Enhanced service access restrictions for 5G New Radio (NR)

Abstract

This disclosure describes exemplary implementations and techniques for addressing UE behavior in several SAR usage scenarios. For UEs with a valid SAR list and currently pre-occupied on a cell in a registered PLMN or a PLMN from an equivalent PLMN list whose TAI is not in the "Allowed Tracking Area" list, or pre-occupied on a cell whose TAI is in the "Unallowed Tracking Area" list, sub-state selection has functional and certain usage scenario gaps. There are conflicting requirements regarding which sub-state the UE should select. Additionally, for UEs in the sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, certain behaviors are missing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication systems in general, including service access restriction functions. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, commonly referred to by the industry organization as WiMAX; and the IEEE 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), commonly referred to by the industry organization as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) of an LTE system, a base station may include RAN nodes such as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as Evolved Node B, Enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or a Radio Network Controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with wireless communication equipment called User Equipment (UE). In the fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, RAN nodes may include 5G nodes and NR nodes (also known as next-generation node B or g NodeB (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN uses Radio Access Technology (RAT) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN can include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and / or E-UTRAN, which provides access to communication services through the core network. Each RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements the GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements the Universal System for Mobile Communications (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements the LTE RAT, and NG-RAN implements the 5G RAT. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement the 5G RAT.

[0004] 5G NR frequency bands can be divided into two distinct frequency ranges. Frequency range 1 (FR1) may include bands operating below 6 GHz, some of which are available for previous standards and can potentially be extended to cover new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency range 2 (FR2) may include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 may have a smaller range than those in FR1 but potentially higher available bandwidth. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these frequency ranges, presented by way of example, may vary over time or in different regions. Attached Figure Description

[0005] To facilitate identification of any particular element or action being discussed, one or more of the most significant digits in the reference numerals refer to the drawing number in which the element was first introduced.

[0006] Figure 1 It is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication according to one implementation scheme.

[0007] Figure 2 A flowchart based on one implementation scheme is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 A flowchart based on one implementation scheme is shown.

[0009] Figure 4 A flowchart based on one implementation scheme is shown.

[0010] Figure 5 A flowchart based on one implementation scheme is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 A flowchart based on one implementation scheme is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 A flowchart based on one implementation scheme is shown.

[0013] Figure 8 It is a block diagram based on an implementation plan. Detailed Implementation

[0014] Figure 1Exemplary architectures of system 100 for networks according to various implementations are illustrated. The following description is provided for an exemplary system 100 operating in combination with LTE system standards and 5G system (5GS) or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary implementations are not limited in this respect, and the implementations can be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), etc.

[0015] like Figure 1 As shown, system 100 includes UE 122 and UE 120. In this example, UE 122 and UE 120 are exemplified as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as consumer electronics devices, mobile phones, smartphones, feature phones, tablets, wearable computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptops, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices, onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashboard mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminal (MDT), electronic engine management system (EEMS), electronic / engine control unit (ECU), electronic / engine control module (ECM), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management system (EMS), connected or “smart” appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0016] In some implementations, UE 122 and / or UE 120 may be IoT UEs, which may include a network access layer designed to utilize low-power IoT applications with short-lived UE connections. IoT UEs may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with MTC servers or devices via PLMN, ProSe, or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. An IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keeping track of activity messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.

[0017] UE 122 and UE 120 can be configured to connect to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R)AN 108), for example, through communication coupling. In implementations, (R)AN 108 can be an NG RAN or SG RAN, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN," etc., can refer to (R)AN 108 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN," etc., can refer to (R)AN 108 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UE 122 and UE 120 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 104 and connection 102, respectively), each connection (or channel) including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0018] In this example, connections 104 and 102 are air interfaces that enable communication coupling and are compliant with cellular communication protocols such as GSM, CDMA, PTT, POC, UMTS, 3GPP LTE, SG, NR, and / or any other communication protocols discussed herein. In an implementation, UE 122 and UE 120 can directly exchange communication data via ProSe interface 110. ProSe interface 110 may alternatively be referred to as sidelink (SL) interface 110 and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0019] UE 120 is illustrated as being configured to access AP 112 (also known as a "WLAN node", "WLAN", "WLAN terminal", "WT", etc.) via connection 124. Connection 124 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 112 will include Wireless Fibre. Router. In this example, AP 112 may connect to the Internet but not to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various implementations, UE 120, (R)AN 108, and AP 112 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 120 in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 to utilize the radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 120 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 124) via IPsec protocol tunneling to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) transmitted through connection 124. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header to protect the original header of the IP packet.

[0020] (R)AN 108 may include one or more AN nodes, such as RAN node 114 and RAN node 116, that enable connection 104 and connection 102. As used herein, the terms “access node,” “access point,” etc., can describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between the network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms “NG RAN node,” etc., can refer to a RAN node (e.g., gNB) operating in an NR or SG system, while the terms “E-UT RAN node,” etc., can refer to a RAN node (e.g., eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. According to various implementation schemes, RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as macro cell base stations and / or low-power (LP) base stations for providing smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth compared to macro cells.

[0021] In some implementations, all or part of RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as CRAN and / or Virtual Baseband Unit Pool (vBBUP). In these implementations, CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function partitioning, such as PDCP partitioning, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 114 or RAN node 116); MAC / PHY partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 114 or RAN node 116); or “lower PHY” partitioning, where the upper portion of the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers is operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portion of the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes. This virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, each RAN node can represent a connection via each F1 interface ( Figure 1(Not shown) Individual gNB-DUs connected to the gNB-CU. In these specific implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio head units or RFEMs, and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in (R)AN 108 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of RAN nodes 114 or RAN nodes 116 may be next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol termination to UE 122 and UE 120 and are connected to the SGC via the ng interface (discussed below). In V2X scenarios, one or more of RAN nodes 114 or RAN nodes 116 may be RSUs or act as RSUs.

