WO2022099579A1

WO2022099579A1 - Transmissions in stand-alone non-public networks

Info

Publication number: WO2022099579A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/128519
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhuang Liu; Yin Gao
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2020-11-13
Filing date: 2020-11-13
Publication date: 2022-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2023-05-13
Also published as: CN116584126A

Abstract

Presented are systems, methods, apparatuses, or computer-readable media for transmissions in stand-alone non-public networks (NPNs). A centralized unit (CU) may receive, from a distributed unit (DU) in a wireless communication node, information about a subscription/credential owner (SCO) of at least a first cell. The wireless communication node may send, to a core network node, a message identifying the SCO as being supported by the wireless communication node, to allow the SCO to authenticate the first cell for a wireless communication device to access the first cell.

Description

TRANSMISSIONS IN STAND-ALONE NON-PUBLIC NETWORKS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for transmissions in stand-alone non-public networks (SNPN) .

BACKGROUND

The standardization organization Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently in the process of specifying a new Radio Interface called 5G New Radio (5G NR) as well as a Next Generation Packet Core Network (NG-CN or NGC) . The 5G NR will have three main components: a 5G Access Network (5G-AN) , a 5G Core Network (5GC) , and a User Equipment (UE) . In order to facilitate the enablement of different data services and requirements, the elements of the 5GC, also called Network Functions, have been simplified with some of them being software based so that they could be adapted according to need.

SUMMARY

The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving the issues relating to one or more of the problems presented in the prior art, as well as providing additional features that will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings. In accordance with various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices and computer program products are disclosed herein. It is understood, however, that these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art who read the present disclosure that various modifications to the disclosed embodiments can be made while remaining within the scope of this disclosure.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, a method, an apparatus, or a computer-readable medium. A centralized unit (CU) may receive, from a distributed unit (DU) in a wireless communication node, information about a subscription/credential owner (SCO) of at least a first cell. The wireless communication node may send, to a core network node, a message identifying the SCO as being supported by the wireless communication node, to allow the SCO to authenticate the first cell for a wireless communication device to access the first cell.

In some embodiments, the information about the SCO may include at least one of: information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the first cell; information about at least one SCO supported by the first cell; at least one group identification (ID) supported by the first cell; an onboarding-only indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services; or an onboarding indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.

In some embodiments, the CU may configure, according to the information about the SCO, broadcast information about the SCO. In some embodiments, the CU may encode the broadcast information. In some embodiments, the CU may send, to the DU, the encoded broadcast information. In some embodiments, the DU may broadcast the encoded broadcast information to at least the wireless communication device.

In some embodiments, the encoded broadcast information may include at least one of: information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the first cell; information about at least one SCO supported by the first cell; at least one group identification (ID) supported by the first cell; an onboarding-only indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services; or an onboarding indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive, from the wireless communication device according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may send, to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive, from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to access services from the first cell.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive, from the wireless communication device according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may send, to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may receive, from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to use the first cell only for onboarding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may provide, to the wireless communication device, credential information for the wireless communication device to access a second cell for services.

In some embodiments, the CU may send, to the DU, the request message to setup UE context at the DU, the request message including an indication that the first cell is only for onboarding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may provide, to the wireless communication device, the credential information to cause a connection release from the first cell, and to cause the wireless communication device to access the second cell according to the credential information.

In some embodiments, the SCO may include: a standalone non-public network (SNPN) , identified by a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) and a network identification (NID) ; a server, identified by an address of the server; or a PLMN, identified by the PLMN ID.

At least one aspect is directed to a system, a method, an apparatus, or a computer-readable medium. A wireless communication device may access a first cell via a wireless communication node using a subscription/credential owner (SCO) to authenticate the first cell. A centralized unit (CU) may receive from distributed unit (DU) in the wireless communication node, information about the SCO. The wireless communication node may send to a core network node a message identifying the SCO as being supported by the wireless communication node, to allow the SCO to authenticate the first cell for the wireless communication device to access the first cell.

