Cisco Technology, Inc.

Ravi Shekhar

Vimal Srivastava

Ameo Ghosh

Ian McDowell Campbell

Aeneas Sean Dodd-Noble

Humberto Jose La Roche

Aditya Prakash

Ravi Kiran Guntupalli

Irfan Ali

James Neil Guichard

Hendrikus G P Bosch

Paul M Quinn

Alessandro Duminuco

Jeffrey Michael Napper

Surendra M Kumar

Sharad Chandra

Amit Shivhare

Pablo Camarillo Garvia

Nithin Chitta

Mukesh Yadav

Ravi Sankar Mantha

Rajaneesh Sudhakar Shetty

Niranjan Mallapura Mallikarjunaiah

Hendrikus Gp Bosch

Suyog Subhash Belsare

Pravin Appaji Ajagekar

Dishant Mukesh Parikh

Omkara Srinivas Rao Karnati

Seung Cheol Park

Provided herein are techniques to facilitate service-based network function (NF) selection for roaming scenarios involving multiple home core networks. In one instance, a method may include obtaining, by a visited public land mobile network (PLMN) from a home PLMN that is to provide a first service for a wireless device, service hosting information that identifies a service hosting data network name and a service hosting PLMN that is to provide a second service for the wireless device in which the service hosting information is obtained by the visited PLMN through registration of the wireless device with the home PLMN. Upon determining that a session for the second service is to be established for the wireless device, the method may include performing a NF query to the service hosting PLMN identified from the service hosting information obtained through the registration in order to identify a NF to facilitate the session.

Service-based network function selection for roaming scenarios involving multiple home core networks

Connection configuration for Fourth Generation (4G) and Fifth Generation (5G) converged deployment may be provided. A User Equipment (UE) Usage Type (UUT) mapping may be stored, wherein the UUT mapping includes an Attribute Value Pair (AVP) for one or more UUTs. A connection to a 5G network from a 4G network may be received from a UE, wherein the connection comprises subscription information that includes a UUT the UE is subscribed to. In response to receiving the UUT, a subscriber profile for the UE in a converged packet core may be determined using the UUT mapping, and the configuration of the connection for the UE may be established based on the determined subscriber profile.

Connection configuration for fourth generation (4G) and fifth generation (5G) converged deployment

Provisioning User Equipment (UE) Route Selection Policies (URSP) may be provided. A policy of a user equipment (UE) may be updated by a Policy Control Function (PCF). Then, the PCF may create a UE route selection policy (URSP) based on the updated UE policy. Next, the PCF may set a flag in in the URSP that may indicate to the UE that the URSP is applicable for new sessions and inapplicable for ongoing sessions. The PCF may then send the URSP to the UE, wherein the UE applies the URSP for new sessions.

Provisioning user equipment route selection policies with service assurance

The present disclosure provides solutions to registration and discovery of NFs in the vertical 5G networks, at the operator network, as well as handling tasks such as authentication of connecting end terminals at the operator network level. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, at network controller of an operator network and from an end terminal, a request for access to a network function (NF) of a vertical network, the request including a type of the NF in the vertical network; authenticating, at the network controller, the end terminal; upon authenticating the end terminal, identifying, at the network controller, the NF requested by the end terminal based at least on the type of the NF included in the request; and facilitating, by the network controller, access to the NF in the vertical network by the end terminal.

Device authentication and network function registration and discovery for 5G vertical networks

In a Fifth Generation (5G) network having an enhanced SBA (eSBA) architecture, a message with a header used to signal binding information (e.g. HTTP custom header for 3gpp-Sbi-Binding) may be received at a recipient NF (service) instance in a direct communication or via a service communication proxy (SCP) in an indirect communication. A binding indication comprising an address of an NF (service) instance may be obtained from the header. One or more alternative binding indications comprising one or more alternative addresses of one or more alternative NF (service) instances may also be obtained from the header. The one or more alternative NF (service) instances may be equivalent NFs (services) of the same NF (Service) Set as the NF (service) instance. The address may be used for communication of messages to the NF (service) instance, and the one or more alternative addresses may be used for load balancing or backup failure.

Binding indications for load balancing and redundancy for communications between network function instances in a 5G core network

A mobile network is operative to perform a quota validation procedure in relation to a maximum number of user equipments (UEs) permitted in a network slice. In one illustrative example, a control plane (CP) function of the mobile network may receive, from the UE, a message which indicates a registration request for registration and includes a slice ID of the network slice. The CP function may manage a registration procedure for assigning resources of the network slice to the UE. The CP function may alternatively manage the registration procedure to refrain from assigning the resources of the network slice to the UE, at least for a delay time period, based on identifying that an indication of the UE indicates an expected delay in use of service in the network slice. The indication may be included in the message and indicate the delay time period of the expected delay.

