Unified access control for cellular networks

Abstract

This disclosure discusses a user equipment (UE) configured to determine that a first access attempt to access a first network service is associated with a first access category, where the first access category is associated with a first unified access control (UAC) rule, where the first UAC rule has a first priority, and determine that a second access attempt to access a second network service is associated with a second access category, where the second access category is associated with a second UAC rule, where the second UAC rule has a second priority.

Description

Background Technology

[0001] 5G New Radio (NR) networks allow network operators to define access prohibition rules. Specifically, 3GPP TS 24.501 defines operator-defined access control (ODAC), including the prioritization of various services in NR for determining access categories. According to this standard, the network provides ODAC information to the user equipment (UE) in either a registration acceptance or configuration update command message.

[0002] ODAC, defined in NR, allows the network to specify rules for access denial based on specific PDU sessions, fragments, OS App IDs, Quality of Service (QoS), etc. This flexibility allows the network to control access attempts against any specific fragment and / or PDU session that does not exist in the LTE network. As various services and use cases are still being explored in NR, this flexibility will allow the network to control traffic effectively.

[0003] However, with the introduction of ODAC, when ODAC prohibition applies, the impact on other services, such as Multimedia Telephony (MMTEL) voice and / or video calls or IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration, needs to be considered. This disclosure discusses some exemplary scenarios that would cause the UE to be prohibited from MMTEL voice, MMTEL video, IMS registration, etc., when the UE has already been prohibited from access by ODAC (e.g., for a specific PDU session or a specific fragment). Summary of the Invention

[0004] Some exemplary embodiments relate to a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations. These operations include: determining that a first access attempt to access a first network service is associated with a first access category, wherein the first access category is associated with a first unified access control (UAC) rule having a first priority; and determining that a second access attempt to access a second network service is associated with a second access category, wherein the second access category is associated with a second UAC rule having a second priority.

[0005] Other exemplary embodiments relate to a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations. These operations include: performing an ongoing service using a first network including a first radio access technology (RAT); determining that a radio link failure (RLF) has occurred in the first RAT; and determining that a second RAT can be used to continue the ongoing service.

[0006] A further exemplary embodiment relates to a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations including: determining that a first access attempt to access a first network service is associated with a first access class; determining that a second access attempt to access a second network service is associated with a second access class; and selecting either the first access class or the second access class for the first access attempt and the second access attempt, based at least on predefined rules. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements according to various exemplary implementations are shown.

[0008] Figure 2 Exemplary user equipment (UE) according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0009] Figure 3 The mapping table for access categories in 5G NR, provided as Table 4.5.2.2 in 3GPP TS 24.501, is shown.

[0010] Figure 4 Exemplary methods for selecting an access category for multiple access attempts are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0011] Figure 5 An exemplary signaling diagram is shown relating to service recovery on the 5G NR-RAN during MMTEL voice / video or IMS registration from the LTE-RAN.

[0012] Figure 6 Exemplary methods for service restoration from a first radio access technology (RAT) to a second RAT for an ongoing service are illustrated according to various exemplary embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0013] The exemplary embodiments can be further understood with reference to the following description and related figures, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments relate to access control for a UE to access certain network services when access to some of these network services is blocked by a network operator.

[0014] Exemplary implementations are described with reference to fifth-generation (5G) networks that support access blocking. However, it should be understood that the exemplary implementations are applicable to any network that supports access blocking in the manner described herein for 5G networks.

[0015] Exemplary implementations have been described with reference to exemplary network services such as MMTEL voice, MMTEL video, MMTEL short message service (SMS), IMS registration, emergency calls, etc. However, it should be understood that these services are merely exemplary, and these exemplary implementations can be applied to other network services. Furthermore, although these services are referred to as network services, it should be understood that some or all of these services may be provided by third parties, and network operators are providing access to third-party services.

[0016] Furthermore, throughout this specification, it will be described that the UE may be performing access checks on packet data unit (PDU) sessions on a packet data network (PDN) or on network fragments. Those skilled in the art will understand that the network and the UE can be configured with one or more PDU sessions to enable the UE to access network services via the PDN. The UE can also access network services via network fragments, which refer to end-to-end logical networks configured to provide specific services and / or have specific network characteristics. Therefore, it should be understood that the terms "PDU session" and "fragment" can be used interchangeably depending on how the UE accesses a specific network service. Other methods of accessing network services may also exist, and it should be understood that the exemplary embodiments are equally applicable to other methods of accessing network services.

