WO2025076755A1

WO2025076755A1 - Designated device use for shared multi-modal content

Info

Publication number: WO2025076755A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/124161
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhichao ZHOU; Diana MAAMARI; Mickael Mondet
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2023-10-12
Filing date: 2023-10-12
Publication date: 2025-04-17
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-12

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The UE may receive content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The UE may forward the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Description

DESIGNATED DEVICE USE FOR SHARED MULTI-MODAL CONTENT

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The following relates to wireless communications, including designated device use for shared multi-modal content.

BACKGROUND

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

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support designated device use for shared multi-modal content. For example, the described techniques provide for designating one or multiple user equipment (s) (UE) (s) as content providers for a group of UEs sharing a common feature (e.g., a mode identifier) . The mode identifier may be a multi-modal group identifier or any other identifier that is common among the group of UEs. For example, one or more UE within the group may receive an indication that the UE has been designated as a content provider for the set of UEs (e.g., the UE is included in the set of UEs) . The set of UEs may be configured with or otherwise associated with a same mode identifier (e.g., the same multi-mode identifier or the same quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship) . The UE (s) may be selected based on their respective channel metric satisfying a threshold. The UE may receive content associated with the same mode identifier and forward the content to the other UEs in the set according to the content provider indication.

A method for wireless communications by a UE is described. The method may include receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold, receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity, and forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

A UE for wireless communications is described. The UE may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to receive, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold, receive content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity, and forward the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Another UE for wireless communications is described. The UE may include means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold, means for receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity, and means for forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold, receive content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity, and forward the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, where forwarding the content may be based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for forwarding the content to the set of UEs during a first forwarding period associated with the UE, where other UEs in the set of UEs designated as content providers forward the content to the set of UEs during a second forwarding period associated.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for measuring one or more performance metrics to obtain channel performance information associated with the set of UEs and transmitting the channel performance information to the network entity for the set of UEs, where forwarding the content may be based on the one or more performance metrics.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the network entity, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, where the content may be forwarded to the subset of UEs.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a threshold number of data units of the content from the network entity, where forwarding the content may be based on the threshold number of data units being received.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for decoding the threshold number of data units to obtain decoded content and forwarding the decoded content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for forwarding the threshold number of data units to the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a feedback indication from the one or more UEs in the set of UEs and transmitting the feedback indication to the network entity.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for retransmitting the content in response to the feedback indication identifying a subset of UEs in the set of UEs that were unable to successfully receive and decode the content.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting an indication to the network entity that the UE may have received and decoded the threshold number of data units.

Some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for repeating forwarding of the content to the one or more UEs according to a defined repetition parameter.

In some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the channel metric of the UE that may be associated with designating the UE as a content provider includes at least one of a delay status, a power metric, an available power headroom, a channel performance quality metric, a reliability metric, a UE-capability, or any combination thereof, of the UE.

In some examples of the method, user equipment (UEs) , and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the set of UEs associated with the same mode identifier includes each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same multi-modal service identifier, each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same quasi-colocation parameter, or both.

A method for wireless communications by a network entity is described. The method may include transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold and transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

A network entity for wireless communications is described. The network entity may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to transmit, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold and transmit content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Another network entity for wireless communications is described. The network entity may include means for transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold and means for transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to transmit, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold and transmit content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving channel performance information for each UE in the set of UEs and designating the UE as the content provider based on the channel performance information for the UE satisfying a threshold channel performance level.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for configuring the indication to identify a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, where the UE forwarding the content may be based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the UE, channel performance information associated with the set of UEs.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to the UE, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, where the content may be forwarded to the subset of UEs.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a feedback indication from the UE, the feedback indication identifying feedback information for the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

Some examples of the method, network entities, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an indication from the UE that the UE may have received and decoded a threshold number of data units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a forwarding scheme that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a method that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 5 and 6 show block diagrams of devices that support designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 9 and 10 show block diagrams of devices that support designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGs. 13 through 17 show flowcharts illustrating methods that support designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Wireless networks are evolving to a point where the network streams content to multiple user equipment (s) (UE) (s) at the same time. For example, a set of UEs may include a traditional UE (e.g., cell phone) as well as various wearable devices. Collectively, these devices may provide augmented or extended reality functionality to the operator or user associated with the UE. Similarly, a group of UEs may share a common feature, such as having the same quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship, while the network streams or otherwise broadcasts content to the devices. However, this approach is inefficient and consumes considerable over-the-air (OTA) resources of the wireless network as each UE (e.g., traditional UE or wearables) is separately configured and communicated with by the network.

The techniques described in this disclosure provide for designating one or multiple UEs as content providers for a group of UEs sharing a common feature (e.g., a mode identifier) . The mode identifier may be a multi-modal group identifier or any other identifier that is common among the group of UEs. For example, one or more UEs within the group may receive an indication that the one or more UEs have been designated as content provider (s) for the set of UEs (e.g., the UE is included in the set of UEs) . The set of UEs may be configured with or otherwise associated with a same mode identifier (e.g., the same multi-mode identifier or the same QCL relationship) . The one or more UEs may be selected as the designated content provider (s) based on a respective channel metric of the one or more UEs satisfying a threshold. The UE may receive content associated with the same mode identifier and forward the content to the other UEs in the set according to the content provider indication.

Aspects of these techniques may improve wireless communications within a wireless network or provide additional advantages. If one or several designated UEs transmit or receive shared or common content for non-designated devices, signaling overhead with the network entity may be reduced, and resources and power may be conserved for the non-designated UEs. Moreover, these techniques may improve the reliability and quality of service associated with the shared or common content.

When one designated UE (or a designated subset of the UEs) transmit or receive the shared or common content with the serving network entity, the other UEs (e.g., the non-designated UEs) may not be expected to communicate directly with the network entity in relation to the shared or common content. Moreover, the non-designated UEs may not have to decode scheduling DCIs for the shared or common content, which may further reduce overhead signaling power and resources. In some aspects, the designated UE or designated subset of UEs may use sidelink or new radio-unlicensed (NR-U) resources to deliver the shared or common content to the non-designated UEs in the set, which may conserve licensed resources. Moreover, when packets are lost for the shared content, efficiency may be improved when the designated UE retransmits the lost packets to the non-designated UEs via a sidelink or NR-U interface.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to designated device use for shared multi-modal content.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating in accordance with other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the case of the techniques described herein applied in the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally, or alternatively, be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., IAB nodes 104, DUs 165, CUs 160, RUs 170, RIC 175, SMO 180) .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A UE 115 may receive, from a network entity 105, an indication that the UE 115 is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE 115. The set of UEs may be defined by or associated with a same mode identifier, and the UE 115 may be designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE 115 satisfying a performance threshold. The UE 115 may receive content associated with the mode identifier from the network entity. The UE 115 may forward the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs associated with the mode identifier according to the content provider.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless communications system 200 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless communications system 200 may implement aspects of wireless communications system 100. Wireless communications system 200 may include a UE 205, a network entity 210, a UE 215, and a UE 220, which may be examples of the corresponding devices described herein.

