Snpn onboarding and obtaining snpn services from a plmn

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024224163-A1
Application number	US-202117907177-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2021
Priority date	Mar 26, 2020
Publication date	Jul 4, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) operating in an “Onboarding Mode” may search for a network broadcasting Onboarding Capability Information (OCT), then register using onboarding credentials and receive SNPN credentials from the network. The UE may then exit onboarding mode, enter Manual Network Selection or Automatic Network Selection mode, and connect to the SNPN. A UE may also receive from a network a list of PLMNs and SNPNs that are equivalent then, when registering, indicate to the network that a requested slice is not associated with the IJE's HPLMN, but is associated with an SNPN. The network may indicate to the UE how the slices of the network map to the slices of the SNPN, and may indicate whether a slice that is offered by the network only partially maps to a slice of the SNPN or HPLMN.

First claim

1 . A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising communication circuitry, a processor, a memory, and instructions in the memory that, when executed by the processor, cause the WTRU to:
receive first broadcast information from a network, the first broadcast information comprising an onboarding support indicator; send, to the network, a first request, the first request indicating system information be broadcasted on-demand, the system information being associated with a group identifier; receive, from the network, second broadcast information comprising the group identifier; determine, using the second broadcast information, to perform an onboarding operation with the network; send, to the network, a second request comprising a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) registration request part comprising an NAS onboarding indication, the second request further comprising a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message comprising an RRC onboarding indication; in response to the second request, receive, from the network, Standalone Non-public Network (SNPN) credentials for an SNPN; and connect to the SNPN based on the SNPN credentials.

2 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the WTRU to communicate with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the AMF being selected by the network based on the RRC onboarding indication.

3 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the first second request comprises information to assist the network in determining a network function that can be used to authenticate the WTRU based on onboarding credentials of the WTRU.

4 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the second request comprises an indication that the UE desires to authenticate the network.

5 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast information comprises an indication of whether the network supports a control plane onboarding procedure, a user plane onboarding procedure, or both the control plane onboarding procedure and the user plane onboarding procedure.

6 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the broadcast information comprises an indication of types of network slices that are supported by the network.

7 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the SNPN credentials comprise a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) and an SNPN identity.

8 . The WTRU of claim 7 , wherein the SNPN credentials further comprise information necessary for the WTRU to establish a tunnel between the WTRU and a Non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3IWF) of the SNPN.

9 . The WTRU of claim 1 , switch to a manual network selection mode or an automatic network selection mode.

10 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the UE to receive the SNPN credentials during a registration procedure.

11 . The WTRU of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the WTRU to receive the SNPN credentials in an NAS Message.

12 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the WTRU to:
receive Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) information from the network; direct, based on the AAA information, application traffic towards an AAA server of the network, and receive the SNPN credentials from the AAA server.

13 . The WTRU of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the WTRU to receive the AAA information during a registration procedure.

14 . The WTRU of claim 12 , wherein the instructions further cause the UE to receive the AAA information in a policy.

15 . A network apparatus at a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, comprising communication circuitry, a processor, a memory, and instructions in the memory that, when executed by the processor, cause the network apparatus to:
transmit broadcast information comprising an onboarding support indicator; receive a first request, the first request indicating system information be broadcasted on-demand, the system information being associated with a group identifier; send a second broadcast information comprising the group identifier; receive, from a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a second request comprising a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) registration request comprising an NAS onboarding indication, the second request further comprising a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message comprising and an RRC onboarding indication; select an, based on the RRC onboarding indication, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to communicate with the WTRU, send, to the AMF, the NAS registration request, receive, from the AMF, a registration response, and send, to the WTRU, the registration response.

16 . The network apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:
the RRC message further comprises an identifier or a credential type; and the instructions further cause the network apparatus to select, based on the RRC onboarding indication in combination with the identifier or credential type, the AMF to communicate with the WTRU.

17 . The network apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:
the RRC message further comprises a domain identifier or a device capability indication; and the instructions further cause the network apparatus to select, based on the RRC onboarding indication in combination with the domain identifier or device capability indication, the AMF to communicate with the WTRU.

18 . (canceled)

19 . A method comprising:
receiving first broadcast information from a network, the first broadcast information comprising an onboarding support indicator; sending, to the network, a first request, the first request indicating system information be broadcasted on-demand, the system information being associated with a group identifier; receiving, from the network, second broadcast information comprising the group identifier; determining, using the second broadcast information, to perform an onboarding operation with the network; sending, to the network, a first second request comprising a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) registration request part comprising an NAS onboarding indication, the second request further comprising a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message comprising an RRC onboarding indication; in response to the second request, receiving, from the network, Standalone Non-public Network (SNPN) credentials for an SNPN; and connecting to the SNPN based on the SNPN credentials.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising communicating with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the AMF being selected by the network based on the RRC onboarding indication.

Assignees

• Interdigital Patent Holdings Inc

Inventors

• Starsinic Michael
• Li Hongkun
• Ly Quang
• Mladin Catalina
• Ninglekhu Jiwan
• Adjakple Pascal

Classifications

• H04W8/12

  between location registers or mobility servers · CPC title

• H04W8/186

  Processing of subscriber group data · CPC title

• H04W48/14

  using user query {or user detection} · CPC title

• H04W60/04

  using triggered events · CPC title

• H04W84/105

  PBS [Private Base Station] network (H04W84/12 - H04W84/16 take precedence) · CPC title