Systems and methods for facilitating UE routing policy rule enforcement

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) communicating with a core network (CN) via a radio access network (RAN) may implement a method to facilitate regular enforcement of a UE routing policy. The method includes receiving (434), from the CN, a first non-access stratum (NAS) transmission message for UE policy delivery in the UE configuration update procedure, and in response, sending (444), to the CN, a second NAS transmission message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery. The method further comprises sending (464) a third NAS transmission message comprising routing policy state information to the CN, the routing policy state information indicating support or lack of support by the UE for one or more rules specifying UE traffic routing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to techniques for facilitating a user equipment (UE) to enforce routing policy rules on UE traffic. Background Art

[0002] This background description is provided for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the present disclosure. The work of the presently named inventors, to the extent that it is described in this background section, and aspects of this description that might not have been identified as prior art at the time of filing are neither explicitly nor implicitly admitted to be prior art to the present disclosure.

[0003] In a fifth generation (5G) wireless communication system, a user equipment (UE) may apply a UE routing policy (URSP) to outgoing traffic to determine how the UE should route traffic for a certain application executed on an operating system (OS), a certain domain, a certain network host, etc. The URSP configuration includes a set of URSP rules, each of which includes a traffic descriptor portion and one or more routing descriptors. The UE typically uses the traffic descriptor to find a matching application, and typically uses the routing descriptor to initiate a desired network connection.

[0004] In the 18th version of the research project (SP-211646: 5G UE Policy Enhancement Study), 3GPP proposed to enable the 5G system (5GS) to enhance UE policy. The 3GPP study aims to investigate: (1) whether and how the network can be made aware when the UE enforces URSP rules on traffic; and (2) whether the 5G network can perform actions and what actions can be performed. The following unresolved issues have been identified: (1) whether and how the 5G core network (5GC) can be made aware of whether or when the UE enforces URSP rules to route application traffic to PDU sessions based on the URSP rules configured by the 5GC; and (2) after the 5GC becomes aware of whether the UE enforces URSP rules on dedicated traffic, whether the 5GS can take some actions (and if so, what actions should the 5GC take).

[0005] If the 5GC senses the execution of a URSP rule that routes application traffic to a protocol data unit (PDU) session, the association between the UE and the application is revealed to the 5GC. If the UE does not agree to provide any indication of revealing such an association, such an association is not conducive to user privacy. In a scenario where the 5GC configures URSP rules that include rules that are not applicable to the UE, URSP rule execution issues arise on the UE side. For example, the UE may not support the use of IP tuples for privacy reasons, may not support non-IP traffic, or may not support a specific network connection. For UEs that do not support a specific URSP rule, the UE will simply skip / ignore the rule and continue to execute the next rule or the default rule. However, this causes the UE to waste time, power, and processing resources every time the UE needs to establish a PDU session, because the UE must repeatedly evaluate URSP rules that the UE does not support and cannot execute. In addition, the network is generally not aware of whether the UE supports a given URSP policy, and therefore cannot properly configure the applicable traffic descriptors that control how traffic is routed to the UE.

[0006] 3GPP has proposed enabling the UE to indicate unsupported URSP rules in the response message of the UE Configuration Update (UCU) procedure described in Section 4.2.4.3 of 3GPP TS 23.502. However, this solution is problematic because the UE needs to check all URSP rules whenever it is configured with a UE policy in the "UE Policy Delivery" message of the UCU procedure, and therefore, evaluating the URSP rules in the UE policy results in unnecessary power consumption and latency. Another problem is caused by the fact that the evaluation process at the UE may delay the UE response message (i.e., the "Result of UE Policy Delivery" message) in the UCU procedure. This delay may potentially lead to process errors at the 5GC that is expecting a response message from the UE. Summary of the invention

[0007] The UE of the present disclosure may preferably influence the configuration of the routing policy (e.g., URSP) in the 5GS according to the following objectives: (1) the network assists the UE in efficiently evaluating the configured rules in the routing policy by considering the UE's support and / or non-support status information for the routing policy; and (2) when the UE performs the routing policy evaluation process, reduce the stagnation or delay of the process at the network or UE. As used herein, "non-support" may be considered equivalent to "no support" or "lack of support".

[0008] In general, the techniques disclosed herein enable efficient enforcement of routing policies at a UE for UE traffic (eg, outgoing UE traffic).

[0009] In some implementations, the UE may indicate to the CN the status information (support and / or lack of support) of the UE for the routing policy. The routing policy status information may indicate, for example, support and / or lack of support for a traffic descriptor component type, a traffic descriptor component value, a routing descriptor component type, and / or a routing descriptor component value.

[0010] In some implementations, the routing policy state information includes a profile identification mapped to a set of traffic descriptors or routing descriptor components or component values.

[0011] In one aspect, the UE may include the UE's support and / or non-support status information for the routing selection policy in a registration request message, in a payload container information element (IE) of the registration request message, and set the payload container type IE of the registration request message to indicate the UE policy container.

[0012] In another aspect, the UE may include the UE's support and / or non-support status information for the routing policy in a new IE of the registration request message, wherein the new IE is for routing policy feature support.

[0013] In another aspect, the UE may include the UE's support and / or non-support status information for the routing selection strategy in the extended 5G Session Management (5GSM) capability of the registration request message.

