Techniques to facilitate fast roaming between a mobile network operator public wireless wide area access network and an enterprise private wireless wide area access network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12047774-B2
Application number	US-202318318268-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2023
Priority date	Mar 31, 2020
Publication date	Jul 23, 2024
Grant date	Jul 23, 2024

Abstract

Presented herein are techniques to facilitate fast roaming between a mobile network operator-public (MNO-public) wireless wide area (WWA) access network and an enterprise private WWA access network. In one example, a method is provided that may include generating, by an authentication node, authentication material for a user equipment (UE) based on the UE being connected to a public WWA access network, wherein the public WWA access network is associated with a mobile network operator, and the authentication node and the UE are associated with an enterprise entity; obtaining, by the authentication node, an indication that the UE is attempting to access a private WWA access network associated with the enterprise entity; and providing, by the authentication node, the authentication material for the UE, wherein the authentication material facilitates connection establishment between the UE and the private WWA access network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
generating, by an authentication node of an enterprise network operated by an enterprise entity, authentication material for a user equipment (UE) associated with the enterprise entity based on the UE being connected to a public wireless wide area (WWA) access network operated by a mobile network operator, wherein the generating is performed through a secondary authentication process for the UE performed via the authentication node of the enterprise network;
obtaining, by the authentication node of the enterprise network from a mobility management node of the enterprise network, a query for the authentication material for the UE based on the UE attempting to access a private WWA access network operated by the enterprise entity, wherein in attempting to access the private WWA access network, the UE is to provide an identifier of the authentication node of the enterprise network and an identifier for the UE, wherein the identifier of the authentication node is to enable the mobility management node of the enterprise network to identify the authentication node and the identifier of the UE is to enable the authentication node to identify the authentication material for the UE; and
providing, by the authentication node of the enterprise network, the authentication material for the UE to the mobility management node of the enterprise network, wherein the authentication material facilitates connection establishment between the UE and a WWA radio node of the private WWA access network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secondary authentication process is an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication process.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the authentication material is at least one of:
an Access Security Management Entity Key; and
an Access and Mobility Management Function Key.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating, by the authentication node of the enterprise network through the secondary authentication process for the UE, an authentication success message based on successful generation of the authentication material for the UE, wherein the authentication success message comprises the identifier for the UE and the identifier for the authentication node of the enterprise network; and
transmitting, by the authentication node of the enterprise network, the authentication success message toward the UE.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier for the UE is a pseudo-International Mobile Subscriber Identity (pseudo-IMSI) generated by the authentication node that is different from an IMSI configured for a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) for the UE.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
broadcasting, via the private WWA access network, a fast roaming support indicator, wherein the private WWA access network is at least one of a private cellular access network and a private Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) access network.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the fast roaming support indicator enables the UE to attempt to connect to the private WWA access network using, at least in part, the identifier for the UE and the identifier for the authentication node of the enterprise network.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein in attempting to access the private WWA access network, the UE is to further provide an indication that the UE has generated encryption and ciphering keys for the private WWA access network.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobility management node of the enterprise network does not perform cyphering and encryption key generation for the UE upon receiving the authentication material for the UE from the authentication node of the enterprise network.

10. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, comprising:
generating, by an authentication node of an enterprise network operated by an enterprise entity, authentication material for a user equipment (UE) associated with the enterprise entity based on the UE being connected to a public wireless wide area (WWA) access network operated by a mobile network operator, wherein the generating is performed through a secondary authentication process for the UE performed via the authentication node of the enterprise network;
obtaining, by the authentication node of the enterprise network from a mobility management node of the enterprise network, a query for the authentication material for the UE based on the UE attempting to access a private WWA access network operated by the enterprise entity, wherein in attempting to access the private WWA access network, the UE is to provide an identifier of the authentication node of the enterprise network and an identifier for the UE, wherein the identifier of the authentication node is to enable the mobility management node of the enterprise network to identify the authentication node and the identifier of the UE is to enable the authentication node to identify the authentication material for the UE; and
providing, by the authentication node of the enterprise network, the authentication material for the UE to the mobility management node of the enterprise network, wherein the authentication material facilitates connection establishment between the UE and a WWA radio node of the private WWA access network.

11. The media of claim 10 , wherein the secondary authentication process is an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication process.

12. The media of claim 10 , wherein the authentication material is at least one of:
an Access Security Management Entity Key; and
an Access and Mobility Management Function Key.

13. The media of claim 10 , further comprising:
generating, by the authentication node of the enterprise network through the secondary authentication process for the UE, an authentication success message based on successful generation of the authentication material for the UE, wherein the authentication success message comprises the identifier for the UE and the identifier for the authentication node of the enterprise network; and
transmitting, by the authentication node of the enterprise network, the authentication success message toward the UE.

14. The media of claim 10 , wherein the identifier for the UE is a pseudo-International Mobile Subscriber Identity (pseudo-IMSI) generated by the authentication node that is different from an IMSI configured for a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) for the UE.

15. A system comprising:
at least one memory element for storing data; and
at least one processor for executing instructions associated with the data, wherein executing the instructions causes the system to perform operations, comprising:
generating, by an authentication node of an enterprise network operated by an enterprise entity, authentication material for a user equipment (UE) associated with the enterprise entity based on the UE being connected to a public wireless wide area (WWA) access network operated by a mobile network operator, wherein the generating is performed through a secondary authentication process for the UE performed via the authentication node of the enterprise network;
obtaining, by the authentication node of the enterprise network from a mobility management node of the enterprise network, a query for the authentication material for the UE based on the UE attempting to access a private WWA access network operated by the enterprise entity, wherein in attempting to access the private WWA access network, the UE is to provide an identifier of the authentication node o

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Gundavelli Srinath
• Gandhi Indermeet Singh
• Bull Oliver James
• Samuel Louis Gwyn
• Grayson Mark

Classifications

• H04W36/14

  Reselecting a network or an air interface · CPC title

• H04W36/142

  over the same radio air interface technology · CPC title

• H04W12/0433

  Key management protocols · CPC title

• H04W60/04

  using triggered events · CPC title

• H04W12/08

  Access security · CPC title