Wireless networks may support immersive extended reality (XR) multimedia and cloud computing services. Such services have rather strict system requirements, such as data rate, latency, and power consumption. For example, low latency and high reliability requirements for such traffic may include the XR traffic being delivered within a packet delay budget (PDB) . In some examples, the UEs receiving XR traffic may share many common attributes, such as location, environment, and background for a given XR application. The UEs may share the common attributes in an example where a cell phone, smart watch, and an XR headset (e.g., glasses, goggles, etc. ) are used by the same user. In another example, multiple users with cell phones and XR headsets may share the same space (e.g., in the same building or on a sidewalk) . This may result in multiple UEs being quasi-collocated with respect to each other such that spatial parameters of a beam and other aspects of the environment being shared between the quasi-collocated UEs. For example, multiple users wearing XR glasses while walking down the same street or in the same building may share a common background scene that is similarly augmented by the XR application via the XR glasses.

Some examples of XR services include multi-modal traffic enhancements supporting applications enabling input from more than one source traffic flow (e.g., haptic feedback, sensors, video, audio, etc. ) . The devices (e.g., UEs) supporting immersive multi-modal XR application may include multiple device types (e.g., glasses/goggles, gloves, and other devices) . The synchronization requirements between the devices for such multi-modal applications may prevent or avoid an out-of- synchronization situation for the user. One non-limiting example to support such multi-modal services is to use a multi-modal service identifier as an explicit indication that the application traffic is related to the multi-modal service. The network may rely on the multi-modal service identifier to derive or otherwise select the correct primary CC (PCC) rules and quality-of-service (QoS) policies for data flows that are part of the specific multi-modal application. The data flows may contribute to the service experience, may be valid stand-alone, or may be transmitted over separate protocol data unit (PDU) sessions from multiple UEs.

XR services may support acquiring local spatial/environmental information and user/UE (s) information, such as viewing angle, position, direction, etc. ) from each device participating in the XR traffic. XR services may also support exposing local acquired spatial, environmental and user/UE information to third parties to enable other services, such as Metaverse, from each device.

However, networks may manage the PDU data flows for UEs sharing the same multi-modal service identifier (e.g., the network entity 210) for XR traffic. For example, the network entity 210 may establish and manage separate data flows (e.g., separate connections) to each device (e.g., UE) participating in the XR application service. This technique uses separate transmissions between each device and the network (e.g., between gloves, XR goggles, cell phone, etc., and the network entity) to support the XR traffic (e.g., to acquire and expose information) . This technique increases the processing load of the network, which may interrupt network traffic or deliver an unpleasant user experience.

Accordingly, aspects of the techniques described herein provide for designation of one or more UEs as content providers for a group of UEs when the UEs in the group share a same mode identifier. Broadly, the same mode identifier may refer to UEs in the group sharing the same multi-modal service identifier, sharing the same or a similar QCL parameter, or both. As shown in FIG. 2, the UE 205, the UE 215, and the UE 220 may be located proximate to each other such that a rendered scene or background are the same for the UEs in the group.

In the case that the mode identifier shared by each UE in the set of UEs may is a multi-modal service identifier (e.g., for one XR application service) , the radio conditions and environment of each UE may be nearly identical (e.g., within a threshold range) for these UEs. Some rendered content may be the same and may be shared among these devices. For example, the rendered background scene of a XR application service, one cloud gaming, position information, and the like, and the same or substantially similar between each UE in the set of UEs.

Another example of the same mode identifier associated with each UE in the set of UEs may include multiple devices being quasi-collocated in or with one person or car. In this situation, these UEs may have shared or common information, such as beam-related parameters, Doppler-related information, transmit/receive delay-related parameters, beam forming (BF) , radio link failure (RLF) or recovery parameters.

Aspects of the techniques described herein consider the case where multiple UEs have a shared or common multi-modal service identifier or QCL parameters. A UE or a subset of UEs from the multiple UEs may be designated to provide shared or common content to the rest of the UEs sharing the same multi-modal service identifier or QCL parameters. The UE (s) may be designated as content providers based on channel metrics, such as the dynamic experienced downlink/uplink delay, power consumption, reliability, frequency of packets, channel state conditions, reference signal receive power (RSRP) associated with the UE (s) designated as content providers. The designated UEs may transmit or receive shared or common content with the serving network entity and broadcast or groupcast the shared or common content to the rest of the rest of the UEs sharing the same multi-modal service identifier or QCL parameters over a sidelink/NR-U interface.

In the non-limiting example illustrated in FIG. 2, it is to be understood that the UE 205 may be designated as a content provider for a set of UEs including the UE 205, the UE 215, and the UE 220. The UE 215 and the UE 220 are considered non-designated UEs, in this example.

Accordingly, the UE 205 may receive or otherwise obtain (and the network entity 210 may transmit or otherwise provide) an indication that the UE 205 is designated as a content provide for a set of UEs that includes the UE 205. The UEs in the set of UEs may be associated with the same mode identifier (e.g., the same multi-modal service identifier or QCL parameter) . The UE 205 may be designated based on a channel metric of the UE 205 satisfying a performance threshold. For example, the UE 205 may be located more proximate to the network entity 210 relative to the UE 215 or the UE 220. Accordingly, the UE 205 may have a better performing channel with the network entity 210 as compared to the channel conditions experienced by the UE 215 or the UE 220.

The UE 205 may receive content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity 210 and forward the content to the other UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider (e.g., based on being designated as the content provider for the group) . For example, the UE 205 may forward the content to the UE 215 or to the UE 220. In some examples, the UE 205 may forward the content to the other UEs via a sidelink or NR-U interface.

Accordingly, the network entity 210 may assign one designated UE having the strongest channel state information (CSI) to transmit or receive shared or common content, which the UE 205 then delivers to the rest non-designated UEs in a proximal list. For a multi-modal XR service for multiple UEs with a common multi-modal service identifier, the network entity 210 may indicate the designation in layer one/layer two/layer three (L1/L2/L3) signaling. For example, the network entity 210 may indicate the designation to the UE 205 in a group-based downlink control information (DCI) format 2_x, in a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) or in broadcast/groupcast message, the designated UE that share the same multi-modal service ID.

The rendered content, such as the background scene, may be shared among all devices with the same multi-modals service identifier for one XR application. Position information may also be shared. The designated UE (e.g., the UE 205, in this example) receives the shared rendered content from serving network entity (e.g., the network entity 210) and then delivers the content to the other, non-designated UEs in a proximal list (e.g., the set of UEs) in a broadcast or groupcast transmission over the sidelink or NR-U interface.