[0014] In another aspect, the UE may include the UE support and / or non-support status information for the routing strategy in an uplink (UL) non-access stratum (NAS) transmission message in the UE configuration update procedure.

[0015] In another aspect, the UE may include the UE's support and / or non-support status information for the routing strategy in a UL NAS transport message with a new container IE (for status information) and a new container type IE.

[0016] In another aspect, the UE may include the UE's support and / or non-support status information for the routing policy in a new NAS transport message that the UE sends to a policy control function (PCF).

[0017] These solutions and their variations are described in further detail below.

[0018] In some implementations, a method for facilitating rule execution of a UE routing policy is performed by a UE communicating with a CN via a radio access network (RAN). The method includes receiving a first NAS transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update procedure from the CN, and sending a second NAS transport message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery to the CN in response to receiving the first NAS transport message. The method also includes sending a third NAS transport message including routing policy status information to the CN. The routing policy status information indicates the UE's support or lack of support for one or more rules for routing of specified UE traffic.

[0019] In some implementations, a method for facilitating rule execution of a UE routing policy is performed by a CN communicating with a UE via a RAN. The method includes sending a first NAS transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update procedure to the UE, and receiving a second NAS transport message from the UE indicating a result of the UE policy delivery in response to sending the first NAS transport message. The method also includes receiving a third NAS transport message including routing policy state information from the UE. The routing policy state information indicates the UE's support or lack of support for one or more rules for routing of specified UE traffic. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example communication system in which the techniques of this disclosure may be implemented.

[0021] Figure 2 It can be Figure 1 Block diagram of example URSP rules applied by a UE.

[0022] Figure 3 It depicts Figure 1 Message passing diagram for example implementations and scenarios in which a UE facilitates URSP rule enforcement by providing URSP state information to a CN in a Registration Request message.

[0023] Figure 4 It depicts Figure 1 Message passing diagram for example implementations and scenarios of UE facilitating URSP rule enforcement by providing URSP status information to the CN in an UL NAS transport message of an enhanced UCU procedure.

[0024] Figure 5 It depicts Figure 1 Message passing diagram for example implementations and scenarios of facilitating URSP rule enforcement by a UE providing URSP state information to the CN in an UL NAS transport message with a new container IE and a container type indicator.

[0025] Figure 6 It depicts Figure 1 Message passing diagram for example implementations and scenarios of a UE facilitating URSP rule enforcement by providing URSP state information to the CN in a new UL NAS transport message.

[0026] Figure 7 It can be Figure 1 A flowchart of an example method performed by a UE for facilitating execution of routing policy rules.

[0027] Figure 8 It can be Figure 1 A flow chart of an example method performed by a CN for facilitating execution of routing policy rules.

[0028] Fig. 9 yes Figure 7 A flowchart of a more specific example implementation of the method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Figure 1 An example communication system 100 is shown in which the techniques of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication system 100 includes a user equipment (UE) 102, which may be any suitable device capable of wirelessly communicating with a core network (CN) 110 via a radio access network (RAN) 108 including a base station 104.

[0030] Typically, UE 102 may provide UE routing policy status information to the CN, wherein the status information explicitly or implicitly indicates to the CN that the UE does not support one or more routing policy rules (e.g., certain components of the routing policy rules, such as certain traffic descriptor component types and / or values, and / or routing descriptor component types and / or values). Alternatively or in addition, the routing policy status information may explicitly or implicitly indicate to the CN that the UE does support one or more routing policy rules. Although the present disclosure is primarily directed to UE routing policies or "URSP" policies (and associated rules, status information, etc.), it should be understood that the disclosed techniques may also or alternatively be applied to other rule-based routing mechanisms for UE traffic.

[0031] As follows (for example, in conjunction with Figures 3 to 9 ) As discussed in more detail, depending on the implementation, UE 102 may provide URSP status information to CN 110 in any of a variety of different messages and / or different information elements (IEs).

[0032] like Figure 1As shown, the base station 104 can be communicatively connected to the CN 110, for example, via an NG interface. In some implementations, the base station 104 is a 5G New Radio (NR) base station operating as a gNodeB (gNB), and the CN 110 is a 5G CN (5GC). However, in other implementations, the communication system 100 may include one or more base stations operating according to a type of radio access technology (RAT) other than NR, and these base stations may be connected to other types of CNs.

[0033] Base station 104 is associated with RAN 108 and provides coverage for cell 116. Figure 1 Base station 104 is depicted as being associated with only one cell 116, but it should be understood that base station 104 may also cover Figure 1 108. The RAN 108 may include one or more additional cells not shown in the figure. Further, the RAN 108 may include any suitable number of base stations that jointly support one or more RATs. Although the figure shows a terrestrial network, it also considers non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). The UE 102, when operating within the cell 116, may be communicatively connected to the RAN 108 via the base station 104, and in turn may be communicatively connected to the CN 110 via the RAN 108.

[0034] The UE 102 is equipped with processing hardware 130, which may include one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., CPUs) and at least one non-transitory computer-readable memory 132, which stores instructions that can be executed on one or more general-purpose processors and / or special-purpose processing units. The memory 132 stores an operating system (OS) 140 of the UE 102, which can be any type of suitable mobile or general-purpose operating system. In addition, the memory 132 can also store one or more applications 142. In operation, one or more applications 142 generate outgoing traffic and receive incoming traffic. These applications may include web browsers, mail applications, messaging applications, video and audio players, game applications, and / or any other suitable type of applications.

