Method, apparatus and computer program

Abstract

An access node comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment, UE, location reporting when a UE is in RRC INACTIVE state; sending, to the UE, an indication to transition the UE to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the UE with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. The access node may be further configured to receive, from the core network node, a request for reporting the UE location with respect to the one or more areas of interest; wherein sending the location information associated with the UE is based on the received request. The assistance information may be received from an access and mobility management function, AMF, or a session management function, SMF. The assistance information may be received in at least one of: a Next Generation Application Protocol, NGAP, Initial Context Setup Request message, an NGAP Handover Request message, an NGAP Location Control message.

Description

A communication network can be seen as a facility that enables communications between two or more communication devices or provides communication devices access to a data network. A mobile or wireless communication network is one example of a communication network. A communication device may be provided with a service by an application server. Such communication networks operate in accordance with standards such as those provided by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) or ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). Examples of standards provided by 3GPP are the so-called 3GPP standards for cellular technology generations, such as 3GPP standards for 4G technology and 3GPP standards for 5G technology. SUMMARY Some example embodiments of this disclosure will be described with respect to certain aspects. These aspects are not intended to indicate key or essential features of the various example embodiments of this disclosure, nor are they intended to be used to limit the scope of thereof. Other features, aspects, and elements will be apparent to a person skilled in the art in view of this disclosure. For example, it should be appreciated that further aspects may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the various aspects described below. According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; sending, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. The means may be further for: receiving, from the core network node, a request for reporting the user equipment location with respect to the one or more areas of interest; wherein sending the location information associated with the user equipment is based on the received request. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside, when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest; outside, when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest; or unknown, when at least one cell of the RNA is within the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest. The assistance information may comprise at least one of: one or more area of interest identifiers identifying a respective one or more areas of interest for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown; a list of cells and / or area(s) of interest to be included in the RNA; or a list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with an area of service of a network slice. The means may be further for: receiving, from a further access node, information indicating that the user equipment has moved into a coverage area of the further access node; and based on the information indicating that the user equipment has moved into the coverage area of the further access node, sending, to the further access node, context information associated with the user equipment, the context information including the assistance information. The assistance information may be received from an access and mobility management function or a session management function. The assistance information may be received in at least one of: a Next Generation Application Protocol, NGAP, Initial Context Setup Request message; an NGAP Handover Request message; or an NGAP Location Control message. According to an aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a core network node configured to perform: sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. The means may be further for: sending, to the access node, a request for reporting the user equipment location with respect to the one or more areas of interest; wherein receiving the location information associated with the user equipment is based on the sent request. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside, when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest; outside, when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest; or unknown, when at least one cell of the RNA is inside the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest. The assistance information may comprise at least one of: one of a plurality of area of interest identifiers for which the access node is to report inside or outside but not unknown; a list of cells and / or areas of interest to be included in RNA; or a list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with the area of service of a network slice. The core network node may be an access and mobility management function or a session management function. The assistance information may be sent to the access node in at least one of: an NGAP Initial Context Setup Request message; an NGAP Handover Request message; or an NGAP Location Control message. According to an aspect there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, information indicating an area of service, AoS, for at least one network slice; receiving a request from a first access node to transition into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request comprising information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; determining that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice; and based on the determining, sending, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The means may be further for: receiving, from the core network node, assistance information indicating that the user equipment is requested to send the uplink indication when the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The first access node and the second access node may be a same access node; or the first access node and the second access node may be different access nodes. The uplink indication may comprise one of: an RNA update message; or a radio preamble. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node when requesting the user equipment to transition to RRC_INACTIVE state. The uplink indication may indicate the at least one network slice of which the user equipment is outside the area of service. According to an aspect there is provided an access node comprising means for: sending a request to a user equipment to transition the user equipment into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside an area of service of at least one network slice; and sending, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The means may be further for storing the received uplink indication, and wherein the sending of the uplink indication may comprise sending an indication of failure upon receiving a paging request of the user equipment from the core network node. Sending the uplink indication may comprise sending an indication that the user equipment is inside or outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The uplink indication may comprise information indicating a cause for the user equipment sending the uplink indication as the user equipment being within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node when requesting the user equipment to transition to RRCJNACTIVE state. The uplink indication may indicate the at least one network slice of which the user equipment is outside the area of service. The uplink indication may comprise one of: an RNA update message; or a radio preamble. According to an aspect there is provided an access node comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; sending, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The request for reporting the user equipment’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest may comprise a request for reporting the user equipment’s location as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest, but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The means may be further for: sending the information indicating the RNA and the one or more sub-RNAs based on receiving the request for reporting the user equipment’s location as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest, but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. Each of the one or more sub-RNAs may be associated with one of the one or more areas of interest. Each sub-RNA may indicate a list of cells within which the user equipment can move while in RRC INACTIVE mode without notifying an access node. The means may be for: receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment has moved from one of the sub-RNAs to outside the one of the sub-RNAs; wherein sending the location information is performed based on receiving the uplink indication. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside the area of interest, when the sub-RNA is completely within the area of interest; or outside the area of interest, when the sub-RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest. The means may be further for: receiving, from a further access node, information indicating that the user equipment has moved into a coverage area of the further access node; and based on the information indicating that the user equipment has moved into the coverage area of the further access node, sending, to the further access node, context information associated with the user equipment, the context information indicating the RNA and the one or more sub-RNAs. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node. The uplink indication to be used may be configured per network slice or per network slice area of service. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node when sending to the user equipment the indication to transition to RRCJNACTIVE state. The uplink indication may comprise one of: an RNA update message; or a radio preamble. The request for reporting a user equipment’s location may be received from an access and mobility management function or a session management function. According to an aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a core network node configured to perform: sending, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest may comprise a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside the area of interest; or outside the area of interest. The core network node may be an access and mobility management function or a session management function. According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; send, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and send, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to: receive, from the core network node, a request for reporting the user equipment location with respect to the one or more areas of interest; wherein the at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to send the location information associated with the user equipment based on the received request. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside, when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest; outside, when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest; or unknown, when at least one cell of the RNA is within the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest. The assistance information may comprise at least one of: one or more area of interest identifiers identifying a respective one or more areas of interest for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown; a list of cells and / or area(s) of interest to be included in the RNA; or a list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with an area of service of a network slice. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to: receive, from a further access node, information indicating that the user equipment has moved into a coverage area of the further access node; and based on the information indicating that the user equipment has moved into the coverage area of the further access node, send, to the further access node, context information associated with the user equipment, the context information including the assistance information. The assistance information may be received from an access and mobility management function or a session management function. The assistance information may be received in at least one of: a Next Generation Application Protocol, NGAP, Initial Context Setup Request message; an NGAP Handover Request message; or an NGAP Location Control message. According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; and receive, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the apparatus to: send, to the access node, a request for reporting the user equipment location with respect to the one or more areas of interest; wherein the at least one processor may be further configured to cause the apparatus to receive the location information associated with the user equipment based on the sent request. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside, when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest; outside, when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest; or unknown, when at least one cell of the RNA is inside the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest. The assistance information may comprise at least one of: one of a plurality of area of interest identifiers for which the access node is to report inside or outside but not unknown; a list of cells and / or areas of interest to be included in RNA; or a list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with the area of service of a network slice. The apparatus may be an apparatus for providing an access and mobility management function or a session management function. The assistance information may be sent to the access node in at least one of: an NGAP Initial Context Setup Request message; an NGAP Handover Request message; or an NGAP Location Control message. According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: receive, from a core network node, information indicating an area of service, AoS, for at least one network slice; receive a request from a first access node to transition into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request comprising information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; determine that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice; and send, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the user equipment to: receive, from the core network node, assistance information indicating that the user equipment is requested to send the uplink indication when the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The first access node and the second access node may be a same access node; or the first access node and the second access node may be different access nodes. The uplink indication may comprise one of: an RNA update message; or a radio preamble. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node when requesting the user equipment to transition to RRC_INACTIVE state. The uplink indication may indicate the at least one network slice of which the user equipment is outside the area of service. According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: send a request to a user equipment to transition the user equipment into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; receive, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside an area of service of at least one network slice; and send, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to store the received uplink indication, and send an indication of failure upon receiving a paging request of the user equipment from the core network node. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to send an indication that the user equipment is inside or outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The uplink indication may comprise information indicating a cause for the user equipment sending the uplink indication as the user equipment being within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node when requesting the user equipment to transition to RRC_INACTIVE state. The uplink indication may indicate the at least one network slice of which the user equipment is outside the area of service. The uplink indication may comprise one of: an RNA update message; or a radio preamble. According to an aspect, there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; send, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA; and send, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The request for reporting the user equipment’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest may comprise a request for reporting the user equipment’s location as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest, but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to: send the information indicating the RNA and the one or more sub-RNAs based on the received request for reporting the user equipment’s location as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest, but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. Each of the one or more sub-RNAs may be associated with one of the one or more areas of interest. Each sub-RNA may indicate a list of cells within which the user equipment can move while in RRC INACTIVE mode without notifying an access node. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to: receive, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment has moved from one of the sub-RNAs to outside the one of the sub-RNAs; wherein the at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to send the location information based on receiving the uplink indication. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside the area of interest, when the sub-RNA is completely within the area of interest; or outside the area of interest, when the sub-RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest. The at least one processor may be further configured to cause the access node to: receive, from a further access node, information indicating that the user equipment has moved into a coverage area of the further access node; and based on the information indicating that the user equipment has moved into the coverage area of the further access node, send, to the further access node, context information associated with the user equipment, the context information indicating the RNA and the one or more sub-RNAs. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node. The uplink indication to be used may be configured per network slice or per network slice area of service. The uplink indication to be used may be configured in the user equipment by the access node when sending to the user equipment the indication to transition to RRC_INACTIVE state. The uplink indication may comprise one of: an RNA update message; or a radio preamble. The request for reporting a user equipment’s location may be received from an access and mobility management function or a session management function. According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; and receive, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest may comprise a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: inside the area of interest; or outside the area of interest. The apparatus may be an apparatus for providing an access and mobility management function or a session management function. According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; sending, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRCJNACTIVE state; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a core network node, information indicating an area of service, AoS, for at least one network slice; receiving a request from a first access node to transition into RRCJNACTIVE state, the request comprising information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; determining that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice; and based on the determining, sending, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: sending a request to a user equipment to transition the user equipment into RRCJNACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside an area of service of at least one network slice; and sending, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; sending, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: sending, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following: receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; sending, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: receiving, from a core network node, information indicating an area of service, AoS, for at least one network slice; receiving a request from a first access node to transition into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request comprising information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; determining that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice; and based on the determining, sending, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following: sending a request to a user equipment to transition the user equipment into RRCJNACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside an area of service of at least one network slice; and sending, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an access node, cause the access node to perform at least the following: receiving, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; sending, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: sending, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. According to an aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of the preceding aspects. In the above, many different aspects have been described. As previously noted, it should be appreciated that further aspects may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the aspects described above. Other features, aspects, and elements will become apparent in view of the following. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES Some example embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting and illustrative example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures in which: FIG. 1 shows a representation of a 5th generation communication system; FIG. 2 shows a representation of an apparatus for the communication system of FIG. 1 according to some example embodiments; FIG. 3 shows a representation of an apparatus according to some example embodiments; FIG. 4 shows an example scenario implementation of area of interest based location reporting; FIG. 5a and 5b show methods according to some examples; FIG. 6 shows a signalling exchange according to some examples; FIG. 7a and 7b show methods according to some examples; FIG. 8 shows a signalling exchange according to some examples; FIG. 9a and 9b show methods according to some examples; FIG. 10 shows a signalling exchange according to some examples; and FIG. 11 shows a schematic representation of an apparatus according to some examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following various example embodiments are explained with reference to communication devices capable of communication with a communication system. Before explaining in detail the various example embodiments of this disclosure, a 5th generation communication system (5GS), an access network and a core network (5GC) thereof, and communication devices are briefly explained with reference to FIG. 1, 2 and 3. FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a 5G communication system (5GS). The 5GS may comprise a user equipment (UE) or Terminal 100, an access network, such as a 5G radio access network (5G-RAN) 101 or next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), a 5G core network 102, and one or more application functions 103. An application function 103 may be deployed in the 5GS as trusted application function or may be deployed or hosted on one or more application servers of the data network (DN) 104. Such application functions are untrusted application functions. The 5GS connects the UE to a data network via the access network and the 5GC 102 (e.g., a user plane function (UPF) of the 5GC). The 5G-RAN 101 may comprise one or more radio access nodes, such as a gNodeB (gNB). A gNB may include one or more gNodeB (gNB) distributed units (DUs) connected to one or more gNodeB (gNB) centralized units (CUs). The 5GC may comprise the following network functions, some of which may or may not be shown in FIG. 1: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF); Network Exposure Function (NEF) 105; Network Repository Function (NRF); Policy Control Function (PCF); Unified Data Management (UDM) 106; Application Function (AF) 103; Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 107; an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 108; Session Management Function (SMF) 109; and a user plane function (UPF) 110. FIG. 1 also shows the various interfaces (N1, N2 etc.) that may be implemented between the various elements of the system. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a control apparatus 200 for controlling a function of the access network (e.g., a 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN illustrated in FIG. 1) of FIG. 1. The control apparatus 200 may comprise at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least one read only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213 and a network interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 215. Execution of the software code 215 may, for example, cause the apparatus to perform operations for controlling a function of the access network. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b. The control apparatus 200 may be interconnected with another control apparatus 200 for controlling another function of the 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN. In some embodiments, each function of the 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN is deployed or hosted on a control apparatus 200. In alternative embodiments, two or more functions of the 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN may share a control apparatus. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a communication device 300, such as the UE / terminal of FIG. 1. The communication device 300 may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples of a communication device 300 comprise a user equipment, a mobile station (MS) or mobile device, such as a mobile phone or what is known as a ’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a machine-type communications (MTC) device, an Internet of things (loT) type communication device or any combinations of these or the like. The communication device 300 may comprise a transceiver for transmitting and / or receiving, for example, wireless signals carrying communications, for example radio signals. The communications may be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia data, machine data and so on. The communication device 300 may receive wireless signals (e.g., radio signals) over an air or radio interface 307 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit wireless signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In FIG. 3 the transceiver is designated schematically by block 306. The transceiver 306 may comprise, for example, a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device and may comprise one or more antenna elements. The antenna arrangement may be a multi-input multi output (MIMO) antenna. The communication device 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301, at least one memory ROM 302a, at least one RAM 302b and other possible components 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access networks (e.g., the 5G-RAN or NG-RAN illustrated in FIG. 1) and other communication devices. The at least one processor 301 is coupled to the RAM 302b and the ROM 302a. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 308. The software code 308 may, for example, allow to perform one or more operations of the communication device. The software code 308 may be stored in the ROM 302a. The processor, the ROM, and the RAM, the transceiver and other circuitry of the communication device (e.g., a modem) can be provided on a circuit board, in chipsets, or in a system on chip. The circuit board, chipsets or system on chip is denoted by reference 304. The communication device 300 may optionally have a user interface, such as keypad 305, a touch sensitive screen or a pad, combinations thereof or the like. Optionally one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided depending on the type of communication device. Some networks (e.g., 5G or6G communications networks) may support access node based (e.g., NG-RAN) UE location reporting, for example for services that require accurate cell identification (such as emergency services). A core network node (which may be a core network function, such as an AMF - as used herein the term core network node and core network function may be used interchangeably), may request an access node to provide UE location information, such as the cell corresponding to the UE’s current location, or last known location if the UE is in RRC INACTIVE mode. The request may be for one-time reporting, or may be for continuous reporting. Determining the UE’s location may be importantas some services may only be enabled within certain areas. For example, a network slice may have a limited geographical availability / support - that is the network slice may only have access to resources for a given service within certain cells and / or tracking areas of a registration area of the UE. If the UE is located in a cell in which the network slice cannot obtain resources for delivering a service, then the service cannot be obtained so any attempts for the UE or the network to send data relating to the service would be inefficient. The core network node may enable access node based location reporting by requesting that the access node reports the UE location with respect to one or more areas of interest. An area of interest may comprise one or more cells or one or more tracking areas within the registration area of the UE. The access node may send, to the core network node location information associated with the UE with respect to the one or more areas of interest. The location information associated with the UE may indicate, for