[0017] Furthermore, throughout this specification, exemplary implementations are described relative to operator-defined access control (ODAC) rules. Those skilled in the art will understand that other types of access rules may exist. These rules may be referred to as unified access control (UAC) rules. ODAC rules can be considered a subset of UAC rules. It should be understood that the use of ODAC rules is merely exemplary, as any UAC rule within the UAC rules can be used with the exemplary implementations.

[0018] Some exemplary implementations involve a UE attempting multiple simultaneous access attempts for different network services. Some of these network services may be disabled, which could result in all access attempts being disabled, even if they should not be disabled. Exemplary implementations provide various ways to avoid disabling non-disallowed network services when multiple access attempts exist.

[0019] Other exemplary embodiments involve situations where network service is provided via a first radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., LTE RAT) and a failure occurs, causing the UE to attempt to continue the service on a different RAT (e.g., a 5G RAT). Continuing the service on a different RAT may result in access being blocked, leading to a poor user experience. Exemplary embodiments provide various ways to continue the service on a second RAT.

[0020] A further exemplary implementation involves a scenario where the UE encounters a dual-prohibition scenario. The exemplary implementation provides various rules for handling dual-prohibition scenarios.

[0021] Figure 1 An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is illustrated. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. It should be noted that any number of UEs can be used in the network arrangement 100. Those skilled in the art will understand that the UE 110 can be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, tablet, desktop computer, smartphone, phablet, embedded device, wearable device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be understood that a real network arrangement can include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0022] UE 110 can be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network arrangement 100, the networks with which UE 110 can wirelessly communicate are 5G New Radio (NR) Radio Access Network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE Radio Access Network (LTE-RAN) 122, and Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) 124. However, it should be understood that UE 110 can also communicate with other types of networks, and UE 110 can also communicate with networks via wired connections. Therefore, UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset communicating with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset communicating with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset communicating with WLAN 124.

[0023] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be portions of a cellular network that can be deployed by a cellular provider (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0024] UE 110 can connect to 5G NR-RAN 120 via gNB 120A to receive network services from 5G NR-RAN 120. gNB 120A can be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna array), software, and / or firmware to perform massive MIMO functionality. Massive MIMO can refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. During operation, UE 110 can be within range of multiple gNBs. The reference to a single gNB 120A is for illustrative purposes only. Exemplary implementations can be applied to any suitable number of gNBs. Additionally, UE 110 can also connect to and communicate with eNB 122A of LTE-RAN 122 to receive network services from LTE-RAN 122.

[0025] Those skilled in the art will understand that any relevant process can be performed to connect UE 110 to 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or LTE-RAN 122. For example, as discussed above, 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or LTE-RAN 122 can be associated with a specific cellular provider where UE 110 and / or its user have contract and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or LTE-RAN 122, UE 110 can transmit the corresponding credential information to associate with 5G NR-RAN 120 and / or LTE-RAN 122. More specifically, UE 110 can be associated with a specific base station (e.g., gNB 120A of 5G NR-RAN 120 or eNB 122A of LTE-RAN 122).

[0026] In addition to networks 120, 122, and 124, network deployment 100 also includes a cellular core network 130, an Internet 140, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be viewed as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of the cellular network.

[0027] Cellular core network 130 also manages traffic flowing between the cellular network and Internet 140. IMS 150 can generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to UE 110 using IP protocols. IMS 150 can communicate with cellular core network 130 and Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to UE 110. Network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with Internet 140 and cellular core network 130. Network service backbone 160 can generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage deployments, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0028] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. Reference will be made to... Figure 1 The network layout 100 is used to describe UE 110. UE 110 can represent any electronic device and may include processor 205, memory layout 210, display device 215, input / output (I / O) device 220, transceiver 225, and other components 230. Other components 230 may include, for example, audio input devices, audio output devices, batteries providing a limited power source, data acquisition devices, ports for electrically connecting UE 110 to other electronic devices, one or more antenna panels, etc. For example, UE 110 may be coupled to industrial equipment via one or more ports.

[0029] Processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of UE 110. For example, an engine may include a unified access control (UAC) engine 235. UAC engine 235 may perform various operations related to access network services via one or more available cellular networks (e.g., 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN 122, etc.). Exemplary operations performed by UAC engine 235 will be described in more detail below.