[0035] To communicate with base station 104, CN 110, and various remote hosts, UE 102 implements a communication protocol stack including upper layers 136 and non-access stratum (NAS) / URSP processing layer 134. Layers 134 and 136 may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware, software, and firmware. In one example implementation, layers 134 and 136 are a set of instructions executed by processing hardware 130 to perform the rule application techniques discussed herein.

[0036] The upper layers 136 may identify outgoing traffic at the UE and provide the outgoing traffic to the NAS / URSP processing layer 134 for routing. The NAS / URSP processing layer 134 may be a combined layer including both the NAS layer and the URSP processing layer. The NAS layer may manage the establishment and maintenance of communication sessions, such as protocol data unit (PDU) sessions. Further, the NAS layer may receive URSP rules from the CN and configure the URSP processing layer according to the received URSP rules. The combined NAS / URSP processing layer 134 may manage the application of rules for routing outgoing traffic at the UE 102. When the upper layers 136 determine that an application 142 executing on the UE 102 has queued outgoing data for transmission, the upper layers 136 may instruct the NAS / URSP processing layer 134 to apply one or more URSP rules and route the outgoing application traffic accordingly. The NAS / URSP processing layer 134 in the example implementation includes a UE rule controller 138 configured to manage or control the application of rules for routing outgoing traffic.

[0037] The CN 110 may be, for example, a 5GC, a less advanced core network (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC)), or conversely, a more advanced core network. The CN 110 may be equipped with: a mobility management entity, such as an access and mobility management function (AMF) 122 configured to manage authentication, registration, mobility, and other related functions; and a policy control entity, such as a policy control function (PCF) 124 configured to provide mobility and session management policies. The interactions between network functions may generally be represented in the following two ways: (1) a service-based representation, in which a network function enables other authorized network functions to access its services (such a representation may also include point-to-point reference points when necessary); and (2) a reference point representation, which indicates that there are interactions between network functions, in which reference points between those network functions are depicted.

[0038] The CN 110 may also include a CN rule controller 128 that is configured to manage, modify, and send / deliver various rules for routing outgoing traffic at the UE 102 (such as a set of rules associated with a URSP policy) to the UE 102 (and other UEs). For example, depending on the implementation, the CN rule controller 128 may operate as a separate entity or as a component of the PCF 124. In some scenarios, the PCF 124 provides a policy to the UE 102, and the UE 102 routes outgoing traffic according to the policy. The policy may include a set of rules that conform to the URSP policy, as described below. Figure 2 The example implementation of discusses this set of rules in more detail.

[0039] Continue to refer Figure 1, CN 110 communicatively connects UE 102 to one or more communication networks, including a wide area network, such as the Internet 150, via RAN 108 including base station 104 (and typically multiple other base stations). More specifically, CN 110 may be directly connected to a data network via an access point name (APN) or data network name (DNN) gateway 152. UE 102 may provide a traffic descriptor identifying gateway 152 to outgoing traffic, and CN 110 may provide a rule referencing gateway 152. When UE 102 determines that the traffic descriptor referencing gateway 152 is allowed, UE rule controller 138 applies the rule and routes the outgoing traffic according to the rule. In some example scenarios, outgoing traffic and / or one or more rules may reference a domain 156, a specific host 154 (e.g., by host name or Internet Protocol (IP) address), a traffic type (e.g., Ethernet), etc.

[0040] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an example URSP rule 200 for routing, Figure 1 UE 102 may apply the URSP rules to determine how UE 102 should route outgoing traffic. For example, a routing policy (such as a URSP policy received from CN 110 or a local configuration stored at UE 102) may include a policy that may comply with Figure 2 The example rule 200 includes one or more traffic descriptors 214, one or more routing descriptors 216, and (optionally) a rule priority field 218. The rule priority field 218, if present, specifies the order in which the UE 102 applies the rule 200 relative to other rules.

[0041] The traffic descriptor 214 may specify how the UE 102 should match the outgoing traffic to the URSP rule 200. For example, if the traffic descriptor in the descriptor 214 matches the parameters of the outgoing traffic, the UE 102 applies the rule 200 to the outgoing traffic. The traffic descriptor 214 may include, for example, the traffic descriptor in 3GPP TS 24.526 Table 5.2.1. The traffic descriptor 214, which may be referred to interchangeably herein as a "traffic descriptor component" or a "traffic descriptor component type," may include, for example, an application descriptor (e.g., an identifier of an application 142 executing on the OS 140 of the UE 102), an IP descriptor, a domain descriptor (fully qualified domain name (FQDN)), a non-IP descriptor, a DNN type, a connection capability type, and / or a security parameter index type.

[0042] Each of the traffic descriptors 214 may have a specific value corresponding to the descriptor component / type. For example, the connection capability type may have a value indicating "IMS" (IP Multimedia Subsystem), "MMS" (Multimedia Messaging Service), "SUPL" (Secure User Plane Location), or "Internet". As another example, the connection capability type may have a value indicating "IMS traffic", "Internet", "Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine traffic", "On-demand downlink streaming", "On-demand uplink streaming", "Vehicle communication", "Real-time interactive traffic", "Unified communication traffic", "Background traffic", "Location-based traffic", or "Critical communications". As another example, the domain descriptor may have a value indicating "Full FQDN" or "Partial (Regular Expression) FQDN". As another example, the IP descriptor may have a value indicating the type of IP address (e.g., IPv4, IPv6, or IPv4v6). As another example, the non-IP descriptor may have a value indicating the type of 802.1Q tag. As another example, the application descriptor may have a value indicating a list of AppIDs. As another example, a traffic class descriptor may have a value indicating a list of specific traffic classes.

