Enhanced subscriber identity module (ESIM) remote provisioning based solution to provide IMS services to a user of a private network (NPN)

A User Equipment, UE, comprising:

• communications circuitry configured to communicate with one or more network nodes;
• and
• processing circuitry operatively connected to the communications circuitry and configured to:
• establish a first Protocol Data Unit, PDU, session with a pre-defined Data Network Name, DNN, for remote provisioning, wherein to establish the first PDU session with the remote provisioning DNN, the processing circuitry is configured to:
• send, to a Session Management Function, SMF, in a network, a PDU session establishment request message including the pre-defined DNN;
• and
• receive, responsive to the PDU session establishment request message, a PDU session establishment accept message including UE Session Management Subscription data having one or more Information Elements, IEs, associated with the pre-defined DNN, wherein receipt of the PDU session establishment accept message automatically triggers initiation of an onboarding procedure, and wherein the remote provisioning information used the initiation of the onboarding procedure is included in the one or more IEs;
• initiate the onboarding procedure over the first PDU session using the remote provisioning information that enables the UE to access a remote provisioning system in the pre-defined DNN;
• receive, from the remote provisioning system, UE configuration/subscription data, wherein the UE configuration/subscription data comprises Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, subscription data for an IMS network associated with a Non-Public Network, NPN;
• and
• responsive to determining that a connection to the IMS network associated with the NPN is required, establish a second PDU session with the IMS network using the IMS subscription data;
• and
• wherein the remote provisioning information used to initiate the onboarding procedure that enables the UE to access the remote provisioning system comprises both the pre-defined DNN and a packet filter that limits traffic from the UE over the PDU session to the provisioning system.