[0030] The engine described above, as an application (e.g., a program) executed by processor 205, is merely exemplary. The functionality associated with the engine may also be represented as a separate, integrated component of UE 110, or as a modular component coupled to UE 110, such as an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, the integrated circuit may include input circuitry for receiving signals and processing circuitry for processing signals and other information. The engine may also be embodied as a single application or multiple separate applications. Furthermore, in some UEs, the functionality described for processor 205 is distributed among two or more processors, such as a baseband processor and an application processor. Exemplary implementations can be implemented according to any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0031] Memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by UE 110. Display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, while I / O device 220 may be a hardware component enabling user input. Display device 215 and I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touchscreen). Transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish connections with 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN 122, WLAN 124, etc. Therefore, transceiver 225 may operate on multiple different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous set of frequencies).

[0032] Figure 3 A mapping table 300 for access categories in 5G NR, provided as Table 4.5.2.2 in 3GPP TS 24.501, is shown. As shown in mapping table 300, the first column includes the access prohibition rule number, the second column includes the type of access attempt, the third column includes the access requirement, and the fourth column includes the access category. It should be understood that... Figure 3 The mapping table 300 is used as an example only, and the exemplary implementation is not limited to this. Figure 1 The specific rule number, access type, and category shown are as follows.

[0033] Because current standards require that the access class with the smallest rule number should be selected if an access attempt matches more than one rule, access denial may occur. This means that the UE will select the ODAC access class with the smallest rule number in a PDU session with pending data. If the access class associated with the smallest rule number is denied, all pending PDU sessions will be denied, meaning that services that should not be denied will not be able to transmit pending data.

[0034] The following provides an exemplary scenario regarding access prohibition issues related to MMTEL voice prohibition when ODAC access prohibition applies to a PDU session. It can be assumed that UE 110 has received an ODAC rule from 5G NR-RAN 120, DNN: "Internet" (DNN stands for Data Network Name), and IMS is activated and successfully registered. An ODAC rule (e.g., AC:33 is prohibited from access) can be defined for a specific DNN with access class AC:33 (e.g., DNN: "Internet"). UE 110 may have pending uplink data for DNN: "Internet", and 5G Mobility Management (5GMM) maps the access attempt to AC:33. Based on the ODAC rule, UE 110 can determine that AC:33 is prohibited from access, and the pending data is not transmitted due to the access prohibition. However, the 3GPP standard also specifies that pending data for PDU sessions that fail access checks remain pending. Therefore, after UE 110 determines that AC:33 is blocked from access, the pending data in the PDU session for DNN: "Internet" remains pending.

[0035] To continue with the example scenario, the access categories associated with DNN: "IMS" include AC:4 for Mobile Station Calling (MO) MMTEL voice, AC:5 for MO MMTEL video, AC:6 for MO MMTEL Short Message Service (SMS) and SMS via Internet Protocol SoIP (SMSoIP), and AC:9 for IMS registration. These access categories are available in... Figure 3This can be seen in mapping table 300. In this example, these access categories can also be considered as not being blocked from access.

[0036] Continuing with this exemplary scenario, the user can initiate an MMTEL voice call, but remember that UE 110 still has pending UL data for DNN: "Internet". Therefore, in this scenario, there is pending data for multiple PDU sessions. As mentioned above, when this scenario occurs, UE 110 will select the access category with the smaller rule number. From Figure 3 Mapping table 300 shows that AC:33 (DNN: "Internet") is associated with rule #3, and AC:4 (MO MMTEL voice) is associated with rule #5. Therefore, UE 110 will select AC:33 because it has a smaller rule number. Selecting AC:33 will allow UE 110 to attempt both DNN: "Internet" and MO MMTEL voice. However, since access is prohibited for AC:33 in this scenario, UE 110 will not be able to attempt MMTEL voice calls on 5G-NR RAN 120, and processing will continue on the 5G-NR RAN according to the rules. This will result in the user being unable to initiate voice calls on the 5G-NR RAN even if the access prohibition for MMTEL voice does not apply.