[0043] In some implementations, each of the traffic descriptors 214 is encoded as a sequence of a one-octet traffic descriptor component type identifier and a traffic descriptor component value field.

[0044] If the rule 200 is applicable, the routing descriptor 216 may specify how the UE 102 should route the traffic. For example, the routing descriptor 216 may specify that the UE 102 should route traffic matching the traffic descriptor 214 of the rule 200 to an established communication session, such as an established PDU session. As another example, the routing descriptor 216 may instruct the UE 102 to establish a new PDU session for outgoing traffic matching the rule 200. As yet another example, the routing descriptor 216 may instruct the UE 102 to offload outgoing traffic matching the rule 200 to a wireless local area network (WLAN), such as a WiFi® network.

[0045] The routing descriptor 216 may include, for example, the routing descriptor in Table 5.2.1 of 3GPP TS 24.526. The routing descriptor 216, which may be interchangeably referred to herein as a "routing descriptor component" or a "routing descriptor component type", may include, for example, a location criterion type, a session and service continuity (SSC) mode type, a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) type, a DNN type, a PDU session type, a preferred access type, a multiple access preference type, a non-seamless non-3GPP offload indication type, a time window type, a 5G proximity service (ProSe) layer 3 UE to network relay offload indication type, and / or a PDU session pair ID type.

[0046] Each of the routing descriptors 216 may have a specific value corresponding to the descriptor component / type. For example, the location criteria type may have a value indicating "E-UTRA cell identity list", "NR cell identity list", "Global RAN node identity list", or "Tracking Area Identity (TAI) list". As another example, the PDU session type may have a value indicating "IPv4", "IPv6", "IPv4v6", "Unstructured", or "Ethernet".

[0047] In some implementations, each of the routing descriptors 216 is encoded as a sequence of a one-octet routing descriptor component type identifier and a routing descriptor component value field.

[0048] As mentioned above, Figure 1 The UE 102 (e.g., the UE rule controller 138 or different parts of the NAS / URSP processing layer 134) may, for example, be combined with the following Figures 3 to 9 The URSP status information may be provided to the CN 110 in accordance with any of the implementations and scenarios discussed herein. In some illustrative (non-limiting) implementations, the URSP status information may include an indication of support (or lack of support) for: (1) one traffic descriptor component type (e.g., unsupported non-IP descriptors); (2) more than one traffic descriptor component type (e.g., unsupported non-IP descriptors and application descriptors); (3) one value of one traffic descriptor component type (e.g., unsupported IP descriptors with a value of “IPv4v6”); or (4) more than one component value of one traffic descriptor component type (e.g., unsupported connection capability values ​​of “SUPL” and “MMS”).

[0049] In some implementations, the URSP state information also or alternatively indicates support or lack of support for a routing descriptor / component / type or a specific value thereof. More generally, the URSP state information may indicate support and / or lack of support for any suitable number (zero or more) of traffic descriptor components, traffic descriptor component values, routing descriptor components, and / or routing descriptor component values, and combinations thereof.

[0050] In some implementations, the URSP state information only (or also) implicitly indicates support and / or lack of support. For example, the CN 110 and the UE 102 may coordinate on profile identifiers that are mapped to specific URSP descriptor components (e.g., specific traffic descriptors in the traffic descriptors 214 and / or specific routing descriptors in the routing descriptors 216) and / or specific values ​​of such components. In some implementations, a single profile identifier is mapped to: (1) a set of one or more traffic descriptors (and / or values); and (2) a set of one or more routing descriptors (and / or values). In other implementations, a single profile identifier is mapped to both one or more traffic descriptors and one or more routing descriptors and / or their values.

[0051] In some implementations, at least some profile identifiers may be associated with different subsets of available component values ​​for a particular descriptor component (e.g., a particular traffic descriptor component). This approach may be particularly advantageous / efficient in implementations where a particular descriptor component is associated with a relatively large number of values. For example, if a particular traffic descriptor component may have any of 12 different values, a first profile identifier may be mapped to (corresponding to) a first subset of three particular values ​​that are not supported (or supported) by the UE 102, a second profile identifier may be mapped to (corresponding to) a second (overlapping or non-overlapping) subset of seven particular values ​​that are not supported (or supported) by the UE 102, and so on. By reporting profile identifiers in the URSP status information, rather than reporting an explicit list of descriptor components and / or component values ​​that are not supported (and / or supported), the UE 102 may help the communication system 100 reduce messaging overhead. However, in other implementations, the URSP state information explicitly indicates (eg, lists) unsupported and / or supported descriptor components and / or component values, thereby avoiding the need to maintain a mapping and avoiding associated coordination needs between the UE 102 and the CN 110.

