Systems and methods for supporting tracking areas for satellite wireless access

Abstract

This paper describes a technique for supporting satellite radio access for user equipment (UE) using fixed tracking areas (TAs). A base station broadcasts a TA identification (TAI) in the satellite radio cell, indicating which TA the radio cell covers. If at least one broadcast TAI is not prohibited for the UE, the UE can access the radio cell. The base station provides the core network node with the broadcast TAI in the radio cell and the TAI of the TA the UE is located in to support UE access. The core network node uses the broadcast TAI to determine whether UE access is permitted and uses the broadcast TAI and TAI to allocate UE registration areas. If UE access is denied by the core network node, the UE can transfer all broadcast TAIs to a prohibited TAI list.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This patent application claims U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 17 / 705,197, filed March 25, 2022, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SUPPORTING TRACKING AREAS FOR SATELLITE WIRELESS ACCESS"; U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 231,239, filed August 9, 2021, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING AREA SUPPORT WITH HARD AND SOFT TRACKING AREA UPDATE"; Greek Application No. 20210100552, filed August 13, 2021, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING AREA SUPPORT WITH HARD AND SOFT TRACKING AREA UPDATE"; and Application No. 20210100552, filed October 4, 2021, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING AREA SUPPORT WITH HARD AND SOFT TRACKING AREA UPDATE". The rights and priorities of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 252,149, entitled “Systems and Methods for Tracking Area Support with Hard and Soft Tracking Area Update”, filed on October 18, 2021, and Greek Application No. 20210100709 entitled “Systems and Methods for Tracking Area Support with Hard and Soft Tracking Area Update”, are assigned to the assignee of this application and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The various scenarios described in this article are generally about wireless communication systems, and more specifically, about accessing wireless networks using communication satellites. Prior Technology

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, and broadcasting. These systems can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiplexing access systems include fourth-generation (4G) systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth-generation (5G) systems, which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), or Discrete Fourier Transform Extended Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (DFT-S-OFDM). Wireless multiplexing access communication systems may include multiple base stations or network access nodes, each supporting communication from multiple communication devices simultaneously; each of these communication devices may also be referred to as User Equipment (UE).

[0004] Standardization is underway to combine satellite-based communication systems with terrestrial wireless communication systems, such as 5G New Radio (NR) networks. In such systems, the UE will access satellites (also known as spacecraft (SV)) instead of base stations. The satellites will connect to earth stations (also known as ground stations or non-terrestrial network (NTN) gateways), which will then connect to the 5G network (e.g., directly or via base stations). The 5G network can be viewed as another radio access technology (RAT) distinct from but similar to terrestrial 5G NR.

[0005] Because satellites typically differ from terrestrial base stations in the size of their coverage area, the movement of that coverage area, the longer propagation delay, and the different carrier frequency patterns, satellite RATs may require different implementations than terrestrial RATs to support shared services for end users. One example of a different implementation could be support for tracking areas within the network coverage area. Therefore, optimizing for such different implementations and minimizing their impact is likely preferable. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This paper describes a technique for supporting satellite radio access for user equipment (UE) using fixed tracking areas (TAs). A base station broadcasts a TA identification (TAI) in the satellite radio cell, indicating which TA the radio cell covers. If at least one broadcast TAI is not prohibited for the UE, the UE can access the radio cell. The base station provides the core network node with the broadcast TAI in the radio cell and the TAI of the TA the UE is located in to support UE access. The core network node uses the broadcast TAI to determine whether UE access is permitted and uses the broadcast TAI and TAI to allocate UE registration areas. If UE access is denied by the core network node, the UE can transfer all broadcast TAIs to a prohibited TAI list.

[0007] In one implementation, a method is performed by a radio access network (RAN) node to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), wherein the method includes the steps of: broadcasting one or more tracking area (TA) identifications (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell; receiving a non-access stratum (NAS) message from the UE, the NAS message being sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell; determining the TA in which the UE is located; and sending a NAS message to a core network node, wherein the NAS message includes the TAI for the TA in which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0008] In one embodiment, a radio access network (RAN) node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN) includes: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with network entities; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: broadcast one or more tracking area (TA) identifiers (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell via the external interface; receive non-access stratum (NAS) messages from a UE via the external interface, the NAS messages being sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell; determine the TA in which the UE is located; and send NAS messages to a core network node via the external interface, wherein the NAS messages include the TAI for the TA in which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0009] In one embodiment, a radio access network (RAN) node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN) includes: components for broadcasting one or more tracking area (TA) identifiers (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell; components for receiving non-access stratum (NAS) messages from the UE, the NAS messages being sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell; components for determining the TA where the UE is located; and components for sending NAS messages to a core network node, wherein the NAS messages include the TAI for the TA where the UE is located and one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0010] In one embodiment, a non-transitory storage medium includes code stored therein, wherein the code is operable to configure at least one processor in a radio access network (RAN) node to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), and wherein the code includes instructions for: broadcasting one or more tracking area (TA) identifications (TAIs) in the satellite radio cell; receiving a non-access stratum (NAS) message from the UE, the NAS message being sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell; determining the TA in which the UE is located; and sending a NAS message to a core network node, wherein the NAS message includes the TAI for the TA in which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0011] In one implementation, a method is performed by a core network node to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN), wherein the method includes the steps of: receiving a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; determining, based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell; and in response to the decision that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell, sending a NAS Accept message to the UE.

[0012] In one embodiment, a core network node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) includes: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with network entities; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the external interface, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor are configured to: receive, via the external interface, a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifiers (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; determine, based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell; and, in response to the decision that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell, send a NAS acceptance message to the UE via the external interface.

[0013] In one embodiment, a core network node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) includes: components for receiving a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, wherein the NAS request message is sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, and the one or more TAIs include an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; components for determining whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and components for sending a NAS acceptance message to the UE in response to the decision that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell.

[0014] In one embodiment, a non-transitory storage medium includes code stored therein, wherein the code is operable to configure at least one processor in a core network node for supporting user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and wherein the code includes instructions for: receiving a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; determining whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and sending a NAS acceptance message to the UE in response to the decision that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell.

[0015] In one implementation, a method is performed by a user equipment (UE) to support satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), wherein the method includes the steps of: receiving a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determining, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, sending a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node; and receiving a NAS response message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node from a core network node in the satellite radio cell.

[0016] In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) configured to support satellite radio access to a Public Land Operations Network (PLMN) includes: a radio transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with a network entity; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the radio transceiver, wherein the at least one memory and the at least one processor are configured to: receive via the radio transceiver a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determine via the radio transceiver, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, send a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message via the radio transceiver to a core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and receive via the radio transceiver a NAS response message from the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell.

[0017] In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) configured to support satellite radio access to a Public Land Operations Network (PLMN) includes: means for receiving a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast in a satellite radio cell by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; means for determining whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on the plurality of TAIs; means for sending a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; and means for receiving a NAS response message from the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell.

[0018] In one embodiment, a non-transitory storage medium includes: code stored therein, wherein the code is operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) for supporting satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN), and wherein the code includes instructions for: receiving a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determining, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, sending a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node; and receiving a NAS response message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node from the core network node. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0019] Figure 1 illustrates a communication system with a network architecture that includes a transparent spacecraft (SV) capable of supporting satellite access to wireless networks.

[0020] Figure 2 illustrates a communication system with a network architecture that features a regenerated SV capable of supporting satellite access wireless networks.

[0021] Figure 3 illustrates a communication system with a network architecture that includes a regenerated SV and a separate satellite node B (gNB) architecture capable of supporting satellite access wireless networks.

[0022] Figure 4 illustrates the SV that generates multiple beams over a region that includes multiple countries.

[0023] Figure 5 illustrates a radio cell generated by SV in an area comprising multiple fixed cells.

[0024] Figure 6 illustrates the allocation of radio cells generated by SV to fixed tracking areas (TA).

[0025] Figure 7 illustrates an example of an environment including a radio cell, which includes a tracking area covered by the radio cell.

[0026] Figure 8 illustrates an example of an environment including a radio cell, which includes a tracking area covered by the radio cell, wherein the radio cell broadcasts tracking area identification (TAI) for some of the tracking area.

[0027] Figure 9 illustrates the signal transmission process of various messages sent between components of a communication network in a program that supports TAI updates.

[0028] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a UE configured to support the TAI update discussed herein.

[0029] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a core network node configured to support the TAI updates discussed herein.

[0030] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a network node configured to support the TAI updates discussed herein.

[0031] Figure 13 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure executed by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node to support user equipment’s satellite radio access to the Public Land Operations Network (PLMN).

[0032] Figure 14 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure executed by a core network node to support user equipment’s satellite radio access to the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN).

[0033] Figure 15 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure executed by a user equipment (UE) to support the UE's satellite radio access to the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN).

[0034] According to certain exemplary embodiments, the same element symbols in the various figures indicate the same element. Furthermore, multiple examples of an element can be indicated by adding a letter or a hyphen followed by a second value after the first value of the element. For example, multiple examples of element 102 can be indicated as 102-1, 102-2, 102-3, etc. When only the first value is used to represent the element, it will be understood as any example of that element (e.g., element 102 in the previous example would represent elements 102-1, 102-2, and 102-3). Implementation

[0035] Satellites, also known as spacecraft (SVs) or communications satellites, can be used in communication systems, for example, by using gateways and one or more satellites to relay communication signals between the gateway and one or more UEs. For instance, a UE can access a satellite (instead of a ground base station) that can connect to an earth station (ES), also known as a ground station or non-terrestrial network (NTN) gateway. The earth station then connects to elements in the network, such as modified base stations (without ground antennas) or network nodes in the core network (CN). This element then provides access to other elements in the network and ultimately to external entities, such as internet web servers and other user equipment.

[0036] The fundamental principle of satellite access for UEs can be understood as ubiquitous outdoor coverage for both users and mobile network service providers (MNOs). For example, in many countries, including the United States, unavailable or poor cellular coverage is a common problem. Furthermore, even with generally good cellular coverage, cellular access is not always achievable. For instance, cellular access can be hampered by congestion, physical obstacles, weather conditions such as hurricanes or tornadoes causing local cellular outages, or local power outages. Satellite access cellular networks can provide a new, independent access method that is available everywhere outdoors. Current mobile phones with satellite capabilities for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) SV can be similar in size to cellular smartphones; therefore, mobile NRs supporting satellite capabilities do not require a significant increase in phone size. Furthermore, satellite-capable smartphones can help drive sales of handheld phones and increase telephone company revenue. Potential users could include anyone with limited or no cellular access, anyone wishing to have cellular access as a backup, and anyone involved in public safety or requiring (nearly) 100% reliable mobile communications. Additionally, some users may expect improved or more reliable emergency services (such as E911) for medical emergencies or vehicle breakdowns in remote areas.

[0037] Using satellite access can offer other benefits. For example, satellite access can reduce infrastructure costs for mobile network service providers (MNOs). MNOs can use satellite access to reduce the need for ground base stations (such as NR NodeBs, also known as gNBs) and backhaul deployments in sparsely populated areas. Furthermore, satellite access can be used to overcome internet congestion in some countries, for example. Additionally, satellite access can provide diversification for spacecraft service providers (SVOs). For example, 5G NR satellite access can provide an additional revenue stream for SVOs that would otherwise offer fixed internet access.

[0038] Terrestrial networks (TN) using terrestrial cellular base stations can support relatively small fixed radio cells (e.g., 100 meters to 10 km from one side to the other) with precisely known geographic coverage areas. This allows TN service providers to subdivide their overall service area into fixed tracking areas (TAs), each consisting of multiple fixed radio cells. Tracking areas allow service providers to control user access (e.g., defining certain geographic areas accessible only to a subset of users) and charge users based on their approximate location. Radio cells provide service providers with granular access control and granular billing identification, and can be used for routing purposes and to support Wireless Emergency Alarms (WEA). For example, a request from a UE to establish an emergency call to the TN may include the UE's current serving radio cell, which the TN can use to route the emergency call to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) serving the area of ​​the serving radio cell. In addition, when a WEA message needs to be broadcast to all UEs currently located in the destination area within a predefined destination area, the TN can instruct the WEA message to be broadcast only within such a radio cell whose coverage area is within or partially within the destination area.

[0039] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is defining satellite access for UEs. A primary objective in defining satellite access is to minimize or avoid new impacts on the Network Center (CN). One method to avoid or minimize these impacts is to retain support for Fixed Tracking Areas (TAs). Fixed TAs can be geographically defined by Operations and Maintenance (O&M), and this geographical definition is provided to base stations (e.g., eNBs and / or gNBs) and the CN. Subsequently, when a signaling connection for the UE is established, the base station can determine the fixed TA the UE is located in based on the UE's current geographical location and can provide the TA's identifier (ID) to network nodes within the CN (e.g., Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF)). Network nodes can then use the fixed TA information to send paging messages to the UE via one or more base stations. Using fixed TAs can help reduce or minimize new CN impacts.

[0040] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture 100 capable of supporting satellite access using 5G New Radio (NR). Figure 1 illustrates a network architecture with a Transparent Space Vehicle (SV). The Transparent SV can implement frequency conversion and radio frequency (RF) amplification in both the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) directions and can correspond to an analog RF repeater. For example, the Transparent SV can receive uplink (UL) signals from all served UEs and can redirect the combined signal DL to the earth station without demodulating or decoding the signal. Similarly, the Transparent SV can receive UL signals from the earth station and redirect the signal DL to the served UEs without demodulating or decoding the signal. However, the SV can perform frequency conversion on the received signal and can amplify and / or filter the received signal before transmission.

[0041] Network architecture 100 includes multiple UEs 105, multiple SVs 102-1 to 102-3 (collectively referred to herein as SV 102), multiple non-terrestrial network (NTN) gateways 104-1 to 104-3 (collectively referred to herein as NTN gateway 104) (sometimes referred to herein as gateway 104, earth station 104, or ground station 104), and multiple NR NodeBs (gNBs) 106-1 to 106-3 (collectively referred to herein as gNB 106) capable of communicating with UEs via SV 102 and being part of a next-generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 112. It should be noted that the term gNB generally refers to an enhanced gNB supporting SVs and can be referred to as gNB (e.g., in 3GPP), or sometimes as satellite NodeB (sNB). Network architecture 100 is shown as also including elements of a plurality of fifth-generation (5G) networks, including 5G core networks (5GCN) 110-1 and 110-2 (collectively referred to herein as 5GCN 110). 5GCN 110 may be a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that may be located in the same or different countries. Figure 1 illustrates various elements in 5GCN1 110-1 that may operate together with NG-RAN 112. It should be understood that 5GCN2 110-2 and other 5GCNs may include the same, similar or different elements and associated NG-RANs, and to avoid unnecessary confusion, such elements and associated NG-RANs are not illustrated in Figure 1. 5G networks may also be referred to as New Radio (NR) networks; NG-RAN 112 may be referred to as 5G RAN or NR RAN; and 5GCN 110 may be referred to as NG core network (NGC).

[0042] Network architecture 100 may also utilize information from spacecraft (SV) 190 for satellite positioning systems (SPS), including Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou, or some other local or regional SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), or Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), all of which are sometimes referred to herein as GNSS. It should be noted that SV 190 acts as a navigation SV and is separate from and distinct from SV 102, which acts as a communications SV. However, it is not excluded that some SV 190s may also act as some SV 102s and / or some SV 102s may also act as some SV 190s. For example, in some embodiments, SV 102 may be used for both communications and positioning simultaneously. Additional elements of network architecture 100 are described below. Network architecture 100 may include additional or alternative elements.

[0043] In a network architecture 100 with a transparent SV as shown in Figure 1, permitted connections allow a gNB 106 to access multiple earth stations 104 and / or multiple SVs 102. For example, a gNB 106 illustrated as gNB 106-3 can also be shared by multiple PLMNs (5GCN 110), which may all be in the same country or may be in different countries, and earth stations 104 illustrated as earth stations 104-2 can be shared by more than one gNB 106.

[0044] It should be noted that Figure 1 provides only a general overview of the various components; any or all of these components can be used appropriately, and each component can be copied or omitted as needed. Specifically, although only three UEs 105 are illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) can utilize network architecture 100. Similarly, network architecture 100 may include more (or fewer) numbers of SVs 190, SV 102, earth stations 104, gNBs 106, NG-RANs 112, 5GCNs 110, external clients 140, and / or other components. The connections of the various components in the illustrated network architecture 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections and / or additional networks. Furthermore, depending on the desired functionality, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted.

[0045] Although Figure 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations can be used to support satellite radio access for other communication technologies, such as 3G, 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. (e.g., using SV 102).

[0046] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), SET supporting Secure User Plane Positioning (SUPL), or other names. Furthermore, UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, tablet, PDA, tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not mandatory, UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High-Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth® (BT), WiMAX, and 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 112 and 5GCN 140). UE 105 may also support wireless communication using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), which can be connected to other networks (such as the Internet) using, for example, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable. UE 105 also supports wireless communication using spacecraft (such as SV 102). The use of one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 to communicate with external client 140 (via a component of 5GCN 110 not shown in Figure 1, or possibly via Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 126).

[0047] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where users may use audio, video and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors, as well as separate wired or wireless modems.