[0037] A second exemplary scenario illustrating this problem may arise when ODAC access prohibition applies to a PDU session and MO signaling is also prohibited from access. For example, UE 110 may have received an ODAC rule from the network, DNN: "Internet", IMS is activated, and IMS registration is successful. An ODAC rule is defined for a specific DNN (e.g., DNN: "Internet") with access class AC:33. UE 110 has updated its configuration, causing a mobility registration to be triggered (e.g., discontinuous reception cycle (DRX) change, PDU session being locally deactivated, etc.). Similar to the example above, UE 110 may have uplink pending data for DNN: "Internet", and the 5GMM maps the access attempt to AC:33. However, similar to the example above, UE 110 determines that AC:33 is prohibited from access, and the pending mobility registration message is not transmitted but remains pending.

[0038] Then, UE 110 initiates mobility registration (AC:3 (MO_signaling) is not blocked from access), but UE 110 still has pending UL data for DNN: "Internet". Since AC:33 is associated with an ODAC rule lower than AC:3, UE 110 will choose AC:33 and will fail to register via mobility registration because AC:33 is blocked from access. This may cause UE 110 to be unable to update its configuration using mobility registration. If UE 110 fails to register for longer than the mobile network reachability duration, this may cause UE 110 to lose network pages.

[0039] The preceding paragraphs illustrate an exemplary scenario where a service that should not be blocked from access is actually blocked due to the selection of an access class with the lowest ODAC rule number. Based on this example, those skilled in the art will understand that this problem can occur in many scenarios. The root cause of such problems is that by prioritizing ODAC rules, UE 110 ultimately blocks access to important services that should not be blocked. This can lead to a poor user experience and also reduces the network's flexibility in allocating access class rules for DNN, fragmentation, QoS rules, etc.

[0040] Figure 4 An exemplary method 400 for selecting an access category for multiple access attempts, according to various exemplary embodiments, is illustrated. Exemplary method 400 addresses a problem associated with access category selection described above in the exemplary scenario. Specifically, method 400 implements a further rule that if an access attempt matches more than one rule, the access category with the smallest rule number that is not prohibited from access should be selected. This rule will be explained with reference to method 400.

[0041] In 410, UE 110 determines whether multiple PDN access attempts exist. That is, if only a single access attempt exists, the rules of method 400 do not apply. It should also be understood that although method 400 is described in relation to PDU access attempts, method 400 also applies to other types of access attempts, such as fragmentation.

[0042] In 420, UE 110 determines whether multiple access attempts involve more than one ODAC rule. That is, there may be multiple access attempts, but these attempts may all be associated with the same ODAC rule. Similarly, if these multiple access attempts do not involve multiple ODAC rules, then the rule of method 400 does not apply.

[0043] In 430, UE 110 will select the access category associated with the smallest ODAC rule number that is not prohibited from access. By applying this rule to the first exemplary scenario described above, UE 110 will not select AC:33, but will select AC:4 associated with MO MMTEL voice. That is, even if AC:33 is associated with a smaller ODAC rule number where the access category is prohibited, UE 110 will move to the access category associated with a second smaller rule number that is not prohibited from access. Therefore, UE 110 will select AC:4 because this access category is not prohibited. It should be understood that this exemplary scenario describes a scenario with two (2) access attempts, but the rule of method 400 can be extended to any number of access attempts.

[0044] As can be seen from the above, the rules of method 400 eliminate the root cause of the problems in the above scenarios, such as the prioritization of ODAC rules. By selecting an access category that is not prohibited, UE 110 avoids having its service blocked due to selecting an access-prohibited category.

[0045] In other exemplary implementations, if the 5G NR-RAN 120 network provides ODAC access categories for slice / PDU sessions, then the 5G NR-RAN 120 will provide ODAC access category rules for all active slice / PDU sessions for UE 110. These ODAC access category rules can be provided in the REGISTRATION ACCEPT or CONFIGURATION UPDATECOMMAND messages.

[0046] To provide an example relative to the above exemplary scenario, 5G NR-RAN 120 will provide access rules for both DNN: "IMS" and DNN: "Internet". This can be expressed in the 3GPP specification as follows: the network should mandate ODAC rules for all active PDU sessions or fragments in the UE, for MO_SIGNALLING or other access categories. Furthermore, an ODAC rule option can be introduced whereby 5G NR-RAN 120 can provide ODAC access categories for MO_Signaling (mobility registration) and MO_data, allowing the UE 110 to relatively determine the priority of various services in the ODAC rules used for DNN, fragmentation, or signaling.