In some embodiments, the CU may configure, according to the information about the SCO, broadcast information about the SCO. In some embodiments, the CU may be caused to encode the broadcast information. In some embodiments, the CU may be caused to send, to the DU, the encoded broadcast information. In some embodiments, the DU may be caused to broadcast the encoded broadcast information to at least the wireless communication device.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit, to the wireless communication node according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell. In some embodiments, the wireless communication may be caused to send, to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO. In some embodiments, the wireless communication may be caused to receive, from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to access services from the first cell.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may transmit, to the wireless communication node according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell. In some embodiments, the wireless communication may be caused to send, to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO. In some embodiments, the wireless communication may be caused to receive, from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to use the first cell only for onboarding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may receive, from the wireless communication node, credential information for the wireless communication device to access a second cell for services.

In some embodiments, the CU may be caused to send, to the DU, the request message to setup UE context at the DU, the request message including an indication that the first cell is only for onboarding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may provide, to the wireless communication device, the credential information to cause a connection release from the first cell, and to cause the wireless communication device to access the second cell according to the credential information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or drawings. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict example embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader’s understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the drawings should not be considered limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration, these drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example cellular communication network in which techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example base station and a user equipment device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a sequence diagram of an example method of configuring subscription/credentials owner (SCO) information in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a sequence diagram of an example method of providing services via stand-alone non-public networks (SNPNs) in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a sequence diagram of an example method of providing updated credentials via stand-alone non-public networks (SNPNs) in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a sequence diagram of an example method of transmission in stand-alone non-public networks (SNPNs) in accordance with an illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying figures to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present solution. As would be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, after reading the present disclosure, various changes or modifications to the examples described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present solution. Thus, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. Additionally, the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example approaches. Based upon design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of steps of the disclosed methods or processes can be re-arranged while remaining within the scope of the present solution. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or acts in a sample order, and the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless expressly stated otherwise.

1. Mobile Communication Technology and Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network, and/or system, 100 in which techniques disclosed herein may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of things (NB-IoT) network, and is herein referred to as “network 100. ” Such an example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter “BS 102” ; also referred to as wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter “UE 104” ; also referred to as wireless communication device) that can communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel) , and a cluster of

cells

126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 overlaying a geographical area 101. In Figure 1, the BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within a respective geographic boundary of cell 126. Each of the

other cells

130, 132, 134, 136, 138 and 140 may include at least one base station operating at its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate radio coverage to its intended users.

For example, the BS 102 may operate at an allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide adequate coverage to the UE 104. The BS 102 and the UE 104 may communicate via a downlink radio frame 118, and an uplink radio frame 124 respectively. Each radio frame 118/124 may be further divided into sub-frames 120/127 which may include data symbols 122/128. In the present disclosure, the BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of “communication nodes, ” generally, which can practice the methods disclosed herein. Such communication nodes may be capable of wireless and/or wired communications, in accordance with various embodiments of the present solution.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM/OFDMA signals) in accordance with some embodiments of the present solution. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features that need not be described in detail herein. In one illustrative embodiment, system 200 can be used to communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data symbols in a wireless communication environment such as the wireless communication environment 100 of Figure 1, as described above.

System 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter “BS 202” ) and a user equipment device 204 (hereinafter “UE 204” ) . The BS 202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus 220. The UE 204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each module being coupled and interconnected with one another as necessary via a data communication bus 240. The BS 202 communicates with the UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmission of data as described herein.

As would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, system 200 may further include any number of modules other than the modules shown in Figure 2. Those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any practical combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software can depend upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those familiar with the concepts described herein may implement such functionality in a suitable manner for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure

In accordance with some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an “uplink” transceiver 230 that includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and a RF receiver each comprising circuitry that is coupled to the antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternatively couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in time duplex fashion. Similarly, in accordance with some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a “downlink” transceiver 210 that includes a RF transmitter and a RF receiver each comprising circuity that is coupled to the antenna 212. A downlink duplex switch may alternatively couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in time duplex fashion. The operations of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the uplink receiver circuitry is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time that the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212. Conversely, the operations of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 for reception of transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250 at the same time that the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232. In some embodiments, there is close time synchronization with a minimal guard time between changes in duplex direction.

The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via the wireless data communication link 250, and cooperate with a suitably configured RF antenna arrangement 212/232 that can support a particular wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, and the like. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited in application to a particular standard and associated protocols. Rather, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 may be configured to support alternate, or additional, wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variations thereof.