[0048] UE 105 can support positioning decisions, for example, using signals and information from Spacecraft 190 in an SPS such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou, or some other local or regional SPS such as IRNSS, EGNOS, or WAAS; all of these can be collectively referred to herein as GNSS. Positioning measurements using SPS are based on measurements of the propagation delay of SPS signals broadcast from multiple orbiting satellites to the SPS receiver in UE 105. Once the SPS receiver has measured the signal propagation delay for each satellite, the distance to each satellite can be determined, and subsequently, precise navigation information (including the SPS receiver's three-dimensional position, velocity, and time) can be determined using the measured distances and the known positions of the satellites. Positioning methods that can be supported using SV 190 can include Auxiliary GNSS (A-GNSS), Real-Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), and Differential GNSS (DGNSS). Information and signals from SV 102 can also be used to support positioning. UE 105 can also support positioning using terrestrial positioning methods, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), round-trip time of propagation (RTT), multi-cell RTT, angle of arrival (AOA), angle of departure (AOD), time of arrival (TOA), receive-transmit transmission time difference (Rx-Tx), and / or other positioning methods.

[0049] An estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as geodetic location, location, location estimate, location pinpoint, pinpoint, location, location estimate, or location pinpoint, and may be geographic, thus providing the location coordinates of UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude), which may or may not include an elevation component (e.g., height above sea level, height above ground level, floor level, or basement level, or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be represented as an urban location (e.g., as a postal address or designation of a point or small area within a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 205 may also be represented as an area or volume in which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.) (defined in geographic or urban form). The location of UE 105 can further be a relative location, including, for example, distance and direction defined relative to an origin at a known location, or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates, which can be geographically defined, by city name, or by a point, area, or volume indicated on a reference map, plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, unless otherwise stated, the use of the term "location" can include any of these variations. When calculating the location of the UE, typically the local x, y, and possibly z coordinates are solved, and subsequently, if necessary, the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0050] UE 105 is configured to communicate with 5GCN 110 via SV 102, earth station 104, and gNB 106. As shown in NG-RAN 112, the NG-RAN associated with 5GCN 110 may include one or more gNBs 106. NG-RAN 112 may also include multiple ground base stations, such as gNBs (not shown), which cannot communicate with the UE via SV 102 (not shown). Pairs of ground and / or satellite base stations, such as gNBs and gNB 106-1 in NG-RAN 112, can be connected to each other using terrestrial links, such as direct connections or indirect connections via other gNBs or gNBs 106, and communicate using the Xn interface. Access to the 5G network is provided to UE 105 via radio communication between each UE 105 and the serving gNB 106 via SV 102 and earth station 104. The gNB 106 can use 5G NR to provide radio access to the 5GCN 110 on behalf of each UE 105. 5G NR radio access can also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access, and can be defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0051] The base station (BS) in NG-RAN 112 shown in Figure 1 may, or alternatively, include a next-generation evolution node B (also known as an ng-eNB). The ng-eNB may connect to one or more gNBs 106 and / or gNBs in NG-RAN 112, for example, directly or indirectly via other gNBs 106, gNBs, and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to UE 105.

[0052] The gNB 106 may be referred to by other names, such as gNB, "satellite node," or "satellite access node." The gNB 106 differs from a terrestrial gNB but can be based on a terrestrial gNB with additional capabilities. For example, the gNB 106 can terminate the radio interface and associated radio interface protocols to the UE 105, and can transmit DL signals to and receive UL signals from the UE 105 via SV 102 and Earth Station (ES) 104. The gNB 106 can also support signaling connections to the UE 105, as well as voice and data bearers, and can support handover between different radio cells within the same SV 102, between different SV 102s, and / or between different gNBs 106. In some systems, the gNB 106 may be referred to as a gNB or an enhanced gNB. The gNB 106 can be configured to manage the associated mobility of the mobile radio beam (for LEO SV) and the UE 105. The gNB 106 can assist in the handover (or transfer) of the SV 102 between different earth stations 104, different gNBs 106, and different countries. The gNB 106 can, for example, connect to the 5GCN 110 interface in the same or similar manner as the terrestrial gNB, hiding or concealing the specific configuration of the connected SV 102 from the 5GCN 110, and avoiding the need for the 5GCN 110 to maintain the configuration information of the SV 102 or perform mobility management related to the SV 102. The gNB 106 can also assist in sharing the SV 102 across multiple countries. The gNB 106 can communicate with one or more earth stations 104, for example, as shown in the communication between gNB 106-3 and earth stations 104-2 and 104-3. The gNB 106 can be separate from the earth stations 104. For example, using a separate architecture, the gNB 106 can alternatively include one or more earth stations 104, or can be combined with one or more earth stations 104. For example, in a split architecture, gNB 106 may include a central unit, while earth stations may act as distributed units (DUs). gNB 106 can typically be fixed to the ground via transparent SV operation. In one implementation, a gNB 106 may be physically combined with or connected to an earth station 104 to reduce complexity and cost.

[0053] Earth station 104 can be shared by more than one gNB 106 and can communicate with UE 105 via SV 102. Earth station 104 can be dedicated to a cluster of one SVO and one associated SV 102, and therefore can be owned and managed by the SVO. Earth station 104 can be included within gNB 106, for example as a gNB-DU within gNB 106, which can occur when both gNB 106 and the included earth station 104 are owned by the same SVO or the same MNO. Earth station 104 can communicate with SV 102 using SVO-specific control and user plane protocols. The control and user plane agreement between Earth Station 104 and SV 102 can: (i) establish and release communication links from Earth Station 104 to SV 102, including authentication and encryption; (ii) update SV software and firmware; (iii) perform SV operation and maintenance (O&M); (iv) control radio beams (e.g., direction, power, on / off status) and the mapping between radio beams and Earth Station uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) payloads; and (v) assist SV 102 or radio cells in handover to another Earth Station 104.

[0054] As previously mentioned, although Figure 1 illustrates a node configured to communicate according to the 5G NR communication protocol for NG-RAN 112, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols can be used, such as the LTE protocol for Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), the Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) protocol for E-UTRAN supporting low-bandwidth access using a variant of LTE, or the IEEE 802.11x protocol for WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE radio access to UE 105, the RAN may include an E-UTRAN, which may include base stations including Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) supporting LTE radio access. The core network for the EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may include both an E-UTRAN and an EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 112 in Figure 1 and the EPC corresponds to 5GCN 110. The methods and techniques described in this article for supporting fixed TAs can be applied to other networks of this type.

[0055] The gNB 106 in NG-RAN 112 can communicate with the AMF 122 in 5GCN 110. For positioning functions, the AMF 122 can communicate with the Location Management Function (LMF) 124. For example, the gNB 106 can provide an N2 interface to the AMF 122. The N2 interface between the gNB 106 and 5GCN 110 can be the same as or similar to the N2 interface supported between the terrestrial gNB and 5GCN 110 for terrestrial NR access for UE 105, and the Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.413 can be used between the gNB 106 and the AMF 122. The AMF 122 can support the mobility of UE 105 (including radio cell changes and handover) and can participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and possible data and voice bearers of UE 105. When the UE accesses NG-RAN 112, LMF 124 can support the positioning of UE 105 and can support positioning procedures / methods such as A-GNSS, OTDOA, RTK, PPP, DGNSS, ECID, AOA, AOD, multi-cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures including positioning procedures based on communication signals from one or more SV 102. LMF 124 can also process location service requests from UE 105, such as requests received from AMF 122 or from Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 126. LMF 124 can be connected to AMF 122 and / or GMLC 126. In some embodiments, the node / system implementing LMF 124 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as Enhanced Service Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC). It should be noted that, in some embodiments, at least some of the positioning functions (including deriving the location of UE 105) can be performed at UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements of signals transmitted by SV 102, SV 190, and gNB obtained by UE 105, and auxiliary data provided to UE 105, for example, by LMF 124).

[0056] GMLC 126 can support location requests for UE 105 received from external client 140 and can forward such location requests to AMF 122, which in turn forwards them to LMF 124. Location responses from LMF 124 (e.g., containing location estimates for UE 105) can similarly be returned to GMLC 126 via AMF 122, and GMLC 126 can then return the location response (e.g., containing location estimates) to external client 140. GMLC 126 is shown in Figure 1 as connected only to AMF 122, although in some embodiments it can be connected to both AMF 122 and LMF 124, and can support direct communication between GMLC 126 and LMF 124 or, for example, indirect communication via AMF 122.

[0057] Network Exposure Function (NEF) 128 may be included in 5GCN 110, for example, connected to GMLC 126 and AMF 122. In some implementations, NEF 128 may be connected to communicate directly with external client 140. NEF 128 may support the secure exposure of capabilities and events concerning 5GCN 110 and UE 105 to external client 140, and may enable the secure delivery of information from external client 140 to 5GCN 110.

[0058] User plane function (UPF) 130 supports voice and data bearer for UE 105 and enables UE 105 to access other networks such as the Internet for voice and data. UPF 130 can connect to gNB 106 and gNB. The functions of UPF 130 may include: external protocol data unit (PDU) communication endpoints interconnected with data networks, packet (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP)) routing and forwarding, user plane portion of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement, user plane quality of service (QoS) processing, downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 130 can connect to Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 132 to support location of UE 105 using SUPL. SLP 132 can also connect to or be accessed from external client 140.

[0059] As shown in the figure, the Communication Period Management Function (SMF) 134 is connected to the AMF 122 and the UPF 130. The SMF 134 has the ability to control both the local and central UPFs during PDU communication periods. The SMF 134 can manage the establishment, modification, and release of PDU communication periods for the UE 105, perform IP address allocation and management for the UE 105, act as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for the UE 105, and select and control the UPF 130 on behalf of the UE 105.

[0060] External client 140 can connect to core network 110 via GMLC 126 and / or SLP 132, and in some embodiments, via NEF 128. External client 140 can optionally connect to core network 110 and / or a location server via the Internet, which may be, for example, an SLP located outside 5GCN 110. External client 140 can connect to UPF 130 directly (not shown in Figure 1) or via the Internet. External client 140 can be a server, web server, or user equipment, such as a personal computer, UE, etc.

[0061] As shown in the figure, the Location Acquisition Function (LRF) 125 can be connected to the GMLC 126, and in some implementations, it can be connected to the SLP 132, as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.167. Regarding receiving and responding to location requests from an external client 140, which corresponds to a Public Safety Answer Point (PSAP) supporting emergency calls from the UE 105, the LRF 125 and SLP 132 can be connected to the external client 140, for example, via another network (such as the Internet).

[0062] AMF 122 typically supports network access and registration for UE 105, UE 105 mobility (including radio cell changes and handover), and can participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and possible data and voice bearers for UE 105. As discussed herein, the role of AMF 122 can be to register the UE during the registration process. AMF 122 can page UE 105, for example, by sending paging messages via one or more radio cells in the tracking area where UE 105 is located.

[0063] Network architecture 100 can be associated with or access spacecraft (SV) 190 for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou, or some other local or regional satellite positioning systems (SPS), such as IRNSS, EGNOS, or WAAS. UE 105 can obtain position measurements of signals transmitted by SV 190 and / or by base stations and access points (such as eNB, ng-eNB, gNB, and / or SV 102), which allows UE 105 to determine its own position estimate or obtain it from a position server (e.g., LMF 124) in 5GCN 110. For example, UE 105 can transfer position measurements to a position server to calculate and return a position estimate. UE 105 (or LMF 124) can use positioning methods to obtain a location estimate for UE 105, such as GPS, A-GPS, A-GNSS, Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Multi-Cell RTT, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) positioning (e.g., using signals transmitted by an IEEE 802.11 WiFi access point), sensors in UE 105 (e.g., inertial sensors), or some (hybrid) combination of these. UE 105 can use the location estimate during registration.

[0064] As mentioned above, although network architecture 100 is described in relation to 5G technology, network architecture 100 can be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., which are used to support and interact with mobile devices such as UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, location, and other functions). In some such embodiments, 5GCN 110 can be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, in some embodiments, 5GCN 110 can connect to a WLAN directly or using a non-3GPP interoperability function (N3IWF, not shown in Figure 1) in 5GCN 110. For example, the WLAN can support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for UE 105 and can include one or more WiFi APs. Here, N3IWF can connect to the WLAN and other components in 5GCN 110, such as AMF 122.

[0065] Figure 2 illustrates a network architecture 200 capable of supporting satellite access using 5G New Radio (NR), as discussed herein. The network architecture shown in Figure 2 is similar to that shown in Figure 1, as specified elements are similar or identical. However, unlike the transparent SV 102 shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 illustrates a network architecture with regenerated SVs 202-1, 202-2, and 202-3 (collectively referred to as SV 202). Unlike the transparent SV 102, the regenerated SV 202 includes an onboard gNB 202 (e.g., including gNB functionality) and is sometimes referred to herein as SV / gNB 202. NG-RAN 112 is shown as including SV / gNB 202. When referring to the SV / gNB 202 functionality related to communication with UE 105 and 5GCN 110, this document uses the reference to gNB 202, while when referring to the SV / gNB 202 functionality related to communication with Earth Station 104 and the physical radio frequency level of UE 105, the reference to SV 202 is used. However, there may be no precise boundary between SV 202 and gNB 202.

[0066] As described above, the spaceborne gNB 202 can perform many of the same functions as gNB 106. For example, gNB 202 can terminate the radio interface and associated radio interface protocols to UE 105, and can transmit DL signals to UE 105 and receive UL signals from UE 105. This can include encoding and modulating the transmitted signals and demodulating and decoding the received signals. gNB 202 can also support signal transmission connections and voice and data bearers to UE 105, and can support handover between different radio cells of the same gNB 202 and between different gNBs 202. gNB 202 can assist in the handover (or transfer) of SV 202 between different earth stations 104, different 5GCN 110, and different countries. gNB 202 can, for example, hide or conceal the specific features of SV 202 from 5GCN 110 by connecting to the 5GCN 110 interface in the same or similar manner as the terrestrial gNB. gNB 202 can also assist in sharing SV 202 across multiple countries. gNB 202 can communicate with one or more earth stations 104, and via earth stations 104, communicate with one or more 5GCN 110. In some implementations, gNB 202 can communicate directly with other gNB 202 using an inter-satellite link (ISL) (not shown in Figure 2), which can support the Xn interface between any pair of gNB 202.

[0067] For LEO SV, SV / gNB 202 needs to manage mobile radio cells covering different countries at different times. As shown, earth station 104 can be directly connected to 5GCN 110. For example, earth station 104-1 can be connected to AMF 122 and UPF 130 of 5GCN1 110-1, while earth station 104-2 can similarly be connected to 5GCN1 110-1 and 5GCN2 110-2, and earth station 104-3 is connected to 5GCN2 110-2. For example, if earth station 104 is limited, earth station 104 can be shared by multiple 5GCN 110s. For example, in some implementations (shown with dashed lines), earth station 104-2 can be connected to both 5GCN1 110-1 and 5GCN2 110-2. 5GCN 110 may need to know the coverage area of ​​SV 202 in order to page UE 105 and manage handover. Therefore, it can be seen that, compared with the network architecture with transparent SV 102 shown in Figure 1, the network architecture with regenerated SV may have a greater impact and complexity on both gNB 202 and 5GCN 110.

[0068] Figure 3 illustrates a network architecture 300 capable of supporting satellite access using 5G New Radio (NR), as discussed herein. The network architecture shown in Figure 3 is similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, as specified elements are similar or identical. However, in contrast to the transparent SV 102 shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 illustrates a network architecture with regenerated SVs 302-1, 302-2, and 302-3 (collectively referred to as SV 302) and a separate architecture for gNBs. gNB 307 includes a central unit and may sometimes be referred to as gNB-CU 307, and the regenerated SV 302 (distinct from the transparent SV 102) includes onboard gNB distributed units (gNB-DU) 302, and may sometimes be referred to herein as SV / gNB-DU 302. When referring to the SV / gNB 302 function related to communication between UE 105 and gNB-CU 307, this document uses the reference to gNB-DU 302, while when referring to the SV / gNB-DU 302 function related to communication between Earth Station 104 and UE 105 at the physical radio level, the reference to SV 302 is used. However, there may be no precise boundary between SV 302 and gNB-DU 302.

[0069] Each gNB-DU 302 communicates with a terrestrial gNB-CU 307 via one or more earth stations 104. A gNB-CU 307, together with one or more gNB-DU 302 communicating with it, performs functions and can use internal communication protocols similar to or identical to those described in 3GPP TS 38.401 for terrestrial gNBs with a distributed architecture. Here, the gNB-DU 302 corresponds to and performs functions similar to or identical to those of the terrestrial gNB distributed unit (gNB-DU) defined in TS 38.401, while the gNB-CU 307 corresponds to and performs functions similar to or identical to those of the terrestrial gNB central unit (gNB-CU) defined in TS 38.401. For example, gNB-DU 302 and gNB-CU 307 can communicate with each other using the F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) defined in 3GPP TS 38.473, and can perform some or all of the same functions as gNB 106 or gNB 202 as described above. To simplify the reference to different types of gNBs, in the following description, gNB-DU 302 may sometimes be referred to as gNB 302 (without the "DU" label), and gNB-CU 307 may sometimes be referred to as gNB 307 (without the "CU" label).

