CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. (i) 63/124,349, filed 11 -Dec-2020, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The present disclosure is generally directed to the fields of communications, software and encoding, including, for example, to methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems directed to Domain Name System (DNS)-free Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)-based communications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto. Figures in such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. As such, the Figures (FIGs.) and the detailed description are not to be considered limiting, and other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Furthermore, like reference numerals ("ref.") in the FIGs. indicate like elements, and wherein:

[0004] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system;

[0005] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A;

[0006] FIG. 10 is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A;

[0007] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A;

[0008] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for FQDN-based communication in an all-IP network;

[0009] FIG. 3 is a system diagram illustrating an example configuration for transparent Name-based Routing (NbR) DNS communication;

[0010] FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for registering an IP service endpoint; [0011] FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for deregistering an IP service endpoint; [0012] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a representative structure for registration and/or deregistration messages;

[0013] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for orchestration and resolution of a FQDN;

[0014] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for orchestration and resolution of a FQDN for NbR with a delegated DNS; [0015] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for orchestration and resolution of a FQDN for NbR with a client;

[0016] FIG. 9 is a system diagram illustrating an example network entity that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for FQDN resolution using a service proxy;

[0018] FIG. 11. is a diagram illustrating another representative procedure for FQDN resolution using a service proxy;

[0019] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for FQDN resolution using a localhost DNS service; and

[0020] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for FQDN processing using a HTTP library.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments and/or examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, so as not to obscure the following description. Further, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in lieu of, or in combination with, the embodiments and other examples described, disclosed or otherwise provided explicitly, implicitly and/or inherently (collectively "provided") herein. Although various embodiments are described and/or claimed herein in which an apparatus, system, device, etc. and/or any element thereof carries out an operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and/or any portion thereof, it is to be understood that any embodiments described and/or claimed herein assume that any apparatus, system, device, etc. and/or any element thereof is configured to carry out any operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and/or any portion thereof.

[0022] Example Communications System

[0023] The methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein are well-suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with respect to FIGs. 1A-1 D, where various elements of the network may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with and/or be adapted and/or configured for the methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein.

[0024] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discreet Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block- filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104/113, a core network (ON) 106/115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and/or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a "station" and/or a "STA", may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals and may include (or be) a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0026] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and/or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, e.g., to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106/115, the Internet 110, and/or the networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be any of a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), a Home Node-B (HNB), a Home eNode-B (HeNB), a gNode-B (gNB), a NR Node-B (NR NB), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and/or network elements.

[0027] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104/113, which may also include other base stations and/or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each or any sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and/or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0028] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0029] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104/113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and/or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and/or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0030] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and/or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro). [0031] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0032] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and/or transmissions sent to/from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0033] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0034] The base station 114b in FIG. 1A may be a wireless router, Home Node-B, Home eNode-B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish any of a small cell, picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1 A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the ON 106/115.

[0035] The RAN 104/113 may be in communication with the ON 106/115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and/or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The ON 106/115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and/or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104/113 and/or the ON 106/115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104/113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104/113, which may be utilizing an NR radio technology, the ON 106/115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing any of a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technology.

[0036] The CN 106/115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and/or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and/or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP/IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and/or wireless communications networks owned and/or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104/114 or a different RAT.

[0037] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0038] FIG. 1 B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, a speaker/microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display/touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and/or other elements/peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0039] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element 122. While FIG. 1 B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together, e.g., in an electronic package or chip.

[0040] The transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and/or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be an emitter/detector configured to transmit and/or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In an embodiment, the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit/receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and/or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0041] Although the transmit/receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. 1 B as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit/receive elements 122. For example, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit/receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0042] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit/receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit/receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11 , for example.

[0043] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and/or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0044] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and/or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium- ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0045] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable locationdetermination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0046] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other elements/peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and/or hardware modules/units that provide additional features, functionality and/or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the elements/peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (e.g., for photographs and/or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a virtual reality and/or augmented reality (VR/AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The elements/peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and/or a humidity sensor.

[0047] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the uplink (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and/or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the uplink (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0048] FIG. 10 is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0049] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0050] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) and/or downlink (DL), and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0051] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator. [0052] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S1 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation/deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and/or WCDMA.

[0053] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to/from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode- B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0054] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0055] The ON 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the ON 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the ON 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the ON 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition , the ON 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers. [0056] Although the WTRU is described in FIGs. 1A-1 D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0057] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0058] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired/wireless network that carries traffic into and/or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and/or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.11e DLS or an 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad-hoc" mode of communication.

[0059] When using the 802.11 ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA/CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed/detected and/or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0060] High throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0061] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and/or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and/or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two noncontiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse fast fourier transform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above-described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0062] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11 af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah relative to those used in 802.11n, and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11 ah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah may support meter type control/machine- type communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and/or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0063] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11 n, 802.11 ac, 802.11 af, and 802.11 ah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and/or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.11 ah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and/or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and/or network allocation vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0064] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.11ah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0065] FIG. 1 D is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0066] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and/or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and/or gNB 180c). [0067] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and/or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and/or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., including a varying number of OFDM symbols and/or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0068] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and/or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with/connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with/connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. In the non- standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and/or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0069] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and/or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards user plane functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1 D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0070] The CN 115 shown in FIG. 1 D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and/or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0071] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b, e.g., to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and/or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE- A, LTE-A Pro, and/or non-3GPP access technologies such as Wi-Fi.

[0072] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP-based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like. [0073] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, e.g., to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0074] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and/or wireless networks that are owned and/or operated by other service providers. In an embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0075] In view of FIGs. 1A-1 D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1A-1 D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to any of: WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode-Bs 160a- c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a-b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and/or any other element(s)/device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation elements/devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and/or to simulate network and/or WTRU functions. [0076] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and/or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and/or deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and/or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0077] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented/deployed as part of a wired and/or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and/or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and/or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and/or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and/or receive data.

[0078] In many instances, remembering IP addresses to reach servers may be impractical for humans. Domain names serve as a pre-defined set of characters which may form a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). Domain name systems (DNSs) allow a client to resolve an FQDN into an IP address that identifies the server which may provide (e.g., serve)desired information to a client. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a simplified procedure for FQDN-based communication in an all-IP network. As shown in FIG. 2, communication involves a client 202, such as a WTRU 102, a server 204, and a DNS server 206. At IP assignment time, the client 202 receives an IP address of a DNS server 206 at 208 in FIG. 2. For example, the IP address of the DNS server 206 may be through manual configuration or an automated assignment procedure (e.g. dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)).

[0079] On condition that the client 202 would like to communicate with the server 204 using an FQDN, the client 202 may query (e.g., request) the DNS server 206 to resolve a domain name (e.g., "foo.com” in FIG. 2) of the server 204 at 210. The DNS server 206 may then respond with the IPv4 address (e.g., "1 .2.3.4” in FIG. 2) of the server 204 based on registration records of the domain name at 212. For example, the DNS server may resolve a domain name to an IPv4 or IPv6 address.

