PROCEDURES TO SUPPORT NETWORK SLICING IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20170318450A1
• Filed: 04/29/2016
• Published: 11/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Salkintzis, Apostolis
• Granted Patent: US 10,028,128 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0027 for a plurality of data sessions of end-to-end connections, e.g. multi-call or multi-bearer end-to-end data connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/04 using triggered events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/06 De-registration or detaching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks

Abstract

Apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for mobility management among multiple network slices. One apparatus 300 includes a processor 305 that receives 855 an indication of an attached mobile unit attaching to a secondary network slice of the mobile communication network. The processor 305 also receives 860 a mobility management request from the mobile unit and forwards 865 the mobility management request to the secondary network slice. In various embodiments, the apparatus 300 may include a network interface 330 for communicating over a mobile communication network.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a transceiver that communicates with the mobile communication network; and

a processor that;

establishes a first connection with a primary network slice of the mobile communication network;

establishes a second connection with a secondary network slice of the mobile communication network;

detects a mobility management event; and

receives a mobility management response via the first connection in response to a mobility management request sent to the primary network slice, wherein the mobility management response includes a response from the primary network slice and a response from the secondary network slice.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first connection is a signaling connection and wherein establishing the first connection with the primary network slice comprises:

receiving an initial attach response from the primary network slice responsive to an initial attach request, the initial attach response including an indication of one or more usage classes supported by the primary network slice and a first user equipment (“

UE”

) identifier assigned by the primary network slice, wherein the first UE identifier includes an identity of the primary network slice.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor further:

receives a second UE identifier in response to transmitting a detach request to the primary network slice, wherein the second UE identifier includes an identity of a new primary network slice.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second connection is a signaling connection and wherein establishing the second connection with the secondary network slice comprises transmitting an additional attach request containing a UE identifier assigned by the primary network slice.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein establishing the first connection with the primary network slice comprises authenticating the apparatus with the primary network slice, and wherein establishing the second connection with the secondary network slice comprises re-authenticating the apparatus with the primary network slice via the secondary network slice.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobility management response indicates whether the primary network slice accepts the mobility management request and whether the secondary network slice accepts the mobility management request.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each network slice in the mobile communication network supports at least one of a plurality of usage classes, and wherein the mobility management response includes an update result for each usage class supported by the primary network slice and by the secondary network slice.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobility management response is one of a routing area update response and a service response.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein receiving a routing area update response responsive to a routing area update request sent to the primary network slice comprises transmitting, via the first connection, a routing area update request to the primary network slice without transmitting a routing area update request to the secondary network slice.

10. A method comprising:

establishing a first connection with a primary network slice of a mobile communication network;

establishing a second connection with a secondary network slice of the mobile communication network;

detecting a change in routing area for a mobile unit; and

receiving, via the first connection and in response to a routing area update request sent over the first connection, a routing area update response that includes a response from the primary network slice and a response from the secondary network slice.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first connection is a signaling connection and wherein establishing the first connection with the primary network slice comprises:

receiving an initial attach response from the primary network slice responsive to an initial attach request, the initial attach response including an indication of one or more usage classes supported by the primary network slice and a user equipment (“

UE”

) identifier assigned by the primary network slice, wherein the UE identifier includes an identity of the primary network slice.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving a second UE identifier in response to transmitting a detach request to the primary network slice, wherein the second UE identifier includes an identity of a new primary network slice.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the second connection is a signaling connection and wherein establishing the second connection with the secondary network slice comprises transmitting an additional attach request containing a UE identifier assigned by the primary network slice.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein establishing the first connection with the primary network slice comprises authenticating the apparatus with the primary network slice, and wherein establishing the second connection with the secondary network slice comprises re-authenticating the apparatus with the primary network slice via the secondary network slice.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the routing area update response indicates whether the primary network slice accepts the routing area update request and whether the secondary network slice accepts the routing area update request.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein each network slice in the mobile communication network supports at least one of a plurality of usage classes, and wherein the routing area update response includes an update result for each usage class supported by the primary network slice and by the secondary network slice.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the mobility management response is one of a routing area update response and a service response.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving a routing area update response responsive to a routing area update request sent to the primary network slice comprises transmitting, via the first connection, a routing area update request to the primary network slice without transmitting a routing area update request to the secondary network slice.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface for communicating over a mobile communication network; and

a processor that;

receives an indication of an attached mobile unit attaching to a secondary network slice of the mobile communication network;

receives a routing area update request from the mobile unit; and

forwards the routing area update request to the secondary network slice.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor further:

receives a first routing area update response from the secondary network slice;

generates a second routing area update response based on the routing area update request; and

sends a third routing area update response to the mobile unit, the third routing area update response including information from the first routing area update response and the second routing area update response.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the mobile communication network supports a plurality of usage classes, and wherein the third routing area update response includes an update result for each usage class to which the mobile unit is attached.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatus comprises a first network slice of the mobile communication network, the first network slice supporting a first usage class, and wherein the second network slice supports a second usage class.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, the processor further:

assigns a user equipment (“

UE”

