# US 12,010,611 B2 · Enhanced network slicing for public land mobile network selection while roaming

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 12,010,611 B2
- Document ID: US12010611B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/200,122
- Filed: 2021-03-12
- Published: 2021-09-23
- Granted: 2024-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2020-03-17
- Assignees: Apple Inc.
- Applicants: Apple Inc.
- Inventors: Sridhar Prakasam; Karthik Anantharaman; Krisztian Kiss; Nirlesh Koshta; Nitin Kuppelur; Xiangpeng Jing
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12010611B2

## CPC

- H04W 48/18: Selecting a network or a communication service
- 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
- H04W 8/205: {Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier}
- H04W 60/002: {Registration for requesting network slices}
- H04W 8/06: Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server
- H04W 84/042: {Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems}
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

User equipment devices (UEs) and methods are described for performing single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI)-aware public land mobile network (PLMN) selection in a roaming scenario. A mapping list is received that includes a mapping of a plurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) to corresponding S-NSSAI values. The mapping list is received from a home PLMN (HPLMN) of the UE over non-3rd generation partnership (non-3GPP) access, from a server, or from a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) subscriber identity module (USIM) of the UE. An available PLMN is determined that is mapped to a preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE based on the mapping list. A connection is established with the available PLMN.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A wireless user equipment device (UE), comprising:
a radio;
a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium; and
a processor operably coupled to the radio and the memory medium,
wherein the radio, the memory medium, and the processor are configured to:
transmit, while the UE is in a roaming scenario, a registration request to a visitor public land mobile network (VPLMN),
receive a steering of roaming (SoR) container from the VPLMN in response to transmitting the registration request, wherein the SoR container comprises a mapping list including a mapping of a plurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) to one or more respective single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) values, wherein each S-NSSAI value of the S-NSSAI values is mapped to one or more PLMN identifiers (IDs), where each mapped PLMN ID corresponds to a PLMN that supports a network slice corresponding to the respective S-NSSAI value, and wherein the mapping list is organized by a priority of the PLMNs that support the one or more respective S-NSSAI values;
determine, from the mapping list, an available PLMN of the plurality of PLMNs that supports a preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1,
wherein the radio, the memory medium, and the processor are further configured to:
determine that the UE is in the roaming scenario; and
wherein the registration request is transmitted to the VPLMN at least in part in response to determining that the UE is in the roaming scenario.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The UE of claim 2,
wherein the registration request includes the preferred S-NSSAI value, and
wherein the mapping list includes an equivalent PLMN to the preferred S-NSSAI value.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1,
wherein the radio, the memory medium, and the processor are further configured to:
periodically update the mapping list by receiving an updated mapping list from a home PLMN (HPLMN) of the UE, and store the updated mapping list in the memory medium.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1, wherein the available PLMN includes an equivalent PLMN of the UE.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1,
wherein the mapping list further includes a preference ranking of the plurality of PLMNs, and
wherein said determining the available PLMN mapped to the preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE is performed further based at least in part on the preference ranking of the plurality of PLMNs.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1,
wherein the preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE includes an S-NSSAI value associated with a service type of an application running on the UE.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1,
wherein the registration request is transmitted and the SoR container is received using a 5th Generation New Radio (5G NR) radio access technology (RAT).

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The UE of claim 1,
wherein determining the available PLMN of the plurality of PLMNs is performed based at least in part on the priority of the PLMNs.

### Claim 10

An apparatus configured for inclusion within a wireless user equipment device (UE), the apparatus comprising:
a processor in communication with a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium, wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to:
transmit, while the UE is in a roaming scenario, a registration request to a visitor public land mobile network (VPLMN),
receive a steering of roaming (SoR) container from the VPLMN in response to transmitting the registration request, wherein the SoR container comprises a mapping list including a mapping of a plurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) to one or more respective single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) values, wherein each S-NSSAI value of the S-NSSAI values is mapped to one or more PLMN identifiers (IDs), where each mapped PLMN ID corresponds to a PLMN that supports the network slice corresponding to the respective S-NSSAI value, and wherein the mapping list is organized by a priority of the PLMNs that support the respective one or more S-NSSAI values;
determine, from the mapping list, an available PLMN of the plurality of PLMNs that supports a preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the UE to:
determine that the UE is in the roaming scenario; and
wherein the registration request is transmitted to the VPLMN at least in part in response to determining that the UE is in the roaming scenario, and
wherein the mapping list includes a mapping of an equivalent PLMN to the preferred S-NSSAI value.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10,
wherein the preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE includes an S-NSSAI value associated with a service type of an application running on the UE.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10,
wherein determining the available PLMN of the plurality of PLMNs is performed based at least in part on the priority of the PLMNs.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10,
wherein the available PLMN includes an equivalent PLMN of the UE.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The apparatus of claim 10,
wherein the registration request is transmitted and the SoR container is received using a 5th Generation New Radio (5G NR) radio access technology (RAT).

### Claim 16

A method for operating a base station as a visitor public land mobile network (VPLMN), the method comprising:
receiving a registration request from a user equipment (UE) while the UE is operating in a roaming scenario,
transmitting a steering of roaming (SoR) container to the UE in response to receiving the registration request, wherein the SoR container comprises a mapping list including a mapping of a plurality of public land mobile networks (PLMNs) to one or more respective single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) values, wherein the mapping list is organized by a priority of the PLMNs that support the respective one or more S-NSSAI values, wherein each S-NSSAI value of the S-NSSAI values is mapped to one or more PLMN identifiers (IDs), where each mapped PLMN ID corresponds to a PLMN that supports the network slice corresponding to the respective S-NSSAI value, and wherein the mapping list is usable by the UE to determine an available PLMN of the plurality of PLMNs that supports a preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16,
wherein the available PLMN includes an equivalent PLMN of the UE.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16,
wherein the preferred S-NSSAI value of the UE includes an S-NSSAI value associated with a service type of an application running on the UE.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16,
wherein the available PLMN of the plurality of PLMNs is determined based at least in part on the priority of the PLMNs.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16,
wherein the registration request is received and the SoR container is transmitted using a 5th Generation New Radio (5G NR) radio access technology (RAT).