[0070] For example, gNB-DU 302 can terminate the radio interface and associated lower-layer radio interface protocols to UE 105, and can transmit DL signals to UE 105 and receive UL signals from UE 105. This can include encoding and modulating the transmitted signals and demodulating and decoding the received signals. gNB-DU 302 can support and terminate the Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and Physical (PHY) protocol layers for the NR radio frequency (RF) interface to UE 105, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.201, 38.202, 38.211, 38.212, 38.213, 38.214, 38.215, 38.321, and 38.322. The operation of gNB-DU 302 is partially controlled by the associated gNB-CU 307. One gNB-DU 307 can support one or more NR radio cells for UE 105. The gNB-CU 307 can support and terminate the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Service Data Protocol (SDAP) protocols to the NR RF interface of UE 105, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331, 38.323, and 37.324, respectively. The gNB-CU 307 can also be separated into separate control plane (gNB-CU-CP) and user plane (gNB-CU-UP) portions, wherein the gNB-CU-CP communicates with one or more AMF 122s in one or more 5GCN 110s using the NGAP protocol, and wherein the gNB-CU-UP communicates with one or more UPF 130s in one or more 5GCN 110s using the General Packet Radio System (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) User Plane Protocol (GTP-U) as defined in 3GPP TS 29.281. gNB-DU 302 and gNB-CU 307 can communicate via the F1 interface to: (a) support control plane signaling of UE 105 using Internet Protocol (IP), Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), and F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) protocols, and (b) support user plane data transfer of UE using IP, User Packet Communication Protocol (UDP), PDCP, SDAP, GTP-U, and NR User Plane Protocol (NRUPP) protocols.

[0071] The gNB-CU 307 can use a terrestrial link to communicate with one or more other gNB-CU 307s and / or with one or more other terrestrial gNBs to support the Xn interface between any pair of gNB-CU 302s and / or between any gNB-CU 307 and any terrestrial gNB.

[0072] Together with gNB-DU 302 and gNB-CU 307, gNB-DU 302 can: (i) support signaling connections to UE 105 and voice and data bearers; (ii) support handover between different radio cells of the same gNB-DU 302 and between different gNB-DU 302s; and (iii) assist in the handover (or transfer) of SV 302 between different earth stations 104, different 5GCN 110s, and different countries. gNB-CU 307 can, for example, hide or conceal the specific features of SV 302 from 5GCN 110 by connecting to the 5GCN 110 interface in the same or similar manner as the gNB. gNB-CU 307 can also assist in sharing SV 302 across multiple countries.

[0073] In network architecture 300, the gNB-DU 302, which communicates with and can be accessed from any gNB-CU 307, will change over time with the LEO SV 302. Using a separate gNB architecture, the 5GCN 110 can connect to a fixed gNB-CU 307 that does not change over time, and the complexity of paging the UE 105 can be reduced. For example, the 5GCN 110 may not need to know which SV / gNB-DU 302 the paging UE 105 requires. With a separate gNB architecture, the network architecture with the regenerated SV 302 can thus reduce the impact on the 5GCN 110 at the cost of additional effects on the gNB-CU 307.

[0074] While supporting satellite access to wireless networks, SV 102 / 202 / 302 can transmit radio beams (also referred to as "beams") in multiple countries. For example, the beams transmitted by SV 102 / 202 / 302 may cover two or more countries. However, sharing a beam between two or more countries can increase complexity. For example, if two or more countries share a beam, earth station 104 and gNB 106 / 202 / 302 / 307 in one country may need to support UE 105 access from other countries. Sharing a beam across multiple countries may raise security concerns regarding the privacy of both data and voice. Furthermore, sharing an SV beam across multiple countries may cause regulatory conflicts. For example, regulatory services in the first country, including WEA, Legally Received (LI), and Emergency (EM) calls, may require support from gNB 106 / 202 / 307 and earth station 104 in a second country that shares the same SV beam.

[0075] As an example, Figure 4 illustrates that SV 102, 202, and 302 generate multiple beams identified as beams B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, and B6 in region 400, which includes portions of multiple countries (e.g., country A, country B, and country C). Since each beam is assigned to only one country, beams B1, B3, and B5 can be assigned to country A, beams B4 and B6 can be assigned to country B, and beam B2 can be assigned to country C.

[0076] In one implementation, a single beam can be assigned to a single country via control or manipulation of the beam. Although non-geostationary orbit (NGEO) SVs have mobile coverage areas, the relative beam direction can be moved via a controllable antenna array to remain stationary or largely stationary within a single country; this beam is sometimes referred to as a "manipulated beam." For example, beam coverage may slowly shift within a country and then, for instance, hop to a new country after SVs 102, 202, and 302 have been moved to a new earth station 104 or a new gNB 106 or 307.

[0077] Figure 5 illustrates a radio cell generated in region 500 by SV 102, 202, and 302, where fixed cell 502 and fixed tracking region 506 are used. A radio cell may include a single beam or multiple beams; for example, all beams in a radio cell may use the same frequency, or a radio cell may include one beam for each of a set of different frequencies. For example, beams B1, B2, and B3 may support three independent radio cells (one beam per radio cell), or they may collectively support a single radio cell (e.g., radio cell 504, illustrated with dashed lines). Preferably, the radio cell covers adjacent regions.

[0078] The radio beams and radio cells generated by SV 102, 202, and 302 may not align with cells used by terrestrial radio networks (e.g., 5GCN 110 terrestrial cells or LTE terrestrial cells). For example, in urban areas, the radio beams or radio cells generated by SV 102, 202, and 302 may overlap with many 5GCN terrestrial cells. When satellite access to the radio network is supported, the radio beams and radio cells generated by SV 102, 202, and 302 can be hidden from 5GCN 110.

[0079] As shown in Figure 5, region 500 includes multiple fixed Earth cells 502 and fixed tracking areas (TAs), such as TA 506. Fixed cells are not "real cells" used for terrestrial NR and LTE access, and may be referred to as "virtual cells," "mapped cells," or "geographic cells." Fixed cells, such as fixed cell 502, have fixed geographic coverage areas, which can be defined by the PLMN service provider. For example, the coverage area of ​​a fixed cell or fixed TA may include the interior of a circle, ellipse, or polygon. The coverage area is fixed relative to the Earth's surface and does not change over time, unlike the coverage area of ​​a radio cell, which typically changes over time for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) SV. The CN (e.g., 5GCN 110) may treat fixed cell 502 as the same as a real cell supporting terrestrial access (e.g., using NR or LTE). A group of fixed cells 502 can define a fixed TA 506, which the CN (e.g., 5GCN 110) can treat as the same TA defined for terrestrial access (e.g., using NR or LTE). Fixed cells and fixed TAs for satellite radio access can be used by the CN (e.g., 5GCN 110) to support the mobility management and oversight services of UE 105 with minimal new impact.

[0080] By utilizing a regenerated SV 202 with a non-separated architecture as in network architecture 200, each radio cell can maintain the same SV 202 and can have mobile coverage areas supporting different 5GCN 110 at different times.

[0081] For the separated architectures of Transparent SV 102 and Regenerated SV 302 in network architectures 100 and 300, each radio cell can be assigned to and controlled by a gNB 106 or 307 representing one or more PLMNs in a country. For Geostationary Orbit (GEO) SV 102 / 302, the assignment to gNB 106 / 307 can be permanent or temporary. For example, the assignment can be changed daily to allow peak traffic in different parts of the SV 102 / 302 radio coverage area at different times, and / or can be changed over longer periods to accommodate changing regional traffic demands. For Non-Geostationary (NGEO) SV 102 / 302, the assignment may last for a very short time, such as only 5 to 15 minutes. Subsequently, if needed, the non-permanent radio cell can be transferred to a new gNB 106 / 307 (e.g., when access to NGEO SV 102 / 302 is transferred to a new gNB 106 / 307). For example, each gNB 106 / 307 may have a fixed geographical coverage area, such as including multiple fixed cells 502 and fixed TAs. When (or subsequently) a radio cell of the first NGEO SV 102 / 302 moves to the fixed coverage area of ​​the second gNB 106 / 307, that radio cell may be transferred from the first gNB 106 / 307 to the second gNB 106 / 307. Prior to this transfer, as part of the transfer of the radio cell, UE 105 accessing a connected radio cell may move to a new radio cell in the first gNB 106 / 307, or may be transferred to the second gNB 106 / 307. SV 102 / 302 may be accessed from only one gNB 106 / 307, or from multiple gNBs 106 / 307 in different countries. In one implementation, SV 102 / 302 can be assigned to multiple gNBs 106 / 307 by dividing the radio cells generated by SV 102 / 302 among different gNBs 106 / 307. Subsequently, when SV 102 / 302 moves or when traffic demands change, the radio cells can be transferred to a new gNB 106 / 307 (and a new country). This implementation can be a form of soft handover, where the transfer of SV 102 / 302 from one gNB 106 / 307 to another gNB 106 / 307 occurs incrementally, rather than all at once.

[0082] Figure 6 illustrates an example of radio cell (e.g., cell 1 and cell 2) allocation generated by one or more SVs 102, 202, 302 on region 600. As shown, region 600 includes multiple fixed TAs, such as TA1 to TA15, where TA4, TA5, TA8, and TA9 are allocated to gNB1 (not shown, and may be gNB 106, gNB 202, or gNB 307), and TA12, TA13, TA14, and TA15 are allocated to gNB2 (not shown, and may be another gNB 106, 202, or 307). In one implementation, a radio cell may be considered to support a fixed TA if the radio cell is entirely within a TA (e.g., cell 2 is within TA12); if the TA is entirely within a radio cell (e.g., TA4 is within cell 1); or if the area overlap between the radio cell and the TA exceeds a predetermined threshold portion of the total area of ​​the radio cell or the total area of ​​the TA (e.g., cell 1 overlaps with TA1, TA3, TA5, TA8, or TA9). SVs 102, 202, and 302 may broadcast the identification (ID) of the supported PLMN (e.g., where the PLMN ID includes the Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC)) in System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1) or SIB Type 2 (SIB2), and for each supported PLMN, broadcast the ID of the supported TA (e.g., where the TA ID includes the Tracking Area Code (TAC) or Tracking Area Identifier (TAI)). For NGEO SVs, the supported PLMN and TA may change as the radio cell coverage area changes. gNB 106 / 202 / 307 may determine PLMN and TA support (and thus the PLMN ID and TAC broadcast in the SIB of each radio cell) based on known almanac data for each SV 102 / 202 / 302 and the known directional and angular range of the component radio beams of each radio cell (e.g., cell 1 and cell 2). Subsequently, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 may update the SIB broadcast.

[0083] Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, SV 102 / 202 / 302 can broadcast an SIB for cell 1, which includes TA4 and possibly TAI or TAC for TA1, TA3, TA5, TA8, and / or TA9. Similarly, SV 102 / 202 / 302 or another SV 102 / 202 / 302 can broadcast an SIB for cell 2 that only includes TAC or TAI for TA12. Cell 1 can be assigned to gNB1 (which has coverage for TA4, TA5, TA8, and TA9), and cell 2 can be assigned to gNB2 (which has coverage for TA12, TA13, TA14, and TA15). If the cell coverage area moves from one gNB area to another, cell 1 and cell 2 can be transferred from gNB1 to gNB2 or from gNB2 to gNB1.

[0084] The coverage area of ​​a fixed TA can be defined in a simple, precise, and flexible manner, requiring minimal signal transmission to reach entities in UE 105, gNB 106 / 202 / 307, or 5GCN 110. The fixed TA area can be small enough to allow effective paging via an area supported by only a few radio cells (e.g., 5 or fewer), or large enough to avoid excessive UE registration (e.g., extending at least 100 km in any direction). The shape of the fixed TA area can be arbitrary; for example, it can be defined by PLMN operations or can have one or more constraints. For example, one constraint on the shape of the fixed TA area could be that the fixed TA along a country's border is precisely aligned with that border to avoid serving UE 105 in another country. Additionally, the fixed TA can be constrained to be aligned with an area of ​​interest, such as a PSAP service area, a city, county, state, or area of ​​a small country. Additionally, the fixed TA can be constrained such that portions of the fixed TA are aligned with physical obstacles, such as riverbanks or lakeshores.

[0085] The coverage area of ​​a fixed cell can also be defined in a simple, precise, and flexible manner, requiring minimal signal transmission to the UE 105 or gNB 106 / 202 / 307. Fixed cell coverage areas can be easily and precisely associated with fixed TAs; for example, a fixed cell can explicitly belong to a single TA.

[0086] Fixed cells can be used by the radio core network (such as 5GCN 110) to support policing services, such as emergency (EM) dialing routing based on the current fixed serving cell of UE 105, using fixed cells to approximate the location of UE 105, using fixed cell association to direct radio emergency alarm (WEA) alerts to the receiving UE 105 in a small, confined area, or using fixed cells as a trigger event for the approximate location of UE 105 or legal interception (LI). This use of fixed cells means that fixed cells should be able to be defined to have a size and shape similar to those defined and used for terrestrial radio access, including allowing very small (e.g., pico) cells and large (e.g., rural) cells.

[0087] Using satellite radio access, UE 105 can determine TA based on broadcast information and information from other sources. Furthermore, the network can broadcast more than one TAC or TAI per PLMN in a radio cell. In a radio cell (e.g., in System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1)), a broadcast of one TAC or one TAI per PLMN can be referred to as a "hard TAC update" or "hard TAI update" (e.g., because any change to a broadcast TAC or TAI will be total and therefore "hard"), and can be aligned with support for TACs or TAIs broadcast within the terrestrial network (TN). A broadcast of more than one TAC or TAI per PLMN in a radio cell can be referred to as a "soft TAC update" or "soft TAI update" (e.g., because not all broadcast TACs or TAIs need to be changed simultaneously, but only one broadcast TAC or TAI or a subset of broadcast TACs or TAIs can be changed simultaneously, this can be considered "soft"). Depending on the network service provider's preferences, both hard TAC (or hard TAI) updates and soft TAC (or soft TAI) updates can be supported.

[0088] It should be noted that the terms TAC and TAI are sometimes used as synonyms in this document. In fact, a TAC typically indicates a single value of the TA in a known PLMN (e.g., comprising 24 bits) (e.g., where the MCC and MNC identifying the PLMN are known). A TAI typically includes the Mobile Country Code (MCC), the Mobile Network Code (MNC), and the TAC, thus indicating both the PLMN (via the MCC and MNC) and the TA in the PLMN (via the TAC). When a TAC is broadcast in a radio cell, one or more PLMNs are also indicated by those TAC values ​​via the also broadcast MCC and MNC values. Subsequently, the broadcast TAC also indicates the TAI associated with the PLMN (e.g., where the TAI is obtained by combining the broadcast TAC with the broadcast MCC and MNC of each PLMN indicated by the broadcast TAC). Therefore, a radio cell can effectively broadcast both the TAC and the TAI. Because a TAC always points to a TAI, the term "broadcast TAI" is often used here as it may be more precise.

[0089] As an example, Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary environment 700, including an SV 702 (e.g., SV 102, 202, or 302) with a radio cell 704 and multiple tracking areas 706, each tracking area 706 having a fixed area at least partially covered by the radio cell 704. In the environment 700 shown in Figure 7, one or more TAIs in the tracking areas 706 can be broadcast by the SV 702 in the radio cell 704 (e.g., in SIB1). If a hard TAI update is used, the SV 702 will only broadcast the TAI of one of the four TAs 706-1, 706-2, 706-3, or 706-4. For example, the TAI of TA 706-2 can be broadcast because TA 706-2 has the maximum coverage of the radio cell 704. This will cause some distortion in the effective area of ​​the broadcast TAI (and other unbroadcast TAIs), because for UE 105 within the coverage of radio cell 704, it will appear as if one TA (e.g., TA 706-2) occupies the entire coverage area of ​​radio cell 704. With a soft TAI update, the TAIs of all four TAs 706-1, 706-2, 706-3, and 706-4 (or possibly only TAs 706-1, 706-2, and 706-4) can be broadcast, thus avoiding the exclusion of any TA 706 that might be located in UE 105 within TA 706. However, another distortion may exist, as UE 105 located in one of TAs 706 (e.g., TA 706-1) might be allowed access to radio cell 704 even if that TA is not in UE 105's current registered area (RA), as long as at least one of the broadcast TAIs is part of UE 105's RA.

[0090] When a single TAI is broadcast per PLMN in each physical radio cell (for hard TAI updates), there may be no new impact on UE 105 or AMF 122 accessing physical radio cells, performing registration updates, or paging, but the paging and / or registration update management burden may increase.

[0091] When multiple TAIs are broadcast in each PLMN of a physical radio cell (for soft TAI updates), and to minimize new impacts on UE 105, a simple approach could be to allow UE 105 to access the radio cell without a mobility registration update, provided that at least one of the broadcast TAIs belongs to the current UE 105 RA. If no broadcast TAI belongs to the current UE 105 RA, then UE 105 can be required to perform a mobility registration update. This reduces the paging and / or registration update management burden.

