A method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) includes generating, by an upper analog media access control (MAC-A) layer of a protocol stack, a data packet with a header and a data field. The header indicates a neural network identifier (ID) and a request ID. The data field includes gradient data for a federated learning iteration. The method also includes transferring the data packet to lower layers of the protocol stack for transmission to a network device across a wireless network.