[0047] It should be understood that by providing UE 110 with ODAC rules for active PDU sessions, UE 110 will know which access categories are prohibited and can select access categories that are not prohibited and do not conflict with prohibited access categories for services. Therefore, these exemplary implementations also address issues related to the prioritization of ODAC rules.

[0048] In addition to the scenarios mentioned above, the following scenario may also exist: Due to a radio link failure (RLF) on the first radio access technology (RAT), a voice call needs to be switched from the first RAT to a second RAT (e.g., from LTE-RAN 122 to 5G NR-RAN 120). In this case, the access check causes a poor user experience. For example, based on current 3GPP specifications, when an RLF is encountered during a voice call on LTE-RAN 122 and UE 110 resumes service on a suitable NR cell in the same Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), UE 110 will perform an access check on the MMTEL voice call on 5G NR-RAN 120. The problem is that if the access check fails, UE 110 will stop the voice call, resulting in a poor user experience. Furthermore, even if the access check does not fail, it will still delay the establishment of the MMTEL voice call, which also leads to a poor user experience.

[0049] Figure 5 An exemplary signaling diagram 500 is shown relating to service recovery on 5G NR-RAN120 during MMTEL voice / video or IMS registration from LTE-RAN 122. In diagram 510, UE 110 has an active voice call on LTE-RAN 122. At diagram 520, UE 110 encounters an RLF (Recovery-Free Forecast) situation (e.g., a user moves to a new location with 5G coverage but no LTE coverage), and the voice call on LTE-RAN 122 stops. However, UE 110 detects a cell on 5G NR-RAN 120 and pre-occupies that cell. This cell on 5G NR-RAN 120 can be assumed to support NR-based Voice over NR (VoNR) service. In diagram 530, even though MMTEL voice is in progress, UE 110 will perform an access check to initiate a registration request via NR. UE 110's application processor (AP) will request an access check for the MMTEL voice to determine whether the MMTEL voice call can continue on 5G NR-RAN 120. In 540, if the access check is successful, UE 110 will continue MMTEL voice calls on 5G NR-RAN 120. However, if the access check fails, UE 110 will stop proactive MMTEL voice calls, resulting in a poor user experience.

[0050] It should be understood that although the scenario shown in signaling diagram 500 describes an MMTEL voice call, as shown in the signaling diagram, this scenario can also be applied to MMTEL video calls, SMS sessions, or IMS registration. Furthermore, this scenario can be reversed. For example, UE 110 can have an active MMTEL voice / video / SMS session on 5G NR-RAN 120 and undergo an RLF, and UE 110 can find a suitable LTE-RAN 122 cell. Furthermore, Figure 5 This scenario can also be applied to emergency call processing, where the access check causes the emergency call to stop if the emergency access check fails. Therefore, it should be understood that the exemplary implementations provided below for addressing these issues involving access checks can be applied to any of the described scenarios or any other scenarios with similar problems.

[0051] In some exemplary implementations, when service recovery occurs from the first RAT to the second RAT (e.g., from LTE-RAN 122 to 5G NR-RAN 120) due to an RLF occurring on the first RAT for an ongoing service (e.g., an MMTEL voice call), the UE 110 may skip the access class check. This can be expressed in the 3GPP specification as follows: for the purpose of non-access stratum (NAS) signaling connection recovery during an ongoing service or for the purpose of establishing a NAS signaling connection in accordance with a service recovery instruction from a lower layer during an ongoing service, access is mapped to the access class of the ongoing service to derive the RRC establishment reason, but an attempt will be made to skip the prohibition check for that access. The same provision can be applied to the IMS registration process.

[0052] Figure 6 An exemplary method 600 for service restoration from a first radio access technology (RAT) to a second RAT for an ongoing service is illustrated according to various exemplary embodiments. In the following description, the first RAT will be described as LTE-RAN 122, the second RAT will be described as 5G NR-RAN 120, and the ongoing service will be described as an MMTEL voice call. However, as mentioned above, the RAT can be switchable (e.g., service restoration can switch from LTE to 5G), and the ongoing service can include any number of services, including but not limited to video calls, SMS, IMS registration, emergency calls, etc.