[0092] For terrestrial network access, the UE's serving ground gNB typically indicates the UE's serving radio cell (using the cell ID) and the tracking area (using the TAI) where the UE is geographically located to the UE's serving AMF. The cell ID and TAI are typically included in a parameter (also known as an information element (IE)) called User Location Information (ULI). For example, the serving ground gNB can use the TAI in the ULI IE to provide indication to the UE's serving AMF for its TA, where the TAI may include the Mobile Country Code (MCC), Mobile Network Code (MNC), and TAC. For example, when a UE with TN access initiates a NAS procedure with the 5GCN (e.g., for a Non-Access Layer (NAS) service request), the serving gNB may indicate the UE's current TA in the ULI provided to the 5GCN (e.g., AMF) in certain NGAP messages (e.g., NGAP Initiation UE Message, NGAP Uplink NAS Transmission, NGAP UE Context Release Complete, NGAP Delivery Notification, NGAP Location Report), as discussed in 3GPP TS 38.413. The AMF may need to know the TAI in order to assign a Registration Area (RA) to the UE, where the RA includes the TAI of the TA, allowing the UE to access the network without performing a registration update procedure. Similarly, the cell ID indicated in the ULI IE can be used by the AMF or other network elements to route emergency calls or follow-up paging for the UE. Providing the same or similar information in the ULI IE for satellite radio access for UE 105 is likely desirable to reduce new impacts on AMF 122, allow effective paging for UE 105, and avoid excessive registration updates for UE 105.

[0093] For NR satellite access, there are several possible alternatives to support including TAIs in the ULI IE passed by gNB 106 / 202 / 307 to AMF 122 in NGAP messages such as those listed above. For example, as described below, when gNB 106 / 202 / 307 broadcasts multiple TAIs in the cell, there are several alternative options to support TAI selection for NGAP ULI (e.g., in the NGAP initial UE message). These alternatives are referred to herein as Option A, Option B, Option C, Option D, and Option E.

[0094] Option A: Service gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects a TAI from the TAI broadcast by the serving PLMN in the serving radio cell for UE 105, prioritizing any TAI of the TA where UE 105 is geographically located. This TAI is included in the UE 105's ULI IE.

[0095] Option B: UE 105 selects a TAI from those broadcast in the serving radio cell of the serving PLMN, and may give priority to TAIs in UE 105's Registration Area (RA). UE 105 may then (e.g., in an RRC message) indicate the TAI to serving gNB 106 / 202 / 307, which may then include the TAI in the ULI IE.

[0096] Option C: Service gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects TAI as the TAI of the TA belonging to the service PLMN in which UE 105 is geographically located.

[0097] Option D: Service gNB 106 / 202 / 307 provides all TAIs broadcast in the serving radio cell of the serving PLMN as part of the ULI IE of UE 105.

[0098] Option E: If the TAI is broadcast in the serving radio cell, then serving gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects that TAI as the TAI of the serving PLMN in which UE 105 is geographically located. Otherwise, serving gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects the TAI broadcast in the serving cell for the TA of the serving PLMN that is geographically closest to the location of UE 105.

[0099] As an example, Figure 8 illustrates an exemplary environment 800 including SV 802 (e.g., SV 102, 202, 302, or 702), which broadcasts multiple TACs (or TAIs) within radio cell 804. Radio cell 804 is shown as having a coverage area at time T (illustrated with solid lines) and a coverage area at time T+δ (illustrated with dashed lines), where δ may be very small (e.g., a few minutes). TACs or TAIs broadcast by satellite 802 in radio cell 804 at time T are shaded, while tracking areas not broadcast by satellite 802 in radio cell 804 at time T are unshaded (white). Therefore, environment 800 illustrates multiple TAs 806, including TAs labeled TA1, TA2, TA3, TA4, TA5, and TA6 within radio cell 804 at time T, wherein the TACs or TAIs of TA1, TA2, TA3, TA4, and TA5 are broadcast within the radio cell by satellite 802 at time T, while satellite 802 does not broadcast a TAC or TAI for tracking area TA6 at time T. Environment 800 also illustrates UE 805a located at TA1 and another UE 805b located at TA6 (e.g., where UEs 805a and 805b may be instances of UE 105).

[0100] Examples of options A through E are shown in Table 1 below. UE 805a (for which it broadcasts a TAC or TAI) is located in TA1, and UE 805b (in this example, for which it does not broadcast a TAC or TAI) is located in TA6. (For option E), it is assumed that UE 805b is closer to TA5 than the other TAs that broadcast a TAC or TAI. Table 1 (in the rightmost column) shows the TAs, which are indicated in the ULI IE (via including a TAC or TAI) for each UE shown in Figure 8 and for each of options A through E. UE and UE location Options Multiple TAs indicated in ULI UE 805a in TA1 A TA1 B One of TA1 to TA5 C TA1 D All TA1 to TA5 E TA1 UE 805b in TA6 A One of TA1 to TA5 B One of TA1 to TA5 C TA6 D All TA1 to TA5 E TA5 Table 1

[0101] Options A through E above can be evaluated according to several criteria as described below.

[0102] One standard addresses the extent to which each option assists the AMF in selecting a new Registration Area (RA) for the UE or determining whether to retain an existing RA when the UE performs initial registration or registration update. For example, for TN access, the AMF should ensure that the TAI from the ULI is included in the RA (to allow the UE to access the current serving cell), and may also assign one or more additional TAIs to nearby TAs to allow some UE mobility without additional registration updates. For satellite access, as shown below, some options perform poorly in this standard.

[0103] Option C can provide UE 105 with a TAI that is not broadcast in the serving radio cell (e.g., as shown in the example above for UE 805b in TA6). This could cause AMF 122 to select a RA for UE 105 that does not include any broadcast TAIs. Subsequently, UE 105 will not be able to access the serving cell without performing another registration update, which could result in a series of registration updates or UE 105 searching for another radio cell.

[0104] Option B can provide UE 105 with a TAI for a TA far from UE 105's actual location in the ULI (because UE 105 typically does not know which TA it is located in or which TA might be close to UE 105's location). For example, suppose UE 805a, located in TA1 in Figure 8, selects a TAI for TA5, which is delivered to AMF 122 in the ULI. Subsequently, AMF 122 includes TA5's TAI in UE 805a's RA but excludes other TAIs. If radio cell 804 moves to the area shown by the dashed circle in Figure 8 at time T+δ, UE 805a will still be within the coverage of that radio cell, but TA5's TAC or TAI will (potentially) no longer be broadcast, resulting in a registration update from UE 805a that might have been avoided if the TAC or TAI of TA1 or another TA closer to UE 805a's location had already been provided to AMF 122 in the ULI. For option B (for UEs located in TA1), similar instances of unnecessary registration updates may occur for any other TAI provided in ULI besides the TAI in TA1.

[0105] In some cases, option A may be just as ineffective as option B (e.g., for UE 805b in TA6 of Figure 8, no TAI is broadcast to it) because gNB 106 / 202 / 307 may include the TAI in the ULI for TAs that are also far from the UE's actual location (e.g., for UE 805b). Therefore, this situation should not occur if the choice to broadcast the TAI includes all covered TAs, but this cannot be guaranteed.

[0106] Option D may not provide a benefit superior to option B because AMF 122 will not know which TA among the TAs indicated by the TAI in the provided ULI may UE 105 be located, or which (these) TAs may be closest to UE 105.

[0107] Option E provides the TAI that is both broadcast and closest to the location of UE 105, which reduces the occurrence of additional registration updates for UE 105 when the cell coverage area moves. For example, gNB 106 / 202 / 302 can determine the TA closest to the location of UE 105 based on the shortest distance between the location of UE 105 and the periphery of the TA, or based on the shortest distance between the location of UE 105 and the center (or centroid) of the TA. As an example, for UE 805a in TA1 in Figure 8, option E will provide the TAI of TA1 to AMF 122 in the ULI, thereby allowing AMF 122 to include the TAI of TA1 in the RA of UE 805a. For UE 805b in TA6, which does not broadcast a TAI, AMF 122 will receive the TAI of TA5, which is the broadcast TAI and is used for the TA closest to the location of UE 805b. If cell 804 will move away from TA5 and cover TA6, this will result in further registration of UE 805b. However, in this case, AMF 122 will receive the TAI of TA6 in the ULI and will subsequently be able to include the TAI of TA6 in the new RA of UE 805b.

[0108] Another standard could involve whether the TAI provided in the ULI is consistent with the RA currently assigned to the UE. For TN, the TAI provided to the UE in the ULI for any non-registered NAS messages should always be part of the current UE RA. Otherwise, the UE will perform a registration update. For TN, the UE will also provide its last registered TAI (e.g., in the "Last Visited Registered TAI" as defined in 3GPP TS 24.501) to the AMF in the NAS registration request, which should also be part of the current RA. For satellite access, there is a small risk that providing the UE 105 with a TAI that is not part of the current UE 105 RA for any of these purposes might trigger some anomalous behavior (e.g., error conditions) in AMF 122. This situation is avoidable because for satellite RAT, AMF 122 can be programmed to ignore any differences between the TAI in the ULI or the TAI in the NAS registration request and the current RA of the UE 105. Additionally, when the TAI is not part of the current RA, AMF 122 can perform a NAS configuration update to update the RA in UE 105 with the TAI included in the ULI. However, by ensuring that the TAI provided to AMF 122 for UE 105 in the ULI is part of the UE 105 RA, Option B can have the benefit of avoiding any new AMF 122 implementation. In this case, all other options may not be able to do so.

[0109] These options also differ in terms of new effects. Option B may have new RRC signaling effects, enabling UE 105 to transfer the selected TAU to serving gNB 106 / 202 / 307, another example of RRC connection establishment and NAS message transfer. Option D may have new NGAP effects, transferring all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell to AMF 122. Options A, C, and E may not have new signaling effects.

[0110] In terms of gNB complexity, options B and D are likely particularly simple because gNB 106 / 202 / 307 is not required to map the current location of UE 105 to the TA where UE 105 is located or the TA closest to UE 105's location. Options A and C may require gNB 106 / 202 / 307 capability to map the location of UE 105 to the TA where UE 105 is located, and option E may additionally require gNB 106 / 202 / 307 to map the location of UE 105 to the TA closest to UE 105's location, and its TAI is being broadcast when the TAI of the TA where UE 105 is located is not being broadcast. However, mapping capabilities may not add much new complexity, as similar functionality (for all options) may already be needed when gNB 106 / 202 / 307 determines which TAI to broadcast in a given radio cell at a given time, and when gNB 106 / 202 / 307 maps the UE 105 location to a specific Cell Global Identification (CGI) that may also be included in the ULI IE. For example, a service provider (or offline tool) could configure a fixed mapping from the CGI to the associated TAI (for the TA where the cell of the CGI is located), thereby simplifying the mapping of the UE location to the TAI for options A and C via the mapping of the UE location to the CGI and subsequently from the CGI to the TAI. A similar mapping could be configured as a series of TAIs from the CGI to the TA, with the distance of these TAs from the cell area defined by the CGI increasing progressively, thus also supporting the mapping for option E.

[0111] Another possible scenario for TAI selection involves what happens when gNB 106 / 202 / 307 does not have sufficiently accurate location information for UE 105 to determine the location associated with the TAI for options A, C, and E. This occurs when UE 105 transitions from an idle state to a connected state (e.g., during UE 105's initial PLMN access) and the approximate location is not included in the RRC message sent to serving gNB 106 / 202 / 307 (e.g., because such a location may not be encrypted and therefore may be insecure or unreliable). When this occurs, serving gNB 106 / 202 / 307 for UE 105 can still provide one of the TAIs broadcast in the serving radio cell for UE 105 in the ULI, although any location importance will be lost. Options A, C, and E can behave more like option B in the RA allocation scenario supporting AMF 122 for NAS registration, and are therefore no worse. Another alternative is for service gNB 106 / 202 / 307 to provide an indication in the ULI sent to service AMF 122, indicating that service gNB 106 / 202 / 307 cannot determine the TAI of the ULI due to insufficient location information of UE 105. For example, this indication can be encoded as a flag in the ULI, or as a special reserved value for the TAI (e.g., a binary all-zero value or a binary all-one value). The special reserved value for the TAI can be referred to as a "null value," "empty TAC value," or "empty TAI value" because it does not encode the value of the real TAC or the real TAI.

[0112] Another aspect of TAI selection may involve paging efficiency. This can be related to the extent to which the current RA of UE 105 includes the TAI of the TA where UE 105 is actually located and the TAIs of nearby TAs. If the RA includes the TAI of TAs far from UE 105 (e.g., because serving AMF 122 is misled by receiving a ULI with a TAI of a TA far from UE 105's location), then when paging across the entire RA, the paging may be included in cells that do not cover the actual location of UE 105. Such paging will be wasted because UE 105 cannot access such cells. As an example, suppose UE 805a is located in TA1 in Figure 8, and where UE 805a's ULI includes the TAI of TA5 (e.g., options B or D as shown in Table 1 are possible). Then UE 805a's RA may end up including the TAI of TA5. There may be one or more cells that cover TA5 but not TA1, and any paging in such cells will be wasted. As already implied, the issue is more likely to occur in options B and D, where the reported (multiple) TAAs are not based on the actual UE location, and sometimes in option A, when the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not currently being broadcast. The issue may be further complicated if AMF 122 assigns an RA including multiple TAIs in order to reduce unnecessary registration updates.

[0113] Another standard addresses whether various options can be used to select a TAI for a ULI in NGAP messages for UE 105, options that are not associated with NAS message transfers. These NGAP messages may include PDU communication period management messages, UE context management messages, UE mobility management messages, and location reporting messages for tracking UE location. Options C and E, and to a lesser extent option A, can be reused to select a TAI for a ULI IE in these non-NAS-related NGAP messages, because a TAI can always or typically be location-related to the UE (e.g., and therefore can be determined by service gNB 106 / 202 / 307 based on a known or approximate UE location). Using options B or D for TAI selection in such cases could lead to problems due to the lack of location importance of these options. For example, an NGAP location reporting procedure can be used to track the location of UE 105 in a region of interest, which can be defined as a single TA or a group of TAs. Option C, and to a lesser extent Option E, can effectively support the NGAP location reporting procedure because the ULI included in the NGAP location reporting message will include either the TAI for the TA where UE 105 is located (for Option C, sometimes Option E) or the TAI for the TA near UE 105's location (otherwise for Option E). As in Option B, using the TAI selected by UE 105 to determine whether UE 105 is located in the area of ​​interest is useless because the TAI selected by UE 105 may be location-independent. Furthermore, since gNB 106 / 202 / 307 will need to obtain the TAI from UE 105 (e.g., using RRC) or store and utilize the TAI provided by the last UE 105 (however, the TAI may not always be available when handover occurs), there may be significant additional impact on reusing Option B. Therefore, for Options B and D, some different schemes (e.g., different options) may be needed to determine the TAI used for location reporting, and possibly for other non-NAS-related NGAP messages.

[0114] Obviously, none of the options are ideal, but option E is at least slightly better than the others.

[0115] Regarding option E, as discussed above, the fact that TAI cannot always be provided as part of the RA for UE 105 may not be critical, and the additional gNB 106 / 202 / 307 complexity can be mitigated through additional configuration. Therefore, option E appears, in principle, suitable for TAI selection that supports NGAP ULI IE.

[0116] In some implementations, the TAIs provided by AMF 122 for UE 105 in the Registration Area (RA) can be indicated to UE 105 in a priority order based on the proximity of the corresponding TAs to UE 105. For example, AMF 122 can determine the proximity of each TA indicated by the TAI to the location of UE 105 and generate an RA for UE 105 that provides a list of TAIs in order from the TAI of the TA closest to the current location of UE 105 to the TAI of the TA furthest from the location of UE 105. For example, in Option B, UE 105 can select a TAI from the RAs broadcast in the serving radio cell that have the highest priority (e.g., the first listed TAI of the TA closest to UE 105). For example, in the example of FIG8, for UE 805b in TA6, the RA can provide a list of TAIs with higher priority based on proximity, which includes the TAIs of TA6, TA5, TA2, TA4, TA1, and TA3 in that order. UE 805b selects the TAI with the highest priority in the RA and broadcast in the serving radio cell (e.g., the first listed TAC). In this example, the TAI will be the TAI of TA5 (because the TAI of TA6 is not broadcast in the example of Figure 8).

[0117] Similarly, for example, in option D, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 can include all TAIs broadcast in the serving radio cell of UE 105 in the ULI sent to AMF 122, but can provide a priority list of such TAIs based on the proximity of the corresponding TA to the location of UE 105. Therefore, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 can determine the location of UE 105 and generate a list of broadcast TAIs provided to AMF 122, where the TAI of the TA closest to the current location of UE 105 is given a higher priority (e.g., appears earlier in the priority list) compared to the TAI of the TA furthest from UE 105. In the example of Figure 8, for UE 805b in TA6, the provided list of TAIs would include the TAIs of TA5, TA2, TA4, TA1, and TA3 in sequence. As described above, AMF 122 may use the priority list of TAIs provided by gNB 106 / 202 / 307 for Option D to determine or help determine the priority list of TAIs for UE 105 RA.

[0118] In some implementations, two or more options A through E can be combined or merged to reduce or eliminate some of the previous disadvantages. Merging means using the included options (e.g., where option B+C refers to a combination of option B and option C).

[0119] In option B+E, for the transfer of NAS messages other than NAS registration, UE 105 selects the TAI from the RA, as for option B, and sends the TAI to gNB 106 / 202 / 307 using RRC. Subsequently, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 includes the TAI in the ULI. For the transfer of NAS registration requests, UE 105 does not include the TAI. Subsequently, based on the exclusion of the TAI, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects the TAI for the ULI, as for option E. For other examples of ULIs, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 can select the TAI, as for option E.