[0080] Upon resolution of the IP address, a transaction between the client 202 and the server 204 may occur. Assuming the server 204 with the IP address 1 .2.3.4 has already started listening on a local port N at 214, the client 202 may open a local socket using the IP address provided by the DNS server 206 to communicate with the server 204 at 216. For example, a transaction at 218 may be an entire TCP session from an initial TCP handshake to the end of the TCP session (e.g., marked with the TCP flags F or R). At 220, the client 202 may close the local socket opened at 216.

[0081] In a communication system where Name-based Routing (NbR) transparently operates and allows service routing for HTTP traffic, service proxies (SPs) are deployed at the edge of the communication system performing the translation of IP communications into the ICN and vice versa. For example, NbR and procedure thereof are described in US 2018/0007116, titled "Methods and Systems for Anchoring Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Level Services in an Information-Centric Network (ICN)” which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0082] FIG. 3 is a system diagram illustrating an example configuration for transparent Name-based Routing (NbR) DNS communication. In FIG. 3, a dedicated service proxy (SP) may be provided per IP endpoint in the NbR communication system 300. A client 202, as an IP endpoint, may communicate with a dedicated SP 302a denoted as "SPc” in FIG. 3. A server 204, as an IP endpoint, may communicate with a dedicated SP 302b denoted as "SPs” in FIG. 3. A DNS server 206, as an IP endpoint, may communicate with a dedicated SP 302c denoted as "SPis” in FIG. 3. The DNS server 206 may be a service function virtualization (SFV) DNS. The DNS server 206 may be part of the orchestration layer offering DNS service to clients 202 for SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs) of orchestrated services. Any (e.g., each) of the SPs 302 may be controlled by an SP Manager (SPM) 304 that offers a registration interface to a SFV orchestrator 306 for registering IP service endpoints, such as newly orchestrated IP service endpoints (e.g., servers 204).

[0083] In FIG. 3, the SFV orchestrator 306 manages the deployment of service chains that may be composed of individual service functions (e.g., microservices) implementing parts of one or more services in a cloud native fashion. The (e.g., entire) orchestration layer may be positioned as an evolution to Network Function Virtualization (NFV), such as Service Function Virtualization focusing on the orchestration and/or lifecycle management of IP endpoints.

[0084] Registration of an IP Service Endpoint

[0085] For example, a registration interface and procedures thereof are described in WO/2018/112212, titled "System and Method to Register FQDN-based IP Service Endpoints at Network Attachment Points”, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0086] In accordance with certain representative embodiments, information used to register a new IP service endpoint that serves a particular FQDN includes the FQDN in a case insensitive manner (e.g., as described in RFC 1035, Section 2.3.3), the IP address of the endpoint, the transport protocol used for the service, and the service name. Authorized entities may be permitted to use the FQDN registration interface. [0087] FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for registering an IP service endpoint. FIG. 4A depicts a procedure 400A that may include any of receiving a registration request at 402, checking if the FQDN is known (e.g., to be registered) at 404, determining an error response (e.g., if already registered) at 406, adding information from the registration request (e.g., message) at 408, subscribing to the CID at 410, and/or acknowledging successful registration at 412.

[0088] At 402, the registration request may be sent by the SFV orchestrator 306 or an authorized entity (e.g., the server 204 in FIG. 3). At 404, the SPM 304 receives the registration request and may check whether a FQDN indicated by the registration request is known. If the FQDN is known, the SPM 304 may respond (at 406) with an error response (e.g., an error code) which may indicate that the FQDN entry exists and that data is to be modified or deleted for the FQDN.

[0089] If the FQDN is unknown, the SPM 304 may add (at 408) the registration message into data storage and acknowledges the insertion of a data entry indicated by the registration request. At 410, the SPM 304 instructs the SP 302 that has the new IP service endpoint (server) attached to subscribe to a CID using, for example, techniques described in WQ/2016/123516 "Methods and Systems for Anchoring Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Level Services in an Information Centric Network (ICN)," which is incorporated herein by reference. The CID may correspond to a network entity indicated by the registration request, such as the server 204 in FIG. 3. At 412, the SPM 304 may acknowledge the successful registration of the new FQDN, such as by generating a packet with the request information and a status code indicating the registration has been successful. If there is no registration response arriving at the SFV orchestrator 306 that desired to register an FQDN to the SPM 304, the registration request may be reissued within a pre-defined timeout interval.

[0090] Updating of an Existing Entry

[0091] In situations where any of the IP address, the protocol, and/or the service type for a particular FQDN have changed, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may send an update message to the SPM 304 which indicates an update to the existing entry. On condition that the FQDN entry is known to the SPM 304, the SPM 304 may update the values stored for this particular FQDN, may acknowledge the successful update of the FQDN registration entry by responding to the update request with a positive acknowledgement, and/or the SPM 304 may terminate any existing sessions towards the IP endpoint (server). On condition that the FQDN entry is unknown to the SPM 304, the SPM 304 may respond with an error code indicating that the update was not successful due to the unknown FQDN. The SFV Orchestrator 306 and/or the IP service endpoint may send a request to unregister a particular FQDN before issuing a new registration request for the intended update request. If the SPM 304 does not reply within a given timeout period, the IP endpoint may reissue the request to update the values of a particular FQDN.

[0092] Deregistration of an IP Service Endpoint

[0093] FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for deregistering an IP service endpoint. FIG. 4B depicts a procedure 400B that includes any of receiving a deregistration request at 420, checking if the FQDN is known at 422, an error response at 424, acknowledging successful deregistration at 426, deleting a registration entry at 428, and/or terminating any existing IP sessions at 430.

[0094] In situations where the FQDN is not to be served by the service proxies (SPs) 302, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may request to unregister the FQDN from the SPM 304 and/or SPs 302 by sending (at 420) a request to the SPM 304. Such a request may include the FQDN, the transport protocol, and the service name. If the 4-tuple {FQDN, IP address, transport protocol, service name} is registered with the SPM 304, the SPM 304 may acknowledge (at 426) the cancellation of a registration of the SPs 302 serving a particular service function under the FQDN, the SPM 304 may deletes (at 428) the entry from its data storage and/or the data storage of the SPs 302, and/or the SPM 304 may terminate (e.g., cause to terminate) (at 430) any existing IP sessions towards the SPE 302 (e.g., the server 204 in FIG. 2), and the SPM 304 may perform ICN operations for affected namespace and FQDN (e.g., unsubscribing from the CID /httpZhash(FQDN) for HTTP-over-ICN) using, for example, techniques described in WQ/2016/123516. If the 4-tuple, or a particular value of the 4-tuple, is not registered with the SPM 304, the SPM 304 may respond (at 424) with an appropriate error message back to the requestor.

[0095] Structure of a Registration or Deregistration Message

[0096] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a representative structure for registration and/or deregistration messages. In certain representative embodiments, any of the registration, deregistration and/or error messages may have a packet structure as in FIG. 5. The packet structure allows a SP 302 to map a response from the SPM 304 directly to an issued request, for example, in case more than one request (register, update, deregister, or any combination) has been sent to the SPM 304. In certain representative embodiments, each message may include a statistically unique identifier generated by the requester (e.g., similar to DHCP) and/or the request fields are added to acknowledgement and error messages.