[0052] In some implementations, the UE 102 may indicate only unsupported URSP rules (e.g., descriptor components and / or values ​​thereof) in the URSP status information. In other implementations, the UE 102 may indicate both supported and unsupported URSP rules in the URSP status information. For example, the UE 102 may indicate supported URSP rules in a first IE of a first message, and indicate unsupported URSP rules in a second IE of the first message (or a different second message). In yet other implementations, the UE 102 may indicate supported or unsupported URSP rules in the URSP status information. For example, the UE 102 may use an IE (e.g., an IE of the same message including components and / or component values ​​of the URSP status information) to indicate whether the URSP status information reflects supported or unsupported rules.

[0053] Now combine Figures 3 to 9 Various examples of the manner in which UE 102 may provide URSP status information to CN 110 are described.

[0054] First reference Figure 3 , the message passing diagram depicts a scenario 300 in an example implementation, in which, Figure 1 The UE 102 and Figure 1 In scenario 300, UE 102 sends 302 a registration request message to AMF 122 of CN 110 via RAN 108 (not shown). The registration request message includes URSP status information (e.g., Figure 1 In particular, the registration request message includes a payload container IE and a payload container type IE. The payload container IE may include a UE status indication message including the URSP status information, and the payload container type IE may be set to (i.e., indicate) that the payload container type is a UE policy container.

[0055] After receiving the registration request message at event 302 (e.g., in response to receiving the registration request message), the AMF 122 discovers an available PCF instance from a network function (NF) repository function (NRF) at event 312 and creates a PCF association (i.e., an association with the PCF 124) for the UE 102. If the URSP status information is included in the UE status indication message within the payload container IE, the AMF 122 sends / forwards 322 the URSP status information to the associated PCF 124 in an Npcf message. The PCF 124 (e.g., in a non-transitory memory of the CN 110, Figure 13GPP TS 23.502 Section 4.2.4.3) to configure the URSP policy of the UE.

[0056] At event 352, when the PCF 124 determines to configure or update the URSP policy at the UE based on the UCU procedure, the PCF 124 configures the URSP rules in the URSP policy (for delivering the policy to the UE 102) based on the information stored at event 342. For example, the PCF 124 may exclude any URSP rules (e.g., descriptor components and / or component values) that are not supported by the UE 102, and / or may include specific URSP rules that are supported by the UE 102, as indicated by the information stored at event 342. In this manner, the CN 110 may reduce inefficiencies that may result when the CN 110 does not consider URSP status information from the UE 102 (e.g., wasted time, power, and processing resources at the UE 102).

[0057] In some alternative implementations, the registration request message sent 302 by the UE 102 includes a new (e.g., dedicated) IE for the UE 102 to indicate URSP feature support (i.e., URSP status information). In some of these implementations, the AMF 122 may send 322 the URSP status information to the PCF 124 (and may perform subsequent events 332, 342, 352) without checking whether the UE status indication message includes the URSP status information.

[0058] In other alternative implementations, the UE 102 includes URSP feature support (i.e., including URSP state information) in the extended 5G Session Management (5GSM) capabilities (e.g., the extended 5GSM capabilities specified in 3GPP TS 24.501 Section 9.11.4.1) of the Registration Request message.

[0059] Figure 4 is a message passing diagram depicting a scenario 400 in another example implementation, in which: Figure 1 The UE102 is compatible with Figure 1 Communicates with CN 110 (e.g., 5GC). Figure 4Some or all of the operations / events shown may be part of an enhanced UE configuration update (UCU) procedure.

[0060] In scenario 400, PCF 124 of CN 110 determines 404 to update the URSP policy of UE 102. In response, PCF 124 sends 414 a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message to AMF 122. The message may indicate that PCF 124 is requesting a URSP status report (e.g., including an IE indicating that the PCF is requesting a URSP status report). In response to receiving the message at event 414, AMF 122 triggers a service request at event 424. For example, if UE 102 is in idle mode, event 424 may include AMF 122 performing a paging procedure via RAN 108 (not shown) to trigger a service request from UE 102. In some implementations and / or scenarios, event 424 is omitted.

[0061] After event 414 and / or event 424, AMF 122 sends 434 a UE policy delivery message to UE 102 via RAN 108 (not shown). AMF 122 may send 434 the UE policy delivery message in a payload container of a DL NAS transport message. The DL NAS transport message may also include a new (e.g., dedicated) indication IE for requesting a URSP status report from UE 102.

[0062] After event 434 (e.g., in response to receiving the UE policy delivery message), the UE 102 sends 444 a UE policy delivery result message to the AMF 122 via the RAN 108 (not shown) to inform the AMF 122 whether the URSP policy delivery has a successful result. The UE 102 may send 444 the UE policy delivery result message in a UL NAS transport message. After event 444 (e.g., in response to the event), the AMF 122 sends 454 a Namf_ Communication_N1N2MessageNotify message to the PCF 124 to inform the PCF 124 whether the URSP policy delivery has a successful result.

[0063] After event 444 (e.g., in response to receiving / identifying a URSP status report request within the UE policy delivery message), the UE 102 sends 464 another UL NAS transport message to the AMF 122 via the RAN 108 (not shown). The UL NAS transport message of event 464 includes the requested URSP status information of the UE 102. In other scenarios where the message of event 434 does not include a URSP status request, the UE 102 instead skips event 464, or instead does not include the URSP status information in the UL NAS transport message of event 464. The URSP status information may be included in a container IE of the UL NAS transport message of event 464, and the UL NAS transport message may indicate that the container type corresponds to the URSP status information (e.g., include an indicator indicating that the container type corresponds to the URSP status information).