[0120] In another option, B+C+D, for the transfer of NAS messages other than NAS registration, UE 105 selects the TAI from the RA, as for option B, and sends the TAI to gNB 106 / 202 / 307 using RRC. Subsequently, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 includes the TAI in the ULI sent to AMF 122. For the transfer of NAS registration requests, UE 105 does not include the TAI. Subsequently, based on the exclusion of the TAI, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects the TAI, as for option C, and includes the TAI in the ULI, and further includes all TAIs broadcast in the serving cell in the ULI, as for option D. For other examples of ULIs, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects the TAI, as for option C.

[0121] In the other option C+D, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 selects TAI as for option C, and includes that TAI in the ULI, and also includes all TAIs broadcast in the serving cell in the ULI, as for option D.

[0122] For each of options B+E, B+C+D, and C+D, when gNB 106 / 202 / 307 lacks location information or the location information is insufficient for UE 105 to determine the TA where UE 105 is located (for option C or option E) or a TA that may be near UE 105's location (for option E), gNB 106 / 202 / 307 may include an indication (e.g., an empty TAC value or an empty TAI value) in UE 105's ULI. Subsequently, using option C+D or option B+C+D, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 may include this indication in the ULI transmitted to AMF 122, and may also indicate all TAIs broadcast by SV 802 in UE 105's radio cell in the ULI. Therefore, AMF 122 can still know which TA might be near UE 105. This helps AMF 122 determine the RA of UE 105, even if AMF 122 may not know which TA UE 105 is located in. When the location information of UE 105 is available, but gNB 106 / 202 / 307 is not implemented or configured to support the mapping of UE 105's location information (e.g., UE 105's location estimate) to the TA where UE 105 is located, the indications provided by gNB 106 / 202 / 307 (e.g., empty TAC value or empty TAI value) can also be used. The provision of such indications (e.g., empty TAC value or empty TAI value) can be facilitated by not requiring all gNB 106 / 202 / 307 to support mapping the location information of UE 105 to the TA closest to UE 105 or the TA where UE 105 might be located. In this case, for options B+C+D and C+D, gNB 106 / 202 / 307 can still provide an indication of all TAIs broadcast in the serving radio cell of UE 105, which can still assist AMF 122 in determining the RA of UE 105.

[0123] Option B+E may have RRC impact and higher gNB 106 / 202 / 307 complexity, but in other states it may be the same as or better than option E.

[0124] Regarding the effective RA allocation for UE 105 supported by AMF 122 and the paging efficiency of UE 105, option B+C+D may be better than options E and B+E because option B+C+D provides AMF 122 with both of the following: (i) the TA where UE 105 is located, even when the corresponding TAI of that TA is not broadcast, and (ii) all broadcast TAIs. For each TA where UE 105 may be located, AMF 122 can then configure a list of other TAs in order of distance from that TA. Subsequently, AMF 122 can select a TAI or a group of TAIs for the RA, which are broadcast and whose corresponding TAs are close to or include the TA where UE 105 is located, which may enable AMF 122 to perform better RA allocation for UE 105. However, options B+C+D may have a higher gNB 106 / 202 / 307 effect and the highest signal transmission effect, while also having RRC and NGAP effects.

[0125] Option C+D can be the same as option B+C+D, but with reduced effects (due to the lack of support for the RRC effects of option B), and TAI included in ULI is not always part of UE 105 RA.

[0126] For satellite access, support for service areas and restricted areas can be omitted. However, this would mean that service providers allocating permitted and prohibited areas for terrestrial network (TN) access to UEs would not be able to do so for satellite access. This could lead to some anomalous behaviors. For example, a UE could move to a restricted TN area and then periodically (e.g., whenever outdoors) obtain satellite access and service, thus circumventing TN service restrictions. This could also lead to changes in user behavior, such as users circumventing TN restrictions by obtaining satellite access support outdoors (or indoors near a window), which could reduce the value of TN restrictions by limiting them to using only TN-available services (e.g., high-speed data).

[0127] This situation demonstrates that even approximate forms of service area control can be useful for satellite access. The control level may not be precise, but it can still be used to approximate TN restrictions. The following rules, referred to as Rules 1, 2, 3, and 4, can be used to support service areas and prohibited areas.

[0128] Using Rule 1, UE 105 may access the satellite radio cell if at least one broadcast TAI is not in UE 105's disallowed TAI list or prohibited TAI list. For example, at least one broadcast TAI may be part of UE 105's current RA and / or part of UE 105's allowed TAI list. Otherwise, if all broadcast TAIs in the radio cell are prohibited TAIs, UE 105 follows the existing TN rules for prohibited TAIs, or follows the rules for disallowed TAIs; otherwise, this action may allow UE 105 to at least send a NAS registration request.

[0129] As a supplement to Rule 1, in Rule 2, if at least one broadcast TAI of a radio cell is not in UE 105's disallowed or prohibited list, AMF 122 may allow UE 105 to access the radio cell. AMF 122 may then accept UE 105's requests for NAS procedures (e.g., NAS registration requests or NAS service requests). However, if all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell are part of UE 105's prohibited TAI list, AMF 122 may reject UE 105's requests for NAS procedures (e.g., NAS registration requests or NAS service requests) by sending a NAS rejection message (e.g., NAS registration rejection or NAS service rejection), including an indication that the broadcast TAI is prohibited for UE 105. Otherwise, if one or more of the broadcast TAIs are disallowed but not prohibited for UE 105, AMF 122 may allow and accept NAS registration requests but reject other NAS messages, such as NAS service requests. If options D, C+D, or B+C+D as described above are supported, AMF 122 can determine which TAI is being broadcast in the radio cell. When only one TAI is being broadcast in the radio cell, rules 1 and 2 can also be applied to hard TAI updates, where the phrase "all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell" mentioned above is replaced with "one TAI broadcast in the radio cell".

[0130] Using Rule 3, for UE 105 that receives a NAS rejection message, if the rejection indicates that the current TAI is prohibited (e.g., as described above for Rule 2), then UE 105 will treat all broadcast TAIs of the current serving radio cell that are not in the current RA and are not in the allowed TAI list as prohibited TAIs.

[0131] Using rule 4, if a TAI is received as part of a new RA for UE 105 (e.g., in a registration request received from AMF 122), or if a TAI is received as an allowed TAI (from AMF 122), then UE 105 updates its prohibited TAI list by removing the TAI from the prohibited TAI list.

[0132] These rules can sometimes (A) allow UE 105 to access areas that are not permitted, or (B) deny UE 105 access to areas that are permitted. However, if the service area is carefully managed to always indicate the permitted TAs near UE 105, it is more likely that (A) will occur and (B) will not. Compared to TN, this avoids reducing UE 105's PLMN access and provides some additional access that is not possible with TN, but not unlimited additional access.

[0133] Figure 9 illustrates the signaling flow 900 of various messages sent between components of a PLMN with satellite access in a procedure supporting TAI updates, as discussed herein. The signaling flow 900 can be performed by entities in network architectures 100, 200, or 300 of Figures 1, 2, or 3, where UE 902 corresponds to UE 105, SV 904 corresponds to SV 102, 202, or 302, gNB 906 corresponds to gNB 106 / 202 / 307, and AMF 908 corresponds to AMF 122. It should be understood that gNB 906 or components of gNB 906 can be included within SV 904. For example, for SV 202, gNB 202 will be fully included within SV 202, as described in Figure 2. Alternatively, for SV 302, gNB 307 (also referred to as gNB-CU) will be on the ground and physically separate from SV 302, but SV 302 will include gNB-DU 302 as described in Figure 3. In some implementations, an eNB can be used instead of gNB 906, and an MME can be used instead of AMF 908. The signaling flow 900 may include more or fewer stages / messages.

[0134] In Phase 1 of Figure 9, UE 902 can begin 5G System (5GS) Mobility Management (5GMM) registration and RRC idle state. During registration (e.g., prior to Phase 11), AMF 908 may have already provided a list of TAIs in the UE RA or a priority list of TAIs in the UE RA based on the proximity of the corresponding TA to the location of UE 902, as described in Figure 8.

[0135] In phase 2, UE 902 receives broadcast TAI information for one or more radio cells from SV 904 (and possibly from other SVs not shown in Figure 9), indicating one or more TAIs supported by each radio cell, and selects a radio cell (and associated SV 904) based on the radio cells allowed by UE 902. UE 902 may determine whether access to the radio cell is allowed based on Rule 1 previously described. Access may be unconditionally allowed if at least one broadcast TAI is part of the current UE 902 RA, or if at least one broadcast TAI is not part of UE 902's disallowed TAI list and is not part of the prohibited TAI list (e.g., part of UE 902's allowed TAI list). When unconditional access is not allowed, conditional access by UE 105 sending a NAS registration request message (but not necessarily other NAS messages) may be allowed if at least one broadcast TAI is not part of UE 902's prohibited TAI list, for example, if some or all broadcast TAIs are part of UE 902's disallowed TAI list. UE 902 can also obtain location information, such as UE 902's location estimate, for example, by obtaining a measurement of SPS SV 190 and using that measurement to determine the location estimate. If access to the radio cell is not permitted in phase 2, phases 3 through 12 will not be executed. If access to the (conditional or unconditional) radio cell is permitted in phase 2, phases 3 through 12 can be executed.

[0136] In phase 3, UE 902 performs a random access procedure to obtain permission for uplink (UL) transmission from gNB 906 (not shown in Figure 9), and then sends an RRC establishment request to gNB 906 supporting the radio cell selected in phase 2 to request RRC signaling connection.

[0137] In phase 4, gNB 906 returns an RRC establishment message to UE 902.

[0138] In phase 5, UE 902 sends an RRC establishment complete message that includes a NAS request message. The NAS request can be a request for a NAS procedure or can be information provided to AMF 908. For example, a NAS request can be a registration request, attachment request, service request, or PDU communication period establishment request, or an uplink (UL) NAS transmission. A NAS request may require a NAS response, or in some implementations, a NAS response may not be required. In some implementations, UE 902 may include a plurality of TACs or TAIs from broadcast TAI information received in the radio cell selected in phase 2. In some implementations (e.g., for option B), if the NAS request is not a registration request, UE 902 may select a TAC or TAI and include it in the RRC establishment complete message. For example, for options B, B+E, or B+C+D, UE 902 may select and include one TAI from those broadcast in the selected radio cell, and may additionally prioritize TAIs in UE 902 RA or TAIs in UE 902 RA with higher priority, for example, as described above for option B. UE 902 may also include any UE location information obtained in phase 2 (e.g., UE 902 location estimate) in the RRC establishment completion message.

[0139] In phase 6, gNB 906 determines the User Location Information (ULI) of UE 902, including one or more TAIs for one or some combination of options A, B, C, D, or E (e.g., options B+E, B+C+D, or C+D), as discussed above. gNB 906 may utilize the location information of UE 902 received in phase 5 or known to gNB 906 (e.g., from the radio cell coverage area) to determine one or more TAIs. For example, as discussed above for option C (or option C+D), if the TA can be determined, gNB 906 may select the TAI as the TAI of the TA where UE 902 is located; or if the TA cannot be determined due to insufficient location information of UE 902 received in phase 5 or gNB 906's inability to map the location information of UE 902 to the TA where UE 902 is located, gNB 906 may include an indication (e.g., an empty TAC value or an empty TAI value) in the ULI. For example, as discussed above in Option E, if the TAI of the TA is broadcast in the serving radio cell, gNB 906 can select that TAI as the TAI of the TA where UE 902 is located; otherwise, gNB 906 can select the TAI broadcast in the serving cell for the TA closest to UE 902 (e.g., as indicated by the UE location information received in Phase 5). In some implementations (e.g., for Option B), and as discussed above, gNB 906 can determine the TAI based on the TAI provided by UE 902 in the RRC message in Phase 5. In some implementations, for example, for Option D or Option C+D, gNB 906 can include an indication of all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell, or generate and include a priority list of such TAIs based on the proximity of each corresponding TA to UE 902 (e.g., as indicated by the UE location information received in Phase 5). For combined options, gNB 906 can include several types of TAIs in the ULI. For example, for option C+D, gNB 906 may include an indication of the TAI of the TA where UE 902 is located (if the TA can be determined) or otherwise the TA cannot be determined (e.g., an empty TAI value), and may further include an indication of all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell.

[0140] In phase 7, the gNB or gNB-CU 906 forwards the NAS request to the AMF 908 in the serving PLMN of UE 902 in an NGAP transport message (such as the NGAP initial UE message). The NGAP transport message includes the NAS request and the ULI determined in phase 6, which includes the determined TAI and / or a list of TAIs.

[0141] In phase 8, AMF 908 can determine whether the multiple TAIs of UE 902 included in the ULI received in phase 7 are used for the multiple TAs allowed by UE 902. AMF 908 can use Rule 2 as described above to determine whether UE 902's access to the radio cell selected in phase 2 is permitted based on whether the multiple TAIs are permitted. For example, when using option D, option C+D, or option B+C+D, if UE 902 permits at least one of the TAIs (e.g., not in UE 902's prohibited TAI list or not allowed TAI list), then AMF 908 can determine that access to the radio cell is unconditionally permitted. However, if all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell are not permitted by UE 902 (e.g., each TAI is in UE 902's prohibited TAI list or not allowed TAI list), then AMF 908 can determine that UE 902's access is not unconditionally permitted. If all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell are part of UE 902's prohibited TAI list, AMF 908 may determine that UE 902's access to the radio cell selected in Phase 2 is not permitted. However, if all TAIs broadcast in the radio cell are not permitted by UE 902, but at least one TAI broadcast in the radio cell is not part of UE 902's prohibited TAI list (e.g., in UE 902's disallowed TAI list), then AMF 908 may determine that UE 902's access to the radio cell selected in Phase 2 is conditionally permitted, and may accept the reception of registration requests from UE 902, although it may not accept other NAS messages from UE 902, such as service requests.

[0142] In phase 9, if (multiple) TAIs are not allowed in phase 8, making UE 902's access to the radio cell selected in phase 2 unacceptable (even conditionally), then AMF 908 sends a NAS rejection message to UE 902. This NAS rejection message indicates that (multiple) TAIs are currently prohibited. For example, the NAS rejection message may include (multiple) prohibited TAIs and / or a reason value indicating the reason for the rejection and instructing UE 902 to include (multiple) TAIs in UE 902's prohibited TAI list. The NAS rejection message may be a counterpart to a NAS request and may reject the NAS procedure associated with the NAS request. For example, a NAS rejection may be a registration rejection, service rejection, attachment rejection, or PDU communication period establishment rejection.

[0143] In phase 10, if UE 902 receives a TAI or a list of TAIs and an indication that (multiple) TAIs are banned, UE 902 adds the received (multiple) TAIs to its banned TAI list. If UE 902 receives an indication that a TAI is banned, but does not receive a TAI or a list of TAIs, UE 902 may follow rule 3 as described above and move all TAIs currently broadcast in the serving radio cell to the banned TAI list. However, UE 902 may choose not to move any broadcast TAIs that are part of the current UE 902 RA or included in UE 902's allowed TAI list to the banned TAI list. Subsequently, phases 11 and 12 are not executed.

[0144] In phase 11, if access to the radio cell was permitted or conditionally permitted in phase 8, AMF 908 sends a NAS accept message to UE 902. This NAS accept message can be a registration accept, an attachment accept, or (e.g., if access is unconditionally permitted) a service accept message. If the NAS accept message is a registration accept message, AMF 908 may include the UE 902's new registration area (RA), which is a list of TAIs permitted for use by UE 902. If only one TAI is received, AMF 908 may typically include the TAI received in phase 7 in the RA, and may also include additional TAIs from TAs near the TA of the TAI received in phase 7. For option D or option C+D, if the TAI received in phase 7 is prioritized, where TAIs closer to the UE 902's TA are included earlier in the priority list, AMF 908 may include one or more of the higher priority TAIs (e.g., the highest priority TAI and possibly one or more of the next highest priority TAIs) in the RA. For option D or option C+D, if the TAI is not prioritized, AMF 908 may include at least one TAI broadcast in the radio cell within the RA. For option C+D, (i) AMF 908 may alternatively include only the TAI of the TA where UE 902 is located (as received as part of the ULI in phase 7) in the RA (if the TA is determined by gNB 906 in phase 6 and if the TAI is one of the TAIs broadcast in the radio cell), otherwise (ii) AMF 908 may include at least one TAI broadcast in the radio cell in the RA. The registration acceptance message may also include a service area indication, which may include the allowed area (TAI) and disallowed area (TAI) of UE 902.

[0145] In phase 12, if UE 902 receives a new RA in phase 11, UE 902 can follow rule 4 as described above and remove any TAIs included in the prohibited TAI list from UE 902's prohibited TAI list. Similarly, if UE 902 receives a service area indication in phase 11, UE 902 can also remove any TAIs from UE 902's prohibited TAI list that are included in the allowed TAI list of the service area received in phase 11.

