Patent ID: 11895229
Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 5:
6. A network node comprising:
processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is configured to:
operate a Session Management Function (SMF) in a control plane of a core network of a wireless communication network in support of wireless communication;
authenticate a User Equipment (UE) with an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) server in a secondary authentication process that uses the SMF as an EAP authenticator, the EAP server being comprised in an external network outside of the core network and the UE being separately authenticated with a further network node in the control plane of the core network via a primary authentication process, wherein to authenticate the UE in the secondary authentication process the network node is configured to exchange EAP messages between the SMF and the UE and between the SMF and the EAP server;
authorize, by the SMF, a data session between the UE and the external network through a user plane of the core network based on the UE having successfully authenticated via both the primary authentication process and the secondary authentication process.