[0053] In step 610, UE 110 can be considered to have initiated an MMTEL voice call using LTE-RAN 122. In step 620, UE 110 determines whether an RLFG has occurred on a cell in LTE-RAN 122. If no RLF has occurred, the voice call continues on LTE-RAN 122. If an RLF has occurred, in step 630, UE 110 determines whether a suitable cell in 5G NR-RAN 120 can be used to continue the voice call. It should be noted that an RLF on LTE-RAN 122 can be considered to indicate that no other cell in LTE-RAN 122 is available to continue the voice call. As mentioned above, a suitable cell in 5G NR-RAN 120 can be considered a cell supporting VoNR service.

[0054] If no suitable available cell exists on 5G NR-RAN 120, method 600 terminates and the voice call stops. On the other hand, if a suitable available cell exists on 5G NR-RAN 120, in step 640, UE 110 may perform the RRC connection establishment procedure (or any other appropriate procedure to connect to the 5G NR-RAN 120 cell), but skips the access check for the active voice call.

[0055] Therefore, by skipping the access check for ongoing services in method 600, UE 110 avoids the aforementioned issues regarding the service recovery process. Specifically, if a suitable service recovery cell is available on another RAT due to access being denied, the ongoing service (e.g., a voice call) will not be interrupted. Furthermore, skipping the access check allows service recovery to occur more quickly, which also improves the user experience.

[0056] In other exemplary implementations, when UE 110 falls back to 5G NR-RAN 120 to resume an ongoing service (e.g., MMTEL voice / video / SMS, IMS registration, etc.), UE 110 may consider the access category of the ongoing service as mobile terminated access (MT_access). Referring to Table 300, it can be seen that MT_access is associated with AC:0, and UAC rule 1 applies to continue access attempts on 5G NR-RAN 120.

[0057] In another exemplary implementation, when UE 110 is performing RLF recovery on LTE-RAN 122 with an ongoing MMTEL voice / video session, the lower layer can change the RRC establishment reason from "MO signaling" to "MO voice call" when the MMTEL voice session is active and UE 110 has pre-owned the appropriate LTE cell on the RLF recovery.

[0058] In some scenarios, UE 110 may encounter double prohibition. For example, in a first scenario, UE 110 may have an ongoing SMS based on a NAS (AC:6) transaction running concurrently with MOIMS registration signaling (AC:9). For NAS signaling connection restoration purposes or in accordance with service restoration instructions from lower layers, a service request or mobility registration procedure may be initiated in 5GMM-IDLE mode. UE 110 is expected to map its access class to 9 (IMS REG).

[0059] In the second dual-prohibition scenario, SMSoIP (AC:6) transactions and MO IMS registration signaling (AC:9) are performed in parallel. Service requests or mobility registration procedures are initiated in 5GMM-IDLE mode for NAS signaling connection restoration purposes or according to service restoration instructions from lower layers. UE 110 is expected to map its access category to 6 (SMS).

[0060] These expectations are based on the rules and access categories described above relative to Table 300. Referring to Table 300, MO IMS registration signaling is mapped to rule #4.1, and NAS-based MO SMS (and MO SMSoIP) is mapped to rule #7. This means that IMS registration signaling has a higher priority than NAS-based SMSoIP and SMS because, as stated above, if an access attempt matches more than one rule, the access category with the smallest rule number should be selected.

[0061] An exemplary implementation proposes a change that allows the dual-prohibition scenario to be handled according to the priorities defined in Table 300, such that the UE prioritizes NAS-based SMS (user-triggered service) over IMS REG signaling.

[0062] In the first rule, when a NAS-based SMS is in progress, no SMSoIP is in progress, no MMTEL video call is in progress, and no MMTEL video call is in progress, any service request or registration process initiated in 5GMM-IDLE mode or 5GMM-IDLE mode with a pause instruction for the purpose of NAS signaling connection restoration or in accordance with service restoration instructions from the lower layer is mapped to access category 6.

[0063] In the second rule, when MO IMS registration-related signaling is in progress, no NAS-based SMS is in progress, no SMSoIP is in progress, no MMTEL video call is in progress, and no MMTEL video call is in progress, if the upper layer has indicated a DNN for SMSoIP and the indicated DNN for SMSoIP is different from "IMS", then any service request procedure related to the PDU session established for DNN = "IMS" and the DNN for SMSoIP is mapped to Access Class 9. Continuing with the second rule, if the upper layer has indicated a DNN for SMSoIP and the indicated DNN for SMSoIP is different from "IMS", then any uplink user data packets sent for the PDU session established for DNN = "IMS" and the DNN for SMSoIP with suspended user plane resources are mapped to Access Class 9. Further continuing with the second rule, any service request procedure or registration procedure initiated in 5GMM-IDLE mode for the purpose of NAS signaling connection restoration or in accordance with service restoration instructions from the lower layer is mapped to Access Class 9.