[0097] The packet structure 500 of FIG. 5 may include any of Message Type 502, FQDN length 504, FQDN 506, IP Address 508, Transport Protocol 510, Port 512, and/or Service Name 514. The Message Type 502 field of the packet structure 400 may include: REQ_Register, REQ_Update, REQ_Deregister, ACK_Registered, ACK_Updated, ACK_Unregistered, ERR_Register, ERR_Update, or ERR_Deregister. To reach the SPM 304 and/or SP 302, the requesting entity may use an unreliable transport protocol, e.g., UDP or a Layer 2 and 3 broadcast address (e.g., FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF and 255.255.255.255, respectively) and an implicitly known unassigned port or an explicitly registered port, which may be subject to standardization (e.g., RFC 6335). A response may be sent to the broadcast address of the zero network (FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF and 0.0.0.0) and the source port from which the request was issued from.

[0098] In certain representative embodiments, a client 202 (e.g., client device) may be implemented as a WTRU 102 as in any of FIGS. 1A-1 D. In certain representative embodiments, the client devices may be IPbased client devices and may also be referred to as endpoints or endpoint devices herein. In certain representative embodiments, any (e.g., each) SP 302 may be a Network Access Point (NAP) and a server 206 may be implemented as instantiations of a network entity 900 of FIG. 9. In certain representative embodiments, any SP 302 may be implemented as a WTRU 102 as in any of FIGS. 1A-1 D. For example, a client service proxy (SPc302a) may be implemented at a WTRU 102 itself (e.g., the client service functionality may be provided in the stack of the WTRU 102 itself). As another example, a client service proxy (e.g., SPc 302a) may be implemented at WTRU 102 itself and may serves as an endpoint for another WTRU 102.

[0099] Each NAP may provide an IP network interface towards the IP-enabled devices (e.g., client devices and/or servers) connected (e.g., locally connected) to the NAP. For example, a client service proxy SPc 302a may provide an IP network interface towards a client, a server service proxy SPs 302b may provide an IP network interface towards a server, and a DNS service proxy SPis 302c may provide an IP network interface towards a SFV DNS server 206. In certain representative embodiments, the server may be protocol limited. For example, the server may be an HTTP-only endpoint and may have no function which is using a protocol other than HTTP. In some embodiments, the Network Access Points may be configured to translate between HTTP and ION, using a hash of a SFID (e.g., FQDN) as a Content ID (CID). The SPc 302a may serve one or more client devices (e.g., IP endpoints) that issue requests, and the SPs 302b may serve one or more servers (e.g., IP endpoints) which can provide content for the requests (e.g., to the FQDN).

[0100] In certain representative embodiments, the SPs 302b may have information about the existence of IP-based IP endpoints serving the FQDN to permit subscription to a FQDN-based namespace as described, for example, in WQ/2018/112212.

[0101] FIG. 6 is a is a diagram illustrating a procedure for orchestration and resolution of a (e.g., new) FQDN. Shown in FIG. 6 is the procedure 600 (e.g., operation sequence) showing how a newly orchestrated service may be used by a client to retrieve a web resource over HTTP. The procedure of FIG. 6 may be separated into a first phase for the orchestration of a service chain and a second phase for the establishment of DNS-based communication by resolving the newly registered FQDN.

[0102] In the first phase of FIG. 6, a new Service Function Endpoint (SFE) 302 is registered against the NbR communication system. At 602, a SFV Orchestrator 306 may receive a request to orchestrate a new service chain. At 604, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may create any (e.g., necessary) SFEs according to the received request from 602. Upon the completion of the orchestrion of the SFE(s), the SFV Orchestrator 306 may update a FQDN (e.g., register a new FQDN) in the DNS server 206 which may be exposed to any (e.g., all) clients 202 attached to the NbR communication system at 606. The DNS may be a part of the SFV layer of the system. Upon the completion of the DNS server update, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may proceed at 608 to register a new Service Function Identifier (SFID) (e.g., the FQDN of the server 204 in FIG. 2), and a Service Function Endpoint Identifier (SFID) of the now available SFEs (e.g., a MAC address and/or an IP address of the IP endpoint) against the routing layer by calling the registration interface offered by the Service Proxy Manager (SPM) 304, such as described in WO 2018/112212. At 610, the SPM 304 may communicate the SFID (e.g., FQDN) and SFEID (e.g., MAC and/or IP address) to the SP that serves the new SFE. The SP 302 may thereafter be configured to perform NbR among SPs 302, allowing a transparent HTTP communication between two IP-only endpoints (e.g., client 202 and server 204 in FIG. 2) using the FQDN. For example, SPs 302 may follow the NbR procedures disclosed in US 2018/0007116.

[0103] In the second phase of FIG. 6, a client, such as a WTRU, may start a procedure to resolve a FQDN. As the DNS server is under the administrative domain of SFV Orchestrator 306, it was considered helpful to demonstrate the usage of the newly registered FQDN. At 612, the client issues a DNS request for a FQDN (e.g., “foo.com") which may be communicated over the NbR system to the SFV DNS server 206. At 614, the SFV DNS server 206 looks up the received FQDN (e.g., "foo.com”) and provides an answer to the client 202. In the case the SFV DNS server 206 has found the FQDN, the SFV DNS server 206 responds at 616 by providing the associated IP address (e.g., "1 .2.3.4”) to the client 202. The IP address may be communicated to the client 202 over the NbR system.

[0104] In certain communication systems, such as the 3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) control plane, it may be necessary that any communication delay between two entities be kept at a bare minimum or within configured bounds and, with the introduction of service-based interfaces (SBI) for inter-network function communication, the necessity to use DNS is inevitable when adopting cloud principles where FQDNs are being used. However, FQDN-based communication as described above in FIG. 6 requires a DNS server 206 to resolve the string identifier (e.g., the FQDN) into a routable IP address and the client 202 that aims to communicate with a service identified by the FQDN must first communicate with the DNS before being able to open a local communication resource (e.g., a socket).

[0105] In the case of using an NbR system for the communication among all IP endpoints, the IP address is no longer being used to route the traffic (e.g., in the NbR system) and DNS communication becomes an unnecessary step from a routing perspective. However, the foregoing NbR system has no means to prevent a client from resolving the FQDN first by contacting a DNS server which adds unnecessary delay.

[0106] It may be advantageous that, at orchestration time, the SFV Orchestrator 306 receive information that one or more service functions of a service chain are HTTP-only endpoints and/or the service chain has no service function that is not using HTTP protocol.

[0107] Orchestration Template

[0108] In certain representative embodiments, when a service chain is being requested to be orchestrated any descriptors that define the service chain in its composition (e.g., a number of service functions and their properties) offers the ability for the calling entity (e.g., person or component) to set a Boolean flag for a service function indicating that all functions inside the respective service function that act as a service endpoint (or producer in 3GPP terms) only use (e.g., are only using and/or will only use) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as the application layer protocol. For example, an orchestration descriptor is provided using YAML Ain't Markup Language (YAML):

[0109] In certain representative embodiments, a service function may be composed of plural functions each acting as a respective service endpoint. One service endpoint may use only HTTP and the other service endpoint may not. As another example, an orchestration descriptor may be provided with a more granular declaration using different SFIDs:

[0110] While the FQDN of “f1.amf.foo.com" represents a HTTP-only service endpoint, the FQDN of “f2.amf.foo.com" represents a service endpoint which is not using HTTP.