each area of interest (Aoi), whether the UE is inside the Aoi, outside the Aoi, or if the UE’s location with respect to the Aoi is unknown. For example, if the UE is located in cell 2, and Aoi 1 comprises {cell 1, cell 2, cell3}, and Aoi 2 comprises {cell 3, cell 4), then the access node may indicate, to the core network node, that the UE is inside Aoi 1 and outside Aoi 2. Determining the UE’s location while the UE is in RRC CONNECTED state or mode of operation (that is, with an active connection to a serving access node) may be relatively straightforward. However, the UE may be operating in RRC INACTIVE mode, while remaining in CM-CONNECTED mode (that is, with an active connection to the core network but an inactive connection to an access node). While the UE is in RRC INACTIVE mode, it may be more challenging for the access node to determine the exact location of UE. When downlink (DL) data is available for the UE and the UE is in RRC INACTIVE state (which may also be referred to herein as RRC INACTIVE mode), the network may need to page the UE to “wake up” the UE (e.g., cause the UE to transition to RRC CONNECTED state) in order for the UE to receive the DL data. However, if the network does not know where the UE is located, then the network (e.g., the AMF) may have to page the UE in all cells within the RA of the UE. In some examples a RAN-based notification area (RNA) may be provided to a UE, for example when the serving access node brings the UE into RRC INACTIVE mode. The RNA may comprise one or more cells within the registration area of the UE. The one or more cells may belong to / be managed / controlled by a same access node or multiple access nodes. The UE may move within the RNA without having to notify the network of the UE’s location. However, when the UE moves out of the RNA, the UE must notify the network via an access node to indicate the UE’s location, for example via an uplink indication sent to an access node. The access node, on receiving the uplink indication from the UE, may then update the core network node of the UE’s location accordingly. As mentioned previously, for access node based location reporting, the access node may be configured to report, for each Aoi, whether the UE location is inside, outside, or unknown with respect to the Aoi. When the UE is in RRC INACTIVE mode, the access node may determine the presence of the UE within the Aoi based on the following: • The UE is inside the Aoi when the RNA is completely contained within the Aoi; • The UE is outside the Aoi when the RNA does not contain any part of the Aoi; or • Unknown when neither of the above conditions apply - that is when the RNA is partially but not totally within the Aoi. By determining where the UE is located with respect to certain Aois, the network can reduce the number of paging requests needed to be sent to the UE when DL data is available. For example, if the network knows that the UE is located in Aoi 1 and the DL data for the UE is available for a service that can be provided in Aoi 1, then the network only needs to send paging requests towards the UE in the cells comprised in Aoi 1. Access node-based location reporting can present challenges depending on the RNA construction, some of which will be illustrated below with respect to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates an example scenario where a UE is operating on three slices with slice IDs 1, 2, 3. Each slice is associated with a respective Aoi, Aoi 1, 2, 3. Slice 1 is only available within Aoi 1 - that is to say, the area of service (AoS) of slice 1 matches Aoi 1. The Aois are associated with the cells as follows: • Slice 1: Aoi 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3} • Slice 2: Aoi 2 = {cell 2, cell 3, cell 4} • Slice 3: Aoi 3 = {cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6}. The cells are deployed in an area shown in FIG. 4 and are provided by three different access nodes. Access node 1 provides / controls / manages cells 1, 2, 3 and 7; access node 2 provides cells 4 and 8, and access node 3 provides cells 5 and 6. As shown in the left-hand side of FIG. 4, initially the UE is located in cell 3. Access node 1 may determine to bring the UE into RRC INACTIVE mode, and thus determines the RNA to provide to the UE. If access node-based location reporting is enabled, then based on the RNA there may be different reporting options from the access node to the core network node (e.g., AMF). For example, if the RNA = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3}, then the Aoi reporting information may be summarized as: Aoi 1 = IN, Aoi 2 = UNKNOWN, Aoi 3 = UNKNOWN This is because the RNA is completely contained within Aoi 1 (in fact, the RNA is the same as Aoi 1), but the RNA is partially but not totally within Aoi 2 and 3 the access node may report UNKNOWN for Aoi 2 and 3. In this case the core network may be able to determine where the UE is located with respect to the area of service of slice 1, but not for slices 2 and 3. The core network node may therefore have to page the UE in the whole cells of the RA when delivering DLdata to the UE for services provided by slices 2 and 3. In another example, if the RNA = {cell 1, cell 2, cell3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6}, then the Aoi reporting information may be summarized as: Aoi 1 = UNKNOWN, Aoi 2 = UNKNOWN, Aoi 3 = UNKNOWN In this case the core network may have to page the UE in any or all cells of the RA for DL data for services provided by all slices, since the core network node does not know where the UE is. As a result, there may be a high number of paging requests sent to the UE, increasing the signalling overhead. In another example, if the RNA = {cell 3}, then the Aoi reporting information may be summarized as: Aoi 1 = IN, Aoi 2 = IN, Aoi 3= IN In this case the core network node may have to send a relatively low number of paging requests when DL data is available for the UE, since the core network node can determine where the UE is more accurately. However, if the UE is mobile and moves outside the cell of the RNA, this would trigger an RNA update every time the UE moves, resulting in an increased signalling overhead. As shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 4, the UE may move within the RNA, for example from cell 3 to cell 5. If the RNA constructed by gNB1 was selected to be RNA = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6}, when the core network node has a request for downlink data for slice 1 for the UE, the core network node may need to page the whole RA for the UE to respond, as the core network node does not know exactly where the UE is (as per the above example, the Aoi location reporting would be UNKNOWN for all Aois). Thus, in this scenario the UE may be paged, transition to RRC CONNECTED state and respond to the paging request towards the core network function. The core network function (e.g., AMF or the like) may then determine that the UE is in cell 5 that is outside the NS-AoS of slice 1 and will not be able to provide service to the UE, and ultimately the UE transition to RRC CONNECTED and all the signalling involved may be in vain. In general, when the access node receives multiple Aois related to a UE, where one or more of such Aois are related to slices that are partially supported in RA (e.g., available in some but not all cells / TAs) or partially available in a TA, then when UE goes to RRC INACTIVE mode / state, depending on how RNA is constructed by the access node, the following might occur: 1) high number of RNA updates (e.g., if RNA is restricted to a low number of cells); 2) high number of paging requests (e.g., if RNA contains a large number of cells); 3) UE might be paged in a cell where it cannot receive a service, which may result in unnecessary end to end signaling. Some examples may address one or more of these issues. Some examples may improve the determination of the RNA, which may be of particular benefit when there are multiple Aois. Reference is made to FIG. 5a and 5b, which shows methods according to some examples. In particular, FIG. 5a shows a method that may be performed by an access node (e.g., a gNB), and FIG. 5b shows a method that may be performed by a core network function (e.g., an AMF orSMF). With reference to FIG. 5a, at 500 the method comprises receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network (RAN) Notification Area (RNA) for user equipment location reporting when the UE is in RRC INACTIVE state. At 502 the method comprises sending, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and At 504 the method comprises sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. With reference to FIG. 5b, at 506 the method comprises sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network (RAN) Notification Area, (RNA) for user equipment location reporting when the UE is in RRC INACTIVE state. At 508 the method comprises receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. In some examples the core network node may send, to the access node, a request for reporting a UE’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest The access node may send the location information associated with the user equipment to the core network node based on the sent request. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the UE is one of: • inside the Aoi (e.g., when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest); • outside the Aoi (e.g., when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest); or • unknown with respect to the Aoi (e.g., when at least one cell of the RNA is inside the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest). The assistance information may comprise at least one of: • one or more area of interest identifiers identifying a respective one or more areas of interest for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown; • a list of cells and / or areas of interest(s) to be included in the RNA; or • a list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with the an area of service (AoS) of a network slice. The assistance information may be comprised in any suitable message, for example an NGAP Initial Context Setup Request message, an NGAP Handover Request message, an NGAP Location Control message or the like. In some examples the UE may move to a further cell controlled by a further access node. The further cell may be outside the RNA. Accordingly, the UE may send an uplink indication to the further access node (as the UE has moved outside the RNA). The further access node may send, to the access node, an indication that the UE has moved into the coverage area of the further access node outside of RNA. Based on this indication, the access node may send, to the further access node, context information associated with the UE. The context information may include the assistance information received from the core network node. Reference is made to FIG. 6, which shows a signalling exchange according to some examples. At 600, the UE joins the network and requests registration with network slices 1, 2 and 3. For example, the UE may send a request comprising single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) = {slice 1, slice 2, slice 3}. At 602 the AMF may determine whether the UE is allowed to use the requested network slices, and may send, to the UE, information indicating a registration area (RA) comprising tracking areas (TAs) 1, 2, and 3. The AMF may also provide an Allowed NSSAI to the UE that indicates network slices 2 and 3 are supported in all TAs of the RA, and a Partially Allowed NSSAI that indicates network slice 1 is supported in TA1 of the RA. Network slice 1 may be supported in TA1, but not in all cells of TA1, and so the AMF may also provide to the UE a list of cells where network slice 1 can receive service. This may for example be indicated in the network slice (NS) area of service (AoS) of network slice 1 that for example includes cells 1, 2 and 3. At 604, the UE is located in cell 3 that is controlled by access node 1 and establishes PDU sessions with all slices in the Allowed / Partially Allowed NSSAI namely slice 1, slice 2 and slice 3. At 606 the AMF may send a request for reporting a UE’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest (e.g., a LOCATION REPORTING CONTROL message) to access node 1. The request may be to request the access node to report the UE’s current location or UE’s last known location or UE’s presence in the area of interest (Aoi). For example, the AMF may request access node 1 to report location reporting for Aois related to all 3 slices, where Aoi 1 corresponds to slice 1, Aoi 2 to slice 2 and Aoi 3 to slice 3 as follows: • Aoi 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3} • Aoi 2 = {cell 2, cell 3, cell 4} • Aoi 3 = {cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6} At 608 the AMF may send, to access node 1, the assistance information described previously. In some examples the assistance information may be comprised in a UE context modification request, or may be provided during initial UE context setup request. For example, the AMF may indicate Aoi 1 towards gNB1. The Aol(s) may be indicated in the form of a flag or a list of Aois to include in the RNA ranked based on priority. As mentioned previously, in some examples, the assistance information may comprise one or more area of interest identifiers identifying a respective one or more areas of interest for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown. The AMF may determine for which Aol(s) it wants to know if the UE is inside or outside but not unknown or which Aol(s) to include or prioritize in including in the RNA may be based on one or more of: • AMF’s knowledge about network traffic conditions, such as an expected downlink traffic on a certain network slice over other network slices; • a certain Aoi may be related to area restrictions and thus the AMF may want to obtain exact UE location in RRC INACTIVE state. For instance, the UE may not be served in the area that UE is in, and to avoid the UE being brought to RRC CONNECTED in vain, the AMF may need to know where the UE is located to avoid this; or • Network slice priorities - for instance for high priority slices the AMF may want to know exactly where the UE is in order to build knowledge, gather exact statistics and reduce delay in terms of serving the UE for that network slice compared to other network slices. In some examples the assistance information may comprise a list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with an area of service (AoS) of a network slice. The AMF may indicate, via the assistance information, that for certain (e.g., high priority) network slices that AMF needs to know always the location of the UE within the RNA (i.e., whether the UE is IN / OUT of the AoS) even when UE is in RRC INACTIVE state. At 610, the UE is still in cell 3. PDU sessions related to the 3 network slices may be either released or deactivated and access node 1 decides to bring the UE into RRC INACTIVE state. At 612, access node 1 may send, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA. The information indicating the RNA may be based on the received assistance information for RNA construction discussed previously. For example, the RNA may comprise {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3}. At 614, access node 1 may send, to the AMF, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more Aois as described previously. For example, with the UE being in cell 3, the example Aois described previously, and the RNA = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3}, then location information may indicate: Aoi 1 = IN, Aoi 2 = UNKNOWN, Aoi 3 = UNKNOWN. At 616 the AMF may receive a downlink data request for network slice 1 for the UE. Following the earlier example, since the AMF possesses information that UE is within the RNA, and in particular that the UE is within Aoi 1, the AMF may know where to page the UE to deliver the downlink data. The AMF may therefore configure the appropriate access node(s) to page the UE for delivering the downlink data. At 618, the UE may move outside of the RNA while in RRC INACTIVE state / mode. For example, the UE may move to cell 4 outside of RNA that is controlled by access node 2. At 620, based on determining that it has left the RNA, the UE may send an uplink indication to access node 2. The uplink indication may comprise an RNA update message. In some examples the UE may transition to RRC CONNECTED state to send the uplink indication. At 622, based on the uplink indication received at 620, access node 2 may fetch context information for the UE from access node 1 (if there Xn connection between access nodes 1 and 2) or from the AMF. For example, access node 2 may send information indicating that the UE has moved into the coverage area of access node 2. In response, access node 1 may provide the context information as described previously. At 624, access node 2 may determine to send the UE to RRC INACTIVE state. At 626 access node 2 may send, to the UE, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating the RNA (based on the context information including the assistance information received from access node 1 or the AMF). While the sending of the assistance information at 608 and receiving the location information at 614 are described above as being performed by the AMF, it should be understood that in some examples a different core network function may perform these steps. For example, these steps may be performed by an SMF or other network function (NF) of the 5GS. Reference is made to FIG. 7a and 7b, which shows methods according to some examples. In particular, FIG. 7a shows a method that may be performed by a UE, and FIG. 7b shows a method that may be performed by a core network function (e.g., an AMF or SMF). With reference to FIG. 7a, at 700 the method comprises receiving, from a core network node, information indicating an Area of Service (AoS) for at least one network slice. At 702 the method comprises receiving a request from a first access node to transition into RRC INACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a RAN Notification Area (RNA). At 704, the method comprises determining that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the AoS of the at least one slice. At 706, the method comprises, based on the determining, sending, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the AoS of the at least one network slice. With reference to FIG. 7b, at 708 the method comprises sending a request to a user equipment (UE) to transition the UE into RRC INACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a RAN Notification Area (RNA). At 710 the method comprises receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the Area of Service of the at least one network slice. At 712, the method comprises sending, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the AoS of the at least one network slice. In some examples the first access node and the second access node may be the same access node - for example the UE may move from one cell served by the access node that is within the RNA to another cell served by the access node that is outside the RNA. Alternatively, the first access node and second access node may be different access nodes. In some examples the core network node may send, to the UE, assistance information indicating that the user equipment is requested to send the uplink indication when the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the AoS of the at least one network slice. Having received the assistance information, the UE may then send the uplink indication when the UE leaves the AoS of the at least one network slice. In some examples the uplink indication may comprise an RNA update message or a radio preamble. The uplink indication to be used by the UE may be configured by the access node. For example, the uplink indication to be used may be configured when requesting the UE to transition to the RRC INACTIVE state. In some examples the uplink indication may indicate a network slice (e.g., S-NSSAI) of which the UE is outside the AoS. In some examples, when the uplink indication comprises a radio preamble, the access node may configure the UE to send a different radio preamble per network slice. In this way the access node may determine which network slice the uplink indication relates to. Reference is made to FIG. 8, which shows a signalling exchange according to some examples. At 800, the UE joins the network and requests