In accordance with various embodiments, the BS 202 may be an evolved node B (eNB) , a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femto station, or a pico station, for example. In some embodiments, the UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , tablet, laptop computer, wearable computing device, etc. The

processor modules

214 and 236 may be implemented, or realized, with a general purpose processor, a content addressable memory, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, any suitable programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. In this manner, a processor may be realized as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, or the like. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in firmware, in a software module executed by

processor modules

214 and 236, respectively, or in any practical combination thereof. The

memory modules

216 and 234 may be realized as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard,

memory modules

216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, such that the processors modules 210 and 230 can read information from, and write information to,

memory modules

216 and 234, respectively. The

memory modules

216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the

memory modules

216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

Memory modules

216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic, and/or other components of the base station 202 that enable bi-directional communication between base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communication with the base station 202. For example, network communication module 218 may be configured to support internet or WiMAX traffic. In a typical deployment, without limitation, network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface such that base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a conventional Ethernet based computer network. In this manner, the network communication module 218 may include a physical interface for connection to the computer network (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ) . The terms “configured for, ” “configured to” and conjugations thereof, as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function, refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc., that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and/or arranged to perform the specified operation or function.

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model (referred to herein as, “open system interconnection model” ) is a conceptual and logical layout that defines network communication used by systems (e.g., wireless communication device, wireless communication node) open to interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is broken into seven subcomponents, or layers, each of which represents a conceptual collection of services provided to the layers above and below it. The OSI Model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transfer by using different layer protocols. The OSI Model may also be referred to as the seven-layer OSI Model or the seven-layer model. In some embodiments, a first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, a second layer may be a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, a third layer may be a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, a fourth layer may be a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, a fifth layer may be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, a sixth layer may be a Non Access Stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer being the other layer.

2. Systems and Methods for Transmissions in Stand-Alone Non-Public Networks (SNPN)

Under some approaches, a network (especially under CU/DU split architecture) may not be able to support having an entity (e.g., Subscription/Credentials Owner) separate from the onboarding standalone non-public network (SNPN) . As a result, the network may be unable to support performing authentication for a UE accessing the current onboarding SNPN or providing the new SNPN credentials/subscriptions to the UE to enable another SNPN to be accessed for services.

In the present disclosure, A NPN may be a SNPN (Standalone Non-Public Network) or a PNI-NPN (Public Network Integrated NPN) . A SNPN may be a network deployed for non-public use which does not rely on network functions provided by a PLMN. An SNPN cell may be identified by a PLMN ID and NID broadcast in SIB1. A PNI-NPN may be a network deployed for non-public use which relies on network functions provided by a PLMN. In PNI- NPN, a Closed Access Groups (CAG) may identify a group of subscribers that are permitted to access one or more CAG cells associated to the CAG. A CAG cell may be identified by a CAG identifier broadcast in SIB1.

Under other approaches for non-public networks, a SNPN-capable UE may have one or more SNPN subscriptions, and the UE can select and access a SNPN network while the authentication is done by the same SNPN. Considering the main use cases for NPN (e.g., wireless connectivity for industry, large residential buildings, campuses, malls) , the UE’s Onboarding SNPN network may have no credentials of the UE for performing the authentication procedure. Furthermore, such credentials may be owned by an entity (e.g., SCO) separate from the currently onboarding SNPN.

1) Centralized Unit (CU) Configuring SCO Broadcast Information based on Information from Distributed Unit (DU)

Referring now to FIG. 3, depicted is a sequence diagram of a method 300 of configuring subscription/credentials owner (SCO) information. The method 300 may be implemented by or performed using at least one centralized unit (CU) 305 and at least one distributed unit (DU) 310 in a gNB 315, at least one UE 320, and at least one 5G core (5GC) s 325, among others.

Under method 300, the gNB-DU 310 may send F1 SETUP REQUEST message to gNB-CU 305 to setup F1 interface (330) . The message may include SCO information for one or more cells in the message. The SCO information of the specific cell may include at least one of the following items: whether the SCO authentication is supported by the cell; one or more SCOs supported by the cell. For each supported SCO, the SCO identifier may be PLMN ID and NID, n the case where the SCO is a SNPN. The SCO identifier may also be the server address in the case the SCO is a server. The SCO identifier may also be PLMN ID in the case the SCO is a PLMN.