For the quasi-collocated devices (e.g., devices sharing the same QCL parameter (s) ) , a UE with a comparatively strong (e.g., the strongest) CSI may be selected and indicated (e.g., identified to the other UEs in the group) as a designated content provider to all proximal UEs, such as UEs indicated in a ProximalList information element stored or received by the UE 205, in a unicast or broadcast transmission. The QCL-related parameters, such as spatial information, Doppler-related information, delay-related information, and the like, may be delivered to the designated UE 205 by network entity 210 and then the designated UE 205 may share the content with the other UEs 215, 220 in the ProximalList information element in a broadcast or groupcast transmission.

As discussed, the network entity 210 may select or otherwise identify which UE(s) are designated as content providers within the group based on the channel metric of the UE (e.g., the channel metric may satisfy a threshold) . Various factors may be considered when selecting or designating a UE 205 as a content provider within the group. Such factors may include, but are not limited to, channel metric (s) of the UE 205 such as a delay status, a power metric, an available power headroom, a channel performance quality metric, a reliability metric, a signaled UE-capability, or any combination thereof.

The delay status parameter may indicate the amount of uplink or downlink delay that the UE has experienced or otherwise determined. For example, UE (s) may be triggered to transmit a delay status report before the network entity 210 makes the decision on designating the UE (s) as content provider (s) . The power metric parameter may indicate a power consumption level, a battery status level, a device capability, and the like. The available power headroom metric of the UE 205 may be based on a difference between a current transmit power of the UE 205 and an upper transmit power constraint of the UE 205. The channel performance quality metric of the UE 205 may indicate an RSRP, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , a CSI, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) , a throughput, an error rate, or related metric measured by the UE. The reliability metric of the UE 205 may indicate packet error rate statistics or similar metric (s) that the UE 205 has experienced. The signaled UE-capability may be based on the capabilities/functions that the UE supports as indicated to the network entity 210 via radio resource control (RRC) or other signaling. For example, some UEs may have spare radio frequency (RF) chain (s) and can therefore manage the reception and forwarding of the shared or common content with serving network entity. Then, these UEs may be set as the highest priority or the designated UEs. As one non-limiting example, UE (s) having a threshold amount of available power headroom may be highly prioritized to be designated as content providers.

Accordingly, the network entity 210 may receive or otherwise obtain channel performance information for some or all of the UEs 205, 215, 220 in the set of UEs and designate UE 205 as a content provider for UE 215 and UE 220 based on the channel performance information for the UE 205 satisfying a threshold channel performance level (e.g., having a threshold amount of available power headroom, a threshold RSRP/RSRQ, a threshold throughput, and the like) . The channel performance information may include one, some, or all of the channel metric (s) discussed above.

The network entity 210 may receive the channel performance information for the UE 205, 215, 220 in the set of UEs from each respective UE 205, 215, 220 or from UE that were previously designated as content providers. For example, the UE 205 may measure performance metrics (e.g., channel metrics) to identify or otherwise determine tis channel performance information. The UE 205 may transmit the channel performance information to the network entity 210 for the set of UEs. The UE 205 may forward the content to the other UEs 215, 220 in the set of UEs according to the designation as a content provider.

More particularly, where perception/sensing (e.g., monitoring the channel or other features to identify the channel metrics) assists in communications, a designated device within the set of UEs may be used to take charge of the perception/sensing and then reporting this information to the network entity 210. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity 210 may transmit deduced information based on the perception/sensing (e.g., such as parameters for BF/RLF recovery, parameters about how to respond when blockage will appear, parameters about handover, and the like) , to the designated UE first. Then the designated UE may deliver these parameters to the rest of non-designated UEs in the ProximalList or devices who share the same multi-modal service identifier of one XR application (e.g., UEs within the set of UEs associated with the same mode identifier) . The information from the perception/sensing may be shared among proximal UEs and devices who have the same multi-modals service identifier of one XR application. The designated UE (s) then delivers these parameters to non-designated UEs in a broadcast or groupcast transmission on a sidelink or NR-U interface. Various combination (s) of the channel metrics discussed above may be considered when selecting designated UEs.

In some examples, the network entity 210 may transmit or otherwise provide (and the UE 205 may receive or otherwise obtain) information identifying a subset of one or more UE (s) from the set of UEs. The content may be forwarded by the UE 205 to the other UEs 215, 220 in the set of UEs based on the information identifying the subset of UEs. For example, in the dynamic scheduling case, the network entity 210 may identify or otherwise determine to which of the UEs 215, 220 the designated UE may forward the common content. If the non-designated UEs 215, 220 have sufficient channel metrics, they may receive all of the content directly from the network entity 210. The network entity 210 may be aware of the C-RNTI of each UE, whether a designated UE 205 or a non-designated UE 215, 220. If the non-designated UEs 215, 220 have poor channel metrics, the network entity 210 may indicate the C-RNTIs of these non-designated UEs 215, 220 to the designated UE 205 to signal that the designated UE 205 is to forward the shared or common content to the non-designated UEs 215, 220. The designated UE 205 may forward the shared or common content to the non-designated UEs via a unicast transmission on a sidelink or NR-U interface. Thus, this aspect may enable the network entity 210 to indicate to the UE 205 designated as a content provider which UEs 215, 220 in the set of UEs are to receive the content.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a forwarding scheme 300 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Forwarding scheme 300 may implement aspects of wireless communications system 100 or wireless communications system 200. Aspects of forwarding scheme 300 may be implemented at or implemented by a UE or a network entity, which may be examples of the corresponding devices described herein. Forwarding scheme 300 illustrates a non-limiting example of a shared forwarding scheme 305 that may be implemented according to a shared-content provider agreement.

Forwarding scheme 300 illustrates a non-limiting example of multiple UEs within the set of UEs being designated as content providers. For example, a subset of UEs from the set of UEs may be designated as content providers to transmit/receive shared or common content and then forward this content to the other UEs in the set of UEs (e.g., to non-designated UEs in the set of UEs in a proximal list) . In particular, the network entity may select multiple UEs from within the set of UEs having the same mode identifier to be designated as content providers for the other/non-designated UEs in the set of UEs. For example, the network entity may assign several UEs with the comparatively strongest CSI (e.g., the comparatively strongest channel metric (s) of the UEs) in the ProximalList as designated UEs to receive and transmit the shared or common content.

In some aspects, the network entity may configure the designated UEs via DCI, MAC-CE, or RRC signaling to all UEs in the ProximalList (e.g., to all UEs in the set of UEs having the same mode identifier) . Accordingly, the designated UE may identify or otherwise determine a subset of UEs that have been designated as content providers from the set of UEs. The designated UE (s) may each forward the content based on the shared forwarding scheme 305 associated with the subset of UEs. For example, each UE in the subset of UEs designated as content providers may forward the content during a forwarding period (e.g., in the time domain, T) associated with the UE.