[0022] The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" can refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. An RSU can be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE can be referred to as a "UE-type RSU," an RSU implemented in or by an eNB can be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU," an RSU implemented in or by a gNB can be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU," and so on. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled to radio frequency circuitry located on the roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). An RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. An RSU can operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct Near Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low-latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance and traffic warnings. Alternatively or in addition to this, the RSU may operate on a cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communications and other cellular communication services. Alternatively or in addition to this, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's radio frequency circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant package suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide wired connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) to traffic signal controllers and / or backhaul networks.

[0023] RAN node 114 and / or RAN node 116 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for UE 122 and UE 120. In some implementations, RAN node 114 and / or RAN node 116 may perform various logical functions of (R)AN 108, including but not limited to Radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0024] In the implementation, UE 122 and UE 120 may be configured to communicate with each other or with RAN node 114 and / or RAN node 116 on a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals, according to various communication technologies such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the implementation is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0025] In some implementations, the downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 114 and / or RAN node 116 to UE 122 and UE 120, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink within each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation is common practice for OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises multiple resource blocks that describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources currently available for allocation. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0026] According to various implementations, UE 122 and UE 120 and RAN node 114 and / or RAN node 116 transmit data (e.g., transmit and receive data) through licensed media (also referred to as “licensed spectrum” and / or “licensed band”) and unlicensed shared media (also referred to as “unlicensed spectrum” and / or “unlicensed band”). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in the frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz band.

[0027] To operate in unlicensed spectrum, UE 122 and UE 120, along with RAN node 114 or RAN node 116, may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these specific implementations, UE 122 and UE 120, along with RAN node 114 or RAN node 116, may perform one or more known media sensing and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. Media / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a Listen-After-Speak (LBT) protocol.

[0028] LBT is a mechanism that equipment (e.g., UE 122 and UE 120, RAN node 114 or RAN node 116, etc.) uses to sense a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a specific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine the presence of other signals on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. This LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy in the intended transmission band over a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy with a predefined or configured threshold.

[0029] Typically, existing systems in the 5GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 122, AP112, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node can first perform CCA before transmitting. Additionally, in cases where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. This backoff mechanism can be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS, which increases exponentially upon collision and resets to a minimum value upon successful transmission. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to WLAN's CSMA / CA. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for DL ​​or UL transmission bursts (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions) can have a variable-length LAA contention window between the X and Y ECCA time slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the LAA's CWS. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission can be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (e.g., transmission burst) can be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0030] The LAA mechanism is built upon the CA technology of LTE-Advanced systems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and a maximum of five CCs can be aggregated, thus the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can differ for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or less than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCs can have different bandwidths than the other CCs. In TDD systems, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are usually the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0031] The CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of serving cells can differ, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell, or PCell, provides PCCs for both UL and DL and handles activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell provides individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs can be added and removed as needed, and changing the PCC may require UE 122 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells can operate in unlicensed spectrum (called "LAA SCells"), and LAA SCells are assisted by PCells operating in licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured to have more than one LAA SCell, the UE can receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0032] The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to UE 122 and UE 120. Among other information, the PDCCH carries information about the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform UE 122 and UE 120 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 120 within the cell) can be performed at either RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 based on channel quality information fed back from either UE 122 or UE 120. Downlink resource allocation information can be transmitted on the PDCCH used (e.g., allocated to) each of UE 122 and UE 120.

[0033] PDCCH uses CCEs to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the complex-valued symbols of the PDCCH can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets, called REGs, each with four physical resource elements. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the DCI size and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. Four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8) can exist.

[0034] Some implementations may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some implementations may utilize EPDCCH, which uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similarly, each ECCE may correspond to a set of nine, each consisting of four physical resource elements, called EREG. In some cases, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.

[0035] RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 130. In embodiments where system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 106 is an EPC), interface 130 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes connected to the EPC (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.), and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). X2-U may provide flow control mechanisms for user packets transmitted via the X2 interface and may be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful in-order delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 122 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 122; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. The X2-C provides LTE intra-eNB access mobility functions, including context transmission from the source eNB to the destination eNB, user plane transmission control, load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0036] In implementations where system 100 is an SG or NR system (e.g., when CN 106 is an SGC), interface 130 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes connected to the SGC (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.), between a RAN node 114 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the SGC and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the SGC (e.g., CN 106). In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. Xn-U provides non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and supports / provides data forwarding and flow control functions. Xn-C provides management and error handling functions for managing the functionality of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 122 in connected modes (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in connected modes between one or more RAN nodes 114 or RAN nodes 116. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 114 to the new (destination) serving RAN node 116, and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 114 and the new (destination) serving RAN node 116. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of the UDP and / or IP layers for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on top of SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and provides guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0037] (R)AN 108 is illustrated as being communicatively coupled to the core network—in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to CN 106. CN 106 may include one or more network elements 132 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 122 and UE 120) connected to CN 106 via (R)AN 108. Components of CN 106 may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the aforementioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation of CN 106 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of CN 106 may be referred to as a network subslice. NFV architectures and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (optionally performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, an NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable concrete implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0038] Generally, application server 118 can be a component that provides IP bearer resources for use with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). Application server 118 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for UE 122 and UE 120 via EPC. Application server 118 can communicate with CN 106 via IP communication interface 136.