The SCO information may include one or more group IDs supported by the cell. Each group ID can efficiently announce or identify a large number or a subset of supported SNPN by SCO. The SCO information may include onboarding-only indication to indicate whether the cell (SNPN) can only provide onboarding services. The SCO information may include an onboarding indication to indicate whether the cell can support onboarding and other services.

The gNB-CU 305 may configure and encode broadcast SCO information for one or more cells based on the above received SCO information sent by the gNB-DU 310. The configured or encoded SCO broadcast information of the cell may include at least one of the following information. The configured information may include whether the SCO authentication is supported. The configured information may identify one or more supported SCOs. For each supported SCO, the SCO identifier may be be PLMN ID and NID in the case the SCO is a SNPN. The SCO identifier may be the server address in the case the SCO is a server. The SCO identifier may be PLMN ID in the case the SCO is a PLMN. The configured information may include one or more supported group IDs. Each group can efficiently announce a large number of SNPNs supported by SCO. The configured information may include onboarding only indication to indicate whether the cell can only provide onboarding services. The configured information may include onboarding indication to indicate whether the cell can support onboarding services. The gNB-CU 305 may send the configured or encoded SCO broadcast information to gNB-DU 310 (335) .

The gNB-DU 310 may broadcast to at least the UE 320 the received configured or encoded SCO broadcast information (340) . The gNB may send message to 5GC 325 (5G core network) to establish NG interface or to modify RAN configuration (345) . The message may include or identify the SCO (s) supported by the gNB in the message. If the 5GC 325 can support the received supported SCO (s) , the 5GC 325 may send the message to gNB (350) . The sending of the message may acknowledge the NG-RAN node transfer of updated RAN information or the NG interface instance setup. Otherwise, the 5GC 325 may send a message to indicate RAN configuration update failure or NG interface setup failure.

2 ) Initial Accessed SNPN Providing Services

Referring now to FIG. 4, depicted is a sequence diagram of a method 400 of providing services via stand-alone non-public networks (SNPNs) . The method 400 may be implemented using or performed by at least one UE 405, at least one gNB 410, and at least one 5G core 415, among others.

Under method 400, the UE 405 may receive SCO broadcast information of the specific SPNP cell, the UE 405 may take the received SCO broadcast information into account (420) . If the SCO authentication is supported by the (SNPN) cell, and there is at least one broadcast SCO and group id (in the information received by the cell) that is supported by the UE, the UE 405 selects the current SNPN.

The UE 405 may send the RRC connection request message to access the SNPN (425) . The RRC connection message may include at least one of the following: the selected SCO and slice information used to access the specific SCO. The gNB 410 may receive the RRC connection request message sent by the UE 405.

The gNB 410 may take such received message into account and sends an initial UE 405 message to 5GC 415 (430) . The message may include at least one of the information in the message: the selected SCO to indicate which SCO is used to perform authentication, the UE-accessed SPNP identifier; and slice information used to access the specific SCO.

The 5GC 415 may use the received information of the selected SCO or slice information to access the specific SCO to discover the SCO, and perform authentication of the accessed SNPN for the UE (435) . After the successful authentication, the 5GC 415 may send an initial context setup request message to gNB 410 for PDU session setup (440) . The gNB 410 may set up the PDU session for the accessed SNPN cell to the UE (445) . The accessed SNPN may provide services to UE 405 over the established connection of the PDU session (450) .

3) Initial Accessed SNPN Only Providing Updated Credentials to UE

Referring now to FIG. 5, depicted is a sequence diagram of a method 500 of providing updated credentials via stand-alone non-public networks (SNPNs) . The method 500 may be implemented using or performed by at least one UE 505, at least one gNB 510, and at least one 5G core 515.

Under method 500, the UE 505 may receive SCO broadcast information of the specific SNPN cell (520) . The UE 505 may take the received SCO broadcast information into account. The SCO authentication may be supported by the cell and there may be at least one broadcast SCO and group identifier in the received SCO broadcast information that is supported by the UE. In addition, the UE 505 may have no credentials of the current SNPN, and “onboarding-only” indication or “onboarding” indication may be in indicating broadcast information. Then the UE 505 selects the current SNPN.

The UE 505 may send the RRC connection request message to access the SNPN (525) . The RRC connection request may include at least one of the following: the selected SCO; slice information used to access the specific SCO; or onboarding indication. The gNB 510 may receive RRC connection request message sent by the UE 505. The gNB 510 may take such received message into account, and may send an initial UE message to 5GC 515. The message may include at least one of the following information: the selected SCO to indicate which SCO is used to perform authentication; UE-accessed SPNP identifier; slice information used to access the specific SCO; or onboarding indication.