The shared forwarding scheme 305 illustrates a non-limiting example of the forwarding period allocated to the UEs in the subset of UEs. Each UE is generally associated with a particular identifier, such as a C-RNTI. The network entity may configure the order (e.g., according to the forwarding period) of the designated UEs to receive or forward the content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs.

According to the non-limiting example shown in FIG. 3, the subset of UEs may include N UEs, each UE with a respective UE C-RNTI. For example, a first designated UE may have an associated C-RNTI_1, a second designated UE may have an associated C-RNTI_2, and so forth to the Nth designated UE, N being a positive integer, having an associated C-RNTI_N. The network entity may transmit an indication of the shared forwarding scheme 305 to the subset of UEs or to all UE (s) in the set of UEs.

Each designated UE in the subset of UEs may be scheduled with a period (e.g., forwarding period) during which that UE is scheduled to receive or forward the shared or common content. During a first forwarding period (0-T1) , the first designated UE may forward the content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs. During the second forwarding period (e.g., T1-T2) ) , the second designated UE may forward the content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs. During the third forwarding period (e.g., T2-T3) , the third designated UE may forward the content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs. This may continue, according to the shared forwarding scheme 305, until the Nth forwarding period where the Nth designated UE forwards the content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs.

In some aspects, the network entity may update/revise the shared forwarding scheme 305 to the designated UEs in the subset of UEs via DCI, MAC-CE, or RRC signaling. In some aspects, the network entity may add/remove the designated UEs in the subset of UEs based on changing channel conditions, traffic load, or other factors. Moreover, the time domain (T) of the forwarding period discussed herein may be an absolute value (e.g., in milliseconds) or in terms of a numerical quantity of symbols or slots.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a method 400 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Aspect of method 400 may be an example of aspects of a wireless communications system 100 or wireless communications system 200, or aspects of forwarding scheme 300. Aspects of method 400 may be implemented at or implemented by a UE or a network entity, which may be examples of the corresponding devices described herein.

Method 400 illustrates a non-limiting example of a threshold number of PDUs being received is used as a trigger or otherwise to initiate forwarding of the content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs.

For example, at 405 the UE may receive or otherwise obtain an indication that the UE has been designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes that UE.The set of UEs may include, but is not limited to, UEs having or otherwise associated with a same mode identifier. The same mode identifier may include a multi-modal service identifier or to UEs having a same QCL parameter (e.g., the same or substantially similar QCL features) . The UE may be designated as the content provider based on a channel metric of the UE. For example, the channel metric of the UE may satisfy a performance threshold. The performance threshold may include various channel conditions or performance features of the wireless network, considered individually or collectively.

At 410, the UE may receive or otherwise obtain content associated with the same mode identifier. The UE may receive the content from the network entity. The content may be communicated to the UE via PDUs. For example, a given codeword or code block may use a first amount of PDUs to carry or otherwise convey the content. In some examples, the network entity or the UE may know beforehand (e.g., based on allocation information, such as carried in a DCI) the number of PDUs being used to convey the content. As some PDUs are redundant (e.g., carry the same information) , the UE may be able to recover the content when a threshold number of PDUs (e.g., x%of the PDUs) have been successfully received.

Accordingly and at 415, the UE may identify or otherwise determine whether a threshold number of PDUs (e.g., data units) of the content have been received from the network entity. In some aspects, the threshold number of PDUs may be a sufficient number of PDUs to successfully decode the content (e.g., instead of receiving 100%of the content PDUs) . The UE forwarding the content may be based on the threshold number of PDUs being received.

For example, if the threshold number of PDUs have not been received, the UE may continue to receive and decode the content from the network entity. This may include the UE receiving and decoding additional PDUs of the content. The UE may continue receiving the PDUs of the content until the threshold number of PDUs are received.

Once the threshold number of PDUs have been received, at 420 the UE may optionally decode the content before forwarding the content to the non-designated UEs. For example, the UE may decode the threshold number of PDUs to obtain decoded content.

If the UE has obtained the decoded content, at 425 the UE may forward the decoded content to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs. That is, when the designated UE has received x%of the PDUs, it may first successfully decode all of the content. The designated UE may then forward 100%of the content (e.g., the decoded content) to the non-designated UEs in the ProximalList. The designated UE may transmit or otherwise convey an indication to the network entity that it has received the threshold number of PDUs and the network entity may stop transmission of the content in response.

If the UE has not decoded the threshold number of PDUs, at 425 the UE may forward the threshold number of PDUs to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs. That is, after the UE has received x%of the PDUs, it may forward the x%of the PDUs to the non-designated UEs (e.g., immediately and without decoding the PDUs) .

In some aspects, the UE may receive feedback indication (s) from the UE (s) in the set of UEs (e.g., from the non-designated UEs) . For example, after the non-designated UEs have successfully received x%of the PDUs from the designated UE, one, some, or all of these UE may provide a feedback indicator directly to the network entity. Additionally, or alternatively, after the non-designated UEs have successfully received x%of the PDUs from the designated UE, one, some, or all of these UE may provide a feedback indicator directly to the designated UE. The designated UE may transmit the feedback indication to the network entity.

In some aspects, the designated UE may transmit or otherwise provide an indication to the network entity that it has received or received and decoded the threshold number of PDUs. That is, after the designated UE has successfully received x%of the PDUs, it may provide a feedback indication to the network entity to stop continuing transmission of the content. The designated UE may then forward the x%of the PDUs to the non-designated UEs in the set of UEs.

In some aspects, when non-designated UE fails to successfully receive and decode the threshold number of PDUs (e.g., x%of the PDUs) , those non-designated UE may transmit a negative acknowledgment (NACK) indication to the designated UE to initiate retransmission of the failed packets (e.g., the missing PDUs) .

Accordingly, aspects of the techniques discussed herein provide responses to respond when the threshold number of PDUs (e.g., packets) have not been successfully received and decoded by the non-designated UEs after the designated UE (s) have broadcast or groupcast the shared or common content with the non-designated UEs.

In some examples, this may include the designated UE retransmitting the content in response to the feedback indication identifying a subset of UEs that were unable to successfully receive and decode the content (e.g., the threshold number of PDUs or the decoded content) . For example, the non-designated UE may send the NACK indication to the designated UE scrambled with the C-RNTI and using a sidelink interface. After the designated UE has received the NACK indication, the designated UE may retransmit the content to the non-designated UE that provided the NACK indication in the set of UEs. One example may include the designated UE retransmitting the content in a broadcast or groupcast transmission to all UEs in the set of UEs (e.g., to all UEs in the ProximalList) . Another example may include the designated UE retransmitting the content in a unicast transmission of duplicated packets of the shared or common content to the non-designated UE that provided the NACK indication.