[0039] In this implementation, CN 106 may be an SGC, and (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 106 via NG interface 134. In this implementation, NG interface 134 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 126, which carries service data between RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 and the UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 128, which is the signaling interface between RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 and the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0040] In one implementation, CN 106 may be an SG CN, while in other implementations, CN 106 may be an EPC. When CN 106 is an EPC, (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 106 via S1 interface 134. In one implementation, S1 interface 134 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 126, which carries service data between RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 and the S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 128, which is the signaling interface between RAN node 114 or RAN node 116 and the MME.

[0041] In conjunction with the 5GS Mobility Management (5GMM) protocol, and according to 3GPP TS24.501 Release 16, Section 5.3.5, service restrictions can be applied to a UE (such as UE 122) based on the Tracking Areas 138 (TAs) that form permitted or prohibited areas. Permitted or prohibited areas are established based on the Tracking Area Identifier List 140 (TAI list, or simply TAI) sent by the network to the UE in a Restriction-Accept or Configuration-Update command that includes the Service Area List Information Element (IE). The TAI list is a list of areas the UE is believed to be registered in (registered areas). The Service Area Restriction (SAR) list is a list of tracking areas where each TA is marked as "permitted" or "prohibited".

[0042] Based on the permitted or non-permitted area, the services available to the UE are determined. In the permitted area, the UE is in normal service, allowing it to utilize all 5G services. However, when it is in the non-permitted area (i.e., when the specification restricts the services that can be used), the available services and the corresponding UE behavior are guided by a sub-state called 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. Therefore, previously under 3GPP TS24.501, whenever a UE was pre-occupied in a cell in a registered PLMN or a PLMN from a list of equivalent PLMNs and its TAI was not in a cell in the list of "permitted tracking areas" or pre-occupied in a cell in the list of "non-permitted tracking areas", the UE was designated as being in 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE.

[0043] For UEs with a valid SAR list and currently pre-occupied in a cell within a registered PLMN or a PLMN from an equivalent PLMN, and whose TAI is not in the "Allowed Tracking Area" list, or pre-occupied in a cell whose TAI is in the "Non-Allowed Tracking Area" list, sub-state selection presents a functional and certain use case gap. There are conflicting requirements regarding which sub-state the UE should select. Additionally, certain behaviors are missing for UEs in the sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. This disclosure describes exemplary implementations and techniques for addressing UE behavior in such use cases.

[0044] In the first exemplary scenario under the previous specification, there is ambiguity regarding sub-state selection and related issues. In a restricted service area, the UE can register for mobility and periodic services, use emergency services, respond to paging, and access high-priority data. The UE can use these critical, mandatory, or high-priority services, but it cannot use them for typical data services, etc. With mobility and periodic registration permitted, the UE may fall into other sub-states.

[0045] Specifically, according to the following two sections of 3GPP TS24.501 version 16, as long as the UE is registered in the PLMN and not necessarily successfully registered in the current registration area, the UE can move to the sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. Section 1, “5.1.3.2.1.4.3 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE”, states that for 3GPP access, if it is known that the cell selected by the UE is in a non-allowed area, then the UE selects the sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. Section 2, “5.3.5.2 3GPP Access Service Area Restrictions”, states that if a UE successfully registers with a PLMN and has a stored list of “Allowed Tracking Areas”, then when it is pre-occupied in a cell that is in the registered PLMN or a PLMN from an equivalent PLMN list and its TAI is not in a cell in the list of “Allowed Tracking Areas”, the UE will enter state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE.

[0046] When dealing with substates other than 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE, the specified behaviors described above may lead to mismatches in expected UE behavior. For example, consider the following sequence and the resulting problems. First, the UE successfully registers on the PLMNA and receives a SAR list with TA1, TA2, and TA3 as non-allowed areas. However, the currently registered areas include TA1 and TA2. This "registered area" is commonly referred to as the TAI list. Second, the UE moves to TA3 and attempts mobility registration. Due to cell prohibition of Mobile Origin (MO) signaling, the registration process is rejected by the lower layer. Third, now according to the above specification, the UE selects 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. This is because the UE is registered in the PLMN, and the UE and the network have 5GMM context available. However, registration in the current TA has not yet succeeded. A UE not pre-occupied on a TA restricted according to the SAR list will have already selected the substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED. Furthermore, in this sub-state, according to "5.2.3.2.7 UPDATE-NEEDED", after the prohibition is mitigated, the UE will attempt mobility registration again. In this case, once the lower layer indicates that the access category associated with the access attempt for the registration process related to mobility and periodic registration updates has been mitigated, the UE will enter the appropriate new sub-state. However, when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state, there is no such error handling because when MO signaling fails due to prohibition, the UE is not expected to be in any sub-state other than 5GMM-REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED, and therefore cannot utilize the mitigation of the prohibition as a trigger for registration.

[0047] The aforementioned actions may also lead to the following situations. First, the UE successfully registers on PLMN A and receives a SAR list with TA1, TA2, and TA3 as non-allowed areas. However, the currently registered areas include TA1 and TA2. Second, the UE moves to TA3 and attempts mobility registration. Mobility registration fails due to a lower-layer fault. Third, now, according to the existing terms of the non-allowed service sub-state, since the UE is registered in the PLMN, it ultimately selects NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE as the sub-state and starts timer T3511. The UE without service area restrictions will have already moved to 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE. Fourth, after timer T3511 expires, the UE re-attempts mobility registration. However, again, this fails due to a lower-layer fault. Fifth, the UE now moves to TA2. At this point, if the UE has already selected NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE as the sub-state, the behavior regarding resetting the attempt counter / stopping T3502 (etc.) changes. Although the substate is 5GMM-REGISTERED,NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, it is unclear what state the UE should end in and whether the UE should take actions related to the substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE in response to TA changes.