The 5GC 515 may use the received information of the selected SCO or slice information to access the specific SCO to discover the SCO to perform authentication of the accessed SNPN for the UE 505 (535) . After the successful authentication of the SNPN cell, the 5GC 515 may send an initial context setup request message to gNB 510 to setup restricted PDU session only for onboarding services (540) . The message may include onboarding indication in the message.

The gNB 510 may set up the restricted PDU session for the accessed SNPN cell to UE 505 (545) . In the case of CU/DU split gNB, the gNB-CU may send a UE CONTEXT setup request message to gNB-DU to setup UE 505 context at gNB-DU. The onboarding indication may be included in the message to indicate that the accessed SNPN cell is only for onboarding services.

After the PDU session successfully established, the 5GC 515 may send updated UE 505 SNPN Credentials to the UE 505 via gNB 510 (550) . The UE 505 may receive the updated UE 505 SNPN Credentials information sent by gNB, and the UE 505 may trigger the connection release (or de-registration) of the currently accessed SNPN (555) . The UE 505 may trigger initial access to one new SNPN cell to access other services according to the received updated UE SNPN Credentials information (560) .

4) Transmissions in Stand-Alone Non-Public Networks (SNPNs)

Referring now to FIG. 6, depicted is a sequence diagram of a method 600 of transmission in stand-alone non-public networks (SNPNs) . The method 600 may be implemented using or performed by any of the components discussed above in conjunction with FIGs. 1–5, such as the BS 102, UE 104, gNB-CU 305, gNB-DU 310, gNB 315, UE 320, 5GC 325, UE 405, gNB 410, 5GC 415, UE 505, gNB 510, and 5GC 515, among others. In brief overview, a distributed unit (DU) of a wireless communication node may send a subscription/credential owner (SCO) information to a centralized unit (CU) (605) . The CU may receive the SCO information from the DU (610) . The CU may send an SCO message to a core network node (615) . The core network node may receive the SCO message from the CU (620) . The wireless communication node may broadcast the SCO information (625) . The wireless communication device may receive the SCO information (630) . The wireless communication device may access a cell using the SCO (635) . The core network node may perform authentication (640) .

In further detail, a distributed unit (DU) of a wireless communication node (e.g., gNB) may provide, transmit, or otherwise send a subscription/credential owner (SCO) information to a centralized unit (CU) (605) . The CU of the wireless communication node may retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive the SCO information from the DU (610) . The wireless communication node may include both the CU and the DU in accordance with a CU/DU split architecture. The information about the SCO may be for at least one cell. The cell corresponding to the SCO may be serviced by the wireless communication node. The SCO may be a non-public network (NPN) , such as a stand-alone non-public network (SNPN) , a public land mobile network (PLMN) , or a public network integrated, non-public network (PNI-NPN) . The information may include an identifier for the NPN. In some embodiments, the information about the SCO may identify or include a PLMN identifier and a network identifier to reference or identify the SNPN. In some embodiments, the information about the SCO may identify or include the PLMN itself to identify the PLMN. The SCO may also be at least one server servicing the cell to be accessed by the wireless communication device. In some embodiments, the information about the SCO may identify or include the address of the server.

The information about the SCO may identify or include information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the cell. The information may also identify or include information about at least one SCO supported by the cell. The information may identify or include at least one group identification (ID) supported by the cell. The information about the SCO may identify or include an onboarding-only indicator. The onboard-only indicator may indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services. The information about the SCO may an onboarding indicator. The onboard indicator may indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.

The CU of the wireless communication node may provide, transmit, or otherwise send an SCO message to a core network node (e.g., 5GC) (615) . The message may identify or indicate the SCO as supported by the wireless communication node. In some embodiments, the message may be sent to the core network node as a next generation (NG) setup request. In some embodiments, the message may be sent as a random access network (RAN) configuration to the core network node. The core network node may retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive the SCO message from the CU (620) . The receipt of the message may allow the SCO to authenticate the cell for a wireless communication device (e.g., UE) to access the cell.