In some examples, this may include the designated UE repeating forwarding of the content to the UE according to a defined repetition parameter. For example, the designated UE may repeatedly forward the shared or common content to the UEs in the ProximalList according to a network entity configuration for the repeated transmissions (e.g., according to the defined repetition parameter) . In some examples, the network entity may configure the designated UE with the defined repetition parameter (e.g., a repeat-value) in advance and using DCI, MAC-CE, or RRC signaling.

As discussed, in some examples the non-designated UE that cannot successfully receive and decode the shared or common content may transmit the NACK indication to the network entity (e.g., in addition to or alternative to the designated UE) . In some examples, the network entity may manage retransmission of the packets to that UE.

Accordingly, aspects of method 400 may consider that shared or common content exists among multiple devices (e.g., UE) who share the same multi-modal service identifier of one XR application or proximal UEs who are QCL. The shared or common content may include, but is not limited to, position information, parameter (s) about beam, rendered background scene (s) , and the like. It may be unnecessary for all of these devices to communicate the shared or common content with serving network entity. Instead, one or several designated UEs can receive the shared or common content from the network entity and then deliver the content to the of non-designated UEs. The techniques described herein provide several schemes to select the designated UE (s) to receive the shared or common content from the serving network entity. These schemes save more power, enhance reliability of transmission and reception of the content, improve resource utilization, and provide systematic performance improvements to the wireless network.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 of a device 505 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a transmitter 515, and a communications manager 520. The device 505, or one or more components of the device 505 (e.g., the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, and the communications manager 520) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 510 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to designated device use for shared multi-modal content) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

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

The communications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, the communications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor. If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 520 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or both. For example, the communications manager 520 may receive information from the receiver 510, send information to the transmitter 515, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 520 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 520 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The communications manager 520 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The communications manager 520 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

By including or configuring the communications manager 520 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 505 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, the communications manager 520, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for designating a UE having a better-performing channel metric as a content provider for a group of UEs having a common mode identifier. The common mode identifier may enable designation of one or more UEs in the group as content providers to forward content to the other UEs in the group, thus reducing network load and improving over-the-air resource efficiency.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of a device 605 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 605 may be an example of aspects of a device 505 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 605 may include a receiver 610, a transmitter 615, and a communications manager 620. The device 605, or one or more components of the device 605 (e.g., the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, and the communications manager 620) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 610 may provide a means for receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to designated device use for shared multi-modal content) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 605. The receiver 610 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 615 may provide a means for transmitting signals generated by other components of the device 605. For example, the transmitter 615 may transmit information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to designated device use for shared multi-modal content) . In some examples, the transmitter 615 may be co-located with a receiver 610 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 615 may utilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The device 605, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, the communications manager 620 may include a content provider manager 625 a content manager 630, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 620 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 520 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 620, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or both. For example, the communications manager 620 may receive information from the receiver 610, send information to the transmitter 615, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 620 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The content provider manager 625 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The content manager 630 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The content manager 630 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram 700 of a communications manager 720 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 720 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 520, a communications manager 620, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 720, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, the communications manager 720 may include a content provider manager 725, a content manager 730, a designated UEs manager 735, a performance manager 740, a PDU manager 745, a repetition manager 750, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The communications manager 720 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The content provider manager 725 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The content manager 730 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. In some examples, the content manager 730 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

In some examples, the designated UEs manager 735 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for identifying a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, where forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.

In some examples, the designated UEs manager 735 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the content to the set of UEs during a first forwarding period associated with the UE, where other UEs in the set of UEs designated as content providers forward the content to the set of UEs during a second forwarding period associated.

In some examples, the performance manager 740 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for measuring one or more performance metrics to obtain channel performance information associated with the set of UEs. In some examples, the performance manager 740 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting the channel performance information to the network entity for the set of UEs, where forwarding the content is based on the one or more performance metrics.

In some examples, the designated UEs manager 735 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the network entity, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, where the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.

In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a threshold number of data units of the content from the network entity, where forwarding the content is based on the threshold number of data units being received. In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for decoding the threshold number of data units to obtain decoded content. In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the decoded content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the threshold number of data units to the one or more UEs in the set of UEs. In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a feedback indication from the one or more UEs in the set of UEs. In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting the feedback indication to the network entity.

In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for retransmitting the content in response to the feedback indication identifying a subset of UEs in the set of UEs that were unable to successfully receive and decode the content. In some examples, the PDU manager 745 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting an indication to the network entity that the UE has received and decoded the threshold number of data units.

In some examples, the repetition manager 750 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for repeating forwarding of the content to the one or more UEs according to a defined repetition parameter. In some examples, the channel metric of the UE that are associated with designating the UE as a content provider includes at least one of a delay status, a power metric, an available power headroom, a channel performance quality metric, a reliability metric, a UE-capability, or any combination thereof, of the UE. In some examples, the set of UEs associated with the same mode identifier includes each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same multi-modal service identifier, each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same quasi-colocation parameter, or both.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a system 800 including a device 805 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 805 may be an example of or include the components of a device 505, a device 605, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 805 may communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof. The device 805 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 820, an input/output (I/O) controller 810, a transceiver 815, an antenna 825, at least one memory 830, code 835, and at least one processor 840. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 845) .

The I/O controller 810 may manage input and output signals for the device 805. The I/O controller 810 may also manage peripherals not integrated into the device 805. In some cases, the I/O controller 810 may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, the I/O controller 810 may utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally, or alternatively, the I/O controller 810 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 810 may be implemented as part of one or more processors, such as the at least one processor 840. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 805 via the I/O controller 810 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 810.

In some cases, the device 805 may include a single antenna 825. However, in some other cases, the device 805 may have more than one antenna 825, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 815 may communicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 825, wired, or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 815 may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 815 may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to one or more antennas 825 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 825. The transceiver 815, or the transceiver 815 and one or more antennas 825, may be an example of a transmitter 515, a transmitter 615, a receiver 510, a receiver 610, or any combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.

The at least one memory 830 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The at least one memory 830 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 835 including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor 840, cause the device 805 to perform various functions described herein. The code 835 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 835 may not be directly executable by the at least one processor 840 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 830 may contain, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

The at least one processor 840 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 840 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into the at least one processor 840. The at least one processor 840 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the at least one memory 830) to cause the device 805 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting designated device use for shared multi-modal content) . For example, the device 805 or a component of the device 805 may include at least one processor 840 and at least one memory 830 coupled with or to the at least one processor 840, the at least one processor 840 and at least one memory 830 configured to perform various functions described herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 840 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 830 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 840 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 840) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 830) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As such, the at least one processor 840 or a processing system including the at least one processor 840 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 805 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 830 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

The communications manager 820 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The communications manager 820 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

By including or configuring the communications manager 820 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 805 may support techniques for designating a UE having a better-performing channel metric as a content provider for a group of UEs having a common mode identifier. The common mode identifier may enable designation of one or more UEs in the group as content providers to forward content to the other UEs in the group, thus reducing network load and improving over-the-air resource efficiency.