registration with network slices 1, 2 and 3. For example, the UE may send a request comprising single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) = {slice 1, slice 2, slice 3}. At 802 the AMF may determine whether the UE is allowed to use the requested network slices, and may send, to the UE, information indicating a registration area (RA) comprising tracking areas (TAs) 1, 2, and 3. The AMF may also provide an Allowed NSSAI to the UE that indicates network slices 2 and 3 are supported in all TAs of the RA, and a Partially Allowed NSSAI that indicates network slice 1 is supported in TA1 of the RA. Network slice 1 may be supported in TA1, but may not be available in all cells of TA1, and so the AMF may also provide to the UE a list of cells where network slice 1 can receive service. This may for example be indicated in the network slice (NS) area of service (AoS) of network slice 1 that for example includes cells 1,2 and 3. The AMF may also at 802 send, to the UE, the assistance information indicating that the user equipment is requested to send the uplink indication when the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the AoS of the at least one network slice. At 804, the UE is located in cell 3 that is controlled by access node 1 and establishes PDU sessions with all slices in the Allowed / Partially Allowed NSSAI namely slice 1, slice 2 and slice 3. At 806 the AMF may send a request for reporting a UE’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest (e.g., a LOCATION REPORTING CONTROL message) to access node 1. The request may be to request the access node to report the UE’s current location or UE’s last known location or UE’s presence in the area of interest (Aoi). For example, the AMF may request access node 1 to report location reporting for Aois related to 3 slices as follows: • Slice 1: Aoi 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3} • Slice 2: Aoi 2 = {cell 2, cell 3, cell 4} • Slice 3: Aoi 3 = {cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6} At 808, the UE is still in cell 3. PDU sessions related to the 3 network slices may be either released or deactivated and access node 1 decides to bring the UE into RRC INACTIVE state. At 810, access node 1 may send, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA. The information indicating the RNA may be based on the received assistance information for RNA construction. For example, the RNA may comprise {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6}. In some examples, at step 810 the access node 1 may also indicate, to the user equipment, a different radio preamble per network slice for the user equipment to use when sending the uplink indication. At 812, access node 1 may send, to the AMF, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more Aois as described previously. For example, with the UE being in cell 3, the example Aois described previously, and the RNA = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6}, then location information may indicate: Aoi 1 = UNKNOWN, Aoi 2 = UNKNOWN, Aoi 3 = UNKNOWN. At 814, the UE may move within the RNA while in RRC INACTIVE. For example, the UE may move to cell 4 that is controlled by access node 2. At 816 the UE may determine that the cell it has moved to (in this example cell 4) is within the RNA but outside the AoS of network slice 1. At 818, based on the determination at 816, the UE may send an uplink indication to the access node providing the cell the UE has moved into, which in this example is access node 2. The uplink indication may be as described previously. At 820, access node 2 may send an indication to the AMF to indicate that the UE has moved outside the AoS of network slice 1. Based on the indication, the AMF may then provide information to access node 2 to indicate how to handle the UE. For instance, the AMF may provide information including RNA construction information, or the AMF may update the UE with new network slice information. In some examples, access node 2 may store the indication and send the indication when a triggering condition is fulfilled. For example, the triggering condition may be the access node receiving a paging request for the UE for downlink data associated with the network slice that the UE has moved out of the AoS of slice 1. The access node may send an indication of failure, including the uplink indication, upon receiving the paging request from the AMF (since the access node knows the UE is no longer within the required AoS for that network slice). Reference is made to FIG. 9a and 9b, which shows methods according to some examples. In particular, FIG. 9a shows a method that may be performed by an access node, and FIG. 9b shows a method that may be performed by a core network function (e.g., an AMF or SMF). With reference to FIG. 9a, at 900 the method comprises receiving, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. At 902 the method comprises sending, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA. At 904 the method comprises sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. With reference to Fig. 9b, at 906 the method comprises sending, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. At 908 the method comprises receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. Each of the one or more sub-RNAs may comprise one or more cells within which the UE can move while in RRC INACTIVE state without notifying an access node. Each of the one or more sub-RNAs may be associated with one of the one or more Aois. For example, if Aoi 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3}, then sub-RNA 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3}. In some examples the request for reporting the user equipment’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest may comprise a request for reporting the user equipment’s location as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest, but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. Sending the information indicating the RNA and the one or more sub-RNAs may be based on receiving the request for reporting the user equipment’s location as either inside or outside the one or more areas of interest, but not unknown with respect to the one or more areas of interest. In some examples, the UE may send, to the access node, an uplink indication indicating that the UE has moved from one of the sub-RNAs to outside that sub-RNA. For example, the UE may have moved from cell 1 (in sub-RNA 1) to cell 4 (outside sub-RNA 1) and may send an uplink indication accordingly. The access node, upon receiving the uplink indication from the UE, may send the location information to the core network node based on receiving the uplink indication. The location information may indicate, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of: • inside the area of interest (when the sub- RNA is completely within the area of interest); or • outside the area of interest (when the sub-RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest). In some examples the UE may move outside the sub-RNA to a cell provided by a further access node. The cell provided by the further access node may be in another sub-RNA or may be outside the RNA. The further access node may send, to the access node, information indicating that the UE has moved into the coverage area of the further access node. Based on this information, the access node may send, to the further access node, context information associated with the UE. The context information may indicate the RNA and the one or more sub-RNAs. In some examples the uplink indication may comprise an RNA update message or a radio preamble. The uplink indication to be used by the UE may be configured by the access node. For example, the uplink indication to be used may be configured when requesting the UE to transition to the RRC INACTIVE state. The uplink indication to be used may be configured per network slice or per network slice area of service - for example the UE may be configured to send a first radio preamble when the UE is inside the AoS of network slice 1, and a second radio preamble when the UE is inside the AoS of network slice 2. Reference is made to FIG. 10, which shows a signalling exchange according to some examples. At 1000, the UE joins the network and requests registration with network slices 1, 2 and 3. For example, the UE may send a request comprising single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) = {slice 1, slice 2, slice 3}. At 1002 the AMF may determine whether the UE is allowed to use the requested network slices, and may send, to the UE, information indicating a registration area (RA) comprising tracking areas (TAs) 1, 2, and 3. The AMF may also provide an Allowed NSSAI to the UE that indicates network slices 2 and 3 are supported in all TAs of the RA, and a Partially Allowed NSSAI that indicates network slice 1 is supported in TA1 of the RA. Network slice 1 may be supported in TA1 (e.g., network slice 1 may have access to resources in TA1), but may not be supported in all cells of TA1 (e.g., network slice 1 may have access to resources in some cells in TA1 but not all cells in TA1), and so the AMF may also provide to the UE a list of cells where network slice 1 can receive service. This may for example be indicated in the network slice (NS) area of service (AoS) of network slice 1 that for example includes cells 1, 2 and 3. At 1004, the UE is located in cell 3 that is controlled by access node 1 and establishes PDU sessions with all slices in the Allowed / Partially Allowed NSSAI namely slice 1, slice 2 and slice 3. At 1006 the AMF may send a request for reporting a UE’s location with respect to the one or more areas of interest (e.g., a LOCATION REPORTING CONTROL message) to access node 1. The request may be to request the access node to report the UE’s current location or UE’s last known location or UE’s presence in the area of interest (Aoi). For example the AMF may request access node 1 to report location reporting for Aois related to 3 slices, Aoi 1 related to slice 1, Aoi 2 related to slice 2 and Aoi 3 related to slice 3 as follows: • Aoi 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3} • Aoi 2 = {cell 2, cell 3, cell 4} • Aoi 3 = {cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6} At 