In certain representative embodiments, the Boolean indication for "HTTP-only” is an option field with a default value of false.

[0111] In certain representative embodiments, HTTP is the application layer protocol. In certain representative embodiments, the application layer protocol may be an application layer protocol other than HTTP.

[0112] NbR with Delegated DNS

[0113] In certain representative embodiments, an NbR communication system may be used to cut the time for returning a DNS response by acting as a delegated DNS server. The communication system may be configured to provide the delegated DNS server at an edge of the communication system where a DNS request occurred or is expected to occur. Such a configuration may enable support for IP endpoints that follow standard DNS procedures and have no proposed and/or later available extensions. Positioning a delegated DNS server at the edge in this manner may allow for the communication time for resolving an SFID (e.g., FQDN) to be decreased (e.g., cut) by an amount of time for forwarding a DNS request to the DNS server and receiving a DNS response at the SP 302 facing the client 202.

[0114] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for orchestration and resolution of a SFID (e.g., FQDN) for NbR with a delegated DNS. Shown in FIG. 7 is the procedure (e.g., operation sequence) for the NbR system to operate with a delegated DNS mode. In certain representative embodiments, the NbR system may be configured to operate in a delegated DNS mode as follows. The procedure of FIG. 7 may be separated into a first phase for orchestrating a service chain with one or more HTTP-only service functions and a second phase of establishment of DNS-based communication for the handling of a DNS request.

[0115] In certain representative embodiments, the client-side service proxy (e.g., SPc 302a) may be implemented at a client 202, such as a WTRU 102, which generates a DNS request to be handled as in the procedures shown, for example, in FIG. 7. In certain other representative embodiments, the client-side service proxy (e.g., SPc 302a) may be implemented at an entity, such as a WTRU 102 or a network entity, which is (e.g., wirelessly) connected to a client which generates a DNS request to be handled as in the procedures shown, for example, in FIG. 7.

[0116] In the first phase of FIG. 7, a SFV Orchestrator 306 may receive an (e.g., new) orchestration request for a service chain with one or more HTTP-only service functions at 702. For example, the orchestration request may include the syntax of the orchestration template described above. At 704, a service chain (e.g., one or more service functions corresponding to the content of the orchestration request) may be orchestrated by the SFV Orchestrator 306. At 706, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may register any (e.g., each) of the SFEs of the service chain against the routing layer. For example, the SFE registration may be performed as described in WO 2018/112212, and the "HTTP-only” option field provided in relation to any specific SFID (e.g., "foo.com” in FIG. 7). At 708, the SPM 304 may communicate the availability of the SFID (e.g., "foo.com” in FIG. 7) to any (e.g., each) SPs 302. For example, the SPM 304 may also communicate other information indicating that the SFEs behind the SFID are HTTP-only type of service function endpoints. At 710, any (e.g., each) SPs 302that receive the SFID and/or other information may add the SFID to its HTTP-only SF list (e.g., look-up list or look-up table). The HTTP-only SF list may be an internal look-up list used by the SF.

[0117] In the second phase of FIG. 7, a SP 302 may receive a DNS request from a client 202 and serve the client 202 if a SFID (e.g., FQDN) indicated by the DNS request exists in the HTTP-only list. At 712, the client wants to communicate with the service endpoint having a particular SFID (e.g., FQDN of “foo.com") and issues a DNS request to the DNS server that was configured through IP address assignment procedures, e.g. DHCP. The SP 302 serving the client 202 receives the DNS request. At 714, the SP 302 may check its HTTP-only SF list to determine whether the particular SFID (e.g., FQDN) in the received DNS request is listed.

[0118] On condition that the particular SFID (e.g., FQDN) can be found in the HTTP-only SF list, the SP 302 serving the client 202 may construct a DNS response for the SFID (e.g., "foo.com”) using a predetermined and/or non-private IP address that is reserved for this particular purpose (e.g., 240.2.3.4). Upon receiving the DNS response which indicates the IP address sent at 716, the client 202 may proceed to open a communication resource, such as a Layer 4 connection (e.g., a TCP or UDP socket) towards the IP address (e.g., 240.2.3.4). The SP 302 may then (e.g., transparently) intercept traffic from the client towards the IP address (e.g., 240.2.3.4). With respect to the intercepted traffic from the client 202 towards the IP address (e.g., 240.2.3.4), the SP 302 may apply processing to route the intercepted traffic based on the SFID (e.g., FQDN). The processing may include encapsulation of the intercepted traffic in an ICN packet and/or transmit the ICN packet to the server. For example, procedures to route such traffic based on the FQDN instead of the IP address are described in US 2018/0007116.

[0119] On condition that the particular SFID (e.g., FQDN) cannot be found in the HTTP-only SF list, the SPc 302a may route the DNS request to an IP address listed in a destination header field of the DNS request. For example, the SPc 302a may perform routing as described in United States Patent 10,122,632, titled "Anchoring IP Devices in ICN Networks”, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0120] Client-Local DNS Communication

[0121] In certain representative embodiments, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may perform a procedure to locally configure the client to perform localhost DNS processing. In certain representative embodiments, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may perform a procedure to locally configure the client to perform DNS-free processing. By locating DNS communication at the endpoint where the DNS communication occurs (e.g., at the client), it may be possible to reduce the number of message exchanges used to issue a HTTP request over a transport communication (e.g., TCP or UDP) and/or reduce the additional delay of DNS requestresponse procedures which accompany such messages. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for orchestration and resolution of a SFID (e.g., FQDN) for NbR with a client. FIG. 8 illustrates two representative procedures with a common first phase which includes the orchestration of a new endpoint, and respective second phases for localhost DNS resolution by a programmable localhost DNS service and DNS-free resolution using a programmable HTTP library.

[0122] In the first phase of FIG. 8, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may receive an orchestration request for a (e.g., new) service chain with one or more HTTP-only service functions at 802. For example, the orchestration request may include the syntax of the orchestration template described above (e.g., syntax that a HTTP-only SFE is being orchestrated and/or is reachable under the included FQDN, such as "foo.com”). At 804, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may create the service chain according to its policies. For example, this processing may be performed similar to 704 in FIG. 7. At 806, the SFV Orchestrator 306 may issue a registration to any (e.g., each) service function endpoints in the orchestrated service chain. The registration may comprise a list of SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs) for all HTTP-only service functions. As an example, a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)-encoded list is given below assuming a Representational State Transfer (RESTful) registration/deregistration API with the action provided in the URI (e.g., “<IP_OF_CLIENT>:<PORT>/registration” for registration and "<IP_OF_CLIENT>:<PORT>/deregistration” for the deregistration with <PORT> being the local TCP or UDP port the service is listening on).