In some examples, the communications manager 820 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 815, the one or more antennas 825, or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 820 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 820 may be supported by or performed by the at least one processor 840, the at least one memory 830, the code 835, or any combination thereof. For example, the code 835 may include instructions executable by the at least one processor 840 to cause the device 805 to perform various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein, or the at least one processor 840 and the at least one memory 830 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a device 905 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communications manager 920. The device 905, or one or more components of the device 905 (e.g., the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, and the communications manager 920) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to, individually or collectively, support or enable the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 910 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 905. In some examples, the receiver 910 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 910 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

The transmitter 915 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 905. For example, the transmitter 915 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 915 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 915 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 915 and the receiver 910 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.

The communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be capable of performing one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry) . The hardware may include at least one of a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, at least one processor and at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by one or more processors, individually or collectively, executing instructions stored in the at least one memory) .

Additionally, or alternatively, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., as communications management software or firmware) executed by at least one processor. If implemented in code executed by at least one processor, the functions of the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting, individually or collectively, a means for performing the functions described in the present disclosure) .

In some examples, the communications manager 920 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both. For example, the communications manager 920 may receive information from the receiver 910, send information to the transmitter 915, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 920 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The communications manager 920 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

By including or configuring the communications manager 920 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 905 (e.g., at least one processor controlling or otherwise coupled with the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, the communications manager 920, or a combination thereof) may support techniques for designating a UE having a better-performing channel metric as a content provider for a group of UEs having a common mode identifier. The common mode identifier may enable designation of one or more UEs in the group as content providers to forward content to the other UEs in the group, thus reducing network load and improving over-the-air resource efficiency.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of a device 905 or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, a transmitter 1015, and a communications manager 1020. The device 1005, or one or more components of the device 1005 (e.g., the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, and the communications manager 1020) , may include at least one processor, which may be coupled with at least one memory, to support the described techniques. Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) .

The receiver 1010 may provide a means for obtaining (e.g., receiving, determining, identifying) information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . Information may be passed on to other components of the device 1005. In some examples, the receiver 1010 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the receiver 1010 may support obtaining information by receiving signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof.

The transmitter 1015 may provide a means for outputting (e.g., transmitting, providing, conveying, sending) information generated by other components of the device 1005. For example, the transmitter 1015 may output information such as user data, control information, or any combination thereof (e.g., I/Q samples, symbols, packets, protocol data units, service data units) associated with various channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels, channels associated with a protocol stack) . In some examples, the transmitter 1015 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more antennas. Additionally, or alternatively, the transmitter 1015 may support outputting information by transmitting signals via one or more wired (e.g., electrical, fiber optic) interfaces, wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the transmitter 1015 and the receiver 1010 may be co-located in a transceiver, which may include or be coupled with a modem.

The device 1005, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1020 may include a designation manager 1025 a content manager 1030, or any combination thereof. The communications manager 1020 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 920 as described herein. In some examples, the communications manager 1020, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or both. For example, the communications manager 1020 may receive information from the receiver 1010, send information to the transmitter 1015, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 1020 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The designation manager 1025 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The content manager 1030 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a communications manager 1120 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communications manager 1120 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 920, a communications manager 1020, or both, as described herein. The communications manager 1120, or various components thereof, may be an example of means for performing various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein. For example, the communications manager 1120 may include a designation manager 1125, a content manager 1130, a performance manager 1135, an indication manager 1140, a forwarding manager 1145, a PDU manager 1150, or any combination thereof. Each of these components, or components or subcomponents thereof (e.g., one or more processors, one or more memories) , may communicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses) which may include communications within a protocol layer of a protocol stack, communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack, within a device, component, or virtualized component associated with a network entity 105, between devices, components, or virtualized components associated with a network entity 105) , or any combination thereof.

The communications manager 1120 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The designation manager 1125 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The content manager 1130 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

In some examples, the performance manager 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving channel performance information for each UE in the set of UEs. In some examples, the performance manager 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for designating the UE as the content provider based on the channel performance information for the UE satisfying a threshold channel performance level.

In some examples, the indication manager 1140 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for configuring the indication to identify a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, where the UE forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.

In some examples, the performance manager 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving, from the UE, channel performance information associated with the set of UEs.

In some examples, the forwarding manager 1145 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to the UE, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, where the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.

In some examples, the performance manager 1135 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving a feedback indication from the UE, the feedback indication identifying feedback information for the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

In some examples, the PDU manager 1150 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for receiving an indication from the UE that the UE has received and decoded a threshold number of data units.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system 1200 including a device 1205 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1205 may be an example of or include the components of a device 905, a device 1005, or a network entity 105 as described herein. The device 1205 may communicate with one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, or any combination thereof, which may include communications over one or more wired interfaces, over one or more wireless interfaces, or any combination thereof. The device 1205 may include components that support outputting and obtaining communications, such as a communications manager 1220, a transceiver 1210, an antenna 1215, at least one memory 1225, code 1230, and at least one processor 1235. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1240) .

The transceiver 1210 may support bi-directional communications via wired links, wireless links, or both as described herein. In some examples, the transceiver 1210 may include a wired transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wired transceiver. Additionally, or alternatively, in some examples, the transceiver 1210 may include a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. In some examples, the device 1205 may include one or more antennas 1215, which may be capable of transmitting or receiving wireless transmissions (e.g., concurrently) . The transceiver 1210 may also include a modem to modulate signals, to provide the modulated signals for transmission (e.g., by one or more antennas 1215, by a wired transmitter) , to receive modulated signals (e.g., from one or more antennas 1215, from a wired receiver) , and to demodulate signals. In some implementations, the transceiver 1210 may include one or more interfaces, such as one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1215 that are configured to support various receiving or obtaining operations, or one or more interfaces coupled with the one or more antennas 1215 that are configured to support various transmitting or outputting operations, or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1210 may include or be configured for coupling with one or more processors or one or more memory components that are operable to perform or support operations based on received or obtained information or signals, or to generate information or other signals for transmission or other outputting, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, the transceiver 1210, or the transceiver 1210 and the one or more antennas 1215, or the transceiver 1210 and the one or more antennas 1215 and one or more processors or one or more memory components (e.g., the at least one processor 1235, the at least one memory 1225, or both) , may be included in a chip or chip assembly that is installed in the device 1205. In some examples, the transceiver 1210 may be operable to support communications via one or more communications links (e.g., a communication link 125, a backhaul communication link 120, a midhaul communication link 162, a fronthaul communication link 168) .

