RRC-Inactive UE Verification for Secure Small Data Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 5G communication systems face inefficiencies in managing user equipment (UE) security during inactive states, leading to increased power consumption, signaling overhead, and packet latency due to frequent transitions between RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_CONNECTED states for small data transmissions.
Innovation Solution
Implementing methods for generating and managing security keys and authentication tokens to enable secure small data transmissions (SDT) without anchor relocation, allowing UE to remain in the RRC_INACTIVE state, by utilizing pre-configured security keys and authentication tokens for communication with target gNBs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If user equipment frequently transitions between RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_CONNECTED states for small data transmissions, then data transmission capability is maintained, but power consumption increases and packet latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network pre-configures security keys and authentication tokens for target gNBs before the UE needs to transmit data. When UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state and needs to transmit small data, it can directly use the pre-configured security credentials to communicate with target gNBs without transitioning to RRC_CONNECTED state, thereby avoiding the power consumption associated with state transitions while maintaining data transmission capability
Solution Approach 2:
The UE is equipped with self-contained security credentials (security keys and authentication tokens) that allow it to independently authenticate with target gNBs without needing to establish a full RRC connection. This self-service mechanism enables the UE to perform small data transmissions autonomously in RRC_INACTIVE state, eliminating the need for network-assisted authentication that would require state transitions
2Productivity
If user equipment frequently transitions between RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_CONNECTED states for small data transmissions, then data transmission capability is maintained, but signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network performs preliminary configuration of security keys and authentication tokens for multiple target gNBs in advance. This pre-configuration eliminates the need for repeated signaling exchanges during small data transmissions, as the UE can directly use the pre-configured credentials to communicate with target gNBs without initiating RRC connection establishment procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the authentication and security management functions from the RRC connection establishment process. By separating these functions and providing them as pre-configured credentials to the UE, the system eliminates the signaling overhead associated with full RRC connection establishment while maintaining the ability to transmit data
3Loss of energy
If pre-configured security keys are used for small data transmissions in RRC_INACTIVE state, then power consumption is reduced and signaling overhead is minimized, but network security verification complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The security verification process is segmented into two independent parts: authentication token verification (performed by target gNB using pre-shared security keys) and session management (handled separately). This segmentation allows the target gNB to verify authentication tokens efficiently without requiring complex multi-step authentication procedures, thus reducing the perceived complexity while maintaining security
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed for verification of user equipment (UE) for small data transmission (SDT) when the user equipment is in an inactive state with respect to a communication network. For example, the UE is verified at a selected target gNB upon an SDT resume request initiated by the UE, i.e., a returning UE with respect to the selected target gNB, or otherwise prior to UE data resuming transmission to an anchor gNB from the selected target gNB.