[0123] Programmable DNS Server Inside Orchestrated Service Functions

[0124] In certain representative embodiments, a client 202 (e.g., WTRU 102) may be provided with an operating system which has a DNS service operating locally (e.g., a localhost DNS) and may perform caching of resolved SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs) for any (e.g., all) applications. A DHCP may provide a DHCP offer with an IP address for the client. The DHCP offer may also include any (e.g., each) IP addresses for any (e.g., each available) DNS server. The operating system and/or DNS service may be configured to send any DNS request from any (e.g., each) application executed at the client send respective DNS requests to the localhost. The DNS service may then determine whether an IP address for a respective DNS request is available. On condition that the IP address for the respective DNS request is available (e.g., present in the cache), the DNS service may return the cached IP address. On condition that the IP address for the respective DNS request is not available, the DNS service may issue a DNS request (e.g., the respective DNS request) to any DNS server listed in the DHCP offer.

[0125] For example, a programmable API of the locally operating DNS may be configured for the registration and/or deregistration of HTTP-only services and may include logic to always insert a predetermined IP address (e.g., a same non-private IP address) for any (e.g., all) registered SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs). In another example, a respective predetermined IP address (e.g., a particular non-private IP address) may be inserted for a respective registered SFID (e.g., FQDN). As shown in FIG. 1 B, the memory 130 and/or 132 may store executable instructions for the localhost DNS.

[0126] In the second phase following the first phase of FIG. 8, a localhost DNS may be configured and an application on that host (e.g., client device) may aim to resolve a HTTP-only SFID (e.g., FQDN). Upon receiving a registration request, a local DNS service may be updated with a (e.g., new) SFID (e.g., FQDN) which may be indicated for resolution to a predetermined IP address (e.g., a same non-private IP address) at 808. At 810, the client 202 (e.g., an application executed by the client) may aim to communicate with an endpoint via a specific SFID (e.g., FQDN "foo.com”). A DNS request may be issued by the client 202 to the localhost DNS operating at the client. For example, the application executed by the client may use an HTTP library to issue the DNS request to the DNS localhost. Here, the IP address for the local DNS may be localhost (e.g., 127.0.0.1). An application executed at the client may read the IP address (e.g., the localhost IP address) and establish a connection to this IP address and then send the DNS request using the established connection. At 812, the localhost DNS server may attempt to resolve the SFID (e.g., FQDN) in the issued DNS request without sending the issued DNS request to any DNS server that was communicated in the DHCP offer. For example, the SFID (e.g., FQDN) may be resolved by the localhost DNS service to the predetermined IP address (e.g., a same non-private IP address) at 808. On condition that the localhost DNS service can resolve the SFID (e.g., FQDN), the localhost will return (e.g., to the application executed by the client) the predetermined address in response to the issued DNS request at 810.

[0127] Upon receiving the IP address from the localhost DNS service, the client 202 may proceed to open a communication resource towards the predetermined IP address. For example, the application which issued the DNS request may establish a connection, such as by using a Layer 4 protocol (e.g., a TCP or UDP socket), towards the predetermined IP address specified by the localhost DNS. A SP 302 may apply processing to route traffic received at the predetermined IP address based on the SFID (e.g., FQDN). The processing may include encapsulation of the intercepted traffic in an ICN packet and/or transmission of the ICN packet to the server (e.g., the server corresponding to the SFID). For example, procedures to route such traffic based on the FQDN instead of the IP address are described in US 2018/0007116.

[0128] On condition that the SFID (e.g., FQDN) is not found in the HTTP-only list, the client 202 may send a DNS request to a DNS server (e.g., configured by DHCP) to attempt to resolve the SFID.

[0129] Programmable HTTP Library

[0130] Instead of programming of a DNS service which any (e.g., all) applications on the host and/or client are using, removing any DNS request and response procedures may improve latency. For example, as an IP address is not required in a NbR system, removing DNS request and response procedures may improve latency when a client is attempting to reach a service endpoint which is capable of handling a request. Further, when implementing a service function in a cloud native fashion (e.g., microservices), the service function may be initialized as one or more instances. For example, each instance of the service function may correspond to a respective virtual machine and/or container. Each respective virtual machine and/or container may be configured to host a single process (e.g., only the service function instance) that is operable to process HTTP requests. In certain representative embodiments, a client (e.g., WTRU) may be configured with a (e.g., single) HTTP library with an HTTP-only SFID list. The HTTP-only SFID list may be a FQDN look-up list or table. The HTTP-only SFID list may be programmed via an API, such as the same API as used for the localhost DNS above. As shown in FIG. 1 B, the memory 130 and/or 132 may store the HTTP- only SFID list.

[0131] In the alternative to the second phase using the localhost DNS service of FIG. 8, a third phase using a programmable HTTP library may follow the first phase of FIG. 8. In certain representative embodiments, an application inside a service function endpoint may be configured (e.g., bootstrapped and/or initialized) with a library (e.g., a HTTP library) which exposes a programmable API via a local listening socket. [0132] In the third phase, upon receiving a registration request following 806 in FIG. 8, the HTTP library may be updated such that the HTTP-only SFID (e.g., FQDN "foo.com”) indicated by the registration request is successfully added to the HTTP-only SFID list (e.g., look-up list or table) at 814. At 816, the client (e.g., an application executed by the client) may create a transaction object which is to be sent to a SFID (e.g., FQDN "foo.com”). For example, the transaction object may be a HTTP transaction object. Instead of issuing a DNS request for the SFID (e.g., FQDN) associated with the created transaction object, the HTTP library may be searched using the SFID (e.g., FQDN). For example, the SFID (e.g., FQDN) may be present in the HTTP-only list.

[0133] On condition that the SFID (e.g., FQDN) is found to be present in the HTTP-only list, the HTTP library may cause the client to open (e.g., immediately open) a communication resource towards a predetermined IP address (e.g., non-private IP address) at 818. For instance, the HTTP library may cause a connection, such as by using a Layer 4 protocol (e.g., a UDP or TCP socket), to be established towards the predetermined IP address specified by the localhost DNS. The connection may be established for (e.g., on behalf) of the application. For example, a same IP address may be used for any (e.g., all) SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs) in the HTTP-only list. In another example, a respective predetermined IP address (e.g., a particular non-private IP address) may be used for a respective SFID (e.g., FQDN) in the HTTP-only SFID list. A SP 302 may apply processing to route traffic received at the predetermined IP address based on the SFID (e.g., FQDN). The processing may include encapsulation of the intercepted traffic in an ICN packet and/or transmission of the ICN packet to the server (e.g., the server corresponding to the SFID). For example, procedures to route such traffic based on the FQDN instead of the IP address are described in US 2018/0007116.

[0134] On condition that the SFID (e.g., FQDN) is not found in the HTTP-only list, the client 202 may send a DNS request to a DNS server (e.g., configured by DHCP) in attempt to resolve the SFID.

[0135] In certain representative embodiments described above, resolution of one or more SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs) to a predetermined IP address (e.g., a same non-private IP address) is performed. In other certain embodiments, resolution of one or more SFIDs (e.g., FQDNs) to a predetermined SFEID may be performed. For example, the predetermined SFEID may be any of an IP address, a MAC address and/or an IP and MAC address combination. Such resolution may be performed in the context of any of the configurations described herein which include but are not limited to the edge-based delegated DNS and client-based DNS configurations.