[0048] The above situation is based on one reference in "5.5.1 Registration Procedure", "5.5.1.1 Overview", and two references in "5.5.1.3.2 Mobility and Periodic Registration Update Initiation". For all three references, the UE ultimately does not take any action because it is in the NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate, which should actually apply. Specifically, "5.5.1 Registration Procedure" and "5.5.1.1 Overview" mention that when the UE is in the substate 5GMM-DEREGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION or 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE and enters a new tracking area, timer T3502 expires, or timer T3346 is started, the registration attempt counter should be reset. Furthermore, "5.5.1.3.2 Mobility and Periodic Registration Update Initiation" describes additional UE actions when a UE in the sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE decides to request a new network slice after being denied due to the lack of a requested network slice; and when a UE in the state 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE receives a request from the upper layer to establish an emergency PDU session or perform an emergency service rollback. However, in non-allowed areas, the UE should initiate these aforementioned actions even though it is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state.

[0049] This disclosure also addresses additional instances of such ambiguity. Generally, these situations arise in conjunction with previous specific implementations under 3GPP TS 24.501, where behavior is tied to a particular substate and ultimately does not apply to a UE in 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. As mentioned above, this leads to problems in UE operation. Therefore, always selecting 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE as the substate is ultimately misleading and can lead to incorrect UE behavior. To address the ambiguity in substate selection and related issues in the 5GMM protocol, the UE maintains the correct substate that more accurately reflects the correct set of the UE's pending actions, as per the following two embodiments.

[0050] The first implementation requires a service area restriction that is tied to the tracking area of ​​the cell pre-occupied by the UE, rather than a specific 5GMM sub-state. In other words, the intention is to avoid imposing restrictions on states and instead facilitate restrictions based on checking whether the UE's current TAI is part of a non-allowed area or not. Figure 2 As shown in block 202, routine 200 determines criteria including whether the current tracking area is included in the registered area, whether the update status at the UE is 5GS Update (5U) status 5U1 (i.e., UPDATED, last registration attempt successful), and whether the cell is part of a non-allowed area or is in a registered Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is not part of an allowed area or is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of an allowed area. In block 204, in response to the determination criteria being met, routine 200 selects the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state.

[0051] Therefore, a more explicit standard is provided for when to enter the substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, as the previously available standard currently applied by this specification is a very general standard that also includes other substates and causes problems. In addition to this standard, the UE will select the corresponding existing substate and apply restrictions there. In response to the current TA being part of a registered area and the UE being in state 5U1, the UE selects 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, and the UE pre-occupies a cell on which SAR is applied, such as (a) being part of a non-allowed area or (b) being in a registered PLMN that is not part of an allowed area or an equivalent PLMN that is not part of an allowed area.

[0052] Additionally, in substates 5GMM-REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED and 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE, if the UE is pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a non-allowed area or on a cell of a registered PLMN that is not part of an allowed area or an equivalent PLMN that is not part of an allowed area, then all restrictions applicable in substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE also apply to the current substate.

[0053] For completeness, the first implementation is now described by way of an exemplary change to TS24.501 specification, “5.3.5.2 3GPP Access Service Area Restriction”, as follows. If the UE successfully registers to the PLMN, the 5GS update state is 5U1, the UE is pre-occupied on a cell where its TAI is part of the TAI list, and if the UE has a stored list of “Allowed Tracking Areas”: (a) when pre-occupied on a cell where its TAI is in the list of “Allowed Tracking Areas”, the UE will remain in or enter state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE and be allowed to initiate any 5GMM and 5GSM procedures; and (b) when pre-occupied on a cell in the registered PLMN or from an equivalent PLMN list and whose TAI is not in the list of “Allowed Tracking Areas”, the UE should enter state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. If the UE successfully registers with the PLMN, the 5GS update state is 5U1, the UE pre-occupies a cell whose TAI is part of the TAI list, and the UE has a stored list of "non-allowed tracking areas": (a) when pre-occupied in a cell in the registered PLMN or from an equivalent PLMN list and whose TAI is not in the list of "non-allowed tracking areas", the UE will remain in or enter state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE and be allowed to initiate any 5GMM and 5GSM procedures; and (b) when pre-occupied in a cell whose TAI is in the list of "non-allowed tracking areas", the UE will enter state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. If the UE is in substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE or substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED, and is pre-occupied in a cell in a registered PLMN or a PLMN from a list of equivalent PLMNs and whose TAI is not in the list of “Allowed Tracking Areas”, or is pre-occupied in a cell whose TAI is in the list of “Non-Allowed Tracking Areas”, then all restrictions applicable when in substate 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE will be applied to the current substate.

[0054] The second implementation scheme requires additional actions to be performed on the UE in 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, that is, to perform a basic logical "OR" operation on the additional actions using the existing sub-state procedures. Figure 3As shown in block 302, in response to a UE's registration being rejected due to network slicing not being permitted by the network, routine 300 moves to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and initiates mobility registration in the 5GMM.REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate. In block 304, when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and receives a request from the upper layer to establish an emergency PDU session or perform an emergency service rollback, if the UE's updated state is not 5U1 or if the current tracking area is not part of the registration area, routine 300 initiates mobility registration in the 5GMM.REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate.

[0055] If the intent is for the UE to enter the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE simply by registering in the PLMN, and if the UE is pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a non-allowed area or on a cell in an equivalent PLMN or current PLMN that is not part of an allowed area, then the UE can implement the following enhancements set forth below through an exemplary update to TS24.501. Two exemplary implementations are given below, followed by a second implementation described with reference to an exemplary change to the TS24.501 specification for completeness.

