| CPC H04W 48/18 (2013.01) [H04W 8/005 (2013.01); H04W 76/14 (2018.02)] | 16 Claims |

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16. An apparatus comprising:
a network interface configured to receive network slice information for a plurality of devices via a D2D discovery process with the plurality of devices, or alternatively receive the network slice information for the plurality of devices via network infrastructure equipment prior to the network being determined as down or otherwise unavailable; and
a processor configured to:
determine network slices being used by the apparatus;
determine that a network is down, or otherwise unavailable;
determine the network slices being used for the plurality of devices;
establish a device-to-device (D2D) communication with a first device from the plurality of devices based on at least one network slice used for the first device matching at least one network slice being used by the apparatus;
establish a device-to-device (D2D) communications with a second device from the plurality of devices based on the network slice used for the second device matching at least one network slice being used by the apparatus; and
serve as a bridge device between the first device and the second device;
wherein the network slices being used by the apparatus comprises virtual networks created on top of a common physical infrastructure.
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