[0136] FIG. 9 is a system diagram illustrating an example network entity that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment. As depicted in FIG. 9, network entity 900 includes a communication interface 902, a processor 904, and non-transitory data storage 906 which may store executable instructions 906A, all of which are communicatively linked by a bus, network, or other communication path 908. [0137] Communication interface 902 may include one or more wired communication interfaces and/or one or more wireless-communication interfaces. With respect to wired communication, communication interface 192 may include one or more interfaces such as Ethernet interfaces, as an example. With respect to wireless communication, communication interface 902 may include components such as one or more antennae, one or more transceivers/chipsets designed and configured for one or more types of wireless (e.g., LTE) communication, and/or any other components deemed suitable by those of skill in the relevant art. And further with respect to wireless communication, communication interface 902 may be equipped at a scale and with a configuration appropriate for acting on the network side— as opposed to the client side— of wireless communications (e.g., NR communications, LTE communications, Wi-Fi communications, and the like). Thus, communication interface 902 may include the appropriate equipment and circuitry (e.g., multiple transceivers) for serving multiple mobile stations, UEs, or other access terminals in a coverage area.

[0138] Processor 904 may include one or more processors of any type deemed suitable by those of skill in the relevant art, some examples including a general-purpose microprocessor and a dedicated DSP.

[0139] Data storage 906 may take the form of any non-transitory computer-readable medium or combination of such media, some examples including flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), and randomaccess memory (RAM) to name but a few, as any one or more types of non-transitory data storage deemed suitable by those of skill in the relevant art could be used. As depicted in FIG. 9, data storage 906 contains program instructions 906A executable by processor 904 for carrying out various combinations of the various network-entity functions which may include the various DNS resolution functions described herein.

[0140] In some embodiments, the network-entity functions described herein are carried out by a network entity having a structure similar to that of network entity 900 of FIG. 9. In some embodiments, one or more of such functions are carried out by a set of multiple network entities in combination, where each network entity has a structure similar to that of network entity 900 of FIG. 9. In various representative embodiments, network entity 900 is— or at least includes— one or more of (one or more entities in) RAN 103, (one or more entities in) RAN 104, (one or more entities in) RAN 113, (one or more entities in) core network 106, (one or more entities in) core network 115, (one or more) SPs, (one or more) SFV Orchestrators, (one or more) SFV DNSs, (one or more) SPMs, etc. And certainly other network entities and/or combinations of network entities could be used in various embodiments for carrying out the network-entity functions described herein, as the foregoing list is provided by way of example and not by way of limitation.

[0141] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for FQDN resolution using a service proxy. For example, a WTRU 102 may be configured to execute the service proxy. As shown in FIG. 10, the procedure may include receiving information indicating a first FQDN is registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint at 1002. For example, the service proxy may be configured to associate the first FQDN, which is registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint, with NbR as described herein (e.g., using the information received at 1002). At 1004, the procedure may include receiving, by the service proxy at the WTRU 102, a first DNS request for the first FQDN (e.g., "foo.com”). At 1006, the procedure may include receiving, by the service proxy at the WTRU 102, a second DNS request for a second FQDN which is different than the first FQDN (e.g., not "foo.com”). For example, the second FQDN may not be registered as a HTTP- only service endpoint. After 1006, the procedure may include responding to the first DNS request, by the service proxy, with information indicating a publicly-registered, first IP address which is associated with the first FQDN at 1008. After 1006, the procedure may also include forwarding, by the service proxy, the second DNS request to a DNS server at 1010.

[0142] In certain representative embodiments, after responding to the first DNS request at 1008, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the first FQDN to the first IP address. For example, the transmission to the first IP address may indicate that the transmission has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission to the first IP address may be routed using the first FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on any transmission identified as being transmitted to the first IP address. [0143] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request at 1004 and the second DNS request at 1006 may both be generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0144] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request may be associated with a first application executed by the WTRU 102 and the second DNS request may be associated with a second application (e.g., which is different than the first application) executed by the WTRU 102.

[0145] In certain representative embodiments, after 1010, the procedure may further include receiving, from the DNS server, a response to the second DNS request that includes information indicating a second IP address, different than the first IP address, associated with the second FQDN. For example, the second DNS request may be resolved by the DNS server to the second IP address.

[0146] In certain representative embodiments, after receiving the response to the second DNS request, the procedure may further include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the second FQDN to the second IP address. For example, the transmission to the second IP address may be routed using the second IP address (e.g., by NbR or non-NbR).

[0147] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include receiving information indicating a third FQDN, which is different than the first FQDN and the second FQDN, is (e.g., also) registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint.

[0148] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include receiving, by the service proxy, a third DNS request for the third FQDN. The service proxy may then respond to the third DNS request with information indicating the first IP address which is associated with the third FQDN. [0149] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include after responding to the third DNS request, transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the third FQDN to the first IP address. For example, the transmission to the first IP address may indicate that the transmission (e.g., associated with the third FQDN) has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on the transmission identified as being transmitted to the first IP address.

[0150] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request, the second DNS request, and the third DNS request may each be generated by a single application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0151] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request, the second DNS request, and/or the third DNS request may be generated by different applications executed by the WTRU 102.

[0152] FIG. 11. is a diagram illustrating another representative procedure for FQDN resolution using a service proxy. For example, a WTRU 102 may be configured to execute the service proxy. As shown in FIG. 11 , the procedure may include receiving information indicating a first FQDN is registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint at 1102. At 1104, the WTRU 102 may configure a service proxy, at the WTRU 102, to associate a publicly-registered, first internet protocol (IP) address with the first FQDN (e.g., using the information received at 1102). After 1104, the procedure may also include responding, by the service proxy, to a first DNS request for the first FQDN (e.g., "foo.com”) with information indicating the first IP address associated with the first FQDN at 1106. At 1108, the procedure may also include forwarding, by the service proxy, a second DNS request for a second FQDN, which is different than the first FQDN (e.g., not "foo.com”), to a DNS server.

[0153] In certain representative embodiments, after responding to the first DNS request at 1106, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the first FQDN to the first IP address. For example, the transmission to the first IP address may indicate that the transmission has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission to the first IP address may be routed using the first FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on any transmission identified as being transmitted to the first IP address. [0154] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request and the second DNS request may both be generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0155] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request may be associated with a first application executed by the WTRU 102 and the second DNS request may be associated with a second application (e.g., which is different than the first application) executed by the WTRU 102.

[0156] In certain representative embodiments, after 1108, the procedure may further include receiving, from the DNS server, a response to the second DNS request that includes information indicating a second IP address, different than the first IP address, associated with the second FQDN. For example, the second DNS request may be resolved by the DNS server to the second IP address.

[0157] In certain representative embodiments, after receiving the response to the second DNS request, the procedure may further include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the second FQDN to the second IP address. For example, the transmission to the second IP address may be routed using the second IP address (e.g., NbR or non-NbR ).

[0158] in certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include receiving information indicating a third FQDN, which is different than the first FQDN and the second FQDN, is (e.g., also) registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint.

[0159] in certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include responding, by the service proxy, to a third DNS request for the third FQDN with information indicating the first IP address associated with the third FQDN.