1008, the UE is still in cell 3. PDU sessions related to the 3 network slices may be either released or deactivated and access node 1 decides to bring the UE into RRC INACTIVE state. At 1010, access node 1 may send, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA and one or more sub-RNAs as described previously. For example, the RNA may comprise {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6}, and each sub-RNA may correspond to one of the Aois received at 1006, for example: • Sub-RNA 1 = Aoi 1 = {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3} • Sub-RNA 2 = Aoi 2 = {cell 2, cell 3, cell 4} • Sub-RNA 3 = Aoi 3 = {cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, cell 6} At 1012, access node 1 may send, to the AMF, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more Aois as described previously. At 1014, the UE may move outside the current sub-RNA while in RRC INACTIVE. For example, the UE may move from cell 3 (in sub-RNA 1) to cell 4 (outside sub-RNA 1). At 1016 the UE may determine that the cell it has moved to (in this example cell 4) is outside the sub-RNA 1. At 1018, based on the determination at 1016, the UE may send an uplink indication to the access node. The uplink indication may indicate that the UE has moved outside sub-RNA 1, and optionally may include an indication of the cell the UE has moved into. The uplink indication may be as described previously. At 1020, the access node may send, to the AMF, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more Aois as described previously. Examples have been described whereby the UE may be configured with an RNA, which in some examples may comprise one or more sub-RNAs. When the UE moves outside of the RNA (or outside of the sub-RNA) while in RRC INACTIVE state, the UE sends an uplink indication to an access node. Based on this indication, the access node may determine whether the UE location is inside, outside, or unknown with respect to one or more Aois. By configuring the RNA (and sub-RNAs) in the manner described above, it may be possible to reduce the number of RNA update messages or paging requests sent between the UE and network, and may help to avoid situations where a UE is paged to receive downlink data for a service that it is no longer able to access due to the change in UE location while in RRC INACTIVE. In some examples there is provided an access node comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; sending, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. In some examples there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; send, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; and send, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a core network node configured to perform: sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC_INACTIVE state; and receive, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells. In some examples there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, information indicating an area of service, AoS, for at least one network slice; receiving a request from a first access node to transition into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request comprising information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; determining that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice; and based on the determining, sending, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. In some examples there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: receive, from a core network node, information indicating an area of service, AoS, for at least one network slice; receive a request from a first access node to transition into RRC_INACTIVE state, the request comprising information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; determine that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice; and send, to a second access node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. In some examples there is provided an access node comprising means for: sending a request to a user equipment to transition the user equipment into RRCJNACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; receiving, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside an area of service of at least one network slice; and sending, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. In some examples there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: send a request to a user equipment to transition the user equipment into RRCJNACTIVE state, the request including information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA; receive, from the user equipment, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside an area of service of at least one network slice; and send, to a core network node, an uplink indication indicating that the user equipment is within the RNA but outside the area of service of the at least one network slice. In some examples there is provided an access node comprising means for: receiving, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; sending, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA; and sending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. In some examples there is provided an access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to: receive, from a core network node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; send, to a user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, and one or more sub-RNAs, each sub-RNA comprising a subset of the RNA; and send, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a core network node configured to perform: sending, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; and receiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: send, to an access node, a request for reporting a user equipment’s location with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells; and receive, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest. FIG. 11 shows a schematic representation of non-volatile memory media 1100a (e.g., computer disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD)) and 1100b (e.g. universal serial bus (USB) memory stick) storing instructions and / or parameters 1102 which when executed by a processor allow the processor to perform one or more of the steps of the method of any of FIGs. 5, 7 or 9. It is understood that references in the above to various network functions (e.g., to an AMF, an SMF, etc.) may be implemented by apparatus that perform at least some of the functionality associated with those network functions. Further, an apparatus configured to implement a network function may further be configured to implement a virtual network function instance of that network function. It should be understood that the apparatuses may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and / or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities. It is noted that whilst some example embodiments have been described in relation to 5G networks, similar example embodiments can be applied in relation to other networks and communication systems. Therefore, although certain example embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, further example embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein. It is also noted herein that there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the various example embodiments described herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure. As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements. As used herein, the expression “and / or” includes any and all combinations of the listed terms, including at least any one of the elements, at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements. As used herein, the term “or” refers to a non-exclusive “or” unless otherwise indicated (e.g., use of “or else” or “or in the alternative”). As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included. Analogously, performing a step or functionality “based on A” does not indicate that the step or functionality is performed solely based on “A” as one or more additional conditions may be included. In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting and illustrative examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof. As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that utilizes software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not utilized for operation.” This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term herein, including in any claims. As a further example, as used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device. The embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and / or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computerexecutable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it. Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the FIGs. may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media, such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media, such as DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (e.g., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may comprise one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Various example embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in various components, such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate. The scope of protection sought for various example embodiments of the disclosure is set out by the independent claims. The example embodiments and features thereof, if any, described in this disclosure that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various example embodiments of the disclosure. The foregoing description has provided, by way of non-limiting and illustrative examples, a full and informative description of the various example embodiments of this disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of this disclosure, when read in conjunction with the drawings and the claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings will still fall within the various example embodiments of this disclosure. By way of non-limiting and illustrative example, there is a further example embodiment comprising a combination of one or more example embodiments with any of the other example embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