[0146] It should be noted that each of the options A through E, options C+D, options B+C+D, rules 1 through 4, and signaling procedure 900 described above can be applied to satellite radio access using other types of satellite RATs (such as LTE, NB-IoT, or future 6G), as long as the fixed TA continues to be used to support UE mobility management. In this case, the above reference to gNB will be replaced by different types of base stations (e.g., eNB or ng-eNB for LTE satellite access, or eNB for NB-IoT satellite access); the above reference to AMF will be replaced by different types of core network nodes (e.g., MME for LTE or NB-IoT satellite access); and the reference to NAS message types (e.g., NAS request, NAS accept, or NAS reject) can be replaced by another type of NAS message applicable to other satellite RATs (e.g., in the case of LTE or NB-IoT satellite access, NAS attach request can replace NAS registration request, NAS attach accept can replace NAS registration accept, and NAS attach reject can replace NAS registration reject).

[0147] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of UE 1000, such as UE 105 shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, or UE 902 shown in Figure 9. UE 1000 can be configured to execute the signal flow in Figure 9 and the process flow 1500 of Figure 15, as well as the algorithms disclosed herein. For example, UE 1000 may include hardware components such as satellite transceiver 1003 for wireless communication with SV 102 / 202 / 302 via a wireless antenna (not shown in Figure 10), as shown, for example, in Figures 1, 2, and 3. UE 1000 may also include wireless transceiver 1002 for wireless communication with ground base stations (e.g., base stations such as gNB or ng-eNB) in NG-RAN 112 via a wireless antenna (not shown in Figure 10). UE 1000 may also include additional transceivers, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 1006, and an SPS receiver 1008 for receiving and measuring signals from the SPS SV 190 (illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3) via a wireless antenna (not shown in Figure 10). In some embodiments, UE 1000 may receive data from a satellite, for example, via a satellite transceiver 1003, and may respond to a ground base station, for example, via a wireless transceiver 1002 or via a WLAN transceiver 1006. Therefore, UE 1000 may include one or more transmitters, one or more receivers, or both, and these may be integrated, individual, or a combination of both. UE 1000 may also include one or more sensors 1010, such as a camera, accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, magnetometer, barometer, etc. UE 1000 may also include a user interface 1012, which may include, for example, a display, keyboard, or other input device, such as a virtual keyboard on the display, through which a user can connect to UE 1000. UE 1000 also includes one or more processors 1004, memory 1016, and non-transitory computer-readable media 1018, which may be coupled to bus 1014. One or more processors 1004 and other components of UE 1000 may be similarly coupled to bus 1014 (a separate bus), or may be directly connected together or coupled using a combination of the above.

[0148] One or more processors 1004 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, one or more processors 1004 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein via one or more instructions or program code 1020 implemented on a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as media 1018 and / or memory 1016. In some embodiments, one or more processors 1004 may represent one or more circuits configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation program or process related to the operation of UE 1000.

[0149] Media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may store instruction or program code 1020 containing executable code or software instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors 1004, cause one or more processors 1004 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein (e.g., the signal flow of FIG. 9 and the process flow 1500 of FIG. 15, and the supporting techniques described herein). As shown in UE 1000, media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by one or more processors 1004 to perform the methods described herein. Although components or modules are shown in media 1018 as software executable by one or more processors 1004, it should be understood that components or modules may be stored in memory 1016 or may be dedicated hardware within or outside one or more processors 1004.

[0150] Numerous software modules and data tables may reside in media 1018 and / or memory 1016 and be utilized by one or more processors 1004 to manage both the communications and functions described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of media 1018 and / or memory 1016 as shown in UE 1000 is merely exemplary, and therefore the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured differently depending on the implementation of UE 1000. Although elements or modules are shown as software in media 1018 and / or memory 1016 executable by one or more processors 1004, it should be understood that elements or modules may be firmware or dedicated hardware in or outside of one or more processors 1004.

[0151] As shown in the figure, the program code 1020 stored in media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include a TAI module 1021. When the TAI module 1021 is implemented by one or more processors 1004, the one or more processors 1004 are configured to receive a plurality of TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell via radio transceiver 1002 or satellite transceiver 1003. The one or more processors 1004 may also be configured to determine whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on the plurality of TAIs. For example, the one or more processors 1004 may be configured to determine that access is unconditionally permitted when at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE RA or part of the UE's permitted TAI list; to determine that access is conditionally permitted when access is not unconditionally permitted and when at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list; and to determine that access is not permitted when all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0152] As shown in the figure, the code 1020 stored in media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include a NAS request module 1022. When the NAS request module 1022 is implemented by one or more processors 1004, the processors 1004 are configured to send a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request via radio transceiver 1002 or satellite transceiver 1003 to the core network node (such as AMF 122) in the satellite radio cell through the RAN node when access to the satellite radio cell is determined to be permitted. For example, when access is determined to be unconditionally permitted, the NAS request message can be any uplink NAS message, while when access is determined to be conditionally permitted, the NAS message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

[0153] As shown in the figure, the program code 1020 stored in the media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include a NAS response module 1024. When the NAS response module 1024 is implemented by one or more processors 1004, the one or more processors 1004 are configured to receive NAS response messages from the core network node in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node through the wireless transceiver 1002 or the satellite transceiver 1003.

[0154] As shown in the figure, the program code 1020 stored in the media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include a list update module 1026. When the list update module 1026 is implemented by one or more processors 1004, the one or more processors 1004 are configured to, for example, store all multiple TAs not included in the currently registered region or allowed region list in the memory 1016 or media 1018 into a prohibited TA list, and remove any TAs included in the newly registered region or newly allowed region list from the prohibited TA list. For example, a NAS request message may include a NAS registration request and a NAS response message may include a NAS registration acceptance message, or a NAS request message may include a NAS attachment request and a NAS response message may include a NAS attachment acceptance message, and the NAS acceptance message may be at least one of a Registered Area (RA) including a first TAI list and an Allowed TAI list including a second TAI list, and one or more processors 1004 may be configured to remove each TAI from the prohibited TAI list when a TAI in the first TAI list, the second TAI list, or each of the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list. In another instance, a NAS request message may include a NAS registration request and a NAS response message may include a NAS registration rejection message, or a NAS request message may include a NAS attachment request and a NAS response message may include a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a TAI list, and one or more processors 1004 may be configured to add each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list. In another instance, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request and the NAS response message may include a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message may include a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message may include a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI list, and one or more processors 1004 may be configured to add each of the plurality of TAIs to the UE’s prohibited TAI list.

[0155] As shown in the figure, the program code 1020 stored in the media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include a registration module 1028, which, when implemented by one or more processors 1004, configures one or more processors 1004 to receive, for example, a new registration area or a new list of allowed areas via a wireless transceiver 1002 or a satellite transceiver 1003.

[0156] As shown in the figure, the program code 1020 stored in the media 1018 and / or memory 1016 may include a selection module 1030, which, when implemented by one or more processors 1004, configures one or more processors 1004 to consider the satellite radio cell as associated with a prohibited TA if any of the multiple TAs of the PLMN in the radio cell broadcast from the satellite is on the prohibited TA list.

[0157] Depending on the application, the methods described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these methods can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In hardware implementations, one or more processors 1004 can be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0158] For implementations of the UE 1000 involving firmware and / or software, the methods can be implemented using modules (e.g., programs, functions, etc.) that perform the separate functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly containing instructions can be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code can be stored in media 1018 or memory 1016 and executed by one or more processors 1004, causing one or more processors 1004 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. Memory can be implemented within one or more processors 1004 or external to one or more processors 1004. As used herein, the term "memory" means any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type or quantity of memory, or the type of media storing memory.

[0159] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions executed by UE 1000 can be stored as one or more instructions or codes in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as media 1018 or memory 1016. Examples of storage media include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer programs. Computer-readable media includes physical computer storage media. Storage media can be any available media accessible by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage, semiconductor storage or other storage devices, or any other media that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible by a computer; magnetic disks and optical discs as used herein include compressed optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, wherein magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0160] In addition to being stored in a computer-readable storage medium, the instructions and / or data of the UE 1000 can be provided as signals included in a transmission medium in a communication device. For example, a communication device including some or all of the UE 1000 may include a transceiver having signals indicating instructions and data. The instructions and data are stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1018 or memory 1016 and are configured to cause one or more processors 1004 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium having signals indicating information indicating the execution of the disclosed functions. At a first time, the transmission medium included in the communication device may include a first portion of the information indicating the execution of the disclosed functions, and at a second time, the transmission medium included in the communication device may include a second portion of the information indicating the execution of the disclosed functions.

[0161] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a core network node 1100 in a PLMN. For example, the core network node 1100 may be the AMF 122 shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the AMF 908 shown in Figure 9, or an MME supporting LTE or NB-IoT satellite access for the UE. The core network node 1100 may execute the signal flow of Figure 9 and the process flow 1400 of Figure 14, as well as the algorithms disclosed herein. The network node 1100 includes, for example, hardware components, such as an external interface 1102 configured to communicate with other network components in the PLMN. The network node 1100 includes one or more processors 1104, memory 1116, and non-transitory computer-readable media 1118, which may be coupled together via a bus 1107.

[0162] One or more processors 1104 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, one or more processors 1104 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein via one or more instructions or program code 1120 implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as media 1118 and / or memory 1116. In some embodiments, one or more processors 1104 may represent one or more circuits configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation program or process related to the operation of network node 1100.

[0163] Media 1118 and / or memory 1116 may store instruction or program code 1120 containing executable code or software instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors 1104, cause one or more processors 1104 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein (e.g., the signal flow of FIG9 and the process flow 1400 of FIG14, and the supporting algorithms described herein). As shown in network node 1100, media 1118 and / or memory 1116 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by one or more processors 1104 to perform the methods described herein. Although components or modules are shown in media 1118 as software executable by one or more processors 1104, it should be understood that components or modules may be stored in memory 1116 or may be dedicated hardware within or outside one or more processors 1104.

[0164] Numerous software modules and data tables may reside in media 1118 and / or memory 1116 and be used by one or more processors 1104 to manage both the communications and functions described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of media 1118 and / or memory 1116 as shown in network node 1100 is merely exemplary, and therefore the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation of network node 1100. Although elements or modules are shown as software in media 1118 and / or memory 1116 executable by one or more processors 1104, it should be understood that elements or modules may be firmware or dedicated hardware in or outside of one or more processors 1104.

[0165] As shown in the figure, the program code 1120 stored in the media 1118 and / or memory 1116 may include a NAS request module 1122. When implemented by one or more processors 1104, the NAS request module 1122 configures one or more processors 1104 to receive a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more TAIs from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node via an external interface 1102. The NAS request message is sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, and the one or more TAIs include a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located.

[0166] As shown in the figure, the program code 1120 stored in the media 1118 and / or memory 1116 may include an authentication module 1124. When the authentication module 1124 is implemented by one or more processors 1104, the one or more processors 1104 are configured to determine whether the UE is allowed to access the satellite radio cell based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell.

[0167] As shown in the figure, the program code 1120 stored in media 1118 and / or memory 1116 may include a NAS response module 1126. When the NAS response module 1126 is implemented by one or more processors 1104, the one or more processors 1104 are configured to send a NAS acceptance message to the UE, for example, via an external interface, when the UE is granted access to the satellite radio cell. For example, the NAS request message may be a NAS registration request and the NAS acceptance message may be a NAS registration acceptance, or the NAS request message may be a NAS attachment request and the NAS acceptance message may be a NAS attachment acceptance. The one or more processors 1104 may be configured to include the Registration Area (RA) in the NAS acceptance message. The one or more processors 1104 may be configured to include the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA when the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell. One or more processors 1104 may be configured to include at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell in the RA when the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell. One or more processors 1104 may be configured to include at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the RA when the indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node.

[0168] Depending on the application, the methods described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these methods can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In hardware implementations, one or more processors 1104 can be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0169] For implementations of network node 1100 involving firmware and / or software, the method can be implemented using modules (e.g., programs, functions, etc.) that perform the separate functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly containing instructions can be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code can be stored in medium 1118 or memory 1116 and executed by one or more processors 1104, causing one or more processors 1104 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. Memory can be implemented within one or more processors 1104 or external to one or more processors 1104. As used herein, the term "memory" means any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type or quantity of memory, or the type of media storing memory.

[0170] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions executed by network node 1100 may be stored as one or more instructions or codes in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as media 1118 or memory 1116. Examples of storage media include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer programs. Computer-readable media includes physical computer storage media. Storage media can be any available media accessible by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage, semiconductor storage or other storage devices, or any other media that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible by a computer; magnetic disks and optical discs as used herein include compressed optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, wherein magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0171] In addition to being stored in computer-readable storage media, instructions and / or data of network node 1100 can be provided as signals included in transmission media within a communication device. For example, a communication device including some or all of network nodes 1100 may include transceivers having signals indicating instructions and data. Instructions and data are stored in non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., media 1118 or memory 1116) and configured to cause one or more processors 1104 to operate as dedicated computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. That is, the communication device includes transmission media having signals indicating information indicating the performance of the disclosed functions. At a first time, the transmission media included in the communication device may include a first portion of the information indicating the performance of the disclosed functions, and at a second time, the transmission media included in the communication device may include a second portion of the information indicating the performance of the disclosed functions.

[0172] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a RAN node 1200, such as an NR node B (gNB) or an eNB. The RAN node 1200 may correspond to any of the following: (i) gNB 106 shown in Figure 1; (ii) gNB 202 in SV 202 shown in Figure 2; or (iii) gNB-DU 302 in SV 302 or gNB-CU 307 shown in Figure 3. The RAN node 1200 may execute the signal flow 900 of Figure 9 and the process flow 1300 of Figure 13, as well as the algorithms disclosed herein. RAN node 1200 may include, for example, hardware components such as external interface 1202. External interface 1202 may include one or more wired and / or wireless interfaces capable of connecting to and communicating with one or more entities in the core network of the PLMN, such as AMF 122 or UPF 130 in the 5GCN 110 shown in FIG. 2, earth station 104, and other gNBs, UEs 105 (e.g., when RAN node 1200 is part of SV 202 or SV 302); and can connect directly or via one or more intermediate networks and / or one or more network entities to other elements in the wireless network, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3. External interface 1202 may include one or more antennas to support wireless interfaces and / or wireless backhaul to elements in the wireless network. RAN node 1200 also includes one or more processors 1204, memory 1216, and non-transitory computer-readable media 1218, which may be coupled to bus 1207. RAN node 1200 is shown as including gNB-DU 1212 and / or gNB-CU 1214 (e.g., in the case where RAN node 1200 corresponds to gNB 202 in FIG. 2, gNB 202 includes gNB-CU and one or more gNB-DUs), which may be hardware components or implemented by one or more specially configured processors 1204. When RAN node 1200 itself corresponds to a gNB-DU (e.g., gNB-DU 302) or gNB-CU (e.g., gNB-CU 307), gNB-DU 1212 and gNB-CU 1214 may not be present.

[0173] One or more processors 1204 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, one or more processors 1204 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein via one or more instructions or program code 1220 implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as media 1218 and / or memory 1216. In some embodiments, one or more processors 1204 may represent one or more circuits configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation program or process related to the operation of RAN node 1200.

[0174] Media 1218 and / or memory 1216 may store instruction or program code 1220 containing executable code or software instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors 1204, cause one or more processors 1204 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein (e.g., the signal flow of FIG9 and the process flow 1300 of FIG13, and the supporting algorithms described herein). As shown in RAN node 1200, media 1218 and / or memory 1216 may include one or more elements or modules that may be implemented by one or more processors 1204 to perform the methods described herein. Although elements or modules are shown in media 1218 as software executable by one or more processors 1204, it should be understood that elements or modules may be stored in memory 1216 or may be dedicated hardware within or outside one or more processors 1204.

[0175] Numerous software modules and data tables may reside in media 1218 and / or memory 1216 and be used by one or more processors 1204 to manage both the communications and functions described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of media 1218 and / or memory 1216 as shown in RAN node 1200 is merely exemplary, and therefore the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation of RAN node 1200. Although elements or modules are shown as software in media 1218 and / or memory 1216 executable by one or more processors 1204, it should be understood that elements or modules may be firmware or dedicated hardware in or outside of one or more processors 1204.

[0176] As shown in the figure, the program code 1220 stored in the media 1218 and / or memory 1216 may include a TAI module 1221, which, when implemented by one or more processors 1204, configures one or more processors 1204 to broadcast one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell via an external interface 1202.

[0177] As shown in the figure, the program code 1220 stored in media 1218 and / or memory 1216 may include a NAS request module 1222. When the NAS request module 1222 is implemented by one or more processors 1204, the one or more processors 1204 are configured to receive Non-Access Layer (NAS) messages from the UE via an external interface 1202. These NAS messages are sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell. The one or more processors 1204 may be configured to send NAS messages to the core network node via the external interface 1202, and the NAS messages may include a TAI for the TA where the UE is located, as well as one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell. The one or more processors 1204 may be configured to send NAS messages to the core network node via the external interface 1202, and the NAS messages may include a plurality of TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located is undetermined.

[0178] As shown in the figure, the program code 1220 stored in the media 1218 and / or memory 1216 may include a TAC selection module 1224, which, when implemented by one or more processors 1204, configures one or more processors 1204 to determine the TA where the UE is located.