[0056] First, “5.5.1.3.2 Mobility and Periodic Registration Update Initiation” describes the situation where a UE in sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE decides to request a new network slice after being denied access due to not having a permitted network slice. In this case, the UE can initiate mobility registration under the aforementioned conditions in sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. Alternatively, when in sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and if the UE has at least one single network slice selection assist information (S-NSSAI) in the permitted network slice selection assist information (NSSAI), it is possible that the UE will not be allowed to request access to new slices other than those associated with high-priority or emergency services.

[0057] Second, “5.5.1.3.2 Mobility and Periodic Registration Update Initiation” describes the situation when a UE in state 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE receives a request from the upper layer to establish an emergency PDU session or perform an emergency service rollback. In this case, if the update state is not 5U1 or if the current TA is not part of the registration area, the UE can initiate mobility registration when in sub-state 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE.

[0058] Under “5.6.2.2 Paging for 5GS Services”, upon receiving a paging indication, the UE shall stop timer T3346 (if it is running), and: (A) if the control plane CIoT 5GS optimization is not used by the UE, then if the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE substate and in 5GMM-IDLE mode without a pause indication, the UE shall initiate a service request procedure on 3GPP access in response to the paging as specified in sub-clause 5.6.1.2.1; (B) if the UE uses control plane CIoT 5GS optimization, then if the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE state and in 5GMM-IDLE mode without a pause indication, the UE shall initiate a service request procedure on 3GPP access as specified in sub-clause 5.6.1.2.2. The above scenario also applies to 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE.

[0059] The second implementation will now be described by way of exemplary changes to “5.5.1 Registration Procedure” and “5.5.1.1 Overview” of the TS24.501 specification. When the UE is in substate 5GMM-DEREGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION or 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE or 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and enters a new tracking area, timer T3502 expires; or timer T3346 is started, the registration attempt counter should be reset.

[0060] The second implementation will now be described by way of an exemplary change to “5.5.1.3.2 Mobility and Periodic Registration Update Initiation” in the TS24.501 specification. It describes the situation when a UE in state 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE or 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE decides to request a new network slice after being denied due to the lack of a requested network slice; and when a UE in state 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE or 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE receives a request from an upper layer to establish an emergency PDU session or perform an emergency service rollback.

[0061] The second implementation will now be described by way of an exemplary change to “5.3.7 Processing of Periodic Registration Update Timer and Mobile Reachability Timer” in the TS24.501 specification. If the UE has not registered for an emergency service and is in a state other than 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE or 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE on the 3GPP access when timer T3512 expires, the periodic registration update process is delayed until the UE returns to 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE or 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE on the 3GPP access.

[0062] The second implementation will now be described by way of an exemplary change to “5.6.2.2 Paging for 5GS Services” in the TS24.501 specification. Upon receiving a paging instruction, the UE shall stop timer T3346 (if it is running), and (a) if the control plane CIoT 5GS optimization is not used by the UE, the UE shall: (1) if the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE state or the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE state and the UE is in 5GMM-IDLE mode without a pause instruction, initiate a service request procedure on 3GPP access in response to a paging as specified in sub-clause 5.6.1.2.1; (b) if the UE uses the control plane CIoT 5GS optimization, the UE shall: (1) if the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NORMAL-SERVICE state or the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE state and the UE is in 5GMM-IDLE mode without a pause instruction, initiate a service request procedure on 3GPP access as specified in sub-clause 5.6.1.2.2.

[0063] A variation of the first implementation is to completely eliminate this 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate, which is the standard for imposing service area restrictions. This requires implementing restrictions solely based on the UE's pre-occupancy of a cell that is part of a restricted area.

[0064] Figure 4 As shown in block 402, routine 400 selects a 5GMM substate other than the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate. In block 404, in response to selecting a 5GMM substate and the UE being preoccupied in the registration area where SAR is applied, routine 400 also applies the restrictions associated with 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, in addition to any restrictions that may have been associated with the selected state.

[0065] The UE does not need to use the additional 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate. SAR-related restrictions are then imposed only based on whether the UE is currently pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a non-allowed area or on a cell in an equivalent PLMN or current PLMN that is not part of an allowed area. The UE will instead select an existing 5GMM substate as defined in TS24.501. And whenever in these substates, as defined for the 5GMM protocol in TS 24.501, the UE is also pre-occupied on a registered area where SAR is applied, and all those restrictions will additionally (i.e., in addition to any restrictions that the UE substate may be subject to according to TS24.501) apply to the UE at that point in time.

[0066] Another problem with 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE is the lack of technology for handling PDU release procedures in this seed state. For example, according to the existing 5GMM protocol, 5GSM procedures are not allowed when the UE is in 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE. Therefore, the UE behavior for releasing the PDU session in this seed state is not optimal. According to the existing procedure: (1) 5GSM will attempt to release the PDU session and will initiate T3582. (2) Connection establishment will be rejected due to service area restrictions. (3) 5GSM will wait for the protection timer to expire and will retry the procedure a total of five times. When the maximum number of attempts is reached, the session is released locally. This is inefficient because PDU session signaling is not allowed in non-permitted areas, but the PDU session release takes 40 seconds.

[0067] Therefore, an implementation scheme for PDU session release in 5GSM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE is described. If the UE is in the 5GSM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and attempts to initiate PDU session release, it will perform an immediate local release of the PDU session and will initiate a mobility registration procedure using the PDU session state IE to indicate the release of the PDU session to the network. In other words, when it is known that 5GSM procedures are not allowed, it is best not to attempt PDU session release signaling at all. Figure 5 In box 502, routine 500 determines whether to initiate the release of the PDU session. In box 504, routine 500 performs an immediate local release of the PDU session. In box 506, routine 500 initiates a mobility registration process using the PDU session state information element (IE) to indicate the release of the PDU session to the network.

