Method and apparatus for authentication between core network devices in mobile communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12256318-B2
Application number	US-202217659804-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 19, 2022
Priority date	Apr 20, 2021
Publication date	Mar 18, 2025
Grant date	Mar 18, 2025

Abstract

A communication method of a network function (NF) consumer in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include: receiving, from an NF repository function (NRF), a discovery response message in a discovery procedure, the discovery response message including NF set information including NF instance identifiers (IDs) for providing a service; transmitting, to the NRF, an access token request message including an NF producer instance ID; receiving, from the NRF, an access token response message including an access token; transmitting, to a service communication proxy (SCP), a service request message to be transmitted to an NF producer instance, the service request message including the token received from the NRF, a client credentials assertion (CCA) of the NF consumer, and the NF set information; and receiving, from the SCP, a service response message including a CCA of the NF producer instance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of a network function (NF) consumer in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from an NF repository function (NRF), a discovery response message during a discovery procedure, wherein the discovery response message comprises NF set information including NF instance identifiers (IDs) for providing a service;
transmitting, to the NRF, an access token request message comprising an NF producer instance ID and a uniform resource identifier (URI) address of the NF consumer;
receiving, from the NRF, an access token response message comprising an access token;
transmitting, to a service communication proxy (SCP), a service request message for an NF producer instance, the service request message comprising the access token received from the NRF, a client credentials assertion (CCA) of the NF consumer, the URI address of the NF consumer and the NF set information; and
receiving, from the SCP, a service response message comprising a CCA of the NF producer instance.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the NF producer instance is included in the service request message; and
verifying the CCA of the NF producer instance based on a determination that the NF producer instance is included in the service request message.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NF producer instance ID included in the access token request message comprises one of the NF instance identifiers included in the NF set information of the discovery response message.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the discovery response message corresponds to a discovery request message comprising information related to a service requested by the NF consumer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access token request message comprises at least one of NF consumer-related information, NF service-related information, or NF producer-related information.

6. A network function (NF) consumer in a wireless communication system, the NF consumer comprising:
a network interface configured to communicate with at least one NF;
memory; and
at least one processor operably coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to control the network interface to:
receive, from an NF repository function (NRF), a discovery response message during a discovery procedure, wherein the discovery response message comprises NF set information including NF instance identifiers (IDs) for providing a service,
transmit, to the NRF, an access token request message comprising an NF producer instance ID and a uniform resource identifier (URI) address of the NF consumer,
receive, from the NRF, an access token response message comprising an access token,
transmit, to a service communication proxy (SCP), a service request message for an NF producer instance, the service request message comprising the access token received from the NRF, a client credentials assertion (CCA) of the NF consumer, the URI address of the NF consumer and the NF set information, and
receive, from the SCP, a service response message comprising a CCA of the NF producer instance.

7. The NF consumer of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine whether the NF producer instance is included in the service request message; and
verify the CCA of the NF producer instance based on a determination that the NF producer instance is included in the service request message.

8. The NF consumer of claim 6 , wherein the NF producer instance ID included in the access token request message comprises one of the NF instance identifiers included in the NF set information of the discovery response message.

9. The NF consumer of claim 6 , wherein the discovery response message corresponds to a discovery request message comprising information related to a service requested by the NF consumer.

10. The NF consumer of claim 6 , wherein the access token request message comprises at least one of NF consumer-related information, NF service-related information, or NF producer-related information.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Son Jungje
• Lee Duckey

Classifications

• H04W4/50

  Service provisioning or reconfiguring · CPC title

• H04W12/06 Primary

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04L41/0894

  Policy-based network configuration management · CPC title

• H04W8/00

  Network data management · CPC title

• H04W48/16 Primary

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title