Such mechanism may be enabled via persistent uplink transmission (e.g., when the user is in idle mode) of a user tracking signal (UTS) from the target user terminal. The UTS may include a component similar to uplink sounding reference signals (SRS). The UTS may allow the surrounding access nodes to estimate the channel status with respect to the target user terminal. Some or all access nodes may be assumed to be connected to the WPTM function. Some or all access nodes may collect channel state information that may have been estimated by the access nodes and information of the active users in their coverage.

[0150] A WPTM function may be able to coordinate one or more of the RATs/cells/TRPs to form a virtual power beacon for a target user terminal, for example, based on the collected information. As shown FIG. 13, the WPTM function 1312 may coordinate RAT/cell TRP 1310 and RAT/cell TRP 1318 and/or form a virtual power beacon for the target user terminal 1306. RAT/cell TRP 1310 and/or RAT/cell/TRP 1318 may receive scheduling decisions from the WPTM function 1312. The scheduling decisions of RAT/cell/TRP 1310 and/or RAT/cell/TRP 1318 may be pre-arranged. For example, the involved RATs/cells/TRPs (e.g., RAT/cell TRP 1310 and RAT/cell/TRP 1318) may be able to provide services to their respective users 1308 and 1304 while supplying wireless power to the target user terminal 1306. RAT/cell/TRP 1310 may be attached to user 1308. RAT/cell/TRP 1318 may be attached to user 1304. The virtual power beacon formed through coordination of RAT/cell/TRP 1310 and RAT/cell/TRP 1318 may be equivalent to the virtual power beacon 1320.

[0151] FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary procedures of constructing a user-centric virtual power beacon.

[0152] A target user terminal may identify a need for power transfer. The target user terminal may send a UTS signal to one or more of the RATs/cells/TRPs, for example, if the target user terminal detects a signal from one or more of the RAT/cell/TRP. The signal from the one or more of the RAT/cell/TRP may be in a form of a broadcast message. [0153] A target user terminal may include knowledge relating to certain pre-configured and/or predefined information. For example, a target user terminal may have pre-configured and/or pre-defined knowledge relating to a wireless information and/or power transfer setting (e.g., a default wireless information and/or power transfer setting). The pre-configured and/or pre-defined information may include one or more details about dedicated time, frequency, space, code radio resources, and/or the like that a target user terminal may listen to for information transfer and/or power transfer. If such information is pre- configured in the target user terminal, the target user terminal may skip UTS signaling.

[0154] It may be assumed that one or more RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes (e.g., K access nodes, with K≥ 1) may have received a UTS from a user terminal (e.g., a target user terminal). The RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes may derive CSI and/or forward the derived CSI of the target user terminal to the WPTM function . The RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes may derive CSI and/or forward estimated CSI of other active users under the coverage of the RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes to the WPTM function. The WPTM function may determine a composition of the virtual power beacon (e.g., for the target user terminal) and/or construct the virtual power beacon. The WPTM function may make resource allocation decisions and/or send the resource allocation decisions to the one or more RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes. The one or more

RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes may provide services with coordinated resource arrangements (e.g., based on the received resource allocation decisions). The one or more RAT(s)/cell(s)/TRP(s) nodes may send RF signals to the target user terminal (e.g., for battery charging).

[0155] FIG. 15 illustrates exemplary procedures of virtual power beacon construction. The WPTM function may use exemplary procedures shown in FIG. 15 to determine the composition of the virtual power beacon of the target user. The WPTM function may set a variable / to 1 and/or assigned the variable / to node /. The WPTM function may determine whether there is any user attaching to the node / and/or a user(s) attaching to the node has highly correlated spatial channel to the target user terminal. If a user(s) attaching to the node has highly correlated spatial channel to the target user terminal, the WPTM function may add the node / to compose the virtual power beacon. The WPTM function may determine whether / has reached K, the number of access nodes that may have received a UTS from a user terminal . If not, the WPTM function may increase the variable / by one and/or continue another iteration of whether there is any user attaching to the node / and/or a user(s) attaching to the node has highly correlated spatial channel to the target user terminal . If there is no user attaching to the node / and/or a user(s) attaching to the node has no highly correlated spatial channel to the target user terminal, the WPTM function may increase the variable / by one and/or continue another iteration of whether there is any user attaching to the node / and/or a user(s) attaching to the node has highly correlated spatial channel to the target user terminal . If the variable / has reached K, the WPTM function may end the virtual power beacon construction . [0156] Although features and elements are described above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, WTRU, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.