[0068] Alternatively, when the UE is in a 5GSM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE or pre-occupied in a tracking area where service restrictions apply, the UE may be allowed to initiate a PDU session release signaling procedure, i.e., by sending a message over the air for PDU session release. Other 5GSM procedure restrictions remain in effect.

[0069] The implementation will now be described by way of an exemplary change to “6.4.3.5 Abnormal Conditions in the UE” of the TS24.501 specification. The following abnormal condition can be identified: (D) PDU session release signaling restricted due to service area limitations. The UE will release the allocated PTI, perform a local release of the PDU session, and if the PDU session is an MA PDU session, perform a registration process for mobility and periodic registration updates using a REGISTRATION REQUEST message including the PDU session state IE on each access point where user plane resources have been established, or if the PDU session is a single-access PDU, on the access point associated with the PDU session.

[0070] Another problem with SAR is that the UE may have already set the follow-up request bit, but upon receiving registration acceptance, it recognizes that it cannot initiate pending services due to SAR. Handling for this use case is currently missing in the specification. A typical scenario is as follows: (1) The UE has pending 5GSM signaling and registration. (2) The UE initiates registration with the follow-up request flag set to true. (3) The network accepts the registration and also indicates follow-up. (4) Furthermore, the current registration area is offered as part of the non-permitted area in the registration acceptance. (5) The network extends the connection because it has already accepted FOR. (6) However, the UE cannot initiate 5GSM signaling because 5GSM signaling is not allowed when SAR restrictions are applied (not due to urgency / high priority). Two implementations address this issue.

[0071] In the first implementation, under such usage conditions, the UE needs to release the signaling connection immediately after the registration process is completed. Alternatively, the UE can activate T3540 to protect the connection release. Figure 6 As shown in block 602, routine 600 receives a registration acceptance message from the network indicating that the currently registered area is offered as part of a non-allowed area. In block 604, routine 600 releases the N1 NAS signaling connection after the registration process is completed, in the event that a pending signaling process or a data session cannot be initiated due to service area restrictions.

[0072] The first implementation will now be described by way of an exemplary change to the TS24.501 specification, “Version 5.3.1.3 of N1 NAS signaling connection”. If the UE has set the follow-up request indicator to “follow-up request pending” in the REGISTRATION REQUEST message due to pending uplink signaling, but cannot send pending signaling due to service area restrictions or because the network does not support the features indicated in the REGISTRATION ACCEPT message (e.g., the UE sets “follow-up request pending” to send SMS on the NAS, but the AMF notifies “SMS on NAS not allowed”), and if there is no other pending data or signaling and the user plane resources have not yet been established, the UE may locally release the established N1 NAS signaling connection upon completion of the registration process.

[0073] In the second implementation, it is possible that if the UE indicates a follow-up request in the registration request, and based on the establishment reason or any other mechanism, the AMF is able to deduce that the pending request is neither urgent nor high priority, and if the UE's current registration area is part of the service area restriction, the network will not indicate a follow-up and will release the N1 signaling connection after the process is completed.

[0074] Another issue with SAR is avoiding redundant mobility registration update processes in non-permitted areas. A UE is allowed to trigger mobility registration to request access to a new slice. However, due to 5GSM signaling restrictions (i.e., the UE cannot establish a PDU session for the requested slice), a UE in a restricted service area will not be allowed access to any services provided by that slice. Therefore, mobility registration triggered by the new slice can be avoided until the UE leaves the restricted area. This generates unnecessary signaling when the UE repeatedly connects and disconnects from the new slice. The current proposal appears to avoid this.

[0075] To address this issue, when a request for access to a new slice is received and the UE is currently pre-occupied on a cell whose tracking area is part of a restricted area, the UE will not fulfill the request for access to the new slice, but will instead reject it locally at the upper layer. This means no activity is initiated to the network. The modem itself rejects the request based on the criteria for evaluating service area restrictions. However, requests associated with high-priority or emergency services should be fulfilled. UEs in a 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE or pre-occupied on a tracking area should not attempt to request access to new slices other than those associated with high-priority access or emergency services, where service restrictions apply and the tracking area has at least one S-NSSAI in the allowed NSSAIs. Figure 7As shown in block 702, when the UE is currently pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a restricted area, routine 700 receives a request to access a new slice. In block 704, routine 700 locally rejects requests to access a new slice for all services except high-priority or emergency services at the upper layer.

[0076] As mentioned above, not attempting to request access to new slices other than those associated with high-priority access or emergencies can also be considered a standalone enhancement. For example, whenever someone taps an app and that tap results in a mobility registration request for a slice, the user cannot obtain normal service for that app (unless it is a high-priority service). Requesting access to a new slice when the user cannot establish any PDU session anyway is intended to limit unnecessary signaling toward the network.

[0077] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating a component 800, according to some exemplary embodiments, capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of executing any or more of the methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 8 A schematic diagram of hardware resource 802 is shown, which includes one or more processors 806 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 814, and one or more communication resources 824, each of which is communicatively connected via bus 816. In an implementation utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 822 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslices utilizing hardware resource 802.

[0078] Processor 806 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 808 and processor 810.

[0079] The memory / storage device 814 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 814 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage devices, etc.

[0080] Communication resource 824 may include interconnection devices or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 804 or one or more databases 820 via network 818. For example, communication resource 824 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via Universal Serial Bus (USB), cellular communication components, NFC components, etc. Components (e.g.) (low power consumption) Components and other communication components.