Slice resource management for reducing the negative impacts of slice quotas

In one illustrative example, a unified data management (UDM) of a mobile network is established in a UDM set with a plurality of private network UDMs instances of a plurality of private mobile networks. The UDM of the mobile network provides access to a plurality of subscription profiles associated with a plurality of subscribers of the mobile network, and each private network UDM instance provides access to a subset of the subscription profiles associated with a subset of the subscribers in the private mobile network. The UDM of the mobile network operates to communicate, in an authentication procedure, authentication data for authentication of a user equipment (UE) in the mobile network. After the authentication of the UE in the mobile network, the UDM operates to push authentication status information of the UE to the private network UDM instance of the private mobile network.

Facilitating services for devices in private mobile networks based on device authentications in an operator network

Techniques are described herein for network slice support of respective transport protocols. In one example, a session management function obtains, from a user equipment, a request for a network slice identifier in a network that includes a plurality of network slices each configured to support a respective transport protocol. In response to the request, the session management function identifies a first transport protocol of the respective transport protocols by which the user equipment is to communicate. Based on the first transport protocol, the session management function identifies a first network slice of the plurality of network slices by which the user equipment is to communicate. The first network slice is configured to support the first transport protocol. The session management function provides the network slice identifier to the user equipment. The network slice identifier corresponds to the first network slice.

Network slice support of respective transport protocols

Presented herein are techniques to facilitate user equipment (UE) to UE communications in a mobile network environment. In one example, a method may include provisioning a UE route selection policy (URSP) for each of a first UE and a second UE, wherein each URSP provisioned for each of the first UE and the second UE comprises: a first token that identifies at least one network resource that is to be utilized for a session for each of the first UE and the second UE; and a second token associated with a quality of service (QoS) that is to be provided for each session. The first token can be used to establish a session for each of the first and second UE using the same at least network resource and each session can be provided a QoS level based on the second token.

Facilitating user equipment to user equipment communications in a mobile network environment

A control plane (CP) function for mobility management may receive, from a user equipment (UE), a message which indicates a registration request for registration to a network slice. The CP function may select, as an allowed slice ID, a first slice ID of a first network slice in which to register the UE. The first slice ID has a slice/service type (SST) value indicating an SST and a first slice differentiator (SD) value associated with a first level of service to be provided. The CP function may alternatively select, as the allowed slice ID, a second slice ID of a second network slice in which to register the UE based on unavailability of the slice type associated with the first level of service. The second slice ID has the SST value indicating the slice type and a second SD value associated with a second level of service to be provided.

Registration procedure for ensuring service based on a selection of the best available network slice of the same slice type

A network function selectively supports a mobile device with network settings appropriate for the device context of the mobile device. The network function obtains a device profile for the mobile device, which identifies multiple device groups, with each device group being associated with a corresponding set of network settings. The network function selects a device group among the device groups in the device profile based on a device context of the mobile device. Responsive to a notification of the mobile device in a different device context, the network function supports the mobile device with a different set of network settings that cause a Session Management Function (SMF) to reconfigure the user plane for the mobile device.

Dynamic user equipment (UE) group creation to coordinate devices

A network node selectively encrypts messages between a user plane node and a control plane node in a network system. The user plane node and the control plane node negotiate a connection and indicate an encryption level for the connection. The encryption level is selected from an Information Element (IE) level, a message level, or a feature level. The user plane node and the control plane node selectively encrypt at least a portion of the messages between the user plane node and the control plane node based on the encryption level for the connection.

Securing control/user plane traffic

Presented herein are techniques to provide data session continuity for parallel data sessions involving a multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Module (MUSIM) user equipment (UE). In one example, a method may include obtaining an indication that session continuity for a first session associated with a first data network and a first USIM of a UE is allowed with respect to a second USIM in which the UE communicates first traffic for the first session via the first USIM. The method may further include determining that second traffic for a second session is to be communicated via the second USIM of the UE and, based on the indication that session continuity for the first session is allowed with respect to the second USIM, providing service information to the UE for the first session to enable the UE to communicate both the first traffic and the second traffic via the second USIM.

Providing session continuity for parallel sessions involving a multiple universal subscriber identity module user equipment

A method enables communication between Session Management Function (SMF) and User Plane Function (UPF) instances which are separately deployed behind Network Address Translation (NAT) services. The method includes configuring an SMF or a UPF to initiate an association with a corresponding UPF or SMF. The SMF registers first information with a Network Repository Function (NRF) enabling the remote UPF to communicate with the SMF through a NAT service. The method further includes obtaining second information from the NRF enabling the SMF to communicate with the remote UPF through the NAT service. The method also includes sending an association request to the remote UPF based on the second information and receiving an association response from the remote UPF through the NAT service.

Network address translation (NAT) traversal and proxy between user plane function (UPF) and session management function (SMF)

A network function selectively supports a mobile device with network settings appropriate for the device context of the mobile device. The network function obtains a device profile for the mobile device, which identifies multiple device groups, with each device group being associated with a corresponding set of network settings. The network function selects a device group among the device groups in the device profile based on the device context of the mobile device. The network function directs at least one network function in the network to support the mobile device with a set of network settings corresponding to the selected device group.

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Pune, India

Ravi Shekhar