The at least one memory 1225 may include RAM, ROM, or any combination thereof. The at least one memory 1225 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1230 including instructions that, when executed by one or more of the at least one processor 1235, cause the device 1205 to perform various functions described herein. The code 1230 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or another type of memory. In some cases, the code 1230 may not be directly executable by a processor of the at least one processor 1235 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, the at least one memory 1225 may contain, among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. In some examples, the at least one processor 1235 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1225 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein (for example, as part of a processing system) .

The at least one processor 1235 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof) . In some cases, the at least one processor 1235 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into one or more of the at least one processor 1235. The at least one processor 1235 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., one or more of the at least one memory 1225) to cause the device 1205 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting designated device use for shared multi-modal content) . For example, the device 1205 or a component of the device 1205 may include at least one processor 1235 and at least one memory 1225 coupled with one or more of the at least one processor 1235, the at least one processor 1235 and the at least one memory 1225 configured to perform various functions described herein. The at least one processor 1235 may be an example of a cloud-computing platform (e.g., one or more physical nodes and supporting software such as operating systems, virtual machines, or container instances) that may host the functions (e.g., by executing code 1230) to perform the functions of the device 1205. The at least one processor 1235 may be any one or more suitable processors capable of executing scripts or instructions of one or more software programs stored in the device 1205 (such as within one or more of the at least one memory 1225) . In some examples, the at least one processor 1235 may include multiple processors and the at least one memory 1225 may include multiple memories. One or more of the multiple processors may be coupled with one or more of the multiple memories, which may, individually or collectively, be configured to perform various functions herein. In some examples, the at least one processor 1235 may be a component of a processing system, which may refer to a system (such as a series) of machines, circuitry (including, for example, one or both of processor circuitry (which may include the at least one processor 1235) and memory circuitry (which may include the at least one memory 1225) ) , or components, that receives or obtains inputs and processes the inputs to produce, generate, or obtain a set of outputs. The processing system may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. As such, the at least one processor 1235 or a processing system including the at least one processor 1235 may be configured to, configurable to, or operable to cause the device 1205 to perform one or more of the functions described herein. Further, as described herein, being “configured to, ” being “configurable to, ” and being “operable to” may be used interchangeably and may be associated with a capability, when executing code stored in the at least one memory 1225 or otherwise, to perform one or more of the functions described herein.

In some examples, a bus 1240 may support communications of (e.g., within) a protocol layer of a protocol stack. In some examples, a bus 1240 may support communications associated with a logical channel of a protocol stack (e.g., between protocol layers of a protocol stack) , which may include communications performed within a component of the device 1205, or between different components of the device 1205 that may be co-located or located in different locations (e.g., where the device 1205 may refer to a system in which one or more of the communications manager 1220, the transceiver 1210, the at least one memory 1225, the code 1230, and the at least one processor 1235 may be located in one of the different components or divided between different components) .

In some examples, the communications manager 1220 may manage aspects of communications with a core network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links) . For example, the communications manager 1220 may manage the transfer of data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115. In some examples, the communications manager 1220 may manage communications with other network entities 105, and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with other network entities 105. In some examples, the communications manager 1220 may support an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wireless communications network technology to provide communication between network entities 105.

The communications manager 1220 may support wireless communications in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, the communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The communications manager 1220 is capable of, configured to, or operable to support a means for transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

By including or configuring the communications manager 1220 in accordance with examples as described herein, the device 1205 may support techniques for designating a UE having a better-performing channel metric as a content provider for a group of UEs having a common mode identifier. The common mode identifier may enable designation of one or more UEs in the group as content providers to forward content to the other UEs in the group, thus reducing network load and improving over-the-air resource efficiency.

In some examples, the communications manager 1220 may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, obtaining, monitoring, outputting, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1210, the one or more antennas 1215 (e.g., where applicable) , or any combination thereof. Although the communications manager 1220 is illustrated as a separate component, in some examples, one or more functions described with reference to the communications manager 1220 may be supported by or performed by the transceiver 1210, one or more of the at least one processor 1235, one or more of the at least one memory 1225, the code 1230, or any combination thereof (for example, by a processing system including at least a portion of the at least one processor 1235, the at least one memory 1225, the code 1230, or any combination thereof) . For example, the code 1230 may include instructions executable by one or more of the at least one processor 1235 to cause the device 1205 to perform various aspects of designated device use for shared multi-modal content as described herein, or the at least one processor 1235 and the at least one memory 1225 may be otherwise configured to, individually or collectively, perform or support such operations.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1300 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 8. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1305, the method may include receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The operations of block 1305 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be performed by a content provider manager 725 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1310, the method may include receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The operations of block 1310 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be performed by a content manager 730 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1315, the method may include forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider. The operations of block 1315 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1315 may be performed by a content manager 730 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 8. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1405, the method may include receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The operations of block 1405 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed by a content provider manager 725 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1410, the method may include receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The operations of block 1410 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed by a content manager 730 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1415, the method may include identifying a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, where forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers. The operations of block 1415 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be performed by a designated UEs manager 735 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1420, the method may include forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider. The operations of block 1420 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 may be performed by a content manager 730 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by a UE or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be performed by a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 8. In some examples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1505, the method may include receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The operations of block 1505 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed by a content provider manager 725 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1510, the method may include measuring one or more performance metrics to obtain channel performance information associated with the set of UEs. The operations of block 1510 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed by a performance manager 740 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1515, the method may include receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity. The operations of block 1515 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed by a content manager 730 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1520, the method may include transmitting the channel performance information to the network entity for the set of UEs, where forwarding the content is based on the one or more performance metrics. The operations of block 1520 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1520 may be performed by a performance manager 740 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1525, the method may include forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider. The operations of block 1525 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1525 may be performed by a content manager 730 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1600 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 4 and 9 through 12. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1605, the method may include transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The operations of block 1605 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may be performed by a designation manager 1125 as described with reference to FIG. 11.

At 1610, the method may include transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider. The operations of block 1610 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed by a content manager 1130 as described with reference to FIG. 11.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 that supports designated device use for shared multi-modal content in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1700 may be implemented by a network entity or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1700 may be performed by a network entity as described with reference to FIGs. 1 through 4 and 9 through 12. In some examples, a network entity may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the network entity to perform the described functions. Additionally, or alternatively, the network entity may perform aspects of the described functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1705, the method may include transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, where the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold. The operations of block 1705 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1705 may be performed by a designation manager 1125 as described with reference to FIG. 11.

At 1710, the method may include transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, where the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider. The operations of block 1710 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1710 may be performed by a content manager 1130 as described with reference to FIG. 11.

At 1715, the method may include receiving an indication from the UE that the UE has received and decoded a threshold number of data units. The operations of block 1715 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 may be performed by a PDU manager 1150 as described with reference to FIG. 11.