[0064] After event 464 (eg, in response to the event), the AMF 122 sends 474 a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageNotify message to the PCF 124, wherein the message includes the URSP state information received from the UE 102.

[0065] In some implementations, UE 102 triggers the URSP evaluation process after event 444 (e.g., as discussed above), or otherwise does not cause a delay in event 444. In this manner, UE 102 may avoid the URSP evaluation process delaying a result message of event 444, which may otherwise increase the likelihood of a process error at CN 110 (which may be expecting a response message to event 444 from UE 102).

[0066] Figure 5 is a message passing diagram depicting a scenario 500 in another example implementation, in which: Figure 1 The UE102 and Figure 1 In scenario 500, UE 102 sends 506 an UL NAS transport message having a new (e.g., dedicated) container IE and a container type indicator to AMF 122 via RAN 108 (not shown). The new container IE includes URSP status information of UE 102 (e.g., as described above in conjunction with Figure 1 102), and the container type indicator indicates that the container IE is for URSP state information of UE 102. Events 512, 522, 542, and 552 may be similar to events 312, 322, 342, and 352, respectively.

[0067] Figure 6is a message passing diagram depicting a scenario 600 in another example implementation, in which: Figure 1 The UE102 and Figure 1 In scenario 600, UE 102 sends 608 a new (e.g., dedicated) UL NAS transmission message to AMF 122 via RAN 108 (not shown), the UL NAS transmission message including an IE for URSP status information for UE 102 and an IE indicating the URSP status information type (i.e., whether the URSP status information indicates support or non-support of URSP rules, as described above in conjunction with Figure 1 Events 612, 622, 642, and 652 may be similar to events 312, 322, 342, and 352, respectively.

[0068] In some implementations, for Figures 2 to 6 In any of the techniques, and particularly in roaming scenarios, when the visited PCF (VPCF) receives the URSP status information from the UE 102, the VPCF may forward the URSP status information of the UE 102 to the home PCF (HPCF).

[0069] Figure 7 A flow chart of an example method 700 for facilitating rule enforcement of a UE routing selection (eg, URSP) policy is depicted. The method 700 may be performed by a UE (eg, Figure 1 102). At box 702 of method 700, the UE receives (434) a first NAS transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update (e.g., UCU) process from a CN (e.g., CN 110). At box 704, in response to receiving the first NAS transport message, the UE sends (444) to the CN a second NAS transport message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery. At box 706, the UE sends (454) to the CN a third NAS transport message including routing policy (e.g., URSP) status information. The routing policy status information indicates the UE's one or more rules for specifying UE traffic routing (e.g., URSP rules, such as traffic and / or routing descriptor components and / or values, as described above in conjunction with the description). Figure 1 discussed).

[0070] Figure 8 A flow chart of an example method 800 for facilitating rule enforcement of a UE routing selection (eg, URSP) policy is depicted. The method 800 may be performed by a CN (eg, Figure 1For example, method 800 may occur at CN 110, while method 700 occurs at UE 102. At box 802 of method 800, the CN sends (434) to the UE (e.g., UE 102) a first NAS transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update (e.g., UCU) process. At box 804, in response to sending the first NAS transport message, the UE sends (444) to the CN a second NAS transport message indicating the result of the UE policy delivery. At box 706, the UE sends (454) to the CN a third NAS transport message including routing policy (e.g., URSP) status information. The routing policy status information indicates the UE's one or more rules for specifying UE traffic routing (e.g., URSP rules, such as traffic and / or routing descriptor components and / or values, as described above in conjunction with the description above). Figure 1 discussed).

[0071] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of method 900, which may be, for example, Figure 7 The method 900 may be implemented by a UE (such as, for example, Figure 1 At block 902 of method 900, the UE receives (434) a first NAS transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update (e.g., UCU) procedure from a CN (e.g., CN 110). At block 904, in response to receiving the first NAS transport message, the UE sends (444) to the CN a second NAS transport message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery. At block 905, the UE determines whether the first NAS transport message includes a routing policy status request (e.g., Figure 4 If yes, flow proceeds to block 906 where the UE sends (454) to the CN a third NAS transport message including routing policy (e.g., URSP) status information. The routing policy status information indicates one or more rules (e.g., URSP rules, such as traffic and / or routing descriptor components and / or values, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 1 ) for routing of specified UE traffic. Figure 1 If the UE instead determines that the first NAS transport message does not include a routing policy state request, flow proceeds to block 908 and the UE refrains from sending routing policy state information to the CN.

[0072] By way of example and not limitation, the disclosure herein contemplates at least the following examples:

[0073] Example 1. A method for facilitating rule execution of UE routing policy, performed by a user equipment (UE) communicating with a core network (CN) via a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: receiving a first non-access stratum (NAS) transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update procedure from the CN; sending a second NAS transport message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery to the CN in response to receiving the first NAS transport message; and sending a third NAS transport message including routing policy status information to the CN, the routing policy status information indicating the UE's support or lack of support for one or more rules for specifying UE traffic routing.

[0074] Example 2. The method of Example 1, wherein: the first NAS transport message includes a request for the routing policy state information; and sending the third NAS transport message is in response to the request for the routing policy state information.

[0075] Example 3. The method of Example 1 or 2, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support of one or more routing policy rules by the UE.