[0179] Depending on the application, the methods described herein can be implemented by various means. For example, these methods can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In hardware implementations, one or more processors 1204 can be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0180] For implementations of the RAN node 1200 involving firmware and / or software, the methods can be implemented using modules (e.g., programs, functions, etc.) that perform the separate functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly containing instructions can be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code can be stored in media 1218 or memory 1216 and executed by one or more processors 1204, causing one or more processors 1204 to operate as a dedicated computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. Memory can be implemented within one or more processors 1204 or external to one or more processors 1204. As used herein, the term "memory" means any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type or quantity of memory, or the type of media storing memory.

[0181] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions executed by RAN node 1200 can be stored as one or more instructions or codes in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as media 1218 or memory 1216. Examples of storage media include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer programs. Computer-readable media includes physical computer storage media. Storage media can be any available media accessible by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage, semiconductor storage or other storage devices, or any other media that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible by a computer; magnetic disks and optical disks as used herein include compressed optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, wherein magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0182] In addition to being stored in computer-readable storage media, instructions and / or data of RAN node 1200 can be provided as signals included in transmission media within a communication device. For example, a communication device including some or all of RAN nodes 1200 may include transceivers having signals indicating instructions and data. Instructions and data are stored in non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., media 1218 or memory 1216) and configured to cause one or more processors 1204 to operate as dedicated computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. That is, the communication device includes transmission media having signals indicating information indicating the execution of the disclosed functions. At a first time, the transmission media included in the communication device may include a first portion of the information indicating the execution of the disclosed functions, and at a second time, the transmission media included in the communication device may include a second portion of the information indicating the execution of the disclosed functions.

[0183] Figure 13 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure 1300 executed by a radio access network (RAN) node to support user equipment (e.g., UE 105, UE 902, UE 1000) for satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN). The RAN node may correspond to gNB 106, gNB 202, gNB 307, gNB 906, RAN node 1200, or to an eNB or ng-eNB supporting LTE for the UE, or an eNB supporting NB-IoT access for the UE. Typically, exemplary procedure 1300 applies to options C+D and rules 1 to 4 described above.

[0184] As shown in the figure, at block 1302, the RAN node broadcasts one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) in the satellite radio cell, as discussed in stage 2 of Figure 9. For example, the components used to broadcast one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) in the satellite radio cell may be an external interface 1202 and one or more processors 1204, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1216 and / or media 1218, such as the TAI module 1221 in the RAN node 1200 in Figure 12.

[0185] At block 1304, the RAN node receives a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message from the UE, which is sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell, for example, as described in stage 5 of FIG9. The components used to receive the NAS message from the UE (which is sent by the UE in the satellite radio cell) may be, for example, an external interface 1202 and one or more processors 1204, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1216 and / or media 1218, such as the NAS request module 1222 in the RAN node 1200 of FIG12.

[0186] At block 1306, the RAN node determines the TA where the UE is located, for example, as discussed in stage 6 of FIG9 and with reference to options C and C+D. The component used to determine the TA where the UE is located can be, for example, one or more processors 1204, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1216 and / or media 1218, such as the TAC selection module 1224 in RAN node 1200 of FIG12.

[0187] At block 1308, the RAN node sends a NAS message to the core network node, and the NAS message includes the TAI of the TA where the UE is located and one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell, for example, as discussed in stage 7 of FIG9 and with reference to option C+D. The components used to send the NAS message to the core network node and include the TAI of the TA where the UE is located and one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell in the NAS message can be, for example, an external interface 1202 and one or more processors 1204, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1216 and / or media 1218, such as the NAS request module 1222 in the RAN node 1200 of FIG12.

[0188] In one implementation, the RAN node may be an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node may be an access and mobility management function (e.g., AMF 122), or the RAN node may be an evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node may be a mobility management entity (MME), as discussed with reference to Figure 9.

[0189] In one implementation, one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell can be a single TAI, for example, as discussed in conjunction with Figure 7, a hard TAI update.

[0190] In one implementation, the RAN node may be unable to determine the TA where the UE is located, for example, as discussed in stage 6 of FIG9. Subsequently, the RAN node may send a NAS message to the core network node, and the NAS message may include one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located has not been determined, for example, as discussed in stages 6 and 7 of FIG9 and with reference to option C+D. The component unable to determine the TA where the UE is located may be, for example, one or more processors 1204 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1216 and / or media 1218, such as the TAC selection module 1224 in the RAN node 1200 of FIG12. The components used to send NAS messages to core network nodes and include in the NAS messages a plurality of TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located is not determined can be, for example, an external interface 1202 and one or more processors 1204, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1216 and / or media 1218, such as the NAS request module 1222 in RAN node 1200 in FIG. 12.

[0191] Figure 14 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure 1400 executed by a core network node to support user equipment (e.g., UE 105, UE 902, UE 1000) for satellite radio access to the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). The core network node may correspond to AMF 122, AMF 908, core network node 1100, or an MME supporting LTE or NB-IoT satellite access for the UE. Typically, exemplary procedure 1400 applies to options C+D and rules 1 through 4 described above.

[0192] As shown in the figure, at block 1402, the core network node receives a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from the Radio Access Network (RAN) node. The NAS request message is sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell. The one or more TAIs include the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located, as discussed in stages 2, 5, 6 and 7 of Figure 9 and as discussed in reference options C and D. The components used to receive Non-Access Layer (NAS) request messages and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (the NAS request message is sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, and the one or more TAIs include a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located) can be, for example, an external interface 1102 and one or more processors 1104 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1116 and / or media 1118, such as the NAS request module 1122 in the core network node 1100 of FIG11.

[0193] At block 1404, the core network node can determine whether a UE is allowed to access the satellite radio cell based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, as discussed in stage 8 of FIG9, as discussed in reference options C+D, and as discussed in reference rule 2. The component that determines whether a UE is allowed to access the satellite radio cell based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell can be, for example, an external interface 1102 and one or more processors 1104, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1116 and / or media 1118, such as the authentication module 1124 in the core network node 1100 of FIG11.

[0194] At block 1406, the core network node can respond to the decision that the UE is allowed access to the satellite radio cell by sending a NAS acceptance message to the UE, as discussed in stages 8 and 11 of FIG9, with reference to options C+D, and with reference to rule 2. The components used to send the NAS acceptance message to the UE in response to the decision that the UE is allowed access to the satellite radio cell can be, for example, an external interface 1102 and one or more processors 1104, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1116 and / or media 1118, such as the NAS response module 1126 in the core network node 1100 of FIG11. [What happens if NAS is denied (stage 9 of FIG9)?]

[0195] In one implementation, the RAN node may be an NR NodeB (e.g., gNB 106, 202, or 307), and the core network node may be an access and mobility management function (e.g., AMF 122), or the RAN node may be an evolved NodeB (eNB), and the core network node may be a mobility management entity (MME), as discussed with reference to Figure 9.

[0196] In one implementation, one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell may include a single TAI, such as a hard TAI update as discussed in conjunction with Figure 7.

[0197] In one implementation, the NAS request message can be a NAS registration request and the NAS acceptance message can be a NAS registration acceptance, or the NAS request message can be a NAS attachment request and the NAS acceptance message can be a NAS attachment acceptance, for example, as discussed in stages 5 and 11 of FIG9. Subsequently, the core network node can include the Registration Area (RA) in the NAS acceptance message, for example, as discussed in stage 11 of FIG9, reference option C+D, and reference rule 2. If the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the core network node can include the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA, for example, as discussed in stage 11 of FIG9 and reference option C+D. If the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the core network node can include at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell in the RA, for example, as discussed in stage 11 of FIG9 and reference option C+D. If the indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node, then the core network node may include in the RA at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, for example, as discussed in stage 11 of Figure 9 and with reference to option C+D. The components used to perform the following may be, for example, an external interface 1102 and one or more processors 1104: including a Registration Area (RA) in NAS acceptance, and including the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell if the indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node, and the one or more processors 1104 have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions in implementation memory 1116 and / or media 1118, such as the NAS response module 1126 in the core network node 1100 of FIG. 11.

[0198] Figure 15 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary procedure 1500 executed by a UE to support user equipment (e.g., UE 105, UE 902, UE 1000) for satellite radio access to the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). Typically, exemplary procedure 1500 applies to options C+D and rules 1 through 4 described above.

[0199] As shown in the figure, at block 1502, the UE can receive a plurality of Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell, for example, as discussed in stage 2 of Figure 9. The components used to receive a plurality of two or more Tracking Area (TAI) Identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell can be, for example, a radio transceiver 1002 and one or more processors 1004, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the TAI module 1021 in the UE 1000 of Figure 10.

[0200] At block 1504, the UE can determine whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs, for example, as discussed in Phase 2 and Rule 1 of FIG9. The component used to determine whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs can be, for example, one or more processors 1004 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the TAI module 1021 in the UE 1000 of FIG10.

[0201] At block 1506, in response to a decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, the UE can send a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message to the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, for example, as described in stage 5 of FIG9. The components used to send the NAS request message to the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell in response to a decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted can be, for example, a radio transceiver 1002 and one or more processors 1004, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the NAS request module 1022 in the UE 1000 of FIG10.

[0202] At block 1508, the UE receives a NAS response message from the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, for example, as discussed in phases 9 or 11 of Figure 9 and reference rule 2. The components used to receive the NAS response message from the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell may be, for example, a radio transceiver 1002 and one or more processors 1004, which have dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the NAS response module 1024 in the UE 1000 of Figure 10.

[0203] In one implementation, the RAN node can be an NR NodeB (e.g., gNB 106, 202, or 307), and the core network node can be an access and mobility management function (e.g., AMF 122), or the RAN node can be an evolved NodeB (eNB), and the core network node can be a mobility management entity (MME), as discussed in Figure 9.

[0204] In one implementation, the UE may determine whether access to a satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs in the following manner: if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE Registration Area (RA) or part of the UE's permitted TAI list, then access is unconditionally permitted; if access is not unconditionally permitted, and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is conditionally permitted; and if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is not permitted, for example, as discussed in stage 2 of FIG9 and with reference to rules 1 and 2. The components used to determine whether access to a satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs may include: components for determining that access is unconditionally permitted if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE Registration Area (RA) or part of the UE's permitted TAI list; components for determining that access is conditionally permitted if access is not unconditionally permitted and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list; and components for determining that access is not permitted if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list. These components may be, for example, one or more processors 1004 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the TAI module 1021 in the UE 1000 of FIG. 10.

[0205] In one implementation, if access is determined to be unconditionally allowed, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, and if access is determined to be conditionally allowed, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request, for example, as discussed in stage 11 of FIG9.

[0206] In one implementation, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request and the NAS response message may include a NAS registration acceptance message, or the NAS request message may include a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message may include a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of a Registration Area (RA) containing a first TAI list and an allowed TAI list containing a second TAI list, for example, as discussed in stages 5 and 11 of FIG. 9 and with reference to rules 1 and 2. Subsequently, if a TAI in the first TAI list, the second TAI list, or each of the first and second TAI lists is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, the UE can remove each TAI from the prohibited TAI list, for example, as discussed in stage 12 of FIG. 9 and with reference to rule 4. The component for removing each TAI from the prohibited TAI list of the UE if the TAI in the first TAI list, the second TAI list, or both the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list can be, for example, one or more processors 1004 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the list update module 1026 in the UE 1000 of FIG. 10.

[0207] In one implementation, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request and the NAS response message may include a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message may include a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message may include a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a list of TAIs, for example, as discussed in stages 5 and 9 of FIG9. The UE may then add each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list, for example, as discussed in stage 10 of FIG9. The component used to add each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list may be, for example, one or more processors 1004 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the list update module 1026 in the UE 1000 of FIG10.

[0208] In one implementation, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request and the NAS response message may include a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message may include a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message may include a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, for example, as discussed in stages 5 and 9 of FIG9. Subsequently, the UE may add each of the plurality of TAIs to the UE's prohibited TAI list, for example, as discussed in stage 10 of FIG9 and reference rule 3. The component used to add each of the plurality of TAIs to the UE's prohibited TAI list may be, for example, one or more processors 1004 having dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 1016 and / or media 1018, such as the list update module 1026 in the UE 1000 of FIG10.

[0209] The abbreviations used in this article can be determined as follows in Table 1: EM urgent ES Earth Station GEO Geostationary orbit ISL inter-satellite links LEO Low Earth Orbit LI legal wiretapping MEO Medium Earth Orbit MNO Mobile network service providers NGEO Non-geostationary orbit NTN Non-terrestrial networks gNB Satellite Node B SV Spacecraft SVO SV service providers TA Tracking Area TAC Tracking area code TAI Tracking Area Identification WEA Wireless emergency alarm Table 1

[0210] Substantial changes can be made as needed. For example, custom hardware may be used, and / or specific components may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed.

[0211] A configuration can be described as a process, illustrated as a flowchart or block diagram. While each operation can be described as a sequential process, many operations can be executed in parallel or simultaneously. Furthermore, the order of operations can be rearranged. A process may have additional steps not included in the diagram. Additionally, instances of the method can be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the code or code snippets that perform the necessary tasks can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a storage medium. A processor can execute the described tasks.

[0212] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly or conventionally understood. As used herein, “a” and “an” refer to one or more (i.e., at least one) grammatical object. As an example, “element” means one or more elements. The terms “approximately” and / or “about” as used herein, when referring to measurable values ​​such as quantity or duration, include variations of ±20%, ±10%, ±5%, or ±0.1% of a specific value, as such variations are appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein. The term “substantially” as used herein, when referring to measurable values ​​such as quantity, duration, or entity properties (such as frequency), also includes variations of ±20%, ±10%, ±5%, or ±0.1% of a specific value, as such variations are appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein.

[0213] As used herein, including in a request item, the "or" signifies a separate list in a list of items beginning with "at least one of..." or "one or more of...", such that a list such as "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Furthermore, as used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the stated item or condition.

[0214] As used herein, a mobile device, user equipment (UE), or mobile station (MS) means a device capable of receiving wireless communication and / or navigation signals (such as navigation and positioning signals), such as cellular or other wireless communication devices, smartphones, tablets, personal communication system (PCS) devices, personal navigation devices (PNDs), personal information administrators (PIMs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops, or other suitable mobile devices. The term "mobile station" (or "mobile device," "wireless device," or "user equipment") is also intended to include devices that communicate with a personal navigation device (PND), such as via short-range wireless, infrared, wired, or other connections, regardless of whether satellite signal reception, auxiliary data reception, and / or location-related processing occur at the device or the PND. Furthermore, the term "mobile station" or "user equipment" is intended to include all devices, including wireless communication devices, computers, laptops, tablets, etc., capable of communicating with servers, for example, via the Internet, WiFi, or other networks, and capable of communicating with one or more types of nodes, regardless of whether satellite signal reception, auxiliary data reception, and / or location-related processing occur at the device, the server, or another device or node associated with the network. Any operative combination of the above is also considered a "mobile station" or "user equipment." A mobile device or user equipment (UE) may also be referred to as a mobile terminal, terminal, device, Secure User Plane Location Enabled Terminal (SET), target device, target, or other names.

[0215] Although some of the techniques, processes and / or implementations presented herein may conform to all or part of one or more standards, in some embodiments such techniques, processes and / or implementations may not conform to part or all of such one or more standards.

[0216] In view of this description, embodiments may include different combinations of features. The following numbered clauses describe examples of implementation:

[0217] Clause 1. A method performed by a radio access network (RAN) node to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), the method comprising the steps of: broadcasting one or more tracking area (TA) identifications (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell; receiving a non-access stratum (NAS) message from the UE, the NAS message being transmitted by the UE in the satellite radio cell; determining the TA to which the UE is located; and sending the NAS message to a core network node, wherein the NAS message includes the TAI for the TA to which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0218] Clause 2. According to the method of Clause 1, the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0219] Clause 3. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 2, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0220] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3 also includes the following steps: being unable to determine the TA where the UE is located; and sending a NAS message to the core network node, and including in the NAS message one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located has not been determined.

[0221] Clause 5. A radio access network (RAN) node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), comprising: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a network entity; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to: broadcast one or more tracking area (TA) identifications (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell via the external interface; receive non-access stratum (NAS) messages from a UE via the external interface, the NAS messages being transmitted by the UE in the satellite radio cell; determine the TA to which the UE is located; and transmit NAS messages to a core network node via the external interface, wherein the NAS messages include the TAI for the TA to which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0222] Clause 6. RAN nodes according to Clause 5, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0223] Clause 7. A RAN node according to any one of Clauses 5 to 6, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0224] Clause 8. In any of Clauses 5 to 7, at least one processor of the RAN node is also configured to: be unable to determine the TA where the UE is located; and send a NAS message to the core network node via an external interface, and the NAS message includes one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located has not been determined.

[0225] Clause 9. A radio access network (RAN) node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), comprising: components for broadcasting one or more tracking area (TA) identifications (TAIs) in a satellite radio cell; components for receiving non-access stratum (NAS) messages from the UE, the NAS messages being transmitted by the UE in the satellite radio cell; components for determining the TA to which the UE is located; and components for sending NAS messages to a core network node, wherein the NAS messages include the TAI for the TA to which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0226] Clause 10. RAN nodes pursuant to Clause 9, wherein the RAN node comprises an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node comprises an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node comprises an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node comprises a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0227] Clause 11. A RAN node according to any one of Clauses 9 to 10, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0228] Clause 12. A RAN node pursuant to any one of Clauses 9 to 11 also includes: a component for determining the TA where the UE is located; and a component for sending a NAS message to the core network node, wherein the NAS message includes one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located has not been determined.