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

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at a UE, comprising: receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold; receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity; and forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising: identifying a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, wherein forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.

Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, further comprising: forwarding the content to the set of UEs during a first forwarding period associated with the UE, wherein other UEs in the set of UEs designated as content providers forward the content to the set of UEs during a second forwarding period associated.

Aspect 4: The method of any of aspects 1 through 3, further comprising: measuring one or more performance metrics to obtain channel performance information associated with the set of UEs; and transmitting the channel performance information to the network entity for the set of UEs, wherein forwarding the content is based at least in part on the one or more performance metrics.

Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising: receiving, from the network entity, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, wherein the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.

Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, further comprising: receiving a threshold number of data units of the content from the network entity, wherein forwarding the content is based on the threshold number of data units being received.

Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, further comprising: decoding the threshold number of data units to obtain decoded content; and forwarding the decoded content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 6 through 7, further comprising: forwarding the threshold number of data units to the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

Aspect 9: The method of aspect 8, further comprising: receiving a feedback indication from the one or more UEs in the set of UEs; and transmitting the feedback indication to the network entity.

Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, further comprising: retransmitting the content in response to the feedback indication identifying a subset of UEs in the set of UEs that were unable to successfully receive and decode the content.

Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 8 through 10, further comprising: transmitting an indication to the network entity that the UE has received and decoded the threshold number of data units.

Aspect 12: The method of any of aspects 1 through 11, further comprising: repeating forwarding of the content to the one or more UEs according to a defined repetition parameter.

Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, wherein the channel metric of the UE that are associated with designating the UE as a content provider comprises at least one of a delay status, a power metric, an available power headroom, a channel performance quality metric, a reliability metric, a UE-capability, or any combination thereof, of the UE.

Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 1 through 13, wherein the set of UEs associated with the same mode identifier comprises each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same multi-modal service identifier, each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same quasi-colocation parameter, or both.

Aspect 15: A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising: transmitting, to a UE, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold; and transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, wherein the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.

Aspect 16: The method of aspect 15, further comprising: receiving channel performance information for each UE in the set of UEs; and designating the UE as the content provider based at least in part on the channel performance information for the UE satisfying a threshold channel performance level.

Aspect 17: The method of any of aspects 15 through 16, further comprising: configuring the indication to identify a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, wherein the UE forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.

Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 15 through 17, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, channel performance information associated with the set of UEs.

Aspect 19: The method of any of aspects 15 through 18, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, wherein the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.

Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 15 through 19, further comprising: receiving a feedback indication from the UE, the feedback indication identifying feedback information for the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.

Aspect 21: The method of any of aspects 15 through 20, further comprising: receiving an indication from the UE that the UE has received and decoded a threshold number of data units.

Aspect 22: A UE for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 14.

Aspect 23: A UE for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through 14.

Aspect 24: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1 through 14.

Aspect 25: A network entity for wireless communications, comprising one or more memories storing processor-executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to perform a method of any of aspects 15 through 21.

Aspect 26: A network entity for wireless communications, comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 15 through 21.

Aspect 27: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 15 through 21.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

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

receive, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold;

receive content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity; and

forward the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

identify a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, wherein forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.
The UE of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

forward the content to the set of UEs during a first forwarding period associated with the UE, wherein other UEs in the set of UEs designated as content providers forward the content to the set of UEs during a second forwarding period associated.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

measure one or more performance metrics to obtain channel performance information associated with the set of UEs; and

transmit the channel performance information to the network entity for the set of UEs, wherein forwarding the content is based at least in part on the one or more performance metrics.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive, from the network entity, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, wherein the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive a threshold number of data units of the content from the network entity, wherein forwarding the content is based on the threshold number of data units being received.
The UE of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

decode the threshold number of data units to obtain decoded content; and

forward the decoded content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs.
The UE of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

forward the threshold number of data units to the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.
The UE of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

receive a feedback indication from the one or more UEs in the set of UEs; and

transmit the feedback indication to the network entity.
The UE of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

retransmit the content in response to the feedback indication identifying a subset of UEs in the set of UEs that were unable to successfully receive and decode the content.
The UE of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

transmit an indication to the network entity that the UE has received and decoded the threshold number of data units.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:

repeat forwarding of the content to the one or more UEs according to a defined repetition parameter.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the channel metric of the UE that are associated with designating the UE as a content provider comprises one or more of: a delay status, a power metric, an available power headroom, a channel performance quality metric, a reliability metric, a UE-capability, or any combination thereof.
The UE of claim 1, wherein the set of UEs associated with the same mode identifier comprises each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same multi-modal service identifier, each UE in the set of UEs being associated with a same quasi-colocation parameter, or both.
A network entity, comprising:

one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and

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

transmit, to a user equipment (UE) , an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold; and

transmit content associated with the same mode identifier, wherein the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

receive channel performance information for each UE in the set of UEs; and

designate the UE as the content provider based at least in part on the channel performance information for the UE satisfying a threshold channel performance level.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

configure the indication to identify a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, wherein the UE forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

receive, from the UE, channel performance information associated with the set of UEs.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

transmit, to the UE, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, wherein the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

receive a feedback indication from the UE, the feedback indication identifying feedback information for the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.
The network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the network entity to:

receive an indication from the UE that the UE has received and decoded a threshold number of data units.
A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

receiving, from a network entity, an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold;

receiving content associated with the same mode identifier from the network entity; and

forwarding the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

identifying a subset of UEs designated as content providers from the set of UEs, wherein forwarding the content is based on a shared-content provider agreement associated with the subset of UEs designated as content providers.
The method of claim 23, further comprising:

forwarding the content to the set of UEs during a first forwarding period associated with the UE, wherein other UEs in the set of UEs designated as content providers forward the content to the set of UEs during a second forwarding period associated.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

measuring one or more performance metrics to obtain channel performance information associated with the set of UEs; and

transmitting the channel performance information to the network entity for the set of UEs, wherein forwarding the content is based at least in part on the one or more performance metrics.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, from the network entity, information identifying a subset of UEs from the set of UEs, wherein the content is forwarded to the subset of UEs.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving a threshold number of data units of the content from the network entity, wherein forwarding the content is based on the threshold number of data units being received.
The method of claim 27, further comprising:

decoding the threshold number of data units to obtain decoded content; and

forwarding the decoded content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs.
The method of claim 27, further comprising:

forwarding the threshold number of data units to the one or more UEs in the set of UEs.
A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE) , an indication that the UE is designated as a content provider for a set of UEs that includes the UE, the set of UEs associated with a same mode identifier, wherein the UE is designated as the content provider according to a channel metric of the UE satisfying a performance threshold; and

transmitting content associated with the same mode identifier, wherein the UE forwards the content to one or more UEs in the set of UEs according to the content provider.