[0076] Example 4. The method of Example 1 or 2, wherein the routing policy state information indicates a lack of support by the UE for the one or more routing policy rules.

[0077] Example 5. A method as described in Example 1 or 2, wherein the routing policy state information includes multiple routing policy rules, and wherein the routing policy state information indicates support for at least a first rule of the multiple routing policy rules and lack of support for at least a second rule of the multiple routing policy rules.

[0078] Example 6. The method of any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component types.

[0079] Example 7. The method of Example 6, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component types include a connection capability type.

[0080] Example 8. The method of any one of Examples 1 to 7, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component values.

[0081] Example 9. The method of Example 8, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component values ​​include one or more connection capability values.

[0082] Example 10. The method of Example 9, wherein the one or more connection capability values ​​include one or more of: Internet Protocol Multimedia System (IMS); Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS); Secure User Plane Location (SUPL); or Internet.

[0083] Example 11. A method as described in any of Examples 1 to 10, wherein the routing policy state information indicates the UE's support or lack of support for one or both of: (i) one or more routing descriptor component types and (ii) one or more routing descriptor component values.

[0084] Example 12. The method of any one of Examples 1 to 11, wherein the routing policy state information includes a profile identification mapped to a set of traffic descriptor components.

[0085] Example 13. The method of any of Examples 1 to 11, wherein the routing policy state information comprises a profile identification mapped to a set of routing descriptor components.

[0086] Example 14. A method as described in any one of Examples 1 to 13, wherein: receiving the first NAS transport message includes receiving the first NAS transport message from an access and mobility management function (AMF) of the CN; sending the second NAS transport message includes sending the second NAS transport message to the AMF; and sending the third NAS transport message includes sending the third NAS transport message to the AMF.

[0087] Example 15. The method of any one of Examples 1 to 14, wherein sending the third NAS transport message occurs after sending the second NAS transport message.

[0088] Example 16. A user equipment (UE) comprising hardware and configured to perform a method as described in any one of Examples 1 to 15.

[0089] Example 17. A method for facilitating rule execution of UE routing policy performed by a core network (CN) communicating with a user equipment (UE) via a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: sending a first non-access stratum (NAS) transport message to the UE for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update procedure; receiving a second NAS transport message from the UE indicating a result of the UE policy delivery in response to sending the first NAS transport message; and receiving a third NAS transport message from the UE including routing policy status information, the routing policy status information indicating the UE's support or lack of support for one or more rules for specifying UE traffic routing.

[0090] Example 18. The method of Example 17, wherein: the first NAS transport message includes a request for the routing policy state information; and receiving the third NAS transport message is in response to the request for the routing policy state information.

[0091] Example 19. The method of Example 17 or 18, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support by the UE for one or more routing policy rules.

[0092] Example 20. The method of Example 17 or 18, wherein the routing policy state information indicates a lack of support by the UE for the one or more routing policy rules.

[0093] Example 21. A method as described in Example 17 or 18, wherein the routing policy state information includes multiple routing policy rules, and wherein the routing policy state information indicates support for at least a first rule of the multiple routing policy rules and lack of support for at least a second rule of the multiple routing policy rules.

[0094] Example 22. The method of any one of Examples 17 to 21, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component types.

[0095] Example 23. The method of Example 22, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component types include a connection capability type.

[0096] Example 24. The method of any one of Examples 17 to 23, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component values.

[0097] Example 25. The method of Example 24, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component values ​​include one or more connection capability values.

[0098] Example 26. The method of Example 25, wherein the one or more connection capability values ​​include one or more of: Internet Protocol Multimedia System (IMS); Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS); Secure User Plane Location (SUPL); or Internet.

[0099] Example 27. A method as described in any of Examples 17 to 26, wherein the routing policy state information indicates the UE's support or lack of support for one or both of: (i) one or more routing descriptor component types and (ii) one or more routing descriptor component values.

[0100] Example 28. The method of any of Examples 17 to 27, wherein the routing policy state information comprises a profile identification mapped to a set of traffic descriptor components.

[0101] Example 29. The method of any of Examples 17 to 27, wherein the routing policy state information includes a profile identifier, and wherein the method further comprises mapping the profile identifier to a set of routing descriptor components.

[0102] Example 30. The method of any one of Examples 17 to 29, wherein sending the first NAS transport message, receiving the second NAS transport message, and receiving the third NAS transport message are performed by an access and mobility management function (AMF) of the CN.

[0103] Example 31. The method of any one of Examples 17 to 30, further comprising: configuring a URSP policy for the UE based on the routing policy state information.

[0104] Example 32. The method of any one of Examples 17 to 31, wherein receiving the third NAS transport message occurs after receiving the second NAS transport message.

[0105] Example 33. A core network (CN) comprising hardware and configured to perform a method as described in any one of Examples 17 to 32.

[0106] The following additional considerations apply to the foregoing discussion.

[0107] The user device (e.g., UE 102) in which the technology of the present disclosure can be implemented can be any suitable device capable of wireless communication, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a mobile game console, a point of sale (POS) terminal, a health monitoring device, a drone, a camera, a media streaming dongle or another personal media device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, a wireless hotspot, a femtocell or a broadband router. Further, in some cases, the user device can be embedded in an electronic system such as a head unit of a vehicle or an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). Further, the user device can be operated as an Internet of Things (IoT) device or a mobile Internet device (MID). Depending on the type, the user device may include one or more general-purpose processors, a computer-readable memory, a user interface, one or more network interfaces, one or more sensors, etc.