[0160] in certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include after responding to the third DNS request, transmitting application data, for an application which is associated with the third FQDN, using the first IP address. For example, the transmission using (e.g., to) the first IP address may indicate that the transmission (e.g., associated with the third FQDN) has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission using the first IP address may be routed using the third FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on the transmission identified as being transmitted using the first IP address.

[0161] in certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request, the second DNS request, and the third DNS request may each generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0162] in certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request, the second DNS request, and/or the third DNS request may be generated by different applications executed by the WTRU 102.

[0163] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for FQDN resolution using a localhost DNS service. For example, a WTRU 102 may be configured to execute the localhost DNS service. As shown in FIG. 12, the procedure may include receiving information indicating a first FQDN is registered as a HTTP- only service endpoint at 1202. At 1204, the procedure may include responding, by the localhost DNS service, to a first DNS request for the first FQDN with information indicating a publicly-registered, first IP address which is associated with the first FQDN. At 1206, the procedure may include forwarding, by the localhost DNS service, a second DNS request for a second FQDN, which is different than the first FQDN, to a DNS server (e.g., transmitted to a non-local DNS server).

[0164] In certain representative embodiments, after responding to the first DNS request at 1106, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the first FQDN using the first IP address. For example, the transmission using (e.g., to) the first IP address may indicate that the transmission has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission using the first IP address may be routed using the first FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on any transmission identified as being transmitted using the first IP address.

[0165] in certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request and the second DNS request may both be generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0166] in certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request may be associated with a first application executed by the WTRU 102 and the second DNS request may be associated with a second application (e.g., which is different than the first application) executed by the WTRU 102.

[0167] in certain representative embodiments, after 1108, the procedure may further include receiving, from the DNS server, a response to the second DNS request that includes information indicating a second IP address, different than the first IP address, associated with the second FQDN. For example, the second DNS request may be resolved by the DNS server to the second IP address.

[0168] In certain representative embodiments, after receiving the response to the second DNS request, the procedure may further include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the second FQDN to the second IP address. For example, the transmission to the second IP address may be routed using the second IP address (e.g., NbR or non-NbR ).

[0169] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include receiving information indicating a third FQDN, which is different than the first FQDN and the second FQDN, is (e.g., also) registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint.

[0170] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include responding, by the localhost DNS service, to a third DNS request for the third FQDN with information indicating the first IP address which is associated with the third FQDN.

[0171] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include after responding to the third DNS request, transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the third FQDN using the first IP address. For example, the transmission using (e.g., to) the first IP address may indicate that the transmission (e.g., associated with the third FQDN) has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission using the first IP address may be routed using the third FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on the transmission identified as being transmitted using the first IP address.

[0172] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request, the second DNS request, and the third DNS request may each generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0173] In certain representative embodiments, the first DNS request, the second DNS request, and/or the third DNS request may be generated by different applications executed by the WTRU 102. [0174] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a representative procedure for FQDN processing using a HTTP library. For example, a WTRU 102 may be configured with a HTTP library which is accessible by one or more applications executed by the WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. 13, the procedure may include receiving information indicating a first FQDN is registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint at 1302. At 1304, the WTRU 102 may associate, in the HTTP library, the first FQDN with a publicly-registered, first internet protocol (IP) address. At 1306, the procedure may include generating, by the WTRU 102, a first transaction object for the first FQDN. For example, an application executed by the WTRU 102 may generate the first transaction object. At 1308, the procedure may include generating, by the WTRU 102, a second transaction object for a second FQDN which is different than the first FQDN. For example, an application executed by the WTRU 102 may generate the first transaction object. At 1310, upon determining that the first transaction object for the first FQDN is associated with the first IP address using the HTTP library, the WTRU 102 may transmit application data for an application which is associated with the first transaction object using the first IP address. For example, the transmission using (e.g., to) the first IP address may indicate that the transmission has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission using the first IP address may be routed using the first FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on any transmission identified as being transmitted using the first IP address. At 1320, upon determining that the second transaction object for the second FQDN is not associated with the first IP address using the HTTP library, the WTRU 102 may transmit a DNS request for the second FQDN to a DNS server. [0175] In certain representative embodiments, the first transaction object and the second transaction object may both be generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0176] In certain representative embodiments, the first transaction object may be associated with a first application executed by the WTRU 102 and the second transaction object may be associated with a second application (e.g., which is different than the first application) executed by the WTRU 102.

[0177] In certain representative embodiments, after 1312, the procedure may further include receiving, from the DNS server, a response to the DNS request for the second FQDN that includes information indicating a second IP address, different than the first IP address, associated with the second FQDN. For example, the DNS request may be resolved by the DNS server to the second IP address.

[0178] In certain representative embodiments, after receiving the response to the second DNS request, the procedure may further include transmitting application data for an application which is associated with the second FQDN to the second IP address. For example, the transmission to the second IP address may be routed using the second IP address (e.g., NbR or non-NbR ).

[0179] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include receiving information indicating a third FQDN, which is different than the first FQDN and the second FQDN, is (e.g., also) registered as a HTTP-only service endpoint. The WTRU 102 may associate, in the HTTP library, the third FQDN with the first IP address.

[0180] In certain representative embodiments, the procedure implemented by the WTRU 102 may include generating, by the WTRU 102, a third transaction object for the third FQDN. For example, an application executed by the WTRU 102 may generate the first transaction object. Upon determining that the third transaction object for the third FQDN is associated with the first IP address using the HTTP library, the WTRU 102 may transmit application data, for an application which is associated with the third transaction object, using the first IP address. For example, the transmission using the first IP address may indicate that the transmission has a HTTP-only service endpoint (e.g., as a destination). For example, the transmission using the first IP address may be routed using the third FQDN (e.g., NbR). For example, NbR may be performed by the network on any transmission identified as being transmitted using the first IP address. In certain representative embodiments, the first transaction object, the second transaction object, and the third transaction object may each generated by a single (e.g., same) application executed by the WTRU 102.

[0181] In certain representative embodiments, the first transaction object, the second transaction object, and/or the third transaction object may be generated by different applications executed by the WTRU 102.

[0182] In certain representative embodiments, a WTRU 102 may implement a procedure which includes receiving, at a client-side service proxy, a registration request including information indicating that a first service function identifier (SFID) of a service function in the network is enabled as an application layer protocol-specific service function. After, the procedure may include the WTRU 102 receiving, at the clientside service proxy, a Domain Name System (DNS) request including a second SFID. The procedure may also include the WTRU 102 determining, at the client-side service proxy, whether the first SFID matches the second SFID. The procedure may further include, on condition that the first SFID matches the second SFID, transmitting, to the client from the client-side service proxy, a DNS response which indicates that the second SFID is reachable at a service function endpoint identifier (SFEID) in the network.

[0183] For example, the procedure may further include receiving, from the client connected to the clientside service proxy, a content request directed to the SFEID and SFID. The client-side service proxy may encapsulate the content request, and forward a non-IP packet towards the non-application layer protocol service function endpoint.

[0184] For example, the first and second SFIDs may be fully qualified domain names (FQDN) and the SFEID may be any of an IP address, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, and/or a combination including an IP address and a MAC address.