[0081] Instruction 812 may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least one processor in processor 806 to perform any or more of the methods discussed herein. Instruction 812 may be wholly or partially pre-occupied within processor 806 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), memory / storage device 814, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instruction 812 may be transferred from any combination of peripheral device 804 or database 820 to hardware resource 802. Therefore, the memory of processor 806, memory / storage device 814, peripheral device 804, and database 820 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0082] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the Embodiments section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples below. As another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0083] Example Section

[0084] The following examples relate to other implementation schemes.

[0085] Example 1. A method for associating a service area restriction (SAR) with a cell pre-occupied by a user equipment (UE) for 5G system (5GS) mobility management (5GMM), the method comprising: determining criteria including whether the current tracking area is included in a registered area, whether the update state at the UE is 5U1, and whether the cell is part of a non-permitted area or is in a registered public land mobile network (PLMN) that is not part of a permitted area or is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of a permitted area; and selecting the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate in response to determining that the criteria are met.

[0086] Example 2. According to the method of Example 1, the restrictions applicable to the UE in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state also apply to a selected sub-state including at least one of the 5GMM.REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED and 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE sub-states, provided that the UE is pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a non-allowed area, or pre-occupied on a cell of a registered PLMN that is not part of the allowed area or an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, such that all restrictions applicable to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state, except for any restrictions already associated with the selected sub-state, also apply to the selected sub-state.

[0087] Example 3. A method for performing additional actions on a user equipment (UE) in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate, performed by a user equipment (UE) for 5G system (5GS) mobility management (5GMM) in a network, the method comprising: moving to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and initiating mobility registration in the 5GMM.REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate in response to the UE's registration being rejected due to the network not allowing network slicing; and initiating mobility registration in the 5GMM.REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and receives a request from an upper layer to establish an emergency PDU session or perform an emergency service rollback, if the UE's updated state is not 5U1 or if the current tracking area is not part of the registration area.

[0088] Example 4. The method according to Example 3 further includes resetting the registration attempt counter when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and enters a new tracking area.

[0089] Example 5. The method according to Example 3 further includes resetting the registration attempt counter when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and timer T3502 expires.

[0090] Example 6. The method according to Example 3 further includes resetting the registration attempt counter when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and timer T3346 is started.

[0091] Example 7. A method for associating a service area restriction (SAR) with a cell pre-occupied by a user equipment (UE) for 5G system (5GS) mobility management (5GMM), the method comprising: selecting a 5GMM substate other than the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate; and, in response to selecting the 5GMM substate and the UE being pre-occupied in a registration area where the SAR is applied, applying the restriction associated with 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, in addition to any restrictions that may have been associated with the selected state.

[0092] Example 8. A method for releasing a PDU session in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate performed by a User Equipment (UE) in a network for 5G System (5GS) Mobility Management (5GMM), the method comprising: determining whether to initiate the release of a PDU session; performing an immediate local release of the PDU session; and initiating a mobility registration process with the PDU session state information element (IE) to indicate the release of the PDU session to the network.

[0093] Example 9. The method according to Example 8 further includes: determining whether it is also possible for the UE to initiate a PDU session release; and signaling to the network when the service area restriction applies.

[0094] Example 10. A method for handling pending 5GSM signaling and registration during a registration process using a follow-up request flag set to true, performed by a user equipment (UE) for 5G system (5GS) mobility management (5GMM), the method comprising: receiving from a network a registration acceptance message indicating that the current registration area is offered as part of a non-allowed area; and releasing an N1 NAS signaling connection after the registration process is completed when the pending signaling process or data session cannot be initiated due to service area restrictions.

[0095] Example 11. The method according to Example 10 further includes activating the T3540 timer to protect the connection release.

[0096] Example 12. The method according to Example 10 further includes, after the registration process is completed, causing the network to release the N1 signaling connection.

[0097] Example 13. A method for avoiding redundant mobility registration update processes in unrestricted areas, performed by a user equipment (UE) for 5G system (5GS) mobility management (5GMM), the method comprising: receiving a request to access a new slice when the UE is currently pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a restricted area; and locally rejecting the request to access the new slice for all services except high-priority or emergency services at a higher layer.

[0098] Example 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: determine criteria including whether the current tracking area is included in a registered area, whether the update state at the UE is 5U1, and whether the cell is part of a non-allowed area or is in a registered public land mobile network (PLMN) that is not part of an allowed area or is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of an allowed area; and in response to determining that the criteria are met, select the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate.

[0099] Example 15. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 14, wherein the restrictions applicable to the UE in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state also apply to a selected sub-state including at least one of the 5GMM.REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED and 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE sub-states, provided that the UE is pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a non-allowed area, or pre-occupied on a cell of a registered PLMN that is not part of the allowed area or an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, such that all restrictions applicable to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE sub-state, except for any restrictions already associated with the selected sub-state, also apply to the selected sub-state.

[0100] Example 16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: move to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and initiate mobility registration in the 5GMM.REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate in response to the UE's registration being rejected due to the network not allowing network slicing; and when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate and receives a request from an upper layer to establish an emergency PDU session or perform an emergency service rollback, initiate mobility registration in the 5GMM.REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate if the UE's updated state is not 5U1 or if the current tracking area is not part of the registration area.

[0101] Example 17. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 16, wherein the instructions further configure the UE to: reset the registration attempt counter when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and enters a new tracking area.

[0102] Example 18. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 16, wherein the instructions further configure the UE to: reset the registration attempt counter when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and timer T3502 expires.

[0103] Example 19. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 16, wherein the instructions further configure the UE to: reset the registration attempt counter when the UE is in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE and timer T3346 is started.