[0064] Example

[0065] In a first embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: determining that a first access attempt to access a first network service is associated with a first access class, wherein the first access class is associated with a first unified access control (UAC) rule having a first priority; and determining that a second access attempt to access a second network service is associated with a second access class, wherein the second access class is associated with a second UAC rule having a second priority.

[0066] In a second embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: performing an ongoing service using a first network including a first radio access technology (RAT); determining that a radio link failure (RLF) has occurred in the first RAT; and determining that a second RAT can be used to continue the ongoing service.

[0067] In a third embodiment, a user equipment (UE) includes: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: determining that a first access attempt to access a first network service is associated with a first access class; determining that a second access attempt to access a second network service is associated with a second access class; and selecting either the first access class or the second access class for the first access attempt and the second access attempt, based at least on predefined rules.

[0068] Those skilled in the art will understand that the exemplary embodiments described above can be implemented with any suitable software or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, and mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. Exemplary embodiments of the methods described above may be embodied as programs comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, at compile time, can be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0069] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments, each with different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment can be combined with features of other embodiments or features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the disclosed embodiment of the invention in any manner not explicitly denied.

[0070] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0071] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to this disclosure without departing from its spirit or scope. Therefore, this disclosure is intended to cover all modifications and variations thereof, provided that such modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method to be performed at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: The first access attempt to access a first network service is determined to be associated with a first access category, wherein the first access category is associated with a first unified access control (UAC) rule, wherein the first UAC rule has a first priority, wherein the first network service is a Short Message Service (SMS) based on a Non-Access Stratum (NAS), and wherein the first network service is in progress, and the mobile station's calling MO IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is in progress; and The second access attempt to access the second network service is determined to be associated with a second access category, wherein the second access category is associated with a second UAC rule, wherein the second UAC rule has a second priority, wherein the second network service is one of a service request process or a registration process, and wherein the first access attempt and the second access attempt are initiated in 5G Mobility Management Idle 5GMM-IDLE mode or 5GMM-IDLE mode with a pause indication for the purpose of NAS signaling connection recovery or in accordance with a service recovery instruction from the lower layer of the UE; and The first access category or the second access category is selected for the first access attempt and the second access attempt based at least on predefined rules, the predefined rules indicating that access category 6 should be selected for the first access attempt and the second access attempt when NAS-based SMS is in progress and MO IP IMS is in progress.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: Based on the fact that the UE has either an active PDU session or an active network segment related to the first network service and the second network service, it receives the first UAC rule and the second UAC rule from the network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the selection is further based at least on the first UAC rule and the second UAC rule.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network service and the second network service are associated with either an Active Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or an Active Network Segment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein no Internet Protocol-based SMS SMSoIP is in progress.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein no multimedia telephone (MMTEL) is in progress.

7. A method to be performed at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: The first access attempt to access the first network service is associated with a first access category, wherein the first network service is a Short Message Service (SMS) based on a Non-Access Stratum (NAS), and wherein the first network service is in progress and the mobile station calling the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is in progress. The second access attempt to access a second network service is determined to be associated with a second access category, wherein the second network service is one of a service request process or a registration process, and wherein the first access attempt and the second access attempt are initiated in 5G Mobility Management Idle 5GMM-IDLE mode or 5GMM-IDLE mode with a pause indication for the purpose of NAS signaling connection recovery or in accordance with a service recovery instruction from the lower layer of the UE; and The first access category or the second access category is selected for the first access attempt and the second access attempt based at least on predefined rules, the predefined rules indicating that access category 6 should be selected for the first access attempt and the second access attempt when NAS-based SMS is in progress and MO IP IMS is in progress.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the method further comprises: The UE receives the predefined rules from the network based on the fact that it has either an active PDU session or an active network segment related to the first network service and the second network service.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the first network service and the second network service are associated with either an Active Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session or an Active Network Segment.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein no Internet Protocol-based SMS SMSoIP is in progress.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein no multimedia telephone (MMTEL) is in progress.

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