Network Slice Discovery And Selection
AssigneeInterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.
InventorsWei Chen, Pascal M. Adjakple, Joseph M. Murray, Qing LI, Guodong Zhang, Lakshmi R. Iyer, Allan Y. Tsai, Qian Zhang, Tianyi Xu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An NR network slicing architecture may be used to facilitate network slice discovery and selection. Mechanisms to discover and select network slices may differ depending on whether a user equipment is in an idle mode or a connected mode. Further, in various examples, the network slice discovery and selection may be performed by a UE, a radio access network (RAN), or a core network (CN), based on a variety of selection criteria.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising a processor, a memory, and communication circuitry, the apparatus further comprising computer-executable instructions stored in the memory of the apparatus which, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising:
- before establishing a connection with a network, so as to operate in an idle mode, discovering information associated with a plurality of slices of the network;
- based, at least in part, on one or more slice selection criteria and the information associated with the plurality of slices, selecting one of the plurality of slices of the network;
- and
- accessing the selected slice.
An apparatus comprising a processor, a memory, and communication circuitry, the apparatus further comprising computer-executable instructions stored in the memory of the apparatus which, when executed by the processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a slice access request, the access request comprising a network slice identity corresponding to a slice for which a user equipment is requesting access;
- using the network slice identity, determining whether the user equipment is permitted to access the slice;
- if the user equipment is permitted to access the slice, sending a response toward the user equipment, such that the user equipment can set up user plane connections with the slice.
A method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising:
- before establishing a connection with a network, so as to operate in an idle mode, discovering information associated with a plurality of slices of the network;
- based, at least in part, on one or more slice selection criteria and the information associated with the plurality of slices, selecting one of the plurality of slices of the network;
- and
- accessing the selected slice.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.