[0104] Example 20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: select a 5GMM substate other than the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate; and in response to selecting the 5GMM substate and the UE pre-occupying a registration area where the SAR is applied, apply the restrictions associated with 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE, in addition to any restrictions that may have been associated with the selected state.

[0105] Example 21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: determine whether to initiate the release of a PDU session; perform an immediate local release of the PDU session; and initiate a mobility registration process with the PDU session state information element (IE) to indicate the release of the PDU session to the network.

[0106] Example 22. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 21, wherein the instructions further configure the UE to: determine whether it is also possible for the UE to initiate a PDU session release; and signal to the network when the service area restriction applies.

[0107] Example 23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: receive from the network a registration acceptance message indicating that the current registration area is offered as part of a non-permitted area; and, if an evaluation of a pending signaling process or a data session cannot be initiated due to service area restrictions, release the N1 NAS signaling connection after the registration process is completed.

[0108] Example 24. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 23, wherein the instructions further configure the UE to start a T3540 timer to protect the connection release.

[0109] Example 25. The computer-readable storage medium according to Example 23, wherein the instructions further configure the UE to cause the network to release the N1 signaling connection after the registration process is completed.

[0110] Example 26. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: receive a request to access a new slice when the UE is currently pre-occupied on a cell that is part of a restricted area; and locally reject the request to access the new slice for all services except high-priority or emergency services at a higher layer.

[0111] Example 1C may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of any of the methods described or associated with any of the above embodiments or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0112] Example 2C may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the method or any other method or process described herein as described or associated with any of the above embodiments.

[0113] Example 3C may include an apparatus comprising one or more elements of a logic component, module, or circuit for performing any of the methods described or associated with any of the above embodiments or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0114] Example 4C may include any method, technique, or process, or part or component thereof, that is described in or related to any of the above examples.

[0115] Example 5C may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform any of the methods, techniques, or processes or portions thereof described or associated with any of the above embodiments.

[0116] Example 6C may include the signal or part or component thereof that is described or associated with any of the above examples.

[0117] Example 7C may include datagrams, packets, frames, segments, protocol data units (PDUs) or messages or parts or components thereof described or associated with any of the above examples, or other content described in this disclosure.

[0118] Embodiment 8C may include a data-encoded signal or part or component thereof that is in or related to any of the above embodiments, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0119] Embodiment 9C may include signals or portions or components thereof encoded as datagrams, packets, frames, segments, PDUs or messages as described or associated with any of the above embodiments, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0120] Example 10C may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform any of the methods, techniques, or processes or portions thereof described or associated with any of the above embodiments.

[0121] Example 11C may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform any of the methods, techniques, or processes or portions thereof described or associated with any of the above embodiments.

[0122] Example 12C may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0123] Example 13C may include methods for communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0124] Example 14C may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0125] Example 15C may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0126] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. In view of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be obtained from the practice of various embodiments.

[0127] Implementations and specific embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components, including specific logical components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0128] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific implementations. These implementations may be combined into a single system, partially integrated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. Furthermore, it is conceivable to use parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of one implementation in another implementation. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., are described only in one or more implementations, and it should be recognized that unless specifically stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of another implementation.

[0129] 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.

[0130] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that many alternative ways exist to implement both the processes and apparatus described herein. Therefore, embodiments of the invention should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive, and this specification is not limited to the details given herein, but can be modified within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method of associating a service area restriction, SAR, to a cell camped by a user equipment, UE, for 5G system, 5GS, mobility management, 5GMM, comprising: determining: (i) whether a current tracking area is included in a registration area, (ii) whether an update status at the UE is 5U1, and (iii) whether the cell is part of a non-allowed area or the cell is in a registered public land mobile network, PLMN, that is not part of an allowed area or the cell is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area; and in response to determining that (i) the current tracking area is included in the registration area, (ii) the update status at the UE is 5U1, and (iii) the cell is part of the non-allowed area or the cell is in a registered public land mobile network, PLMN, that is not part of the allowed area or the cell is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, selecting a 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein restrictions applicable to the UE in the 5GMM- REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate are also applicable to selected substates including at least one of 5GMM.REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED and 5GMM-REGISTERED. ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE substates as long as the cell camped by the UE is part of the non-allowed area or is in the registered PLMN that is not part of the allowed area or is in the equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, such that all restrictions applicable to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate are also applicable to the selected substate in addition to any restrictions already associated with the selected substate.

3. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: determine: (i) whether a current tracking area is included in a registration area, (ii) whether an update status at the UE is 5U1, and (iii) whether a cell is part of a non-allowed area or the cell is in a registered public land mobile network, PLMN, that is not part of an allowed area or the cell is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area; and in response to determining that (i) the current tracking area is included in the registration area, (ii) the update status at the UE is 5U1, and (iii) the cell is part of the non-allowed area or the cell is in a registered public land mobile network, PLMN, that is not part of the allowed area or the cell is in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, selecting a 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate. (ii) the updated status at the UE is 5U1, and (iii) the cell is part of the non-allowed area or the cell is in a registered public land mobile network (PLMN) that is not part of the allowed area or in an equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate is selected.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the restrictions applicable to the UE in the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate are also applicable to selected substates including at least one of 5GMM.REGISTERED.UPDATE-NEEDED and 5GMM-REGISTERED.ATTEMPTING-REGISTRATION-UPDATE substates as long as the cell in which the UE is camped is part of the non-allowed area or is in the registered PLMN that is not part of the allowed area or in the equivalent PLMN that is not part of the allowed area, such that all restrictions applicable to the 5GMM-REGISTERED.NON-ALLOWED-SERVICE substate are applicable to the selected substate in addition to any restrictions already associated with the selected substate.

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