[0108] In some implementations, for the flowchart disclosed herein, elements, frames or operations may occur in a different order than shown, may be repeated, and / or may overlap each other in time. In addition, additional elements, frames or operations not shown in the flowchart may be included.

[0109] Certain embodiments are described in the present disclosure as including logic or multiple components or modules. A module may be a software module (e.g., a code or machine-readable instruction stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium) or a hardware module. A hardware module is a tangible unit that is capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. A hardware module may include a dedicated circuit system or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations (e.g., as a dedicated processor, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), etc.). A hardware module may also include a programmable logic or circuit system (e.g., as contained in a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. The decision to implement a hardware module in a dedicated and permanently configured circuit system or in a temporarily configured circuit system (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

[0110] When implemented in software, the techniques may be provided as part of an operating system, as a library used by multiple applications, as a specific software application, etc. The software may be executed by one or more general-purpose processors or one or more special-purpose processors.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating execution of rules for UE routing selection policies, performed by a user equipment UE communicating with a core network CN via a radio access network RAN, the method comprising: receiving, from the CN, a first non-access stratum (NAS) transport message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update procedure; In response to receiving the first NAS transport message, sending a second NAS transport message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery to the CN; as well as A third NAS transport message including routing policy status information is sent to the CN, the routing policy status information indicating support or lack of support by the UE for one or more rules for routing of specified UE traffic.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: The first NAS transport message includes a request for the routing policy state information; and Sending the third NAS transport message is in response to the request for the routing policy state information.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support of the UE for one or more routing policy rules.

4. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the routing policy status information indicates a lack of support by the UE for the one or more routing policy rules.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the routing policy status information includes multiple routing policy rules, and wherein the routing policy status information indicates support for at least a first rule among the multiple routing policy rules and lack of support for at least a second rule among the multiple routing policy rules.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component types.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component types include a connection capability type.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component values.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component values ​​include one or more connection capability values.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more connection capability values ​​include one or more of the following: Internet Protocol Multimedia System IMS; Multimedia Messaging Service MMS; Secure User Plane Location (SUPL); or internet.

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the routing policy status information indicates the UE's support or lack of support for one or both of: (i) one or more routing descriptor component types and (ii) one or more routing descriptor component values.

12. The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the routing policy state information comprises a profile identification mapped to a set of traffic descriptor components.

13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the routing policy state information comprises a profile identification mapped to a set of routing descriptor components.

14. The method of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein: Receiving the first NAS transport message comprises receiving the first NAS transport message from an access and mobility management function AMF of the CN; Sending the second NAS transport message comprises sending the second NAS transport message to the AMF; and Sending the third NAS transport message includes sending the third NAS transport message to the AMF.

15. The method of any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein sending the third NAS transport message occurs after sending the second NAS transport message.

16. A user equipment UE, comprising hardware and configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A method of facilitating enforcement of rules for UE routing selection policies, performed by a core network (CN) communicating with a user equipment (UE) via a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: Sending a first non-access stratum (NAS) transmission message for UE policy delivery in a UE configuration update procedure to the UE; In response to sending the first NAS transport message, receiving from the UE a second NAS transport message indicating a result of the UE policy delivery; as well as A third NAS transport message including routing policy state information is received from the UE, the routing policy state information indicating support or lack of support by the UE for one or more rules specifying UE traffic routing.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein: The first NAS transport message includes a request for the routing policy state information; and Receiving the third NAS transport message is in response to the request for the routing policy state information.

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support of the one or more routing policy rules by the UE.

20. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein the routing policy status information indicates a lack of support by the UE for the one or more routing policy rules.

21. A method as claimed in claim 17 or 18, wherein the routing policy status information includes a plurality of routing policy rules, and wherein the routing policy status information indicates support for at least a first rule of the plurality of routing policy rules and lack of support for at least a second rule of the plurality of routing policy rules.

22. The method of any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component types.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component types include a connection capability type.

24. The method of any one of claims 17 to 23, wherein the routing policy state information indicates support or lack of support by the UE for one or more traffic descriptor component values.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the one or more traffic descriptor component values ​​include one or more connection capability values.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the one or more connection capability values ​​include one or more of the following: Internet Protocol Multimedia System IMS; Multimedia Messaging Service MMS; Secure User Plane Location (SUPL); or internet.

27. The method of any one of claims 17 to 26, wherein the routing policy status information indicates the UE's support or lack of support for one or both of: (i) one or more routing descriptor component types and (ii) one or more routing descriptor component values.

28. The method of any one of claims 17 to 27, wherein the routing policy state information comprises a profile identification mapped to a set of traffic descriptor components.

29. The method of any one of claims 17 to 27, wherein the routing policy state information comprises a profile identifier, and wherein the method further comprises: The profile identification is mapped to a set of routing descriptor components.

30. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 29, wherein sending the first NAS transport message, receiving the second NAS transport message, and receiving the third NAS transport message are performed by an access and mobility management function AMF of the CN.

31. The method of any one of claims 17 to 30, further comprising: A URSP policy is configured for the UE based on the routing policy state information.

32. The method of any one of claims 17 to 31, wherein receiving the third NAS transport message occurs after receiving the second NAS transport message.

33. A core network CN comprising hardware and configured to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 32.

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