) identifier to the mobile unit in response to receiving an initial attach request from the mobile unit, wherein the UE identifier includes an identity of the apparatus; and

transmits an initial attach response to the mobile unit, the initial attach response including an indication of one or more usage classes supported by the apparatus and the UE identifier.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor receiving an indication of the mobile unit attaching to a secondary network slice comprises:

receiving a registration request from the secondary network slice, the registration request including a slice identifier belonging to the secondary network slice and a mobile unit identifier belonging to the mobile unit; and

storing the slice identifier belonging to the secondary network slice.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor forwarding the routing area update request to the secondary network slice comprises:

identifying a secondary network slice to which the mobile unit is attached; and

transmitting the routing area update request to the secondary network slice using a destination network address corresponding to the slice identifier belonging to the secondary network slice.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the registration request is a re-authentication request received from the secondary network slice, and wherein the processor further re-authenticates the apparatus with the mobile unit via the secondary network slice in response to receiving the re-authentication request.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor further:

receives a deregistration message from the secondary network slice in response to the mobile unit detaching from the second network slice, wherein the processor ceases forwarding, to the second network slice, routing area update requests received from the mobile unit in response to the deregistration message.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor further:

selects a second network slice in response to receiving a detach request from the mobile unit, the second network slice to become a new primary network slice;

transmits a set of slice identities to the selected second network slice, the set of slice identities including all secondary network slices to which the mobile unit is connected;

receives a user equipment (“

UE”

) identifier from the second network slice; and

transmits, to the mobile unit, a detach response containing the UE identifier, wherein the UE identifier includes an identity of the second network slice.

29. A method comprising:

receiving an indication of an attached mobile unit attaching to a secondary network slice of the mobile communication network;

receiving a routing area update request from the mobile unit; and

forwarding the routing area update request to the secondary network slice.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

receiving a first routing area update response from the secondary network slice;

generating a second routing area update response based on the routing area update request; and

sending a third routing area update response to the mobile unit, the third routing area update response including information from the first routing area update response and the second routing area update response.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the mobile communication network supports a plurality of usage classes, and wherein the third routing area update response includes an update result for each usage class to which the mobile unit is attached.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the mobile communication network includes a first network slice supporting a first usage class, and wherein the second network slice supports a second usage class.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

assigning a user equipment (“

UE”

) identifier to the mobile unit in response to receiving an initial attach request from the mobile unit, wherein the UE identifier includes an identity of a first network slice; and

transmitting an initial attach response to the mobile unit, the initial attach response including an indication of one or more supported usage classes and the UE identifier.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein receiving an indication of the mobile unit attaching to a secondary network slice comprises:

receiving a registration request from the secondary network slice, the registration request including a slice identifier belonging to the secondary network slice and a mobile unit identifier belonging to the mobile unit; and

storing the slice identifier belonging to the secondary network slice.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein forwarding the routing area update request to the second network slice comprises:

identifying a second network slice to which the mobile unit is attached; and

transmitting the routing area update request to the second network slice using a destination network address corresponding to the slice identifier belonging to the second network slice.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the registration request is a re-authentication request received from the second network slice, the method further comprising re-authenticating with the mobile unit via the second network slice in response to receiving the re-authentication request.

37. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

receiving a deregistration message from the second network slice in response to the mobile unit detaching from the second network slice; and

ceasing forwarding, to the second network slice, routing area update requests received from the mobile unit in response to the deregistration message.

38. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

selecting a second network slice in response to receiving a detach request from the mobile unit;

transmitting a set of slice identities to the selected second network slice, the set of slice identities including all second network slices to which the mobile unit is connected;

receiving a user equipment (“

UE”

) identifier from the second network slice; and

transmitting, to the mobile unit, a detach response containing the UE identifier, wherein the UE identifier includes an identity of the second network slice.