1. An access node comprising means for:receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC INACTIVE state;sending, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; andsending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells.

2. The access node of claim 1, wherein the means is further for:receiving, from the core network node, a request for reporting the user equipment location with respect to the one or more areas of interest;wherein sending the location information associated with the user equipment is based on the received request.

3. The access node of claim 1 or 2, wherein the location information indicates, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of:inside, when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest;outside, when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest; orunknown, when at least one cell of the RNA is within the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest.

4. The access node of claim 3, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of:one or more area of interest identifiers identifying a respective one or more areas of interest for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown;a list of cells and / or areas of interest to be included in the RNA; ora list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with an area of service of a network slice.

5. The access node of any preceding claim, wherein the means is further for:receiving, from a further access node, information indicating that the user equipment has moved into a coverage area of the further access node; andbased on the information indicating that the user equipment has moved into the coverage area of the further access node, sending, to the further access node, context information associated with the user equipment, the context information including the assistance information.

6. The access node of any preceding claim, wherein the assistance information is received from an access and mobility management function or a session management function.

7. The access node of any preceding claims wherein the assistance information is received in at least one of:a Next Generation Application Protocol, NGAP, Initial Context Setup Request message,an NGAP Handover Request message,an NGAP Location Control message.

8. An apparatus comprising means for providing a core network node configured to perform:sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC INACTIVE state; andreceiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the means is further for:sending, to the access node, a request for reporting the user equipment location with respect to the one or more areas of interest;wherein receiving the location information associated with the user equipment is based on the sent request.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein the location information indicates, for each of the one or more areas of interest, that a last known location of the user equipment is one of:inside, when the RNA is completely inside the area of interest;outside, when the RNA does not contain any part of the area of interest; orunknown, when at least one cell of the RNA is inside the area of interest and at least one cell of the RNA is outside the area of interest.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of:one of a plurality of area of interest identifiers for which the access node is to report inside or outside but not unknown;a list of cells and / or areas of interest to be included in RNA; ora list of network slices for which the access node is requested to report either inside or outside but not unknown for the area of interest associated with the area of service of a network slice.

12. The apparatus of any of claims 8 to 11, wherein the core network node is an access and mobility management function or a session management function.

13. The apparatus of any of claims 8 to 12, wherein the assistance information is sent to the access node in at least one of:an NGAP Initial Context Setup Request message,an NGAP Handover Request message,an NGAP Location Control message.

14. An access node comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the access node at least to:receive, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC INACTIVE state;send, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; andsend, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells.

15. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:send, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC INACTIVE state; andreceive, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells.

16. A method comprising:receiving, from a core network node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC INACTIVE state;sending, to the user equipment, an indication to transition the user equipment to RRC INACTIVE state and information indicating an RNA, wherein the information indicating the RNA is based on the received assistance information; andsending, to the core network node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells.

17. A method comprising:sending, to an access node, assistance information for configuring a Radio Access Network, RAN, Notification Area, RNA, for user equipment location reporting when a user equipment is in RRC INACTIVE state; andreceiving, from the access node, location information associated with the user equipment with respect to the one or more areas of interest, each area of interest comprising one or more cells.Application No: GB2406468.5 Examiner:Contract Unit ExaminerClaims searched: 1-17Date of search: 16 January 2025Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance X Y 1-4, 6, 8-12, 14-17 Y: 5, 7, 13 3GPP DRAFT, vol SA WG2, 2017, HUAWEI ET AL, "TS 23.501: Further clarification on the area of interest from AMF provided to the RAN" pages 1-3 A 3GPP STANDARD, vol SA WG2, 2024, "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Procedures for the 5G System (5GS); Stage 2 (Release 18)", pages 1-924 URL: https: / / ftp.3gpp.org / Specs / archive / 23_series / 23.502 / 23502-i50.zip pages 260-262 ............ Y 7, 13 3GPP DRAFT, vol RAN WG3, 2018, LG ELECTRONICS INC ET AL, "Further consideration on RRC Inactive Assistance Information" page 6 Y 5 3GPP DRAFT, vol RAN WG3, 2018, ERICSSON ET AL, "Support of AMF initiated update of UE associated signalling connection properties -TP for 38.413" page 2Categories:X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive step A Document indicating technological background and / or state of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of same category. before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:Search of GB. EP, WO &US patent documents classified in the following areas of the UKCX :Worldwide search of patent documents classified in the following areas of the IPC____________H04W____________________________________________The following online and other databases have been used in the preparation of this search reportInternational Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From H04W 0004 / 021 01 / 01 / 2018 H04W 0004 / 02 01 / 01 / 2018 H04W 0064 / 00 01 / 01 / 2009 H04W 0076 / 27 01 / 01 / 2018

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