The wireless communication node may transmit, send, or otherwise broadcast the SCO information (625) . The broadcasting of the SCO information may be performed prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to the sending of the SCO information to the core network node. In some embodiments, the CU may configure broadcast information in accordance to the information about the SCO. The broadcast information may include the same information sent to the core network node. The broadcast information may identify or include information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the cell. The information may also identify or include information about at least one SCO supported by the cell. The information may identify or include at least one group identification (ID) supported by the cell. The information about the SCO may identify or include an onboarding-only indicator. The onboard-only indicator may indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services. The information about the SCO may an onboarding indicator. The onboard indicator may indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services. With the configuration, the CU may encode the broadcast information. In some embodiments, the CU may apply an encryption algorithm (e.g., a symmetric-key algorithm or a public key algorithm) to the broadcast information. Upon encryption, the CU may relay, provide, or otherwise send the encoded broadcast information to the DU. The DU in turn may transmit, send, or otherwise broadcast the encoded information. The wireless communication device may retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive the SCO information from the wireless communication node (630) .

The wireless communication device may access a cell using the SCO (635) . The wireless communication device may access the cell via the wireless communication node using the SCO to authenticate the cell. To access the cell, the wireless communication device may send, provide, or otherwise transmit at least one connection message to the wireless communication node. The transmission of the connection message may be in accordance with the encoded broadcast information received by the wireless communication device. The connection message may be for the wireless communication device to access the cell. In some embodiments, the connection message may be in the form of a radio resource control (RRC) connection message. The wireless communication node may in turn retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive the connection message from the wireless communication device. Upon receipt of the connection message, the wireless communication node may send an initial UE message to the core wireless node. The initial UE message may identify or include at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier for the cell (e.g., SNPN cell) , or slice information for accessing the SCO.

The core network node may carry out or perform authentication (640) . As part of the authentication, the core network node may provide, transmit, or send a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device. The request message may be generated based on the initial UE message. The session may be, for example, a protocol data unit (PDU) session between the wireless communication device and the core network node. In some embodiments, the session may be for the wireless communication device to access services from the cell. In some embodiments, the session may be for the wireless communication device to use the cell only for onboarding. The request message may identify or include an onboard indication. In turn, the wireless communication node may retrieve, identify, or receive the request message from the wireless communication device.

When the session is to access services from the cell, the wireless communication node may initiate or establish the session between the wireless communication device and the core network node in accordance with the request message. When the session is for the wireless communication device to use the cell only for onboarding, the wireless communication node may send, transmit, or otherwise provide credential information for the wireless communication device to access a different cell (e.g., another SNPN cell) . In some embodiments, the CU may transmit, provide, or otherwise send the request message to the setup UE context at the DU. The request message may identify or include an indication that the cell is only for onboarding. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may establish a restricted session (e.g., a restricted PDU session) for the UE only for onboarding. The wireless communication device may in turn retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive the credential information from the wireless communication node. In some embodiments, the wireless communication node may send, transmit, or provide the credential information to the wireless communication device. The provision of the credential information may cause ta connection release from the cell, and the wireless communication device to access the other cell according to the credential information.

While various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or configuration, which are provided to enable persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand example features and functions of the present solution. Such persons would understand, however, that the solution is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Additionally, as would be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of one embodiment can be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described illustrative embodiments.

It is also understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first, ” “second, ” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations can be used herein as a convenient means of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits and symbols, for example, which may be referenced in the above description can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would further appreciate that any of the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means, circuits, methods and functions described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., a digital implementation, an analog implementation, or a combination of the two) , firmware, various forms of program or design code incorporating instructions (which can be referred to herein, for convenience, as “software” or a “software module) , or any combination of these techniques. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans can implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components and circuits described herein can be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, modules, and circuits can further include antennas and/or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

If implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In this document, the term “module” as used herein, refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. Additionally, for purpose of discussion, the various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs the associated functions according embodiments of the present solution.

Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present solution. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present solution. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Hence, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

Various modifications to the embodiments described in this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as recited in the claims below.