[0229] Clause 13. A non-transitory storage medium comprising code stored therein, the code being operable to configure at least one processor in a radio access network (RAN) node for supporting user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), the code including instructions for: broadcasting one or more tracking area (TA) identifications (TAIs) in the satellite radio cell; receiving non-access stratum (NAS) messages from the UE, the NAS messages being transmitted by the UE in the satellite radio cell; determining the TA to which the UE is located; and sending NAS messages to a core network node, wherein the NAS messages include the TAI for the TA to which the UE is located and the one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell.

[0230] Clause 14. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to Clause 13, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0231] Clause 15. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to any of Clauses 13 to 14, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0232] Clause 16. A non-transitory storage medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 13 to 15, wherein the program code also includes instructions for: being unable to determine the TA where the UE is located; and sending a NAS message to the core network node, and the NAS message including one or more TAIs broadcast in the satellite radio cell and an indication that the TA where the UE is located has not been determined.

[0233] Clause 17. A method performed by a core network node to support a user equipment (UE) for satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN), the method comprising the steps of: receiving a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; determining, based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell; and, in response to the determination that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell, sending a NAS Accept message to the UE.

[0234] Clause 18. The method according to Clause 17, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0235] Clause 19. The method according to any one of Clauses 17 to 18, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0236] Clause 20. A method according to any one of Clauses 17 to 19, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS acceptance message includes a NAS registration acceptance, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS acceptance message includes a NAS attachment acceptance, the method also including the following steps: including a Registration Area (RA) in the NAS acceptance message; including the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the RA if the indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node.

[0237] Clause 21. A core network node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Terrestrial Mobile Network (PLMN), comprising: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a network entity; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the external interface, a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifiers (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; determine, based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell; and, in response to the decision that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell, send a NAS acceptance message to the UE via the external interface.

[0238] Clause 22. A core network node pursuant to Clause 21, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0239] Clause 23. A core network node pursuant to any of Clauses 21 to 22, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0240] Clause 24. A core network node pursuant to any one of Clauses 21 to 23, wherein a NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and a NAS acceptance message includes a NAS registration acceptance, or a NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and a NAS acceptance message includes a NAS attachment acceptance, wherein at least one processor is also configured to: include a Registration Area (RA) in the NAS acceptance message; include the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; include at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and include at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the RA if the indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node.

[0241] Clause 25. A core network node configured to support user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), comprising: means for receiving a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; means for determining whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and means for sending a NAS acceptance message to the UE in response to the determination that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell.

[0242] Clause 26. Core network nodes pursuant to Clause 25, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0243] Clause 27. A core network node pursuant to any of Clauses 25 to 26, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0244] Clause 28. A core network node pursuant to any one of Clauses 25 to 27, wherein a NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and a NAS acceptance message includes a NAS registration acceptance, or a NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and a NAS acceptance message includes a NAS attachment acceptance, the core network node also includes: a component for including a Registration Area (RA) in the NAS acceptance message; a component for including the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; a component for including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and a component for including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the RA if an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node.

[0245] Clause 29. A non-transitory storage medium comprising code stored therein operable to configure at least one processor in a core network node for supporting user equipment (UE) satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the code including instructions for: receiving a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message and one or more Tracking Area (TA) Identifications (TAIs) from a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, the NAS request message being sent by the UE to the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, the one or more TAIs including an indication of a TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell and an indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located; determining, based on the TAI broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell, whether the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell; and, in response to the determination that the UE is permitted to access the satellite radio cell, sending a NAS acceptance message to the UE.

[0246] Clause 30. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to Clause 29, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0247] Clause 31. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to any of Clauses 29 to 30, wherein one or more TAIs broadcast in a satellite radio cell include a single TAI.

[0248] Clause 32. A non-transitory storage medium pursuant to any of Clauses 29 to 31, wherein a NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and a NAS acceptance message includes a NAS registration acceptance, or a NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and a NAS acceptance message includes a NAS attachment acceptance, the code also including instructions for: including a Registration Area (RA) in the NAS acceptance message; including the TAI of the TA where the UE is located in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell in the RA if the TAI of the TA where the UE is located is not one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the satellite radio cell; and including at least one of the TAIs broadcast by the RAN node in the RA if the indication of the TAI of the TA where the UE is located indicates that the TA where the UE is located is not determined by the RAN node.

[0249] Clause 33. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for supporting satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN), the method comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determining, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, sending a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node; and receiving a NAS response message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node from the core network node.

[0250] Clause 34. The method according to Clause 33, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0251] Clause 35. The method according to any one of Clauses 33 to 34, wherein determining whether access to a satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs comprises: if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE Registration Area (RA) or part of the UE's permitted TAI list, then access is unconditionally permitted; if access is not unconditionally permitted, and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is conditionally permitted; and if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is not permitted.

[0252] Clause 36. According to any one of Clauses 33 to 35, if access is determined to be unconditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, and if access is determined to be conditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

[0253] Clause 37. A method according to any one of Clauses 33 to 36, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration acceptance message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of a Registration Area (RA) containing a first TAI list and an Allowed TAI list containing a second TAI list, the method also including the step of: removing each TAI from the prohibited TAI list if the TAI in the first TAI list or in the second TAI list or in both the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0254] Clause 38. A method according to any one of Clauses 33 to 37, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a TAI list, the method also including the step of adding each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0255] Clause 39. A method according to any one of Clauses 33 to 38, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, the method also includes the step of adding each of a plurality of TAIs to the UE’s prohibited TAI list.

[0256] Clause 40. A user equipment (UE) configured to support satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN), comprising: a radio transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with a network entity; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the radio transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to: receive via the radio transceiver a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast in a satellite radio cell by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; determine via the radio transceiver, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, send via the radio transceiver a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message to a core network node in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node; and receive via the radio transceiver a NAS response message from the core network node in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node.

[0257] Clause 41. A UE pursuant to Clause 40, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0258] Clause 42. For a UE pursuant to any of Clauses 40 to 41, determining whether access to a satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs includes: if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE's Registration Area (RA) or part of the UE's permitted TAI list, then access is unconditionally permitted; if access is not unconditionally permitted, and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is conditionally permitted; and if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is not permitted.

[0259] Clause 43. For a UE pursuant to any of Clauses 40 to 42, where access is determined to be unconditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, where access is determined to be conditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

[0260] Clause 44. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 40 to 43, wherein a NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and a NAS response message includes a NAS registration acceptance message, or a NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and a NAS response message includes a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of a Registration Area (RA) containing a first TAI list and an Allowed TAI list containing a second TAI list, wherein at least one processor is also configured to remove each TAI from the prohibited TAI list if a TAI in the first TAI list or in the second TAI list or in each of the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0261] Clause 45. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 40 to 44, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a TAI list, wherein at least one processor is also configured to add each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0262] Clause 46. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 40 to 45, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, wherein at least one processor is also configured to add each of the plurality of TAIs to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0263] Clause 47. A user equipment (UE) configured to support satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Operations Network (PLMN), comprising: means for receiving a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast in a satellite radio cell by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node; means for determining, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; means for sending a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node in response to a decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; and means for receiving a NAS response message from the core network node via the RAN node in the satellite radio cell.

[0264] Clause 48. A UE pursuant to Clause 47, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0265] Clause 49. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 47 to 48, wherein the means for determining whether access to a satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs includes: means for determining that access is unconditionally permitted if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE's Registration Area (RA) or part of the UE's permitted TAI list; means for determining that access is conditionally permitted if access is not unconditionally permitted and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list; and means for determining that access is not permitted if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0266] Clause 50. For a UE pursuant to any of Clauses 47 to 49, where access is determined to be unconditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, where access is determined to be conditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

[0267] Clause 51. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 47 to 50, wherein a NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and a NAS response message includes a NAS registration acceptance message, or a NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and a NAS response message includes a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of a Registration Area (RA) containing a first TAI list and an Allowed TAI list containing a second TAI list, and the UE also includes a component for removing each TAI from the prohibited TAI list if a TAI in the first TAI list or in the second TAI list or in both the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0268] Clause 52. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 47 to 51, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a TAI list, and the UE also includes: a component for adding each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0269] Clause 53. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 47 to 52, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, and the UE also includes: a component for adding each of a plurality of TAIs to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0270] Clause 54. A non-transitory storage medium including code stored therein, the code being operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) for supporting satellite radio access to a serving Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the code including instructions for: receiving a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determining, based on the plurality of TAIs, whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted; in response to the decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, sending a Non-Access Layer (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node; and receiving a NAS response message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node from the core network node.

[0271] Clause 55. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to Clause 54, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0272] Clause 56. A non-transitory storage medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 54 to 55, wherein the instruction for determining whether access to a satellite radio cell is permitted based on a plurality of TAIs includes instructions for performing the following operations: if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of the current UE Registration Area (RA) or part of the UE's permitted TAI list, then access is determined to be unconditionally permitted; if access is not unconditionally permitted, and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is determined to be conditionally permitted; and if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE's prohibited TAI list, then access is determined to be prohibited.

[0273] Clause 57. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to any of Clauses 54 to 56, wherein if access is determined to be unconditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, wherein if access is determined to be conditionally permitted, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

[0274] Clause 58. A non-transitory storage medium pursuant to any of Clauses 54 to 57, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration acceptance message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of a Registration Area (RA) containing a first TAI list and an Allowed TAI list containing a second TAI list, wherein the code also includes instructions for: removing each TAI from the prohibited TAI list if the TAI in the first TAI list or in the second TAI list or in both the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0275] Clause 59. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to any of Clauses 54 to 58, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a list of TAIs, wherein the code also includes instructions for: adding each TAI in the TAI list to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0276] Clause 60. Non-transitory storage media pursuant to any of Clauses 54 to 59, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, wherein the code also includes instructions for: adding each of a plurality of TAIs to the UE's prohibited TAI list.

[0277] Although specific embodiments have been disclosed in detail herein, this is for illustrative purposes only and not to limit the scope of the appended claims. Specifically, it is contemplated that various substitutions, alterations, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Other forms, advantages, and modifications are considered to fall within the scope of the following claims. The claims presented represent the embodiments and features disclosed herein. Other unclaimed embodiments and features are also contemplated. Therefore, other embodiments are also within the scope of the following claims.

[0278] 100: Network Architecture 102:SV 102-1:SV 102-2:SV 102-3:SV 104-1: NTN Gate 104-2: NTN Gate 104-3: NTN gate 105:UE 106-1:gNB 106-2:gNB 106-3:gNB 110-1:5GCN1 110-2:5GCN2 112:NG-RAN 122:AMF 124:LMF 125:LRF 126:GMLC 128:NEF 130: User Plane Function (UPF) 132:SLP 134:SMF 140: External Client 190:SV 200: Network Architecture 202: Regenerated SV 202-1: Regenerated SV 202-2: Regenerated SV 202-3: Regenerated SV 300: Network Architecture 302: Regenerated SV 302-1: Regenerated SV 302-2: Regenerated SV 302-3: Regenerated SV 307-1:gNB-CU 307-2:gNB-CU 307-3:gNB-CU 400: Area 500: Area 502: Earth Fixed Community 504: Radio Cell 506:TA 600: Area 700: Environment 702:SV 704: Radio Cell 706-1:TA 706-2:TA 706-3:TA 706-4:TA 800: Environment 802: Satellite 804: Radio Cell 805a:UE 805b:UE 806:TA 900: Signal Transmission Flow 902:UE 904:SV 906:gNB 908:AMF 1000:UE 1002: Wireless transceiver 1003: Satellite transceiver 1004: Processor 1006: WLAN transceiver 1008: SPS Receiver 1010: Sensor 1012: User Interface 1014: Busbar 1016: Memory 1018: Non-transitory computer-readable media 1020: Instruction or code error 1021: TAI Module 1022: NAS Request Module 1024: NAS Response Module 1026: List Update Module 1028: Registration Module 1030: Select Module 1100: Core network node 1102: External Interface 1104: Processor 1107: Busbar 1116: Memory 1118: Media 1120: Instruction or program code 1122: NAS Request Module 1124: Verification Module 1126: NAS Response Module 1200: RAN node 1202: External Interface 1204: Processor 1207: Busbar 1212:gNB-DU 1214:gNB-CU 1216: Memory 1218: Non-transitory computer-readable media 1220: Instruction or program code 1221: TAI Module 1222: NAS Request Module 1224: TAC Select Module 1300: Program 1302: Square 1304: Square 1306: Square 1308: Square 1400: Program 1402: Square 1404: Square 1406: Square 1500: Program 1502: Square 1504: Square 1506: Square 1508: Square B1: Beam B2: Beam B3: Beam B4: Beam B5: Beam B6: Beam TA1: Tracking Area TA2: Tracking Area TA3: Tracking Area TA4: Tracking Area TA5: Tracking Area TA6: Tracking Area TA7: Tracking Area TA8: Tracking Area TA9: Tracking Area TA10: Tracking Area TA11: Tracking Area TA12: Tracking Area TA13: Tracking Area TA14: Tracking Area TA15: Tracking Area

[0279] Domestic storage information (please note in order of storage institution, date, and number) none Overseas storage information (please note in the order of storage country, institution, date, and number) none

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for supporting satellite radio access to a serving public terrestrial mobile network (PLMN), the method comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of tracking area (TAI) identifications (TAIs) broadcast by a radio access network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determining whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on a comparison of the plurality of TAIs with: (i) a list of permitted TAIs of the UE; or (ii) a currently registered UE region; in response to a determination that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, sending a non-access stratum (NAS) request message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node to a core network node; and receiving a NAS response message in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node from the core network node.

2. The method according to Request 1, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on the plurality of TAIs includes the following steps: if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of a current UE registration area (RA) or part of a permitted TAI list of the UE, then access is determined to be unconditionally permitted; if access is not unconditionally permitted, and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of a prohibited TAI list of the UE, then access is determined to be conditionally permitted; and if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the prohibited TAI list of the UE, then access is determined to be disallowed.

4. According to the method of request item 1, if the access is determined to be unconditionally allowed, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, and if the access is determined to be conditionally allowed, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

5. The method according to request item 1, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration acceptance message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of the following: a Registration Area (RA) including a first TAI list and an allowed TAI list including a second TAI list, the method also including the step of: removing each TAI from the prohibited TAI list if the TAI in the first TAI list or in the second TAI list or each of the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of a prohibited TAI list of the UE.

6. The method according to request item 1, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a TAI list, the method also includes the step of: adding each TAI in the TAI list to a prohibited TAI list of the UE.

7. The method according to request item 1, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, the method also includes the step of: adding each of the plurality of TAIs to a prohibited TAI list of the UE.

8. A user equipment (UE) configured to support satellite radio access to a serving Public Terrestrial Mobile Network (PLMN), comprising: A wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with network entities; At least one memory cell; The transceiver and at least one processor, coupled to the radio transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor being configured to: receive via the radio transceiver a plurality of Tracking Area (TAI) Identifiers (TAIs) broadcast by a Radio Access Network (RAN) node in a satellite radio cell; determine whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on a comparison of the plurality of TAIs with: (i) a list of permitted TAIs for the UE; or (ii) a currently registered UE region; in response to a decision that access to the satellite radio cell is permitted, transmit via the radio transceiver a Non-Access Layer (NAS) Request message to a core network node in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node; and receive via the radio transceiver a NAS Response message from the core network node in the satellite radio cell via the RAN node.

9. The UE according to request item 8, wherein the RAN node includes an NR NodeB (gNB) and the core network node includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or the RAN node includes an Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the core network node includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

10. According to request item 8, the UE, wherein determining whether access to the satellite radio cell is permitted based on the plurality of TAIs includes: If at least one of the plurality of TAIs is part of a current UE registration area (RA) or part of a UE’s allowed TAI list, access is unconditionally allowed; if access is not unconditionally allowed, and if at least one of the plurality of TAIs is not part of a UE’s prohibited TAI list, access is conditionally allowed; and if all of the plurality of TAIs are part of the UE’s prohibited TAI list, access is not allowed.

11. According to UE request item 8, if the access is determined to be unconditionally allowed, the NAS request message may include any uplink NAS message, and if the access is determined to be conditionally allowed, the NAS request message may include a NAS registration request or a NAS attachment request.

12. The UE according to request item 8, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration acceptance message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment acceptance message, wherein the NAS acceptance message includes at least one of the following: a Registration Area (RA) including a first TAI list and an allowed TAI list including a second TAI list, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: remove each TAI from the prohibited TAI list if the TAI in the first TAI list or in the second TAI list or each of the first TAI list and the second TAI list is part of a prohibited TAI list of the UE.

13. The UE according to request item 8, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and includes a TAI list, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: add each TAI in the TAI list to a prohibited TAI list of the UE.

14. The UE according to request item 8, wherein the NAS request message includes a NAS registration request and the NAS response message includes a NAS registration rejection message, or the NAS request message includes a NAS attachment request and the NAS response message includes a NAS attachment rejection message, wherein the NAS response message indicates a prohibited tracking area and does not include a TAI or a TAI list, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: add each of the plurality of TAIs to a prohibited TAI list of the UE.

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