[0185] For example, the content request may be a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request. [0186] For example, the procedure may further include, on condition that the first SFID does not match the second SFID, transmitting, to a DNS server from the client-side service proxy, a DNS request including the second SFID.

[0187] For example, the registration request includes information indicating that a third service function identifier (SFID) of the service function in the network is not enabled as a non-application layer protocolspecific service function, and wherein the application layer protocol-specific service function is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol-only (HTTP-only) service function.

[0188] For example, the procedure may further include receiving, at the client-side service proxy, information indicating that a third SFID of another (e.g., a second) service function in the network is enabled as an application layer protocol-specific service function. The client-side service proxy may proceed to determine whether the third SFID matches the second SFID. After, the procedure may further include, on condition that the third SFID matches the second SFID, transmitting, to the client from the client-side service proxy, a DNS response which indicates that the second SFID is reachable at the same service function endpoint identifier (SFEID) in the network.

[0189] In certain representative embodiments, a WTRU 102 may implement a procedure which includes receiving a registration request including information indicating that a first SFID of a service function in the network is enabled as an application layer protocol-specific service function. The procedure may also include the WTRU 102 configuring a localhost Domain Name System (DNS) service based on the information included in the registration request. After, the procedure may include issuing, by an application executed by the WTRU 102, a DNS request to the localhost DNS. The DNS request may include a second SFID. After, the localhost DNS service may, on condition that the first SFID matches the second SFID, respond, to the application, with a DNS response which indicates that the second SFID is reachable at a service function endpoint identifier (SFEID) in the network.

[0190] For example, the procedure may further include intercepting, from the application, a content request directed to the SFEID. After, the procedure may also include encapsulating the content request in a non-IP packet, and transmitting the non-IP packet towards the non-application layer protocol service function.

[0191] For example, the first and second SFIDs may be fully qualified domain names (FQDNs). The SFEID may be any of an IP address, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, and/or a combination including an IP address and a MAC address.

[0192] For example, the content request may be a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request.

[0193] For example, the procedure may further include, on condition that the first SFID does not match the second SFID, transmitting, to a DNS server configured by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), a DNS request including the second SFID. [0194] For example, the registration request may include information indicating that a third service function identifier (SFID) of the service function in the network is not enabled as a non-application layer protocolspecific service function. The application layer protocol-specific service function may be a Hypertext Transfer Protocol-only (HTTP-only) service function.

[0195] For example, the procedure may further include receiving additional information indicating that a third SFID of another (e.g., second) service function in the network is enabled as an application layer protocolspecific service function. After, the localhost DNS service may be configured based on or using the additional information. The application executed by the WTRU 102 may issue a DNS request to the localhost DNS. The DNS request may include a second SFID. On condition that the third SFID matches the second SFID, the localhost DNS may respond, to the application, with a DNS response which indicates that the second SFID is reachable at the same SFEID in the network.

[0196] In certain representative embodiments, a WTRU 102 may implement a procedure which includes receiving, from a network entity in a network, a registration request including information indicating that a first SFID of a service function in the network is enabled as an application layer protocol-specific service function. An application layer protocol library at the WTRU 102 may be updated based on or using the information in the registration request. An application executed by the WTRU 102 may issue a transaction object for a second SFID. On condition that the second SFID matches the first SFID in the application layer protocol library, the WTRU 102 may proceed to opening a network connection to a SFEID (e.g., associated with the first SFID) in the network.

[0197] For example, the procedure may further include transmitting the transaction object for the second SFID via the network connection.

[0198] For example, the first and second SFIDs may be fully qualified domain names (FQDNs). The SFEID may be any of an IP address, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, and/or a combination including an IP address and a MAC address.

[0199] For example, the application layer protocol-specific service function may be an Hypertext Transfer Protocol-only (HTTP-only) service function. For example, the application layer protocol library may be a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) library.

[0200] For example, the procedure may further include, on condition that the first SFID does not match the second SFID, transmitting, to a DNS server configured by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), a DNS request including the second SFID.

[0201] For example, the procedure may further include receiving additional information indicating that a third SFID of another (e.g., second) service function in the network is enabled as an application layer protocolspecific service function. After, the WTRU 102 may update the application layer protocol library based on or using the additional information. On condition that the second SFID matches the third SFID in the application layer protocol library, the WTRU 102 may proceed by opening a network connection to the same SFEID in the network.

[0202] In certain representative embodiments, a WTRU 102 may include a processor and a transceiver which are configured to perform the procedures described herein.

[0203] In certain representative embodiments, a network entity may include a processor and a transceiver which are configured to perform the procedures described herein.

[0204] Conclusion

[0205] Although features and elements are provided above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems.

[0206] The foregoing embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to the terminology and structure of infrared capable devices, i.e., infrared emitters and receivers. However, the embodiments discussed are not limited to these systems but may be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0207] It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term "video" or the term "imagery" may mean any of a snapshot, single image and/or multiple images displayed over a time basis. As another example, when referred to herein, the terms "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE", the term "remote" and/or the terms "head mounted display" or its abbreviation "HMD" may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and/or receive unit (WTRU); (ii) any of a number of embodiments of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and/or wired-capable (e.g., tetherable) device configured with, inter alia, some or all structures and functionality of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and/or wired-capable device configured with less than all structures and functionality of a WTRU; or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU, which may be representative of any WTRU recited herein, are provided herein with respect to FIGs. 1A-1 D. As another example, various disclosed embodiments herein supra and infra are described as utilizing a head mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a device other than the head mounted display may be utilized and some or all of the disclosure and various disclosed embodiments can be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other device may include a drone or other device configured to stream information for providing the adapted reality experience.

[0208] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

[0209] Variations of the method, apparatus and system provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In view of the wide variety of embodiments that can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are examples only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims. For instance, the embodiments provided herein include handheld devices, which may include or be utilized with any appropriate voltage source, such as a battery and the like, providing any appropriate voltage.

[0210] Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices that include processors are noted. These devices may include at least one Central Processing Unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer programming, reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by the various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "computer executed" or "CPU executed."

[0211] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the acts and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. An electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU's operation, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to or representative of the data bits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above- mentioned platforms or CPUs and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods. [0212] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0213] In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer- readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and/or any other computing device.

[0214] There is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems. The use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software may become significant) a design choice representing cost versus efficiency tradeoffs. There may be various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologies described herein may be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and the preferred vehicle may vary with the context in which the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

[0215] The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples include one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In an embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, may be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc., and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

[0216] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein may be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and/or velocity, control motors for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

[0217] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components included within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality may be achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

[0218] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0219] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, the following appended claims and/or the descriptions herein may include usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim including such introduced claim recitation to embodiments including only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Further, the terms "any of" followed by a listing of a plurality of items and/or a plurality of categories of items, as used herein, are intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any multiple of," and/or "any combination of multiples of" the items and/or the categories of items, individually or in conjunction with other items and/or other categories of items. Moreover, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. And the term "multiple", as used herein, is intended to be synonymous with "a plurality".

[0220] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0221] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein may be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," and the like includes the number recited and refers to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1 , 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1 , 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

[0222] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or elements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the terms "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, ]] 6 or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the terms "means for" is not so intended.