Radio access network node, radio terminal, core network node, and method therefor

A source radio access network (RAN) node associated with a first network, the source RAN node comprising:

• at least one memory;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to, during handover of a radio terminal from the first network to a second network:
• receive, from the second network, a handover-related message, the handover-related message containing at least one of slice information about a network slice which is included in the second network and to which the radio terminal is to be connected, and radio resource configuration information based on the network slice in the second network, the network slice including network functions of the core network, the network slice being a logical network providing specific network capabilities, the slice information including identification information identifying the network slice;
• and
• transmit the handover-related message to the radio terminal.

A core network node comprising:

• at least one memory;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to, during handover of a radio terminal from a first network to a second network, send, to a target radio access network (RAN) node associated with the second network, slice information about a network slice which is included in the second network and to which the radio terminal is to be connected, the network slice including network functions of the core network, the network slice being a logical network providing specific network capabilities, the slice information including identification information identifying the network slice,
• wherein the slice information causes the target RAN node to create, based on the received slice information, radio resource configuration information to be used by the radio terminal after the handover in the second network.

A method in a target radio access network (RAN) node associated with a second network, the method comprising:

• during handover of a radio terminal from a first network to the second network,
• receiving, from a core network, slice information about a network slice which is included in the second network and to which the radio terminal is to be connected, the network slice including network functions of the core network, the network slice being a logical network providing specific network capabilities, the slice information including identification information identifying the network slice;
• creating, based on the received slice information, radio resource configuration information to be used by the radio terminal after the handover in the second network;
• and
• transmitting the radio resource configuration information through the first network to the radio terminal.