Claims

A method, comprising:

receiving, by a centralized unit (CU) from distributed unit (DU) in a wireless communication node, information about a subscription/credential owner (SCO) of at least a first cell; and

sending, by the wireless communication node to a core network node, a message identifying the SCO as being supported by the wireless communication node, to allow the SCO to authenticate the first cell for a wireless communication device to access the first cell.
The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the SCO includes at least one of:

information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the first cell,

information about at least one SCO supported by the first cell,

at least one group identification (ID) supported by the first cell,

an onboarding-only indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services, or

an onboarding indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.
The method of claim 1, comprising:

configuring, by the CU according to the information about the SCO, broadcast information about the SCO;

encoding, by the CU, the broadcast information;

sending, by the CU to the DU, the encoded broadcast information; and

broadcasting, by the DU, the encoded broadcast information to at least the wireless communication device.
The method of claim 3, wherein the encoded broadcast information includes at least one of:

information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the first cell,

information about at least one SCO supported by the first cell,

at least one group identification (ID) supported by the first cell,

an onboarding-only indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services, or

an onboarding indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.
The method of claim 3, comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell;

sending, by the wireless communication node to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO;

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to access services from the first cell.
The method of claim 3, comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell;

sending, by the wireless communication node to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO;

receiving, by the wireless communication node from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to use the first cell only for onboarding; and

providing, by the wireless communication node to the wireless communication device, credential information for the wireless communication device to access a second cell for services.
The method of claim 6, comprising:

sending, by the CU to the DU, the request message to setup UE context at the DU, the request message including an indication that the first cell is only for onboarding.
The method of claim 7, comprising:

receiving, by the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node, the credential information to cause a connection release from the first cell, and to cause the wireless communication device to access the second cell according to the credential information.
The method of claim 1, wherein the SCO comprises:

a standalone non-public network (SNPN) , identified by a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) and a network identification (NID) ,

a server, identified by an address of the server, or

a PLMN, identified by the PLMN ID.
A method, comprising:

accessing, by a wireless communication device, a first cell via a wireless communication node using a subscription/credential owner (SCO) to authenticate the first cell,

wherein a centralized unit (CU) receives from distributed unit (DU) in the wireless communication node, information about the SCO, and

wherein the wireless communication node sends to a core network node a message identifying the SCO as being supported by the wireless communication node, to allow the SCO to authenticate the first cell for the wireless communication device to access the first cell.
The method of claim 10, wherein the information about the SCO includes at least one of:

information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the first cell,

information about at least one SCO supported by the first cell,

at least one group identification (ID) supported by the first cell,

an onboarding-only indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services, or

an onboarding indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.
The method of claim 10, comprising:

causing the CU to configure according to the information about the SCO, broadcast information about the SCO;

causing the CU to encode the broadcast information;

causing the CU to send to the DU the encoded broadcast information; and

causing the DU to broadcast the encoded broadcast information to at least the wireless communication device.
The method of claim 12, wherein the encoded broadcast information includes at least one of:

information about whether authentication via the SCO is supported by the first cell,

information about at least one SCO supported by the first cell,

at least one group identification (ID) supported by the first cell,

an onboarding-only indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of only providing onboarding services, or

an onboarding indicator, to indicate whether the first cell is capable of supporting onboarding services.
The method of claim 12, comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell;

causing the wireless communication node to send to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO; and

causing the wireless communication node to receive, from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to access services from the first cell.
The method of claim 12, comprising:

transmitting, by the wireless communication device according to the encoded broadcast information, a connection message for the wireless communication device to access the first cell;

causing the wireless communication node to the core network node, an initial user equipment (UE) message that includes at least one of: an indication of the SCO for performing authentication, an identifier of the first cell, or slice information for accessing the SCO;

causing the wireless communication node to receive, from the core network node, a request message for establishment of a session for the wireless communication device to use the first cell only for onboarding; and

receiving, by the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node, credential information for the wireless communication device to access a second cell for services.
The method of claim 15, comprising:

causing the CU to send, to the DU, the request message to setup UE context at the DU, the request message including an indication that the first cell is only for onboarding.
The method of claim 17, comprising:

providing, by the wireless communication node to the wireless communication device, the credential information to cause a connection release from the first cell, and to cause the wireless communication device to access the second cell according to the credential information.
The method of claim 10, wherein the SCO comprises:

a standalone non-public network (SNPN) , identified by a public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier (ID) and a network identification (NID) ,

a server, identified by an address of the server, or

a PLMN, identified by the PLMN ID.
A computer readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by one or more processors can cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 1-18.
An apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-18.