Network slice selection based on requested service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10873950-B2
Application number	US-201816217647-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 12, 2018
Priority date	Dec 12, 2018
Publication date	Dec 22, 2020
Grant date	Dec 22, 2020

Abstract

An example method can include receiving, from a user equipment, single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI). The method can include determining a resource sharing configuration (RSC) associated with the S-NSSAI and determining whether the S-NSSAI is associated with a network slice instance (NSI) of the network. When the S-NSSAI is determined to be associated with a first NSI, the method can include mapping the S-NSSAI to the first NSI to permit the user equipment to communicate via the first NSI using a protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI. When the S-NSSAI is not determined to be associated with an NSI, the method can include forming a second NSI of the network according to the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI and mapping the S-NSSAI to the second NSI to permit the user equipment to communicate via the second NSI using a PDU session associated with the S-NSSAI.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a device and from a user equipment, single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI),
wherein the S-NSSAI is associated with a network;

determining, by the device, a resource sharing configuration (RSC) associated with the S-NSSAI;
identifying, by the device, a slice/service type (SST) of the S-NSSAI;
identifying, by the device and based on identifying the SST, a network slice instance (NSI) table associated with the SST;
determining, by the device, whether the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI is included in the NSI table;
determining, by the device and based on determining that the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI is included in the NSI table, whether the S-NSSAI is associated with a first network slice instance (NSI) of the network; and
when the S-NSSAI is determined to be associated with the first NSI,
mapping, by the device, the S-NSSAI to the first NSI to permit the user equipment to communicate via the first NSI using a protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI, or

when the S-NSSAI is not determined to be associated with the first NSI,
forming, by the device, a second NSI of the network according to the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI, and
mapping, by the device, the S-NSSAI to the second NSI to permit the user equipment to communicate via the second NSI using a PDU session associated with the S-NSSAI.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the S-NSSAI is received in at least one of:
a request from the user equipment to register the user equipment with the network, or
a request to initiate the PDU session.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a slice differentiator field of the S-NSSAI identifies at least one of:
a network slice type (NEST) that identifies one or more characteristics of the network that are to be supported by the first NSI and the second NSI,
a service, of the network, that is to be utilized by the user equipment,
an entity associated with the user equipment, or
an inter-slice priority level that identifies that an NSI that is mapped to the S-NSSAI has a priority relative to other NSIs of the network.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RSC identifies a set of resource layers, of the network, that the user equipment can share according to the S-NSSAI.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the RSC comprises:
determining resource layers that can be shared with another user equipment associated with the S-NSSAI or another user equipment associated with another S-NSSAI,
wherein the RSC is determined based on the resource layers.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the RSC comprises:
determining that the S-NSSAI is not associated with a specific RSC;
determining, based on the S-NSSAI not being associated with the specific RSC, that the S-NSSAI is associated with a default RSC; and
determining that the RSC is the default RSC, and
wherein determining whether the S-NSSAI is associated with the first NSI comprises:
determining, based on the RSC being the default RSC, whether the S-NSSAI is associated with the first NSI of the network based on at least one of:
a network service type (NEST) of the S-NSSAI, or
the SST of the S-NSSAI.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
provisioning the PDU session, associated with the user equipment, to utilize the first NSI or the second NSI, or
determining a traffic type of the PDU session;
overriding, based on the determined traffic type of the PDU session, the S-NSSAI by assigning network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) to the user equipment; and
provisioning the PDU session according to the assigned NSSAI.

8. A device, comprising:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, to:
receive, from a user equipment, single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI),
wherein the S-NSSAI is associated with a network,

determine a resource sharing configuration (RSC) associated with the S-NSSAI;
identify a slice/service type (SST) of the S-NSSAI;
identify, based on identifying the SST, a network slice instance (NSI) table associated with the SST;
determine whether the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI is included in the NSI table;
determine, based on determining that the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI is included in the NSI table, whether the S-NSSAI is associated with a first network slice instance (NSI) of the network; and
when the S-NSSAI is determined to be associated with the first NSI,
map the S-NSSAI to the first NSI to permit the user equipment to communicate via the first NSI using a protocol data unit (PDU) session associated with the S-NSSAI, or

when the S-NSSAI is not determined to be associated with the first NSI,
form a second NSI of the network according to the RSC associated with the S-NSSAI, and
map the S-NSSAI to the second NSI to permit the user equipment to communicate via the second NSI using a PDU session associated with the S-NSSAI.

9. The device of claim 8 , the S-NSSAI is received in at least one of:
a request from the user equipment to register the user equipment with the network, or
a request to initiate the PDU session.

10. The device of claim 8 , wherein a slice differentiator field of the S-NSSAI identifies at least one of:
a network slice type (NEST) that identifies one or more characteristics of the network that are to be supported by the first NSI and the second NSI,
a service, of the network, that is to be utilized by the user equipment,
an entity associated with the user equipment, or
an inter-slice priority level that identifies that an NSI that is mapped to the S-NSSAI has a priority relative to other NSIs of the network.

11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the RSC identifies a set of resource layers, of the network, that the user equipment can share according to the S-NSSAI.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, when determining the RSC, are to:
determine resource layers that can be shared with another user equipment associated with the S-NSSAI or another user equipment associated with another S-NSSAI,
wherein the RSC is determined based on the resource layers.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, when determining the RSC, are to:
determine that the S-NSSAI is not associated with a specific RSC;
determine, based on the S-NSSAI not being associated with the specific RSC, that the S-NSSAI is associated with a default RSC; and
determine that the RSC is the default RSC, and
wherein, the one or more processors, when determining whether the S-NSSAI is associated with the first NSI, are to:
determine, based on the RSC being the default RSC, whether the S-NSSAI is associated with the first NSI of the network based on at least one of:
a network service type (NEST) of the S-NSSAI, or
the SST of the S-NSSAI.

14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further to at least one of:
provision the PDU session, associated with the user equipment, to utilize the first NSI or the second NSI, or
determine a traffic type of the PDU session;
override, based on the determined traffic type of the PDU session, the S-NSSAI by assigning an NSSAI to the user equipment; and
provision the PDU session according to the assigned NSSAI.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, from a user eq

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc
• Verison Patent And Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Young Kristen S
• Bogineni Kalyani
• Panchal Jignesh S
• Guha Ratul Kumar

Classifications

• H04W72/53 Primary

  based on regulatory allocation policies · CPC title

• H04W72/54

  based on quality criteria · CPC title

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W76/12

  Setup of transport tunnels · CPC title

• H04W48/18 Primary

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title